The mist over the lake's surface had not yet cleared, and the seven-tailed red fox was still shrieking in obsessive rage, when a pressure far colder and far more ancient than any fox-spirit's power rose up, as though some abyssal beast that had slept for ten thousand years had finally stirred, blanketing the vast lake.
In that instant, even the ripples on the water seemed to freeze, slowly hardening into fine cracks of ice.
"Now and then a woman is born among humankind whose bloodline carries divine authority. Whenever such a woman appears in a village, we curse the heir of our clan, forcing him to fall in love with her and take her as his bride."
A voice of utter strangeness cracked through the air — not human, not a fox's cry, but more like some ferocious beast grinding its fangs in a low growl, its rasp scraping against the eardrums.
Hinako Shimizu's eyes snapped up, and the Giant of Light's golden gaze flared with a sharp light.
A mass of black mist, thick as ink, roiled up from beneath the lake's surface. When it dispersed, a great black fox stood upon the water, its entire body jet-black, nine tails trailing behind it. Its slit pupils were a cold, pale blue, and its gaze carried an unhurried, condescending indifference.
Like the red seven-tailed fox, this nine-tailed black fox bore the same mark — a haori that symbolized divinity.
"Every heir of our line, generation after generation, has won his bride with sweet words and clever tongues. But the current heir is too foolish. Heh, ha ha ha... unable to charm even one measly human girl into his hands — how pathetically immature."
It swept its nine bushy black tails, the tips brushing the water's surface and raising rings of black ripples, its hoarse laughter mingling with beastly growls.
"Grandfather..."
The seven-tailed red fox turned to look at the nine-tailed black fox, its tone complicated, tinged with something like shame.
"Useless boy, step back for now. I'll deal with her negotiations from here."
The nine-tailed black fox glanced at its descendant, then stepped forward to face Hinako Shimizu directly.
"Are you deliberately provoking me?!"
The flames wreathing Hinako Shimizu's body surged violently. Her silver-and-crimson form took a step forward, and the lake's surface heaved into waves several meters high. Her voice rolled like thunder, thick with fierce anger.
Cursing their own clansmen? What did that even mean?
Hisayuki — he hadn't truly fallen in love with her at all. He too had been manipulated by his father's generation, unable to control his own fate?
Why? Why were there detestable people like this everywhere she turned?!
"No, no, no."
The nine-tailed black fox raised a forepaw, its movements leisurely, showing not a trace of fear.
"Don't be so quick to anger. Aren't you the least bit curious why our clan does this?"
"Not curious."
Hinako Shimizu's right arm tensed, power gathering, her gaze turned to ice.
"Once I've flattened you with a single punch, you'll be on your knees explaining everything soon enough."
A fierce killing intent radiated from Hinako Shimizu's body.
Not human, and evil besides — exactly the kind of thing she despised most!
If she didn't put this fox down within thirty seconds, she'd count it as a personal failure!
Seeing the towering battle-intent surrounding the Giant of Light, the nine-tailed black fox finally retreated half a step, sheepishly. All the black energy around it withdrew, and it lowered its head in a show of submission. "Wait! No need for violence — I'll tell you everything right now."
"Thirty seconds. You have thirty seconds to explain the truth."
Hinako Shimizu's movements paused, and she spoke coldly.
"This story begins with Yamata no Orochi. The Nihon Shoki records that Yamata no Orochi was an eight-headed dragon that took human maidens as living sacrifices, until the god Susanoo got it drunk on eight barrels of potent sake and struck off all eight heads. But what no one knows is that one of those eight heads broke free of the god's power and flew far to the west, eventually falling into what is now the mountains of Ebisugaoka."
The nine-tailed black fox no longer bothered to feign mystery, and plainly stated the reason it dared to show itself.
"That head transformed into a water dragon that spews poisonous water, and it awakened here. The poison it spits corrodes the land and harms living creatures. When my fox spirit clan became this region's object of worship, we took up the duty of suppressing the water dragon. If you make an enemy of my fox spirit clan today, we will have no choice but to abandon that suppression. Once the water dragon breaks free of its seal, Ebisugaoka and the surrounding waters will all be contaminated. In the language of your era — arsenic, sulfur, and other minerals buried underground will erupt to the surface on a massive scale."
The nine-tailed black fox watched Hinako Shimizu with an expression somewhere between a smile and a smirk.
"That's right, Ultraseven. Your power is formidable — even I might not be able to defeat you. But even with overwhelming strength, there are always things one simply cannot do. You might be able to defeat Yamata no Orochi at the height of its power, but can you clean up the environmental contamination its power would cause?"
Hinako Shimizu had no answer.
Environmental contamination?
In the Ultraman series, plenty of monsters were born from human-caused environmental pollution — and all Ultramen could ever do was destroy the monster. They could never take humanity's place in cleaning up the environment itself.
"Then how have you managed it? An obscure, nameless fox spirit clan — are you claiming to be some irreplaceable role?"
Hinako Shimizu demanded, unconvinced.
"Heh, ha ha ha! Nameless and obscure, you say? True enough. But it's precisely because we are nameless and obscure that our clan has remained this powerful to this very day. As for those famous, illustrious gods and buddhas — how many believers do they have left now? And how devout are those few?"
The nine-tailed black fox sneered, its words dripping with contempt for gods and buddhas alike.
As the ages had progressed, humans had long since stopped believing in gods and buddhas. Those dignified, self-proclaimed noble deities no longer bestowed their blessings so freely — but neither did they visit calamity upon humans on a whim.
In that regard, they couldn't compare to demons and heretical spirits like these, thriving in remote villages and backwater towns, who found it far simpler to draw faith from the ignorant masses and the greedy and wicked.
"No believers? Then what about Yamata no Orochi? Does it have believers, does it not?"
Hinako Shimizu had caught a flaw in the black fox's logic. If strength depended on faith, then what was Yamata no Orochi? Could a mere serpent's head really threaten an entire region on its own?
"What a foolish question. Haven't you humans already figured this out? The so-called Yamata no Orochi is simply the deification of flood disasters and iron-smelting phenomena."
The nine-tailed black fox's tone carried a note of mockery, but its words came out clear and precise, revealing a truth that upended everything Hinako Shimizu thought she knew.
"Deep underground, magmatic activity and water-rock reactions dissolve arsenic, sulfur, and other minerals trapped within the rock strata. When these toxins are forced up to the surface through columns of groundwater, sudden shifts in pressure and temperature cause arsenic to concentrate and precipitate, while hydrogen sulfide escapes as a pungent poison gas — heh heh heh heh — and that is the water dragon coiled beneath Ebisugaoka."
"Yamata no Orochi has long had no worshippers left, and yet human writing, legend, and record have never let its existence vanish. Simply being known is itself a faint form of faith, enough to let its will linger on, though it has fallen into a sluggish slumber. But the water dragon is different. The rites handed down through Ebisugaoka's generations, the legends passed mouth to mouth, have kept its will active and alert. The moment the seal loosens even slightly, it will become a living catastrophe and swallow this land whole."
Hinako Shimizu was stunned speechless.
A nine-tailed fox that had lived for centuries, opening its mouth to casually spout terms like magmatic activity, water-rock reactions, arsenic-sulfur enrichment, hydrogen sulfide off-gassing?!
Wasn't this supposed to be some mountain-dwelling fox spirit that performed rituals and cast curses?!
Could someone please tell her why this black fox seemed to know more, and understand science better, than she did?
____
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