The explosion shook the sanctuary walls, causing dust and small fragments of wood to fall from the ceiling. In the distance, several homes began to collapse as a column of smoke rose over Kyoto. It did not take long for the screams of the yokai to spread through the streets.
Damon was already standing in front of the door before the shockwave had fully passed. His senses spread across the sanctuary grounds and the surrounding areas, detecting hundreds of presences scattered throughout different parts of the city. There were mages among them, but most belonged to Fallen Angels. This was certainly no small attack.
Heptio remained on his knees, breathing heavily and not daring to lift his head. Yasaka stood before him with all nine of her tails fully spread. Her claws had dug into her own palms, causing small drops of blood to fall onto the floor.
"Where?" she asked, her voice barely controlled.
"In the eastern wing," Heptio answered quickly. "They simply broke through the barrier. I don't know how they did it, but they knew exactly where we were. They didn't even have to search for us."
Damon narrowed his eyes.
He still did not know the full situation, but that was enough to rule out a random attack. The people responsible knew where to find Kunou and had broken through the barrier and reached her so quickly that no one had enough time to warn Yasaka while he was speaking with her. That meant they either knew the sanctuary's layout or someone inside Kyoto had provided them with the information.
Without wasting another moment, Yasaka moved toward the exit. Seeing this, Damon abandoned his thoughts and caught the blonde woman by the wrist before she could leave the room.
The Kyuubi turned toward him. Her eyes burned with a dangerous light, her fangs had lengthened, and the little composure she still had was beginning to crumble.
"Take your hand off me," she growled.
"There are hundreds of enemies around Kyoto, and many of them are intelligent enough to split into separate groups." Damon held her gaze. "I have no doubt they want you to rush outside in a rage and chase the first group you find."
Yasaka's jaw tightened. "I'm not going to stay here while they have my daughter."
"And no one is asking you to." Damon finally released her wrist. "But first, you need to find her. If you rush out without knowing where she is, you'll only waste time attacking the people they left behind as a distraction."
Yasaka wanted to ignore him and leave anyway, but she stopped. The only reason anyone would kidnap Kunou was to use her against Yasaka. If the attack had been prepared this carefully, then they would have also accounted for her reaction.
The Kyuubi closed her eyes and extended her senses throughout the sanctuary. Her energy passed through the barriers, swept across the gardens, and expanded into the streets of Kyoto as she searched for the presence she knew better than any other.
Several seconds passed.
Yasaka opened her eyes. The anger on her face was replaced by something much worse.
"I can't feel her," she whispered.
She tried again, this time extending her power with far greater force. Kyoto's barriers responded to her will, but Kunou's presence still did not appear.
"She isn't here…" Yasaka took a step backward as her breathing became irregular. "I can't find her." Her legs lost their strength for an instant, and Damon placed a hand around her arm to keep her steady.
Damon looked at her seriously. If Yasaka could not feel her own daughter anywhere inside Kyoto, then the kidnappers had already managed to leave the city… or they were using something capable of hiding Kunou even from her own mother.
Damon was about to ask Heptio what kind of magic they had used when an unpleasant sensation ran through his body. He quickly identified it as an enormous concentration of magical energy that had formed several kilometers away and was now moving directly toward the sanctuary.
Everything happened in less than a second.
Time seemed to slow as the sounds of the city and the distant screams became muffled. Damon turned his gaze toward one of the walls. Through the wood and the nearby buildings, he could feel the attack approaching at an absurd speed thanks to his control over the air.
The redhead's blue eyes met Amaterasu's.
In that same millisecond, the two deities reached an understanding without needing to exchange a single word.
Damon wrapped one arm around Yasaka's waist and vanished from the room. At the same time, Amaterasu grabbed Rhea and Grayfia before an intense golden light covered their bodies.
A moment later, all five of them appeared hundreds of meters above the sanctuary. Yasaka barely had enough time to understand what had happened before the world beneath them lit up.
An enormous magical blast struck the sanctuary.
The explosion consumed the main building in a single blow. A column of black fire rose into the sky while the shockwave tore through the gardens, ripping trees from the ground and destroying several nearby structures.
The blast shook all of Kyoto.
Grayfia's eyes widened in surprise as Amaterasu held her by one arm. Rhea also needed several seconds to understand that she was now suspended in the air, with her clothes and hair being whipped around by the wind produced by the explosion.
Yasaka breathed heavily within Damon's arm. One moment she had been standing in front of Heptio, and the next she was watching part of her sanctuary disappear beneath a cloud of fire and debris.
"Heptio…"
His name escaped her lips, her voice breaking from the shock. Damon closed his eyes for an instant. He could no longer sense any trace of the tengu after the impact. The poor man had not been fortunate enough to escape.
Yasaka clenched her teeth. Her body began to tremble as she looked down at the destruction beneath them. Black flames spread through the remains of the sanctuary while several yokai rushed from nearby buildings to help the wounded.
First, they had taken her daughter. Now they had destroyed her home and killed one of the men who had spent the most time protecting Kunou. The Kyuubi no longer knew what to think.
Unfortunately, she was not given another second to process anything. Dozens of magic circles appeared around them at the same time, filling the sky with black wings and dark robes marked with several kanji that those present quickly recognized.
Khaos Brigade.
Damon did not even have time to stop and think about the name. Dozens of Fallen Angels descended from different angles with spears of light in their hands, while mages appeared behind them through small transportation circles and prepared their own attacks.
Damon tightened his hold around Yasaka's waist and was about to move toward Amaterasu, but a rain of light spears fell between them before he could. The redhead was forced to move to the side, disappearing in a flash as he avoided the attacks that pierced through the spot where he had been standing only an instant earlier.
Amaterasu found herself in the same situation. Without releasing Rhea or Grayfia, an intense golden light surrounded her body and she disappeared in the opposite direction just as several magical attacks exploded between the two groups.
Yasaka immediately reacted on instinct, wrapping both arms around Damon's neck. Recovering quickly, Damon raised his free hand just as another rain of light spears descended upon them. A gigantic gust of wind erupted in front of the pair and crashed into the weapons of light, shattering them into hundreds of glowing fragments that were carried away by the wind.
The mages did not give them even a second to rest.
An enormous serpent of fire advanced from the left while several blades of water emerged from the right. At the same time, enormous rocks began falling from the sky directly toward the god and the Kitsune.
Damon did not flinch.... With a movement of his fingers, the serpent of fire came apart as he separated the air molecules sustaining the flames. At the same time, a wave of wind appeared behind several Fallen Angels and shoved them forward, placing them directly in the path of the water blades.
The attacks passed through their bodies and cut them in half, causing their remains to fall toward the ground like sacks of potatoes.
Damon easily avoided the falling rocks by moving to the side at high speed. However, to the surprise of several mages, the redhead extended one hand toward them and altered their structure in midair. The enormous masses of stone twisted until they became long spears that, propelled by powerful currents of air, shot forward at terrifying speed.
The mages barely had time to blink. The stone spears pierced through their defenses and bodies, dragging them across the sky before pinning them against the remains of several destroyed buildings.
Even so, the enemies seemed endless. Damon could feel more presences beginning to approach from different parts of Kyoto, but to his slight surprise, Yasaka released him and launched herself toward one of the Fallen Angels.
The Kyuubi delivered a direct kick to his chest. The impact caved in the man's armor and sent him crashing into two of his companions, knocking all three toward the ground.
Damon caught the spear of a fourth Fallen Angel with one hand, broke it in half, and drove the fragment of light into his shoulder before throwing him downward. The last one attempted to retreat, but a current of air wrapped around his neck and dragged him back toward Damon.
The god struck him with an uppercut to the jaw.
The man's body shot into the sky at the speed of sound, piercing through the clouds before a bolt of lightning descended upon him. The discharge completely engulfed his body and reduced him to ashes in a matter of seconds.
Damon and Yasaka quickly positioned themselves back-to-back as more enemies continued gathering around them. However, both of their attention was drawn toward a shrill voice coming from above.
"Well, well. Looks like we found a tough one, huh, guys?"
A young woman with blonde hair styled into twin-tails slowly descended in front of them. Her blue eyes were filled with amusement, and she wore a black Gothic Lolita dress decorated with white frills, a large bow on the front, and a green jewel on the collar. A pair of black wings extended behind her back.
Mittelt.
Several dozen Fallen Angels and mages gathered around her. Some were wounded, but most still had their weapons prepared. Their numerical advantage seemed to have restored their confidence after watching several of their companions fall.
Mittelt looked Damon up and down, convinced he was nothing more than one of Yasaka's guards and a good-looking one to.
"Hey, handsome," she said with a smile. "Why don't you leave that fox bitch behind and come with me? Maybe I can convince Kokabiel-sama to let you live. Who knows, I might even treat you well."
Damon stared at her for several seconds before a look of pure disgust appeared on his face.
The blonde did not like that in the slightest and glared at the redhead. Did he not understand the great opportunity she was offering him? "Oh, so that's your answer? How unfortunate…"
"It's difficult to accept an offer like that when the one making it is probably the ugliest woman I have ever seen in my life," Damon replied with disdain. "And I've seen plenty."
Mittelt gritted her teeth, completely furious that she had been rejected and, even worse, called ugly directly to her face. However, her annoyance was soon replaced by a playful and cruel expression. She felt safe surrounded by her companions and the mages who still covered every part of the sky.
I only need to capture him, and he'll pay for that. I'll torture him for days until he ends up begging at my feet, the Fallen Angel thought confidently before turning her attention toward Yasaka.
"By the way, Kokabiel-sama sends his regards, Yasaka-chan."
Yasaka growled as she bared her fangs. Mittelt raised both hands with a mocking smile after seeing her reaction.
"Easy, beast. If you want to see your daughter again, you'd better surrender along with all of your people. Do that, and maybe we'll allow your people to keep living."
The Kyuubi did not respond. Her amber eyes remained locked on the Fallen Angel. "Of course, getting the little girl back won't be free," Mittelt continued as her gaze traveled over Yasaka's body with repulsive intent. "Kokabiel-sama expects to receive proper payment."
Several vulgar laughs erupted from the enemies surrounding her.
Damon sensed the conflicting emotions within Yasaka. The fear that something might happen to her daughter continued consuming the Kyuubi, but little by little that desperation was being replaced by something far more primal.
Mittelt continued smiling, completely convinced that she had intimidated her. She had no idea that she had just stepped directly into the wolf's mouth.
Mittelt suddenly felt the air around her body become much harder to breathe, and an enormous pressure fell over her shoulders, forcing her to descend several meters before she managed to stabilize herself. Her wings trembled as she struggled to keep them spread.
"So Kokabiel is responsible," Damon said.
Mittelt tried to answer with some kind of mockery, but the words refused to leave her mouth. Every breath became shorter than the last, and a sense of danger spread through every part of her body.
"Answer me." The command echoed in her mind, making Mittelt's legs shake. Wasn't this man supposed to be one of Yasaka's guards? Every instinct in the Fallen Angel now screamed at her to keep as much distance from him as she could.
"Y-Yes," she managed to answer. "Kokabiel-sama has the girl."
Yasaka stepped toward her, slightly surprised by Damon's power but quickly forcing herself to focus on the matter that truly mattered.
"Where?"
Mittelt shifted her gaze toward the Kyuubi, but the pressure around her body increased before she could remain silent. "At Grigori," she quickly confessed. "They took her to Grigori."
At those words, every trace of uncertainty vanished from Yasaka's face.
With ease, the pressure disappeared, and Mittelt inhaled a large amount of air, bringing one hand to her chest as she attempted to regain control of her body. Having no idea why Damon had released her. "W-Who are you?" the blonde girl asked, her voice still trembling.
"My name is Damon."
Mittelt turned pale
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