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Who is my Prince?
[1st Saga: Goddess of Life]
>>Part 3<<
-
Both Yuki and Jurina headed to school like any other days, but the young raven-haired girl could see that her friend seemed to have that stressful expression much more than the past week. Somewhat, she felt that she didn’t know something she needed to know, and she needed to ask it out from Jurina.
“Hey, what’s with that face?”
“H-Huh?”
“What is making you so stressed like this? Is it…the primordiums that were after me?”
“…”
“Jurina, either way, I can’t always run away from this. Tell me so that I know what I need to do.”
“…Jeez, very well then. I’ll tell you what happened during the past week.”
Her archangel friend told her that she had been talking to Ren about the exponential increase in numbers of Primodiums showing up in this city. Potentially they were ones that were searching and targeting the Goddess of Life. However, that didn’t bring Yuki to a surprise…but it was that Jurina was able to talk to Ren properly. She knew that her friend hated him and never trusted him, and to hear that she was making some progress with her friendship with Ren made her smiled out with relief.
“What are you smiling?”
“Nothing~ I like how you’re being okay with Ren-san now. You looked like you’re going to rip his head off in any second.”
“The only reason we talked was that this situation is threatening the human society. I still don’t trust him, but fortunately in this situation we’re standing on a common ground.”
Jurina explained to Yuki about the possible incidence that could happen and she couldn’t believe how serious it was. In balanced society between humans and primordiums, they lived separately to not disrupt each other’s system for over many centuries because many primordiums were not able to accept humans like the Sea Serpent and Black Tengu race. If they were to co-exist at the same place, without any certain balance…the worse case scenario would lead to a number of casualties on both parties.
“From what Ren told me so far…there are three races that we need to be EXTRA careful about…”
Yuki listened carefully as Jurina explained each detail slowly to make sure her goddess would be able to absorb it all. The first race was the
Blood Ogre; they were infamous for being ruthless and heartless to other races aside from their own kind. Despite having a very small-scaled population, their physical strength was unrivalled and was known to be as strong as a dragon race itself. The second race was the
Great Orca, and they actually hold the title of ‘The King of Sea’, which were more than enough to tell anyone that they were one of the formidable races out there. Their population was small-scaled as well, but they couldn’t be underestimated. Not much was known for their strength and weaknesses as they barely participate in any primordium wars back in the ancient times. Lastly, the
Aurum Leo, known to be ‘The King of Land’ which was similar to the Great Orca race, they were actually known to be such a peaceful primordium but only until when they’re affected by other parties. These races were one of the hardcore ones comparing to other ones that started invading such as Salamanders, Werefoxes, and others.
“I know it’s a lot of information…just make sure if you meet anyone of them…call me or Ren immediately. Despite I DON’T want to rely on him…there is as much as I could handle against those three races…”
“W-Wow, this is more serious than I thought.”
“Yukirin did you forget that you’re a goddess for a REASON or something?”
“Shut up Jurina!”
Jurina gave her the side eye with misbelief and made the goddess slapped her shoulder with that pouting face. Her guardian angel was being such a tease, but that did ease the mortal raven-haired girl’s mind. She could tell that Jurina was trying to not make her panicked with all these facts. However, there wasn’t any softer way to convey this information to her but to tell her straightforwardly like this…and Yuki deeply appreciated it. At least, she could see lesser frustration and stress on Jurina’s face after she speak it out. She smiled brightly before she smiled with relief from her heart. As her archangel saw that, Jurina couldn’t help but to be surprised with how Yuki could be so chilled after hearing such a heavy content like this.
“I’m surprised you can be so relaxed after hearing this…take it more seriously.”
“You’re just being too serious Jurina! I have my guardian angel with me, right?”
“Huh?”
“…Jeez, I’m just SAYING that I know you’ll protect me, so I shouldn’t panic unnecessarily to make you and Ren-san worried. I know I can trust you more than anyone else, you’re my first and only best friend!”
“...”
“I know my Jurina is strong enough to protect me, and being around you makes me able to fully relax too—”
“Okay, that’s too much compliment there. I can’t take it.”
Jurina brushed the topic away and the conversation was cut off bluntly that it made Yuki glared back with that pouting face again. She whined and kept teasingly hit Jurina on her shoulders to get her attention back to allow her to finish what she was saying. However, Matsui didn’t have any intention to turn back to look at her friend…because she knew that Yuki would tease her about these blushing cheeks. Those sweet genuine words really did give Jurina a heart attack and she let out a big sigh before she turned back to make eye contact with Yuki, who was waiting for her…impatiently.
“Jeez let me finish what I’m saying—”
“I know what are you going to say.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s get going before we’re late for school.”
She ruffled Yuki’s head before she grabbed her hand tightly. They walked by each other’s side and Yuki only looked at her protective friend’s back and made her had a little déjà vu of the past when Jurina used to hold her hand like this when they’re kids. She couldn’t hold back her smile and held her friend’s hand back tightly before skipped forward to catch up with Jurina.
“Hey Jurina.”
“What now?”
“Even though I do trust Ren-san and believe that he truly wants to help us out, but you’re the one I trust and love the most, okay?”
“…H-Huh??? What the hell—Yukirin!?”
“Aw you’re so cute!!”
Jurina blushed horribly and she was caught red-handed by Yuki. Kashiwagi pointed out how the archangel was blushing up to her ears and the poor girl could only glared with embarrassment. She knew Jurina was not good with compliments like this and she would get all acted up and embarrassed like this. All the effort hiding her blush just now went down the drain as Yuki caught her…and now the goddess would be teasing her throughout their entire morning walk to school.
-
The young goddess had her normal school life along side with her friends, but realized that this peaceful life would eventually come to an end. She could sense inevitable battles up ahead of her…and she needed to be mentally and physically ready for any confrontation from now on. Today in physical education class, they had to do a physical test and so everyone was outside in the field doing a number of tests. One of them was that they had to run 1 kilometer around the field and Yuki was able to finish it before her Asuka and Aki could, which brought a huge surprise to them.
“Oh god Yukirin! Since when you’re this fit??”
“Huh? I…I’m not so sure myself.”
“Girl! What’s your secret? You’ve been training without us knowing?”
“Maybe just a little, not much actually!”
Yuki was certain she didn’t do much of fitness training, but she could feel this spiritual energy flowing inside her…maybe it came from her Onmyoudo Arts training with Ren and Jurina. Kashiwagi began to wonder whether the increasing of her physical test scores was because of those training she did. Before she was allowed to think any further, her teacher called her name to do the long jump test. She quickly went up to do the test…and wasn’t aware of another presence watching her from the trees next to the school’s wall. He looked like a young teenage boy, but had a huge short scar across his nose. He was watching Kashiwagi quietly with a smirk of excitement.
“Heh…I can smell it…such a delicious scent.”
“That is creepy, Miyazaki.”
“Tch, you’re such a mood breaker as always…can’t you enjoy the tasty scent in the air?”
The young boy was annoyed by the lady that was speaking to him from behind the tree. They both commonly shared bright orange eyes that could even be seen in the dark. The woman that spoke to him seemed to be much older than him, and was acting more like his guardian than his equal.
“We’re a gallant and dignified race, we’re no lowly barbarians.”
“Yah yah, whatever. I’m done with a granny’s old talk.”
The older lady had no intention to continue to argue with the young boy and both of them could sense an intimidating presence nearby the area. They both flinched at the same time, and could smell that familiar disgusting scent through the air and it made the young reckless boy grumbled softly.
“Those fucking ogres…”
“Your murderous intent is leaking out. Restrain yourself, Miyazaki. As long as we don’t reveal our location, everything will be according to his plan.”
“Shut up grandma, I know what I’m doing. I don’t understand why boss assigned you as my partner…you’re the most annoying person ever.”
“…Kids these days, we’re leaving now.”
“What? Why?”
Miyazaki was against leaving but his partner insisted they do so. The lady signaled with her head to the boy to look towards the building where he could suddenly sensed that calm heartless eyes staring at them from the opened window. Those blood red eyes watched their every move carefully, like a predator watching its prey before it started its hunt. Miyazaki was surprised that he couldn’t feel any murderous intent from it…but he actually retracted a little after seeing those eyes. He knew immediately it was the vampire, and this man was no ordinary vampire that they could easily hunt and kill.
“He has been watching us ever since we’re here…that vampire is definitely a high-ranked one if he’s able to hide his murderous intent that perfectly.”
“…Tch. Fine, we’re leaving.”
“Good.”
They both decided to take their leave off from the school ground after they were being constantly watched and not welcomed by Dr. Watanabe. The cunning doctor realized that other races were starting to take action and the big ‘hunt’ was about to begin soon. He closed his eyes for a while and as he reopened his eyelids the blue eyes returned once again. Few seconds after her reverted back to his normal state, a female student knocked on the door to bring some documents as the doctor requested.
“Here are the files Kikuji-sensei wants to give to you, is this all?”
“Yes, that is all, thank you for your assistance.”
“Not at all! I’m glad to help you out, Watanabe-sensei!”
The girl smiled with a soft blush, and the doctor still needed her to do something for him. Before he could let this female student go back to her classroom, he asked her to do a favor for him and obviously she accepted it without any conditions at all. His vampire charms were indeed playing a strong role with him gaining favors from all female students and teachers in the school. Little by little he was expanding his territory within the school…
“What is it that you want me to do?”
“Can you go call Kashiwagi-san to come over? Her medical reccord is not exactly completed, so I need her to come check it thoroughly before I finalized it. She’s currently in her physical education class down in the field.”
“No problem! Anything to help you out Watanabe-sensei!”
-
While the doctor was having his late morning tea in the infirmary, he could hear a familiar footstep marching down the hallway before the door opened. He could tell from her eyes that she was at extreme caution and was constantly glaring at him like he’s a criminal or a pervert.
“Please come in, Kashiwagi-san.”
“…That was a lie, my medical records are complete. What do you want now?”
“Close the door and maybe we can talk.”
Yuki did it reluctantly and wondered what would Mayu want to talk to her about. She still couldn’t trust him and so she decided to stand next to the door instead of sitting down in this creepy infirmary. No one knew what he was thinking and what could this pervert sadistic doctor do to her again.
“What do you want?”
“…Your spiritual energy is leaking out.”
“Huh?”
“You’re not controlling it…or more of, the amulet that the black tengu gave you couldn’t sustain your powers.”
“!?”
Mayu knew about the black amulet Matsui Ren gave her to keep her powers at bay…but it seemed it wasn’t able to withstand the true powers of the goddess after all. The vampire smirked maliciously before he placed the cup down onto the table adjacent to him.
“Other races will be able to detect you fairly easily, all we need is just a tinge of your scent, and we can track you down.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“It seems you’re still not aware of your position at all, goddess of life.”
In that blink of second, Mayu appeared right before her eyes and she wasn’t even able to see him moving at all. She backed away but then the wall was already right behind her. He only stared back at her quietly, and with an emotionless expression on his face.
“Do you know that your existence is affecting all lives on earth? I don’t understand how did human race managed to become abundant in this world when its so weak and fragile.”
“Don’t touch me—”
Yuki smacked his hand away before he could reach in to cup her cheek. He pulled his hand back and only had that smirk across his face. The young girl pushed the doctor away from her and he allowed himself to move backward as the goddess desired.
“Stay away from me…you creep.”
“Just because you’re the goddess doesn’t mean we will try to please you. Many races are enemies with each other and if they can’t get what they want…their enemy shall not too.”
“…”
“Think of it as my friendliest warning for the goddess. I wouldn’t want my effort go in vain.”
“You did nothing but making me hate you so much, what kind of damn effort is this?”
“…Hehe, hahahahaha!”
Mayu started laughing and it made Yuki even more annoyed and pissed with how ambiguous he was. It felt as if this vampire was simply messing around with her head and indirectly manipulating her to think and do what he wanted her to.
“What are you laughing at!?”
“You’re just so young and naïve…kid. We vampires get what we want, and just the way we want. Unless you offer us something…and that will be a different story.”
“Huh?”
“I’m certain you remember the rabbit incident right? One was missing…isn’t?”
Yuki was surprised Mayu knew about it and it seemed he knew more than what she knew. That instant, she felt a huge surge of anger rushed up to her face and she knew it immediately that the vampires were behind it. Mayu hinted it to her and walked in to slap him across his face. The vampire didn’t block or dodge, but accepted that weak pathetic pat across his cheeks. He only turned back to smile at her, which made her angrier.
“Damn you vampires—!”
“We hunt blood in living bodies…what do you think we are? A vegetarian vampire? Blood of young female students…are very delicious, you know? Even my subordinate couldn’t resist that temptation—”
“Don’t tell me you hurt other students here!? How could you…!”
“Hmph, how about we make a deal?”
“W-What?”
“Even we’re a ruthless bloodthirsty race, we do keep up to our promises. I will not touch any humans or animals for blood…but you have to give me something in return. What do you say?”
“…Depends on what is this that I have to give you in return?”
“Cherries, only fresh ones too.”
“…Are you
joking with me?”
“I’m not.”
Yuki did not believe anything doctor said and he told her that cherries could act as a replacement for vampire’s blood thirst. If she could fulfill that condition, that would mean that doctor Watanabe wouldn’t have to go look for blood at all. However, Kashiwagi couldn’t tell whether Mayu was actually plotting something or not and whether he was lying with that straightforward expression. He’s a man capable of lying with confidence and she didn’t know whether she should believe a word he said.
“That’s up to you to decide, kiddo. I will keep hunting for my food to keep living, and it is none of your business to interfere with our clan’s survival. We ALL fight and struggle to live. We hunt and do whatever it takes to live, unlike humans that destroys everything for pleasure.”
“…!”
“Of course you got nothing to say, because you knew it’s true. You guys love killing, and take away lives. I wonder which is actually the most heartless creatures that ever lived in this world?”
“You really don’t have to put it that way. Humans are not all bad! Just like primordiums. We’re all alive, aren’t we just the same?”
“So naïve…too naïve, kiddo. I wonder why the goddess chooses to be born as a heartless selfish human like this…Just how much responsibility can you take, with all those lives in your hands?”
The doctor gave the girl flick right on her forehead and it made her mad. However, his words gave Yuki some thought…if she didn’t take in an annoying way, this vampire was acting doing a favor giving Yuki a warning before she would have to control all of these obstacles without being aware of it. However, his way of conveying the message was beyond irritation. The doctor didn’t have anything left to say and told the student to leave. She took her leave without replying anything back to him and as she headed back to her class. The class went on and she was sitting in her last classroom while dazing off…while she was actually thinking about what Mayu said about her spiritual powers leaking out and other primordiums were able to track her easily. She learned how to control it, but she wasn’t as adept enough to manage her tremendous energy of the goddess. The moment the bell rang was when the school ended, and as the young girl was packing her stuffs, Jurina came rushing to her class and marched up to her immediately.
“Jurina, what’s a matter?”
“We have to leave now…just come with me.”
The archangel looked quite nervous, and they left the classroom without further waiting. Yuki got dragged out and then there was Ren waiting for them at the back of the school building along with Yuko and Sae. It seemed all of them gathered up with the same purpose…and the raven-haired girl could sense their stressfulness coming out from their faces. They seemed to be discussing about something important and Yuki heard the conversation halfway instead. Yuko was the only one that showed all his emotions, and he seemed to be very annoyed for some reason.
“Are they fucking serious? This is no joke.”
“We all sensed the same thing…and we all know this is not a good sign.”
“Is that bloodsucker going to come?”
“I sent him a text, and I highly doubt it.”
Ren replied to both Yuko and Sae who seemed to be rather frustrated and annoyed with the current situation. The teacher did try to contact the doctor, but he knew that vampire’s nature hate working as a group with other races. Ren already had a hunch that Mayu would show up, but he was certainly positive that the vampire was aware of the current situation.
“We need to get out of here before we get anyone involved…Jurina, we’ll have to rely on your speed.”
“W-What is going on?”
It seemed Yuki was left out of the loop and everyone understood each other’s conversation perfectly. She called out for their attention but they completely ignored her without any signs of hesitation. Suddenly, Jurina swiftly carried Yuki in a bridal style hand and the surprised girl witnessed her friend’s hair changed to dark blonde hair and those light blue eyes sparkling right in front of her. She still couldn’t grasp the situation and the archangel suddenly took off through the back of the school where it was away from everyone. Yuki screamed from the top of her lungs with surprise and held onto Jurina tightly with her life on the line. She felt like she was flying in the air and could drop down any time. It was her first time Jurina carried her and ran in full speed and she wasn’t expecting that it would be this fast. The wind kept tackling her hair and face, so she buried her face onto Jurina’s shoulder with countless questions.
“J-Jurina!? What is going on??”
“There’s no time to talk about it, I’m going to speed up.”
“Wait a minut—KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
Jurina suddenly sprung right up into the sky and Yuki was completely in shock with how high they were in the air. It would be approximately about 6 meters into the air and as they dropped down, Yuki felt like her guts and heart was still up in the sky. She desperately held onto Jurina tightly as they landed back onto the ground again and went into this abandoned warehouse that was close by to their school as it had this huge wasteland that was not used for years. This desolated area from humans would be the best place for any of them to confront any enemies that were after Yuki.
“Jurina! Explain to me what’s going on??”
“Yukirin, no matter what…you have to be strong.”
“Huh??”
A dark shadow had been chasing after Jurina and Yuki ever since they ran out from the school, but then the silver wolf was coming from above and thrust his feet down towards the new enemy. It managed to dodge it on time and then Yuko chased after him closely to execute another kick right at it. That forced that mysterious chaser backed off and he glared at Yuko with those orange eyes. It was the same boy that had been watching over Yuki at school during her physical education class.
“Get out of my way you disgusting wolf!!”
“You lions…!”
Both of them seemed to be especially annoyed as they saw each other before they dashed in towards each other. The two aggressive boys stopped each other with both their hands and attempted to beat each other with brute force. Yuki could see Yuko confronting another boy that was about his age…and he had such a very sharp orange eyes of a beast.
“GET. LOST!!!!!”
Miyazaki roared furiously towards Yuko and his voice created a supersonic impact right into the wolf boy’s face and made him backed away from the lion boy. Yuki’s witnessed the change in that orange-eyed boy’s physical appearance…the short orange lion ears appeared on top of his head and that thin tail whipped in midair. In response to Miyazaki, the young wolf’s ears and tail surfaced out from his body and his silver white hair brushed in the wind.
“Y-Yuko…?”
“Yuki, listen…you ARE the goddess of life. Everyone is after you, and I’m here to protect you.”
Jurina muttered under her breath and only Yuki could hear it…and she could sense that her friend was dead serious. Right after her archangel gave her a speech, both black-winged man with the staff in his hand and the purple-eyed boy with a wooden bow landed right behind Jurina from the sky. The archangel could tell that the two Primordiums were behind her and she couldn’t be bothered to turn back to look at them.
“Archangel, take care of Yuki.”
“I don’t need you to tell me what to do, dark elf.”
“This is surprising to see a bunch of Primordiums of different races helping each other out. Having the goddess as your own eh?”
Yuki and others remembered that faces very well…those fiery red hair and eyes, the salamanders, they were the ones that attacked the raven-haired girl at the school’s warehouse. Sae took the step forward to signal to his fellows that this was his fight. They were sneering at the dark elf boy that almost died from the battle, but the seriousness in his eyes was filled with utmost confidence that he wouldn’t lose to them that easily. However, before the barbaric salamanders could attack, the low husky voice ordered them to stop and they all obeyed unconditionally. That was when the subordinates opened the path to allow their clan leader marched forward to meet with the Goddess of Life for the very first time. There was a man and a woman walking forward and they gave a completely different vibe to what other lowly salamanders do. The man was in such a formal white t-shirt and black trousers, whilst the woman was in her sleeveless cute white tops and black skirt. Yuki was actually mesmerized by the fierce color of their hair and eyes. It felt as if she was staring into the flames as it that color was alive…it changed her impression for the Salamanders immediately.
“You must be the young succeeding leader after Lord Miyazawa. Is he still alive?”
“…Old man is still healthy like a damn horse. That bastard just doesn’t want to give up his throne. Why thank you for your concerns.”
“How dare you talk to our boss like that—!!”
The subordinate was not happy with how rude Sae was talking to their leader, but then the man rolled his eyes to the side and gave him that death stare to not interfere with his conversation with the young leader of the Dark Elf race.
“Don’t interfere while I’m having a talk with my old friend.”
“I-I’m sorry sir…”
He returned his eyes to Sae and let out a soft smile of nostalgia. They both maintained such a long eye contact with each other to the point Yuki had a hunch that these two knew each other. While the redhead leader was done reminiscing his past that he shared with Sae, he chuckle under his breath.
“You’re as rude as always, Sae. You haven’t change a bit.”
“…Finally you showed your face after you make your men do the dirty work? I didn’t know you went that low…Filthy Salamanders.”
The subordinates behind the redhead man was utterly provoked by Sae’s rude speech and they released their beast forms, which revealed their beast-like eyes and a long scaled tail. The salamanders were quite infamous for being quite a short-tempered race and easily provoked by others.
“Boss!! We can’t allow this hideous dark elf talk trash about you!”
“Right! This dark elf can’t even beat us, let us kill him!”
“Boss, please order us right away.”
“…Didn’t I tell you to not interfere with my good talk with my old friend?”
Yuki immediately froze under that cold angry tone of that redhead man. The flames suddenly ignited and exploded out of nowhere right in front of every one of the reckless subordinates of his. All of them backed away with fear and calmed down in a blink of a second. He crossed his arms and only smiled while he was talking to Sae.
“I didn’t recall you being so weak though.”
“Why the hell are you here, Itano?”
“Just came to see the Goddess of Life in flesh and blood. She’s quite a cute charming girl just like what my subordinates said. Interesting…”
“You get your dirty hands away from her.”
“Then I presumed we could settle our scores properly this time. To see who’s stronger and deserved to have the Goddess of Life.”
Sae brought up his bow and was aiming at Itano’s head without any hesitation. One of the young salamanders acted up after seeing the enemy pointing his weapon at their boss. He immediately sprinted towards Sae without hesitation and that was when the dark elf marksman let go of his arrow and he could easily dodge it too.
“Heh, your aim ain’t as famous as I heard—!”
~POP~
The man heard the sound of the pop and blood from his neck sprayed out like when a pipe had a crack. Yuki’s eyes grew wide with shock and that salamander had to pressed his hand against his neck to stop it from bleeding. He glared back at Sae and saw the dark elf pulled another arrow on his bow, ready to let it go once again.
“Miyazawa Sae was known to be the best marksman of the Dark Elf clan, and that was his warning not to interfere. He could’ve killed you if he wanted to.”
Itano spoke about the dark elf as if he knew him so well, and seemed to be quite proud with how powerful and talented Sae was. However, none of that made the dark elf smiled at all…only a glare of hatred was the only thing he could give to the leader of the salamander clan. Before they could resume their reunion, it was about time another clan finally arrived to stop the fight as well. Meanwhile, the battle between a lion and a wolf continued on and they’ve been exchanging countless blows with each other like there was no ending to it. In their next strike, another man came in and diverted both of their fists away from each other. They were caught off guard and leaped away from the mysterious 3rd party that interfered with their battle. The student council president had been following all of them the entire time and he realized it was about time to stop this unnecessary fight. However, Yui could tell that both Yuko and the young lion were not impressed with their fight being interfered. After all, lions and wolves had been rivals with each other for over countless centuries.
“Sorry to break it…but this is not the time to fight.”
“…Yui, don’t interfere.”
“A sea serpent…don’t you get in my way of my hunt!”
Right before Miyazawa could jump in to resume the battle, a gangster-looking man appeared and grabbed at the boy’s collar from behind to stop him from doing anything more reckless than what he was doing. The young boy turned around and realized that it was his leader that came to stop him himself. Other lions started to join with their leader and then the boss dropped his young subordinate onto the floor. He was utterly calm and was not a man of words, but his actions said everything he wanted to.
“A-Aniki…?”
“It is just like what that serpent representative was saying. This fight is futile and pointless.”
“Exactly, this is just the gatherings of the representatives, right?”
Itano added and that was when the other two groups allowed themselves to be revealed in public’s eye. Ren felt that instant murderous intent and jumped forward to block another enemy’s attack with his pole but that man’s strength was too powerful for his weapon to even sustain it. Before it could break, Ren dodged the fist that came for him and countered attack with his reversal strike. However, it only made the enemy jumped back and was far from being affected by Ren’s attack. He only rubbed his stomach before he flashed a smile filled with utmost confidence in his unrivaled tough skin of a blood ogre.
“As expected from the Black Tengu headmaster, Matsui Ren.”
“…The eldest Blood Ogre prince…Matsumura Kao.”
A few numbers showed up and stood behind their prince, who was the current representative of the Blood Ogre race. Instead of taking such a flashy aggressive appearance like the blood ogre prince, the great orca race simply revealed them in a very gallant yet peaceful way. The mature lady spoke up while sighing at Matsumura’s flashing appearance.
“How flashy as always, Kaotan.”
“Hey Rie-chan, been a while yeah?”
As the members of each clan started to appear and joined with their leader, Yuki couldn’t help but to stare at all of them with awe. All of them were primordiums, but they all looked completely different from each other. She was able to tell them apart based from their distinct physical features. Each of the blood ogres had the bead necklace and golden bracelets around both of their wrists. They had a jet-black hair and yellow eyes similar to the wolves, but it was not exactly the same. As for the great Orca had a distinct separation of white and black hair in a very odd pattern, and they had such an alluring deep blue eyes. Matsumura looked at Yuki who was in Jurina’s arms and seemed to be quite amazed with how young the goddess looked.
“Wow, that kid is very young! Not bad, she still has few more years before she’s fully ripe.”
“That’s vulgar.”
“Oh such a spoiler Rie-chan. Oh, and how ya doing Nao-kun?”
“…I’m doing fine, Kao-san.”
The blood ogre representative took interest in Yuki, unlike the great orca race. Kashiwagi was actually surprised that the representative was actually a woman, not a man like any other clans. However, there was a boy next to her that shared quite a resemblance to her…and that was her younger brother, who was the youngest succeeding leader among all races currently. In that midst of short silence between all the clans gathering at this place, Yuki swore that it was the longest and most intimidating silence ever. It was as if they were about to attack each other at any second, and not at the same time…and that was when the young Garuda clapped his hand to grab everyone’s attention to him, whilst he landed next to Jurina and Yuki.
“S-Sasshi??”
“Wow, it seemed the big clans have all gathered.”
“Well…that bloodsucker is not here.”
Yuko grumbled but then Sashihara disagreed with him as he pointed up to the roof of the warehouse next to the wasteland they were in. The blood red eyes stared at them silently without letting anyone of them notice their presences. It seemed it wasn’t just Mayu alone too…he had his own subordinates with him along with this huge white wolf, which seemed to be his familiar. The moment that Yuki made eye contact with the doctor vampire…it was as if his eyes was reminder her about what he said to her earlier today. It turned out his warning was real and that was when the young goddess realized how serious the situation was. It wasn’t just about her wellbeing…this situation about her being the goddess of life does decide the fate of the all these races’ survival. She was indeed very naïve to not realize this sooner.
For the Silver Werewolf race… Oshima Yuko.
For the Black Tengu race… Matsui Ren.
For the Dark Elf race… Miyazawa Sae.
For the Vampire race… Watanabe Mayu.
For the Sea Serpent race… Yokoyama Yui.
For the Garuda race… Sashihara Rino.
For the Salamander race… Itano Tomo.
For the Aurum Leo race… Kawaei Rin.
For the Blood Ogre race… Matsumura Kao.
For the Great Orca race… Kitahara Rie and Furuhata Nao.
Just her alone had played a huge role for all these nine races that were present here at this place. Mayu’s harsh words echoed in her head and she hated to admit that he was actually right. Now that she witnessed all these lives standing right before her eyes. None of them could be blamed for being selfish…as every one of them were fighting to live and for the sake of their clan’s survival. They had a reason to fight and become selfish for their own people…unlike her, a selfish human that only thought about her own wellbeing…
“So now that everyone’s here, what shall we do?”
Matsumura grinned and his murderous intent caught everyone’s attention immediately. However, it turned out that it was Yuki that raised her hand up. Jurina was shocked and the young girl asked her guardian to put her down immediately. It seemed everyone was waiting to hear what Yuki had to say, since she’s the goddess of life after all.
“…Everyone’s fighting with their lives on the line…and will do anything it takes for their clan’s survival, I never could understand that until I saw all of you…gathered up together like this.”
“Yuki—”
Jurina was about to interfere, but then Ren extended his broken staff to stop the guardian from doing so. He simply shook his head and agreed to have Yuki finish what she had to say…because this was the responsibility that she needed to accept no matter what. She had been delaying this for too long, and it was about time she accepted it.
“There are so many things I don't know…suddenly my best friend that I grew up since we’re kids turned was my archangel guardian…and I was told to be the reincarnation of the goddess of life. It’s like a dream and I don’t want to believe any of it. However, I always have this gut feeling that one day…that I need to face my fate.”
Yuki took a deep breath before she revealed the decision she made, and the responsibilities she will be carrying on her shoulders. She knew that fighting would be inevitable, but she pleaded that most…they decided the winner in a fair fight without annihilating each another. It was such a naïve thought of a child, and it made Matsumura sighed softly.
“Sorry child, fairness doesn't always apply to any of us when it comes to each of our clan’s fate on the line.”
“…The strongest survives and the weak dies, right? If that’s the case…this could be possible. The loser has no choice but to step aside without any conditions. If the race that could prove to be the strongest above all races, then…I will reveal the secrets of the goddess to ensure the race’s survival.”
That instantly caught everyone’s attention, including Jurina too. They all looked at the young goddess with shock and they seemed to be eager to do Yuki’s approach for the sake of learning the goddess secrets…as Kashiwagi understand so far that everyone would do what it takes for their race to survive, and so she proposed for them to do an elimination knockout. It was one of types of competition that the winner will proceed on whilst the loser would be out.
“The only remaining race will be the strongest…and I will reveal all the secrets and use the goddess powers in me for your clan’s benefit. If you choose to kidnap me…I won’t guarantee I will tell you the truth unless you can prove you’re the strongest. Will everyone be able to come to an agreement with that?”
“So it’s not about mating with the goddess is it? So there are actually other secrets…If that’s the case, I accept your conditions, goddess.”
Itano muttered and seemed to show much interest in what Yuki was saying and that was when he came to a decision to agree with the goddess’ condition. With the redhead boss being the first one to accept, it started to make other races thought about Yuki’s terms…even Kashiwagi was surprised herself that someone actually agreed with her proposal. However, Sae still couldn’t let down his suspicion on his old friend.
“What are you plotting this time…Itano?”
“I’m only interested in what are the secrets the goddess of life holds aside from mating with her. Pretty much that’s the only thing we all know, am I correct?”
Itano pointed out a point to all the representatives. The only thing they knew was that they needed the goddess of life as their mating partner to ensure the race’s survival…but aside from that they don’t exactly know any much details of how could the goddess saved their race. It seemed the truth they all sought lies within the secrets Yuki currently hold.
“I too, agree and accept the conditions that the goddess proposed. I don’t see a problem, maybe it is about time to make a full declaration on which race is the
STRONGEST above all, right?”
Yui raised his hand up and declared no objections towards the goddess. It was like a chain and he pointed out another important thing to everyone to actually support Yuki’s proposal. He was actually indirectly helping his goddess friend out in order to ensure there was no war outbreak between races. The moment the student council president spoke out the appealing statement, all representatives diverted their eyes to him and seemed to give them some thought about Yuki’s proposal.
“Royal battle eh? Winner does the loud talk, and losers shut the fuck up. You’re actually a smart girl! Now I’m taking a like on you.”
Matsumura laughed out loud with much fascination towards Yuki. He crossed his arms and let out a big grin before he declared no objections to the goddess of life. Just like Itano, he was interested with the secrets of the goddess Yuki was holding…and the only way to get it was to defeat the representatives of other races. The female representative from the great orca race turned to her younger brother to have a short eye contact with each other before she turned back to the goddess with no objections
“…So be it, goddess.”
“I agree as well. At least…I rather have this than a primordium world war outbreak.
Sae spoke up right after the great orca before he stabbed his wooden bow onto the floor to indicate the end of any form of violence. He showed support for the young goddess friend of his and that was when Ren and Yuko did the same thing too. One by one, each race slowly came to agree with the goddess, but only the aurum leo and vampire did not speak up their thoughts yet.
“Aniki, what do you think?”
Miyazaki turned to his leader, and the man still stood in silence without showing any signs of emotion. However, he diverted his sharp cold eyes to the young goddess and send chills down her spine. She could feel that heavy threatening aura from just making an eye contact with him…and Yuki instinctively stepped back. In that midst of silence, he walked up towards the young raven-haired girl. As some inferiors from other races were responding to Kawaei’s approach towards the goddess, his subordinates glared at them to give them a signal to not interfere. Other representatives didn’t bother to move, as they knew that Kawaei was the most cynical primordium ever. He would only act based on his gut feeling and instinct. Jurina was the only one that stepped in the stop Kawaei from getting any closer to Yuki, but then that gallant man shoved the archangel away assertively and so nothing was in his way with the goddess.
“…!”
Yuki was deeply captivated with that man’s bright fierce eyes that stared deeply into her very soul. She felt like he was staring through her heart and was able to see through all her lies. He sighed softly before he turned back to join with his subordinates that were waiting for him. Kawaei didn’t exactly give his answer and so Matsumura asked him immediately.
“So what ya say Kawaei?”
“…The Aurum Leo are the King of the Land, and will always be the strongest ever since the beginning.”
He declared war with other races and that was him being indirect instead. That made the other representatives smirked with slight excitement. It was in all their nature to fight and prove that their race was the strongest above all. The only reason they were able to come to an agreement with the goddess was that they could also prove to all other formidable races that they are unrivaled.
“How about you, Watanabe-san?”
Sashihara turned to the silent vampire that was sitting on the top of the roof. He only smiled maliciously before he finally gave his answer to other representatives. The vampire seemed to be fascinated with what Yuki was pulling off this time and finally stood up. His silent smile was his reply and that was when Sashihara clapped his hands to grab everyone’s attention again. Due to him not being interested with being part of the royal battle, he seemed to be the mediator for all of them. The only thing he was interested was to watch the goddess’ progression and improvement. He only sought answers he wanted to know.
“So it seems everyone came to an agreement. I guess no one has a problem right?”
“You’re not going to take part, young bird?”
“Not really, I only seek to know what I want to know and I don’t care what race will live or die.”
“Heh, what a freak of nature.”
Itano chuckled with how Sashihara responded, but he couldn’t be bothered to analyze whether he was actually lying to them or not. Only thing he could care was that as long as he could defeat all other races, the knowledge of the goddess would only belong to him. It was about time he would take his leave but before he did, he exchanged eye contact with the dark elf that had been glaring at him this entire time.
“We shall settle our scores later…Miyazawa Sae.”
“Get lost, Itano.”
He only smiled before he took his leave, and it seemed he already declared his first enemy to get rid first and other races didn’t seem to want to interfere with their personal issues. Each race had their own rivals, and it was something that others should never interfere with. The blood ogre prince only smirked as he was exchanging glances with Matsui Ren before he took his leave.
“We shall have our rematch. I’ll see you later, tengu boy.”
The blood ogre group took their leave and the female great orca sighed before she went to her younger brother’s side. He ruffled his head and they took their leave without saying a single word to others. As expected from the great orca race, they’re the least talkative race out of all and left silently. Only the aurum leo and vampires were left, and there was actually a spark going on between Yuko and Kawaei. Both the wolves and lions were eternal enemies that had grudges with each other since the last primordium world war outbreak. They didn’t seem to need a word with each other to tell who would be their first enemy to eliminate first.
“Let’s leave.”
Kawaei turned his back away and walked off with his subordinates. Miyazaki glared back at Yuko and seemed they had unfinished business to clear up. At least all of the big gangs disappeared and made Ren and other sighed with relief. Yuki finally let out a huge sigh as well and she felt her knees went weak on her. She was never this terrified when Kawaei was standing right before her…and that was her first experience to confront one of the toughest primordium guys out there. Jurina crouched down and rested her hand onto her friend’s shoulder.
“Yukirin…since when did you about this goddess’ secret?”
“Well…there’s actually nothing.”
“…
HUH??”
Everyone when dumbfounded at the same time and Yuki explained that she was trying to pull something off and she had no choice but to make up something to make everyone listen to her proposal…and who knew that it would work this well. They were all being fooled by this young goddess and Yuko had to ask again to confirm her answer.
“Wait! So there’s no goddess secret??”
“Well…I know it exist…but I don’t know what is it. You see, I keep having these weird dreams and gut feeling that there is something…more than just the goddess mating with another race, but I still don’t know what it is.”
“P-Pft, bwahahahaha! Seriously Yuki? That is SO cunning!”
Sae cracked up and he couldn’t hold back at the slightest. Yuko was completely dumbfounded and couldn’t believe the young goddess was able to pull that lie off after she confronted with Kawaei like that. The sea serpent prince couldn’t hold back his chuckle and was amazed with how his goddess friend was able to lie with such confidence in her voice.
“Well, I’m not exactly lying! I just don’t know what it is yet…so I just have to figure this truth out first before they find out…right?”
“Oh god, you’re such a genius!”
Yuko had a dumbfounded and amazed expression on his face and even Ren let out a smile of relief. As for Sashihara, he was slightly disappointed that Yuki didn’t exactly have that secret he was interested to know, but he was at least keen to wait for the young mortal goddess to remember what it was.
“Okay then, so all we have to do is to beat the damn crap out of all of them before we can continue our game.”
Sae banged his fist into his hand and Yuko nodded as well. They were actually discussing who they would they fight against. To Yuki’s surprise, even Yui and Ren even joined the conversation and discussed right in front of Jurina and Yuki’s face like it was a normal thing. However, it seemed it caught Jurina’s attention and she couldn’t help but to bring it out to everyone.
“Wait…why does it seem you guys are working together?”
That got their attention and it made Yuki realized that too. This was the fight that determined who would be the strongest…but yet these four races seemed to be working together like it was nothing. However, what made the two girls surprised was that both Sae and Yuko replied so casually to them.
“Huh? Oh right, we are! Aren’t we?”
“Oh right, we are?”
“Hm, I guess we actually are.”
“Ah…now that you mentioned it.”
All the four representatives were slightly too naïve to realize that and it brought much confusion to Jurina and Yuki. That was when Yuko crossed his arms and brought up that first deal they made before other races started appearing…that the one that could make Yuki fall in love with first would win without any conditions. They had to get rid of the outside parties that were not part of the game first before they could resume their flirting game with the goddess to capture her heart without any interference.
“I still want to beat and prove this lecherous playboy that I’m WAY better than him in everything.”
“I’ll let the dog yap for now. A great man is the one that doesn’t allow themselves to be influenced by other people’s words.”
“Oh shut up you know how much of a playboy you are. I’m WAY better.”
“I’m MORE attractive than you! D.O.G.”
“I’m not a dog I’m a wolf!!”
Sae and Yuko began fighting once again like usual. However, that was when that aroused Yuki’s curiosity about these four friends of hers…about their true motives. They could easily just kidnap her, but they chose to play this game she accidentally blurted out in the heat of moment. Who knew that they were actually serious about her words?
“I don’t really understand…”
“Huh? What’s a matter Yuki-chan?”
“You all could easily kidnapped me already…but why you all choose to play with this game I just blurted out without thinking…?”
“Oh we know that it is something someone would say in a heat of moment.”
Sae shrugged his shoulder and that was when Yuki learned that everyone knew that since the beginning, but yet they decided to play along with it until now. The young goddess asked why they were still going to do this despite their races’ survival was on the line. After hearing that, none of them replied back to her. Both the dark elf and wolf looked away with a slight blushing face whilst both Yui and Ren chuckled softly before he turned to Yuki.
“I’m certain it is already obvious.”
“Huh…?”
“…You’re not just the goddess or an object to us. You’re Kashiwagi Yuki…we all respect your feelings because you as our friend.”
Ren spoke in everyone’s place and the elf and wolf had no objections. They turned their back to hide their faces, and Yuki couldn’t hide her dumbfounded face. For that moment that made her heart skipped a beat and was touched with these four friends of hers. Ren and Yui added on how they personally don’t like violence, and they could respect whomever Yuki would choose to be with rather than kidnapping her as they initially planned.
“If it is Kashiwagi-sama’s own choice, I will respect it no matter what.”
“Same goes for me. Even though my race’s survival is on the line…I have too much pride as a sea serpent to not make my friend or a lady cry.”
“Argh! I can’t let you guys go all those nice talks!?”
Yuko turned around and yelled at the two of them but his face was still blushing. He was somewhat embarrassed to even look at Yuki at this state because he didn’t want anyone to say that he was a softie wolf boy. He only glared at Yuki and made the raven-haired girl startled with confusion.
“I’m doing this because I made up my mind that I will make you fall in love with me! You got that!? There’s ABSOLUTELY nothing NOTHING more than that!”
“Y-Yuko?”
“Aw, what a cute tsundere dog.”
“What the fuck?? SHUT! UP!!”
Sae couldn’t help but to tease Yuko and that he turned around to give that flirty wink at the young goddess before he gave his cheesy speech to capture her heart. He wouldn’t let this chance to make him look cool in front of his friend. His catchy phrase made the young innocent girl blushed slightly. Through out her life no one ever gave her such a cheesy line like that before…so it was obvious she would have some reactions to it. Obviously the only one that would always interfere would always be the talkative wolf.
“Well obviously! A smile fits you the most beyond anything else, and it is the only thing I would only want to see.”
“E-Eh??”
“Argh! I want to vomit!”
“Quit breaking the mood will ya?”
“Well, if you want to have me, then you need to go through Jurina first~”
Yuki teased all of them and that made the four of them turned to look at the glaring archangel guardian that seemed to not be pleased with them getting any closer to Yuki. Jurina was no different from being a watchdog that was extremely protective over her owner. The young goddess wrapped her arms around Jurina and pulled her close to her body too.
“Right now, Jurina is my number one! Bleh.”
The boys exchanged glances with each other before they started to whisper among themselves regarding that grumpy archangel that was being Yuki’s number one favorite in the list. This time, Sashihara actually joined the conversation with them.
“…And then we all lost to Jurina-san in an instant.”
“I’ll be the referee. This is ought to be fun.”
Sashihara inserted himself into the conversation since he felt that this was very intriguing and interesting to him. All of them were treating such a serious matter into such a tiny matter that Yuki couldn’t help but to be amazed about it. Yuko sighed out and was whining about how he had to even compete against Jurina for Yuki’s love.
“Now I have to compete against a girl? Wait—Jurina is passed to be a man, so we can considered her as a man like us, right?”
“Sometimes you have a good point, dog. I wonder if she likes
my Yuki…this will be a difficult situation for me.”
“I’m not a dog! Also, Yuki-chan is
NOT yours—!”
“Yukirin is
NONE of yours!!!”
Jurina yelled back at them and she couldn’t believe that they were teasing her instead. It seemed the archangel got a little overprotective over her friend and it was such a sweet casual atmosphere that it made the teenage girl cracked up. She wasn’t able to hold her laugh and she just had to let it go. It caught everyone’s attention and all of them decided to let their guard down and was at least grateful that the goddess was not stressful anymore. They did all that funny argument with each other in order to make Yuki return back to her usual self. Obviously…without any confirmation of their thoughts, they all agreed that a smile would suit the young goddess the most.
…Meanwhile, the vampires were just watching everything from above and the young girl beside Mayu seemed to be fascinating with everyone’s relationship. It seemed she was still new to the outside world, and had been asking tons of questions to her older brother.
“Niichan, why are they laughing? Are they not serious about this goddess hunt?”
“They’re just bunch of imbeciles, just like that mortal goddess.”
“Can’t we just kidnap her already, wouldn’t that make our lives much easier?”
Minegishi spoke up but then another older lady disagreed with him. She was wearing this white animal fur coat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The lady told the man off that they should obey whatever Mayu decided because he’s their succeeding leader after all.
“I don’t mind killing all enemies down, if that is what Mayu-sama wishes.”
“How obedient you are, Shinoda.”
“I simply respect my master.”
The lady coldly replied back and Mayu stood up right after he had enough watching the stupidy of all these people. He turned around to his subordinates that arrived from England last night, and a devious smile appeared across his face. Mayu’s eyes were filled with excitement and couldn’t help but to enjoy with the game that the goddess set up for all of them.
“…I would love to see the faces of all these representatives utterly terrified when they confronted the true vampires.”
“Wow, our master is such a sadist. I wonder what would their blood taste like…heh, a taste of utter victory.”
“We shall bring terror upon them, Mayu-sama.”
“Everything for you, niichan~!”
All of them agreed with Mayu and the huge dog snuggled up against his hand as a sign he agreed too. The doctor patted his head in return and it made his familiar enjoyed it. That was when the vampires decided to take their leave and Mayu had his last glance to the mortal goddess that was enjoying her sweet moments with her friends. However, he despised all of it. He hated to see that smile on her face…and it made him wanted to defile and rip it off. For some reason…he only seemed to have anger and negative emotions for the goddess, and no one knew why…
-///-
The view of the deep blue sky and the green plain lands below it was so captivated to the point that she could just stand there and watch this beautiful scenery for the entire time. It felt as if she was waiting for someone to show up…and that was when someone called her from behind.
“Goddess! I finally found you! Please don’t disappear off like that…”
She turned around and then she saw the man landed with those huge black winds spread at its fullest in the sky. He looked almost exactly just like Ren in terms of his facial appearance, but he looked much younger than that. He was more of a like a 15 year old boy than an adult. They have such a different aura too. This tengu was more clumsy and innocent, comparing to Ren who was more stern and calm. He was in his old-fashioned indigo yukata and it seemed the goddess made the young boy extremely worried.
“Hehehe~ I’m sorry! I guess I enjoyed sightseeing a little too much.”
“Gah… Hakuryu-sama would murder me if I told her I lost you! Please don’t disappear on me again…I still value my life!”
“Oops, sorry! I won’t do it again! Shall we go back before she would murder you?”
“Everyone bought all the supplies we needed already. We have to head out by tonight…I’m sorry, we can’t delay our journey any longer.”
“I see…please don’t apologize. This is my destiny. Let us return back to others, Matsui-kun.”
“Yes, my goddess.”-///-
The dream ended and Yuki woke up at 6am sharp once again. She would always wake up very early on days she had a dream that had no relation to any of her current memories…everything took place like thousand of years ago before this current era she was in. Back then, nature was dominant and everything was so beautiful to the point it felt so real to Kashiwagi. The more she dream about it the more she had a feeling that she was seeing those memories from the view of the goddess of life…from Yuki’s previous reincarnation. However, what surprised her was that she saw a young boy that looked exactly like Ren in the dream, and he had his last name too. She felt like that person must be his ancestor back in the era when the goddess was alive. It seemed the black tengu was accompanying the goddess through this ‘journey’ that was her destiny. She wondered whether she shared the same destiny, and whether these dreams were trying to give her hints of what she must do as the goddess of life.
“…My…
destiny? Argh, I feel like I need to know it…but I have no clue what it is at all. Ugh, this is frustrating and it’s giving me a headache.”
Yuki went to the bathroom and decided to just wake up because she couldn’t go back to bed anymore. Despite she didn’t understand her jumbled dreams that she had been having, she was certain that she was on some certain journey to some place. It was very important that she needed to keep on travelling no matter what, because it was her destiny. Her life was slowly changing from a normal ordinary girl’s life to a brand new one…a life as a goddess, and had a huge mission that she must accomplish. It was an inevitable destiny that she could not run away. Despite all of these crazy things, what surprised her was that she wasn’t actually that shocked or surprised with all these supernatural things happening around her. It felt somewhat too familiar with all these primordiums surrounding her. What crept her was that she KNEW something like this was going to happen soon…with her encounter with all these primordiums…it felt like it was set up, and everything was meant to happen. There were too many questions she couldn’t answer yet, but she had this gut feeling that she will eventually know as long as she kept pursuing and wished to find the answers. She didn’t like the fact that her life was somewhat being manipulated by this so-called destiny…and she sought to know the truth to all of it. At least, she wanted to live the life the way she wanted…but no one would know, whether such a thing is possible or not.
-
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~TO BE CONTINUE~
Topic: Who is my Prince? (Yuki Harem:MULTI pairings) ~ 1st Saga Phase 3 (Update: 2/01) (Read 51975 times)