I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

After confirming that Mitsuhide was truly dead, a heavy silence settled over the ruined shrine grounds.

His final warning still lingered in the air, ugly and unsettling, but Nathan had little room left in himself to dwell on it. He stood upright only by force, one hand gripping Kyomei as if the black blade alone kept him from dropping back to his knees. His face had gone pale beneath the sweat, and there was a strain in his expression that even he could not fully hide anymore.

Setting aside the venom still burning through his body, using Pandora’s curses in this condition had pushed him even further past what he should have endured.

A thin trail of blood slipped from the corner of his mouth and fell onto the snow still scattered across the ground from Yukihime’s earlier attacks, staining the white in bright red drops.

Then he felt a hand gently lift his chin.

Nathan’s gaze shifted, and he found Yukihime kneeling close, her eyes filled with quiet worry. Without a word, she used the sleeve of her kimono to wipe the blood from his lips with a softness that sharply contrasted the violence she had shown only moments ago.

”Are you all right, Nathan sama?”

”Yeah,” he said, his voice rougher than usual. ”I just need rest.”

Yukihime did not look convinced.

”You look terrible, Nathan.”

Shiina’s voice came from beside them, light with amusement.

Nathan turned slightly and saw her stepping closer, her figure darkened with blood and grime from the battle. She looked as if she had walked straight out of a massacre and yet somehow remained completely at ease. Her clothes were stained, her skin marked here and there by the fight, and still she stood there smiling as though none of it had cost her much at all.

After watching her fight Mitsuhide, Nathan had only confirmed what he had already suspected.

She was a monster in her own right.

Yukihime, however, did not seem interested in admiring that fact. The instant Shiina drew near, she shifted without hesitation and placed herself slightly in front of Nathan, subtle but unmistakably protective.

Shiina noticed at once.

Her smile widened.

”Mitsuhide is dead,” she said. ”It was fun fighting with both of you. We should celebrate this victory properly.”

Nathan exhaled slowly and forced his breathing under control. ”First we check on the others.”

Genzo had escaped, but Nathan still needed to confirm he was safe. And Shigeru’s group had gone into the town and castle with the rest of the plan resting on them. Even from up here, smoke could still be seen rising in the distance.

That was enough to end the discussion.

Together, the three of them started back down the road leading toward the valley settlement.

The descent was quieter than the climb had been.

The cold mountain air bit against Nathan’s overheated skin, but it helped a little. Each step still pulled at the injury in his leg and at the deeper strain in his body, yet he kept moving without complaint. Yukihime stayed close enough to catch him if his balance failed, while Shiina walked just ahead for a while, then beside him again, as restless as ever even after a battle like that.

They had not gone more than ten minutes before they spotted Genzo.

The old shinobi had not run nearly as far as Nathan had ordered. Instead, he was sitting on a broad rock beside the road, shoulders slumped with exhaustion, looking like a man held together by little more than stubbornness. When he saw Nathan approaching through the thinning mist, his eyes widened slightly.

”Is he dead?” he asked at once.

”He is,” Nathan replied with a nod. Then his gaze hardened a little. ”Why did you stop here?”

Genzo gave a dry, tired snort. ”Because I am beaten half to death and exhausted. Also, the town below looks like it is under attack. And if you had died up there, I did not think it would be good for me to be the only one left alive in the end.”

Nathan looked at him for a moment. ”That would only have made my death pointless.”

Genzo scoffed again, though more faintly this time.

”One thing I understand very clearly,” he said, ”is that without you, all of this would fall apart. Norihiro is too strong, and his army is loyal.”

”I will deal with him later,” Nathan said. ”For now, you need to recover. I did not go through all this only for you to remain in this state.”

Genzo gave a reluctant nod and pushed himself to his feet. He was unsteady, but still standing.

Then his eyes shifted past Nathan and landed on Shiina.

He frowned.

”And who is this woman?”

He already knew Yukihime. Shiina, however, was a complete mystery to him.

Nathan glanced toward her, already too tired to enjoy what was coming.

Shiina smiled brightly, almost sweetly.

”I am Norihiro’s personal guard, Shiina. It is nice to meet you, leader of the shinobi.”

Genzo stared at her.

Then at Nathan.

Then back at her again.

For a moment, his jaw simply dropped open in stunned disbelief.

He looked at Nathan with the expression of a man trying to understand what kind of impossible nonsense had happened in his absence.

Nathan, in no mood to explain the full absurdity of it all, cut him off before he could begin.

”I will explain later,” he said. ”First we confirm that Shigeru has taken the town.”

Genzo blinked once, still visibly trying to recover from Shiina’s introduction. ”Who is Shigeru?”

”A mercenary I hired,” Nathan replied. ”He does not know who we are, so keep your mouth shut.”

That seemed to bring Genzo back to himself somewhat. He nodded quickly.

Then, almost immediately, worry took over his face again.

”How is Hanzo?”

Nathan answered at once, though carefully. ”She is fine. Just worried.”

He did not say more.

Not with Shiina standing there listening.

Genzo noticed that omission, and from the slight tightening of his expression, Nathan knew he understood why. Still, the answer seemed enough to ease at least part of the fear he had carried.

By the time Nathan, Yukihime, Shiina, and Genzo descended from the shrine road and reached the outskirts of the town, the air had changed completely.

The oppressive weight that had hung over Death God Valley earlier was still there in traces, but now it was mixed with something louder, rougher, more alive. Smoke drifted upward from several places in the settlement, and the streets bore the marks of fresh fighting. Bodies of Mitsuhide’s soldiers lay scattered across the road and near the entrances of houses, some collapsed where they had made their last stand, others cut down while trying to flee. Broken weapons, overturned carts, and blood stained stones told the rest of the story without needing words.

Nathan slowed slightly, his eyes moving over the scene.

So Shigeru’s group had done it.

From farther ahead came a swelling noise, not of battle now, but of voices. A crowd. A rising uproar from somewhere near the middle of town.

They followed it.

As they moved deeper through the streets, more signs of the fighting became clear. Doors stood open. People who had once hidden behind them were now stepping outside, cautious at first, then bolder with each passing moment. Some stared at the fallen soldiers in disbelief. Others looked toward the center of town with wet eyes, hands clasped tightly to their mouths as if they still could not believe what was happening.

Then Nathan and the others reached the main square.

That was where Shigeru and his group stood.

They were in the middle of the open space, bloodied, worn, and smeared with dirt from head to toe, but very much alive. Around them, the people of the town had gathered in growing numbers, surrounding them not in fear, but in gratitude and rising joy. Some shouted. Some cried openly. Some laughed in the wild, disbelieving way of people who had lived too long under misery and did not yet know how to carry sudden freedom.

Shigeru stood at the front of his companions, sword still in hand, his clothes stained with blood and ash. Yet despite the exhaustion written across his body, he wore a broad smile.

”You are free!” he called out to the crowd, raising his arm high. ”Mitsuhide is finished. No one here serves him anymore!”

A roar answered him at once.

The people erupted.

Cheers broke through the square from every side, loud enough to roll through the streets beyond. Some fell to their knees in relief. Others reached for one another, holding on as if afraid this might still be torn away from them. Even children who had looked hollow and frightened before now cried out with trembling voices, pulled along by the wave of emotion around them.

Taku was grinning like a fool despite the blood on his face. Sana looked exhausted but radiant. Yuwa, though more restrained, could not fully hide the relief in her eyes. Sosuke had both arms lifted, shouting with the crowd. Nanao stood with her usual sharp expression, though even she looked a little less guarded than before. Eri and Ueda seemed stunned by the people’s reaction, as if they had not expected the victory to feel this real.

Then Shigeru’s gaze shifted past the crowd.

He spotted Nathan.

At once, his smile widened further, and he raised a hand in an easy wave.