Chapter 45

Kikya walked into the employee lounge at the end of her shift, humming as she let herself dare to feel excitement about her date with Seo.

A voice behind her said, “I guess I’m out of a job.”

Years of survival instinct let Kikya attack in a split second. Someone had hidden and her instincts said they were dangerous. Claws extended from her fingers and sunk into Truck-kun’s right bicep.

She was going to die.

She had avoided the Baku since the incident with Seo, but her luck had run out.

She tried to pull her claws from the Baku, but it was too late. She felt him take control of her. Her attempts to resist were like a grain of sand standing against an ocean wave. He stepped back and directed her to take a chair.

Her body moved on its own, sitting as he demanded.

“You’ve been spying on Kisshin,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “I need to know which gods hired you.”

She tried to resist, but he forced her to start talking. “We never met in person. I worked for them through an intermediary. I regretted my betrayal of Kisshin-sama and recently I’ve been feeding them false information to keep her safe.”

“I know that part. They figured it out and sent a Tengu to kill you yesterday.”

A Tengu? She was just a Bakeneko spy. That was like attacking ants with a grenade. Her heart raced. If Kisshin knew she was a spy she was dead if the Baku didn’t kill her first. If she somehow survived them, the Tengu would kill her easily.

“Don’t worry. I already killed the Tengu. He was outside your apartment last night.”

Outside her apartment? But there hadn’t been any damage. A Tengu could bring down skyscrapers. The Baku killed one without leaving any evidence. Her heart skipped a half dozen beats. She should have taken those scrolls more seriously.

“Yes, the scrolls,” Truck-kun said as if she had been speaking her thoughts aloud, “you sent those to your employer. Tell me about them.”

Kikya started speaking involuntarily. She tried to stop, but all she managed was a single tear down one cheek. “They were about the creator of the Baku, an old god that many thought had not survived hibernation. I gave them to my handler, a Saja.”

“Killed him too,” the Baku said, “but the scrolls were damaged. I ate his brain and learned that you’d reported a rogue god hidden inside Kishoutennyo’s operation. You told him I was the most likely candidate for the hidden rogue god.”

Kikya looked at him. “I noticed how much Kisshin-sama depends on you. You’re better with magic than her. There were signs you’re much more powerful. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t care if you’re sorry. Tell me everything you can remember about the scrolls.”

He could just eat her for extract information, but he hadn’t. He wanted more than information. “They talked about an ancient, prehistoric god. Most records were lost then the library of Alexandria burned. The Greeks called him Phobetor, the Egyptians Khonsu.”

She looked up at him and he nodded for her to continue.

“He created the Baku, the Oneiros, and maybe a half dozen other species of spirits. They called him the Butcher of Gods, the Messenger of Death, the Devourer. He used to be human, but used a spell to kill the old Khonsu to ascend back when mankind was still young. He eats gods.”

“The scrolls said he never went dormant to prevent starvation when magic died. He hid as a Baku and fed on nightmares, staying strong while the other gods starved and slept. He may be the most powerful god in existence.”

Kikya dared to look up at the Baku.

He shook his head. “They’ve been figuring out who I am.”

Kikya was going to die. The Baku was actually Phobetor, the ancient god of fear. Even the strongest gods feared him. He could turn this building into a crater with a word.

Of course she’d die now that she’d dared to care for someone and hope. Maybe Truck-kun would spare her long enough that she could convince him to spare Seo and Kisshin.

“Don’t think of me as Truck-kun,” he growled.

He was reading her mind. There was no escape. She was dead.

“How many of your nine lives do you have left now, kiti kyatto?” he asked.

Kikya winced. He had called her kiti kyatto, and she thought it was a coincidence. Her mother had named her Kikya after the first syllables in Kiti Kyatto. Phobetor had known her true name and that she was a spy. She had been too confident.

Kikya put her mask on, smiling and catching his eye with a roll of her hips as she leaned in her chair. Anything to survive. “It was those little slip ups that gave you away. You use odd words from other languages. Japanese people don’t even say that cats have nine lives. That’s Europe, mostly England.”

He shook his head. “Old habits die hard and I have habits older than Kisshin. Cat spirits are the same the world over. Westerners say cats have nine lives, one year for each life. You cat spirits are like bubbles, beautiful and pointless and short lived. Nine years, and then you die. How many years do you have left?”

Kikya clenched her teeth, tasting bile as her heart raced.

“Only four months left?” Phobetor asked. “And you set up a date with Seo? He’ll be crushed.”

Four months before her death at nine. Despite that, she had selfishly started something with Seo, a bit of happiness before the end of a short Bakeneko life.

It occurred to Kikya that she wasn’t dead. Sure, plenty of ancient gods like to play with their food before eating it, but the one in front of her wasn’t that way. He would kill her without a word if he wanted her dead. He must want something from her, but what?

Kikya excelled at surviving in the corners. That was all she had ever done. “You’ve got me scared. What is it that you want?”

He continued. “You captured the interest of the first mortal to get the best of me in over a thousand years.”

She knew what he wanted. Seo. The one time she’d let herself fall in love, and someone was using her to manipulate him.

“I’m not going to try to use you to manipulate Seo,” Phobetor explained gently, “I’m going to succeed at using you to manipulate him.”

“I won’t betray him,” she said.

“I can give you life. More than nine years, kiti kyatto. Or I can rewrite your mind and force you to obey. I’d prefer a more intelligent, willing servant. The old gods are waking. Magic is renewed. The hellish days of ancient horror are returning. The gods will try again to conquer the world of man.”

“Are you sure?” Kikya asked.

“Oh, kiti kyatto, you were working for them. Those were your masters. There is a conspiracy of gods bent on enslaving mankind to feed and regain strength. I infiltrated and protected Kisshin’s cute little worshipper factory to gather information. Information wins wars like the one I’m fighting, a war for reality itself. I could use clever minds like Seo.”

Kikya remembered something else in the scrolls. “You were a fisherman. Your wife and two of your three children were sacrificed to a god by a cult. Your third child died of her injuries after a few days, suffering terrible nightmares before the end.”

Phobetor’s eyes widened. Suddenly so much of what he did made sense. He closed his eyes. “I have a purpose I must fulfill, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to hinder me. I will butcher every god, one by one. No more sacrifices. No more scared children.”

Kikya was far more terrified now. He wasn’t only one of the strongest gods, but he would stop at nothing to see the conspiracy of gods defeated. He had no limits or morals, only a single goal.

“I’ll help you. How do we stop them?”

“We need to destroy their latest weapon. They’ve been building it for years now. My work here with Kisshin was in preparation to attack that weapon.”

“So,” she said, considering his words, “what do you need Seo for?”

Phobetor shook his head in frustration. “Seo was clever. He saw ways to fight that I didn’t anticipate. And he’s in love with you. You’re all I need to control him. He can help me against their new weapon, since he was so clever in his Isekai. They’ve been building another world. Not a tiny dream world, but another actual reality. I’m going to send you and him into it.”

“Dammit,” Kikya said, eyes closing in frustration, “not another Isekai.”