I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

By the time they reached Death God Valley, night had already settled over the land.

Rather than rush straight inside, they made camp a reasonable distance from the valley, close enough to keep it in sight but far enough to avoid walking blindly into whatever dangers waited below. They chose a clearing near a small forest where the trees offered some cover, and under everyone’s watchful eyes, a modest camp was quickly raised.

It was the right decision.

None of them had ever come here before, and after everything they had heard along the road, even Shigeru’s group had grown noticeably uneasy. Their usual jokes still came, but less often now, and with less life behind them. The place had a way of pressing on the nerves without doing anything at all. It simply existed there in the dark, wrapped in mist, silent and wrong.

Nathan had no intention of taking unnecessary risks either.

Genzo’s life was at stake. That alone was enough reason to move carefully.

”What a terrifying place,” Eri murmured, staring toward the valley from beside the fire.

From a distance, Death God Valley looked even more unsettling at night. Darkness pooled between its slopes, and a thick black mist drifted through it in slow, unnatural waves. It was hard to tell where the valley ended and the shadows began. And yet, despite its appearance, people still went in and out. There were homes inside. There was life in that cursed place.

”Definitely not somewhere you would hold a festival,” Sosuke said, folding his arms as he squinted into the distance.

”There are probably no taverns inside either,” Taku added bitterly.

Yuwa rolled her eyes. ”Of course that is what you are worried about.”

Taku clicked his tongue. ”A man has priorities.”

”What do we do, then?” Sana asked, looking between Shigeru and Nathan. ”We cannot just stand here all night admiring how creepy it is.”

Shigeru let out a slow breath and looked toward the valley. ”Good question. Right now, we know next to nothing about the place. We have rumors, a name, and a target. That is not much to work with.”

Nathan could not disagree.

For a brief moment, he thought of Hanzo. She would have been ideal for something like this. Quiet, patient, invisible when she wished to be. She could have entered, gathered information, and returned before most people ever realized she had been there. Unfortunately, she had been needed elsewhere. Someone had to remain behind to watch over Sakura and Akiko, and Nathan had only entrusted that role to Hanzo.

”I say we go in quietly,” Shigeru continued. ”No attention, no unnecessary trouble. We gather information first, then act once we know where Mitsuhide is and what the situation looks like.”

Yamada frowned and glanced around the group. ”That would be easier if there were not twelve of us. It is hard enough to hide a large group. And some of us stand out more than others.”

His eyes shifted meaningfully toward Nathan and Shiina.

He was not wrong.

Nathan’s presence drew attention even when he did nothing, and Shiina was no easier to overlook. There was something about her, between her face, her posture, and the quiet ease she carried, that made people notice her almost immediately.

”We wear cloaks,” Nathan said. ”And we do not enter together.”

Shigeru nodded at once. ”Agreed. If we move as one group, we will be remembered. If we enter separately, we can blend better. We split into pairs. Six groups of two.”

”That makes sense,” Sana said.

Shigeru looked around the fire, already thinking ahead. ”Nathan stays with Shiina. That is obvious enough. The two of you are only interested in killing the daimyo, yes?”

”Yes,” Nathan said. ”But there is also a hostage. An old man. If any of you see him, secure him immediately.”

Shigeru lifted a brow. ”That is all you can tell us? An old man?”

”You will know him if you see him,” Nathan replied.

It was not a satisfying answer, but it was the only one he had to give.

Shigeru studied him for a moment, then nodded. ”Fine. Information first. Once we know the layout and where Mitsuhide is hiding, we meet again and decide how to strike.”

”Can we start already?” Shiina asked, sounding bored as she sat with one knee drawn up. ”The longer we wait, the more this place annoys me.”

A faint smile crossed Sana’s face. ”At least someone is eager.”

”This is not eagerness,” Shiina said. ”I simply do not like sitting still.”

”First we gather information,” Shigeru repeated. ”Then we plan the assault together.”

This time, everyone agreed without argument.

The campfire burned low as they prepared. Cloaks were pulled over shoulders, weapons checked one last time, and the little chatter that remained slowly died away beneath the weight of what lay ahead. Soon the groups began to separate, each pair taking a different path toward one of the valley’s entrances.

Nathan rose without a word.

Shiina stood beside him a moment later, brushing a few loose strands of hair from her face before drawing her dark cloak over herself. With the hood up, much of her appearance disappeared into shadow, though not even that could hide her completely. The same was true for Nathan. They could dull their presence, but not erase it.

Together, they headed toward the eastern entrance.

The closer they drew, the stranger the land became. The air felt colder there, though no wind moved through the trees. Mist drifted low across the ground, clinging to roots and stones like something alive. The path narrowed as it descended, and from farther below came the faint signs of habitation, dim lanterns in the dark, distant voices, the occasional creak of wood, all of it softened and distorted by the valley itself.

It did not feel like approaching a town.

It felt like approaching the mouth of something that slept with one eye open.

Shiina walked beside Nathan in silence for a while before speaking at last.

”This place smells wrong.”

Nathan glanced ahead. ”You noticed it too.”

”It is not just the mist,” she said quietly. ”There is something rotten underneath it. Old blood, maybe. Or fear.”

Nathan said nothing, but his hand rested a little closer to his weapon beneath the cloak.

As they neared the eastern entrance, more signs of life began to emerge. A few figures moved along the descending road, some alone, others in pairs, all wrapped in dark clothing suited to the chill and gloom of the valley. No one seemed especially cheerful. Faces were hard, tired, suspicious. Even the guards posted near the entrance looked less like disciplined soldiers and more like men who had learned to live in a place that had stripped softness out of them.

Nathan lowered his gaze slightly and kept walking.

Beside him, Shiina matched his pace perfectly. She was clearly the least uneasy among the whole group.

Neither spoke again as they passed through the eastern way and entered Death God Valley at last, swallowed little by little by its mist, its silence, and the feeling that from the very first step inside, they were already being watched.