I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

Nathan followed after Norihiro

The Daimyo had chosen another path than the usual one, one that cut through the low hills south of the battlefield before turning east toward Minami Kyoto. At first, it seemed strange. The city was under attack. Urakami’s soldiers had breached its gates. Norihiro’s remaining army was collapsing behind him.

Yet he was not riding back to defend his people.

He was riding toward something hidden beneath them.

The underground shrine.

Nathan moved through the hills at full speed, following the faint traces left by Norihiro’s retreating group. Dark power gathered beneath his feet whenever the ground became too uneven, allowing him to cross ravines and steep slopes that would have slowed an ordinary rider.

The battle still echoed behind him.

Urakami’s army was destroying what remained of Norihiro’s soldiers. Farther east, beyond the ridges and forests, Minami Kyoto was already burning with conflict. Yukihime had shattered the main gate. Urakami’s second army had entered the city. Hanzo and the shinobi were now moving to contain them from inside.

Nathan could feel the direction of the city without seeing it.

Smoke rose above the horizon.

Even from this distance, it darkened the afternoon sky.

Yukihime was strong enough to face armies. Hanzo was capable. The shinobi knew Minami Kyoto’s hidden roads and old tunnels better than the invading samurai ever could.

But the situation remained dangerous.

Too many civilians were trapped behind those walls.

Too many unknowns remained.

And yet Norihiro had become the greater danger.

If he reached the underground shrine and awakened whatever waited there, Minami Kyoto might not matter anymore. Urakami’s army, the shinobi, the defenders, and every innocent person hiding in the city could become meaningless beneath the strength of a Kijin.

Nathan had seen what one corrupted shrine did to Mitsuhide.

Norihiro had prepared for years.

That made him far more dangerous.

The trail led through a narrow ravine where the earth rose sharply on either side. Hoofprints marked the mud, though the recent movement of soldiers and refugees had made them difficult to follow. Nathan stopped near a broken branch hanging low over the trail.

A strip of dark cloth was caught on it.

He touched it.

It was from Norihiro’s banners.

The knights were moving quickly, but they were not trying to erase their tracks.

That unsettled Nathan.

Norihiro knew Genzo would follow.

Perhaps he even expected Nathan to do the same.

Nathan looked toward the distant city again.

Then he moved.

°°°°

Genzo crouched behind a rocky outcrop above the ravine.

Six shinobi waited around him, nearly impossible to see beneath the dry grass, branches, and shadows of the hillside. They had tracked Norihiro from the battlefield for nearly an hour, keeping enough distance that the Daimyo’s knights would not notice them.

At least, that was what Genzo hoped.

Below, Norihiro’s group had stopped.

There were twelve knights with him now.

Some had been injured during the battle. One wore a blood-stained bandage around his upper arm. Another’s horse limped slightly, but Norihiro had not slowed for either man. His guards stayed close to him, forming a tight circle as they moved through the ravine.

They had left the battlefield with purpose.

They were not fleeing in panic.

That was what made Genzo’s instincts scream.

Norihiro stood near the mouth of a narrow passage between two hills. The path looked unremarkable. It was partly covered by dead brush and fallen branches, with a large slab of broken stone lying at one side.

But Genzo could see the signs.

The stones had been moved before.

The brush had been placed there deliberately.

And beneath the dirt near the entrance, an old pattern had been carved into the earth.

A circle.

Inside it, several symbols.

Genzo did not know their meaning.

But he had seen drawings of similar signs in the reports Nathan brought back from Death God

Valley.

His expression hardened.

The shrine was close.

One of the shinobi beside him, a young man named Daichi, leaned nearer.

”Genzo-sama,” he whispered. ”Should we attack before he reaches it?”

Genzo watched Norihiro’s knights.

”No.”

”There are only twelve of them.”

”Twelve knights protecting a man who expects us to follow.”

Daichi fell quiet.

Genzo’s gaze stayed on Norihiro.

The Daimyo had removed his helmet. His dark hair was loose around his shoulders, and blood marked the side of his face. He did not look frightened. He did not even look angry.

He looked relieved.

As though the battle had only been a delay.

As though everything leading to this moment had happened exactly as he wanted.

Norihiro placed one hand against the stone slab beside the hidden path.

Then he spoke.

His voice was too low for Genzo to hear from the hill.

But the symbols in the dirt began glowing.

A dim crimson light spread through the circle.

The stone shifted.

It did not move quickly. It dragged across the earth with a deep grinding sound, revealing a narrow stairway descending underground.

Cold air rose from the opening.

Genzo felt it from where he hid.

Not the cold of winter.

Something older.

Something that smelled faintly of wet stone, old blood, and rotting incense.

Daichi’s face had gone pale.

”That is not a shrine,” he whispered.

Genzo did not answer.

Below, Norihiro’s knights entered first.

Two descended through the opening. Then two more. The wounded men followed. Finally, Norihiro stood alone beside the stairway for a moment.

He turned his head.

Genzo’s body became still.

The distance was too great.

The bushes and rocks should have hidden him.

But Norihiro looked directly toward the ridge.

A faint smile touched the Daimyo’s lips.

Then he descended underground.

The stone door began closing behind him.

”Now,” Genzo said.

The shinobi rose from their hiding places.

They moved down the hillside in silence.

But before they reached the hidden entrance, a dark figure landed on the rocks ahead of them.

Nathan.

Genzo’s tension eased slightly, though it did not vanish.

”You found us,” he said.

Nathan looked toward the nearly closed stone slab.

”I followed the trail.”

”He is inside.”

”I know.”

Genzo studied Nathan’s injuries.

”You seem not in a good shape.”

”There is no time,” he said. ”What happened after Norihiro left?”

Genzo looked toward the underground entrance.

”He took twelve knights and came here directly. He opened the passage himself. The symbols responded to him.”

”Did he know you were following?”

Genzo’s expression grew grim.

”I think so.”

Nathan looked at the stone slab.

It had almost sealed the stairway completely.

”Then he wants us inside.”

”Yes.”

Daichi stepped forward.

”Ryo-sama, should we call more people? If this is another Kijin shrine, perhaps we need the entire village.”

Nathan shook his head.

”By the time reinforcements arrive, Norihiro may finish whatever he came here to do.”

The young shinobi looked uneasy.

”But if we go inside...”

”We may be walking into his trap,” Nathan finished.

No one spoke.

That was the truth.

Norihiro had escaped a losing battle without looking back at Minami Kyoto. He had abandoned his soldiers, the city, and even the authority he had spent years building.

A man did not do that unless he believed the power waiting below was worth more than all of it.

Nathan walked toward the stone slab.

Dark magic gathered around his free hand.

Genzo caught his arm.

”Wait.”

Nathan looked at him.

”The shrine may be protected,” Genzo said. ”If he expects us, he may have laid traps along the stairs. Ritual traps. Things none of us understand.”

Nathan glanced toward the entrance.

”Do you have another suggestion?”

Genzo released his arm.

”No.”

Nathan placed his palm against the stone.

Darkness flowed over his fingers.

The glowing symbols around the entrance reacted immediately.

Crimson light flared.

A cold pressure pushed against Nathan’s hand, as though the shrine itself was trying to force him away. The earth beneath the entrance trembled. A sound like a distant scream rose from below.

Daichi stepped back.

The other shinobi reached for their weapons.

Nathan did not move.

The darkness around his hand deepened.

The curse of Pandora stirred faintly beneath his skin, responding to the corrupted energy behind the stone. Nathan felt the same hungry wrongness he had felt in Death God Valley.

But this shrine was different.

It was larger.

Older.

Its power was not leaking out in unstable bursts like Mitsuhide’s had.

It was contained.

Waiting.

Nathan pushed harder.

The stone slab cracked.

A black line ran through the glowing symbols.

Then the entire entrance shuddered.

With a heavy grinding sound, the slab dragged backward once more.

The stairway opened.

Cold air rushed up from the darkness.

This time, it carried another scent.

Burned oil.

Fresh blood.

Norihiro was already preparing something below.

Nathan stepped toward the stairs.

Genzo moved beside him.

”I am going with you.”

Nathan looked at the shinobi leader.

”You should be in Minami Kyoto.”

”And leave you alone beneath a Kijin shrine?” Genzo asked. ”No.”

”The city needs you.”

”So do the people who followed me here.”

Nathan’s gaze moved to the six shinobi waiting behind them.

They were afraid.

He could see it.

But none of them had stepped back from the entrance.

Genzo continued.

”Hanzo is leading the shinobi into Minami Kyoto. She knows the city. She knows our people inside. If I leave now, I may not reach the gates before the battle spreads further.”

He looked down into the dark stairway.

”But Norihiro is here. If he becomes something like Mitsuhide, then this is where we must stop him.”

Nathan gave a slow nod.

”Fine.”

Genzo turned to his people.

”Daichi, Kenta, stay above ground. Watch the road. If more knights or soldiers arrive, signal us immediately.”

The two shinobi bowed.

”Yes, Genzo-sama.”

”The rest come with us,” Genzo said. ”Stay close. Do not touch anything unless ordered. Do not separate, no matter what you hear.”

The words hung in the cold air.

No matter what you hear.

Nathan understood why Genzo said it.

Shrines like this did not only use blades and traps.

They used fear.

They used memories.

They used the parts of people that could not be defended with armor.

Nathan drew Kyomei.

Its dark blade caught the faint crimson light leaking from the stairway.

He started down the stairs.

Genzo followed beside him.

Four shinobi came behind them.

The stone entrance slowly began closing above their heads, shutting out the afternoon light one narrow strip at a time.

Nathan looked back once.

Outside, the hills stood silent beneath a smoke-darkened sky.

Then the stone slab sealed completely.

Darkness swallowed them.