The fox’s voice echoed through the cave and ripped through our ears. 

“KYAHHH!”

“Ugh!!”

“AHH!”

“It hurts!!!”

“Ahh!!”

I turned around and saw the others screaming in pain with blood spilling out from their ears.

‘My ki protected me, but the others are vulnerable!’

I faced the fox again and gathered my courage.

“I greet the great guardian of the forest! Please have mercy on us and hold back your great presence.”

Somehow, I had a feeling the fox would listen to my request because her red eyes were looking at me with a hint of affection.

The fox tilted its head for a moment, unable to understand the reason for my request. But thankfully, I felt its presence disappearing into its body.

[Young fox, why are you worried for those mortals?]

‘Young fox…?’

I looked up at the white fox, confused.

“Great guardian, why do you call me a fox? I am human.”

[You don’t have to lie to me, young fox.]

“…I’m telling you the truth.”

The fox lowered her head in front of me and squinted her red eyes. I felt my back becoming wet with sweat.

[Ho ho you can’t trick these eyes of mine, child. I can see the energy of the fox yokai flowing inside of you. Its the same kind as mine… so you must be one of my descendants.]

My eyes widened with surprise. To think the fox’s energy that traveled back in time with me, would lead to such a conclusion. My eyes glowed as an idea sparked inside my head. I respectfully lowered my head in front of the fox.

“This young fox greets the great ancestor.”

[Ho ho ho!]

The fox’s eyes curved up like crescents and her sharp white teeth shined as she laughed with joy.

[Its been centuries since I last met one of us. Tell me… what is your name?]

Thud!

I knelt down before the fox and she flinched at my sudden action.

“My name is Yun, and I have a request for the great guardian! My friends and I were forced into this realm, and wish to return to the land of humans. Please, send us back!”

I lowered my head and waited for the fox’s response. I could feel her intense stare on me.

[…You wish to go to where the humans are?]

“Yes!”

[…]

I sensed a bad omen within the fox’s silence and slowly lifted my head.

[I will not allow it.]

“!!!”

[You will stay in this land with me.]

I sensed determination in the fox’s voice and felt my heart drop.

‘Damn it!’

I gripped my sword tightly and glared at the fox. The fox frowned at my defensive reaction.

“I can’t stay here! I’m going out with my friends!”

[Perhaps you’ll want to stay when all your friends are dead!]

The fox roared and her presence exploded out from her body. I quickly ran back to where the others were. They had all fainted from the pain in their ripped ears. 

I moved the ki from my body and released it out, covering the others. The fox’s presence collided with my ki and I felt a powerful blow. 

“Cough! cough!”

I spit out blood and my ki wavered. I could tell the fox was going easy on me, so that I wouldn’t die.

[I won’t allow one of my kind to live amongst humans! This will hurt, but don’t worry. I’ll heal you completely once I kill those humans!]

The fox’s presence grew stronger. 

‘If only I had more time to gather ki!’

I could feel my ki running out, and the protective layer around the others started to fade. Once the fox’s presence gets through, I knew their bodies would explode. 

‘What do I do..!’

While I held on with all my strength, I felt something strange happening inside my body.

The red energy that was moving in the opposite direction of my ki was growing stronger! In response to my will, it flowed out of my body and covered us over my ki. It was protecting us from the fox’s presence!

[What?!]

The fox sounded startled by the sudden energy, and I felt her presence waver. I used that chance to strengthen my control over the red energy. I was slowly getting used to its power. 

[Do you think something like that is enough to stop me?!]

CRASH!

In a moment of anger, the fox released her true strength and destroyed my energies. Before I could even despair, I saw the fox’s presence reach my friends. 

“No!!!”

BOOM!!!

As I cried, I heard a thundering sound outside of the cave and a burst of light blinded the area.

[KYAHHHHH!!!]

After seeing that my friends were safe, I turned around and saw the fox light up in flames! She squirmed her body in pain and collided with the walls of the cave.

BOOM! BOOM! RUMBLE!

The cave shook and rubble fell down. I picked up my wooden sword and destroyed the rocks before they landed on us.

BOOM! BOOM!

While the fox screamed in pain, a bright bolt of lightning striked down from the cloudy sky and a tall figure cloaked in black descended down to the ground. 

‘Ikor..!’

The great ruler of the thunder clan had appeared before us a day earlier than I had expected!

He released his great presence, but directed all of its might on the fox. Thankfully for us, it ment we were safe from it.

[How dare a mere fox yokai go against my order! If you read my intentions in the heavens, you should’ve known I was coming!]

[KYAHHHHHH!!!]

The fox released a large amount of red energy that put out the flames that was burning her body. I could tell the fox was severely weakened. Her white fur was black from the burns and her breath was heavy.

[Hah… hah… You Chunin sorcerers believe you’re above us, but we’re only a rank apart! If I use all my strength, even you won’t get out of it unharmed!]

The red energy around the fox grew stronger and her tails grew in number, until there were 9 in total.  

Ikor’s expression remained calm in front of the fox’s transformation and moved his hand towards the fox.

[Burn.]

BOOM!

Lightning striked down where the fox stood.

[Kgh..!]

However this time, the fox blocked the attack by creating a shield over her head with her 9 tails.

[It’s useless.]

Consecutive bolts of lightning stiked down at the fox. I could see her nine tails slowly turning black from the burns.

[ARGH!!] 

The fox continued to block the bolts but sent 2 of her tails to attack Ikor. She realized she would lose if all she did was block. 

 Swoosh swoosh!

Her tails extended towards Ikor at a speed too fast for my eyes to follow. But I couldn’t believe what happened next.

Ikor reached out and the 2 tails moved into his grasp! All he did was hold his hand out and the tails were drawn in by an unexplainable ability.

Woosh!

Ikor pulled the fox's tails with seemly no effort and the fox’s body flew towards Ikor. The fox, startled only for a moment, quickly rushed in the direction it was pulled and aimed the rest of her tails at Ikor.

The sharp tips of her tails flew towards the cloaked figure with the intent to puncture through, but froze in place a feet away from his body.

They were not allowed to come any closer to Ikor.

[A futile attempt.]

From Ikor’s grasp, the fox began to burn in a bright red flame. It spread to the rest of her body in a second.

[AHHHHHHHH!!!!]

The fox screeched and Ikor flung its massive body through the air. Ikor used his authority and folded space, sending the fox miles away by the time I blinked my eyes.

[Know that I’ve shown mercy this once, since your kind belongs to @/&$!%]

Ikor spoke a name that I could not hear. I was not allowed to know it.

Once the fox completely disappeared, Ikor laid his eyes on us.

I flinched and quickly spoke.

“Please hold back your prese- AHHHHH!!!!!”

I fell to the ground as an excruciating pain shocked through my body and I spilled tears of blood. I covered my eyes and struggled to check on the others. Thankfully, they were still peacefully unconscious. Ikor’s presence was only hurting me.

[A young yokai… no, half yokai? You must be one of the fox’s descendants.]

“Kgh…Ah…”

I dug my nails into the ground and struggled to speak. I circulated my ki and yokai energy in order to fight against Ikor’s presence. I gritted my teeth and lifted my head.

“I.. I’m not a yokai…I’m human…!”

Ikor’s yellow eyes sparked for a moment and he withdrew his presence.

[Impressive.]

After the pain receded, I felt my consciousness fade and everything went black.