The roar in the distance was accompanied by a massive inhalation of qi. I did what I could to shield others, but could see the surviving enemy soldiers drained before my eyes. Thankfully, most of our own units were stronger, and resisted the effect with enough force to shield our wounded.

That would be the Tiger King ascending, then. From what Xiang told me, that was what she’d planned on. Stupid murderbun, just did it this way instead of killing them all at the start so she’d have something to fight. Could’ve saved us all a lot of time and trouble if she’d killed the three of them at- what, what’s that?

A surge of qi, stronger by magnitudes than the drawing in that marked the Tiger King’s ascension, blew over all of us. Wood energy, earth energy… yeah, that’s Xiang. Bakabun had her own ascension, becoming stronger than the Tiger King could’ve ever understood.

“Be careful when you reach your own ascension, Kaoru. Xiang won’t be sufficiently entertained by that overfed kitten she’s slaughtering right now.”

I started, turning to see the woman behind me. Bright orange hair, even more flame-like than the Vermilion Queen’s had been, stood out against deep brown skin with a reddish tone that matched the scales on her body fetchingly. Green eyes… oak-like in color, looking at them, regarded me with a kind glow.

I stood up… and found myself surprised again. At just under five feet in height, I was often having to look up to meet anyone in the eye. This woman was shorter than I was, plump and curvy with the gentle swell of a pregnancy… somewhere around four months? Reflexively, I tried to check… and nearly went qi-blind.

“Yeah… don’t try that. I do appreciate the admiration, though. Been far too long since anyone in this area worshiped me properly.” She led me to a nearby ruin, conveniently abandoned. “Your little bunny friend released the final nexus in the area, so take a moment to hit your own enlightenment. I don’t want to hurt you while we talk, and it’s hard to hold back to mortal levels.”

Worship? Mortal? Apparently, I was talking to a goddess. But I took her advice, and sat in meditation.

Almost instantly, qi swirled around me. Fire and water, earth and wood, with the bright golden energy of metal and lightning intertwined throughout. I started to play with them, changing things to my whim to make different forms and beautiful shapes. A part of me wanted to make them into an infinite amount of babies… but I realized now where that came from. A fear of being alone, a sense of loss that I’d displaced by having as many children as I could.

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It wasn’t a bad thing, but I needed to temper that impulse. Moderate it.

But there was so much fun to be had now! The Four Heavenly Kings were dead, the world I knew saved, and I could go home and play with my babies all I wanted!

It was… yes. This was my dao. I’d almost forgotten it of late, so scared and worried for everyone. But I always wanted to have fun, always wanted to be up to some new mischief. Xiang might be a fighter, but I just liked to play my jokes and keep everyone laughing at my tricks.

And as I felt my ninth tail grow, and my fur streak with cream in intricate patterns, I became the very incarnation of just that. A kitsune-gami.

My eyes opened, and I shifted back to human shape as quickly as I’d left it. My goddess smiled.

“Yes, you’ll do nicely. You see, I need someone to re-establish proper worship of the gods in this land, and rather prefer someone who will neither be crushed by the responsibility nor take their position to seriously. So I mark your role by telling you my name. I am Maskanwyn Emberoak.”

I clutched my head, feeling so much more than just the spoken name. The flames of the sun, the source of creation, the scarlet dragon queen. She whose name was the song of flame in the ashes of an ancient tree. Mother of all the gods, who rules from on high surrounded by her harem of… oh. Oh my.

I blushed and smiled, seeing what my goddess did with her time. I think I’d try joining in sometime, maybe in a thousand years or so…

Maskanwyn smiled. “We’ll see. Meanwhile, here’s a bit of history and the basic rules. You have no idea how hard it is to hide these caches when a god needs them.”

She turned a stone, revealing a set of engraved metal plates in… wait, my language?

“Thankfully, your grandmother had the presence of mind to leave an imprint of her people’s language in you when she saw you’d awaken. Saves me the trouble of having to give you a translator system. I’d give the whole ‘be fruitful and multiply’ speech, but you don’t need it. My boy is already complaining about how I’m unbalancing things between you and that rabbit.”

I blinked in surprise, even as I took the massive metal book in my arms. Ridiculously heavy, but I’d have to work on translating it at home. “Your son?”

She nodded. “He’s talking to Xiang right now. Poor boy’s always too serious, though I can hardly blame him. It’s only by his own omnipotence that he exists, after all. Anyway, you’ll get the basic story on him and the other true gods of this world as you go. We’ll talk more another time, when you’re ready. Later!”

She smiled, waved, and disappeared as suddenly as she’d arrived.

Leaving me in a greening battlefield surrounded by confused soldiers.

“Wait. Isn’t it supposed to be winter?”