Gods, Humans, Youkai. Three different beings all living among one another in a singular world. Some may call it Paradise, others heretical. This world is simply known as Earth. The Surface World is filled with all three. However there are other more sinister locations, and then there is the underbelly of Earth. . . 

 

Hell.

 

 A landscape not meant for humans to simply cross. It is the fiery underbelly of the world, only meant for vengeful spirits, demons and Death himself. Lawless outside, with a large structure that looms over. However, on one fateful day, a new being goes down to live in said Underworld. 

 

A fortress made out of a gilded black brick stood atop of a massive lava lake, with only one connecting bridge to a cliffside. A young man in his pre-adolescent years practiced using a sword, however he tripped as he went for a lunge towards the training dummy set before him, much to his instructor’s disappointment. 

 

“Your stance is off, young prince.” the instructor said, as she scratched her head. 

The youth had blonde hair, a gray jacket with a skull, while his eyes shone a bright purple. His neck was lined with a silver necklace decorated with skulls. The prince groaned in frustration yet tried again and again, where he swung at the dummy. 

 

The instructor took a sigh and sat down as she watched him. She wore a dark robe, slim and tattered on the edges. A string ties the robe to her upper torso. Unlike the youth, her head is a floating skull with a dark blue flame emanating from it.

 

Suddenly, a ray of light suddenly shone in front of the castle gates, which grew progressively more intense by the second. Two beings appeared from said light. A tall woman with long white hair tied into a ponytail, with eyes that appeared like the sun itself. She wore a suit that had a recurring flame pattern that went from her collar all the way down to her sleeves and one side of her pants. She also has a necklace that was lined with five magatamas and a bronze mirror that orbited her right shoulder. 

 

The instructor immediately bowed out of respect, while the prince remained clueless as to who it was that stood before them. “Lady Amaterasu, I am honored to be in your presence” she said, causing the young prince to immediately follow suit after the realization. “What can we do for the head deity of the Sun?” the young Prince said. 

 

“I am here to see your father, young prince, is he here?” Amaterasu said, in a calm manner but exuded confidence and dignity. 

 

“He has not left his chamber for a long time. Ever since my mother died… he left the duties of ruling the Underworld to Monty.” The boy gloomily replied. 

 

“I see, well I have come here today to speak with whoever is in charge regarding Hell’s flame problem.” Amaterasu said.

 

“Monty should be coming out short-” The boy said moments before the gates of the main building opened and a middle aged man as tall as Amaterasu appeared. His hair was bright crimson, tied to a ponytail and had obsidian glasses. His piercing glare was cold, unlike Hell’s extremely hot temperature. The man’s suit was dark, with the trim being white and purple. He also wore a tattered cloak similar to the instructor, however he has a skull mask tied to his waist. He also carried a scythe, which has a large eye and four blades aligned together. 

 

“Ah yes Lady Amaterasu, I was expecting your arrival” the man spoke in a raspy yet soft tone. 

 

“Hello there Monty, it has been a long time since our last meeting. Last time you were the King’s advisor.” Amaterasu said, as she smiled at him. 

 

“Ah it has been quite a handful filling in for my Lord. The Underworld had been quite a challenge with these vengeful spirits attempting to control the unholy flames.” Monty said, scratching his head. 

 

“Fortunately, I have the solution to that issue.” Amaterasu said as she ruffled the hair of the young man next to her. 

 

The prince, Monty and the instructor took a look at the younger man, tall as Amaterasu’s neck height, with bronze hair and red eyes with a yellow reticle on his right eye. He sported garb that consisted of a short sleeved loose turtleneck with pouches, loose pants with belt buckles. A short mantle was worn over the top, with a red eye buckle that kept it together. 

 

“My name is Soma, I am a Yatagarasu.” the young man said nervously. 

 

“Hello there, Lord Soma.” Monty said, who attempted to be friendly towards the young God. 

 

“Soma here will be able to maintain Hell’s flames, just let him do what must be done and he can control them just fine.” Amaterasu said, as she headpat him. 

 

“I spent lots of time in the Sun maintaining its solar fields, Lady Amaterasu told me it is usually the same thing in the Underworld.” Soma said. 

 

“In that case, I look forward to working with you.” Monty said as he smiled, in which Soma was still nervous

 

“I will take my leave now young one, this is your divine duty, so eventually you will gain a new one in roughly a thousand years. Do well and you may eventually work with me in the office,” Amaterasu said, hugging Soma. 

 

“Will I do alright?” 

 

“You will do great.” A ray of light then appeared to engulf the Goddess and she disappeared. 

 

Soma stood there, hesitant and unsure, then proceeded to nervously wave at them to which Monty waved back with a gentle smile. 

​

☀​   ☀   ☀

 

Time has passed since then and Soma is seen in a concrete walled house near the cliffside of a seemingly endless pit of flame. This house was a single floor house with a bedroom, bathroom and the main room that held everything Soma owned. This main room has an anvil in the middle along with a furnace that releases smoke upwards out the opening at the top of the house. A worktable stood, with blueprints rolled up and some were posted on the wall above, with components scattered around as well. Loud clashes of hammer and metal were heard in its vicinity. The young God wore a sleeveless shirt, goggles and his pants were different to what he wore on his first arrival. The metallic tube shone a bright red, which he examined with his goggles. The metal shone a faint azure with green circuit patterns that were hard to see.

 

“Perfect!” Soma said as he took off his goggles and held it with his right arm. 

 

The young God then took that tube and took it to a worktable and pieced it together using mechanical components from the toolbox. He then grabbed paint spray cans and elegantly and so carefully made a semi automatic rifle. After letting the paint dry off, Soma held the gun and aimed at a training dummy in the other end of the room which already had so many bullet holes in it, which he took a shot at, severing the dummy in two. The rifle cracked slightly on the barrel as it fired a shot, but nothing severe. 

 

Soma then disposed of the dummy and went into a closet full of dummies and placed a new one where the old one was set. 

 

“It appears that I still can’t use it without shattering.” Soma sighed. He then took the rifle and threw it behind him over his shoulder, causing it to dissipate. 

 

“Soma! Soma come quick!” a small female voice was heard out his window. 

 

Soma looked out the window to see a raven rapidly approaching his house, it looked in distress. 

The raven did not stop however, and slammed her face on the window. 

 

“Moesashi, what’s going on?” Soma asked as he opened the window and patted the bird. 

 

“The Oni and Amanojaku are fighting again  and might start another gang war!” she replied, while pointing her feathers at the general location.

 

Soma’s expression shifted from distress to irritation. “So? They always cause a ruckus, and I'm somehow responsible for them screwing around the village.” Soma asked, crossing his arms. 

 

She put one of her wings to her face and then said “They’re fighting next to the council building along the Bone Serpent’s pit! ! ! !” 

 

“THEY WHAT?!” 

 

Soma widened his eyes and wiped off his hands, immediately putting on a short sleeved top that goes from a loose turtleneck to his hips, splitting to the right leg, revealing a maroon shirt underneath. Soma then flew with the bird towards a cliffside area.

“Why am I always a peacekeeper when I’m not managing Hell’s flames?!”

 

Soma exited his house and wings emerged from his shirt, it seemed to blend well with his clothes, retaining the gray color of his shirt and jumped after a running start. Passing by a large landscape of lava geysers, stalagmites, and the occasional vengeful spirit getting in the young God’s face. In annoyance, Soma smacked the spirit with his right arm, to its dismay. A bone serpent appeared from the pits of fire and attempted to devour Soma as he grabbed the head with his right arm and sent it upwards as it crashed on the ceiling of the cavern. Soma flew past the serpent embedded in the rocks but as it attempted to move, it was shot by three flaming shots and easily shattered the creature as it burned to ashes.

 

The two flew towards the commotion where a brawl can be spotted between a tall horned humanoid woman taller than Soma and a smaller one who’s the same height as him. The taller one had a red complexion and her horns were long and curved, while she wielded a kanabo on her left hand. However, in her right hand was a sake dish which she sipped from. The shorter one had more of a pink complexion, her horns were stubby and she brandished a nodachi. Both women clashed weapons aggressively. The audience roared in excitement as the tall one slammed her kanabo into the ground, causing it to crack and erupt flames as the shorter one dodged each of the cracks that formed. After lava forced its way through the cracks, causing a geyser, the tall one lunged towards the other, where she blocked the impending attack, with her eyes glowing red for a split second and punched the tall one in a split second. The tall one did not break composure and returned a punch as well. As they stood there eye to eye, both were trying to catch their breath.

 

“You gonna fall flat like your chest, Hitori?” The tall one taunted towards the other, shorter one.

 

Hitori spat blood to the side, and snarkily replied “As if i’ll lose to the Crimson Lotus’ Gorilla.” 

 

“WHAT WAS THAT YOU STUPID RUNT?!” the Tall one replied in anger.

 

“Did I strike a nerve?”

 

Naruki, enraged, lunged towards her but made a feint to approach for a grab to the face. Hitori’s face was covered by Naruki’s hand and was swung around like a ragdoll and thrown towards the ceiling of the cavern. Hitori then used that momentum to her advantage and cut stalagmites to fall on Naruki below, which only led to her smashing them to pieces. She took a sip from her sake dish and her eyes widened with short flames emitted from her mouth. She then spat out the flame, as it formed a ball that shot upwards with a massive scale. Hitori hid behind the falling stalagmite to cover herself from the flames however Naruki anticipated it and charged towards the rock she hid behind, shattering it with her Kanabo. As she swung at the seemingly defenseless Hitori, her eyes glowed once again and reversed the swing with her nodachi and sent her to the floor of their duel. 

 

Naruki, stunned by what just happened, was enraged further. She let out a massive war cry that shook the cavern walls and ceiling, with the flames off the cliffside intensifying further. The crowd of Oni and Amanojaku were cheering and chanting either Naruki or Hitori, depending on their gang affiliation. One of the individuals in the crowd did not dress like the Oni, they wore a tattered gray robe and cheered.

 

Flaming pieces of cloth with a visible head approached the flames below. These vengeful spirits sought to use this opportunity and attempted to grasp the flames from the Crags. As they enveloped themselves in the flames, their forms started to change into more animalistic appearances. The crowd of gangsters did not notice this however as their eyes were glued to the fight between the two ladies. Before the vengeful spirits completed their transformation, they were suddenly shot with a bullet to their heads, each with their spiritual forms dissipated in the flames. 

 

“Wait a minute. .  those shots. . .” One of the Oni thought, as they were interrupted by a figure that appeared to have landed behind them, much to their fear. 

 

Naruki drank from her sake dish once more and suddenly her legs, arms and her horns emitted an element each. Fire from her mouth, electricity from her horns, earth for her arms and wind for her legs. Hitori took a calm stance and sent out a cherry blossom gust that took the shape of a small wolf. As Naruki charged towards Hitori, the wolf-like being disoriented her eyes with cherry blossom petals. 

 

What followed next was Soma appearing between the two much to Hitori’s shock as he threw beans at Naruki’s face and threw an ofuda at Hitori at the same time. 

 

When the two did not break their composure and Naruki continued her pursuit, Soma grabbed both of their heads and smacked the two together, which stopped both in their tracks. 

 

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU COULD HAVE CAUSED?!” he yelled with fury.

 

“Ah! Lord Soma’s here!” said some of the Oni and Amanojaku as they all whispered to each other. 

 

“I heard that, AND WHAT ARE YOU ALL STILL DOING HERE?! GO HOME ALREADY! !” Soma said as he yelled at the crowd and scattered in fear , with the outlier paced somewhere nearby. Soma took a good look at the two culprits responsible for the mess. 
 

​

​

☀​   ☀   ☀

​

​

“The little runt started it though, Lord Soma! She’s insecure about her gang being weaker than mine!” Hitori’s demeanor changed to that of a child being scolded by her parents.  

 

“You kept saying my chest was too small, you gorilla! !” Hitori yelled at her with a furious glare. 

 

Both let out a faint “grrrrr” and prepared to punch each other, stopped again by Soma giving them both an intense glare with a light punch on their heads as he let out a massive sigh. 

 

“How many times do I have to tell you and your gangs? The underworld’s flames are strongest in the deepest circle as all flames lead down here. Negativity such as fighting and conflict will only attract vengeful spirits to take a part of the flames to transform into an even worse being.” Soma said, as he let out another sigh.

 

“But The Crags are the flattest area in the Underworld!” Hitori pleaded.

 

Naruki nodded and said “The runt’s right, it's the best area to settle anything! AND THE COOLEST!” 

 

Those statements struck Soma’s nerve and struck their heads again, which formed a second smaller bump on their heads.

 

“I can’t always be here forever to stop you two from causing any ruckus. I don’t want both of you to run into Lady Tsuriai for your teenage troubles.”
 

The two looked down, angry at each other when Soma noticed. 

Then they took a sigh and nodded and said “We understand…” 

 

“Now, run along now, I got some work to do” he said, as he looked toward his forge in the distance. The amanojaku and oni both nodded and ran off. 

 

“Why did you let them go scott free? They’ve been doing this same exact charade for so long.” Moesashi said, in wonder. 

 

“Well Moesashi, there’s a valid reason for this act and it is quite obvious.” Soma replied. 

 

“Is it because even Demons are able to be saved? That killing them will be in your conscience? Or even because you’re actually a Noble God who doesn’t like to make girls cry and refuses to admit it? ” she said, expecting such an answer.

 

“Eh? No, of course not. It’s because I don’t feel like having to deal with additional paperwork. Do you have any idea how long the form I have to fill out in order to report any disturbances to the Ministry?” Soma shrugged and said smugly.  

 

“Anyways, I'll head back to my forge, I got something waiting for me-” Soma said before being interrupted by a voice from the distance. 

 

“Oi Soma…” 

 

“OK THAT’S IT IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO INTERRUPT ME IN MY DAY OFF ONE MORE TIME I AM GOING TO-” Soma yelled as his eyes flared in frustration. His mechanical arm started to heat up, with a mini sun growing in his palm. 

 

“OI OI OI DON’T YOU DARE THROW A SUN OVER HERE! IT’S ME! IT’S ME! ! ! !” the visitor said in fear, which contrasted his rather tough guy persona.

 

“Oh, you could’ve just said so,” Soma replied as he immediately calmed down.

 

“What brings you here, Apollyon?” Soma asked with a rather casual tone.

 

“Well I was here to watch the fight…” The boy whispered under his breath as Soma glared at him with annoyance. 

 

“I-I-I mean, Do you wanna coach me again? I want to train a bit more with the gun.” he said, determined to improve. “Plus you don’t have to call me by that nickname, Cyrus will do.”

 

“After telling those two demons off, we might as well since we’re not far.” Soma said as he scratched his head. 

 

The two set out away from The Crags only to be stopped by an officer dressed in black and white. 

 

“Soma Rigel, a word please.” the officer said. 

“Oh, the Yama’s guard, I wonder what they want.” Soma spoke to Cyrus as he was being called from a distance. 

 

“What can I do for you today, Officer Chowa?” Soma said, in wonder. 

 

“We are here to-” Officer Chowa then spun around a full 360, and in an instant changed forms.

This time the person before them was a woman with the same outfit but this time was white. 

 

“-Deliver a message from the Yama.” Officer Chowa said in their feminine form.

 

Chowa spun again to revert back to their masculine form to finish their sentence.

 

“Don’t they get dizzy spinning around like that?” Cyrus whispered to Soma.

 

“I don’t know, shut up, they can hear us.” Soma replied as the two looked back at the officer.

 

“By this newest decree of the Yama, Lady Tsurai, head authority of the Nine Hells. Soma Rigel, envoy of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the Yatagarasu in charge of managing the flames of the Underworld.-” Officer Chowa spun once again, to their feminine form. “Your duties in the Nine Circles of Hell have now been..” 

 

Cyrus observed intently as to what their next word was as he began to sweat. 

 

“Relinquished.”