Extra Chapter: The Cursed Maiden, Daigo Reika

["This world once teetered to the brink of collapse due to the lack of a true object of faith. Though many would insist that humanity has no need for antiquated ideals of divine origins, principles and practices with its own evil polar opposite, it has been true since time immemorial until the very end of the human race for them to believe in something greater than them in order to continue forward."]

As priests and priestesses of a once immortal spirit, the degree of devotion that we in the Daigo clan have to our faith dwarfs any other clan who also cares for the sanctum of a divine spirit.

To us, it is not a mere profession or vocation… it is a way of life that has endured for hundreds of years, all being perfectly passed down from parent to children in a never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth just like the great Phoenix spirit. To some extent, our worship has become our way to honor the ancestors and continue their work.

However, no matter how much we devote ourselves to the worship of the Phoenix spirit of Kingo sanctum, not many people in Tadai province, as Kise was once called as, share the same devoutness as we do. There is no better way to illustrate this other than the time when Tadai opened its ports to international trade, becoming Japan's accessway to the continent and reining in mountainous amounts of gold, silver and other precious materials from trade taxes alone.

Soon, our family who used to only exist to be the stewards of Kingo sanctum and lead its processions and programs entered the trading business and in a matter of years, lost itself in the goings of the trading world.

"We have to stop this. We cannot keep ourselves from drifting away from our true responsibility to care for the sanctuary and perform the processions to the Honored Phoenix spirit."

"I believe you are wrong in that, dear brother…"

"What do you mean?"

"Our province's trading with the mainland is the only thing that is keeping our sanctuary afloat. Unlike the bountiful rice fields and trade routes of Kiko's Kaiho sanctum, Hitachi's Kyoga sanctum that is supported by both the Imperial palace and the Shogunate, and Niijima's Kurumi sanctum that has an unshakeable pool of believers, our Kingo sanctum is the total opposite of the Honored Phoenix…"

"…"

"We're always on the brink of dying out due to the lack of believers and financial support."

Though what my great-great uncle spoke back then sounded almost like blasphemy, none of the gathered men and women dared to stand against his words… because all of it is true.

"We can always halve the family's priorities between performing our duties in the sanctum and handling the trading work of our family. There is always a room for compromise in things."

"Right… That can be done. But please, don't let it take over every aspect of our family's affairs."

Though very noble, my great-great grandfather's words will be for naught… For only in the span of a few decades, my family would find itself far too deep in the trading business to ever remember properly how to care for the shrine and a few of our processions was never passed down, leaving it now forever lost to time.

"What… did you just say?"

"…The Pheonix spirit… it has departed from its place in the innermost shrine without a word last night and are yet to return."

"What does this mean? Has the Honored spirit leave any clues about the reason for its departure?"

"…We believe that the Pheonix spirit has been burdened with the number of selfish prayers and lack of virtues in Tadai province. Lady Daigo Yui is yet to return from her inspection of the inner shrine, but she attests that the Honored spirit must've been weakened and disheartened by said things until it cannot endure any longer and left the sanctum to find peace."

The departure of the Phoenix spirit from Kingo sanctum became the proof for my family that "regret always comes in the end". It was one thing to perform honest and simple trade to keep us fed and the temple afloat. In truth, it was the Pheonix spirit itself which gave its express approval after it saw us as pitiful in comparison to the other families who lead more bountiful and frequented-by shrines… however, we became so enamored with our business that we ended up causing the spirit pain… enough for it to finally give up and disappear from our reach.

"Why is there always a storm at the sea?!"

"What will happen to our shipping now?!"

"Explain this! You are the people who are supposed to keep those storm clouds away? Do your rituals!"

Calamity soon struck Tadai province as the Pheonix spirit's absence brought back the stormy sea of the peninsula. With those storms regularly plaguing the sea trading routes that faces both China and Korea, the harbor's once active shipping lines became stagnant.

"What are we supposed to do…?"

"We can't deal with the storms now that the Pheonix spirit is gone."

"Damn it all… why is this happening to us?"

However, all hope was not lost for the Daigo clan… for days after the confirmation of the Pheonix's disappearance within the sanctum, a messenger from Kiko's Akizuki clan came with a message from their leader who has just ascended to power.

"My lord, Akizuki Godan, wishes to reach out a helping hand to the current situation of Tadai province. My lord says that he can task the priestesses of Kaiho sanctum to request the aid of Inari-no-kami in clearing up the storm."

"They will do that?!"

"We're saved!"

However, before cheers can escape their mouths, the messenger gave the last bit of the missive that caused the Daigo clan's elites' eyebrows to knit together in frustration.

"In exchange, "I would like to ask for a portion of your trading profit. My land will be undergoing reforms and changes which need financial backing. I believe this is a fair deal in exchange for the continuance of trade in Tadai province." he said."

"Kh!"

"Like we'll be taking that…"

If it was the Daigo clan of the past, this deal would be immediately accepted as it will be to the good of our people's livelihoods… but the generation who led our family back then had different priorities.

"How about we accept the deal and just lie that we always get deficits in our profits?"

"That won't work. Knowing the Akizuki clan, he must've already sent people here in Tadai to check our finances."

"Then how about talking to Kyoga sanctum? The Sea dragon would surely try to help us out."

"They won't. Have you forgotten how the Shouri clan barely escaped the Emperor's wrath when they delayed their tax payments to the capital in order to fake the numbers of collected taxes?"

"…I have a suggestion."

"What is it?"

"Why not turn this brilliant young lord into a shriveled husk of a man? One that isn't worthy to give money to due to his instability as a leader?"

In the end, instead of being the honorable people that we were once known as, the generation that accepted this deal thought about their own financial gains over the work of serving the people.

"It's a tragedy, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"You know what I am asking. Don't pretend that you are not aware of what is currently happening in Kiko province."

"…"

"The young lord there would really have been a thorn to our side soon if Kiko continued to grow from a backwater province into a center of progress and production… that is, if it actually had the chance to rise up."

"It's just a precautionary measure… It is good to nip the infected branch before its blight spreads out to other places."

"Are you really saying that because it will be to the interests of Tadai and our people… or because you are conniving and heartless enough to grind Akizuki Godan to the ground and-"

"I AM NOT!"

The once revered and honorable Daigo clan fell down from grace as it prioritized the ceaseless pursuit of gains and developed an unfathomable greed.

"It's the Shouri clan's fault why Tadai is like this! If they just accepted the peace deal, our foothold past the river delta of Iso river wouldn't have been taken by the Kusanagi clan! We would still have that local trading post that has become our trading center for ages!"

"Hush! What if a loyalist official hears you?!"

"Then let them hear! They need to know how much inconveniences and damage they are bringing to everyone with this crappy way of leading us and our land!"

"…"

"Darn it! I wish General Gojo would just invade this place and free us from them!"

"…that can be arranged."

"What?"

"An invasion of Tadai province and securing a relationship with the Kusanagi clan… I believe it can be done."

Looking back at it, I cannot deny anyone's remark that my family were nothing but conniving and scheming scum after Tadai province became a center of international trade.

"With my authority, I declare the Daigo clan as the leader of this land which will attain a new name, Kise! Be my equal and stand beside me, as an ally!"

Through schemes, we demonized the ruling lordship and led a rebellion participated in by the ruling lordship of Shinka and became its leaders.

"Did you hear the news? The Akizuki lord of Kiko has finally gone mad. We can stop pretending that we will send the money to him and just keep it to ourselves."

"That's good news. With this, he won't become a thorn on our side anymore. We have to solidify our monopoly in the international trade now. Haha! Those corrupt nobles of Kiko sure did a great part in serving our interest."

Through pushing others towards decisions that benefits us the most, we were able to cut off both those whom we promised to fund and those that attempted to take their own share of our profits.

"The destabilization of Fuku province has been achieved… Those oligarchical ministers would surely fall into a trade deal with us when it comes to those slaves… foreign buyers would clamor to buy slaves from Fuku province from us."

"Right! I can already see the massive profits waiting for us!"

And even the blatantly cruel trade of people… all of it was not prohibited by my ancestors who has lost themselves in their business. Almost completely forgetting their past as a religious family caring for one of the longest-standing shrines of the country.

"HAHAHAHA!!! Come on! Bring in more alcohol and women!"

All of them…

"Then just kill them and steal their goods. I don't want anyone from interfering with our trade with the mainlanders. If anyone becomes suspicious, tell them that a pirate ambush must've caused it."

Became sorely addicted to their riches…

"At this rate, we can just close our borders and declare ourselves an independent nation. The Imperial crown can do nothing against us, and the Shogunate cannot function without our financial backing. Haha! Not only are we rich, we're also powerful!"

And forgot what our family really is.

"Stop right there!"

"W-what? What are all of you morons doing?!"

"We're here to arrest you for racketeering and price fixing! Come with us quietly!"

"Haah?! Do you know who I am? I am Daigo-"

"Our orders are clear! Men, take him away!"

However, my father and mother saw how much our family fell as our relatives continued to prioritize their own gains. Weighing the greatness of the yesteryears against the current state of our family through the selfishness of our relatives, there is a clear higher ground.

"How dare you! Do you know how much I sacrificed to keep all of us fed?!"

"Right! I too, have done far so much than the two of you! I did all that I can to let us stay alive even if the Phoenix spirit is no longer at the shrine!"

"Do you two have no sanity?! The Phoenix spirit and even Kiko's Fox spirit is no more! It is now up to us, humans, to supply our needs! Not to gods and whatnot!"

"Who decided that to be true?"

"Huh?"

"I am asking all of you in there… who decided that there is no more need for praise and worship in this land?"

Much like my ancestors who took up business after being fed up with dealing with the religious functions of the shrine, both my father and mother became fed up with business and shared the goal of reviving the religious aspect of the family that has long been sidelined into simple ceremonial functions.

"Remember this, Reika… This is the fate of those who deny the power and authority of the heavens. This is what will happen to all who blasphemes the powers beyond our reach."

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"IT HURTS! IT BURNS!!!"

"SAVE MEEE!!!"

In front of me, father and mother mercilessly ordered for our non-immediate relatives and family members to be burned on the stake. A punishment they justified to the people under the pretext that "As Daigo clan members that blasphemed the Phoenix spirit, they deserve to taste the flames of the honored spirit's rage."

"Our land has to return to the old ways. Never in our history has the people been this fragmented in both heart and spirit, caring only for themselves and even bringing harm to others for their own gains."

"Right… Do you understand why we are doing all of this, Reika?"

"Yes, mother. I too, believe that the only way to unite our people that has been split apart by their addiction to secular work and selfish gains is to make them remember that they owe it all to the heavens."

It wasn't just their teachings that shaped my beliefs as such. There is also the part of me that believes that even if the Pheonix spirit is no more, we could just point our worship to someone or something else…

That is when I found out about Lady Narukami Ayaka in our family genealogy. The first Otherworlder to ever be brought into this land.

"This… this is…"

Page by page, I read her exploits alongside Lady Daigo Akari. How both of them weathered through war and disasters to become pillars of strength and support of the people of Tadai province, and how even to their last breaths, they shared a friendship that was never broken nor strained.

To say that I fell in love with their story would be an understatement. But more than their adamantine relationship, what I admired more than anything is Lady Ayaka's ability to win over people's hearts even though she was an outsider and someone who isn't used to this new world.

Even with all of the inconveniences and lack of people that she intimately knew, Lady Ayaka never showed wariness or negative feelings towards anyone. She genuinely treated them like close confidantes and treated them like equals, something that the common people of Tadai deeply loved about her.

That was the moment when I knew that she can be the replacement for the Pheonix spirit that has abandoned us. A saint or goddess that once walked the world and spread good tidings and fairness on the land but was limited by her body that aged and ultimately died.

That was the beginning of the Otherworlder Cult of Kise. A sect that I founded with the permission of my parents who saw it as a fitting religious order that will replace Kingo sanctum once the people are ready to finally learn and accept the death of the Pheonix spirit.

But of course, I cannot just let any Otherworlder be the object of worship by my order. One particular person that I ended up demonizing is the Stray of Yukonami province, Yukogahara Akira. He told me that I should give up on making saints out of the Otherworlders because almost all of them would end up being people with rotten personalities.

At the time, I never understood what he meant with that. We have regularly summoned otherworlders under the request of our lords and leaders and all of them turned out well-mannered and competent. Except for a few ones who was said to have raised havoc and needed to be put down, most Otherworlders were reasonable people. Because of that truth that back then, I treated as nothing but slander, I ended up making Yukogahara Akira an enemy of the sect, a brute that speaks nothing but lies and taints the beliefs of our order.

Years later, I could never be more wrong…

"His physical abilities and sharpness of mind is top-notch. There are some rough corners with him when it comes to anger management and his brazenness, but that can be softened up later."

"Huh… I think he can fit the bill."

After seeing his strength in his sparring sessions and his ability to converse with others in a myriad of topics and actually provide wise advice and answers, I have decided to take him in and make him the new saint of the Otherworlder sect.

However, I will soon learn a flaw about him that made me disavow him from the sanctum and send him up north to be kept by the Inazuma clan. A flaw where he believes that Otherworlders are higher than any other beings in the world, and we should submit to their authority.

"His beliefs will be to the detriment of our order. Since he believes that Otherworlders like him are of a higher social standing and genetic purity, it would distance the believers from him. As much as I hold his abilities with high regards, it is evident that he cannot become the Second Saint."

Though there was that setback, I never lost any hope that one day, I will be able to find someone that is worthy to be given the title of the Second Saint, the successor of Lady Ayaka and the one that will unify the hearts of every Kise folk.

"Princess, there is an important guest that has come to ask for you in the tearoom."

"An important guest? I thought my meeting schedule is free today."

"The guest has come here under incognito and requested to meet you immediately."

"I see… I will come to the tearoom soon. For now, entertain the guest."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

I thought it was someone that I do not know anything about, so I dressed up formally and redid my makeup, only to come to the tearoom and be greeted by a familiar face that has come here in Kingo several times before.

"Haah… You could've just told them who you are. What's up with going undercover and having yourself called an important guest?"

"I left a doppelganger in Hitachi before I headed here. Only he, and my three fellow Otherworlders know that I am out here. If anyone learns that the newly enthroned Shogun left his camp in Hitachi where he is waging skirmishes against the Imperial court, they will rally their numbers and conduct an all-out offensive on us.

"Alright, alright… So, what are you here for today?"

"Right. I am here to ask a question about the summoning rituals for Otherworlders. Given that Kise is where it was first done, I believe you guys are more knowledgeable about it than the other Sanctums."

I first met Shogun Sora years ago when I banished that Otherworlder-supremacist to his province of Niijima. It was only because of his approval that the Inazuma clan agreed to imprison that guy in their sanctum that is regarded as a prison island in the coldest tip of the empire.

He has his own set of beliefs that made me decide not to make him the Second Saint. First of them is the fact that he already has his own vision of how to change this country, another is that he already rallied a multitude of people around him through the good things brought by his rule and lastly, he seems to be one who wouldn't dare to take over a position of divinity.

If only he could've been more manipulatable, I would've immediately made him the Second Saint.

"With that, do you think it is possible to summon someone who has already died in the Otherworld?"

"Hmm… An interesting idea. But one that hasn't been tried or proven to work yet."

"I see… I guess Maya-chan has to give up on it."

I didn't expect him to ask something like that when he initially came here. I thought he was just here for something related to the Inazuma clan's holding of the Otherworlder supremacist, but instead, he asked if it was possible to reincarnate someone who has died in the Otherworld to here.

"Who is the dead person that this girl want to revive?"

"Hm? His name is Miyazaki Hiro. I haven't met him before in the Otherworld, but I have read about him in documentations and heard about him from the person who ended up destroying our past world and setting that void that you summoners cannot interfere with."

"Miyazaki Hiro, huh?"

The Shogun said that he knows about the guy from second-hand sources, that only means that he isn't familiar with him personally.

"Your Highness, what are your words?"

"I wanna find out if that thing can be done after all…"

"What?"

"Reincarnating people to this world…"

There is only one way to find out if it can be done.

"...I guess it is worth a shot."

And so, I ordered our men in both Shinka and Kiko to cause discord in each province's respective courts. With old man Kenji beset by his illness, Kyoko will be the one in charge and with little instigation, would start a war with Kiko. Meanwhile, the already mentally decrepit Akizuki lord just need a bit of a push to come to arms against Shinka.

Little by little, the two armies clashed and men from both sides fell one by one, giving me and my believers enough people to use in finding a way to summon someone's soul from the Otherworld and place them inside someone's dead body.

"Lady Daigo! This formula seems to be working!"

"-!"

After hundreds of corpses, we found out a formula that allowed us to summon someone's soul and place them inside a dead body. Who could've known that the formula is just the chemical composition of a human body?

"Thirty-five liters of water, twenty kilograms of carbon, four liters of ammonia, one and a half liters of lime, eight-hundred grams of salt, one-hundred grams of saltpeter, eighty grams of sulfur, seven and a half grams of flouring, five grams of iron, three grams of silicon… and miniscule amounts of fifteen other elements… with all of these, we can finally summon him!"

However, the one that we summoned wasn't the one that we wanted.

"I am Satoshi. Hamasaki Satoshi. It's nice to meet all of you here."

"…"

"I thought I was dead after that battle… but this feeling of being inside a new body… was I reincarnated?"

"…"

"Ehehe… I was a pretty bad guy back then, but I guarantee you! I am willing to turn over a new leaf now! So, what first good deed should I help you guys with?"

"…Dispose of him."

"Yes, my lady!"

"W-What? H-hey! What are you-?!"

The next objective was to particularly pinpoint someone's soul that would be summoned. That took another exhaustive week of both gathering corpses and hiding away from the eyes of both the Akizuki and Kusanagi soldiers.

But before Shinka's army can cross Iso river, we have completed it.

"It is him, my lady… But he's been dead for so long that his soul has to recover its own strength."

"Place him into a dream for a while and set up things for him after he wakes up. We need to make sure that our "first" meeting would be as natural as possible, so he won't raise any questions about how he got here."

"As you wish!"

And so, he awoke, travelled across Kiko, saved a young woman who captivated his heart and felt the same as he did, and settled down in a quaint village as its local doctor.

All of this could've worked the way I planned it to do, which is that his village will be attacked by the Shinka army, he would hear from one of our men that the opportunities in Kise is better, relocate here, become our court physician and later on, be hailed as a saint of healing.

However, the treachery that I gave to the person who first planned all of this was repaid a hundredfold… for after he became targeted by a Shinka spy whose partner was killed by a random assassin, the man sent by the Shogun to covertly look after the Southern triad saved him, was told to go to the camp of the Kusanagi clan, treated their troops, was reunited to the young woman whom he fell for and through some kind of manipulation from the three village leaders and the elder of the Misanagi clan who has sided with the Shogunate, made him the new leader of Kiko after a successful rebellion.

No matter how much one would spin this, all of this sounded ridiculous and illogical to the point of absolute absurdity. How can a random village doctor become a Daimyo overnight? How can an entire land accept that a stranger would become their leader? How did none of the other influential people in said land raise an army to take over the land while he is still weak and lacking in influence?

"It was one thing to say neutrally that it has never been tested before. But to study it, succeed, and never mention it to the person who wholeheartedly desired it, that… that is something that I will not let to just pass, Young Lady Daigo."

"So, this was your doing?!"

"It is."

"Do you know what you have done?! Now that guy will be able to-"

"Right… all according to my own plans."

"-!"

"Let me tell you something, Young lady… I understand wanting your own piece of the pie but stealing it right in front of the person who labored for it for so long… that is something that I will not let pass."

The Shogun's words during that short secret meeting we had in Hashidate carried both disappointment and hostility towards me.

"Don't test my patience… Or I will make sure that you and your land will not find salvation from your new saint, but instead, absolute destruction."

"Damn you…! Why even this time…?"

In the end, I had to go through the roundabout way. I had to wait for him to seek allies and innocently ask Kyoko to let me meet him after he finished dealing with the Yukogahara brothers, a thing I made sure to teach in our sermons as one of the proofs that he is indeed the new saint.

Though most of the time, the Shogun's hidden actions pushed him into situations and decisions that favored his agendas, I noticed that time after time in his victories, Hiro began to inflate his ego more and more.

With that, I was sure that he would soon come into a conflict with the Shogun and through his army's technical superiority, he would win… even my men whom I sent to look over him and his actions said the same…

However, there was one thing that I do not know about. A thing that ended up leaving me to this situation where I exposed our true intentions far too early, and instead of winning Hiro over, caused him to promise to wipe us out from the face of the earth.

{"Checkmate. Daigo Reika."}

"You… YOU!!!"

{"I told you already before… Do not test my patience."}

"You cur! So you were feeding me false information all this time?!"

{"It's called counter-intelligence. Learn it."}

And so, as I sit on my throne while a stagnant storm circulates over Kise, I had nothing but regret in my heart… after all, everything that I worked for and made my people to believe in was all for naught.

{"That will be all, Lady Reika… I'll be letting my men handle the rest of it."}

In the end, instead of bringing over a saint that will lead my people out of this state of spiritual weakness, what I brought to our borders was a monster who has awakened solely to make me pay dearly for all that I have done against him.

"Oh… how I wish I have never been this greedy…"

Those were the words I spoke before the missile meant for Kingo devoured the entire city in a massive fireball and a shockwave flattened everything else where the eye can reach.