Despise

'It cannot be helped...' Raijin thought to himself while he sat in his chamber. 'He is too much of a threat to us, I have to kill him. I cannot let him go. The only way to stop him... would be to shatter his soul directly.' Raijin thought back to Akuro's eyes, how dead they were then, and he remembered the boy's killing intent and his crushing pressure so well he almost felt it. He shivered. 'Akuro is cunning, he is observant and plans everything out long before he takes action. With his power he could prove a threat even to the supreme one... I have to put an end to his story. I apologize lords, but this Deity's fairytale will come to an early end.'

Raijin rose from his bed and retrieved a small dagger from one of the shelves in his dimly lit room. The room itself was larger that Akuro's and also had more contents. On one side of the room to the right of the door was a desk with ink, quills and splotched paper scattered over its surface, and to the side of the desk was a shelf of books, scrolls and stone tablets.

To the left of the door were two more shelves containing things similar to the first. The shelves were placed on either side of a window that looked out into what seemed to be an endless night sky of stars and churning galaxies, as if the mansion itself were afloat in space. Across from the door on the far side of the room was Raijin's bed and a single shelf containing gold laced scrolls. On the other side of the bed was hook holding a small lamp that dimly lit the room, casting ghostly shadows that danced to and fro across the walls.

Raijin delicately held the dagger in his hands, careful not to cut himself. The blade was bronze and silver in color, it's edge jagged and unsightly. Any blacksmith would call the weapon an atrocity, a failure, or simply trash. But in truth the blade was cursed, and anyone it cut would have their soul severed in two, equivalent in pain as well as effect to being shattered.

"I do apologize, Akuro. But I cannot let you become any stronger than you are now." Raijin said under his breath, little did he know someone was observing every action he took.

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Akuro sat, legs crossed, atop his bed, eyes closed. He was meditating, testing to see if he could sense his own aura flow. Sure enough, he could. His pitch black aura flowed through his body, circulating through like a running current. 'I wonder then...' he thought, 'if I am able to detect my own aura even when I'm concealing it, does that mean I can detect the aura of others when they try to hide theirs? I imagine it would be much more difficult, but it should be doable if I'm not mistaken.' Then Akuro remembered his encounter with Darius, how their auras had clashed before. 'Wait... what if..?'

Akuro willed his energy to flow out of him freely, allowing it to expand outward in a large radius. 'Maybe if I expand my aura far enough, I can sense anything it contacts.' He could feel nothing as he thought this, and so he kept willing his pressure to expand further and further until he finally sensed the aura of someone else.

He did not recognize their pressure, so he guessed it was one of the other Deities. He decided to thin out his pressure, that way it would have no affect on the stranger. If he did this, he hoped, it would result in them being unable to sense his presence. Akuro did this for a long while, observing the entire mansion with his own pressure, and, to his pleasure, he seemed to have gone completely undetected. Akuro smiled. 'It seems my theory was correct. This will come in handy later on.'

"Oi." Akuro groaned and he rose from his bed and stretched. Then he saw something he'd failed to see the night before; a mirror was leaning against the wall to his right. The mirror itself was simple in design with gold trim. It was clean, not a speck of dust on it, it was so clean that it looked as though Akuro could reach through it.

'It would seem my features are exactly the same as they were in life, huh?' He looked at himself in the mirror, his tan skin, his dark blue eyes, his messy black hair. He stood at about six foot two and had a thin frame. His chin was narrow and his eyes had a sort of sharp intellect to them. A birthmark stretched from the side of his chin down his neck like a healed wound turned into a scar. His own face reminded him of his boring, painful life.

'Oi..' he thought, 'life sucks. I'm actually happy I died. Maybe I should thank that drunk when I'm reincarnated? That is if he survived the crash.' The thought of being reincarnated excited him. 'I can't wait to see what kinds of new anime there are now! Oh, and I wonder what new games there are too, that would be something fun to find out. I wonder if there is a new Monster Hunter? Man I hope so.'

A knock sounded from his door then, and Akuro strode over and opened it to see who it was. Raijin stood there before him with a strange expression. It was a smile, but there was an edge to it. Akuro frowned. 'Something's not right.'

"Good morning, Akuro." Raijin spoke. "I hope you are ready for the day, we are to meet with the other Deities now. So dress yourself and get ready. Here, I brought these for you." Raijin handed Akuro a stack of folded clothes. "Put these on. When you're done we will be off."

"Yeah, sure." Akuro turned and closed the door behind him, scowling once out of Raijin's sight. 'Again, the old geezer is hiding something. I don't like this.' He looked at the clothes he had been given. It was a simple black shirt and dark gray jeans that came with a leather black belt. With these was also a black sweater with long sleeves and the design of a red oni on the front. 'At least the guy has good style.' He thought as he threw the hoodie on.

Akuro and Raijin then walked down the two halls that led to the staircase, which they descended. Then Raijin led Akuro threw hall after hall until they came upon another flight of stairs, except this one led down. As he walked through the halls, Akuro took note of the fact that all of the weapons were missing from their cases. 'Interesting... what's going on?'

"This way." Raijin spoke as Akuro began to fall behind.

"Oi, gramps, what's going on?" Akuro asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Raijin said simply.

He frowned. 'I don't like this.'

The stairs descended for a good minute, losing light and being dimly lit by a lantern Raijin had grabbed from the stone wall. The scenery changed from that of a fancy mansion to that of a dungeon. Eventually a soft light then filled the staircase which led them to a large, expansive, circular chamber.

In the chamber stood four others around Akuro's age, among them was Darius. Before each of them stood what Akuro assumed were their gods. Among the deities, not counting Darius, there were two girls and one boy. On the ground between them and the gods was a large gold cloth on which lay countless weapons, including the black scythe.

'So that's where they all went.' Akuro thought. And then he noticed the eyes of every person in the chamber on him as he approached to stand beside a girl slightly shorter than him. She had pale skin, flowing red hair, freckles, and bright green eyes. She had shapely features and there was a critical expression plastered on her face, as though she were judging him. 'She's pretty, though she seems like she has an attitude. Raijin should be happy I don't give him that look.' Akuro thought, ignoring the looks he received from those around him.

Raijin went to stand beside a tall woman across from them. A burly man in the middle of the five gods spoke then, directing the attention of the Deities away from Akuro.

"Listen up!" The burly man called loudly, reminding Akuro of a drill Sargent. "Every god has their own unique weapon of power, these are called Divine Tools. As Deities, you are partial gods, meaning you also get your own divine tools. You shall choose a weapon from this selection, then you will infuse your aura into. This will cause the weapon to gain your aspect, giving it divine powers that match your own. It will be up to you to test these powers and figure out how to use them."

Akuro grinned. He already knew the weapon he'd choose.

"I will call your names, and when I do you will come up and choose a weapon." The man smiled. "Often times though the weapon chooses the wielder. Alright, first up, Darius Embra. Come, pick your weapon."

Darius who was standing at the other end of the line smiled as he walked out onto the cloth. He glanced up at Akuro as he did this, walking directly towards the black scythe.

'That bastard!' Akuro frowned. Darius bent down as he reached the scythe, smiling up at Akuro knowingly, but then at the last second he grabbed the weapon next to the scythe. Darius held a large, delicate bow in his hands. The bow was silver with coiling snakes etched into its smooth surface.

"I'll take this one." Darius said calmly. Akuro exhaled. 'Damn trickster.'

"Good choice, boy." The god said gruffly.

Darius bowed, "thank you, Wukong."

"No need."

Akuro's eyes widened in realization. 'So that big guy's Sun Wukong, huh? Didn't expect him to look like that. To be honest I actually expected Sun Wukong to be a literal monkey.'

"Next is Inari Mikuno. Come pick your weapon." Sun Wukong ordered. Then the girl standing beside Akuro stepped forward without saying anything. 'So her name is Inari? That's a pretty name.' Akuro thought. Inari waded through the weapons for a moment before selecting an intricately designed short sword with a razor sharp blade. The hilt was a pearly white while the blade was silver with a gold edge. Without saying anything Inari took the blade in its leather hilt and returned to her spot beside Akuro.

"Alright, next." Sun Wukong spoke, and then they all stood in silence for a long, awkward moment. Akuro wanted to shake his head. "I said next!" Sun Wukong ordered, and when no one replied to him the tall goddess next to him leaned over and whispered something in his ear. "Ah, oh, yes, right. Next is Onoma Kogan. Step forward."

A tall boy who stood next to Inari then stepped forward. The boy had deathly pale skin and a heavyset built with narrow shoulders and an angled chin. He had short dark brown hair and gray eyes that were filled with hate.

Akuro's eyes narrowed. 'He's not even trying to conceal his aura. Is he trying to show off, or is he just an idiot? Either way, he has a lot of power. I'll have to watch him too.' He could feel the intense, hate filled pressure that seeped out of Onoma. 'I can't help but wonder what all their powers are. What could they have wished for?'

Akuro watched Onoma walk straight towards a weapon and pick it up, observing it. It was a large crimson axe with chains wrapped about the bottom of the blade and the top of the hilt. Both ends of the chain had a large spike and the axe blade itself was larger than Akuro's head. 'That's one crude weapon.' He thought. 'Fitting.'

"I'll have this one." Onoma said. His voice was brusque and he said his words quickly, as if he was impatient and had no wish to talk anymore than needed. He turned and strode briskly back to his place in the line up.

"Okay, next is Akuro Zaizen." Sun Wukong's eyes locked with Akuro's. "Step forward."

'Finally, my turn.' Akuro thought. He headed straight toward the weapon he'd been eyeing the entire time. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the black scythe at his feet, and as soon as his fingers came into contact with it he felt a soft burning sensation. The scythe itself emitted an aura similar to his own. Akuro smiled. 'Intriguing.'

"I choose you." Akuro spoke as he held the scythe, and then he suddenly felt a pressure fall on him. He looked up, his smile fading. All of the gods were glaring at him, spite in their eyes.

"The Godslayer, hmm?" Raijin spoke. "I guessed as much."

Akuro scowled at the gods. "Shut it, gramps. As I said before, I have no ill will against you or any of the other gods..." an evil grin crossed Akuro's lips, "so you don't have to be scared, little gods."

The chamber shook then, all of the gods angered now, their auras all pressing down on Akuro, who only smiled in excitement as his adrenaline rush overtook him.

"What, have I insulted your pride? Its alright, I can understand you fearing me. I am Death after all."

"You dare insult the gods!?" Sun Wukong roared, his immense pressure focused now entirely on Akuro.

Akuro smiled, his own aura then bursting from him as his billowing shadows enveloped him. His eyes turned pale white, black horns grew from his head and the ground at his feet cracked. He smiled, feeling exhilarated.

"I do."