Chapter 265 - Brink of Chaos

"What…"

Kazehaya Gin's headache was starting to worsen. All the information he got today overwhelmed him, but he knew he had to do something.

"Alencica's half-god, but she's also the cursed child – someone who would bring an end to the world – this world and the other when she awakens."

"Is that why she's a broken soul?"

Dolya nodded.  "It's to delay the inevitable. To give time for the new Returners to Ancestry to remember their tasks."

Huh? Returners to Ancestry?

"You mean… there are others who came aside from Kresnik?" Kazehaya Gin couldn't believe it.

"Yes – Stribog and Perun," Dolya answered readily. "They had descended before Kresnik to stop the curse."

EH? PERUN?

Gin remembered the silver-haired angry beauty in his dream and he shuddered.

"The King of Heavens descended?" Gin frowned. If so, then where was he? Shouldn't he be here where his daughter was?

Then again, he remembered something and his head turned to Dolya with his eyes wide. "They're in Ged."

Dolya sighed. "The King is in Ged, yes."

Gin frowned. "But they can't remember," he stated. The two were probably like Ryuu right now. They could remember who they were but not why they were here or their other memories.

"So you are saying that everything that's happening right now is so that Alencica's curse would be broken?" he asked to confirm, and Dolya nodded. "But to break it, Stribog and Perun should be here?"

Again, Dolya nodded.

"The Master was the one who created the portal. Only he could stabilize the doorway to the other side."

"If so then how come there are beasts that come?" Gin couldn't understand this part. Unless…

"Because the Master lost his memories," Dolya answered deadpan. "And because of that, the portal was unstable. There are times it allows anything and anyone to come in from that other side."

EH?

"So what should we do?" Kazehaya Gin was powerless if they needed the other deities' help. He had no idea how to reach them. He could only do things on this side.

His question made Dolya look frustrated. Gin reckoned she too felt powerless at the moment. She sighed as she thought for a while, hesitating a bit before speaking.

"Young Master, did you ever wonder why you look like Stribog?" she asked lightly, and Gin frowned.

"I'm his bloodline and I inherited most of his divine powers," he answered.

It was not a secret that mortals were modeled after deities. The more divine inheritance one had, the closer he was to looking like the original deity.

"It's why I look like an idiot most of the time, even if I'm a beauty," Gin complained as his hands fixed his colorful tie, making Dolya snort in laughter.

Gin was used to making people laugh, and didn't even think about it. He waited for her to finish her mirth and she sighed again, giving him advice.

"Just make sure that Kresnik will not harm Alencica until help arrives," Dolya said in defeat.

Now, two hours had passed since that conversation and Kazehaya Gin still had no idea which one to report to the Koutaishidenka first. But he reckoned he had to say something.

He picked up his phone and called Ryuu.

"Yes?" was the Koutaishidenka's curt greeting.

"There is no prophecy," he reported, and when Ryuu was silent, he proceeded on telling him everything he knew. He told him about the real cursed child, and why Kresnik was here, except the part where Kresnik killed his wife. "Everything was because of you and Ara – I mean Kresnik and Alencica."

"Do you mean that my father in law and Stribog are also here?" Ryuu asked and Gin explained.

"They can't remember though, like you," he added in a hurry. "But Ryuu…" his voice trailed off, his hesitance ringing as an internal battle whether to tell Ryuu about Alencica's death or not.

"Yes?"

At his friend's prompt, Gin chickened out and decided to save it for later. "I'm on my way back to Tokyo. I will take over Ara's protection and the others in case she awakens," he said instead and he held his breath as he heard Ryuu's soft laughter.

"Okay. Thanks in advance then," the Koutaishidenka said and they ended the call.

Kazehaya Gin already knew that he could hang out at the portal with Ryuu, now that he knew that Aello was his real elemental. But now that he also knew that Ara was a ticking time bomb, he would have to make sure that she was safe and that the others were safe from her as well.

Until help arrived.

He just hoped that Perun and Stribog wouldn't take too long. He prayed they'd get there before Ara awakened as the cursed child. He had a lot of work laid out for him, but at least, everything made more sense now.

He picked up his phone and called Emi. She answered almost immediately and he smiled hearing her shy voice on the other end.

"Emi, I will come home tonight. Wait for me. We have a lot to talk about," he said softly with a smile on his face.

"A lot?" Emi asked and he grinned as he mischievously answered.

"Oh, nothing important – just our wedding this Friday and the names of our kids – did I tell you I want a whole basketball team?"

His tone was mocking, but his smile was brilliant. He could already imagine his girl all red and sputtering on the other side. He knew she must be shocked as he had told her he had no plans to have kids.

"What?" she asked, but he decided to tease her a bit.

"Yeah, so be there when I arrive, okay? I'll see you later," he continued before ending the call without giving her a chance to ask questions.

Talking to Emi eased his mind, the headache he had vanished as if he never had it. He sat back on his seat as he tried to organize his activities in his head. But his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

"Yes?" he answered with a frown. It was the number of the security they hired to guard Ara and her friends. If they called, then it must be something very important and it sure was.

"WHAT?"Kazehaya Gin almost stood up inside of the car, his eyes wide and the grip on his phone was tightened. "What do you mean taken? I did not hire you to let them get kidnapped!"

He listened for a bit, but his ears didn't care about their excuses anymore so he cut the line. He immediately called Ryuu who picked up immediately but before he could even speak the Koutaishidenka cut him off.

"Gin-nii, I'll call you later. The Black God's here," Ryuu said in urgency, and Gin inhaled sharply as the other cut the line.

DAMN.

Czernobog was there? Gin couldn't think of much worse things that could happen at the same time. Then he paused as he remembered something.

Czernobog.

"How come the Black God was able to escape from Perun's seal and come here?"

He was wondering about this when his phone rang again and this time, it was from Shiro.

"What is it?"

"Young Master, the shadow lurker finished its incubation period earlier than expected!"

WHAT?

Okada Koharu.

"But the new ones and the old ones merged with the host," Shiro added and Gin puffed air.

It was rare for the shadow lurkers to fuse with the host unless the host's desire was too strong. It just showed how naturally evil that girl was.

"Wear your uniforms! Make sure you have seals with you! We're hunting that one down and eliminate it."