The Fox Borrowing Power

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『Martyr’s Moon – 15th Day (Dawn Light)』

【5th Day of the Empire’s Invasion】

A few minutes before the lewd invasion by the Apostle of the Goddess began in earnest, as twilight passed into midnight, and Dawn Light approached… as the Fox’s Hour ended and the Rabbit’s Hour drew near.

The Fox was now holed up in her room, huddled in a corner, gripped by fear, her arms wrapped around her legs, her whole body trembling.

“No… this can’t be happening… not even Lily…!”

The Fox, who had seized control of the Empire as a tyrant, turning it into her own den under the guise of Divine Revelation, borrowing the might of the tiger, had seen it.

The red Rabbit, whom she had sought out to confide in about her obsessive worries, about her unsightly nightmares… had transformed into a figure from her own nightmares, a debauched Rabbit of mixed genders, shooting out thick, white piss from a filthy Dick.

Like a Fox fleeing a hunter, she buried her head in her den, as Dawn Light ended and the morning sun rose…

“How did I obtain this power…! I can never, ever… go back to how I was…!”

The Fox, Divine Beast Miel of the Empire, recalled her past in a flash, the long, distant journey she had taken to arrive in the Empire and become a Divine Beast.

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Long ago, there was a continent that those living in the present called the Demon Realm. It was a continent long and narrow, stretching from south to north, a land of purity where countless forms of nature and life thrived.

A mysterious land filled with lush forests, clear waters, and sacred air. There lived the Marked People, later known as the Demonkin… those known as the ancestors of some Beast-people, and animals called Living Spirits, who would later be called Demonic Beasts or Monsters, all living in peace.

Miel, who was then an unnamed Fox Living Spirit, was one of the ordinary beings living in the Demon Realm, but her past was far from Tranquility.

Born weak among her own kind, she was constantly bullied, scorned, and pushed around, a frail existence.

“I hate it… I hate this life. If I keep living like this, I’m going to die…!”

Unable to endure the constant bullying and humiliation, Miel decided to leave her home.

She thought that if she went to the continent below, where even more verdant nature thrived, she might become stronger than the Living Spirits who tormented her, thanks to the nature of Living Spirits, who grew stronger by absorbing the Magical power of nature.

This was before the Demon Realm was closed off due to the covenant between the Empress of Wisdom, Solomon, and the King of the Demon Realm, when the world was more open than it was now.

Sailing in a small boat, crossing the rough seas of the Demon Realm, Miel arrived in the Empire and could not hide her astonishment.

“Wh… wh… what is this… did I come to the right place…?”

Stepping off the boat, Miel faced the land of the Empire at that time, looking around in the direction she had come from.

Under the scorching sun, in the middle of a desert covered in golden sand, the tiny Fox Living Spirit saw the nascent form of the first Empire, just beginning to be built.

Barren land where not a single blade of grass grew, where dry winds swirled, Miel, who had arrived with new beginnings and dreams, was bewildered.

And around that time… the Empire was being built by the first Emperor, and the covenant between Empress Solomon and the Demon Realm, the first Empire, and the first Kingdom was made, with the Demon Realm taking on the role of evil, and the Empire and the Kingdom taking on the role of justice against evil, and even the road back to her hometown was closed off, Miel had no choice but to live in the desert of the Empire.

“It’s hot… it’s scorching, I can’t live here… I want to go back home…”

The environment here was too harsh for her.

For a Fox who had lived her whole life in a forest full of life, the scorching desert, where no life could be found, was a struggle even to breathe.

The hot sun burned her fur, and the sandstorms choked her breath.

There was no way that a mere weak Fox Living Spirit could withstand the heat that even the Humans of the Empire could not bear and collapsed from.

Moreover, it was obvious that a being who could not adapt to an unknown land where she knew no one would crumble without leaving even a fragment.

Her small body looked even more pathetic under the Empire’s massive walls, and just as her heart was breaking from her incompetence and powerlessness, and she was about to end her life…

An unexpected encounter that would change her fate appeared before Miel.

“Hey… what are you doing here? It’s especially hot at this time, so come over here quickly. Oh dear… you’re in a life-threatening condition. You’re going to die like this… I’ll share my power with you for now.”

The one who reached out to Miel was a boy with red hair and Rabbit ears…

Rabbit Divine Beast Lily, born from the wishes of the people who wanted the Empire to endure.

He shared his power, which was like a part of himself, with the dying Miel, allowing her to be among the lowest ranks of the Divine Beasts from a mere Living Spirit. In other words… they had become a community of fate.

And he was not the only one who reached out to Miel.

“Ugh… ugh, ugh… Mo, Monsters…”

“Ah… he fainted. I told you not to show yourselves right away, you guys.”

Behind Lily were beasts beyond comprehension, too large to be described as merely gigantic. They were the Divine Beasts who had protected the Empire before it became a desert.

Thunderbird Ziz, Earth Dragon Behemoth, Deep Sea Serpent Leviathan.

Those who had protected the first Empire, where life had thrived, but had become pillars of salt after receiving God’s punishment for the sin of indulgence.

The fact that it had become a barren desert, cursed so that not a single blade of grass could grow, was also due to God’s wrath, and these three Divine Beasts held the noble mission of reviving the cursed land.

Ziz parted the sky, summoning thunder and rain, Behemoth tried to create a forest in the sandstorm, and Leviathan tried to make a river flow through the parched land.

All of them were beings with kind hearts, and they did not simply pass by the dying Miel, and did not reject her even though she was a Living Spirit from a foreign land.

“Can I… really receive this? I’m just, just… a weak Fox…”

“Well, I won’t deny that you’re weak…”

“Wh, whwhat…! No, still, don’t say it like that…!”

“Ahahaha. Your flashpoint is quite low. Fox. But you know. I don’t think that being weak is a reason to die or be bullied. My birth process, too, was born from the wishes of Humans who were weaker than the Divine Beasts. For me to despise the weak would be like spitting in my own face.”

“I, Is that so…? Th, then… I’ll gratefully accept this Altar…! By receiving Faith at this Altar, I can definitely become stronger, right!”

“Well, you need to be at a certain level. Right now, the highest Faith in this Empire is probably the Spirit of Smoke or… the three Divine Beasts, right? I’m not well known, but I don’t need much power anyway. Oh, right. And do you have a name?”

“Name… I was told in my hometown that such things are the exclusive property of the strong. I was weak, so I didn’t have a name…”

“Then, I’ll give you a name. Hmm… Mi, e… Ah! Miel! How is it? It’s a great name, right? If a name is a symbol of the strong, then you can get a name in advance because you’re going to become much stronger in the future, right? You said you came here because you wanted to become stronger.”

With their help, Miel was able to barely set up her own Altar, and she also received her name.

At first, it was a shabby Altar, and the Faith that followed her was weak to the point of being almost non-existent, but thanks to the help of the three Divine Beasts and Lily, she was able to put her name on the lowest rank of the Empire’s Divine Beasts.

However, a dark shadow still loomed in her heart.

It was her own weakness. The fact that she had fled her hometown as if she was being chased, and that she had come to the Empire and was dying without being able to do anything, was all because she was weak.

At first, she listened to the kind advice of the other Divine Beasts and organized her mindset as a Divine Beast, or bickered with Lily, hoping to become stronger someday… but she was still weak. Perhaps it was because the objects of comparison were the three greatest Divine Beasts of the Empire.

Ziz’s thunder, Behemoth’s roar, Leviathan’s whirlpool. Before their immense power, Miel was seized by the thought that she herself was nothing more than a speck of dust.

Even though she felt herself growing stronger as the number of believers gradually increased, Miel was seized by the anxiety that she could weaken at any time if the number of believers decreased, and she even felt that her own identity was insignificant.

And this anxiety… made her constantly doubt.

“What if… those Divine Beasts suddenly change their minds? What if they suddenly feel bad one day and destroy my Altar with thunder, roars, or waves and kick me out…? Then I’ll really be… a dead Fox…”

She was the only one who didn’t doubt Lily. What was the reason for that?

Was it affection for the child who had shown her kindness, or… was it because she was looking down on Lily, who was weaker than her?

Only she herself would know the reason. The only thing that was certain was that her heart was becoming more and more stained with doubt and fear.

Then one day, Lily came to Miel’s Altar.

“Hello. You’ve had a shadow on your face lately. What’s bothering you?”

“You don’t need to know… you can’t understand, and you won’t understand…”

“Is that so? Then I won’t listen. More than that… I wanted to show you something.”

“Are you going to show me a strange Lantern? No thanks. I’ve seen it too many times and I’m tired of it. Or are you going to show me a Lantern again and say, ‘Humans light up the darkness with such a small light. I hope you’ll become a little brighter while looking at this’ and try to deceive me with sweet talk?”

Lily was more interested in the lives of Humans than the other Divine Beasts. He collected things made by Humans and admired their creativity and hope.

Among them, the thing that Lily cherished the most was the Lantern. He spared no praise for the Humans who had put the flame, which was called the exclusive property of God, in a box so that it could emit light at any time.

Once, Lily’s clumsy sincerity, which he had told Miel by comparing it to a Lantern, remained forever in Miel’s heart as a warm light. However, now was not the moment to slowly savor it and feel moved…

“Deceive is a bit harsh. I just said that because I wanted you to have hope… but no, the date has been set. Miel. The preparations for the elders’ ritual.”

“Ritual…? The ritual to revive nature in that Empire?”

“Yes, they said that the number of believers and the power they have stored up are now sufficient. They said that they will perform the final ritual in a few days.”

The final ritual that the three Divine Beasts—Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan—were preparing to remove the Empire’s Curse. They were about to pour all of their power into covering the Empire’s land, which had been consumed by God’s Curse, with verdant greenery and the water of life.

Their plan was great, and their sacrifice that would result from it was noble.

Hearing about this grand ritual that no one would fail to applaud, Miel was also impressed. But the reason for her admiration was different.

The three Divine Beasts’ goodwill? No. To Miel, who was already possessed by delusion, the intention didn’t matter.

If… she could have their power… if she could make that power her own… she would become stronger, and then wouldn’t she be able to give even greater hope to the Humans under her leadership?

Then they would worship her, and if she received Faith from them, she would be reborn as the Empire’s leading Divine Beast, whom no one could oppose…

This black heart, which had arisen from a small spark, gradually took hold of her.

Her weakness, her fear, her desire were mixed together, leading her to an irreversible decision.

Finally, the day of the ritual arrived, and the three Divine Beasts were concentrating on gathering all their power to remove God’s Curse. Lily and Miel quietly watched the scene, which might be their last.

In the middle of the ritual, in a completely defenseless state… the sight of them taking out their own hearts and gathering Magical power was like putting their livers outside their bodies in front of the Fox.

And… Miel did not miss that moment.

“Miel? Miel…!? What are you doing? Come back! You won’t survive if you get caught up in that…!”

“Won’t survive? You’re wrong. I will survive! In this Empire forever…! And I will become stronger and stronger! So that I will never be weakened and fall behind again!!”

Miel gathered all her spirit and will and struck the three Divine Beasts from behind. She plundered their hearts, absorbed their Magical power, and remade her own body.

From a Fox Living Spirit, to the lowest rank of the Fox Divine Beasts, from the lowest rank of the Divine Beasts to the highest Divine Beast… the power of thunder, the power of the earth, the power of the sea… all of it flowed into Miel.

“Ah… Aaaah♡ This is strength… my own power that will never disappear, that I will never let go of…!!”

“Mi, el…”

Miel absorbed that power and Ascended to a higher dimension. Now, the two words “weakness” did not exist in her dictionary.

She had transcended into a Divine Beast who reigned on an arrogant throne like the King of the Demon Realm.

“Hehe… Ahah, Ahahahaha♡ Yes, this is the power… this power… Thank you. Lily. For telling me the day of the ritual… thanks to you, I obtained this power. Now I… will be the Fox Divine Beast Miel who will reign over the Empire forever! I will make the Empire prosper forever. Now this place is my… Fox Den, after all♡”

Miel used her new power to change the fate of the Empire.

She changed the prophecies that came from the power of the Divine Beast into the name of Divine Revelation, leading the Empire’s revival, and at the same time, she reduced the stories of the three Divine Beasts who were originally revered in the Empire or eliminated documents, slowly erasing their names from history.

In the present day, the names and stories of Behemoth and Leviathan have been completely forgotten, and Thunderbird Ziz has lost its name and remains only in the history of the Empire’s few remaining Avian race.

Not stopping there, she revised the history books to her liking, exaggerating her Faith and achievements, and the people of the Empire, swept away by this, began to worship her.

Miel’s Altar had now become the most magnificent building in the Empire, along with the Imperial palace, and her name was on everyone’s lips. Even those outside the Empire began to worship Miel.

However, her relationship with Lily did not.

Lily, who had shared a part of himself with her, given her her name, and engraved hope in her, was no longer there. He had stopped talking to her since the day Miel stole the power of the Divine Beasts during the ritual, preventing the Empire from ever regaining its nature.

He no longer brought Lanterns to show off, nor did he utter playful jokes… he cut off all contact with Miel.

“Lily… you still won’t meet me. Even though I, who am stronger than anyone else, am asking for a meeting. Then… I have my own thoughts. I want to see you. Your appearance… that voice…”

For Miel, Lily was the only being who had shown her the light.

So that Lily’s Faith would not be diminished by her own Faith, she built a new Altar for him (smaller than her own), creating an Empire guarded by two Divine Beasts: the Rabbit who guards the morning, and the Fox who guards the night.

As a reward for sharing his power with her when she was dying, Miel was now sharing her power with Lily, who was weakening due to his fading Faith.

Of course… Miel was the main god, and Lily was under her, unable to escape his weakness.

The Empire’s sky was still hot, and the desert was still dry. But Miel’s Altar shone.

She tried to bury her past, hide her weakness, and reign as the Empire’s Divine Beast forever.

But now… in the depths of Miel’s heart, one question echoed.

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“Have I really brought the light? Or have I simply made the darkness deeper?”

It was then that she was reminded that everything was the price for her misdeeds.

A scythe suddenly rose from the floor. Before Miel could react, it split the floor at a very high speed, creating a large hole.

Beyond that hole… the appearance of the Empire… an obscene Empire covered in Purple mist, where it was difficult to distinguish the boundary between the ground and the sky, appeared.

Miel clearly witnessed the being below with her own eyes.

“Li, Lily…?”

The appearance of the Depravity Divine Beast and beloved Divine Beast, who was stroking a huge red Dick with throbbing blood vessels bulging out.

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