As a member of the Cursed Bloodline, transformation was a core component of his abilities. On top of that, he was a True Ancestor, meaning that there were quite literally no restrictions to the type and kinds of beings that he could transform into. Also he had nearly a century's worth of experience in it. However, today his skills were truly put to the test , for today was a mission far greater in stakes than he had ever undertaken with transformation. Yes, that's right. Today was a date with miku. A date where he had to transform into shiori…..

       Under normal circumstances, he would have either crossdressed or maybe have just used haniel to transform himself. However, the problem with haniel's transformation was that it was not only temporary, but also a sufficient enough energy shock was enough to revert it. However, with his bloodline abilities, that wasn't the case. At present, all of his cellular DNA did indeed have the XX chromosome rather than the regular XY. Of course, he had done this in the past too. However, it was mostly for assassinations.

      His current form wasn't too different in appearance from what he would have looked like had he crossdressed instead of transforming. And that was a key difference. In the past, whenever he transformed into a woman to assassinate someone, he looked…. better, than his current self. His body proportions would be much more refined ; with long flowing hair , a chest that would rival miku's, broad hips and an hourglass figure that would put most models to shame. Combine that with his seduction acts , it had never once failed him during assassination.

     Of course, his current predicament was different from anything he had done before. His arm was hugged tightly by miku as it rested in her ample bosom. It was a good thing that he could control all of his bodily functions right down to the cellular level otherwise his face would have been as red as fresh blood and he would be having ' additional reactions ' which he really didn't want to in public, much less in front of miku.

       Miku seemed not to care about the stares that the people on the street were giving them , considering that he was walking with a famous idol. Miku , sensing his hesitation, asked him , " Is there a problem , Shiori-San ? "  The absolute innocence with which she spoke was enough to get his heart flutter . Of course, he was slightly dissatisfied with his feminine name, but he didn't let it show with his expressions. He wasn't the descendant of Orpheus for nothing.

      He asked in a meek voice, with clear undertones of femininity , starkly contrasting from the tomboyish one he had used on his first meeting as shiori with miku, " Erm …. It's just that….. all the people are staring at us…"
Miku had a clueless expression on her face as she tilted her head sideways cutely and said,  " But what's wrong with girls being out
together ? Girls hang out like this . " Shido opened his mouth but closed it again, unable to refute her. Sighing, he resigned himself to his fate.

      Miku, understanding this , smiled and dragged him along her to a clothing store. Still, not counting his appearance, he was indeed enjoying the date. As he entered the store, he could see that the lady at the counter appeared to be acquainted with miku, perhaps she was a regular ? Regardless, he saw as the lady herself had a glint in her eyes over the prospect of choosing dresses for him ? Were all women like this ?! Wait, no . That couldn't be correct…. Nia never really showed any interest in clothes aside from cosplay but perhaps she was an exception ? Regardless, he was slightly nervous about the whole dressing thing.

        Soon , Miku handed him a white dress. The dress seemed to be made out of delicate milk white fabric which was beautifully woven. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was a particular type of dress. A Wedding Dress , as a matter of fact  Sighing, he took the dress and went into the changing room. Miku did try to enter the changing room under the excuse that he wouldn't know how to wear it, but he closed the door before she could enter. And while she would have been technically correct, he had the entirety of the knowledge of the Root. As such, he didn't just know how to wear a dress , but also make a dress !

         He sighed once again, before chuckling to himself. The access to the root was something that even gods craved for. Hell, In a dimension far far away, people even conducted elaborate battle royales with dead Heroes just to get a shiny cup. And here he was using it to learn how to wear a  dress. If those Mages in the Clock Tower or even the Mage's Association found out about it, they would cough blood due to sheer anger. Oh well. It wasn't his fault that they sucked .

           Shrugging off the useless thoughts, he stepped outside the room, wearing the dress, with a blue ribbon on his ( or her to be precise ) waist. He wasn't a narcissist, but he had to admit, he looked good. If he had to seduce someone while giving the impression of an innocent poor girl, he would definitely have chosen this form rather than the more seductive form. After all, there were men with different tastes and using the same type of woman to assassinate them was impossible. As such, one had to adapt.

  
        However, Shido's attention was suddenly drawn as miku stepped out of the other dressing room, while wearing a tuxedo. And looking at her , he only had one phrase to describe her ; ' GODDAMN HOT ! ' .  But in all seriousness, she really did look amazing. As she walked towards him, he had a hard time keeping himself composed.

       Miku stood in front of him with a smile on her face as she said, " So how do I look  darling ? " Shido opened his mouth but closed it again, unable to say anything. Miku giggled , seeing his reaction. She then closed the distance between her and Shido until their faces were extremely close to each other. As Shido blushed furiously, miku said, " But I must say, you look quite beautiful, darling. I'm sure that you'll attract a lot of attention with these looks …"

       Shido chuckled nervously , unsure how to reply. Miku then stepped back and clapped her hands and said, " Then we should move onto the other dresses ! There are so many dresses more to try ! " Shido sighed as miku dragged him along with her . He just couldn't say no to her, now could he ? Still, as long as it made her happy, he too was happy….

                 ---------------X--------------

Location : Miku's Mansion

           After purchasing the clothes ( aka buying out the entire store ) miku asked Shido to come to her home. She wanted him to wear and try out the other dresses. And since he couldn't say no to her, he reluctantly obliged. And this led to his current situation, where he was once again changing clothes in the dressing room.

       Shido knew that miku would never stop at one dress. As soon as he presented one
dress , she would fawn over it for a while and after that ask him to wear another one. And there were a LOT of dresses.  There was everything, princess ball gowns, nurse outfits, office lady costumes, cat girls and even bunny suits . Because of this, he had to wear something and act in such a manner that would satisfy her to such an extent that she wouldn't ask for more. And luckily, acting was indeed his strong suit. After all, he wasn't a descendant of Orpheus for nothing.

       Of course, technically speaking, he wasn't a blood descendant of Orpheus ( rather , he had blood ties to the Pharaohs of Egypt) However, he was a Fool. And as such, like all other Fools, he had the ' Blessings Of
Orpheus ' since the moment of awakening. Because of it , all Fools had high proficiency and talent in any manner of arts , whether it be painting, singing, dancing, acting etc. Of course, this blessing was not equal in all Fools, as every Fool had random ranks of it. He himself was just barely average in it. That meant that while he  could even outperform most gods of arts and music, there were still thousands of Fools in the cosmos who were leagues ahead of what he could ever even dream of. Of course, you didn't necessarily have to be a Fool to have the ' Blessings Of Orpheus '. It just came as an additional perk along with being one. In fact, one of the beings with the highest ranked ' Blessings Of
Orpheus ' in recent times was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wasn't even a Fool.

       That aside, it was now the time. To put on a show that even an idol like miku will be bedazzled with. Straightening his head dress, Shido pushed a large trolley of food that he had already pre prepared, the kind that normally found in large and fancy hotels towards Miku's room.

        As he stepped inside miku's room, it seemed that miku wanted to say something but was completely left awestruck after looking at his dress. Smirking internally, he proceeded with the plan. With a cutesy smile on her face , she lifted her skirt slightly and bowed while saying, " Mistress, it's time for your tea. "

       Miku , stupefied on seeing shiori in a maid outfit, tried to speak while stuttering as she said, " Sh-Sh-Shiori-San ?! Wh-What is the meaning of this ?! '' Shiori merely tilted her head sideways and asked with a clueless expression, " Has shiori made a mistake, mistress ? If so , shiori apologizes for it. Shiori hopes that mistress will forgive her maid . "

     Miku , once again shocked by this , screamed , " Maid ?! " Shiori , pretending to be slightly confused by her behaviour, said while bowing, " Yes mistress. Shiori is your maid and will follow all of your orders . " Miku , upon hearing this began to breathe heavily. Her face seemed to be flushed, as it was completely red. She then got up from her bed and approached shiori and held her in her arms and said in a shaky tone , " You'll do anything ?! Anything I order ?! Anything ?! Hehehe !!!! Then ,then I have special orders for you !!! "

         It seemed that seeing shiori in a maid outfit and her saying that she would follow any order of her was a bit too much stimulation for miku, leading to this. Shiori quickly looked the other way , maintaining silence. Miku asked her , " So you will not listen to me ?....."  Shiori slowly turned towards her, with a large blush on her face and spoke in a nervous expression as she said, " That's not it mistress….. Shiori will be honoured to do that. But Shiori doesn't believe she is good enough for mistress……"

      And that , was the breaking point. Miku's face was completely red as she passed out from a nosebleed after seeing what she thought as ' Shiori's Pure Maiden Act ' . Shido quickly held her in her arms to prevent her from falling to the floor. He then placed her on the bed and wiped her face and placed her body upright to prevent blood from flowing back through the nostrils. He had already placed a first aid kit in the trolley and from it he removed some cotton and cleaned all the blood.

     He sighed, mentally thanking his luck for his success. He had anticipated that something like this would happen , would he manage to excite Miku enough. Of course, there was always a chance that miku rather than passing out from his act took more '  aggressive steps '. In that case, the only option he would have had was to jump out of the window downwards which was two floors while wearing a maid outfit. Of course, this wasn't his first time at the rodeo, now was it ?

                   ---------------X--------------

Timeskip , A Few Hours Later

       Miku woke up groggily and sat on the bed momentarily. Before she could collect her thoughts however, Shiori who was sitting beside her calmly handed her a glass of water and said, " Before you question, no it wasn't a dream. Yes , I acted like that  while wearing this maid outfit and no, I'm not doing it again. And to clarify, it's about evening now. " Miku paused momentarily to fully understand his words.

     After taking a sip of water, she calmly replied in her usual cheerful tone and said,
" Still , I must say, you did very well,
Shiori-San ~ "  Her tone did take a slightly flirtatious turn at the end , to which Shido blushed slightly. Before he could retort, Miku spoke again and said, " I'd even say that you could fully pass as a woman. " Shido sighed and said, " I know how to act a bit. I did once dream of becoming an actor you know ? "

        Miku giggled slightly on hearing his response. However, Shido's face suddenly took a slightly sunken expression as he suddenly asked in a heavy tone , " Can you please answer a question of mine honestly , Miku ? " Miku was caught off guard by this sudden shift but regardless nodded her head in affirmation. Shido took a deep breath and said, " I…. Want to know whether you are truly fine with me, Miku……"

      Miku was completely confused by this question. She said in an unsure tone, " I don't know what you mean, Shido…..". Shido hung his head low , not making eye contact with her for a moment before furrowing his brows and speaking after once again taking a deep breath and said, " I mean my body , miku…. We both know that it's no secret that you like girls. But you still say you love me. And don't get me wrong , I don't question your love for me for a single moment ! I'd rather die than question your love for me ! But , still…. I want to know. Do you really like me the way I am, or do you wish I was a woman ?....... "

       Miku smiled gently and buried Shido's face in her chest. Ruffling his hair, she spoke in a gentle tone and said, " I love you, Darling. Shido, Shiori ; they're all you. No matter what your gender may be, my love for you will remain the same. Do I enjoy seeing you dress like this ? Yes. But saying that I prefer this over your real identity is wrong. I love you just the way you are. And you don't have to change a single thing about you. I fell in love with you, the idiot who tried to save me even after I sent an entire city's worth of people to hunt you. The idiot who despite that still stood in front of an inverse spirit's full fledged attack just to save a horrible person like me. The idiot who despite everything that we have done to hurt you and at times even almost tried to kill you, you have stood by our side without asking anything in return…….."

      Shido could now hear miku's sniffles as she  had started to slightly tear up. He separated himself from her and then embraced her once again while wiping her tears. Miku spoke up while still crying with a small chuckle, " You know darling, sometimes we feel that we don't deserve you. That maybe you deserve women better tha- "  Before Miku could continue however, Shido interrupted her by saying in a firm tone, " Don't ! Don't ever say that …… I …… could never bear to lose you…. Any of you……. So please, don't……"

     Miku separated herself and chuckled softly as she said, " Instead of enjoying our date, I passed out until evening after seeing your cute form. And now we're both sitting here , wallowing in sorrow ! I guess we're both idiots, aren't we ? " Shido chuckled and said, " Hey , you know what they say. Birds of a feather flock together. " Miku merely rolled her eyes on hearing this.

          She then said, " That aside, what time is it now ? " Shido , who was still wearing the maid outfit, said " It's about six. I was actually waiting for you to get up so that I could leave for purchasing groceries for today's dinner. I and everyone else will be more than happy to have you join us. " Miku stayed silent for a moment before speaking then said, " Hmm…. Say, how about this ? I go ahead and make some quick meals to satiate everyone's hunger for the time being. Until then, you can purchase and bring home the groceries and then start cooking. How about this ? "

        Shido thought about this for a moment before eventually agreeing. After all, this would at least help tohka if no one else. As he nodded, miku said, " Then you should leave right now, darling ! " While Shido agreed with the sentiment, he said, " Alright, but at least let me change the maid outfit. "  Miku interjected him with a smirk on her face and said, " Nuh uh, darling ! You're going to purchase the groceries in the maid outfit ! "

       Shido immediately wanted to protest however Miku had an expression of mock hurt as she said, " After making me cry, can't you atleast listen to a single request of mine , darling ?.... " Shido exclaimed in his mind and thought , " This woman ! She literally had him wrapped around her finger ! Damn , but she wasn't completely wrong. Sure , her current sadness was false , but her tears before were genuine. If nothing else, she sure as hell knew how to make the best out of any situation……"

    He begrudgingly accepted this to which miku beamed a cheerful smile. He muttered quietly to himself, " Oh the things I do for love……"  Taking the bag, he left quietly to the grocery store as miku herself made her way towards the Itsuka residence.

                  ---------------X--------------

Location : The supermarket, the vegetable section

         Shiori selected the vegetables and placed them in her cart. She made sure that she was selecting only the best and freshest vegetables, for the first step for creating a perfect meal is selecting the right ingredients. And most of the time, a good ingredient is a fresh ingredient. Her only concern was the looks of curiosity that everyone was giving her.

       From other people's perspective, she seemed to be a proper and professional maid of some rich family. And he wasn't exactly afraid of being found out as he could just erase anyone's memory of they turned out to be one of his classmates like tonomachi or if they weren't all that important, just kill them and devour their body. So all things considered, he wasn't worried in the slightest.

       And that ; was where Shido really tempted Fate. And as most of Shakespearean protagonists can attest , bad things happen when you tempt Fate. Which it did. As soon as he bent down to pick up one of the aubergines that had fallen from his trolley, his hands met the hands of someone else. A good Samaritan who had most likely tried to help a woman in need. That or just a horny bastard who wanted to try his luck with a woman.

       However, when he met face to face with the person who had helped him, he froze completely. Standing in front of him was Chiyome, with a small basket in one hand. He was quite literally praying that Chiyome would not recognise him and perha- . And all his hopes were shattered when Chiyome said in shock , " Eh ! Sensei ?! "  Hearing this, Shido thought , " And there goes whatever small traces of respect she had for me ….. "

         While Chiyome wanted to question why her Sensei was out dressed up as a woman and wearing maid clothes on top of it , she suddenly remembered what kotori had told her about. That miku was more interested in girls and as such she often made Shido dress up as a girl. Still, even she had to admit that her teacher pulled off that look quite well and if she wasn't acquainted with him, she would have never suspected that the person in front of her was a man, not a woman.

       Chiyome replied hurriedly to dispel the misunderstanding as she said, " I understand Sensei ! Kotori told me everything about miku so you don't have to worry ! " Truth be told, she was still a bit afraid after today's events, considering that Shido had quite literally kicked her ass. And she had no intention of giving him another reason to beat her up. Her thoughts were interrupted however when she saw her teacher about to move.

       Her Sensei's movements were fast. And while she could perceive his movements due to being a cultivator, she didn't have the necessary reflexes to dodge it. With that , she had resolved herself to her fate. Sure , Shido may not have a shinai or a sword in his hands but did he really need one ? If he could beat the shit out of a cultivator like her with a wooden shinai, he probably could do the same with something like a wooden ladle, which was conveniently lying in his shopping cart.

       Contrary to her expectations however, no strike came. She timidly opened her eyes and saw that her Sensei's hand was on her shoulder, as if an adult trying to get the attention of a hyperactive child. However, her blood froze with fear when she took a look at his face. Despite having no physical changes, a lot had changed. In place of his normal eyes , were eyes devoid of hope, empty soulless pupils that seemed to stare into her very soul. Shiori still had a smile on her face, but that smile rang a thousand bells for her danger perception.

       While maintaining a stiff smile, Shiori replied in a completely monotone manner, " We are going to increase your training tomorrow, Yagyū Chiyome. " Chiyome nearly shouted in protest as she screamed, " You can't do that ! That's unfair ! " However, Shiori merely repeated her words in the same monotone manner like a broken record as she said, " We are going to increase your training tomorrow, Yagyū Chiyome. "

      Hearing this, Chiyome knew that she wasn't going to get out of this predicament easily. She at least tried to plead mercy against Shido as she spoke with a nearly teary eyed expression, " Please . I'll die Sensei……"  All her hopes were shattered however when Shido replied once again in his monotone voice while slightly tightening the grip on her shoulders as he said, " I'm afraid I can't let such a travesty occur. As such I'll ensure that you won't die. Even if I have to beat Death itself to Death with my shinai I'll do it. I won't let you leave your training halfway. I assure you of this. "

       If Chiyome was on the verge of tears before, she was quite literally going to break into complete sobs. Shido however, seemingly not caring about it, simply gave her a courteous bow and left the aisle. He most likely even scared the cashier and the other customers. As Chiyome left for home, she had only one thought in her mind , " I have to prepare my will……". In her fear, she had even forgotten the important fact that she had no child to leave a Will for…….

Location : The prime minister's House

       A man was rapidly pacing inside his rooms. After pulling his hair in rage, he finally took a deep breath and took out a small gem from his pocket. He firmly squeezed the gem in his hand as it began to glow a crimson red hue. Soon , a portal opened in front of him and out of it stepped the person he was waiting for, Shido himself. However, what worried him was the fact that Shido had a scowl on his face. And it was for a good reason too. Unbeknownst to Mitsuhide, he had called Shido right in the middle of his research. And Shido HATED when someone interrupted either his sword training, cooking or his research.

        Mitsuhide gulped in fear and said hesitantly, " It's Russia ! They're attacking us ! A large fleet of submarines is currently making their way towards us. They're going to most likely take control of the entire nation, considering that I refused to side with them ! " Shido took a deep breath and said, " Do you have any idea about their numbers ? "  Mitsuhide replied to this by saying , " We have observed 98 submarines. And while then being conventional submarines is completely plausible, considering the fact that they're trying to take over the entire nation, it's not too farfetched to think that they're all nuclear submarines. They must also be equipped with nuclear warheads to threaten us and possibly make us forcefully surrender. "

        Shido pulled his hair in frustration before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He then turned to Mitsuhide and said, " You know what ? Fuck this ! I'm ending the war right now ! I'm going to eradicate that fleet and punish Russia too ! " Mitsuhide, who was completely caught off guard by this, said " Wait a minute ! What do you mean ?! " Shido merely scoffed and said, " What ? You really didn't think that I would leave those bastards without any punishment after they attack the nation which I myself have decided to protect ! Also , please do me a favour and evacuate all the citizens along the entirety of the coastline towards the North. Also , ask any vessels or shops near the coastline to retreat. I'd prefer to not have any unnecessary attention. "

      Mitsuhide, who was slightly confused by this, asked in curiosity, " But why ? " Shido sighed and said, " Because what I'm going to do is probably going to endanger the lives of all the people living in the coastal areas due to a tsunami. Of course, I'm going to try on my end to prevent the tsunami from reaching the coast altogether. The evacuation is only for the worst case scenario. Of course, if I do end up succeeding, I'll just create a Category Three hurricane to justify the evacuation. "

     Mitsuhide, shocked on hearing this, screamed in surprise and said, " You can create a hurricane ?! " Shido shrugged and said, " Well , yeah. And unlike the spirits, I utilize the laws, so there is no mana residue that the AST or Ratatoskr or any cultivator for that matter can trace ! So quickly get on the evacuation ! " Saying this, Shido tapped his cane on the ground as a portal opened in front of him which he stepped through.

                ---------------X--------------

Location : ???, 200 Kms off the coast of Japan

        Captain Maksim Stephanov was standing with a pensive look in the command room. Around him, the other officers were busy , monitoring everything from the sonar systems to the engine room, ensuring that the nuclear reactor was functioning properly and there were no problems with it. He breathed a heavy sigh.  He and the other Captains in the fleet were given direct orders from the President himself to invade Japan, mostly due to its strategic importance to the US. Of course, normally such an action would not be advised or acceptable by any soldier, however desperate times do indeed call for desperate measures. They would of course first give a warning and threaten Japan with nuclear weapons. If only they did not surrender would they declare a full scale attack on Japan. Of course, while he himself didn't want to do this , he had no choice in the matter.

          His thoughts were interrupted however when one of the officers nearly shouted and said, " Sir ! An unknown object is rapidly approaching us at 3 O'clock ! It's speed is ….. 400 knots !! It'll make contact with us in 24 seconds !! " Everyone was both shocked and afraid after hearing this. How something had managed to locate them underwater was certainly beyond them, but regardless, the captain hurriedly said, " Fire Torpedoes at it ! Now ! " The officer immediately relayed that order and typed in the command.

       Instantly, a torpedo was launched from the submarine as it pierced through the water and rapidly approached it's target , the unknown object. The Torpedo collided with it as the officer back in the submarine said " We have a confirmed hit ! The object has ceased movement and disappeared. "  Hearing this, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, the captain now knew that one thing was certain, that Japan knew about the attack. As such, a conflict was inevitable.

        However, before he could say anything, suddenly the submarine began to shake violently. He stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance by holding onto a metal bar and screamed , " Cadet ! Status report ! " The officers who were knocked out of their seats hurriedly tried to answer his question. After a few moments, one of the officers said , " Sir ! It seems that we and the entirety of our fleet is being pulled in towards a whirlpool ! " While everyone was confused by the appearance of this sudden whirlpool, one of the other officers screamed as he said, " Sir ! I have a visual of our surroundings ! "

        Soon, the large screen in front of them lit up. However, what they saw was something that would remain ingrained into their very minds till the end of their lives. In front of them was a massive beast.The creature dwarfed their vessel and seemed to extend downwards towards the seafloor itself.It had a cylinder-like central body on which four large mouths were present on the surface.  The mouths were large enough to swallow an entire ship , much less their puny submarine. The mouths were lined with thousands of sharp teeth that made their blood run cold with a single glance. From the creature emerged countless long tentacles, each lined with large , claw-like hooks , which were as large as a human head. The creature was rapidly sucking the water around it with its four large mouths and having the water leave from a single large opening on its top, essentially creating whirlpools around it.

      The soldiers were trained for battlefield. They were trained to witness and endure the horrors of war, yet even they couldn't begin to fathom the horror in front of them. The other submarines had started to open fire on the creature. However, the creature showed no visible damage from it other than occasional flinching movements. It was the same as a group of ants attacking an elephant, no matter how hard they tried, it was a futile effort.

      Sensing that the situation was unsalvageable, the captain immediately ordered his men to retreat. This was not a threat that they could take on their own. He ordered the soldiers to relay the information to the other Captains to retreat too, along with notifying the Central Command about the situation. However, one of the officers nearly screamed as he said, " Sir , we're unable to contact the Centre Communications are simply not responding, as if there's something blocking it ! " Captain Maksim was afraid upon hearing this. He immediately asked , " Then what about the other vessels?! " The officer turned back and hurriedly began to try to establish contact with the other vessels. After a few moments, he turned back and said, " We can contact them ! They have received our message and all have agreed to retreat ! "

        Maksim thought of this to be the correct and only available option. After all, someone or something was preventing their message from reaching the base , so a retreat was the only option. However, it seemed that fate had ordained the Deaths and claimed each of the souls aboard the vessels. And Death it seemed, was reluctant to part with its belongings. For as soon as the vessels started to retreat, the creature had somehow sensed it. It began to increase the strength of the whirlpools suction as well as began to actively grab them with its tentacles.

        The tentacles snapped any submarine that were caught between them in half as if they were twigs. As soon as the people aboard the submarines were exposed to the depths of the water around them , their bodies were immediately crushed to a bloody pulp by the water pressure. The ships and the bodies were afterwards devoured by the creature's humongous mouth immediately.

      Aboard the submarine, every soldier had now understood that Death was approaching fast , and that there was nothing that they could do about it. As they were drowning in despair at their fate, a ray of hope shined through the darkness for them. The ship's speakers rang with an emergency broadcast from one of the other Captains on the nearby ship. It was one of the ships that was caught up in the whirlpools. The captain spoke in an excited tone , starkly contrasting from the situation that he was currently in. The Captain nearly screamed as he said, " Maksim ! We both know that I'm screwed anyway ! So I thought, why not show this ugly fucker the might of Russian Engineering , shall we ?! I was always jealous of you, you bastard ! Even in the academy, you were on top of the class in grades ! No way in hell I'm going to let you have the honour of sacrificing yourself and be a hero ! But now, It's time to go out with a bang ! "

        Saying this, the other ship's captain began to accelerate his ship towards the creature rather than away from it. The ship was quickly swallowed by the creature but before it could destroy the ship, something unexpected happened. A huge fireball arose from inside the creature completely destroying its body. A brilliant flash of light strong enough to blind the eyes of anyone who looked at it was now in pace of the creature. It seemed that the Captain had indeed decided to go out in a blaze of glory. He had disabled all the safety features on the engine and forced fission inside of it, effectively turning it into a nuclear warhead.

        The explosion however did not last long as the water pressure around it quickly crushed the large dome of debris back into nothingness. However, as the smoke cleared , it was evident that the creature was dead. The soldiers in all the remaining vessels cheered and screamed in joy. After all, how couldn't they ? They had just escaped from the jaws of Death . Captain Maksim breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Even if they were alive now, it had come at a great cost. The sacrifices of his comrades couldn't be forgotten. Especially that of the unnamed Captain. The only way to find out who he was was to return to the base and go through the records of the transmission and find out which ship it came from and then find out the name of the Captain. Regardless of who it was, each and every soldier here owed their lives to him .

        The celebration aboard the submarines however, seemed to be short-lived, as suddenly, the remains of the creature began to grow in size. Not only that, it began to change. Rather than its earlier form , it now had thousands of faces strewn across it. Human Faces. The faces seemed to be contorted in different expressions. Some in the form of roaring laughter, some in the form of crying terror, some weeping, while others wailed. But one thing was certain ; that the End was approaching.

       The creature , who was now completely blood red unlike before, now extended its myriad tentacles and caught all the submarines in a single instant. The submarines and the people aboard it suddenly turned and dissolved into a large blob of blood in a single instant, before being assimilated into the large creature. A thousand new faces grew on the body of the creature. It stayed that way for a while before finally shrinking until it turned back into the shape of a familiar blue haired boy carrying a cane in his hand. After this , the water around him displaced itself creating a large bubble of empty space. The boy smiled and thought to himself, " Next stop , Russia. " Soon , a portal opened in front of him as he stepped through it, leaving no evidence of the carnage that had taken place.

                  ---------------X--------------

Location : The President's Office, Russia

       Vladisav Kransov , the Russian President sat with a heavy expression in his office. Just a few hours ago , he had given the order for a fleet of submarines to Japan, as it was imperative to secure it due to its strategic importance. He just couldn't let it fall in American hands. It was a difficult decision, but one which he had to take nonetheless. He took a large chug of the vodka that was filled in his coffee mug. Letting out a satisfied sigh , he leaned back against his chair.

       His attention was suddenly drawn to the centre of the room when a large red blob fell from the ceiling. The blob morphed into a human being who seemed to be a young boy with blue hair. The boy took out a cane in his hand out of seemingly empty space. Kransov screamed for help , but none of the guards outside answered. The boy smiled and bowed to him and said, " Don't worry, I've already taken out and replaced the guards, so no one's coming. I've taken care of everything, from the security room, to setting up a barrier to prevent noise from going outside. So there's nothing you can do ! "

         Kransov asked him in a trembling tone,
" Who , Who are you ?! " The boy smiled as his tone shifted . He then said, " My name is Rhadamanthus , I'm 130 years old. My house is in the southern part of Tengu city , where most of the middle class people are, and I am not married although I would like to be. I work as an employee for the Nyarlothep, the Crawling Chaos however I have flexible working hours and I have yet to receive a mission. I don't smoke, but I occasionally drink. I'm in bed by 11 , after I have ensured that yoshino is tucked in bed. I never sleep, no matter what. After having a keg of Heavenly Sake I conduct about eight hours of miscellaneous activities which include but not limited to research, experimentation and genocide, before transferring my soul in the body left at home in the morning. I usually have  problems sleeping as I have not slept for 130 years. Just like a baby, I pretend to wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up by my psychiatrist until I devoured him and replaced him to the point where not even his own parents could identify that their son was replaced by an imposter. I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, unless they threaten or disrespect my family. However, I still try to avoid acts that would cause me to be stressed during important events like a date with my girlfriends. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn't lose to anyone."

        While Krasnov was still confused by the Bizzare introduction of the boy in front of him, he at least knew that his life was in danger. However, before he could do anything, a large tendril emerged from the boy which pierced him. Before his brain could even register the sensation of pain , his body had been completely dissolved. Vladisav Kransov had indeed, died.

       Shido then stepped in front of the blob which was once Krasnov. He then mentally commanded it to restructure, after which the blob took the form of Krasnov once again. He had specifically ensured to give him a painless death because……  of all the other nations, Russia was the only one not interested in the spirits. They were perfectly happy with technology and they had no intentions of meddling in the mystic sciences. He had even let his soul depart to the collective unconscious, where it would undergo reincarnation, whereas under normal circumstances, he would just devour the soul of his victim , ending any attempts of resurrection or reincarnation.

        Of course, the reason he had replaced him was simple. He wanted to end the conflict between America and Russia. Of course, America would still continue its assault, but Russia would pull back and by the time his plans were done and the truth about himself revealed to everyone, the world would be in his hands. But he had more important matters at hand. He had a nation to shake ! He then banged his cane on the ground as a portal opened in front of him and he stepped through it, leaving behind the clone of the president, who would fulfill his orders.

                  ---------------X--------------

Location : Chekalin, Russia

       In the small and quaint little town of Chekalin, an old man lay wasted on the road. He had multiple injuries on his body. He wore dirty rags on his body for clothes and would occasionally cough blood and cry out for help. However, none came to his help. Some people gave him looks of sympathy , but did not help him. Most chose to ignore him and pretend he wasn't even there, turning their faces in the other direction. A few even took the chance to kick him or hurl insults at him.

        However, a young boy soon rushed towards the old man. With his feeble arms , he dragged the man to the best of his ability to a sideways alley. He helped him rest upright on a nearby wall. He asked the man in a worried tone , " Grandpa ! Grandpa are you okay ?! " The man slowly opened his eyes and gave a small smile towards him. He then said, " Ah, finally someone came to my aid. I almost thought that I'd have to stay there for the rest of my life. " The boy said to the man , " Please just wait here. I'll be back in a minute ! " Saying this, he rushed out of the alley.

      After a few minutes, the boy returned while panting heavily. He had a small bottle in his hands. He held the bottle of water near to the old man's mouth and helped him drink. The old man heaved a sigh and asked, " Why did you help me ? " The boy , confused by this question , asked, " I thought that you're supposed to help others ? " The man let out a small chuckle and said, " Not according to those people outside…." The boy shrugged and said, " Why do the opinions of others matter to me ? "

         The old man smiled and asked, " Did your parents teach you that ? "  The boy replied in a nonchalant tone and said, " No , I don't have any. And they don't exactly care for us in the orphanage. Still, I tend not to get too bothered by it. " The man smiled once again. Dusting himself, he got up , surprising the young boy. The man turned to him and said, " You are a good kid , Alex. But now, you must sleep. Do not worry, the calamity won't harm you. I'll also leave a small gift for you. " The boy, now identified as Alex was confused by how this stranger knew his name and his cryptic words, however before he could ask anything, he felt a sudden powerlessness and in a matter of seconds, he lost consciousness.

        The old man's physical features and clothing morphed, till it finally revealed that it was in fact, Shido. He then kneeled down and touched Alex's forehead as a small ball of light entered it. He then carved a few runes on the ground that would keep him safe. He had imparted onto him , a small gift. A gift normally possessed only by Fools. It was , ' The Blessings Of Philemon ' . Or at least a minor version of it. While the Blessings Of Philemon gave everything that the Fools were known for, mental attack immunity, perfect memory, access to the Velvet Room, great learning capacities, Blessings Of Orpheus etc. In short, it was the complete package for anyone trying to save the world.

          Of course, what he had imparted to Alex was an extremely minor skill from it, that being The Gift Of Midas . It was essentially similar to the Golden Rule skill that Servants possessed, only slightly weaker , around C- Rank. Of course, the skill did not create wealth but rather creates opportunities for accumulation of wealth. It alters fate for creating more instances for an individual to earn wealth. Of course, for him it was completely useless since due to him being the Abhorrence of the Paramount Dao, anything that alters or messes with fate or destiny was rendered completely useless on him. Also under normal circumstances, a fool couldn't just ' give ' these blessings to someone, unless they were a God with some level of Divine Authority. Of course, he was in a special position due to him being the Scion of Darkness, due to which he had privilege to grant blessings to individuals he deemed worthy of it. Ideally, it wasn't supposed to be given to normal humans or even users of Light, but eh . Who cares about rules ?

        But that aside, he had to complete the task for which he had come here. He kneeled down and placed his hand on the ground. In a single instant, the ground began to shake and tremble with such a vigour that it would even put any ferap beast to shame. The Earth seemed to cry out in pain and terror as if it was clawed and preyed upon by a monster. Buildings fell, the ground cracked and people died. The Law of Earth was supreme. And without a planetary deity like Gaia to restrain it, none could oppose Rhadamanthus's might.

" When the Earth cried out in pain and prayed to the heavens for help , none but one answered her. Only Death heard her cries of pain and heeded. And Death fulfilled it's wishes by cleansing the Earth of the filth called Humans that plagued it. The Bringer Of Calamity was Death. And none could stop him….. "

On that day, at roughly 9:00 PM, the nation of Russia and perhaps even the world experienced its greatest Calamity till date. A Magnitude 10 earthquake shook the entirety of the nation. It's epicenter was the small town of Chekalin. In just the first three hours, it is estimated that the death toll surpasses 924 million in just Russia. This is mostly due to the earthquake spreading all over the nation and striking even high density regions such as Moscow and other populated cities. Large structures such as Lakhta center , Federation Towers, Mercury City Towers and even the Kremlin are left in ruins. A large portion of the buildings in the entire country are completely decimated with those surviving left in ruins. The effects of the earthquake we're even seen in the neighbourhood countries as the shockwaves continued to spread outwards. For example, Kazakhstan experienced a magnitude 9.3 earthquake whereas Norway experienced a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. Authorities urge the people to not panic and help each other until government aid arrives.

                   ---------------X--------------

Location : 400 Kms away from the coast of Japan

           Shido stepped out of the portal. With a platform made of mana, he calmly stood on the surface of water. He looked over the horizon. To anyone else, it may have been nothing other than a calm ocean, but his own eyes could see that which others could not. In the distance, a large wave was making its way towards Japan. It was of course, due to his earthquake. He had to do something about it , or Japan would be screwed. And so he would do just that.

        His body suddenly turned into a large red blob of blood which soon began to increase in size and spread outwards. As the tsunami was nearing towards him, he steadied himself. Standing in front of the tsunami was a large wall . A wall made entirely out of blood. The waves collided with the wall, unleashing the very fury of the ocean. However, the wall did not budge in the slightest. What was even more surprising, was that the water began to decrease in volume, as if it was receding.

         This was of course, because of the power of the Cursed Bloodline. It's special property was sla strange one, whatever the individual or his blood touched, it would transform into the blood of that person. However, it wasn't as simple as that. The blood could be controlled as per the wishes of the individual. Not only that, the additional blood could be transformed into mana or Qi which could then be stored as reserve energy for the individual. Of course, the storage capacity of the person would depend on the strength of their soul. But when your soul strength literally outranked the Heavenly Emperor himself, that wasn't exactly much of a concern.

           In a matter of minutes, the water wall had completely disappeared. The water once again became deathly still , as if nothing had happened. Shido sighed as he realised that he wouldn't have time for his research activities tonight considering that the excess energy inside him would either have to be released in a single instant, creating a blast that would make the Tsar Bomba look like a firecracker , or convert all the energy into spirit stones. Sure , he could just let the energy stay inside him, it wasn't like it was going to hurt or harm him in any way. But still, it was annoying, like a mosquito constantly biting you, so he would go with the option of converting it into spirit stones. Besides, spirit stones functioned as both currency among cultivators as well as nifty little batteries for things like array formations, magical devices, mystic weapons or just good old fashioned bombs. So you could never have too many of those.

        But now, there was another issue at hand. Shido stretched out his body and cracked his knuckles. He then outstretched his hand and began to concentrate. Soon , the air around him began to pick up its pace, turning from gentle breeze to a full scale storm.  A large swirl of air stood in front of him, stretching roughly hundred and forty kilometres in diameter. In front of the massive force of nature, the boy seemed to be nothing more than a weak ant. However, it was the boy himself in fact , who had both created and controlled the hurricane.

         This was a category three hurricane. Normally, a human could never even imagine to create something like this. However, a demigoddess like the Yamai sisters could work together and utilize roughly half of their entire mana to create something of this scale. But to Rhadamanthus ? It was as simple as snapping his fingers. With the Law of Storms, the winds would always follow his command. His control over it was strong enough to theoretically classify him as a God of Winds despite not even being a God. Of course, to him it was no big deal, considering that this was the same case with him for all Nine Laws except for the Law of Death. When it came to his potency of the Law of Death, it far surpassed the strength of any Gods of Death and instead was strong enough to stand against the Herscherr of Death , NYX herself.

       Shaking his head off the useless thoughts, he watched as the hurricane made its way towards the nation of Japan. He didn't have to worry about his family considering that Tengu city was a pretty inland city, so there was no risk from hurricanes other than a slight drizzle  With this , it would cause a minimal loss of life and  there would be no suspicions from other countries as to how Japan survived the tsunami from the earthquake ( as the government could just reason that it was suppressed by the combination of the hurricane and Japan's own precautions against frequent tsunamis ). All in all, he was pretty happy with the results of the night. He had a new nation under him, he ended a war ( albeit at the cost of millions or perhaps even billions of lives ). And best of all, he got to pick up multiple bottles of Vodka from the President's own stash ! Sure , Heavenly Sake is nice and all, but it's nice to change your tastes once in a while.

       Thus, with a satisfactory smile, he stepped through a portal which led him back to his base.

And the chapter is finally done ! Extremely sorry about the delay, but college can be a pain sometimes. And the thing is, all of my chapters average around seven to eight thousand words. As such , I do kinda need more time to write them. And shortening the chapters is out of the question considering that if I do that, for example this chapter would have probably ended around the part where shiori appeared as a maid for miku if I shortened it to say for instance three thousand or so words. Of course, I do understand that it is a problem on my part considering it is my inability to write short chapters, but I'm afraid I can't do much about it. So I will try to put out the next chapter as soon as possible, but I can't guarantee anything. As always, feel free to ask any questions or any suggestions for improvement.

Word count : 8920 words