Late at night, in the distant suburbs.
A soft creak broke the stillness of the night. Two old wooden doors were gently pushed open, and a slender figure stepped across the threshold onto the plaza. Vertical pupils opened and narrowed in the darkness as he surveyed his surroundings.
It was actually a shrine.
Samael glanced at the main hall behind him, built in an imitation Tang style, and at the deity statue enshrined within. He muttered to himself before turning his gaze forward.
A pair of stone fox statues stood at the entrance to the main hall. The fox on the right held a jewel in its mouth, while the one on the left carried a key. Both were exquisitely lifelike.
It looked like this was an Inari shrine.
The ancient serpent raised a hand to stroke his chin, deep in thought.
Inari, also known as Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami and Kurikara-Musubi-no-Mikoto, was popularly called the "Three Fox Gods." Legend said she was an incarnation of Amaterasu Omikami. At the same time, Inari was the god of grain and food in Japanese mythology, presiding over bountiful harvests.
Among the foxes of Japanese mythology, Inari's Divine Envoys were benevolent foxes, also known as Misaki Inari. The foxes most commonly worshipped in shrines were white foxes. Their white fur symbolized the fulfillment of people's happiness, making them representatives of benevolent foxes.
A white fox that cultivated for over a thousand years would gain powerful divine abilities, become a Tenko, and attain divinity. She would rank above a Nine-tailed Fox. She had four tails and possessed the Thousand-Mile Eye, capable of seeing through all kinds of things, with golden eyes. A great divine fox over three thousand years old, able to wield her divine powers freely, would become a Kuko. A Kuko had no tail and