The Next Guest
Copyright© 2025 by Pars001
Chapter 11
Ephus - Demi-god
Quinn Markov - human wife of Ephus, blessed by multiple gods
Egyption Dieties
Bast - Goddess of cats, protection, joy, dance, music, family, and love
Serket - Goddess of scorpions, medicine, magic, and healing venomous stings and bites
Anhur - God of war and the sky bearer - Full brother of Bast and Sekhmet
Japanese Dietes
Amaterasu - Japanese Goddess of the sun (head goddess)
Wakahiru-me - younger sister of Amaterasu, goddess of the rising sun
Benten - Japanese Goddess of love
Hachiman - Japanese God of war
Greek deity
Enyo - goddess of war and destruction
Norse deity
Odin - War god
Shuten-dōji - King of Japanese Demons
Ibaraki-dōji - subordinate and Lieutenant of Shuten-dōji
Oiwa - disfigured and vengful female spirit
Jorōgumo - spider that can shape shift into a woman
Gashadokuro - a female spirit that takes the form of a giant skeleton
The Next Guest 11
Speaking of the three major demonesses, they were almost completely healed and near their full power. A fact that had they known that Shuten-dōji was as weak as he was, they could overpower him.
No, they were still deep within their ideas of revenge against their former leader. They thought that they might rejoin with him, though, they did not trust him at all.
They still wished to wreck vengence though their power paled next to his. They had left not long after Ephus and Hachiman had appeared in the trap that Shuten-dōji had set.
The fact that they felt him back in the hideout, attested to him having lost. Though they weren’t strong enough to check just how bad.
They had a good plan that should work, the only thing was that one of them might be destroyed. At this point, though, they were starting to grow tired of hiding from him.
It was taking all that he had to try and heal and keep the hiding field up that he had. No point in leaving the demi a sign that pointed to where he was. His anger had been growing for a while, how had the demi gotten the upper hand? He was the king of the demons, he should be powerful enough to figure a way out of this.
He still thought that taking one of his bitch wives would force him into submission. He’d almost gotten one, he just had to press harder to make it happen.
He was still wondering where the three demonesses, his servants, had gotten to. They would pay, that was for sure, as soon as he caught up to them.
For now, though he had to get the demi in a spot, he couldn’t do anything else. It was going to take all that he had as the demi was far smarter than he’d given him credit for.
It took him quite a few hours later that, he finally came up with a plan that he felt wouldn’t fail. A new wicked smile crossed his features as he nodded, it was perfect.
Hachiman and Anhur were shaking their heads, subterfuge wasn’t their forte. Ephus, had to go through the plan a few times before they got it, still, they frowned.
“You know I will fight with you, brother, but this is not how I do things,” Anhur said, still not happy.
Ephus sighed, he was afraid that there would be problems along the way. At first, though he hadn’t expected it at all.
“With the demon king, you have to remember that this one always has more than two or three escape plans,” Ephus said. A statement that caused the look on Anhur’s face to sour more.
“So,” Anhur started, “this demon has no honor at all. Then perhaps we can go to full war mode, no regrets or rules.”
Ephus started to nod as he thought of the implications. Anhur, in full war mode, would get intense, he looked around wondering if the shields could hold.
He was glad he hadn’t brought the other war gods here, then there would be far more damage. He thought of how the banned war god had been, especially when he had tried to kill him.
He shook his head as he thought, yes, it had been a good thing. He had two here, that should be enough, though Shuten-dōji always seemed to have a way out.
He knew for the moment that the demon king had hardly any troops to help him. It also worried Ephus that the last three demons that he set on him were still out there.
He had to determine what they were doing in conjunction with their boss. The simple fact that they hadn’t attacked, was the first good thing that had happened.
Ephus sighed as he had the two war gods start to make headway on the plan. Ephus still felt that he had missed something, they had at least ten ways the demon escape covered.
He shook his head as he and the two war gods vanished, appearing near the last hideout. They began a thorough search feeling the power that had been there.
It was a few hours later that they finally got a whiff or sniff of Shuten-dōji. It appeared he was trying to throw them off with several false trails.
Plus the fact that now Ephus could actually feel the energy signature of the demon. They moved toward where Ephus felt the energy when several demons appeared.
This time though, Ephus could barely sense that the demon was nearby. Sending out a burst of energy, Shuten-dōji screamed in rage at being discovered.
“Bah, such a weak display,” Shuten-dōji spit in disgust.
“Weak? really? It seems that you are the one missing part of a leg. Plus, your power is pathetic now, might as well admit defeat,” Ephus sneered.
Both Anhur and Hachiman were blown back as they had tried to approach from behind. “Ha! It appears that,” here Shuten-dōji screamed as he was blasted from the front.
“Forget something?” Ephus laughed as Shuten-dōji found that he couldn’t leave.
“Take your nasty human hands off me, you have no right to be near, let alone touch me!” Shuten-dōji was shouting at Ephus.
Ephus frowned as he removed what was there of the partially regrown leg. “Here I thought that you were far smarter than this,” Ephus sneered at Shuten-dōji.
Shuten-dōji sneered back, “I am, as you will find out,”
A moment later, a demon appeared holding Bast. Ephus’ anger rose, as did his power as he suddenly blasted Shuten-dōji with a very powerful bolt.
Ephus was surprised that there was a little of Shuten-dōji left. A part that grinned as it tried again to vanish, “Best stop if you want this bitch to survive.”
Ephus started to laugh, “You are more stupid than I thought. She is a fully powered goddess from another realm. Do you really think that your pathetic power can hold her?”
Ephus looked at Bast and nodded as he felt her power start to climb ‘til it equaled the demons. Shuten-dōji smirked at Ephus then Bast, a look that vanished as she then started to amp up.
The demon holding her screamed as it was shredded beyond recognition. Ephus smiled as he said, “Tsk, tsk, shouldn’t have touched her. She’s really pissed now!”
The out flowing power from Bast started to climb more as most of the demons were gone in seconds. It was at that moment that another stronger demon appeared and disappeared with what there was of Shuten-dōji.
Ephus started to curse, as did Anhur and Hachiman, “Here I thought we had him. He is stronger than I thought, here he turned to Bast. “Sorry my Bast, I thought we had him, at least he’ll think more before he tries that again.”
Bast nodded as she went to Ephus and held him as tight as she could. “We will always know where you are, husband, this will not happen again. We almost lost you, never again!”
A small smile graced Ephus’ face as he nodded. Then again, he thought, this was going to complicate things in the future, great another headache.
Ibaraki-dōji smiled as he and what was left of Shuten-dōji, appeared in a cave. He started to heal the demon king though he wasn’t as strong as him.
“Sire,” he said as a shoulder started to appear. “I am stronger, I should have you back faster than you did before. I was spying on them in their home. As soon as you are whole I will give you my report.”
“We will make what we can of this information, to plan the demi’s downfall. Then it is gone, we can finally take this realm,” Shuten-dōji gasped out in a harsh whisper.
Ibaraki-dōji smiled as he continued to heal his boss. It would take a while ‘til he was whole again. At least he could bring him back a bit faster.
He continued as Shuten-dōji started to send instructions to him. They had a lot to do before they could launch another attack, the waiting was the worst.
They would need all of the soldier demons that he had if they were going to be successful. That meant that they needed to wait for them to regenerate.
After they were back it would be far easier to plan. It would also afford him the time that he needed to fully heal his boss.
He looked at what he’d done so far, just a shoulder with the other starting. Yes, it would take time, though at least his boss would be whole again.
Ephus, the two war gods, and his wife Bast appeared within Takamagahara. Serket and the three Japanese goddesses threw their arms around him as they kissed him.
Ephus was a little taken back at the displays of affection. He did have aq bit of difficulty separating them from his body.
He sat with a sigh as all the females crowed close to him. “I hope that this will delay him from attacking again,” Ephus said with an annoyed look on his face.
Then, almost as if on queue, Enyo and Odin’s visages appeared before him, making him grimace. They both had a look of anger on their faces. One was his father-in-law, the other a war goddess and a wife.