(Raina POV)

  As soon as I left the coming storm of a chaotic fluff with her things, I returned to the house to rest and figure out what I needed to do next. However, as soon as I walked through the door, I was blinded by a bright red light that forced me to shield my eyes.

  As the light dimmed and my vision returned, I realized I was no longer in the house but in an unfamiliar nd adorned with crimson foliage. The atmosphere was thick with the metallic scent of blood. Above me, a gap in the trees showcased a blood-red moon suspended in the dark void, casting an unsettling red glow over everything.

  Turning around to look at the door I just entered through, I saw that there was nothing there. It was as if I just entered some sort of trial ground.

  Since there did not appear to be an easy way out, and the entrance to this pce was hidden behind the door to my house without my notice, I assumed that the person in charge here was much stronger than me. Thankfully, their intent did not seem to be hostile at the moment as I was currently fine, and there was nothing around me that could bring me harm. Taking this opportunity, I looked around once more, but this time, I was being even more careful in scanning my surroundings.

  This time, I noticed the faint markings of an old path where I was standing, leading farther into the forest in only a single direction.

  With no better choice than this, I pulled out my trusty tang dao and started my trek down the path.

  As I was walking, I noticed something strange. There was no other sound besides the rustling foliage. Usually, you would hear the sound of birds or insects going about their day or even spot the remnants of a few animals roaming about, but here, there was only the sound of foliage rustling in the non-existent wind.

  The moment that thought crossed my mind, I spun to the side and struck out with a wave of sword intent at the rustling pnts. This caused the undergrowth to get shredded, but there was nothing else there. I then heard another sound behind me and turned around to see a small blood-red fox standing there on the path as if nothing happened. However, it was soon proven to me that this was not a normal fox as a red light engulfed it from head to tail. This light quickly morphed from the shape of a fox to that of a human with the addition of a pair of fox ears on top of its head and three swaying tails behind it. The light then dispersed, revealing a kitsune woman with clear white skin, blood-red hair and fur, and a very seductive figure.

  She then spoke in a clear and sultry voice, saying, “You must be the one that mistress wants to see. Since that is the case, would you mind following me? It would be much quicker than your useless wandering.”

  When she appeared, I assumed she must have owned this space, given that she could dodge my strike and move behind me without me knowing. Now, I was even more concerned about what was going on. I also knew that I would not be able to do anything to her, given that I could not feel any cultivation on her, meaning that she must be at a level far higher than mine. Since that was the case, the only thing I could do was follow her while trying to figure out what was going on.

  Motioning for her to lead the way, I said, “Then I will follow your lead, senior sister.”

  Upon hearing me speak, she started to walk down the path, only to stop when I finished my sentence. She then turned around to look at me with a gleam in her eyes as she shouted excitedly, “Oh! You're from one of those cultivation worlds, aren’t you?! It has been so long since Mistress let us mess with one of those! My favorite one was this world called Astérion, which had a wide variety of kitsune sisters! Sadly, it was erased to stop that mad ba****d!”

  This set of words gave me enough information to estimate where I was, as only the goddesses had information about Asterion being destroyed. So, her mistress must either be a goddess or someone of that level. Now, the only question was who her mistress was.

  The woman then realized what she had done and spun around, saying, “Sorry about that. Now, if you would please follow me.” She then started sprinting through the forest at a speed that was hard for even me to keep up with. This made it to where I could not even ask her any more questions as I was focusing on following her erratic trail.

  Half an hour ter, we finally exited the forest in front of a massive castle surrounded by gardens a mile wide. The castle itself was made of dark bck stone polished to a mirror finish, with matte silver metal running along the edges. It also had plenty of sharp points and jagged spires, making it look like some sort of pace for a fictional dark lord. The tallest spires were even surrounded by clouds of bats flying around them. The gardens outside and in front of me were also filled with various flowers and pnts that grew in various shades of red, with only a few daring to be a different color.

  My foxy guide then suddenly said to me as I was looking at the castle, “You are amazing at pying chase! Even if I have to decrease my speed so you can keep up.”

  That caught my attention, and I spun to face her, nearly shouting, “You were pying with me the whole time!”

  She jumped at my outburst, quickly expining, “I was only pying a little. But I still had to do that to get out of the forest, or else, with the shifting path you were walking on, it would have taken over a month before you left the forest. Even longer if you left the beaten path without knowing the way.”

  Hearing that calmed my anger slightly, but I still wanted an expnation of who the mistress she served was. Thus, I asked, “Then might I ask who it was that brought me here?”

  This caused her to be shocked for some reason before she exploded, asking me, “How do you not know who our dy is? Every kitsune should know who she is as she is the only Grand Kitsune deity in our pantheon! Even other pantheons made up of only Kitsunes have two or three of such level! And that is including the demon pantheons!”

  Apparently, that was the wrong question to ask as she blew up while never mentioning the name of who I was supposed to meet. She then took a deep breath and continued saying, “Regardless, let me introduce you to Castle Blood Spire, Home of our dy and goddess, Haruka, Lady of blood, war, and honor. And from what I heard, you will be getting well acquainted with the former two.”

  She said that with clear pride marked on her face and with an unnecessary amount of dramatic pauses, though I was unable to hear the st sentence as she muttered it at too low of a volume for my ears to pick up. Thankfully, I now knew who it was that brought me here, but I had no clue why. I had no problem with her, to my knowledge, and there should not be anything for her to give me, so it would not make any sense for her to bring me here.

  Regardless of my inner musings, the woman guiding me then said, “Now, if you would kindly follow me through the garden and to the castle. By the way, I would mind your step as we don’t want you becoming prey for the man-eating pnts pced in there.”

  Hearing the first sentence, I was ready to follow her until the second sentence left her mouth. The fact that she said that in far too cheerful of a tone made a rare chill race down my spine and through all three of my tails. Something was going on here, and I was only just starting to realize I was in danger.