Aiko lifted her foot, but underestimated its width, an accidentally kicked over the gate. She still wasn't used to being so huge! But maybe she wasn't meant to be so gentle.

"Wait!” The voice shouted, startling Aiko “Your socks. Take them OFF!”

“...Why?” Aiko was dazed, the voice ringing in her ears.

“This is no longer natural ground, the village must only be touched by those which are sacred for the cleansing to continue."

“I'm... Sacred?” Aiko was confused, she... killed people, how could she be sacred?

“Yes. As long as I'm with you, you're sacred. Now take them off so we can continue cleansing.”

Cleansing? Aiko was confused, but deep in her heart knew what it meant. She slipped off a sock and put her bare foot to the ground. The stones were cold. Were they always like that? She wiggled her toes, the feeling of the tiny pads slapping gently with the floor made her shiver. She pushed against the floor, the stones crumbled as her toes widened and grew pale with pressure.

She looked back up through the main road to the Town Center, with several houses on each side, their tiled and sometimes thatched angled roofs all joining together across the town bounds like a raised floor of alternating red and black tiles.

The road was quiet, to her left and right Aiko saw startled husbands herding their families into the houses, mothers worryingly calling for their kids, doors shutting. She took her first step. The floor shook, the houses rocked. She took another step, her soft toes crumbling the stone floor as she took each step. Despite her care, the floor was simply too fragile for her timid feet.

She eventually reached the town center where several villagers were huddled against the walls, soldiers stood at the ready, spears outwards.

"Ohayou! I need to talk to the village leader, please." She yelled, the booming voice deafening the already terrified villagers.

"Retreat to where you come from, spirit, our town is poor and we revere the gods, there is nothing for you here." An officer shouted from behind several infantry.

"They're lying." The Goddess whispered.

"I am a Miko from the Small Fox Shrine, the only visitors we've had have been samurai wanting to kill." Aiko yelled, this was awfully confident for her.

"We only wish to defend ourselves!" The officer shouted back, coming forward, suddenly realizing his mistake as he passed his guards, but he was not about to retreat as a coward!

"No, you're just wrecked with greed. Where is your army?" She asked.

"They... have left..." The officer calmly replied.

"Left?" Aiko prodded.

"Yes... To launch a sneak attack... Please just leave us alone!" The officer screamed.

"I'm sorry." Aiko whispered. Lifting her foot up, the villagers gasped as she hovered it over the tiny officer.

"W-wait! P-please-" His voice was muffled as her big toe pushed him over, and gently lowered onto him, covering his body, Aiko looked down with apathy as she crumpled the body beneath the cold pad.

"A-Attack!" A soldier yelled, and the militia charged with their spears, gathering around all sides of her outwards extended foot and poking at her skin. She barely felt them, and the spears seemed to chip as they attempted to puncture her sacred sole.

"You are safe." The Goddess whispered. Aiko took her other foot pushed her body forward as if she was walking, the recoil of her weight adjusting on the ground sending a rumble that pushed several guards away. She twisted her foot to the side and the soldiers were thrown to the ground. She moved her free foot closer and lifted her front foot to trap several guards under her sole, she pushed down forcefully ending several lives under her. Lifting her sole, the gore quickly dripped off, leaving her sole perfectly clean.

"Re-r-retreat!" A soldier yelled, bringing Aiko's attention, almost instinctively and with one swift stomp she ended him. With that, the other guards started running back towards the villagers.

"Please don't run." Aiko soothed. She made her way forward past the dead guards, the villagers screamed as the pure Miko made her way right for them! Most retreated, crowding in the doors, while others stood and were sure that she didn't actually want to hurt innocents, she was a maiden, after-all. Those were the first to go as her foot slapped forward. The other villagers sprinted to escape her other foot but to no avail as her leg lurched forward and smashed them under her sole, some gasping for breath between her toes were crushed as they adjusted to absorb the shock of the ground. A natural, benign, action by a coy girl ending their lives.

Aiko was mentally in a state of shock. Why was she doing this? She just killed so many people... But they were trying to hurt her? But only because she came here, right? So if she hadn't come then... But...

"Relax, they are cleansed and their souls are finally at rest. Please just continue." The charm soothed her nerves, and she slapped her feet together to stand in-front of the center, her toes quivering as they dug into the ground. Despite everything, she was still very nervous.

"Please don't run, I need to do this." She pleaded to the screaming villagers. She sighed and picked up her foot, waiting a moment to consider her options, and slammed it down on the main entrance, killing several people and obliterating those inside the building's chances at escaping. She proceeded to walk around the center, crushing all entrances. She knew what she had to do now, and the thought made her sick, she knelt over and pulled at the sides of the roof, her fingers crushing through, she crouched to the ground, and pulled with all her might. She felt a wave of warmth come from the charm and immediately the roof became as light as a feather and she hurled it over her head. The building was exposed and she saw the absolute chaos inside, people clamoring at what remained of the doors away from her. She picked up one of them, a terrified women, and looked at her with a blank expression. She gently put her back in the crowd and watched as she stood there, looking at her. Aiko got up, eyes fixed on her, and lifted her foot. The women screamed as the pure sole smashed into the crowd, killing all in the impact zone. Aiko twisted her foot side to side, crumbling the stone walls that fell on others, crushing them. She took her other foot and smashed it into the other end of the building, she was now standing in the middle of absolute chaos. She gently picked up and put down her feet with soft slaps, each step ending several lives, Aiko had to make sure every room was accounted for, those in the rubble were granted no solace as she retreated a second time to flatten the entire ground. Not even great rocks held up as they were completely pulverized into dust. Aiko stood in the middle of the rubble, looking at her work. She felt sick.

"You did well. Their spirits are at peace. Now for the rest." The voice whispered, relieving Aiko's stomach and alleviating her once again.