The ground cracked beneath the sandaled feet of Kushinada, as she crouched down. Thunder rumbled with her steps, the clouds unnaturally dark, but she paid it no heed. Below, the masses of people looked up in awe, and no small amount of fear. After a few moments, they seemed to remember their purpose, and began to bring tribute. Rice, fish, meat, every type of food that the peasants could get, along with whatever wealth they could find. The massive woman above felt a smirk grow across her visage. She was a god, a true god unlike the ones the humans had worshipped before her, and this was what she deserved.

    Once, she had been mortal, born to the daimyo who ruled the island realm of Tosa. Even then, her power had been apparent, as was the largest infant to have ever been delivered. As she grew older, so too did her size. By the time she was five years of age, she was as large as a man on horseback. Half a decade later, she stood above even the largest of citadels.

    And now, at the age of nineteen, Kushinada was beyond massive. There were few things she did not utterly dwarf, and nothing larger than her. She even stood equal to the mountains themselves, though she would prefer if she grew past them. Naturally, when her father passed, she came to power, unopposed by any. Who would dare stand a colossus of her stature, one that was invincible to any weapons they might have?

    Soon after the dark haired woman became lord, she had a revelation. The people of Tosa had long paid tribute to the kami of the lands. Inari-no-Okami, the fox like divinity who according to the priests, had created this world, a being of supreme might. In other words, her wealth was going to baseless superstitions. Not only was she real, her size and power made her far more deserving of the worship of the masses. And thus, she had decreed that she was the only god in this world, and that all veneration of the previous deity was to be stopped. Shrines and statues would be torn down, and the name of Inari would be forgotten.

    Naturally, there had been discontent, but Kushinada and her soldiers put down any thoughts of rebellion. Especially since she toured the land, allowing all to witness her. All her subjects had accepted the new order, realizing the truth of her divinity. And so, the flow of tribute had been diverted to her, and many began worshipping her. Now, the people were holding their traditional religious festival, in the grasslands near the ocean, but with an new target for their praise.

    The heavens roared once more, as she gazed upwards and narrowed her dark brown eyes. Today was annoyingly dark, especially since it was supposed to be a day of devotion to her. If this kept up, it might even rain, ruining the kimono that had been made for her. Thousands of weavers had been conscripted into making it, and it could easily crush a few villages. She supposed it was better than nothing.

    Kushinada shook her head. A few strands of hair fell to the ground, creating small rifts in the earth, and causing a few buildings to fall from the impact, but she took no notice. She was a divine being, no storm would touch her. She was just being anxious, a pointless mortal sensation. There was nothing that could contest even her smallest whims. If rain fell, she would simply tear the skies asunder.

    Looking back down, she noticed that in the time she had taken to think, her subjects had finished their preparations. Massive mounds of food lay beneath her, most of which would spoil after she had her fill. A small hill of trinkets lay off to the side; bits of gold, paintings, and other such luxuries. She had no real interest in any of it, but it was still tribute, and she would take it. Before, the priests would announce the beginning of the festival itself, but she had taken that duty.

    The goddess idly looked over the feast first, ignoring a few minor quakes through the earth. Likely the result of some unconscious movement on her part. She quickly reached out, taking an enormous amount of rice cakes. If there was one annoying aspect to her size, it was that she could hardly taste any individual thing, needing massive quantities of food. And then, there was another earthquake.

    This time, it was strong enough that even she could feel it slightly. Many of the people below were thrown to the ground, unable to move. Cracks spread across the earth, large enough for her to put her finger in. Far more importantly, she accidently dropped a few cakes, enough to crush one unfortunate worshipper.

    The expression of the giant turned into a snarl. The day should be perfect, a blessing upon her, but annoying things kept happening! Why had an earthquake started now? Part of her wanted to kill the ants below, for seeing her humiliation. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. It would pass eventually, and then the day would become better.

    Kushinada did not anticipate the next shockwave, far more powerful than any natural occurrence. Nothing remained stable; the humans, the tribute, the few building around her, not even herself. She was thrown forward, unable to catch herself. For a brief couple of seconds, her worshippers saw her immense form fall, before the impact. Hundreds were nigh instantly crushed beneath her, unable to offer any resistance. Even more were blown away by a wave of force, soon descending back to the grounds with sickening noises. The land itself groaned as part of it compressed under her weight.

    The goddess quickly pushed herself up, her hands smashing into the dirt. By now, she was furious. Nothing had ever made her lose composure like that, this had to be some kind of joke. For a moment, she could not help but think of Inari, and how the people worshiped it. She quickly dismissed the thought as foolish, as she stood back up, the front of her clothes dripping blood and viscera.

    The next seismic movements was even more powerful, but she had prepared herself. Enormous gashes formed in the ground, as the earth trembled beneath her. She thought it over for a moment, before she suddenly braced herself on instinct. An wave of pure force suddenly hit, her sandals digging trenches into the earth as she was pushed back. The humans below that had not been crushed or fallen into the ravines quickly perished, as they were thrown away as if caught in a hurricane.

    Kushinada could not help but swallow nervously. Something like this… it could not be natural. Something had to be causing all of this. She did not know what, but it would pay for making a fool of her. The words slipped out from her mouth before she even thought them over.

    “I am Kushinada-no-Kami! Whoever defies me, show yourself, so that I may destroy you!”

    The response was did not come in words. There was another earthquake, far more powerful than any before. There was no adjusting to the way the ground shook beneath her, as the land shattered. Plates rising and falling, the destruction was catastrophic. When the air waves came, she was in no way prepared. The woman was thrown into the air, to her great shock, before hitting the ground. She tumbled along like a piece of paper, head over heels, before she hit something.

    When Kushinada shook her head, regaining her bearings, she saw the damage she had caused. Massive craters had formed wherever she had impacted the ground, large enough to fit entire towns. The force of her passing had ripped up the earth, destroying forests and villages. Slowly getting to her feet, barely keeping herself steady, she saw that she had slammed into the mountains, shattering many of them. Most distressingly of all, her clothes, skin, and hair had been layered with chunks of earth, rock, wood, and other impure things, though her massive size ensured she was not actually injured.

    It was only when she stood up, that the ‘goddess’ saw it. To the west, past the end of Tosa and into the ocean, hundreds of miles away, lay what appeared to be some kind of wall. Immense quantities of water spilled off of it, as it loomed far above the churning seas. She could not even see the top, as it ascended past the clouds. She stood there for some time, stunned beyond belief, before the cause of everything that had happened revealed itself.

    The dark, heavy clouds suddenly dissipated, parting into nothingness and revealing a slowly brightening sky. It took Kushinada a moment to react, before she realized what lay a massive distance away from her. The woman fell to her rear, in utter shock. Part of her desperately tried to deny what see was seeing. That the brown wall before her, almost certainly larger than the entire island… was no more than a thin sandal, extending far past her vision.

    Almost against her will, the dark haired woman began to look up. On top of the enormous shoes lay tabi-clad feet, a pure white unstained by any filth. Past that was a crimson hakama, scaled up to a ludicrous degree. Far, far above were the beginnings of a white haori. Beyond that, her vision failed to see. And yet, she could tell that in front of her was a living being.

    Kushinada slowly began shaking her head. She was dreaming. It was impossible for this to be real. She must have been drugged somehow, or she was having a nightmare. She clenched her eyes shut, swallowing heavily as she prayed that she would wake up.

    But reality refused to change. For a moment, she felt something above her, and the light that made it past her closed lids disappeared. Soon, she felt it pass, and some part of her felt relieved. That quickly changed, however, when she heard an ungodly roar. She slammed her hands over her ears, trying to shut out the cacophonic noise.

    Suddenly, Kushinada was slammed flat against the ground, as the wind roared around her. She realized that somehow, she was ascending, and closed her eyes tighter.A massive pressure forced her against the ground, driving her deeper in and knocking the air out of her. For several moments, she struggled to breath, as the world exploded around her.

Just as abruptly as it started, the ascent ended. Her eyes flew open as he sudden lack of resistance flung her into the air. Before she could sense of what she saw, she crashed back into the dirt. She didn’t stop on impact, her immense weight cratering the land and causing her to fall even further. Slowly, Kushinada picked herself up, coughing heavily as she stood to her full height. She looked around in a daze, as she tried to make sense of what had happened.

The land of Tosa was large enough that a horse riding at full speed would take two weeks to get from one end to another. It would even take her a while to move across the island. She had thought her realm immense. But now, it was completely dwarfed by the hand that held it.

The ‘goddess’ blankly stared at the pale hand that literally held her life. Her mind was simply incapable of processing her situation. After a few seconds, though, she finally reacted. Her dark brown eyes widened, as she rapidly began looking around. Her realm, along with the earth that was taken with it, was barely holding together. Massive wounds ran through the land, and of the half million subjects she ruled, there were only a few thousand survivors. Seeing the state of her domain, she swallowed heavily, before finally gazing upon the being that destroyed her land.

It was a woman, beautiful beyond words. Long, golden hair that fell down the back, sleek as silk. Pale, smooth skin which betrayed no flaw. A perfectly formed face. Bright purple eyes, glaring down at her, that almost seemed to glow slightly. Kushinada felt her breath leave her, as she stared upon the visage of the giant. Instinctively, she realized that this being was not human; nothing natural could be this perfect. This was something beyond the realm of mortal.

As her eyes drifted up, she finally noticed the most obvious difference. Sprouting from the head of the enormous miko were an additional pair of ears. Fox ears, a bright yellow with white tips. As if on cue, a massive tail fanned out from the back. It was then that Kushinada finally spoke.

“I-inari…” She whispered, almost unconsciously. The delusion of the masses… was real. While it only had one tail, it surely could not have been anything else. And now, the deity loomed far above, its eyes shining with intelligence and malice. It was real, there was no way she could dream up something like this. She had been a fool, this entire time.

Almost as though in response to her thoughts, the fox woman began to smile, in a mocking way. Rumbling noises erupted from around her, as she looked around. The fingers of the massive hand were closing in on her. Fingers larger than the entire island drew closer and closer, casting a shadow.

Kushinada looked on in horror. There was nothing she could do against such size, no method of escape. Tears began running from her eyes. She was going to perish, because she had dismissed the unseen deity. And now, as the sun was blotted out, she would pay the price.