an obscene amount of money from the military, which lands the group in prison. It is later revealed that he was , the ferryman of the River Styx, first appearing in Volume 1. His desire to learn why Ray spared his life was so strong that even after death he would not settle in Hell as other sinners did, thus becoming the ferryman. Antagonists Darkray was the former God of Death, and one of the six High Gods. He fought Kurohime when she first challenged the gods. Using the soul of an infant murdered by an attack on Kurohime as a shield, he defeated her with Sword, slicing her in half. He was also the one who suggested splitting Kurohime into two beings:one consisting of pure hate, the other, of love and compassion. This resulted in the birth of Shirohime (White Princess), the Goddess of Mercy. He later appears in the fourth volume, not long after Kurohime killed the mountain god Moai. He orders Shirohime to seal Kurohime's powers so that he and his death angels could kill her. Yashahime is the Mother Goddess of Earth, one of the six high gods, and lover of Darkray. She swears to kill Kurohime to avenge the fallen God of Death, and first appears when Kurohime killed Gandhara on Yamato. She is very powerful, with a beauteous appearance masking a fearsome treelike form. During confrontations between the two, Yashahime shows not only extreme sadism, but a dual personality of sorts:being polite and calm in one moment, but revealing her cruel and true form when angered. Aside from her command over the earth and trees, Yashahime also wields the Hakushinboku (White God Tree), which is said to be a symbol of divine power, and the opposite of Kurohime's Kokushinboku (Black God Tree). Her twisted personality and extreme power makes even Darkray to fear her in the past. Kurohime Punishment Squad Shortly after Kurohime and Zero killing the God of Death Darkray, Sword, the only surviving Death Angel of the battle, gathered a crew of powerful magical witch gunslingers, all of whom have a grudge against Kurohime, in order to avenge themselves by killing her, thus forming the . Also known as Reikahime, Sword is the leader of the sent after Kurohime and Zero. She and her comrades (, , , , and ) are sent to reap a group of vengeful souls from a