“Well, that’s a nuisance.” Miyabi frowned. “Yes. I’m in no position to say so, but I agree.” Karura nodded with a smile. Ouroboros eats its own tail. The circle symbolizes an endless loop: an image of eternity. As time passed, Ouroboros would destroy the old world it created and give birth to a new one. For that, it needed a sacrificial dragon medium. “It’s the same with the Lazarus. To create a new world, one has to devour the world dragon from inside and erase the old one. This is what the power of the Dragon Slayer is meant for.” “Oh… So that’s what Nathan meant…” “All the Regalia, when mastered, can control the world itself.” That’s what Nathan said, once Yahiro reached the Eight Trigrams stage of Avaritia’s power. A Lazarus who awakened their dragon powers to their full potential would eventually reach the Supreme Absolute—the world itself. That was Nathan’s real intention. That meant that the world dragon before their eyes used to be a Lazarus—a human. And the dragon medium who blessed this Lazarus was the Kushinada—the girl offered as a sacrifice and trapped inside the world tree. “No way…,” Iroha said with a voice so small one could barely hear it as she looked at the girl inside the amber. She shook her head hard and pulled away more of the ivy covering the amber. “No, you’ve got to be joking…!” Karura, Miyabi, Giuli, and even Yahiro said nothing. They all understood why Iroha was so disturbed. “If the Kushinada’s really a sacrifice for the dragon that created it…! If she’s fading away…! Then how come I’m here?!” Iroha yelled, her hair standing on end. The sacrificial medium in the amber resembled a girl they knew all too well. A beautiful girl holding a pure-white Moujuu. It was as though Iroha was staring into a mirror. 6 Karura let go of the magatama and the air seemed to shake roughly again. The borderline with the Afterlife was closed. They were back to standing on the rock. Iroha was limp in Yahiro’s arms, eyes closed. So shocking was the sight of the sacrificial girl, she had fainted the moment she recognized the Kushinada trapped in the amber. Yahiro understood. Simply knowing that this world was the underworld was shocking enough, and now she was told she might have created it. How could she stay calm and composed? Yahiro carried the unconscious Iroha from the altar. They left through the unsealed door and returned to the temple. Karura’s retainers were holding trays with hot tea and dorayaki. It was no time for leisurely snacking, but they had only followed Iroha’s request. Perhaps it was only natural that the Heavenly Imperial House’s servants would revere her if she really was the goddess of creation. Fortunately, Iroha didn’t remain unconscious for long. She woke up after tossing and turning, as if she was having a nightmare. “How are you feeling, Iroha?” Yahiro looked down at her with relief in his gaze. “Yahiro, I…” Iroha’s lips quivered as she looked up at Yahiro with fear. She felt she had to say something, but the words wouldn’t come to her. “Are you thirsty?” he asked with utmost gentleness. “Ah… Yeah, a little…” Iroha nodded with some confusion at the sudden question. Yahiro pressed a teacup into her hands. While taken aback by his forcefulness, she timidly accepted it. “Th-thanks.” “It’s nothing.” “What’s that?” “They’re the snacks you were dying to try.” “O-oh.” Yahiro held a dorayaki up to her face as though feeding a baby. Iroha went with it and opened her mouth. She bit into it like a squirrel and her eyes went wide in surprise. The snack had a flavor worthy of the Heavenly Imperial name. Iroha recovered her energy immediately and wolfed the whole dorayaki down in a flash. “You like it?” “Give me one more.” “Here you go.” Yahiro smiled at Iroha’s audacious gluttony. Maybe the sugar got her back to her usual self. The rest watched Iroha chomp on the dorayaki with curiosity, too. It was satisfying just watching her eat with such vigor. Iroha ate all the dorayaki on the tray in no time and took a sip of tea before exhaling with delight. Then she came back to her senses and stood up in a hurry. “S-sorry, I just wasted everyone’s time…!” “There’s nothing you need to apologize for. It’s only natural that you would be disturbed.” Karura gave her a soft smile. “Yeah. My head’s a mess, too, knowing you’re dead,” Yahiro concurred. While not to Iroha’s extent, Yahiro was confused seeing the Kushinada with the same face as Iroha. He could only keep his cool because she was even more panicked. “Did you know everything from the beginning, Giuli?” “Our bloodline has a similar legend that’s only different in the little details. I’m sure the families of Ganzheit have the same understanding, too,” she replied while side-eyeing Karura. When he thought about it, Giuli and Rosé called Iroha “Kushinada” from the very beginning. They also told Yahiro that the dragons were behind the creation of the world. It hadn’t felt real to him, but they were telling him the truth all along. “But you can only see the Afterlife, or, well, an illusion of it, here. That’s why Ganzheit and that man obsess over the Heavenly Imperial House.” “So they’re after the real Ploutonion…” “Yes, or rather, the divine instrument to open the Ploutonion. That Relict Regalia is the only key to accessing the Afterlife.” Karura looked at the altar on the giant rock. They could close off the Ploutonion entirely by removing the magatama embedded into the world tree’s branch, hence why Karura called Iroha and Yahiro to the Myoujiin. “What’re they trying to do with it?” “Eusebius Berith and the warmongers want to create their ideal world. Do you remember the events in Yokohama surrounding Sui Narusawa?” Karura asked. Yahiro nodded with a scowl. “How could I forget? I almost turned into a dragon.” “But in the end, Superbia was not summoned. Sui Narusawa no longer has the power to create a new dragon, though we knew that since the J-nocide ended halfway through four years ago.” Yahiro and Iroha looked at each other. It was Iroha who had stopped Sui from summoning the earth dragon, this time and four years ago. Iroha’s purifying flames burned Superbia’s dragon factor, freed Yahiro, and shaved off Sui’s dragon medium powers. “So they were left with no option but to go after the divine instrument itself. With it, they can reach the Afterlife without summoning a new dragon. They must mean to rebuild the world there.” “Can they do that? Isn’t it just the sacrificial medium who can create a new world?” Miyabi’s brow furrowed. Even if they reached the Afterlife, they needed a sacrificial medium to give birth to the world dragon. Her wish became Ouroboros’s power to recreate the world. “They have a medium. An artificial one,” Karura responded with pity and a sigh. “Artificial…?” Miyabi blinked. “You mean Sui?” Yahiro asked sternly. “So you’ve realized, Yahiro Narusawa.” “With that many hints, yeah.” Yahiro sighed bitterly. Her hair was naturally white, unpigmented. Her body was too small and sickly for her age. She kept falling into the death slumber. Ganzheit treated her like a guinea pig and resorted to using Nina Himekawa to get her back. If Sui had been created by Ganzheit, it all made sense. “Ganzheit created Sui Narusawa as an artificial dragon medium, and it seems to put her body under heavy duress.” “Was my dad related to Ganzheit, too, then? That’s why she killed him?” Yahiro’s father brought Sui home with him one day out of nowhere. She was treated like his sister, but his father never explained her past or anything about her mother. In the end, she stabbed his father to death before causing the J-nocide. “It is very likely that finding out about her origins drove her to kill him, but we can only imagine what really happened that day.” Karura didn’t deny his suspicion. Iroha’s and Miyabi’s eyes were round in surprise, but Giuli’s expression remained unchanged. She must have realized the secret behind Sui from the moment she saw her. After all, the twins were also designer babies. “That man—Eusebius Berith—wants to get his hands on the divine instrument to reach the Afterlife and use Sui to create his ideal world,” said Giuli with a sharp tone critical of her father. Yahiro looked at her and shook his head with a sigh. “Ridiculous. He thinks Sui will listen?” “That guy thinks he can hypnotize her or control her with drugs.” Giuli shrugged with a cold smirk. She took a smartphone-sized comms device from her bulletproof jacket’s pocket and looked at the screen. An emergency notice. “And speaking of Sui, it sounds like there’s some trouble.” “Cyrille Ghislain got away?” Yahiro grimaced. It would be trouble if Cyrille reached the Ganzheit warmongers with Sui asleep. There was a chance that Eusebius could take her to the Afterlife. “No. Paola’s team already caught up to and dealt with him.” “They killed him?” Yahiro furrowed his brow, wondering, What’s the problem, then? “Well, after that, Tristitia’s medium and Lazarus showed up.” “Tristitia’s Lazarus?! Natazuka?!” Yahiro growled. A shadow fell over Karura’s expression, too. Yahiro knew how deadly Toru Natazuka was. He had seen him kill another Lazarus, Amaha Kamikita. “Is Paola’s team okay? Don’t tell me…” “They’re fine. A few were wounded, but no casualties. Sui woke up and drove Natazuka away first.” “Sui woke up…?” Iroha asked in Yahiro’s stead, as he was at a loss for words. There was too much to process in such a short time. “It sounds like they couldn’t clearly communicate with her, though. After she injured Natazuka, she disappeared.” “That…doesn’t sound good.” Miyabi closed her eyes in an expression of concern. Yahiro found her reaction odd. “I mean, that is trouble, but that’s better than the old man getting hold of her, isn’t it? And they got away from Natazuka, too…” “Eusebius Berith isn’t the only one after Sui, remember?” “Ah… Nina…” Iroha covered her mouth and Yahiro bit his lip. Luxuria’s medium, Nina Himekawa, tried to snatch Sui just a few days prior. With Lazarus Hisaki Minato at her side and backed by Ganzheit, in a way, she was more trouble than Eusebius or Natazuka. “Alfred Salas, the leader of the biggest faction in Ganzheit, is behind Nina Himekawa. They already have a divine instrument in hand.” “What? Oh, right… Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi!” The blood drained from Yahiro’s face. Sui could create Ploutonion, but only incomplete imitations. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was different. With it, Sui could probably open a true passage to the Afterlife. Not to the one already dried and ended, but the womb to birth a new Ouroboros—the next generation’s Afterlife. “It sounds like we really are running out of time,” Karura said gravely. Sui already lacked the power to summon Superbia. Her reaching the Afterlife alone would change nothing. But she had Nina Himekawa and Hisaki Minato with her. Luxuria’s Lazarus could become the vehicle to summon the dragon. Nina must have been trying to become the sacrifice to evolve Hisaki into Ouroboros, and to destroy the old underworld and create a new one. Sui would definitely help them. Destroying the world was her wish, as she hated all of it. “Iroha Mamana, please come with me. We’re taking the magatama,” Karura said. “…You sure?” “Yes. A normal human could not stand the dragon factor density, but a true dragon medium like you should be able to take it away. Yahiro Narusawa, please guard her.” Karura walked back to the rock sealing the Afterlife, and Iroha and Yahiro followed behind. Karura pointed at the magatama in the world tree’s branch, and Iroha reached out nervously. “There are three divine instruments handed down in the Heavenly Imperial House. The mirror was used and lost four years ago in the J-nocide. Melora took the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, and now it is in Salas’s hands. The magatama is the only divine instrument we have left.” Iroha nodded back and grabbed the magatama. It left the world tree’s branch with ease, and at the same time, the branch cracked and decayed. The leaves lost their color and broke down as the branch became dust. Karura watched the world tree’s end in silence, then closed her eyes for a moment. She raised her head and smiled as though nothing had happened. “The Ploutonion has now lost its function. We have nothing more to do here. Let’s leave.” 7 When they left the shrine, the sky was a deep red. The Sagano Forest was burning in the middle of a soft rainfall. The fire came from the battle between Ganzheit’s invading forces and the Moujuu. The ammunition and fuel leaking from the destroyed armored vehicles burned the forest’s vegetation. The effects of the battle had already reached Myoujiin territory. Unending cannon fire shook the earth, and the Moujuu’s howls ripped through the air, echoing all around. The flames lit up the area like daylight, and the wind carried the nauseating smell of blood. Even Yahiro, with all his experience in battle, gasped at the disaster, which far exceeded his expectations. “Ganzheit…! They broke through the barrier?” “Yes, they’re inside the barrier… But something is wrong. They’re taking so many losses. Why would they run this risk…?!” Miyabi frowned in confusion, her eyes closed to read the flow of the wind. Ganzheit had the overwhelming advantage after surrounding the Myoujiin territory with a big army. They could eventually break the illusory barrier if they kept advancing carefully. There was no need to hurry. But now they had lost their line of command and the troops were clearly in chaos. Now they fought a war of attrition, simply shooting the Moujuu before them without a plan. “It’s the Moujuu…,” Iroha said with a trembling voice, glaring at the burning cityscape. “Ganzheit didn’t break through the barrier, the Moujuu attacked them… But why…?” “The Moujuu? Either way, there are so many of them. How many Moujuu do you need to reduce Ganzheit’s huge army to this…?” Then Yahiro gulped. He knew of another case of a big encirclement falling instantly under a Moujuu attack. It happened half a month ago in Yokohama. The Moujuu hadn’t appeared from the Ploutonion—they were born there from the enemy surrounding Galerie Berith’s Far East Branch. “Yahiro! Giuli! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Yahiro came back to his senses at the sound of a serious voice and a diesel engine. A familiar armored vehicle cut through the flames on the road. The transport was soaked in Moujuu blood and driven by the Galerie’s operators. “Wei?! What’re you doing all the way out here?!” “Forcing our way through, as you can see. Ganzheit’s forces are in shambles. They can’t do anything to us at this point.” Yang Wei ran up to them, out of breath and a light machine gun in his arms. “Just get in, quick. We have to leave this place. They’re turning into Moujuu.” “Really?” “Yes, it’s the same as what happened in Yokohama. Ganzheit’s operators are transforming. The mountain will be full of them soon.” Wei, always calm and composed, couldn’t hide his restlessness now. “Was that really it? But why? I didn’t feel any dragon being summoned.” Yahiro looked at Iroha, looking for an answer. The Moujuufication in Yokohama happened because Sui tried summoning Superbia, but there was no sign of a dragon near Myoujiin. There had to be another reason Ganzheit’s operators were turning Moujuu. “Don’t tell me it’s because we grabbed this…” Iroha looked at the magatama in her hands with fear. Taking the Relict Regalia from the world tree on the altar closed the passage to the Afterlife, and she worried this could have also caused the Moujuufication. “No, Iroha. This must be the effect of a new Ouroboros being born. The order of the old world is crumbling,” Karura said confidently. Yahiro looked at her with shock. “You mean Sui did this?” “Yes. At the very least, Sui Narusawa would be able to create a new Afterlife. She has the power to open Ploutonions and devastated the Afterlife four years ago…” “So Sui Narusawa has already reunited with Nina Himekawa,” Miyabi pointed out matter-of-factly. She could be sure of it because she knew Nina had the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Miyabi had given it to her after stealing it from Melora in exchange for Nina’s help escaping. Yahiro had a bone to pick about that, but he couldn’t waste time protesting. “I don’t know how long it takes for a new Ouroboros to be born, but the fact is that the world is already being affected. Ganzheit’s main faction—Nina Himekawa’s goal will be achieved at this rate.” “Main faction?” “Yes. Those who wish for a new world, regardless of their own fate.” “That…doesn’t sound very good.” Yahiro ruffled his hair. He did not hate Hisaki Minato, but he dreaded that the young man would do anything Nina wished for. Yahiro couldn’t hope he would try to stop her. Nina, too, would sacrifice anything to satisfy her curiosity. Together, they would run to the literal ends of the world if they weren’t stopped. “What happens if Minato becomes the Ouroboros?” Iroha peered into Karura’s eyes. She shook her head with a wry smile. “That depends on what Nina Himekawa wishes for. At the very least, you can be sure the world we live in will disappear.” “How can we stop them?” “Kill them. Follow Sui Narusawa and Nina Himekawa and kill both, please.” “…!” Iroha glared daggers at the young woman’s nonchalant response; the most expected reaction, knowing Iroha. Karura looked at Iroha with emotionless eyes. “Of course, you could also try to convince them, but considering their history so far, I find that improbable.” “…There’s no way other than killing them?” “Just one, but that would be even more unrealistic than trying to persuade them.” “Tell me. What is it?” “You could change the world before they can.” “…Huh?” Iroha blinked at Karura’s unexpected reply. “You can create a new Ouroboros and wish for this world to continue. That will stop its collapse—or more precisely, it would create a future that connects to this world.” “I…would sacrifice myself…” Iroha stared blankly at the magatama in her hands. Karura smiled softly at her reaction. “But I think that would be impossible. You have no wish left to grant after you already created this beautiful world full of light…” “Ah…” Iroha’s voice trembled. She had no memories of her childhood, but if she really was the Kushinada’s reincarnation, she wished for this underworld herself. If she already created it, she had no new wish to offer Ouroboros. Iroha’s face scrunched up like a child on the edge of tears. Yahiro pulled her forcefully toward him. “It’s okay, Iroha. Don’t worry yourself.” He hugged the trembling Iroha’s head and smiled at her. Then, partly to himself, he showed a dark, ferocious grin. “Killing Sui is my job.” 8 “Either way, we have to catch up to them first. Any clue where they might be?” Giuli asked Karura, her tone as bright as ever. Karura shook her head again. “If they aren’t here, they have no intention of using the Myoujiin’s Ploutonion. After all, Sui Narusawa’s Regalia can create a hole to connect to the Afterlife anywhere.” “So we gotta find the gate they used and pursue them from there.” “Yes. It should take them a while to turn Hisaki Minato into Ouroboros, but who knows if we can reach them before it happens…” “Maybe we should think about getting out of here alive first. It’s pandemonium out there,” said Wei while looking around impatiently. The battle between Ganzheit and the Moujuu had intensified, with the former clearly on the losing side. Ganzheit lost forces with every Moujuufied operator, and the dreadful sight turned more operators into Moujuu. It was a cycle of defeat. “Yeah. We’d be done for without Iroha’s blood, too,” said Giuli while placing a hand on Iroha’s left shoulder. The Galerie’s Far East Branch’s operators had vaccinated themselves with an anti-Moujuufication serum made from Iroha’s blood, hence why Wei and his team hadn’t turned. That said, the serum was a prototype—they didn’t know how long it could last. They could not afford to be optimistic. Still, the danger of being attacked by Moujuu was greater now than the fear of Moujuufication. They already had the divine instrument, too. There was no reason to remain in the Myoujiin territory. “Let’s move. Miyabi Maisaka and Karura, get in the car. Yahiro and Iroha, clear up the fog, please?” Giuli instructed. Yahiro and Iroha looked at each other and nodded. They were useless fighting Ganzheit’s operators, but taking on Moujuu was their job. Thanks to her power to control them, Iroha was their trump card in escaping the encirclement of Moujuufied operators. But then, Karura objected to Giuli’s instructions. “No, don’t you worry about me. Just go.” “Karura…?!” Iroha looked at her in disbelief. Karura pointed the palm of her hand at Iroha and launched bright, pure-white flames of purification that passed her and burned a Moujuu that had appeared behind them. “They are not the Kushinada’s children. They were transformed under different principles. Your voice won’t reach them, Iroha.” “No…” Iroha bit her lip as she saw the Moujuu disappear in the flames. She had been able to talk to the Moujuu because she was the Kushinada—the goddess of creation who gave birth to the Moujuu. But the mother of these Moujuu were not the sacrificial medium. They would not listen to Iroha, and she knew Karura spoke the truth. The Moujuu who would normally not attack the dragon mediums had charged against her, and she did not notice until it was too late. “I will contain the Moujuu. You go and break through Ganzheit’s encirclement.” “And how are you going to escape…?” Yahiro asked impatiently. “I’ve done my part. I will share my fate with the Myoujiin.” Karura smiled peacefully. The dozen retainers who followed her to the end welcomed her declaration with serene looks on their faces. They were prepared to die as martyrs. “No… If your job here is done, then that’s more the reason for you not to die here! You finally got your freedom!” Yahiro drew close to her with a grave expression. Karura carefully rolled up her right sleeve. Yahiro gasped. Her thin arm was clear like crystal, reflecting the flames around them. Crystallization represented the limit of adaption to the Relict Regalia. “I’ve used too much of the Regalia, despite just being a human. It appears I will leave this world before you.” “Karura…” Yahiro became speechless at the sight of her satisfied smile. Karura wasn’t long for this world, and she meant to use her last moments to let them escape. And yet, there was no sadness in her face. She had fulfilled her duty. She entrusted Iroha with the divine instrument, sacrificing her own life in the process. The best thing they could do was leave as soon as possible so as to not let her determination go to waste. “Let’s go, Iroha,” Yahiro said fiercely, to push back his hesitation. Iroha, still biting her lip, nodded. Karura closed her eyes with contentment. “Sorry. We’ll have to wait a little. Gotta take care of this first.” Giuli sighed listlessly while putting on her combat gloves. Sharp wires shot out of her fingertips to pierce the Moujuu that had been lurking in their blind spot. It fell as blood spurted out of its sliced neck, and a man bathed in blood crawled out from under the Moujuu’s corpse. He was a white man wearing a suit too expensive for a battlefield. Giuli had saved him from the Moujuu attack, and yet her eyes were cold with disgust as she looked at him. “It’s good to see you well, Father. You look dashing.” “Rosetta… No, Giulietta…?” The bloody man, Eusebius Berith, twisted his lip at the sight of her. He had led the Ganzheit warmongers to attack the Myoujiin territory, but his operators had turned into Moujuu and his troops were about to be annihilated. He, too, was in a predicament. Being a marquis wasn’t of any use now. Here, Eusebius was but a powerless man. “This indiscriminate Moujuufication on such a large scale… Is this part of your plan, Giulietta?” “No way. I hear it’s from Ganzheit’s main faction—Salas. He got you good, Father.” Giuli shook her head at her father’s question, and he ground his teeth loudly. “Do not call me that, doll.” “What a shame… I looked forward to killing you with my own hands my whole life, but now that I’m seeing you in such a poor state, I feel like I’m over it.” “Shut up!” Eusebius yelled and pulled out a handgun. A wire wrapped around his wrist and sliced it off before he could pull the trigger. It was all Giuli. Wei and the other Far East Branch operators were not even aiming their guns at him. They knew that he wouldn’t be able to hurt her. “Gwoooh!” Eusebius screamed, holding his right forearm, which was spurting fresh blood. Giuli looked down at her father kneeling in the mud and sighed tediously. “That’s for Rosy. As for my revenge, I don’t care anymore…” Giuli turned her back on him, all interest gone. As she tried to get on the Galerie’s armored vehicle, Eusebius shouted desperately. “W-wait, Giulietta… Wait, please!” “You stay here to feed the Moujuu. What better end for you after aiding in the J-nocide and turning so many people into them.” Giuli shot her pleading father a cold glare. Eusebius’s face twisted in despair, and he shouted curses at Giuli, insults a father would never say to his daughter. But it didn’t last long. A Moujuu appeared from beyond the flames, annoyed by his screeching, and charged at him. Eusebius was pulled into the fire without time for one last scream. Giuli did not care to look back at him. “You sure about this, Giuli?” Iroha asked meaningfully. “Yeah. I feel that weight off my shoulders.” Giuli smiled. Considering Iroha’s compassionate personality, she was protesting Giuli’s choice to leave Eusebius for dead. But he had pulled a gun on her and got his just deserts. There was no reason, nor time, to save him. Giuli’s revenge was fulfilled, clearing her grudge against her father. Now she looked forward to surviving—the silver lining. “Let’s go, then. Ganzheit must be nearly annihilated if he ran all the way here. There’ll be more Moujuu coming,” Giuli urged. Yahiro and the rest got in the car. As Giuli said, countless Moujuu avalanched into the Myoujiin territory. They were new-generation Moujuu that Iroha and Karura could not control. The Galerie fired at them with the armored vehicle’s machine gun, but it did nothing but stall them a little. Yahiro leaned out of the vehicle’s hatch and glared at the Moujuu tsunami with katana in hand. The armored car’s great firepower was not enough to break through them. Yahiro had to use his Regalia to open a path, but he felt the pressure, unsure that he would be able to take them down. Then he saw a beautiful woman in Japanese clothes in the corner of his eye. Karura Myoujin. “Karura…!” She stood in front of the car and pointed her hands at the Moujuu. The gem on her chest shone dazzling crimson. The shine turned into a violent stream of fire. The flames extended like the wings of a phoenix and engulfed everything: the Moujuu, the Myoujiin territory town, even Karura herself. “Go, Yahiro Narusawa. Best of luck…” He felt like he heard Karura’s impish voice right in his ear. Karura’s flames created a path for them. The armored car’s engine roared and it accelerated through the crowd of confused Moujuu. Yahiro looked back and saw the beautiful woman smiling in the flames. It was the last sighting of Karura Myoujiin.
Chapter 72
24 min read