Chapter 98

Amakusa fell to one knee, panting, her power exhausted. Bisco and Milo were similarly spent and lacked the energy to fire another shot. “That was everything we had,” said Milo. “How?!” “Looks like we didn’t give Snowball enough credit,” said Bisco, admiration creeping into his ragged voice. “Her desperate prayers fueled the Ultrafaith Arrow. That thing answers prayers, reshapin’ reality. There ain’t a force in this world that can stand against it.” “Why did you ever make such a dangerous thing?!” “Hey, you helped!!” It was Yokan who moved next. Though nearing exhaustion, he presumed that Amakusa no longer possessed any means to defend against him. A presumption that turned out to be correct. Urgh…I cannot move! Amakusa watched Yokan leap toward her, his shortsword drawn. She painstakingly tried to gather what little magic power she could, but it was too late. “Geppei!” roared Yokan. “It is high time I excise your blight from our land!” Curse you…! In her desperation, Amakusa hit upon a devious plan. She grabbed Tirol, slumped nearby, and brought her into the path of Yokan’s blade! “What?!” One second. “Impossi—!” That was all she needed. Yokan’s blade hovered in midair, a hair’s breadth from the brainwashed Tirol’s neck. Seizing that crucial moment, Amakusa recalled the Ultrafaith Arrow, and the projectile hurtled back to her, hitting Yokan’s arm and tearing it off completely. Splattt!! “I…” “Yokan!!” “I failed…,” he said as the force of impact bore him gently through the air. “Vengeance is mine,” said Amakusa. She pointed her long, sharp claws, sending the Ultrafaith Arrow deep into Yokan’s breast, out the other side, and back through his leg! “Adieu, mon cheri.” Gaboom! Gaboom!! A golden mushroom flung the impaled Yokan high, and Milo caught his body in his arms. “Yokan!!” he screamed, but the legendary lord had already slipped out of consciousness, his throat emitting only a distressed purr. “Oh God, his arm!” he cried. “We’ve got to do something!” “Keep it together!” said Bisco. “Damn, right in the heart… Milo, use my blood!” “Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! What a fool! In the end, all it took to blunt your sword was one scrawny little human girl!” Amakusa mopped her sweat with a paw, laughing all the while. “The arm of the Catwisp Blade… I would have preferred the whole body, but this shall make an adequate offering.” “An offering…?!” “Rejoice, foolish children.” Her composure restored, Amakusa snatched up the torn-off arm, then scraped Tirol’s windpipe with her claw, allowing a trickle of her blood to flow over the arm before giving it a big kiss. “Once I have enough power, the Ultrafaith Arrow will grant my dearest wish—to allow all creatures to live together in peace and harmony, without distinction or prejudice, as one singular organism! …But I don’t suppose you have any idea what I mean, do you?” “You want to turn everyone…into one giant fungus?!” “That ain’t salvation. You’re just lonely and delusional!” “You two are too smart for your own good. I’m supposed to monologue about my master plan and the tragic past that inspired it! You don’t just sum it up in two measly lines!” ““Whoa!”” Driven by Amakusa’s anger—or embarrassment, perhaps—the Ultrafaith Arrow sped toward the pair. They leaped to avoid it, but then a large golden mushroom erupted from the floor where it landed, sending Milo sailing through the air with Yokan in his arms. “Uh-oh!” “Adieu, my child.” The Ultrafaith Arrow then turned and flew toward Milo, about to skewer him in midair when… “Hrooooaaaahhh!!” “?!” “Catwisp Art: Waterwheel!” Clanggg!! Amakusa recalled the arrow, barely in time to block an attack from above. It was a single aged cat samurai, dropping down through the hole in the ceiling that was left there by the deflected Mantra Bow arrow. With all the momentum from the fall, he directed his curved greatsword at Amakusa’s head. “Wicked Amakusa! I will not allow you to harm my liege!” “Whaaat?!” The boys went wide-eyed in shock. There, in full samurai regalia, and wielding an odachi sword several times his height, was none other than the old Chinchilla, Shibafune. “You decrepit fool!” screeched Amakusa. “You’re still alive?!” Shibafune moved with a speed unimaginable for one only recently recovered from illness. “Catwisp Art: Carp Ascension!” Slash!! The follow-up strike came from below, finally nicking Amakusa’s flesh! “What?!” A spray of blood burst from the left side of her face. Her power exhausted, she failed to move the Ultrafaith Arrow fast enough to block the second blow. She fell over in agony, clutching her eye, while Shibafune leaped over to the two boys and collapsed to the floor. “Shibafune!!” “Akaboshi… Does…does my liege yet live?” “He’s going to be okay!” yelled Milo. “I promise! I promise I’ll do something!” “Oh, my liege… I could not protect you. I am sorry…” Shibafune gazed at the unconscious Yokan, and a single tear rolled down his furry cheek. He leaned in and gently nuzzled his master’s neck. In the old samurai’s mind, memories of the young lord played out in vivid recollection. “How’s that, Shibafune? My swordplay has improved, has it not?” “You may have won this race, Shibafune, but I shall take the next! Come, let us go again!” “What an opulent kimono… At last, in today’s ceremony, I shall become a man.” “Father has not visited recently… Does he detest my black fur so?” “Do not say such things, my liege. Even should all of Byoma rise up against you, you shall always have me. I will always be here for you.” For several seconds, Shibafune wept, his ceaseless tears wetting his master’s fur. Then, when his eyes ran dry at last, he looked up at the two boys. “Save him,” he said in solemn tones. “And when he wakes…tell him my spirit will walk with him always.” “Can it, old cat! You’re comin’ with us, too!” “I never should have let you all come here. The lord cannot kill Amakusa.” ““What?!”” The two were struck completely speechless by Shibafune’s words. He had always seemed to be on Yokan’s side. “That is because,” he said, “Geppei Amakusa was once to be Yokan’s wife!” The boys could not even react. Shibafune, anxious of time, moved swiftly on. “The two were made for each other,” he explained. “’Twas court politics that drove them apart. Yet even after she fell to evil, the lord still loved her. He thought, with the power of the Catwisp Blade, he could set her free, and—” “Don’t tell them any more!!” screeched Amakusa. The Ultrafaith Arrow shot like a bullet at Shibafune. Yet with fearsome stamina, the old samurai swept his blade, parrying it! His entire body glowed with burning catwisp sparks, his body driven by willpower alone, allowing him a final swan song before his bones gave out at last. “In feline-kind’s hour of need, three humans fall from the heavens!” he said. “This must be the will of Byoshoten— Hack!” A splutter of blood! Shibafune mopped it with his paw and carried on. “I leave this country’s fate to you,” he said to the two boys. “Come what may, our future rests in your hands now.” “Shibafune!” “Go!!” Shibafune barked his order at the pair, then flew toward Amakusa once more. On his way, he turned and aimed a swordstroke at the cavernous roof overhead. With a great rumble, rock and stone tumbled down from the ceiling, forbidding Bisco and Milo from following the aged warrior. They heard the pair’s voices from beyond the cave-in. “Amakusa! It is time for you to sample my blade!” “You decrepit old fool! You dare stand in my way?!” “Outta the way, Milo!” cried Bisco. “One mushroom arrow oughtta take care of this roadblock!” But Milo looked grave. “We’re retreating, Bisco. We can’t win like this.” “What?!” “I understand now. It wasn’t a coincidence the arrow fell into Geppei Amakusa’s hands; it was all because of her!” Milo looked straight at Bisco, his starlike eyes twinkling. “She needed it, Bisco. She needed to win, to conquer, to be free. That desire was even stronger than your faith. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s you who wins, Bisco, but…” “…right now, we’re in that one percent,” finished Bisco. “We need Yokan,” said Milo, nodding to the feline shogun on his back. “He knows Amakusa better than anyone else in the world. It’s time to save his life!” “Got it!” The two boys turned and fled down the collapsing tunnel. Rocks fell about them, a little too close for comfort. “We ain’t gonna make it on two legs,” said Bisco. “Hop on!” “Won’t I be too heavy?!” “Ha! You forgotten who I am?” The half-transformed Bisco got down on all fours and, after Milo had climbed atop his back, took off down the tunnel at extreme speed. Not five seconds later, there was no longer any trace of the passage that led to Amakusa’s underground citadel.