A few hours after Yuzuru and Nobunaga alighted at Kumamoto airport, the last flight from Tokyo arrived.
The man headed to the arrival gate with his company. He attracted attention in a different sense from Shiba: he was in a wheelchair, perhaps due to ill health. He looked to be about thirty. His wide shoulders seemed perfectly at home in a suit, but he didn’t look like a businessman here on company business. He wore light-colored sunglasses, perhaps because of some sort of discomfort in his eyes.
He emerged from the exit in a crowd with the other passengers, to be met by a car which arrived at the exact same time. A man jumped out in breathless haste to greet him: Hakkai. He had received the news only a short time ago and had rushed to the airport in a panic.
The man removed his sunglasses and nodded.
“This is suicidal,” Hakkai suddenly said as he climbed into the car.
Since their car had gone up in flames in the battle just past, this was a rental. The man’s following got into other cars.
Hakkai raged, “To drag yourself out here in your condition is foolhardy. It’s beyond reckless no matter how you look at it. Only being in Nikkou
has kept your body alive. There is no guarantee you will stay alive outside.”
“The circumstances are what they are. Stop treating me like an invalid.”
“Don’t you understand? Your body is far from a state which can support life.”
“Please stop nagging me about my behavior.”
“But—” Hakkai objected, when the man interrupted.
“This joint military operation with Ootomo is the New Uesugi’s first important project. The ‘sun power dam’ will be a necessary base for our future military affairs. If we fail here, the Uesugi have no future. I want to be able to command from the field.”
“I grant you you can manifest your «power» far more reliably like this than through synchronization. But if you do attempt to use all your power, I don’t think your body will be able to withstand it. Fighting is out of the question.”
“It’s okay. It can withstand it.”
“Impossible. I’m opposed,” Hakkai said stubbornly.
The man looked troubled, but his resolution did not falter. “Can you give me a report on subsequent events?”
Hakkai answered through clenched teeth.
He had narrowly managed to drive Kousaka off. In a battle where neither had yielded an inch, Kousaka had simply turned tail before a decision had been reached. Hakkai didn’t know where he went afterwards. He’d gone after Naoe. By the time he finally reached the scene of the battle between Kaizaki and Kotarou, everything was already over.
Kotarou was dead of a bullet to the head.
“He died afterwards, then? Who killed him?”
“I don’t know,” Hakkai answered. Maybe someone from Shimazu? he appended as an afterthought. “...At least Kaizaki Makoto-shi managed to evade death. He is currently under intensive care at the hospital.”
“I see.” The man breathed a pensive sigh. “I have done truly unforgivable things to him.”
“Kagetora-sama has...” Hakkai trailed off— “has fallen into Akechi’s hands, as we suspected. One of my subordinates confirmed it.”
“...”
“I’m very sorry.” He fell silent, perhaps expecting to be rebuked. The man’s look sharpened, but he seemed quietly resigned. Hakkai continued, “The police is investigating the death of Kotarou’s vessel. But Kotarou himself is probably alive and well in another vessel.”
“Meaning he will revert to being Fuuma Kotarou.”
“He is expected to rejoin Kagetora-sama.”
“In order to return him to the Houjou, most likely,” he said, but thought back to the Kotarou in those mountains. What had happened in the heart of that humanoid robot? The unpredictability of his behavior was itself frightening. If he could have, he would have «exorcised» him there and then.
Hakkai headed for the national highway. “We will call at Saiganden Temple, Ootomo’s troop headquarters in Aso. Aso Koremitsu-dono and Kai Souun-dono are both there. They wish to explain how the ‘Ritual of the Great Fire Wheel’ will work. They seem delighted to be receiving a visit from the general himself.”
“I see. What is the state of the caldera? What of the Middle Peak’s volcanic activity?”
“The caldera is still off-limits, but the installation of the ritual platform is ongoing. According to the Ootomo, volcanic activity for performing the curse is approaching ideal conditions. There is uneasiness at Shimazu’s movement. Lord Sourin has decided the ritual will be performed within the day once the «Golden Serpent Head» comes into their possession.”
“Within the day, huh?”
“Lord Sourin will depart from Usuki tomorrow.”
Which meant they would meet the next day.
The man frowned and turned his gaze toward the Middle Peak, submerged in darkness.
“I’ve confirmed the Ikkou Sect’s withdrawal. The agitation in Kaga appears to have been a success. Our perennial enemy is out of the picture. It will make our movements easier.”
“Ah,” the man nodded. His eyes turned cold.
(This your retribution, Ikkou Sect.)
He didn’t care about the other territories; Kaga was non-negotiable. It was pure revenge for Shimozuma Rairyuu’s actions.
(Still, I didn’t realize I would chafe so much at the constraints on my body.)
The inconveniences were numerous; it didn’t feel like his own body. Hakkai made a show of unconcern, but in reality his breathing became labored, and he broke into a cold sweat at the least movement. Grit alone had brought him here. Leaving Nikkou probably was a mistake. ...Synchronization would probably have been the surer choice.
But this time he’d had to come himself.
If only so he didn’t lose his last chance.
(I had to come on my own two feet.)
He glanced sidelong at the Eboushi Peak mountainside where he had fought with Kotarou last night as the car drove at full speed down the national highway. They turned right in front of Aso Station and took the on-ramp to the highway which continued toward Kusasenri [A Thousand li of Grass]. Saiganden Temple was their destination.
It was not just a shrine that had deep connections to Aso.
Mountain Buddhism had flourished here since ancient times, and in the area called Old Bouchuu, 88 Buddhist structures had been built in the mountaintops as if in competition with each other. Now there was nothing but grassland or perhaps a stone tablet: nothing to aid the imagination in picturing that ancient scene; was it all right to imagine that there had once been something like a Mt. Hiei temple? There must have been many monks and mountain ascetics striving in their daily training in that bustling place. Saiganden Temple had been its main temple building, said to be the former residence of its founder, Saiei Tokushi.
Old Bouchuu was said to have burned to the ground during the chaos of the Sengoku. Later it was reconstructed at the foot of the mountain by Katou Kiyomasa and called Mountain-base Bouchuu. The current Saiganden Temple was the main temple building moved from the top of the mountain.
The cars arrived at Saiganden Temple. The lonely main temple building, usually devoid of life, was filled with light, as if a festival were underway.
People came to greet and guide those who emerged from the cars. The main temple building was at the top of a flight of stairs set within a fine grove of Japanese cedars. The entire structure was tinged with the black of a truly ancient building. From the front it didn’t seem especially large, but it was surprisingly deep, and something like a Buddhist memorial service was being held inside.
Pushing the wheelchair, Hakkai advanced through the watch-fires. Retainers came out to receive them, and from the back of the temple came two men: one young, one in his middle years.
“Welcome.”
The man was Kai Souun, the boy Aso Koremitsu: the young head of the Aso family who had been killed by Hideyoshi during the Sengoku after being falsely accused by their old enemy, the retainer of Sagara, of inciting insurrection. He was probably around the age he had been when he’d died.
“You’ve come a long way. I am Aso Koremitsu.”
The boy bowed deeply, to be answered by a respectful bow from his guest.
“Thank you for coming out to greet us in this cold.”
“This is the first time I have met someone from Echigo. Much snow falls in Echigo, I believe? It does in Aso as well, but I have never seen snow heavy enough to bury a house. I cannot imagine it.”
“It does not fall as heavily as before, but heavy snow hones the legs; that was why Echigo’s warriors were so strong. Simply shoveling show builds strength.”
The boy laughed guilelessly.
In his lifetime he had become the head of the Aso family at age three. In that war-torn era, it had been all the Aso family could do to survive with their three-year-old head. All their castles had been stolen, and as head he had experienced the rock bottom of the 90-generation Aso Clan. With what reminiscences in mind had his vassals offered their ceaseless sympathy until he had gained the patronage of Narimasa and Kiyomasa?
Later people held a memorial service and planted a pine tree on Mt. Hanaoka, where Koremitsu had committed suicide. Called the ‘Aso-dono pine’, it stood even now.
“This is Kai Souun. I think perhaps you’ve heard his name.”
Souun bowed his head deeply as he was introduced. This was the man who had once made ‘the Aso family has Souun’ reverberate throughout Kyuushuu. He had borne up the very framework of a family surrounded by formidable foes like Shimazu and Ryuuzouji.
“Souun, I say this with my heart pitter-pattering in my chest. I never imagined a day could come when I would be able to meet people with a connection to the famous Uesugi Kenshin. It’s wonderful, incredible, amazing.”
Battle-hardened veterans regarded Koremitsu fondly as his cheeks flushed with emotion. The men impressed each other favorably. Each felt a sense of nostalgia.
“Lord Sourin will depart from Usuki on the morrow. He will likely enter Aso at night. Your meeting will take place here in Saiganden Temple. Please enter. We will explain our plans as well as the ‘Ritual of the Great Fire Wheel’.”
The Uesugi lord and retainer stepped inside the main temple building.
News that Shimazu Iehisa had been killed in Kumamoto reached the rear Shimazu army shortly thereafter.
A retainer named Asao who had been with Iehisa at Honmyou Temple brought the news.
The army corps were massed at the ruins of Uto Castle north of Kumamoto. The general of the army tasked with capturing Kumamoto was a commander named Shimazu Toshihisa. He was the third of the four Shimazu brothers and the closest in age to Iehisa, the youngest.
“Iehisa is...?!”
Toshihisa stood frozen in place, lost for words.
The news must also have been conveyed to Yoshihisa and Yoshihiro in their home territory. Iehisa was the strongest among them in spiritual power. In life he had been a skilled warrior who had broken Ryuuzouji’s army of 30,000 with 3,000, thus distinguishing himself greatly in the Shimazu invasion of Kyuushuu. Given his older brothers’ great expectations after his resurrection, he had volunteered to lead a vanguard to expel Oda and Ootomo from Kyuushuu.
“Tono...! Please get a grip on yourself!”
Toshihisa had fallen to his knees, and Saruwatari Nobumitsu was at his side supporting him. Nobumitsu was a trusted retainer who had put his life on the line with Iehisa in the Ryuuzouji battle.
“Nobumitsu, Iehisa is gone from this world.” Toshihisa’s shoulders trembled. “I was told even his soul has been shattered into dust.”
“Wh...what?!”
Toshihisa’s fists struck the ground violently. “He’s not just gone! Even his soul is—his soul! It must have been Ootomo at the old castle. Iehisa is... Iehisa is gone from both this world and the next!”
“Does that mean Iehisa-sama will never be reincarnated? Annihilated...!”
Blood splattered from his lacerated fists. Weeping violently, Toshihisa glared toward Kumamoto with hate-filled eyes.
“By Ootomo, of all people...!”
Of course it had been Nobunaga and not Ootomo who had killed Iehisa. Nobunaga had intentionally allowed Asao to live. He’d been captured, imprinted with false information, and released. Thus Toshihisa believed those false details without question.
(Annihilated...never to be reincarnated...)
Iehisa had hated Ootomo Sourin—held him in deep contempt for throwing himself on Hideyoshi’s mercy. Sourin’s vassalage had led to Hideyoshi’s invasion of Kyuuhsuu.
While his brothers surrendered after repeated humiliation before Hideyoshi’s power, Iehisa alone refused to bow his head. He never backed down from his determination to resist to the bitter end, and was assassinated by Hideyoshi with poison. Inspired by his younger brother’s mettle, Toshihisa resolved to never give Hideyoshi his obedience. He refused to fight in the Imjin War (1592-1597) and committed suicide. Toshihisa didn’t regret it even now.
Rather than subordinate himself to a central power to ensure his survival, Iehisa chose to resist with his pride as a warrior of Satsuma intact: that was the kind of man he had been.
“One day Satsuma will become a power that moves the land,” Iehisa said after his brothers decided to capitulate to Hideyoshi, weeping bitter tears. As he prophesied, Satsuma-han took the lead in transforming Japan during the Bakumatsu.
“The power to right the wrongs of the land is always born from a nation’s end!”
(That it should be you who has fallen to Ootomo...!)
“Let us take down Kumamoto Castle, Iehisa.” Toshihisa glared toward Kumamoto even as he sobbed. “Iehisa gave his life to take down the barrier. We will fight to avenge him. We must pay them back for Iehisa’s death. We will expel Ootomo Sourin from Kyuushuu. Point the entire army at Kumamoto and charge!”
“Reporting, my lady!”
It was past 8 p.m. Yokote no Gorou burst into the council of war being held in the Old Castle High School student council executive office chamber, face white.
“The barrier around Kumamoto has vanished!”
“What?”
“A spy who was sent to the scene reports that Katou Kiyomasa appeared at Honmyou Temple and removed the barrier himself. Kiyomasa is occupying Honmyou Temple. In addition, Shimazu’s large army is setting out from the Uto area! They appear to be aiming straight for the inner city!”
The stunned executive office members cried out. Only Mikuriya Juri recieved Gorou’s news calmly.
“Silence. ...Be silent, everyone!” she barked sharply, and everyone present quieted as if plunged into water. Mikuriya stood abruptly to survey the executive office members. “What use is an agitated commander? Calm yourselves. We expected this. We will engage the Shimazu army.”
Mikuriya stabbed at a map printed on a whiteboard.
“As I previously explained, Shimazu cannot land from the sea due to the Ariake Sea blockade. Our force is perfectly sufficient for repelling their land-based troops. Divide the study body into two groups: one stationed inside the castle, the other outside. Fortify the Uto entrance, engage the enemy around the castle. Put a surveillance team on Kiyomasa. He is watching us for an opportunity. Stop him if he makes a move. Call the student body together in one hour. Prepare to attack.”
“Understood!”
“Dispatch Officer, assemble the leaders of each squad in the conference room without delay. I will go over our battle operations.”
“Aye!”
Mikuriya gave orders to each of her officers, dispatching them to their duties. Finally the broadcast chant’s instructions to each squad changed. Mikuriya entered her presidential chamber and set about preparing herself for battle. Outside the window, students tore around the grounds.
(Look, Tono, at how I, Julia, will fight this battle.)
The number of cars within the city at night had markedly decreased in recent days.
National Highway 3, which continued to the Yatsushiro district, was unbelievably empty. It was only 9 p.m., yet traffic was at 3 a.m. levels. Wherever you looked there were only the rows of blank-faced streetlights.
“The road looks like it’s not meant to be used—it’s giving me the creeps,” the driver of a delivery truck muttered to his young passenger as they waited for the traffic lights to change on the nigh-empty street. “The streets aren’t restricted or anything; I wonder why it’s so empty?”
“It’s like we’re driving on our own private road—ain’t it grand? Seeing a road like this would’ve stirred my blood in the old days.”
“Oi oi, you wanna do a quarter-mile drag race or something?”
“Not like we’ve got any competitors,” said the young man in the passenger seat, leaning out of the window to peer at the empty road behind them. There was no other vehicle in sight. It was a nighttime pedestrian paradise, he thought—then uttered a “What the?” as he stared frozenly.
“What the what? Is there a Porsche coming up?”
“Ah... um that um... aaaah...”
“What’s wrong?”
He suddenly uttered a high-pitched scream and clutched the driver. “What?” the driver looked into the rear-view mirror to see what looked like a crowd of people approaching in the distance.
(A demonstration at this time of night?)
That couldn’t be it. He stuck his head out of the window to look for himself and froze. What approached them accompanied by the sound of heavy clanging was—
(A procession...of warriors...)
Each wore helmet and armor. They filled the highway, the sound of their many footsteps gradually growing louder. Could it be some kind of event? he wondered. But there couldn’t be a parade this late at night.
The two in the truck screamed as soon as they saw the warriors’ faces. They were skeletons—skeletons wearing armor. And that wasn’t all. They had human shapes, but they looked wrong. Their eyes were sunken in concave, pasty faces, and they were bloodstained like the damned. They wore dilapidated armor and walked along with swords and arrows sticking out of their bodies. There were people without heads, privates who retained only half of their bodies. The cavalry were also armored warriors with corpse-faces.
“Waaaah—!”
They were dead people. The onryou of warriors...!
The clank of armor approached like a tsunami, and in an instant the truck was engulfed. They could see nothing but warriors marching on all sides. An incredible number of onryou marched down the highway toward Kumamoto.
“What the hell is happening...?!”
The young man was so terrified he didn’t even notice he had wet himself. The army of ghosts flew a huge banner: a cross at the center of a circle. The driver shuddered.
“Th...they’re warriors of Satsuma...the Shimazu. ...Eek!”
The truck suddenly shook, jolting as warriors clambered over it.
“Waaaah—! Please stoooop! Don’t kill uuuuus!”
The scream disappeared into the sea of noise as the truck loudly toppled onto its side. The flood of warriors flowed ceaselessly north and north past it. Ahead of them lay Kumamoto City.
The onryou charged into Kumamoto.
“We go to engage the Shimazu!” The entire student body was massed in the nighttime courtyard. Mikuriya Juri was issuing her manifesto from the morning assembly stage. “The enemy’s army numbers 12,000. But battle is not numbers. Our army is made up of a select few; each of you has the power to match a thousand warriors. Be not afraid. You are strong! You will crush them!”
Her long headband fluttering in the wind, Mikuriya waved her fist emphatically.
“We fight this vital battle to hold this castle fast, that we may establish our earthly paradise. Everyone, give your lives into my keeping! We shall fight the invaders with one heart and one mind!”
Mikuriya thrust her fist in front of her chest, the focus of 1,200 uniform-clad students’ gazes. A silver cross glittered there.
(She’s the Jean D’Arc of the East,) Irobe thought. While alive, Julia had led her own army into battle for the waning Ootomo. She was not to be trifled with just because she was a woman. She was a outstanding commander.
Irobe looked at the students. Koganezawa Kyouko was among them, as were Endou and Emi. Takaya had surely never imagined the students would be expected to do something like this.
(What splendid leadership.)
The demonic serpent alone could not have done this.
Julia was capable of commanding multitudes even if she had not performed such a cheap trick. With her eloquence and enigmatic presence, she was leading them to something that was worth giving one’s life for...
(Why didn’t she use that power for the Christians?)
If she‘d been so minded, she could have fought oppression and done what ’Amakusa Shirou’ had done.
(Is that too harsh a thing to say?)
Even now she carried with her that ‘money buddha’.
“Let us fight for our kingdom! Let us be its cornerstone!”
Beside Mikuriya as she roused the morale of her troops was an array of executive office members. They would command the various companies the students had been divided into. And there was one more. He alone in that row of inner circle members was not one of them:
Narita Yuzuru.
His expression was tense.
(Takaya isn’t here...) he thought as he surveyed the students. (I have to protect them.)
His abruptly clenched his fists as if to affirm the «power» suffusing him. Yuzuru had undertaken a favor from Irobe.
“You have abilities. If there is a battle, please protect the students.”
That was what Takaya would do.
“You can fill Kagetora-dono’s role.”
His words had given Yuzuru determination.
(I’m going to do my best here, Takaya.)
“Do not fear the Shimazu! Let’s go, everyone!”
Mikuriya raised her fist high. In unison the students did the same in response.
The wind howled eerily as if throbbing with the roars of warriors.
The living army of Old Castle High School charged out.
“The battle will start ere long,” Oda Nobunaga commented to Kiyomasa as they overlooked the city from the high ground behind Honmyou Temple. “The Shimazu army is enormous, is’t not? From where did they gather so many ghosts?”
Staring at the lights of the city, Nobunaga’s truculent eyes glittered.
“Can you not feel it, Kiyomasa? The serpent’s excitement at the scent of battle?”
“! Kihachi’s head is...?!”
“It is resonating with the will of Shimazu’s onryou. Perhaps they understand each other in their vanquished state. But that is not the only cause. There is also, heh, Narita Yuzuru.”
Kiyomasa’s face spasmed. “Tono, what exactly is Narita Yuzuru that he carries such peculiar power?”
“Ah. You‘ll see, Kiyomasa. You’ll understand immediately. Mmm, I can see it I can see it; I can see the old castle through the ’Seed of the Demon King’. Heheh, it appears he intends to fight. How commendable.”
Nobunaga knew it very clearly.
The ‘Seed of the Demon King’ had thawed as soon as they’d passed each other at the Kumamoto airport.
“Now it starts. Oda Nobunaga on the Kumamoto stage.”
Elsewhere, Chiaki, Hokage, and the others had returned to the Miike house in Aso. At Haruya’s direction Hokage was secluded in Hitaki Hall. It was not in use except during the bonfire ritual. Using the sacred fire from the head house, Hokage kindled the fire as if for a Shinto ritual.
“Aaah!”
Her fire suddenly gushed and swirled around the room like a dragon. Haruya narrowly evaded it as he stepped within.
The situation was dire.
Haruya’s voice at he peered at the blaze was shrill. “I did not expect such restlessness from Onpachi-sama.”
It was proof that incredible power was assembled at the ’true body’s side. Kihachi’s power was overflowing like the flames at the disturbance to his aura. Hokage was a shrine maiden who controlled fire. The bonfire was reacting to Kihachi. No, Hokage herself was reacting.
“Hokage, can you calm Onpachi-sama?”
“Aaa... aaaah...”
Standing in front of the fire, Hokage shook violently with both hands pressed against her cheeks.
“The blood inside me... The blood inside me is overflowing. Asara’s blood, being summoned by Onpachi-sama. Asara is screaming.”
Hands clutching her head, Hokage writhed in anguish.
“Oi, Hokage!”
Hokage tossed about in agony, arms wrapped around herself. In order to calm Kihachi, she had to first calm her own blood.
Unable to bear watching Hokage any longer, Haruya wrapped his arms around her even as she writhed.
“Please, Hokage! Asara must not emerge. Whatever you do, you must stop her. Calming Asara will also calm Onpachi-sama! I know it hurts, but please keep fighting!”
Hokage’s struggle grew more desperate as the flames climbed higher. At this rate she wouldn’t be able to stop Asara. If Asara devoured Hokage, the Kihachi onryou would surely be released.
“Ugh—uuuuh—uuuugh...!”
Hokage grew hot as burning steel as she writhed.
(What should I do...?!)
Haruya looked anguished.
He was forced to make a decision.
Chiaki and Tetsuya were waiting for Haruya and Hokage at Frost Shrine.
Sitting beneath a shaded light bulb, Tetsuya had been silent for a long time. He played with the pull tab of an empty discarded can.
“Ow...!” he yelped softly. He had cut the tip of his finger by accident.
“What happened? Are you all right?”
Tetsuya stared at the blood welling from his finger for a moment. “Does this blood really carry Asara’s hatred?”
“...Miike.”
“Can I live with that burden?”
“It’s not Asara’s alone,” Chiaki murmured, looking up at the moon hanging above the telegraph pole. “You probably have lots of people’s hatreds in there.”
“Sensei.”
That was true. After so many generations, Asara’s blood had thinned out, which meant her hatred was diluted as well.
(Maybe his burdens are heavier than I thought.)
Since Takachiho, Haruya’s expression had been strained as if he were contemplating something. He hadn’t said much. Chiaki was even more concerned about him than about Tetsuya and Hokage’s worries.
Haruya finally emerged from Hitaki Hall an hour before the appointed time for the hostage exchange. Chiaki and Tetsuya saw him as he came down the darkened road, and stood.
“Miike-san. Where is Hokage?”
“I’m sorry, Chiaki-sensei,” Haruya murmured in a dark voice. “The situation is such that I cannot allow Hokage to be taken away.”
“What?!” Tetsuya yelled. “It’s a bit late for that! If we don’t bring Hokage, they’ll kill Inaba. Are you just going to allow that to happen?!”
Haruya abruptly prostrated himself, startling Tetsuya.
“I must beg this of you.” He pressed his head against the ground and shouted, “Please! Please save the hostage without Hokage. Please!”
“Uncle...”
Tetsuya was dumbfounded. He’d never have thought to see his uncle kneeling before him.
“Un...uncle, it’s impossible.”
“Even so. I have no choice.”
Chiaki placed a hand on Tetsuya’s shoulder. He looked up to see Chiaki regarding Haruya with sober eyes. He seemed to have anticipated this. He understood Haruya’s aim.
“A man begging on his knees must not be spurned.”
“...”
“You won’t regret it, Miike-san? Truly?”
Haruya didn’t lift his head. But Chiaki saw his hands quivering against the ground.
“Let’s go, Tetsuya. We’ll get Inaba out without Hokage.”
“That’s impossible, there’s no way!”
“We have to even if it’s impossible. Come with me, you’ll take Hokage’s place. You’re twins; we’ll see if you can cosplay Hokage. At least have the balls for that.”
“Sensei!”
Chiaki walked away, pulling the protesting Tetsuya after him. Their figures had receded down the path by the time Haruya finally stood. He bowed toward them and returned to Hitaki Hall.
Within, Hokage was grappling with Asara, her face a mask of fury. In just a few hours Hokage’s face had become that of an old woman. She looked up fuzzily at Haruya.
“Spi...rit...protec...tor...”
Haruya’s eyes narrowed painfully as he approached.
(Asara-hime...)
Haruya knew that Asara’s blood had become quite weak. In recent generations she had appeared with much less frequency than she had in the old days.
This may even be the last time she would ever emerge. Perhaps Hokage was the last Asara.
(This is the last...)
“Why did it have to be like this, Hokage...?” Haruya bit out. “I will probably be the most unforgivable among the generations of Spirit-Protectors. But this is what I choose.”
“...”
“Maybe it was a good thing Hideya died when he did.”
This was the first time Hokage had ever looked at Haruya like this. She’d only ever been afraid of him; now for the first time she smiled at him. Yet that smile looked like it might break down into tears at any moment.
“Hideya couldn’t bring himself to commit infanticide...” Haruya said as he slowly curled his hands around Hokage’s slender neck.
He tightened his grip.
Hokage clawed at the air as she moaned. Haruya’s sinewy hands tightened around Hokage’s neck with all their strength. He didn’t close his eyes. He gazed upon her last moments. Hokage’s bloodless lips trembled as if she wanted to say something.
“Ugh...uuuh...uugh...”
A moan slipped from Haruya’s clenched jaws.
A tear leaked from the corner of his eye and ran down his cheek.
“Miike-san intends to kill Hokage.”
“!”
Chiaki said it on their way back to the head house. Tetsuya stopped in his tracks in shock.
“What...?!”
“If Asara manifests herself, Kihachi’s spirit will be released. I know very well the terror of a truly ancient spirit. If he is release, we’ll truly reap the whirlwind. The death of the person in question will prevent Asara from emerging.”
Tetsuya went gray.
“I have no doubt all the Asaras have been buried by the Spirit-Protector of the age in a similar way.”
Tetsuya said nothing.
The Spirit-Protector was always forced to make a choice when Asara was born. If Kihachi was released, it would mean an end to peace. An end to life and nation. He would destroy everything as payback.
Had the generations of Spirit-Protectors been capable of understanding something so monstrous? Had they wished for it as individuals?
Haruya hadn’t been able to do it.
All the Spirit-Protectors like him had killed the girls who became Asara with their own hands. They had borne the sin of disobeying their ancestors. That sin had mounted as the generations passed. Kihachi worship had turned into prayers begging forgiveness.
Now Miike had another sin to add to its ledger.
“That’s...no, he can’t!” Tetsuya muttered hoarsely. “I don’t care—I don’t what happens to Asara! But Hokage can’t die! She absolutely can’t! I won’t let her!!”
“Tetsuya!”
Ignoring him, Tetsuya turned on his heels and took off running toward Hitaki Hall. That was when it happened: With a thunderous roar Hitaki Hall turned into a pillar of flame.
“What?!”
A surprised Chiaki also began to run. With another tremendous explosion the flames flared. Hitaki Hall blew open as if torn apart by a gas explosion.
The two saw a golden shape soar out of the flames.
(That’s...!)
“Miike-san!”
Chiaki plunged into the blazing building. Haruya lay crumbled at the center of the dirt floor. As he hurriedly lifted the still form and made for the outside, a pillar came crashing down...!
“Graaah!”
Sending it flying with his «power», Chiaki and Haruya made their escape. Tetsuya hastened to lend Haruya his shoulder as well.
“Uncle! Hold on, Uncle!”
“Hokage has...” Haruya gasped with the pain of his burns. “Hokage has...flown away. She is using the flying ability of the Kihachi people. I was too late. Asara’s blood has...overcome...Hokage.”
“What?”
Haruya said painfully to Chiaki, “I kept...one secret...from you. About the spirits...sealed within...the head.”
“Secret? What?”
“Sealed within...is not just...Kihachi’s spirit. But the vast throng of spirits of the Kihachi tribe—the Himuka people killed by the Yamato.”
“What?!”
Haruya gazed with anguish at Tetsuya.
“Go after her, Tetsuya... I know you...can call Hokage back from Asara’s blood,” Haruya said, and gave Chiaki the mirror he was holding. It had been installed in the head house’s family shrine. The Big Dipper was etched on its back.
“Hold this...up to the flames...Sensei...! You should be able to see it...”
“See...what?”
“These flames...react to...Onpachi-sama. You should be able to see what Onpachi-sama sees... It is where Hokage is going. Probably...the old castle...!”
Chiaki held the mirror up to the flames as directed, upon which it glittered azure blue. He saw an imaged projected within the flames: Old Castle High School, where the «Golden Serpent Head», aka Kihachi’s head was buried. He could see Mikuriya...!
(What?!)
Chiaki was again stunned. What the image showed him was unbelievable.
It was Narita Yuzuru. Narita Yuzuru was with Mikuriya!
(What’s Narita doing in Kumamoto?!)
“Sensei... The paulownia box...we retrieved...from Takachiho...”
“Paulownia box?”
“Please give it...to Tetsuya... He’ll...need it.”
“That? What’s in it?!”
“A sword... Takachiho...Shrine’s—...”
Haruya appeared to have used up all his strength.
“Miike-san!”
“Hurry...go...”
Haruya lost consciousness. Shortly thereafter fire trucks and an ambulance arrived. Placing Haruya into their care, Chiaki and Tetsuya stood.
“Take that sword or whatever and go on ahead. Get to the school.”
“The school?”
“Yeah. Hokage is heading for Old Castle High School. I’ll get Inaba back and come after you. All right? Now go!”
Tetsuya nodded and broke into a run. Chiaki turned on his heels and rushed toward his car.