Ayako called Takaya in the morning.
She‘d received an urgent request from Suga Natsuo to ’Please come immediately.’ Her father’s condition had taken a sudden turn for the worse. He had developed a high fever and was crying out Yama’s name. He was becoming violent. It was so bizarre that Natsuo, trusting in what Ayako had said about ‘chasing out demons’—even if it meant grasping at straws, had decided to call her.
“There’s a high possibility that someone’s placed a lethal curse on him,” Ayako said urgently, having heard Councilor Gotou’s story from Reiko. “I’ll get to E Island
as soon as I can. If it is a curse, it needs to be taken care of ASAP.”
“I’ll come too,” Takaya offered, but Ayako declined.
“It’s better if we don’t work together for now.”
When Takaya asked why, she answered that she had a somewhat troublesome companion.
“Troublesome companion?”
Ayako explained briefly about Nikaidou Reiko. Takaya appeared to be a target for Reiko and her team, and she didn’t want him getting caught up in the mess, which would probably result in everyone wasting a lot of time. Thus it was better if he avoided them for the time being.
He wasn’t quite clear on where things stood, but decided to agree for now.
“But I do need to go to E Island. Our grotto investigation isn’t done yet.”
“Right... Just make sure you’re not recognized, okay?”
Ayako and Reiko left for E Island first. Chiaki left word for him with the front desk at around 7. Just an I’m-all-right-don’t-worry-about-me, not even a mention of where he was. Had he been in a hurry? Or did he not want to be grilled about what had happened?
There were no other messages.
(This has gotten a bit strange.)
Takaya grimaced as he descended the wide staircase to a lobby that looked like a movie set. There was an atrium, and behind the staircase a glass elevator that came and went. He hadn’t gone so far as a disguise, but heeding Ayako’s warning, he was wearing sunglasses and a leather cap in order to conceal his face. He’d also decided to change his style, and had donned an all-black ensemble. After hesitating for a while, he’d also ditched his leather jacket for the coat. Maybe it was way too stylish or made him look like some kind of celebrity, because everybody he passed turned to look at him. Given that this was the opposite effect of what he’d hoped to achieve, it made Takaya dispirited and annoyed.
Or maybe the real cause was the striking 190-centimeter (~6’3")-tall man following behind him, also dressed in black but paired with an off-white trench coat, his long hair gathered in a tail.
(Except he doesn’t seem bothered by the attention.)
“National Public Safety Commission special investigator...hm?”
They probably had something to do with the police.
So the country’s public institutions were beginning to look into the «Yami-Sengoku». His difficulties just kept multiplying,
and Takaya was sick and tired of it.
All the disturbances lately must’ve caught their attention.
(...It’ll be fine, I guess.)
“I will bring the car,” Kotarou said in front of the entrance, all business. “Please wait here.”
Takaya only looked at him.
Naoe seemed determined to ignore everything that had happened last night. Takaya’s subconscious response was to train himself to expel his own emotions to avoid being hurt, and he no longer knew when he’d started doing it.
“All right,” Takaya answered. But as Kotarou was about to head for the parking lot, a man standing by the door turned to them. He looked as if he’d been waiting for somebody.
Takaya almost shouted out loud: he remembered this man.
“You...”
The man quietly bowed his head. He seemed to know Takaya.
The man awaiting him was none other than the man they’d met in the grotto yesterday—onshou Miura Yoshioki.
“The Satomi clan?”
Takaya and Kotarou expressed their surprise upon hearing Yoshioki’s story, sitting in the first floor tea lounge with its view of the harbor. Takaya was especially wary given yesterday’s events, but Yoshioki had been courteous throughout in an attempt to demonstrate that he was not their enemy and meant them no harm.
After having candidly identified himself, Yoshioki explained: “Verily, the men I put to sleep in the grotto all belong to Satomi.”
Yoshioki had the presence of a military commander of old. He faced Takaya perched at the edge of his chair like a warrior at the front line on his camp stool: with his legs spread wide and his spine perfectly straight. This affected posture earned him more than one strange look from the waiters.
He had escaped into a strong barrier yesterday into which the Gohou Douji had not been able to follow. Takaya would never have thought he’d show himself of his own accord.
“I apologize profusely for yesterday. I mistook you for allies of the Satomi. Only later did I hear from my retainers that you took down their ally, Nagano Narimori. My ignorance is inexcusable.”
Though Yoshioki displayed no signs of animosity, Takaya couldn’t help but have his guard up upon hearing that he was dealing with someone from the Miura clan: Miura, after all, had been destroyed by Houjou Souun. Luckily he didn’t seem aware that Kagetora was Souun’s grandson, and Takaya was not about to mention it. He said, “Never mind about that. More importantly, what are you doing here? And what was Satomi doing in that cave?”
Yoshioki’s prominent jowls stiffened, and his wide mouth pressed into a thin line. He asked with a grim expression, “Do you know of the tale that says there is a blowing cave at the back of that grotto which leads to Mt. Fuji?”
“Blowing cave?”
“Aye. It is said to be the ‘Passageway of the Gods,’ used by the gods to travel between the sacred mountain Fuji and E Island. But there is a different version of the folklore,” Yoshioki’s voice hushed, “which says that it is not the gods who traverse the blowing cave, but the dead.”
Takaya’s eyes grew round. “The dead?”
“Aye. It is also said that Koubou Daishi—Kuukai—journeyed along the blowing cave. Have you heard the tale?”
It was said that in ancient times, the Great Priest secluded himself in the grotto to undergo ascetic training. At Katase Beachkatase_beach was a master of the Japanese lute, a youth called Inagi, whose great skill drew forth heavenly music from his instrument. When he played, tempestuous waves fell into harmony; wilted flowers revived and bloomed again; the hearts of those who heard him were cleansed; and the wicked wept and were reformed.
Inagi had a lover named Nami who fell ill and died.
Inagi was distraught with grief. His instrument lamented for seven days and seven nights. The lute’s sound was so heartbreaking that the seas raged, rain poured down without pause, and all the crops withered. In their distress, the inhabitants begged Great Priest Koubou for help. The Great Priest devised a plan.
He spoke to King Yama in the underworld and asked him to open a passageway from E Island’s grotto to ‘the other world’ on the night of the full moon to allow Inagi to meet his dead beloved one last time. In return, he would never play his ‘lamenting lute’ again. Inagi agreed, and was overjoyed he would be able to meet Nami once more.
Thus on the night of the full moon there opened a passageway from E Island to ‘the other world’: the ‘Night-Demon Road’. Inagi traversed it swiftly, bare-footed, to be reunited with Nami.
Then disaster struck. Unwilling to part with his beloved, Inagi took Nami’s hand and charged back toward the world of the living.
‘This is our chance to return also,’ the dead exulted, and clung tight to Nami. A chain of the dead—hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands strong followed after Nami, all pulled through the blowing cave by Inagi as he ran toward E Island.
In order to stop the dead from leaving, the startled Great Priest Koubou had no choice but to seal the blowing cave’s exit with something called a vajra boulder, imprisoning Inagi within. King Yama was so angered by Inagi’s actions that he separated Inagi and Nami and confined him to a prison of rock in Hell forever.
Thus the blowing cave was sealed. According to legend, the sound of Inagi’s lute crying out to Nami could still be heard in the depths of the grotto on full-moon nights.
“Folklore says that ‘the other world’ lies beneath Fuji. Later, it is said the Venerable Ippen and the Venerable Nichiren both traveled the ‘Night-Demon Road’ and sealed it up again, but such accounts were never verified. There is nothing in the grotto now that appears to be an blowing cave.”
“...”
Sipping a rather milky coffee as the story drew to an end, Takaya made a complex expression with the cup still in his hand.
“That’s pretty similar to the legend of Izanagi...”
It told of how the deity Izanagi went into Hell to retrieve his wife Izanami. The particulars were somewhat different, but given that even the names had a similar feel, perhaps the story of Inagi and Nami came from Izanagi’s myth. Inagi as a master of the lute also had similarities to Orpheus from Greek mythology, who traveled to Hades in order to bring his dead wife Eurydice back to life. The ending was different, but it felt as if the Inagi legend was been a combination of these other myths.
A legend that took elements from both Buddhism and Shintoism was strangely suited to an island whose traditions were rooted in the syncretization of Shinto with Buddhism.
“I didn’t know such a story existed,” Takaya said, his expression stern again. “So what does Satomi intend to do with this blowing cave? They can’t mean to open the sealed passageway again to connect this world to the other?”
“But they can mean to do just that, Uesugi-dono,” Yoshioki answered, voice hard. “Satomi intends to open the ‘Night-Demon Road’ once more and call forth the dead from the other world.”
“What...?!” Takaya and Kotarou were left speechless. “What do you mean? A road to the other world? That—!” can’t be possible, Takaya wanted to say, when he recalled what Natsuo had said.
“Yama-sama appears to warn us. He says that he’s bought E Island, so we should all leave.”
“In a month the grotto’s blowing cave will open, and the dead will emerge from Hell, so we should leave now...”
(That’s what she was talking about...!)
Satomi was behind the mass dream, as they’d suspected. Which meant Keibu Real Estate was connected to Satomi somehow.
“Why would Satomi do such a thing...?”
“I know not. I do not believe ‘tis possible to open a path to the other world,” Yoshioki averred. “A legend is but a legend, and I do not think even Great Priest Koubou could have done such a thing in reality. Yet Satomi wishes to perform in reality the ’Rite of Passage to Hell’ that the Great Priest enacted in the tale.”
“The ’Rite of Passage to Hell”...?"
“Aye. They would revive that esoteric ritual and open the path to the underworld. If such a thing is truly possible, they would bring disaster upon the world. Mayhap Satomi desires to supplement their own faltering fighting power with the dead from that other realm.”
Takaya was so flabbergasted that he couldn’t speak for a moment.
“They must not be allowed to open the path, for it would give Satomi dominion over E Island’s stronghold of the dead. It cannot be allowed. ...Uesugi-dono, will you not lend me your aid? Our strength alone is not enough to stop the ‘Rite of Passage to Hell’. Help us!”
Takaya listened to Yoshioki’s passionate speech with wide eyes.
(Could they really...?)
Was it really possible to open a path to Hell? But if it was, if they could bring out the dead from that other world.
Depending on how you looked at it, it would be a disaster if the souls of that world returned to this one. If such a thing was possible, it would render their power of «exorcism» pointless.
(Is it really possible...?) Takaya wondered grimly.
“...”
But he regained his composure after a moment and looked up abruptly.
“Kagetora-sama...?” Kotarou questioned.
Takaya said with cool eyes, “...All right. We’ll cooperate with you.”
“Verily, Uesugi-dono?!”
“What will you give us in exchange?”
“?”
“What will you give us in return for our aid? The Uesugi do not work for the benefit of any given onshou. We do not enter into unconditional collaborations.”
Yoshioki was silent for a moment. He had not been so naïve as to believe that he would be given something for nothing, yet he had not come prepared to answer. “...I see. In that case, allow me to ask what you would like in exchange.”
“Information on Takeda,” Takaya responded immediately, and Yoshioki started.
Takaya’s expression didn’t change.
“I have heard Miura has joined forces with Takeda. What is Takeda doing? This is their territory; surely they would not stand idly by.”
“...”
There must be a reason they weren’t taking steps against this encroachment.
Shingen appeared to be giving Ujiyasu a wide berth. Therefore, though they had claimed this territory, they were not intervening. Instead, they were forcing E Island’s problems on Miura Yoshioki, who was half-subordinate to them. His position against Takeda was weak. If he could not resolve the problem, the alliance would be broken; if he made a wrong move, Takeda would send its troops to crush Miura. If Satomi took over E Island as their stronghold, it would endanger Yoshioki’s own claim over the Miura Peninsula.
He was trying to cling to his own puny influence. He needed Uesugi’s help in order to offload some of the risk.
“We’ll help you,” Takaya pressed once he’d sized up Yoshioki. “In return, tell us about Takeda. If you can do so...”
“... Very well,” Yoshioki answered with some chagrin. “I accept your conditions. That being so, return to the grotto with me and put a stop to Satomi’s ritual.”
It was board daylight by the time Ayako’s car arrived on E Island, and the sun glittered on Shounan’s waves.
“Kadowaki-san!” Natsuo, who had been waiting impatiently for Ayako’s arrival, almost tumbled down the shrine road’s back hill. “Please come to my house! My dad...my dad is dying!”
“I know, I’m coming!”
Natsuo pulled Ayako after her as she rushed home.
Up on the second floor, her father groaned in anguish while people held down his hands and feet.
“Aaaaagh—!”
He writhed in agony, shrieking like a wild animal. He had torn off his nightclothes, yelling “It’s hot, it’s so hot!” but they could do nothing. His skin was burning with an unbelievably high fever, and those who gripped him could only do so with cloth wrapped around their hands.
“! ...This is!” On Natsuo’s father’s chest the Sanskrit character “ (en)” could clearly be seen.
(Oh no...!) Ayako thought with fury and regret, for this was clearly some kind of ritual curse. Someone somewhere was performing a curse against this man. She could tell by the surge of psychic energy. The character on his chest, this feeling...
(There’s no mistake.)
“Kadowaki-san!”
Reiko grimaced as she ran into the house after Ayako and felt the full force of the curse’s aura.
“This spiritual waveform is...!”
Ayako turned to her. “What? Do you feel something?!”
“It’s the same as the traces I felt at City Councilor Gotou’s house. That curse had the same residual aura. I’m sure of it, it’s the same curse!”
(The ‘Rite of the Ten Night-Demon Kings’...!) Ayako realized. It was a remote ritual also called the Ten-Day Murder. Every night the ten rulers of Hell would appear and slowly steal away the life force of the afflicted. She hadn’t encountered this curse in decades—no, centuries. Since the deva Yamaten’s power formed the magical foundation of this curse, depending on its usage it could be absolutely lethal, and required an especially strong caster. It was said the afflicted suffered the agony of the Eight Greater Hells.
“Kyaaah!”
Ayako’s head jerked up at Natsuo’s scream. A hologram-like figure was floating in midair at the center of the room.
It looked like a buddha riding on a water buffalo. In his hand he held the petals of the sacred lotus, inside which was a smaller face. At first glance it looked like Kannon, but Ayako knew what it really was.
(Yamaten...!)
The curse was at its terminal stage. If she didn’t hurry, Natsuo’s father would die.
“Kadowaki-san! Help him, please save my dad...!”
(I don’t know if I can...)
For an instant fear rose into her mind. If she failed, in the worst case she would take the full force of the curse on herself, depending on the strength of the caster. But now was not the time to be mired in uncertainty.
(Can I also borrow power from a deva?) Ayako pondered, and then was struck by a thought: (E Island...of course. Benzaiten!)
It was a strong power. If she could leverage «earth energy», she could repel the curse. She couldn’t do it alone, for it required two people performing different parts. What if...
Ayako turned to Reiko.
“Nikaidou-san, I need a favor from you. Can you use mantras?”
“Mantras? ...Yes, I can.”
Reiko might be a private religious consultant, but she came from the bloodline of Shingon Sect monks and had studied and excelled at Shingon practices since she was a child.
Ayako took a pair of koppashin-like but smaller wooden dolls out of her bag. She drew a mantra in Sanskrit on one with a felt-tip pen and passed it over to her partner.
“Take this to Houan Hall. Dedicate it to Benzaiten and chant the mantra there.”
“I just have to chant the mantra?”
“Yeah. Don’t let anyone into the hall for the time being. Pray to Benzaiten with your undivided attention until this curse boy cracks apart.”
“Will doing so save this man? It’ll stop the curse?”
“It’ll flick it away.” Ayako glared into midair. “You’ll be engaged in a contest of wills with the curse-caster. But there’s no other way. Go now. As soon as your preparations are complete, start!”
“Got it!”
“I’ll take you! Come with me!” Natsuo bravely stood and rushed outside with Reiko. Ayako assumed lotus position and placed a wooden doll called the curse boy in front of Natsuo’s father.
“Make sure you hold him down until we’re finished!”
Cowed by Ayako’s intensity, everyone nodded. Ayako began her own ritual in order to counter the ‘Rite of the Ten Night-Demon Kings’. She was going to fight magic with magic.
Ayako formed the ritual gesture and began to concentrate.
Guided by Natsuo, Reiko sprinted up the rear shrine road to Hetsu Shrine.
Natsuo went straight into the shrine office to grab the key to Houan Hall and opened the door.
“Please, please save my dad!”
“I will do everything I can,” Reiko said, entering the octagonal hall and shutting the door behind her. In front of her were enshrined the wooden Eight-Armed Benzaiten and the beautifully colored Nude Benzaiten, both said to be made by Minamoto no Yoritomo.
Reiko placed the curse boy given her by Ayako between the two images and sank to the floor in a similar position. But when she caught sight of the image of Benzaiten, she felt suddenly uneasy.
(I have to repel the curse.)
That’s what Kadowaki Ayako had told her, but was it something she could actually accomplish? She knew more than most people about curses, as well as several rituals for counter-curses. But she’d never before encountered a spell waveform as vivid or strong as this one.
(If I fail, the curse will rebound on me.)
Could she do this? Could she trust in that woman? Yet...
(I can’t just stand aside and do nothing.)
Reiko gulped and resolutely formed Benzaiten’s ritual gesture. She modulated her breath and concentrated.
(Until the doll breaks.)
She began chanting.
Natsuo peeped into the hall worriedly. She could hear something like sutra chanting. She’d been told not to open the door.
(...They’re starting something.)
Natsuo understood none of this. She only knew they were trying to help her father.
(Please, Benten-sama,) Natsuo addressed the goddess with the intimacy she’d felt toward her ever since she’d been a child. She put her hands together and prayed with all her heart. (Please save my dad.)
Just at that moment, a group of men in suits with Keibu Real Estate badges hanging around their collars appeared from the back of the shrine office. The man who appeared to be the leader came up behind them and wordlessly gave them his instructions. Rather than enter the shrine office, they walked toward Houan Hall and approached as Natsuo she prayed with her hands pressed together.
“?”
Natsuo lifted her head at the sudden appearance of a murderous aura at her back.
“What?!”
As she began to turn, a gauze-like object suddenly covered Natsuo’s mouth from behind.
“!”
As she was about to scream in surprise, she felt the strength leave her legs.
(What...?!)
Natsuo pitched forward, and the man behind her caught her as she fell. Her vision dimmed, and she lost consciousness.
As he gazed at the girl in his arms—
Kaizaki Makoto slowly sank to one knee and carefully lowered her body to the ground. “Bring her,” he instructed the men surrounding them.
His men approached, picked up the drugged and unconscious Natsuo, and carried her toward the stone steps.
Kaizaki rose and looked toward Houan Hall. Though he seemed unruffled, he appeared to have recognized exactly what was happening inside.
“...”
But Kaizaki looked away, turned his back on Houan Hall, and told his remaining men, “We’re going to the grotto. Bring her.”
Kaizaki turned on his heels and set off on foot, his movements efficient and economical. His men followed after him.
The motorboat carrying Takaya, Yoshioki, and Kotarou arrived at the rocky stretch on E Island’s southern side.
The sky was clearing, and against the spreading blue of the horizon the silhouette of Miura Peninsula could clearly be seen. Yet the sea wind was even stronger than yesterday, the sea rougher.
Takaya got out of the boat and gazed resolutely at the tall cliffs rising on his left. They would be traversing the rocks along the western cliffs to get to the grotto.
Work would be undertaken in the grotto today to remove yesterday’s fallen rocks, but it was still quiet; apparently the operation hadn’t started yet.
“Here, Uesugi-dono.”
Yoshioki, climbing off after him, handed Takaya an esoteric ritual implement: a heavy and very old single-pronged vajra. It had once been gold in color, but was now a dull ochre. On closer inspection, he could see the traces of something etched on its surface:
The mantra of Fudou-myouou.
“This is...”
“I deem ’tis the vajra Great Priest Koubou thrust into the ground in the grotto’s innermost chamber when he closed the ‘Night-Demon Road’ in the legend. It was transformed from Fudou-myouou’s sword underground. ’Twas found deep inside the grotto, said to be proof the legend was not mere fabrication. So long as this vajra is buried here, the ‘Night-Demon Road’ will not be re-opened, ’tis said.”
It was a safety valve, in other words: as long as this vajra was lodged in place, the road to Hell would not reach the world of the living. But if it was here...
“...You pulled it out?”
“Nay, not I, but the Satomi.” When Satomi had occupied the grotto, they’d located the vajra and pulled it out. “’Twas long slow work recapturing it.”
“So you were trying to bury this yesterday...?”
Yoshioki nodded. “If the ‘Night-Demon Road’ is never to reach this world again, this vajra must be lodged back within the cave and the grotto buried before they begin the ‘Rite of Passage to Hell’.”
“Bury the grotto?”
“Aye. ’Tis said Great Priest Koubou completely sealed the blowing cave with a rock—a vajra rock born of Fudou-myouou’s superhuman strength which cannot be gouged with either dynamite or excavator. I have heard the ‘Rite of Passage to Hell’ will destroy it, however.”
“...”
“If we are to stop Satomi from performing the ritual, this vajra must be driven back into its spot and the grotto buried. Falling rocks will not be enough. The bedrock itself must be collapsed so that it can never be reopened.”
“Along with the cliff...?” Takaya frowned and looked up at the cliffs. “It’s gonna take a lot of power. And if we’re not careful the buildings on the cliff will go down with it.”
“But there is no other way. The grotto must be sealed.”
Takaya stared fixedly at the back of the rocky stretch.
Right now there seemed no other way.
“And after all that money they spent to reopen it.”
It was looking to be an enormous undertaking, but it couldn’t be helped. Takaya turned to Kotarou.
“Wait here, Naoe.”
“But, Kagetora-sama...”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. Ready the boat so we can make a quick getaway if we need to. Keep a lookout for activity from the sea. Please,” he said, and walked off. But on the rocks he turned around and looked at him as if he wanted to say something.
“...”
Kotarou returned his gaze silently. Takaya closed his mouth again and walked off, disappearing beyond the rocks.
Kotarou watched him go, his expression austere.
Takaya and Yoshioki reached the shadow of a rock from which they could see the grotto. They saw no one. It was eerily quiet but for the ceaseless sound of waves.
The strong wind tossed about his hair.
“They’ve erected a barrier,” Takaya muttered, extending his senses to the surrounding auras. “I’ve got a bad feeling. It would be best if we could avoid a head-on clash.”
“What, then?”
“...” Takaya pondered. As he searched for a strategic approach—
“What are you doing here?”
Takaya and Yoshioki’s heads jerked up at the voice coming from ahead of them. A man appeared from the shadow of a rock opposite them.
“!” Takaya’s shoulders jolted. “You’re...!”
“This site is off-limits. How did you get in here? The grotto is dangerous—there was a rockslide; there should be signs. The stairs were roped off,” he said in a pleasant baritone, and descended the stairs almost as a model might.
It was Kaizaki.
“You...!”
“Uesugi-dono!”
At Yoshioki’s warning, he turned to see at least ten men appear from the concealment of the rocks.
They were all possessed—«nue».
“...What is your business in the grotto?” Kaizaki asked in a low voice, approaching with an agile gait. “Will you return the vajra to us, Miura-dono?”
“!” Yoshioki’s eyes widened. “How do you know me...?!”
“Your actions are known to us. Yes, just as King Yama of Hell sees the dead’s every deed.”
“What...?!”
“Do you know of the jouhari mirror?” Kaizaki asked as he folded his arms and looked down at them. “It’s a magical mirror in Yama’s possession which shows a person all the good and evil deeds they committed in their lifetime, like a video.”
“...”
“We Satomi are Yama’s emissaries. The jouhari mirror can tell us about you whenever we wish.”
(Satomi...!)
He had boldly named himself. A frightened Yoshioki retreated into Takaya’s shadow. Takaya, on the other hand, glared at his opponent with obvious wariness. “Kaizaki...just who the hell are you?”
“I see you decided to wear my coat,” Kaizaki smiled, looking at the object in question. Takaya gripped the coat’s collar in surprise with a feeling of having had a weakness exposed. He glared back defiantly, face flushed. “It’s a little big, but it suits you very well.”
“You...bastard...”
“You’re general of the Uesugi, Uesugi Kagetora-dono, I believe. —Ougi Takaya.”
“...!” Takaya flinched, startled. He hadn’t thought they’d have discovered even his current name. Feeling as if he really had been seen through a jouhari mirror, Takaya’s wariness intensified. “Who the hell are you, Kaizaki?”
Kaizaki stared quietly straight back at Takaya. Takaya pushed his power into his eyes to perform a spirit-sensing, but he still felt no trace of a possessor spirit. Neither did he seem to be kanshousha.
“How do you know my name? What are you to the Satomi?”
“I am a descendant of the Satomi clan,” Kaizaki answered calmly. “After the resurrection of my ancestor, I lent him my services using the power passed down through the generations of my family. If you intend to interfere with us—” slowly unfolding his arms, Kaizaki took another step towards them “—then I must defeat you.”
“...Defeat?”
“People of antiquity are not the only ones who possess «power». Would you care to test the «power» of one from the modern age, Kagetora-dono?”
An orange light flared to life in the palm of Kaizaki’s hand. The sea wind howled in their ears. Takaya bent his legs defensively like a beast going into a crouch as he concentrated on his opponent’s movements.
“You appear very strong, Kagetora-dono.”
“You...”
“I am interested in the kanshousha’s power. Allow me to test myself against you. Show me the power of a kanshousha who has lived for four hundred years. Which is stronger?”
“!”
A fissure ran through the rock under Kaizaki’s feet with a dull cracking sound. Then flakes of rock shaped like arrowheads rose into the air.
“Please take care. If you underestimate the power of a man of the modern age, you will get hurt.”
Kaizaki’s eyes abruptly narrowed, and Takaya had the feeling a combative flame flared to life in their depths. Takaya gathered «power» into his body in an instant.
“Now!” Kaizaki yelled, his eyes opening wide. The flakes of rock shot towards Takaya. Takaya clenched his jaw and countered with his will, smashing the projectiles into dust.
“Curse youuu!” Yoshioki shouted. He counterattacked before Takaya could, shooting a «nenpa» at Kaizaki.
But instead of erecting a «shield» around himself, Kaizaki caught Yoshioki’s «nenpa» in his right hand and waved his arm dramatically.
“Gyah!”
Yoshioki pressed his hands against his face as he somersaulted backwards and hit the rock behind him hard.
“Yoshioki!” Takaya yelled, and Kaizaki attacked with his will. Takaya reflexively brought up a «goshinha» to scatter it, but with a low hum the advancing «power» spontaneously overwhelmed it.
“Guh!”
Sharp plasmastic fireworks danced as Takaya barely managed to disperse his opponent’s will, but the recoil knocked him off-balance. The «nue» moved to take advantage of this opportunity. Kaizaki warned them off sharply: “Don’t touch him!”
His will flared menacingly. Takaya regained his balance and impatience.
(This man...!)
Was strong. Far stronger than the onshou here. As strong as kanshousha.
(He...!)
“Would you care to make a serious effort now?” Kaizaki suggested, not at all out of breath, a dense mass of will gathered in the palm of his hand. To Takaya’s surprise, the energy transformed with a wave of Kaizaki’s hand into a real sword.
“!”
Almost like the Sword of Bishamonten. Takaya stared at his opponent in disbelief.
“You, that’s...!”
“Here I come, Uesugi!”
Brandishing the sword, Kaizaki charged at Takaya. Takaya raised his eyes sharply. He was about to release all his amassed «power», but at that moment—
“!”
Takaya’s shoulders jolted. He felt control slip out of his hands yet again.
Oh shit, Takaya thought, and hesitated. Kaizaki caught the moment of indecision.
“...!”
Kaizaki’s «nenpa» grazed Takaya as he stood wide open. As he shielded himself, Takaya’s head jerked up toward Kaizaki. The azure sword in Kaizaki’s hands flashed toward him. He couldn’t evade it...!
!
The blow came straight at his head like a bolt of lightning. The shock knocked him unconscious, and Takaya crumbled to the rocks.
“...”
Kaizaki vanished the sword in his hand and approached the fallen Takaya.
He hadn’t actually used the sword. Instead, he’d used an induction blast—an energy shock wave straight to Takaya’s brain.
Takaya had fainted and lay unmoving on his side. Kaizaki crouched down and lifted Takaya’s upper body in his arms.
Takaya’s head tilted backwards under its own weight, and Kaizaki shifted it to loll against his chest as he held Takaya’s limp body.
Takaya was motionless, eyes closed and lips faintly open.
The sea wind seemed to wrap around Takaya protectively as Kaizaki lifted him lightly.
“What will you do with him, Kaizaki-sama?”
One of the «nue> in front of Yoshioki asked, and Kaizaki turned to look at him.
“Bring him back with us. Put him on the boat.”
“Kaizaki-sama, allow me...”
Another of his men came forward to help him, but Kaizaki stopped him with a shake of his head.
“It’s fine. I’ll take him.”
He set off toward Chigo Pool. Men descended from the stairs ahead of him.
“So you managed to bring him down, Kaizaki.” He looked up quietly. Standing there was the man who’d been at Tatsumi’s residence on Mt. Kamakura last night, Satomi Yoshitaka’s son Yoshiyori. Yoshiyori looked down at him in his typical disdainful manner and said, “I was worried, so I came to check on you, but I see you are worthy of being our descendant. I congratulate you!”
“...”
Kaizaki stared silently back at Yoshiyori. Then he gave a slight bow and carried Takaya toward the boat.
TO BE CONTINUED
Comments
Perdon por comentar en
Perdon por comentar en español... pero espero que puedas actualizsr pronto la novela.. y una vez mas quiero darte las gracias por tomarte la molestia de traducir esta fascinante obra
KageTsuna
I'm glad you enjoyed the
I'm glad you enjoyed the translations, and thank you for your comments! I'm working on the next volume, and it will be up soon.