Chapter 5 | The Tengu of Templo Mayor

February 13th — 12:15 p.m.

Matsumaru Taimei still loomed high in the sky, unchanging, while blue mirages shimmered throughout the surrounding air.

“…Hey. How old are you?”

“I turn sixteen next month.”

At present, Nadeko and her companions had regrouped near the arcade street, the smoke signal still rising behind them. While resting their battle-worn bodies, they shared intel they’d gathered during their time apart.

During this exchange, Yukiji smacked Shiraha on the head a few times, while Nadeko cast a sidelong glance of vague disapproval at Amana.

“Yow! C-careful! What if you break Shiraha-chan’s brilliant brain?!”

“It’s not my fault. Everything was Shiraha’s doing. I bear zero responsibility.”

There was no sign of any pseudo-tengu nearby, and even the Tsukisui Clinic seemed to have retreated to some unknown location.

In the blood-streaked arcade streets, gas-masked figures were bustling about. They were ferrying items out of nearby shops and buildings—food, medical supplies, and most likely, corpses bundled in blue tarps.

Noroshi sat on a bench, watching his subordinates work. Feeling awkward about sitting beside him, Nadeko had instead taken up a spot next to a nearby vending machine.

“Hah, so you’re a year younger than me… You’ve got some guts. Ever thought about being a maid?”

“I’ll pass. …Wait, why are you working as a maid, anyway?”

“It’s how I live. Way more elegant than being a ‘family head stand-in,’ right?”

“R-ridiculous… I mean, um… how fascinating.”

Yukiji and Shiraha were busy assisting the monks of the Nakitsubo Family.

Amana, meanwhile, stood apart from the group, gazing quietly up at the sky.

Though her fan obscured her mouth, the stern amber in her eyes was sharper than usual. Sensing something was off, Nadeko asked what had been on her mind.

“What happened to the Nakitsubo family head?”

“The oldest brother’s the head, but… nah, he’s done for.”

Noroshi gestured toward a person being carried onto a microbus via stretcher. They couldn’t see his face, but the exposed arm was nearly stripped of skin.

“Did you come here to fight the Tsukisui Clinic?”

“Nope. That was just a side quest. I came here to take care of some business… and maybe free my brother while I was at it. Wanted to handle things with elegance, so I only brought a handful of guys.”

“…Even though you might’ve gotten yourself killed?”

“Hah… that’s just how it is when you’re part of the Nakitsubo monks.”

His face was completely obscured by a gas mask, making it impossible to read his expression. But his relaxed shrug and calm voice showed no fear—no hesitation at all.

“You mentioned business. …What did you come here for?”

But at that, Noroshi looked slightly downward.

And in that moment, Nadeko noticed for the first time that this boy wasn’t much taller than her.

“…The Nakitsubo Family is surrendering.”

“Surrendering? But aren’t you one of the more powerful groups in the complex?”

“We’re technically a branch family.”

He shook his head and fussily tried to smooth the creases on his apron.

“The main Nakitsubo line was wiped out last year at the Yatsuzaki Island Mansion. When your whole main house disappears, you’re kind of out of options. We—the branch that was doing relatively well—just stepped into the power vacuum.”

“So… you came to Kamusari Complex to rebuild your strength?”

“Yeah… My brother fell for a suspicious message.”

According to Noroshi, the current family head was his older brother, Enkaku. Enkaku had once been shown great favor by the main family and remained fiercely loyal to them. He was deeply shaken by their disappearance at the mansion.

Then one day, a moth—used by the Nakitsubo for secret messages—arrived.

Etched into its wings, in family code, were these words:

“Go to Kamusari Complex. With the solar art, the clan’s former glory shall be restored.”

“My brother swallowed it whole. So I got dragged back into this mess too. Left my sweet girlfriend behind just to trudge all the way to Kansai…”

Letting out a long sigh, Noroshi rose from the bench and bought a can of juice from the vending machine. Shifting his gas mask just enough, he drank it like he was swallowing down something bitter.

“…The moment we saw the Tsukisui lunatics were here, it was over.”

He tossed the can into the trash and looked up weakly.

The building where Nadeko and the others had fought the pseudo-tengu—and the monstrous Roubai Hanaki—still loomed over the skyline under the eerie sky.

“Tsukisui isn’t afraid of death. And Roubai Hanaki can multiply endlessly… All we got was torture. It’s been hell ever since we arrived. That’s why… I came here to negotiate directly with Hanaki.”

“────About the surrender. Are the others on board with it?”

Amana walked gracefully toward them, fan fluttering in her hand.

“Nope. Doubt a single one of ’em agrees. Honestly, this is all just my selfish decision.”

“They might try to kill you for that.”

“Heh! Lemme see ’em try.”

Noroshi snorted, slamming a fist into his open palm with a clack.

“I’m the strongest one in the Nakitsubo Family. If they don’t like it, they can kill me. And if they do—then I wasn’t strong enough. I’ve got no complaints.”

“…Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

That confident fire in Noroshi’s eyes faltered just slightly at Nadeko’s pointed remark.

“…W-well, yeah, but that’s… uh…”

“I don’t really get it, but… did your girlfriend agree to all that?”

“Nnn… If you didn’t tell her anything, wouldn’t she be, you know, kind of pitiful?”

“S-shut the hell up! She’ll understand, alright?!”

Trying to brush off the questioning, Noroshi threw a punch at the nearby utility pole.

“Damn right I’ve got a girlfriend! That’s why I’m not gonna die in a crappy place like this!”

His knuckles split, and blood welled up. Still, Noroshi kept slamming his fists against the pole again and again.

“Damn it, damn it, goddammit! Nothing’s going right! Roubaibane Naganaki’s dead now, isn’t he?! Why the hell won’t we get released from this place—?!”

“—That’s it. That’s exactly what I was wondering too,” Amana said as she snapped her fan shut, eyes narrowing toward the rooftop where Naganaki had fallen.

“If the Roubaibane clan created this Kamusari Complex, then ordinarily, with the death of their head—Naganaki—the spellwork should’ve unraveled. The Kamusari Complex should’ve vanished, and we should have been freed.”

“…And yet, we’re still trapped here.”

Nadeshiko touched the bandage at her neck, glaring up toward the rooftop.

Bathed in crimson from the Torch Orb and hazy blue from the Mirage, the building shimmered with an almost toxic color.

“Was that really Roubaibane Naganaki to begin with?”

“No doubt. The strongest Black Tengu was supposed to be Naganaki—or so the people of Gekgetsuin say. Though even they only heard it secondhand, from someone who came to the Kamusari Complex before them…”

“Nnn, that makes it a bit unreliable.”

“Honestly, I think it’s suspicious too. But the guy who told us about this place said it: that Roubaibane Naganaki was coming to kill Janome in the Gekgetsuin arcade…”

“Who told you that?”

“────Waka!”

A young woman’s voice rang out. A gas mask-wearing woman hurried over and began reporting something to Noroshi.

Nadeshiko quieted her steps, naturally stepping over to Amana’s side.

“…What do you think, Amana?”

“Nnngh… Even I can’t say for sure whether that Black Tengu was really Roubaibane Naganaki.”

Leaning casually against a vending machine, Amana furrowed her willowy brows.

“But so far, only one Black Tengu has been sighted. It’s clear they had some special role… What’s been on my mind is your story about the Heavenly Path Chains.”

“Yes… The art meant to soothe the souls of the dead was incredibly effective against the pseudo-Tengu.”

Nadeshiko rolled the Heavenly Path Chains across her palm. The golden rings of illusion gleamed softly with crimson light.

“That’s why I thought maybe… the Roubaibane clan was already extinct.”

“Nn… So you think the pseudo-Tengu are their remnants, and the Kamusari Complex and the Torch Orb are their legacy?”

Amana nodded, swaying her fan thoughtfully.

“Curses that linger after death do exist—rarely. Last year’s Azanae is one such example. This Kamusari Complex might also be the result of a lingering curse left behind by the Roubaibane.”

“…You were talking earlier with Yukiji about the Roubaibane clan’s true nature, weren’t you?”

“Yeah… I believe they were just ordinary humans, toyed with by the Tengu. Which is why I don’t think the curse remained simply because the practitioner’s power was too great. More likely, some unfortunate conditions aligned just right.”

“I see… In the end, they never flew.”

Nadeshiko gently touched her neck again, casting a somber gaze around.

The Torch Orb, the Mirage, the chaotic housing complex—everything felt ominous and hollow. Even the pseudo-Tengu living here didn’t have proper wings.

As the end of a clan who longed for the sky, it was unbearably sad.

“Was it really worth bleeding this much just to reach the other world?”

“I don’t know either… But one thing’s clear: we don’t belong here.”

“…Such a vague answer.”

“I can’t help it. Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately—I’ve never been to the other world. So all I can offer are vague answers. As for that world… those who return from it are rare—”

Amana sighed. Then, she turned to Nadeshiko with an intense look.

Her gaze pierced straight through Nadeshiko, and for some reason, she felt pressured, pulling herself to the opposite side of the vending machine. From the shadows, she shot back a damp glare.

“…What? Quit staring at me like that.”

“Don’t go.”

“To the other world? I won’t. That place is way too dangerous…”

“…I don’t just mean that.”

With the faintest downturn of her lips, Amana toyed with her fan, looking just slightly sulky.

Nadeshiko tilted her head in confusion across the vending machine.

“Amana…?”

“──Hey! Has roll call been completed?!”

Noroshi’s voice made both of them turn toward the microbus.

It seemed most of the loading was done. The Nakitsubo family looked ready to withdraw at any moment. Noroshi was walking toward the microbus alongside the woman from earlier, Muyashi.

“All done. We’re just waiting on Waka.”

“I see. And again—how many times do I have to say this—call me Head Maid—”

“──What are you planning to do next?”

Nadeshiko called out to Noroshi’s back as he began walking away with the woman.

“Find a way to escape this goddamn complex. First, I’m going to scout the heart of it. If there’s something there, it has to be that place.”

“Right. There were rumors the Roubaibane clan was hiding out there.”

“Yeah… A word of warning: I’m not here to play nice with you lot.”

Turning toward the microbus, Noroshi pointed a bloodied finger at Nadeshiko. His hand was still bleeding from earlier when he struck the utility pole.

Seeing the blood drip steadily onto the ground, Nadeshiko’s brows twitched slightly.

“…Do whatever you want.”

“That’s the plan. Your friends stole two of our vehicles, you know. Unless you’re ready to pay that back, I’ve got zero reason to work with you.”

At that moment, Yukiji—Shiraha—Nadeshiko snapped her eyes toward Amana with incredible speed.

“…Well, well. I didn’t think there was another beauty on this earth to rival me…”

“Please show some respect to our public duties.”

Outlaw No. 1 played dumb, and Outlaw No. 2 doubled down with defiance.

As the satisfying thwack of Outlaw No. 2 being smacked echoed, Nadeshiko opened her pouch.

“This isn’t much, but… here, take it.”

She held out a fresh bandage and antiseptic. Noroshi narrowed his eyes in open suspicion.

Nadeshiko gestured toward his still-bleeding hand.

“Your Nakitsubo family seems short on supplies. Planning to burn through them with self-harm? I mean, if you don’t want it, I’m not forcing you…”

“…Tch. Fine.”

Noroshi snatched the supplies from her hand.

“I’m the biggest-hearted man in the whole Muyashi faction, after all. I’ll let this slide.”

“R-right… Thanks.”

Despite his coarse words, Noroshi gave a strangely graceful bow that left Nadeshiko slightly thrown off.

“Tch… That was lame as hell…”

He splashed the antiseptic haphazardly on his hand and finally turned toward the microbus.

Just then, Nadeshiko remembered the question she had meant to ask him earlier.

“Hey. Who told you that Roubaibane Naganaki was here?”

“Huh? Oh, that’d be Shikimidou Hisui.”

────For a moment, she couldn’t understand what she’d just heard.

“Apparently, the Gekgetsuin gang ambushed her… She’s dead now. But she used the last of her strength to tell us—‘Stop Naganaki,’ she said…”

Nadeshiko’s mind scrambled to parse the words she’d just heard.

Shikimidou Hisui—Shikimidou Hisui—Shikimidou Hisui.

“…When exactly did that happen?”

“Early this morning. So we came all the way here from the Thumb District—”

“────What?”

Amana stopped fanning herself. Her coral-colored lips curled into a smile tinged with disbelief.

“She’s been at Kawasemi Games since last night, you know?”

They ran. And ran. And ran—racing straight toward Kawasemi Games.

“Hah… hah… Why did we return the scooter in the first place…?!”

“It belonged to Nakitsubo in the first place. Returning it was only right. Actually, we shouldn’t have stolen it at all…”

“I told you I don’t have the stamina you do, senpai—!”

“What’s going on…? I swear I saw Hisui being taken away just moments ago…”

While the shrine officials argued noisily among themselves, Nadeshiko turned to look back.

The arcade shopping street was already far behind. Yet the iron-scented gloom from before still clung to her senses, refusing to fade. She doubted she could ever forget it.

“And then, this morning… someone from the Nakitsubo family said they saw Shikimidou Hisui dead in the Thumb District. Both the location and time don’t add up. At this rate, it’s like there’s more than one of her…”

“A strange tale indeed.”

Wiping the sweat from her temple, Amana gave a lopsided grin.

“Which is the fake and which is the real one? What’s her goal? …Well, nothing too surprising anymore. I never liked that woman from the beginning.”

“Sounds like classic self-loathing.”

“Watch your tongue, mutt.”

“Hmph. And what if I don’t?”

“…Was I being deceived all along?”

The two adults stopped bickering at once, silenced by Nadeshiko’s faint voice.

Her expression was calm, as usual, but her crimson eyes were clouded with a heavy shadow.

“What’s real and what’s a lie anymore…? I don’t understand. What am I even supposed to believe?”

“Ask her yourself.”

Nadeshiko glanced at Amana, who wore a smile cold enough to send a chill down her spine.

“From what we’ve seen, it’s clear Hisui lured everyone here. She knew Gessui would be there. She knew Nagaki would appear. She planned it all. …Now, let’s see what kind of nonsense she spews.”

“…You’re right. Let’s ask her directly. If that’s even really her.”

Soon, they spotted the run-down game center.

Nadeshiko sniffed the air, but the only scent lingering was a cloying sweetness.

“…Nothing. I don’t feel anything strange.”

“What about you, Amana? Didn’t you prepare some sort of spell?”

“It wasn’t too elaborate…”

Murmuring something under her breath, Amana unfurled her fan.

A pattern reminiscent of a star chart shimmered in the air. She traced it with her finger, narrowing her eyes.

“…Hmm. No one left. No signs of sorcery. But—someone entered five minutes ago.”

“A visitor, huh? Let’s hope it’s not a demon or a snake…”

“If it’s a demon, we already have one here. Nothing to fear anymore—let’s go in.”

Yukiji nodded grimly, reaching for the door handle. Behind her, Shiraha readied her bow, and beside Nadeshiko, Amana gently flicked her fan.

The door creaked open slightly. In that moment, a sharp scent of rusted iron hit their noses.

“Yukiji—!”

The door swung wide open. With her warding blade drawn, Nadeshiko charged inside alongside Yukiji.

And there—she saw it.

A woman lying on the floor, a line of blood trailing from her neck.

A black ten-gallon hat. Dark orange hair. A vibrant scarf.

The dry scent of roasted corn slowly grew damp with blood. The woman’s vacant gaze had the exact same color as the one taken up into the sky moments ago.

“…Hisui?”

As she heard the dull thud of a skull hitting the ground, Nadeshiko muttered the name in shock.

She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing.

Shikimidou Hisui had died—again.

“──Ah, you made it.”

A cool voice echoed through the room. Only then did Nadeshiko notice her.

A woman in a shabby suit stood, feet soaked in Hisui’s blood. Her face was expressionless, yet her eyes glowed with a strange, penetrating light.

“Makurabe…san…?”

“…Hisui really overdid it, didn’t she.”

Makurabe Ayumi twisted her lips into an annoyed frown as she scanned the game center.

Ume, Tsuji-giri Jiisan, and the delinquent shrine maiden were huddled in the back. Apparently they’d been in the middle of playing something, but now they stood frozen, faces pale.

“To think so many survived… Did they forget what this fight was even for?”

“What is your goal? Weren’t you all in this together?”

Amana’s voice was veiled behind her fan, though she didn’t seem to expect an answer. Her amber eyes weren’t fixed on Ayumi—they were scanning the room.

“What were you planning?”

Unlike Amana, Nadeshiko stared directly at Ayumi.

Ayumi didn’t answer. She merely pushed up her glasses with a face as lifeless as a reanimated corpse.

“You and Hisui… what were you doing in this Kamusari housing complex?”

Then—Ayumi moved.

Nadeshiko and the shrine officials instantly readied their weapons, but Ayumi didn’t even glance at them.

“…I loved Hisui.”

She knelt, dipping her fingertips into the blood pooling across the floor like a crimson sea.

Then she licked her bloodied fingers with a slow, deliberate motion. The sight sent a chill down Nadeshiko’s spine.

“She made me feel special. Turned my dull life into something amazing…”

Ayumi let out a long breath and stood up. Then she smiled.

“But I love Kamusari Housing even more.”

In that instant, the world turned gray.

A shockwave tore through the game center’s entrance, shaking the entire building. Nadeshiko was struck full force by the flying door, slammed into the side wall along with it.

“Ghh—! What the…?!”

A normal person would’ve died from that blow. But her oni blood made her absurdly resilient. Somehow, she crawled out from behind the shattered door and scanned her surroundings.

Dust and smoke blanketed everything. Silhouettes loomed in the dim light, impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

“This housing complex is everything to me!”

Ayumi’s laughter rang out through the hazy battlefield.

“If this place disappears… I’ll go back to being boring old Makurabe Ayumi. That’s the worst. I can’t take it. If you won’t protect this place… then I’ll manage it myself…!”

The wind shifted—the smoke began to drift.

And within that haze, Nadeshiko saw it: red.

A two-faced tengu mask, split in two.

A black shadow shimmered in the haze—wings like those of an ugly butterfly trembled.

“────Nadeshiko! Get out of here!!”

Hearing Amana’s shout, Nadeshiko instinctively ducked to protect her head.

And then—
the wind roared,
like the furious cry of a beast.

◇　　◆　　◇

“Y-you… youkai! Damn you, how dare you—!”

In a fit of helpless fury, Amana slammed her fist down on the roof tiles scattered like gravel.

Though the dust cloud had cleared, she wished it would return just to hide the horrible sight before her.

Twisted steel frames and crumbled concrete filled the view. The gaping hole in the wall, as if struck by a cannon, revealed a sky so blindingly blue it felt cruel.

Against that backdrop, a crowd of colorful tengu masks loomed.

[Korokorokoro…] [Roseroserose…] [Shiteshiteshiteshite…]

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Looking at the broken bow and the tengu masks, Shiraha muttered with a half-smile.

Protected by Yukiji, she seemed to have escaped with only minor injuries. The local association had apparently managed to erect a barrier, likely by that rogue shrine maiden—who was now unconscious.

And Nadeko had been blown away by the two-faced tengu right before Amana’s eyes.

“From here on, I will manage the Kamusaridan grounds.”

Standing before the pseudo-tengu, Ayumi shrugged off her jacket.

Beneath her blood-soaked shirt, an alarming number of short blades were revealed. She removed her barrette, then tossed aside her employee ID and even her glasses.

“The numbers are in place… Though maybe I should call in more, just in case?”

“Ha… ha! Don’t mock me, you little brat!”

Ume, wielding a metal mallet, snarled at the wildly grinning Ayumi.

“Your cursed stance is pathetic! Doesn’t matter how many wooden tengu you bring!”

“That’s right! I’ll show you the cutting power of my Muramasa!“

The old man known for his street slashings let out a shrill cry and finally drew his prized demon blade.

A gleam of blue reflected on the eerily shining blade—as the blue tengu silently approached the bloodthirsty old men.

“Wha—!?” “Gyaaaah—!”

Without mercy, the monster raised a metal mass overhead.

But on its shoulder, a translucent wolf sank its teeth in. As the tengu turned, a steel fist shattered the blue mask.

“Any more of this barbarity… will not be tolerated…”

Yukiji growled.

At that moment, the broken mask cheek fell from her mouth.

Everyone except Amana and Shiraha gasped. Ayumi’s eyes widened, a twitching sneer forming on her lips.

“…How can you live with that face?”

“Hmph… I happen to be fond of this face.”

Yukiji answered flatly. Her mouth was twisted unnaturally wide—nearly to her ears—lined with sharp, glinting teeth that resembled a wolf more than a human.

Wiping the blood flowing from her forehead with a rough hand, Yukiji bared her terrifying lips in a smile.

“If you think of it as a face meant to bite through evil… it’s not so bad…!”

The pseudo-tengu surged like a storm of color toward the roaring Yukiji.

Meanwhile, Amana discreetly looked for a path outside. If she slipped through the gap between the tengu, she could escape through the blasted entrance—alone.

Behind her fan, she clenched her teeth.

She had to get out. She had to go find Nadeko.

She was scared. Terrified. She didn’t want to die—she didn’t understand why she was in this grotesque place.

“Come… to me…”

Within the light, she saw a silhouette wrapped in translucent silk. Without turning, she felt the gentle smile of a golden shadow.

“Shut up…!”

Clutching her head, Amana shook it violently as if to drive away the illusion.

──In the corner of her vision: Yukiji.

Yukiji was ensnared by the yellow tengu’s thorny chains. With eyes like shards of ice brimming with fighting spirit, she growled and glared at the blue tengu ahead.

The blue tengu raised its iron weapon—just then, lightning-like images flashed in Amana’s mind.

“I never wanted it to go this far.”
“What would Nadeko-chan do in this situation?”

From the depths of memory, crimson twin eyes looked at her calmly.

“…You hopeless idiot!”

With that shout, the blue tengu was cleaved in two.

Yukiji’s eyes widened. As she stared in stunned disbelief, Amana swiftly flipped her fan.

Before it could react, the yellow tengu’s head was sliced off in a single blow.

“…This really isn’t my thing.”

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Amana sighed deeply. Then she covered her mouth with her opened fan and quickly slipped behind Yukiji—facing away from the entrance.

“…Should I be thanking you?”

“Shut up. Once the way is clear, I’m going straight to find Nadeko.”

“Fine by me! Good! Now then, you all──!”

To the feverish cry, both women turned sharp gazes.

Ayumi, her face painted red and wearing a wide grin, held up both short blades high.

“Let’s make the Kamusaridan grounds even more lively!”

◇　　◆　　◇

「…Too damn sturdy. Honestly, are you even human?」

Muttering in disbelief, Nadeshiko forced herself to head back toward Kawasemi Games.

Her entire body ached. But there were no broken bones, no internal damage, and both her arms and legs were still attached. One would never guess she’d been hurled by a violent gust and smashed into a distant building.

In the empty cityscape, only her shadow fell upon the ground.

Her lonely footsteps echoed eerily loud, as though they were binding her very soul in tension.

“I’m okay… I’m okay… Everyone, surely—”

As she tried to calm her racing heart, something strange flickered at the edge of her vision.

A stick wrapped in tattered gray cloth was being toyed with by an Itsumade—that unsettling scene played out just down the alley she had passed moments ago.

She broke into a sprint. The darkness of the alley quickly disappeared behind her.

But—Nadeshiko bit her lip hard and turned back.

Running into the alley again, she saw two or three Itsumade perched on balconies and utility poles.

“Itsumade?”
“This ends here!”

With a shout, she unleashed her chain. The monsters screeched at the touch and fled into the sky.

Retracting the chain, Nadeshiko gently lifted the gray cloth. Beneath it lay an old woman, moaning faintly and covered in wounds. Her left eye was hidden under a black eyepatch.

As Nadeshiko stared at the face of the woman who had once condemned her, she chose the Rokudō Tetsusa—the Six Realms Chain.

“Realm of Humanity—Pathfinding Needle.”

A droplet of silver fell from the weight representing the human realm hanging from her fingertip. It turned into a thin needle and pierced the old woman’s body. There was no pain, but the impact made her tremble.

This technique temporarily enhances physical abilities and boosts natural healing.

It was little more than a placebo, but Nadeshiko performed it anyway before trying to stand.

Yet the old woman grabbed her arm with a firm grip.

“…You think this is charity, Gokumon?”

“No. I just thought you’d die if I left you alone.”

The old woman glared with the eyes of someone who had witnessed countless tragedies.

Worn down, deeply distrustful, and all too familiar with despair—that was the look in her eyes. Before such a gaze, Nadeshiko smiled faintly. A smile befitting Gokumon, just for the old woman’s sake.

“If I didn’t, I’d feel guilty waking up later. Think you can hang on now, granny?”

The old woman glared silently at Nadeshiko’s face for a while, her hands endlessly working a set of prayer beads with a clattering sound. They appeared to be made from human finger bones.

Eventually, she lowered her eyes and sighed heavily.

“…Heh… Looks like it’s about time for me to close up shop.”

When her remaining eye reopened, it had lost all its shine, sunken into the dregs of fatigue.

“Gokumon… do you know the way to the Heart?”

“…Do you?”

“I once reached it. Not that I cared for that fake sun… I just wanted to remind the world of my clan’s name… But I was powerless…”

Clutching the bone prayer beads, she slowly rose to her feet.

Staring down the ghostly torchlight, she steadied her breathing—and suddenly thrust her fingers into her own right eye.

“What are you—?!”

“Don’t move!”

At the sharp command, Nadeshiko froze.

“‘Give one. And one shall be given.’…”

The old woman whispered between wheezing breaths. Vivid, thick blood dripped from her withered skin.

“There’s no set path to the Divine-Abandoned Grounds… The only rite to open the way is pain. Offer your flesh and blood as tribute, and the path to Roubai-Hane’s Dai-Garan will open…”

“Dai-Garan…?”

A familiar word. She’d heard it during her fragmented memories when she made contact with Rara.

Just as the realization struck, a wet, tearing sound filled the air.

“…Hold out your hand.”

Doing as instructed, Nadeshiko reached out—and the old woman dropped her eyeball into it. Even as she felt the warm, jelly-like sensation in her palm, Nadeshiko stared steadily at the woman’s blood-streaked face.

“…Why are you helping me get there?”

“This is humiliating… Of all people, entrusting Gokumon with this…”

As the old woman cursed bitterly, Nadeshiko felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

She had recognized her from the moment they met—she looked familiar, like someone from her past.

“You… Who are you?”

“…My mother was the youngest daughter. She lost the succession battle to her elder sister and was cast out. That’s why I survived—that razor massacre…”

“You’re from the Kyomura family…?”

The Kyomura Massacre—when Gokumon Kazusa wiped out the Kyomura bloodline after being slighted by its head. A butchery that burned the terror of the Gokumon into the post-modern Muyashi.

“I am Kyomura Tobari… niece of Kyomura Hariko. Probably the last of the Kyomura. Kazusa took my left eye before I was even born… The right one, I’m giving to you…”

Tobari ripped off her eyepatch.

Around her sealed left eye were countless scars—as if cut from the inside out by razors.

“That Dai-Garan holds something terrible… far more terrifying than Roubai-Hane. So I’ll throw Kyomura’s greatest fear at it.”

Her eyeless face glared at Nadeshiko. The face that once must have been beautiful, Nadeshiko gazed at it in silence.

“…Then go. Get lost already. I’ve no desire to breathe the same air as a Gokumon even on my deathbed.”

“…You’re planning to fight in that state?”

As Tobari turned her back, Nadeshiko asked.

“Heh… If you still need your meat eyes, you’re a third-rate Muyashi.”

“…That’s right. We Muyashi uncover the unseen, after all.”

“If the Muyashi questions the darkness and sees what has no shape…”

She recalled the words spoken in the shadows under Nue’s dominion.

The old woman who shared blood with that speaker gave a low, dry laugh.

“Hah… Don’t talk like you know everything, girl.”

Dragging her steps, Tobari walked away.

Nadeshiko watched the timeworn, curse-worn back, then spoke.

“I am Gokumon Nadeshiko… Farewell, Kyomura Tobari.”

With that, Nadeshiko turned and ran—without ever looking back.

Soon, sirens wailed in the distance. The torchlight dimmed and vanished to the west.

Nadeshiko glared at the sky. A bluish-black mirage wavered, encircling the true sun.

“That’s… Kyoto’s shadow…”

Kyoto Tower, Kyoto Station, Kiyomizu Temple, Tōji Temple—all familiar landmarks floated in the sky like silhouettes, like paper cutouts against the blue.

—Just two more times that star shines…

Remembering Hakutaku’s ominous words, Nadeshiko furrowed her brow.

“Faster… I need to go faster…!”

She rounded another alley corner—and slammed into someone.

She immediately leapt back, chains of the Human Realm ready in hand.

The other person growled and drew their weapon—a massive machete.

Their eyes, glowing unnaturally, locked onto Nadeshiko—and the Rokudō Tetsusa chains trembling in her hand.

◇　　◆　　◇

“──It’s like a masquerade ball.”

As she cleaved the head of a Blue Tengu clean in two, Amana let out a deep sigh.

Her usual powerful concealment technique had long since worn off. Now, Amana was barely suppressing her presence with a simple technique, managing to survive by exploiting the monsters’ openings.

“Stop with the idle chatter…! Use your hands, not your mouth…!”

“What happened to all that bravado earlier?! Come on, come on, come on──!”

Ayumi’s mocking tone and clumsy movements were that of an amateur. Yet, her dagger carried a strange power that kept Yukiji on edge. A blade that unleashed wind, one that spat flames, another that shot shards of crystal──

“A cursed blade…? That’s not something a normal person should have. Where did you get such a thing──?!”

As Yukiji gritted her teeth, a blue shadow silently slid behind her, aiming for her back.

A flash──the Blue Tengu’s head slipped from its neck and rolled to the ground. With her fan still aimed at the falling pseudo-Tengu, Amana sneered.

“──Is that your limit, Deputy-Class Ritual Officer?”

“Filthy writer… You’re second to none when it comes to nonsense…”

Twisting his torn lips, Yukiji launched a fierce assault on the wildly swinging Ayumi.

While preparing a few spells, Amana quickly scanned the surroundings.

“KYIEEEEEEEEK!”
“Please pay some attention to your surroundings…!”

Despite the chaos of the raging sword-wielding old man, Shiraha offered precise support. The delinquent shrine maiden had regained consciousness and was protecting Ume—who lacked combat skills—with a barrier.

“Guh, you… you old hag! How dare you──!”
“Heh… Daytime’s just not my thing.”

Holding her bleeding shoulder, Ayumi grinned, while Ume clicked her tongue.

In her hands were a straw doll, a golden hammer──and an ID card pierced with a five-inch nail.

“Whatever! Alright, let’s go for another round──!”

As she raised her hammer to drive another nail—

Blue wavered.

Suddenly, a Blue Tengu appeared in front of the shrine maiden’s barrier.

“──Blue Gourd?! Not funny!”

It was the first time they heard the shrine maiden speak. And it would be the last.

The barrier shattered without resistance. The shrine maiden, her forehead cracked open, collapsed and vanished into countless talismans.

With the hammer still raised, Ume glared at the Blue Tengu with a terrifying expression.

“Ume-san!”

Shiraha’s desperate cry echoed.

Then──the Blue Tengu lowered its iron mass. More than that, it slipped away, retreating. Perhaps the tension finally snapped—Ume lost consciousness.

Amana, forgetting the situation, stared blankly at the retreating Blue Tengu.

“…Why is it backing off?”
“It’s harassment… It always is…”

Yukiji, brushing back his blood-soaked gray hair, bared his sharp canine teeth.

“The Roubaiba clan is definitely bringing in reinforcements… They’re trying to wear down our morale by sending them in waves… How irritating…!”

“Reinforcements…?”

The encrypted message from the apartment complex. The story of thirty missing people from Shiraha. The glowing red torches. The bloodied apartments. The bizarre altar in the shrine’s darkness──

In a split second, the pieces raced through Amana’s mind. Behind her spread fan, her amber eyes wandered.

“I see… This is the rule…”

──『Offer』──『I shall bestow』──『Treasure the flowers』──

A single streak of realization flashed through her mind. She caught her breath and loudly snapped her fan shut.

“…Yukiji. Tell me one thing. Are the pseudo-Tengu of the Roubaiba obsessed with the heart?”

“Where did that come from…?!”
“Just answer! Do you recall any corpses with their hearts taken?!”

Blocked by a Yellow Tengu, Yukiji widened his eyes at Amana’s tone. Crushing a captured head without mercy, his blue eyes wandered the past.

“…It’s true. These things… They often go straight for the heart…”

“Ha ha ha ha ha…! I knew it!”

Laughing coolly, Amana turned her gaze to a fallen woman.

Shikimidou Hisui──The woman enthralled by Latin America, now lay dead on the battlefield.

“The source is the Aztec Flower Wars… It’s about making life bloom like a flower.”

────An ancient Aztec ritual war held in Central and South America.

The date and location were predetermined. Both sides fought with equal numbers. Motivations included training warriors and weakening neighboring nations, but──

“The primary goal of the Flower War was to gather live sacrifices.”

While deflecting the thorny restraints aimed at Yukiji’s neck, Amana curled her lips.

“The loser’s heart would be offered to the gods—to calm natural disasters, and to fuel the sun. There’s no mistake now. The Roubaiba clan’s goal is no longer flight──!”

A blast rang out──Amana was blown away and slammed into a wall.

Raising her head with effort, she saw a merged two-faced Tengu brandishing its deadly weapons. Yukiji struggled to counter, but fatigue was evident in his movements.

Amana tried to stand. But with her head struck, the world swayed unsteadily.

“…It’s hopeless, huh…”

She thought she saw the veil of death. A faint whisper, or tinnitus, drowned all other sound. Her brain, unable to form spells, overflowed only with meaningless memories.

────At the end of her recollection, a girl looked back at her.

A face like a doll. Lips like pale pink petals. Crimson eyes framed by long lashes.

“…I truly wanted to help you…”

Amana knew those eyes sometimes blazed like fire. That blaze could burn away thoughts with excitement, or consume the mind with maddening obsession.

“Nadeshiko… I…”

What should she say? She didn’t know.

Up until now, Amana had never opened her heart to another.

But now, she simply──wanted to sit by the café window and drink hot tea with Nadeshiko.

“…I promised her, after all…”

────She heard the sound of hooves striking the ground.

Blinding light pressed against her eyelids, and Amana, hanging her head, raised her face. A girl with a white deer’s face stood in front of her, eyes devoid of emotion.

“…How dare you take Nadeshiko…”

“I saved her,” said the White Deer, speaking aloud.

Amana nodded. Somehow, that felt like enough.

“…You sewed shut her mouth.”

Amana tilted her head slightly. Probably back when she was still Tamamo-no-Mae. That ‘self’ felt closer to the real her than usual. Perhaps they were similar in some way.

“I was desperate then.”
“You won’t apologize?”

“If you want me to, I will. But don’t expect a heartfelt one. I do feel bad, but I was fighting for my life too…”

“…I can’t see your heart.”

“That’s because I’m hiding it. One shouldn’t trample into others’ hearts.”

Amana smiled gracefully, looking around. Perhaps due to interference from the White Deer, the battle of the warriors now felt like a distant blur.

“…Won’t you help us? If this keeps up, everyone will die.”

“What if I say no?”

“…That’s fine.”

Amana shrugged slightly, then picked up her fallen fan.

“I’m not expecting anything. I’ve lived alone long enough to survive no matter how disgraceful it gets. I’ve been doing that since before you were born. And besides…”

Behind the open fan, Amana lowered her amber eyes. She smiled faintly.

“I have to go find Nadeshiko.”

Instantly──the young White Deer opened all its eyes wide.

She turned her head to the right. Then tilted it to the left. Finally, she looked down, and clutched her pure white hair with both hands.

“I don’t understand… You’re so twisted… So why… why are you so beautiful…”

“I’m a femme fatale, of course I am. Now hurry up—”

“—I have no choice…!”

The young Hakutaku snapped her head up and glared at Amana with tear-filled eyes.

In that moment, time resumed its natural flow. In a world where color had returned, a pale-blue lightning bolt flashed.

“What is this—?!”

Having barely managed to repel the twin-faced Tengu, Yukiji looked at Amana and the Hakutaku with astonished eyes.

Lightning crackled from the floor to the ceiling, and the collapsing space around them began to glow white.

In that dazzling brilliance, the form of the young child began to melt away—transforming.

Golden horns glimmered. Numerous blue eyes opened across her body. Her stocky, calf-like form—young Hakutaku had returned to her original shape, her cloud-like tail swaying as she gave a few playful hops.

“You… you’re not saying—”
“I’m taking them… I’ll take everyone with me…”

She cut off Amana’s words, her voice echoing through the radiant space.

“Destroy it all… erase everything…”

A thunderclap—windows shattered from the shockwave, and the pseudo-Tengu that had surrounded them outside were scorched by the white light.

Amid the cries and wingbeats, the light vanished in an instant.

“Damn it… always… always always always…!”

Ayumi, barely on her feet, clutched her shoulder and looked around. The game center, now half in ruins, was empty. Only the pseudo-Tengu remained, standing still like a broken puppet.

“It’s always like this! Nothing ever goes right! Nothing good ever happens! Everyone’s always getting in my way…! It’s always me—always me…!”

The only one who heard her senseless screams was a woman lying submerged in a pool of blood.

◇  ◆  ◇

The man who called himself “Ryuji the Singing Dragon” said that Kawasemi Games was still a fair distance away.

“…I almost killed the niece of the man who saved my life.”

Ryuji let out a deep sigh. The immediate crisis had passed, and now Nadeshiko was being led by him.

“Did Kirihito-san help you?”

When she asked that, Ryuji tugged down the collar of his hoodie, revealing a red, chain-like tattoo around his neck. Nadeshiko’s eyes widened.

“The Shackles of Enma…!”

“Yeah… Kirihito-san etched it into me. Thanks to it, I can fight those bastards…”

Ryuji’s dark eyes, glaring ahead, gleamed like the blade of his trusted heavy machete.

“I’m from the year 1999… probably from when the first Matsuakemaru lantern was lit.”

According to Ryuji, the city of Sakakiharanori in Kyoto Prefecture was once a lumber town. But the mountains around Kawasemi Pass, known for its tengu legends, had been deforested before the war, leaving the area a desolate wasteland.

It was there that the Roubaiha Clan built a small residential complex.

The streets, designed with an old-fashioned charm, attracted new residents even from far away.

──But it had all been a trap.

“Back then, the Roubaiha Clan was desperately collecting Misenketsu.”

“Then the people who lived there were—?”

The same idle chatter and cheerful voices echoed meaninglessly. Perhaps the people who once spoke them had bodies naturally appealing to monsters.

“…Misenketsu has a lot of spiritual energy, so it made perfect fuel for the Matsuakemaru fire. That’s why they built a town that would attract them—safe, lively, full of warmth…”

Ryuji looked up at the sky. The winter sky, without the Matsuakemaru, was a freezing shade of blue.

“…That day was in summer.”

Ryuji had been the eldest son of a family of four. Having just moved, he didn’t fit in well and was forced to continue kendo, which he hated, living each day in misery.

One day, he finally snapped and ran away from home.

“I thought it’d be a short rebellion… But when I came back… everything was already over.”

The housing complex was like a graveyard. At home, only the echoes of his family’s voices rang out, hollow and lifeless.

“And that’s when that tengu showed up. I ran like hell. I went to the police, begged for help. But… the place I wanted to return to had never existed in the first place…”

The Sakakiharanori New Town—no, the entire city of Sakakiharanori—had disappeared.

Such a town had never existed in Kyoto Prefecture to begin with.

With no other option, Ryuji stayed with relatives. Even then, he desperately searched for the way back.

But he found nothing—no trace at all. Eventually, as often happens with Misenketsu, monsters began targeting him. He wondered if they were connected, and searched through curses and spells.

Over a decade passed. Then one day, five years ago, Ryuji decided to hang himself.

──And that’s when he met Kirihito Gokumon.

“My little brother died without leaving a shadow.”
“And you, the gutless older brother, think you get to die peacefully?”

“That’s what he told me… and then he nearly beat me to death. Well, I guess it snapped me out of it…”

“…So that’s what happened.”

Now, Nadeshiko finally understood her uncle’s behavior.

What Ryuji had tried to do… was, to Gokumon Kirihito, a kind of emotional landmine.

“And then he gave me this. Called it a one-way ticket to hell.”

Ryuji rubbed his neck and gave a crooked grin.

“Thanks to it, I don’t need to numb the taste of blood and flesh with chain-smoking or drugs anymore. Well, it’s already too late for me anyway…”

“…I see.”

She remembered the dream shown to her by the Reverse Baku.

In that dream, Nadeshiko was in the Utakata household. The kind man and woman there were surely Ryuuji’s parents. The Reverse Baku had used the lingering thoughts of those two to deceive her.

Because of their blood and flesh—they vanished here without ever knowing the truth.

“…How cruel.”

Thinking of them—and of Amana, who shared the same spiritual disposition—Nadeshiko lowered her eyes.

They slipped through an alley like a serpent’s nest and leapt over a drainage canal.

“Watch above… the Roubaihane Tengu show up when the Taimeimaru disappears.”

“That system… is it still in place? Even though Naganaki, the Roubaihane leader, is dead…”

At once, Ryuuji turned from peering out beside a utility pole and looked back at her in stunned disbelief.

“Naganaki is dead…? That can’t be. If so, then Kamisaridanchi should disappear. And we… everyone here… should be free.”

Saying “everyone,” Ryuuji gestured around them.

As the voices of those who once lived there echoed faintly, Nadeshiko lowered her Six Paths Iron Chains.

“With these prison warden’s chains, I’m certain I defeated Naganaki.”

Ryuuji’s body began to tremble. Clenching his teeth, he slammed his great machete into a nearby garbage bin. Ancient trash scattered, and he roared:

“Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to do now!? After coming this far…!”

“Calm down, Ryuuji-san. There’s still something we can do.”

Unaffected by the glint of the machete, Nadeshiko spoke in a quiet, steady voice.

“Let’s go… to where my friends are. There are people well-versed in jujutsu. If we’re with them, I’m sure we can escape this complex—!”

“──I want to destroy Kamisaridanchi!”

Amid the filth and dust, Ryuuji shouted, then roughly wiped his face.

Though his breathing trembled with fury, his eyes toward Nadeshiko were moist.

“My dad, my mom, Tomoki! Our teacher, our friends… we all just lived normal lives! We were just living peacefully here! Why… why did this happen…!”

Nadeshiko watched Ryuuji’s shaking fists in stunned silence. His hellfire-like scream still burned deep in her stomach.

“That’s why I’m going to destroy it all! Everything, every last thing—I will—!”

She saw something falling. Instinctively, Nadeshiko reached out to Ryuuji. Her delicate frame, like a wildflower, easily pulled the raging man backward.

An instant later, a massive iron object crashed down where he had stood.

“What the—!?”
“Stay sharp. It’s a Roubaihane pseudo-Tengu.”

Casting Ryuuji aside, Nadeshiko wound the Six Paths Iron Chains around her right hand.

A blue Tengu spasmed its pale, slimy wings. It repeatedly pounded the empty ground with its iron lump.

But more were coming. Swiftly scanning the area, Nadeshiko spotted them.

A two-faced Tengu slithered in, tearing at its own joints. A yellow Tengu entangled in thorny restraints appeared, spewing blood from every pore.

Something felt off. As she furrowed her brows, a warped chorus reached her ears:

[Kill, Kill] [Me, Me] – [Kill, Kill] [Please, Please] – [Kill, Kill] [Kill Me, Kill Me]…

“…What is this…?”

They were begging to die. Eyes wide, Nadeshiko stared at the writhing pseudo-Tengu.

“──From the looks of them, it’s true… Naganaki of the Roubaihane is dead.”

Ryuuji stepped in front of her. Gripping both machete and pistol, he turned his grim gaze to the horde.

“…I’ll clear a path in blood.”

“Huh—?”
Startled by the weight of his words, Nadeshiko looked at him.

In a flash, the pseudo-Tengu shrieked and charged. Ryuuji’s great machete cleaved through two, three heads in a swing, and he riddled the rest with bullets.

“I’ll hold these trash monsters back! You go to your friends!”

“Don’t joke! I won’t leave you behind—!”

“What would Gokumon Kirihito do!?”

At once, Nadeshiko froze mid-reach.

She breathed shallowly, two or three times. Then, clenching her teeth hard, she turned on her heel.

“────I’ll destroy it.”

She forced out the words, feeling the battle rage behind her.

“I will destroy Kamisaridanchi, without fail. So don’t say you’re going to die here.”

She didn’t know if he heard. But she thought she heard him chuckle faintly.

Nadeshiko sprinted away. As if pounding her frustration into the earth, she kicked off hard.

The commotion quickly faded. Only the hollow voices of Kamisaridanchi remained.

But there was no longer any fear of being swallowed by its chaos.

Now, only a burning fury scorched her chest. Her heart felt like a lump of fire. The blood it pumped drove her aching body forward.

“This place… should never have existed…”

Whispering as if to release the heat, sparks flared.

“Just escaping isn’t enough. I have to destroy everything… everything—!”

Driven by quiet, seething rage, she turned a familiar corner.

At last, she saw the half-ruined game center──when, a flash of white lightning burst in her peripheral vision.

She recognized it. Lowering her stance, Nadeshiko let herself go with it.

“────You hated this place too, didn’t you…”

Beyond the illusion that scorched her eyelids, she heard the sound of thunder—and smelled the forest.

When she opened her eyes, she stood in a thicket. The dense trees blocked the light, making the place as dim as twilight.

She heard water. Looking back, she saw something like a deep green pavilion.

A moss-covered cedar tree had fallen, entangling other trees, and formed a natural tower. At its base, a small spring bubbled quietly.

“…This must be the Tengu’s Spring.”

In the fragments of memory restored through her meeting with Rara, she recalled seeing those words carved on a stone monument.

There was no wind. Yet the clear water rippled, spreading countless silver rings across its surface.

“This spring, is it…?”

A faint sense of unease rippled through her chest. Yet, she couldn’t grasp what it was.

Glancing back at the drifting water surface a few times, Nadeshiko began to walk.

The path was mostly a straight line. Without trouble, she passed through the stone torii and arrived at the grounds of the weathered shrine.

At the front stood a dimly lit shrine building. It seemed a long time had passed since the faith had faded. The tiled roof was crumbling, and spiderwebs draped like silk veils here and there.

Where guardian lion-dogs would normally be placed, a pair of bird statues had fallen over. Approaching the stone statues—faintly blue in hue—Nadeshiko stared at them intently.

“If these are the divine familiars of the enshrined deity, then the ‘Kingfisher’ mentioned in Kijine’s will must be──”

“…Nadeshiko?”

The voice was so faint it could have been mistaken for the rustling of leaves.

But she could never mishear this clear, crystalline voice. Just hearing her name called eased the tension in her body. Like a raging fire subdued by a sudden downpour, her burning heart settled into calm.

Nadeshiko turned around, on the verge of tears.

“Amana, I’m so glad you’re──”

She was far from safe.

Amana stood leaning against the stone torii, barely managing to keep herself upright. Her white Chinese-style blouse was stained with blood and dust, torn in several places.

Her face, framed by disheveled black hair, looked haggard. Because her features were normally so composed, the contrast made her appear all the more tragic.

Even so, the moment Nadeshiko looked at her, Amana forced a faint smile.

“Hm, you don’t look unscathed either. Looks like we both had a rough time.”

“…Yeah.”

Amana gently wiped Nadeshiko’s face with a handkerchief. Though acting nonchalant, Nadeshiko didn’t miss the slight falter in her movement.

And then—faint but unmistakable—a seductive scent of blood hung in the air. Her invisibility spell must have worn off.

As Amana cleaned the blood away with care, Nadeshiko looked down and bit her lip.

“So this is where you were…!”

Sliding open the glass door, Yukiji peeked out from the shrine.

She, too, looked terrible. Her gray hair was dyed red with blood, and her body bore numerous gashes. The moment she spotted Nadeshiko, her cruel mouth curled into a sinister grin.

“So, Nade was summoned here too. Instant teleportation of separated groups… even as a juvenile, Hakutaku is a terrifying being…”

“Speaking of that Hakutaku, do you know where she is? I’d rather talk to her than you right now.”

“She’s crying in the back… Nade, go comfort her…”

“…Crying?”

The alarming words made Nadeshiko furrow her brow. Yukiji gestured inside with a grim expression.

“Yeah… there’s something else I want to show you…”

The shrine interior was more spacious than expected.

There was no longer anything resembling an altar, and it was unclear what had once been worshiped there.

Tattered cloths were strewn carelessly over worn tatami mats, upon which countless people lay sleeping. Men and women of all ages, none with visible injuries. They simply appeared to be asleep.

Fifteen on each side—thirty in total. Nadeshiko’s eyes widened as she scanned them.

“These people… are they missing persons?”

“Yeah… all of them are safe. Apparently, that Hakutaku named Rara was hiding them…”

With a serious look, Yukiji pointed toward the back of the shrine.

Beyond a curtain of filthy rags, a white calf-like spirit beast lay curled up. In addition to its three main eyes, six more eyes across its body shed transparent tears, dripping steadily to the floor.

By its side were Shiraha and Ume, along with Grandpa Tsuji-giri, desperately trying to comfort it.

“D-Don’t cry anymore!”
“At this rate, the whole area will flood! You already have too many eyes as it is!”
“That’s right! Prepare the ark!”

“Ryuji… I couldn’t call him…”

Rara shook her horned head and trembled softly.

Ryuji—that name, left behind amid the madness of the Mock Celestial Dogs, made Nadeshiko catch her breath.

“I tried… he was too far… Rara did her best…”

“You did great! I don’t really understand it, but you did great!”
“Well done indeed!”
“Yuki-senpai, help meee! I’m really bad at emotional stuff like this!”

“According to Rara… all of these people are Misenkechi…”

Ignoring the shrill cries of the Hakutaku comfort squad, Yukiji continued speaking in a calm tone.

“Apparently, they were gathered as reserve fuel for Taimeimaru. But around the end of last year… Rara, who happened to visit this land, intervened and disrupted it…”

“The current Kamusaridan should be at a standstill.”

Amana fanned herself with a composed face, though her bloodless lips betrayed her condition.

“We’ve abandoned the battle. The Misenkechi—the reserve fuel—aren’t in their hands either. The Mock Celestial Dogs, which have become machines for heart supply, are surely now frantically searching for us.”

“So if they use our hearts too… they’ll summon Muya-shi from the outside world again…”

“…Before that, it’ll all break down.”

At the frail voice, everyone turned their gaze to the Hakutaku. Rara, still shedding tears, looked up at the ceiling.

“If… the next sun rises… they’ll notice… and it’ll all break…”

“…Notice? Who will?”

“────The gods will notice, won’t they?”

Ignoring the bewildered Nadeshiko, Amana pressed further.

Rara closed her eyes weakly, then gave a tiny nod.

“I thought so… this is one of the rituals passed down from ancient times.”

Amana wore a vague smile as she wiped the sweat from her temple.

“The Aztec Empire bolstered its authority by incorporating various ancient cultures and beliefs. What has been lost to time, the Roubaiha Clan revived in a twisted form.”

“…That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”

“It’s the worst. Gods who’ve withdrawn to the Otherworld may manifest in the Living World without control. Spirits known as divine beings are already powerful enough. And on top of that──”

As Nadeshiko’s brows furrowed, Amana nodded with a weary smile.

“The Roubaiha Clan’s rituals are counterfeits. They recklessly splice together sorcery connected to the sky and the spirit realm. It’s a patchwork on the verge of falling apart. At this rate…”

“Is it… bad?”

“…At the very least, we’ll have to give up on Kyoto.”

“N-No way! The heart of Japan is…!”

“If the next Matsumeimatsumaru rises… will the effects be immediate…?”

Ignoring his overly dramatic subordinate clutching his head, Yukiji sharply asked Amana.

“There should be a slight delay. After all, the ritual has long since been lost. And considering that the divine spirit was originally enshrined on the opposite side of the Earth…”

Amana toyed with her fan while thinking, then eventually shook her head with a weary expression.

“…That said, even if by luck the divine spirit doesn’t notice us, the effects would still be enormous. You saw the mirage floating in the sky, didn’t you? That’s proof the boundary between this world and the hazama is weakening.”

“What happens if the boundary collapses?”

When Nadeshiko asked, Amana raised her pale lips in a crooked grin.

“Either the Kamusaridanchi floods into Kyoto, or Kyoto floods into the Kamusaridanchi—that’s how it’ll be.”

In the heavy silence that followed, Nadeshiko imagined the city of Kyoto she knew so well.

A city where past and present intermingle, a timeless capital layered with the flow of many eras—and it was about to be crushed in the palm of a monster’s hand. The thousand-year capital would be swallowed by a bloodstained apartment block.

“A divine spirit from the hidden world manifests, and the Kamusaridanchi and Kyoto blend together… There’s a chance both could happen at the same time… If that happens, not just Kyoto but…”

“Y-You’ve got to be kidding me!”

In response to Yukiji’s heavy voice, Ume leapt up, her face drained of color.

“I’m barely keeping myself alive here, and now you’re telling me we might get swept up in some apocalyptic disaster!? I’ve only ever been good for ox-hour curses…!”

“How disgraceful, Tome! Crying and screaming won’t help anything!”

Uncharacteristically stern, Tsuji Giri-Jii scolded Ume, who was clawing at her white hair.

“We may as well cut open our bellies with dignity—come now, we’re close, you and I. I’ll perform the kaishaku for you.”

“I’ll kill you, you old bastard!”
“Dying in battle would be an honor! Unsheath, Shark!”

“PLEEEEASE CALM DOOOOWN!”

Aiming her bow at the hot-blooded elders, Shiraha snapped her bowstring. Even Amana flinched, though the bow—patched with duct tape—held no arrow.

As everyone’s eyes silently screamed “Are you kidding me?” at their superior, she coughed lightly.

“Do that again and… I’m adding dragon flags to your training routine…”

“Have mercy! But seriously, what do we do now? If this keeps up—”

“────The answer is simple.”

At that moment, Nadeshiko felt like the center of the world.

But she didn’t falter. Aware of the weight in her pocket, she stared into Amana’s eyes, burning with determination.

“If the caster disappears, the curse ends—that’s the basic principle of juso. The root of all this must be in the heart, a place nearly impossible to reach. If we defeat them… that’s all it takes, right, Amana?”

“A-Ah… But the path to the heart is—h-hey! Nadeshiko!”

With Amana’s flustered voice behind her, Nadeshiko stepped out through the glass door.

A lukewarm breeze stirred her milk-tea-colored hair. Along with the wind came a syrupy fragrance filling the apartment grounds. She also sensed a new kind of tremor in the air—

“Nadeshiko!”

A hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned.

Under the sunlight, Amana’s face looked even paler, like she might be swept away by the wind. And yet, the moment Nadeshiko looked at her, she skillfully masked her fatigue again.

“That’s cruel. If you’ve got a plan, you could at least invite me, hmm?”

Trembling lips drained of color, Amana gave a faint smile. Even now, she tried to carry herself with nonchalance—Nadeshiko stared into her face.

Her heartbeat quickened. Her breath caught.

────Her instincts rejected the words she was about to say.

And still, Nadeshiko forced a composed expression. She felt a heat in her blood so intense it might burn her from the inside, but she spoke slowly and firmly.

“…I’m going to the heart. To destroy the Kamusaridanchi.”

“Mm, sounds good. Any plan—”

“You’re staying here, Amana.”

“────Eh?”

Amana’s eyes widened.

To her, Nadeshiko offered nothing but a quiet smile—then turned her back.

From her pocket, she swiftly pulled out a bloodstained handkerchief. She didn’t know any formal rituals. Her breath ragged, her body trembling, Nadeshiko lowered her gaze in a silent prayer.

“I offer one—so give me one in return.”

The wind cried out, high and clear. And then, the weight vanished from the handkerchief.

When she opened her eyes, Amana was no longer there.

A faint sense of relief stirred in her chest. But far greater than that was the soul-rending pain of loss that gnawed at her heart.

She slowly looked around. The collapsed apartment blocks now sat like ancient temples in solemn silence. Water welled up from somewhere, flooding the ground, turning the surrounding scenery into a mirror.

And ahead of her stood an uncanny great pagoda.

At first glance, it resembled a five-storied tower. But the structure was a chaotic blend of plaster, tiles, and stained glass—twisted, warped, and piercing the sky in defiance.

The grand doors, carved with vividly colored mountain birds, stood open. From beyond them, blue incense smoke drifted out, curling lazily into the air.

Fixing her eyes on the grotesque pagoda, Nadeshiko stepped forward, ripples spreading beneath her feet across the mirrored surface.

“…I will destroy the Kamusaridanchi.”

◇　　◆　　◇

“Nadeshiko… no…”

A trembling pale hand reached out but stopped short. Amana slowly shook her head. Her amber eyes, wide open, reflected only the empty space where Nadeshiko had stood moments earlier.

“Why… why would you leave me behind…!”

“Stay here, Amana.”
—Nadeshiko’s gentle voice echoed in her ears.

That voice, that gaze—dragged a vision from the worst of memories up to the surface of her consciousness.

—A sky full of stars.
—Her father’s hand.
—“Stay here.”
—Teeth ripping through flesh.
—Eyes peering through the cracks—

“…So this is my dismissal, huh.”

A voice she loathed pulled her back to reality, reminding her to breathe.

Before she knew it, Yukiji was behind her, arms crossed. Her bitter expression was, at the moment, simply hateful.

“You’re exhausted. You’re also—bait, with that sweet-smelling blood… given all that…”

“Shut up…! I hate it when people make sense!”

Her concern quickly gave way to frustration. Everything irritated her now. Yukiji always got on her nerves, but now everything and everyone around her was unbearable.

Most of all—she couldn’t forgive herself. She felt a burning fury toward her uncertain self, hot enough to scorch her from the inside out.

“I have to go after Nadeshiko—!”

“Calm down!”

As Amana tried to storm off, Yukiji forcefully grabbed her shoulder.

“Cool your head! Think—why do you think Nade left you behind?! You’re weakened, a target, and easy prey! She was being considerate!”

“That’s unnecessary concern! There’s no way I can let her go alone in that condition!”

“She’s the daughter of the Gokumon! She’s no amateur—you think she doesn’t know how to assess her own situation?!”

“So what if she’s Gokumon! She’s still sixteen! Far more normal than you think—!”

“────You dare… say that?”

With a voice like a roar, Yukiji’s words froze Amana in place.

“You coward!”

Fangs bared, Yukiji grabbed Amana by the collar. Her strong arms easily yanked Amana forward. Her twin eyes, glowing blue, glared into Amana’s amber ones.

“You…! Let go!”

“Have you forgotten your own crimes?! You used that ordinary girl for your own convenience! You threw her into life-threatening situations again and again! And you say she’s too young?!”

“────Shut up! Don’t touch me!”

Before the fan in Amana’s hand could strike, Yukiji quickly pulled back. Her face twisted in fury, she was about to speak again—but suddenly clutched her throat and coughed violently.

“Gah… kh, cough… damn it… I can’t even speak properly…”

Taking advantage of Yukiji’s moment of weakness, Amana shook off her grip.

And then—collapsed. She didn’t bother fixing her disheveled clothes, nor did she retrieve the fan she dropped. She just buried her head in her hands.

“…I know.”

Her voice, spilling onto the ground, was barely audible.

“I really tried… to be better…”

She gripped her messy black hair, her voice trembling.

“I don’t even know who I am… I don’t know if I’m human or a monster… I don’t know how much of me is still Hak… I don’t even know if I’ll still be me a few seconds from now…”

Her amber eyes shimmered with clear tears. She clenched her jaw, struggling to keep them from falling.

“Even so… at the very least… I wanted to be someone Nadeshiko could trust… someone she could rely on. But look at me. I failed. I can’t do anything right…”

“…To hear that from you…”

Yukiji sank to her knees, bringing herself to Amana’s eye level. Her sharp, blade-like gaze had softened into something more like a still, quiet lake.

“…Do you think people change so easily?”

Amana said nothing. Yukiji continued, slowly and deliberately.

“If the heart were that simple, no one would suffer. Changing yourself means peeling away layers like flesh from bone—painfully, slowly. Good or evil, it’s the same for everyone.”

“…I see.”

“Yeah… And you’re extreme. Even though I only spent a short time with Nade compared to you, I don’t think she expected you to change so drastically.”

Despite her strained coughs, Yukiji gently placed a hand on Amana’s shoulder.

“If you know you’re clumsy, then face that. Own it.”

Amana took a deep breath.

She picked up her fallen fan, then stood. As she straightened her hair and clothes, that usual crooked smile returned to her face.

“…Of all people, to be comforted by Yukiji… how humiliating.”

“Hmph… I’ll remember your pathetic face forever…”

A sickly sweet tension buzzed in the air.

Amana dropped her smile and turned to glare into the thicket of woods. Yukiji let out a low growl.

“…Looks like someone’s noticed us.”

“Good grief… clinging to life, are they? That’s some grudge. Almost saintly, like the monkess of Dōjō-ji.”

“Cut the tasteless jokes. That barrier by Hakutaku won’t last much longer.”

And it was true—the barrier had begun to fray.

Noticing the distortions warping the air in places, Amana frowned.

“…What do we do?”

“We strengthen our defenses. We have few fighters, but we can’t risk the civilians.”

“‘Fighters’, huh… Shirohane’s useful, sure, but are the other two even functional?”

“I’ll make them functional. You help too. You’re at least as useful as a scarecrow.”

Red. Blue. Yellow.

In the shadows of the forest, grotesque tengu masks flickered.

At the front stood Ayumi, drenched in blood. It seemed she still couldn’t break the barrier—she swung her dagger furiously, face twisted with rage.

“──I refuse. I’ve seen enough of their damn faces.”

Amana knelt down and swiftly swept the ground with her opened fan.

“Well, I am merciful. I’ll leave behind some charms a little more useful than a scarecrow. …Also, I’ve given your cute little subordinate a secret weapon. Tell her to use it when the time is right.”

“You… You’re really going to chase after Nade no matter what, aren’t you?”

After finishing the incantations, Amana stood up and glanced back at the desolate shrine.

“Yes. Frankly, if the true mastermind is who I think it is, then Nadeshiko doesn’t stand a chance alone.”

“The mastermind…? You mean that Ayumi Makurabe who took over the apartment complex…?”

“She’s no more than a puppet—just like the Rōbaiba clan. Merely toyed with on a whim… Really, monsters that used to be human are the worst kind. Once they blend in with people, there’s no telling them apart.”

“…Don’t tell me—she’s not dead?”

“You think she’d die from that? When it comes to deception, she’s on par with the foxes.”

Yukiji furrowed her brows tightly. Amana only responded with a wry smile and a nod.

“She is, in this Kamusari Complex, truly the oldest being around. Back in the 8th year of the Tenmei era, for some unknown reason, she twisted the fate of the Rōbaiba clan. That one is something that’s broken away from humanity—one who toys with humans for her amusement.”

As she spoke, Amana opened her left hand. Like a magic trick, two small orbs spilled out. Deep sapphire, filled with swirling gold and silver dust—like galaxies captured in glass.

Clutching them tightly, Amana spoke the name aloud.

“As you suspected—the one behind it all is Shikimidō Hisui.
She is the real Tengu.”

◇　　◆　　◇

Nadeshiko stepped through the entrance of the grand Daigaran.

There stood an impossibly massive incense burner. From the incense burning within, blue smoke drifted like mist. The sweet scent that had filled the housing complex seemed to come from this incense.

Passing beside the giant burner, Nadeshiko ascended the grand temple hall adorned with vibrant and elaborate carvings.

One floor was entirely covered with opulent golden murals. At first glance, they seemed to depict natural disasters—flames and storms. Nadeshiko glanced over them as she continued toward the stairs.

“I humbly… offer my prayer…”

A faint voice of a boy made Nadeshiko’s eyes widen. A vivid image flashed through her mind.

The 8th year of Tenmei—A boy bowed his head in the stormy mountains.

The most terrifying spring storm he had ever known had ravaged Kyoto. The boy, who had barely escaped the great fire, was covered in soot, with burns on his hands and feet.

“Make me a tengu… My father, mother, sister—I’ll offer everything…”

Battered by wind and rain, the boy bowed before a clear spring.

Beyond the spring stood an ancient cedar tree. From within the swaying branches, a pair of eyes gleamed.

“I want nothing but the sky… I want to fly… I have to fly…”

A pair of glittering wings unfurled—and Nadeshiko was pulled back to reality.

Panting, she looked around. There was no wind or rain—not even a breeze stirred in the grand temple hall.

“…A lingering thought of the Rōbaiba clan?”

The story Amana shared didn’t match this scene. Nadeshiko frowned and climbed the stairs.

The next floor, in contrast, was modest in design.

Ink wash paintings adorned every wall and sliding door, depicting snowy landscapes with careful use of black ink and empty space.

There, she found a painting of a black rooster. For some reason, only its eyes were red.

A chill ran through her—and Nadeshiko saw a vision, scorched crimson.

It was the New Year of Showa 2. The Kurama mountains were like an ink painting. The falling snow seemed to hide even the tragedy of a certain clan’s disappearance the previous winter.

“Become my concubine.”

In the freezing grand temple, a man commanded the woman before him.

“…Well now. A mere rooster talking like he’s a phoenix.”

The monochrome scenery turned blood red. In an instant, the opulent temple was ravaged.

“Pathetic…”

Ignoring the man, who crawled on the ground, the woman stared only at her own nails.

“If you’re going to brag about being a descendant of tengu, then show me something worthy. Let’s see… Tengu fire would be nice and flashy.”

“W-Wait…! Please, wait, Gokumon Kazusa—!”

“Show me a bright red fire, like the sun, rising into the sky. Then maybe I’ll come back.”

The woman wore a crimson coat and a hat adorned with spider lilies.

“…Not that you’re on my schedule anymore, though.”

And with that, she left. She didn’t spare a single glance at the bloodied man.

As the vision faded, Nadeshiko instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. A chill welled up from within, making her teeth chatter. The face of her great-grandmother, seen in that lingering memory, was burned into her mind.

“…So that’s the motive.”

Shivering, she looked again at the painting of the rooster. The red was gone. Only black and white remained.

“You wanted to summon the 95th head… but somewhere along the way, the means became the end.”

She felt the wind. In the back of the ink-painted room, there was a staircase.

The top floor was near—Nadeshiko stared upward and began walking cautiously.

Once again, the walls on either side were decorated in dazzling, intricate designs. Birds of many kinds flitted between the trees. Though the paintings resembled paradise, the sky in the distance was dark.

“That man is no longer worthy. He longed for the sun and forgot the clan’s true wish.”

An old woman’s voice echoed from beyond. Without stopping, Nadeshiko glanced at the wall to her left.

A painting of a female pheasant peeking into her nest caught her attention. Inside were a blue egg, a yellow one, and two red ones.

“Seiji, Kota, Akaone, Akari. Everything depends on you now.”

“Mother… Leave it all to us.”
“If my brother’s going, I’m in too. He’s the one fit to lead.”
“We’ll definitely kill that woman.”
“Yes, yes, that wicked kingfisher.”

“…I’m proud of you all. Now go—reclaim the future of the Rōbaiba clan.”

“…Rest in peace.”

A high-pitched scream rang out, accompanied by a stifled laugh.

Gritting her teeth, Nadeshiko climbed the stairs relentlessly. It felt like all kinds of thoughts were pushing her from behind. The old woman with the eyepatch—the man with the massive cleaver—the tormented clan—they whispered silently to her.

“Destroy the Kamusari Housing Complex.”

At the top of the stairs stood a door painted with a vividly colored kingfisher.

It was slightly ajar. Staring into the kingfisher’s eyes, Nadeshiko pushed the heavy door open.

A cold wind tousled her milk-tea-colored hair.

There were no walls under the roof, and the ceiling opened up like an atrium.

In the center stood the altar shaped like a human. The abdominal area was stained with blood. Most likely, a ripped-out heart had once been placed there.

Now, in its place sat a bottle of cola and a giant bag of chocolate-flavored popcorn.

Beside the altar was a single chair—and seated there, casually sipping cola, was a woman. Nadeshiko glared at her back.

“…Is this our first meeting?”

“No, this is the second time. The ‘me’ you first met—was me.”

The woman—Shikimidō Hisui—stood and smiled. There wasn’t a drop of blood on her teal stole or her ten-gallon hat.

“Welcome, Gokumon Nadeshiko, to my great temple, Templo Mayor. Quite the view, isn’t it?”

Hisui gestured with a smile.

Before them spread the ash-colored expanse of the Kamusari Housing Complex. In the sky shimmered a blue mirage of Kyoto.

A breathtaking view woven together by countless deaths. Checking the Six Paths Chains, Nadeshiko furrowed her brow.

“…So you were the one behind everything.”

“That’s harsh. I just gave them a little help, that’s all.”

Pouting as if troubled, Hisui ran her finger along the rim of her glass.

“I don’t know all the details. I only returned here about ten years ago… What year of Tenmei was that again? After that, I got kicked out by every Tengu in the capital. Awful, right?”

“…Was it you who taught Rōbai Hachō-Naki the secret of the Sun?”

“I only taught him how to improve it. I met him about ten years ago. He could make fireballs, but not a Sun… a shame, really.”

With her dark orange hair fluttering in the wind, Hisui looked up at the mirage.

“He had more potential than the rest of his clan. He might’ve become a real Muya-shi someday. But he was really obsessed with the Gokumon Hanadama-zusa massacre. He lost it.”

Casually playing with her stole, Hisui sighed.

“…So I let him create as many suns as he wanted.”

In the howling wind, her words sounded utterly grotesque.

“I used the entire Rōbaiha clan to build a system to mass-produce Taimeimaru. He did well as the core of the system. But… after seeing you two days ago, he totally lost it. I guess parts really do need to be compatible.”

“Frivolous—that’s the only word for it.”

As Hisui shook her head in feigned sadness, Nadeshiko recalled Amana’s words.

She didn’t behave like a dramatic villain or show monstrous cruelty.

But she was too empty. It wasn’t like she was talking about someone’s downfall—it was more like she was idly commenting on a sport she didn’t care about.

“Ahhh… I really shouldn’t have killed Kijine…”

With the same tone someone might say, “I should’ve brought an umbrella,” Hisui shrugged.

A visceral disgust gripped Nadeshiko—without realizing it, she was digging her nails into her neck.

“She was nearly a demon, but still useful. But she attacked me suddenly—I was so surprised. And she just wouldn’t quit…”

“…That right hand… was it Kijine-san who did that to you?”

She recalled—the claw marks left on the prison wall.

Kijine had failed her rebellion and, overcome with rage, turned into a demon while still alive. With that nearly skeletal hand, she must have clawed through the wall and broken the iron bars.

“What are you talking about?”

“Eh…?”

Nadeshiko’s eyes widened. Hisui, still smiling, unwrapped the bandages from her right hand.

“This was your doing, remember?”

—How had she even been moving that hand like that?

Hisui’s right hand had become little more than a lump of ink. Parts of the bone were even exposed.

“Kh… ugh…!”

A pang stirred in the back of Nadeshiko’s mind. She clutched her head and clenched her teeth.

“…February 11th. Somehow, you ended up here.”

Hisui tossed her glass aside and began to walk, her steps casual.

As they passed each other, she lightly patted Nadeshiko on the shoulder. Her carbonized right hand felt dry, rustling as it moved.

“I fought you, tried to analyze your memory. And then—boom! You counterattacked. Totally hilarious. It made no sense. Do you have a firewall in your mind or something?”

“You… stole my memory…!”

“Yep. I stole it. And I got curious, so I decided to watch you. Ethnographic fieldwork, you might say.”

Standing at the edge of the great altar, Hisui looked back.

Bathed in sunlight, her eyes sparkled as she spread her arms as if to embrace the world.

“Thanks to that, these past three days have been so much fun…!”

Pressing her hands to her rose-colored cheeks, Hisui giggled.

“I’ve always just watched before, you know? But yeah, living in the housing complex—being an enemy, an ally, killing, being killed—it’s all just the best…!”

“You’re the worst…!”

Despite the pain, Nadeshiko desperately reached out to the Six Paths Chains.

Hisui shook her shoulders in delight and reached out her right hand toward the Kamusari Housing Complex below.

Then, as if to draw something in—she made a pulling motion.

A sharp sound split the air.

“…Huh?”

And then, Makurabe Ayumi let out a dazed voice.

She held a dagger—but her neck was now gripped by Hisui’s charred right hand. She seemed to have just finished fighting, panting heavily.

“Eh… Hisui…? Wh-why… how are you here—!?”

“You love the Kamusari Housing Complex, don’t you?”

At Hisui’s ever-smiling expression, Ayumi seemed to realize something was wrong. She dropped the dagger and nodded desperately, her face twitching.

“Y-yes… yes! I love it! I love this housing complex…!”

“Then become a Sun.”

Nadeshiko threw a Chain of the Human Path instinctively—but it was deflected by a gleaming shadow.

She couldn’t even scream as she watched Hisui thrust her left hand into Ayumi’s chest.

No blood flowed. She was likely phasing through her body like a ghost. Ayumi looked down at the hand in horror.

“H-Hisui… p-please… forgive me… I’m sorry…!”

“There, there, it’s okay~ I’ll make sure it all turns out just right—now, say goodbye.”

With gentle words, fresh blood splattered across the ground.
Dragging out organs red like pomegranate seeds, Hisui carelessly tossed away the lifeless body of Ayumi.

She wasn’t stained by a single drop of blood. Her movements were terrifyingly practiced.

“Why…”

Nadeshiko weakly shook her head. Her trembling red eyes stared at the woman who had just been killed.

“Why… why would you do something like this…?”

“Well then, let’s reignite the flame.”

Unable to process her emotions, Nadeshiko could only watch as Hisui raised Ayumi’s heart aloft.

In an instant, the heart transformed into a lump of fire. The scattered blood, too, became flame, blazing upward into the sky.

The scenery around them began to waver like a heat haze.

The flames didn’t burn Nadeshiko or Hisui, instead slowly ascending toward the heavens. The red-glowing fire twisted and intertwined as it rose, like a radiant tapestry stretching into the sky.

“From the beginning… it was all from the beginning…!”

In the midst of a hell closest to heaven—Nadeshiko accused Hisui.

“You drove the children of the Rōbaiba clan mad! You forced Nagaki Rōbaiba to create a sun! You made them massacre again and again in the Kamusari Sanctuary…! Why would you do this?!”

“…You really are kind, Nadeshiko-chan. That’s your virtue, you should be proud of it.”

Caressing the burning heart with her fingertips, Hisui smiled.

“Tengu are empty, you see… We soaked ourselves in the sky so much that we became hollow.”

Then, Hisui’s expression disappeared.

It wasn’t like the mask-like blank expression Amana sometimes showed. Her face was clearly there—eyes, nose, mouth—but still, there was nothing. Nothing but a human-shaped void.

It was as if a hole had opened in the middle of space. The expression sent a chill down Nadeshiko’s spine.

At the same time, Nadeshiko felt a powerful impulse.

Saliva pooled in her mouth, her stomach let out a guttural sound. A desire, one the artificial tengu could never feel, screamed at her from the essence of the woman before her—That thing is a monster.

“That’s why I wanted to feel ‘heat’.”

Hisui, returning to her usual expression, shrugged her shoulders before Nadeshiko, who unconsciously clutched at herself.

“To know why we give life meaning… emotions, reasons, value… I wanted to feel all of that. So I had everyone work hard for me.”

“…What the hell?”

“You don’t understand? I suppose you wouldn’t. After all, we are opposites.”

Hisui casually tossed the burning heart into the air.

It floated, crackling and sparking more violently than ever.

“Demons became monsters because they were too human. We became monsters because we were too far from humanity. ──Look closely, my counterpart from the other extreme.”

With shining eyes reflecting the brilliant flames, Hisui smiled beautifully.

“The final sun of this world is about to rise.”

The heart exploded — and in the next moment, a thunderous roar shook the Great Pavilion.

Clinging instinctively to a pillar, Nadeshiko glared at the flame shooting from the ceiling into the sky.
The fireball transformed into a fiery bird, spreading its wings across the blue sky — and then, roaring furiously, it became a blazing sun.

“But it’s a little disappointing.”

Lifting the brim of her ten-gallon hat, Hisui looked up at the blazing sphere.

“I gave them power, land, the means… and yet, not a single one of them could fly.”

“No one could fly…”

Nadeshiko whispered and slammed her fist against the pillar.
The intricate carvings shattered and scattered across the floor, glowing red.

“All you did was give chicks wings… all you did was stick wings on caterpillars. The Rōbaiba never even understood how to use that power. How could you be so cruel…”

Hisui merely shrugged and chuckled softly.

That was all. Just that — and Nadeshiko instinctively understood.

──This predator must be eliminated.

“Tengu are not something you become,” Hisui said.

Her stomach screamed with emptiness. Her limbs felt heavy as lead.

Her body, which had been running through the Kamusari Sanctuary, was completely exhausted. She didn’t even know how long she could last against Hisui in this state. And on top of that, she had already lost to her once, just two days ago.

“You’re either born one, or you’re not. And if you don’t get that, you’ll never grasp a tengu’s wings.”

Still, like an arrow loosed from the bow, Nadeshiko charged.

The Gohōken in her grip transformed into light. Without a word, she drove the blade toward Hisui’s back.

“──Like this, for example.”

Speaking as if it were nothing, Hisui reached out and touched Nadeshiko’s eyelid.

Nadeshiko froze. She hadn’t blinked. She had been watching Hisui’s back the entire time.

And yet, before she realized it, Hisui was standing right beside her.

“This is my first time seeing the red-eyed Gokumon… Show me more.”

“Stay back!”

With a desperate scream, Nadeshiko swung the Gohōken.

But the blade only cut through empty air.

“Oni-san, over here.”

As Nadeshiko turned sharply toward the voice, Hisui smiled while lifting her heel high into the air.

A shock—accompanied by a thunderous roar—sent Nadeshiko’s body crashing through the floorboards. Shattering multiple vividly painted ceilings depicting dragons and celestial maidens, she destroyed all the treasures that the wax plum feathers had once offered to the Great Tengu.

Eventually, she was slammed onto her back into one of the many layers of the treasure vaults.

Buried beneath fragments of gold, silver, and precious gems, Nadeshiko groaned.

Her vision was dyed red with blood. She couldn’t even tell where it hurt anymore. Yet, she desperately braced her limbs and, like a hungry ghost crawling through hell, forced herself upright.

“Mm… more durable than I expected. Good. That means I’ll get to enjoy this.”

Hisui landed lightly, then casually hid her face with a hat. The scarf wrapped around her neck flared dramatically, gradually transforming into glistening turquoise wings.

“Well then, once more—formally this time.”

The face revealed with that whisper was not human.

It looked like a bird’s skull mask. Orange mane surrounded her head. Her eyes glowed white within shadowed sockets, framed by fragments of jade.

And when her beak opened, only teeth could be seen in the void within.

“────I am Hisui of the Shikimidō, former chief of the Atago Tengu.”

She had feathers, but no skin; exposed muscle fibers glistened like bundles of steel thread. Her sharp frame was clad in a vivid tunic and adorned with numerous ornaments.

Fanning her Tengu fan made of eagle feathers, Hisui clicked her beak.

“Let’s play, Gokumon Nadeshiko. Until the gods turn their eyes back.”

Nadeshiko replied not with words, but with fire.

Unrestrained hellfire transformed the grand treasure vault into a scorching inferno in an instant. As the flames consumed countless treasures into ashes, Hisui brought two fingers together and raised them upright.

“────On.”

Hell was wiped out in an instant. Nadeshiko, who had used the fire as cover to close in, stood frozen mid-swing with her guardian sword.

“Even if I’m no longer the chief of the Atago Tengu famed for my ritual arts… suppressing fire? Child’s play.”

Clicking her beak in laughter, Hisui thrust one hand toward Nadeshiko. Sparks of lightning crackled through the air, and dozens of sleek obsidian orbs floated up.

A premonition pierced Nadeshiko’s spine. Instantly, she reshaped her guardian sword into a new form.

“Lotus-shaking basket──Petal Form!”

“Smoke Mirror Tengu Shot.”

Many of the ultra-fast obsidian shots shattered against the steel petal-shaped shield. But the shrapnel still scattered and grazed her limbs with shallow cuts.

“Cool, right~?”

Floating the remaining obsidian orbs in her palm, Hisui grinned.

“Got the idea in Teotihuacan. They’re brittle, so it’s hard to predict their path—whoa.”

Creak creak creak creak—! A thunderous bellow shook the treasure hall.

Bursting past the steel petals, a giant centipede lunged forth. Spraying venom, it sank its fangs into the tengu’s body and slammed her into a wall.

A sickening noise rang out. Venom dripped from massive jaws, searing Hisui’s torn limbs.

The grand hall trembled. From the broken ceiling, pillars and tiles rained down. As the floor gave way, Nadeshiko used her agility to leap from the rubble onto the red-black body of the centipede.

“…Ah, one of me died.”

The voice from behind—and a dry, unfamiliar scent—drained the blood from her face.

Spinning around, she saw it: the tengu she had just killed now lounging on the centipede’s shell.

“With the Seven Chicomecoatl Corns—replicating myself is easier than making tortillas. Pretty handy, huh?”

Clicking her tongue, Nadeshiko switched her weapon to a chained guardian sword and lunged.

To the oncoming blade, Hisui casually waved her Tengu fan.

The wind screamed. Nadeshiko twisted her body just in time, and behind her, walls and pillars exploded as if blasted away.

Rubble poured down. The excited centipede danced through the chaos.

Its red-black carapace tore through level after level of the temple, rampaging through the sanctuary. Dodging the falling debris with finesse, Nadeshiko launched a fierce assault on Hisui.

Meanwhile, the Great Tengu bounded nimbly across the carapace, dancing with the ever-changing forms of Nadeshiko’s Six Paths Iron Chains.

Sparks flew. Hellfire flared. Chains clanged. Wings flashed. The fan spun—

“Gah…!”

A hand gripped her shoulder from behind. Steel-like claws dug deep into her flesh.

Reflexively, Nadeshiko tried to release flames, but for some reason, not a finger would move.

“Tengu’s Iron Law… basically, a paralysis charm. Packs a punch, doesn’t it?”

With a light tone, the second Hisui tore Nadeshiko off the centipede.

In her shaking vision, the first Hisui waved playfully before swiftly spinning her fan—beheading the centipede in one clean strike.

The grand temple collapsed beneath them. The once-sacred grounds, now bathed in red light, looked like a sea of blood.

The towering Taimeimaru that had once loomed in the distant sky now seemed within reach.

“Since we’re here, how about I show you—the sky of the spirit realm?”

Clouds veiled her vision. She lost all sense of direction.

Was she about to be swallowed into the otherworld—like that pitiful boy of the Tenmei era?

“Not… here… not like this…!”

The chains could no longer reach anything. Nadeshiko was now untethered from all.

She shut her eyes tightly. The tears that fell froze midair, scattering like stardust.

“Amana…” —I did something terrible.

The roles had reversed from the Nue incident. Back then, she had been the one left behind, her heart thrown into chaos.

And now, she had made Amana feel that same pain.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to be…”

She just wanted to apologize to Amana now. To talk with her again.

If only Nadeshiko had more power, she could have done that. Or if she had the flesh of a monster—

────Nadeshiko’s eyes flew open. Flesh—was right there.

“Damn… you…!”

Her nerves sparked violently, muscles exploding into action.

With sheer will, she grabbed hold of Hisui’s claws—and sank her teeth deep into the root.

“Gyaa… that hurts…!”

A scream ripped from her throat as her vision spun violently.

With a wet crunch, her fangs sank deep into skin tough as steel. The moment the taste of blood filled her mouth, the wind roared past her ears.

Hisui had flung Nadeshiko into the sky.

She plummeted toward the sea of clouds, helpless under gravity’s pull. Even so, jaw clenched tight, she chewed the torn-off piece of flesh. The taste of tengu meat reminded her faintly of gamey chicken.

She swallowed.

The blood and flesh, blazing like embers, scorched down her throat and dropped into her stomach.

Warmth flared through her frozen body—vitality reigniting like fire. But that was not all the flesh had brought.

“Ah—”
Bursts of color flashed in her mind.

The memories Hisui had stolen… were returning, flowing back to her through blood and meat.

—The morning of February 11th.

At a window seat in a café in Jōbō, Nadeshiko sat drinking tea with Amana.

With Valentine’s Day close, the city had taken on a light, giddy air. As she flipped through a department store catalog covered in colorful chocolates, Nadeshiko twisted her lips in distaste.

“…A sticker, huh? That alone doesn’t prove there’s a monster.”

“Now, now, don’t be like that. Who knows, we might stumble across a tsuchinoko or something.”

“I really don’t care about that—ugh, you. At least try to eat it like you’re enjoying it.”

Amana wore a faintly awkward smile as he munched on the chocolate mochi, which had originally been on her plate.

After grumbling something like ‘If you really insist on giving me something, I guess I’ll accept it’, he’d convinced her to trade one with him.

“Mmm… yep. I really don’t think sweets are my thing.”

“Then why did you want one in the first place?”

“I couldn’t help it. Watching you made me crave one. —So, what now?”

“Kurama… I’ve barely ever been there. Besides—”

“Hmm? You had something else planned?”

He paused mid-sway of his folding fan, giving her a curious glance.

“…I wanted to go to the aquarium.”

“Oh, Kyoto Aquarium? I think they’ve got some winter-only event going on.”

“Yes. And I… I kind of miss the giant salamander.”

“You like that oversized amphibian that much?”

“I do… very much…”

“I see… well, good for you.”

Blushing slightly, Nadeshiko poked at the little giant salamander mascot on her bag.

Amana watched her with a warm, vague smile, then gently closed his fan.

“Then I’ll take you later.”

“…Take me?”

“Obviously. To the Kyoto Aquarium. Though if we stay out too long, it might have to be tomorrow. But I doubt we’ll be that busy.”

“…Really?”

“No problem-o. But in return, you’re helping me look for that sticker.”

“In that case… I guess I have no choice.”

Nadeshiko turned away with a huff, but her crimson eyes glanced sideways at Amana.

“…It’s a promise, okay? Break it, and I’ll make you cough up a thousand razor blades.”

“You’re scary as ever…”

As Amana shivered exaggeratedly, Nadeshiko laughed—

“…Oh no.”

Eyes wide, Nadeshiko plunged through the azure mirage.

The howling wind in her ears felt like the collective screams of Kamusari, the sacred land below.

“I… I broke our promise…!”

Only now did she understand the faint guilt she had been feeling toward Amana.

Oni walk no crooked path—just like the last cry of Shunton-douji, who had shouted this as he died, oni instinctively loathe lies. And breaking a promise is no different from betraying a vow sworn by one’s own soul.

“I have to go back… I must go back… I can’t break that promise—!”

If she died here, then the promise with Amana would truly be broken forever.

It had been a simple, ordinary promise. Amana probably didn’t even care anymore.

But to Nadeshiko—

“I won’t let it become a lie…! I’ll go back—no matter what! Alive, with Amana—!”

She clenched her fists tight and forced her mind to think. But the ground was already rushing up to meet her. And behind her, she could hear the wings of the tengu in pursuit.

A fear of death more vivid than ever washed over her thoughts, threatening to swallow them whole.

And in the end, with her emotions on the verge of bursting, Nadeshiko cried out—no longer even understanding what her words meant.

“Amana…!”

“────Nadeshiko!”

Nadeshiko looked up toward the heavens.

In the blue sky streaked with red light like a sunset, a golden flash shot across like a meteor.

Black sleeves fluttered, crimson robes swirled. A pale hand reached out, and the fan it held pointed toward Nadeshiko.

Instantly, the storm that had been tormenting her disappeared.

A gentle stream of spiritual energy supported her body, and the rushing scenery began to slow. Like a feather descending, Nadeshiko softly landed on the concrete rooftop.

Gravity returned—her legs buckled beneath her, but a graceful hand caught her before she collapsed.

“I thought I was gonna die…”

With a deep breath, it was Amana who spoke.

Clad in the crimson robes of the Heian era, the black Taoist attire of the Yin dynasty, and golden ornaments from ancient India—he had summoned the power of the nine tails. Yet for some reason, he was soaking wet. Running a hand through his dripping black hair, Amana fixed his golden eyes on Nadeshiko.

“There’s a mountain of things I want to say to you, but…”

“Uh-huh? How did you even get here?”

The sharp click-click of a beak echoed in the air.

When Nadeshiko turned around, she saw him—Hizui was perched nimbly atop the rooftop antenna, tapping his shoulder with the handle of his tengu fan as he tilted his papier-mâché-like head.

“How, you ask… That spring you used to communicate with humans—it’s still by the shrine. I made use of it, thank you very much. Hence the soaking wet appearance.”

At Amana’s words, Nadeshiko recalled the spring in the grove.

That must have been the same one where, in the eighth year of Tenmei, a boy had spoken with a tengu. When this “Hazama” was completely severed from the real world in 1999, it must have shifted to this side.

“Ahhh—ahhh! That thing! Totally forgot~ Whoopsie~”

“This isn’t the only blunder you’ve made.”

Amana narrowed his lips at the exaggeratedly flailing Hizui.

“If you had just killed Waxwing Pheasant then and there, the Bureau wouldn’t have acted. If you had taken out Haku Taku, we wouldn’t have noticed a thing… You always go halfway. You’ll spend centuries fascinated by something, then toss it aside the moment you’re bored. So very like a tengu.”

“Ah-ha! Ouch, that stings~”

Overlapping laughter echoed. Nadeshiko’s eyes widened as she looked around.

Under the glow of pine torches, multiple pairs of glinting wings flipped and flared on the rooftop. Counting Hizui in front, there were three total—great tengu exuding a dry, fragrant scent surrounded them.

“Then let’s do this tengu-style! — Smoky Mirror Tengu Shot!”

With laughter, a hail of projectiles burst forth from three directions.

As Nadeshiko instinctively moved to shield Amana, he raised his fan quickly toward Hizui.

“—Sakashima (Reversal)!”

The moment a pale golden ripple flashed, the obsidian bullets reversed course and pierced Hizui’s body instead. Countless shards tore through his tough frame, even shredding his wings.

Feathers and blood scattered. Two Hizuis fell from the sky; the one in front dropped to one knee.

“Damn it…! What the hell was that—?!”

“Foxfire: Chaos Spiral!”

Amana waved his fan, and with a roar, golden waves surged forth.

They swallowed Hizui in an instant, mercilessly battering his already-holed body. The waves didn’t stop—they spread mirages throughout the rooftop, illusions flickering in all directions.

“Let’s go!”
“Wait—h-hey!”

The moment Amana tapped her shoulder with the fan, Nadeshiko’s body lifted into the air.

With Nadeshiko floating beside him, Amana leapt boldly from the rooftop. They descended gracefully into a dim alleyway, gliding as they moved forward.

“Seriously, you’re such a cruel girl.”

Though his words were sulky, his glare was more severe than ever.

His eyes, etched with nine concentric rings, gleamed red in the fading light. His black hair swayed in the wind, faintly glowing gold.

“…Leaving me behind again…”

But the voice that slipped out for a moment was as small as a child’s.

Amana quickly replaced it with a vague smile and gave a dramatic sigh.

“Ugh… You really are the worst. Sure, I have my flaws. There’s plenty I should apologize for. But even so—”

“I just… didn’t want to hurt you.”

Nadeshiko’s voice trembled, heavy with tears. Amana turned toward her in surprise.

“I’ve never gotten this close to anyone before…”

Her tears shimmered faintly in the dim light before the wind swept them away.

Covering her face with both hands, Nadeshiko gasped for air. It wasn’t from cold, nor fear. She trembled from the storm of emotions raging inside her.

“I’m stronger than you—much sturdier. That’s why… I started getting scared. Scared of how to avoid hurting you.”

“I could kill her with my bare hands.” — She had realized that instinctively the moment she held Amana in her arms.

And during the battle with Nue, she had witnessed how fragile Amana’s heart could be beneath his aloof surface.

“I just didn’t want to hurt you…”

The maze-like alleyways blurred past them.

Feeling like she was being left behind by the world, Nadeshiko quietly let her tears fall.

“But I… I didn’t know how to cherish you properly… I tried so hard, but it never worked out…! And then… I even broke our promise…!”

“Nn?” The moment Amana tilted her head, their flight stopped.

They had arrived at a courtyard, enclosed on all four sides by buildings. The sky was a square cutout overhead, with the fake sun “Matsumaru” burning red like it owned the place.

“I… I said I wanted to come… to the aquarium…”

“—Mmm, mmm. I see. I understand now.”

Still wearing an ambiguous smile, Amana met Nadeshiko’s tearful eyes.

She was, as always, breathtakingly beautiful. Her eyes, etched with nine circles, were unfathomable; her lips wore a faint, bewitching smile. Her black hair shimmered with subtle golden hues in the light.

That captivating face of a femme fatale gently flicked Nadeshiko on the forehead.

“Ow…!”

“No problem. There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about.”

“But I… I promised…”

“It was my idea to come here. And this whole mess is the fault of that feathered beast. You did nothing wrong. You’re the victim.”

“I was too weak… and now even you, Amana, are caught up in this…”

“Come on, take a deep breath.”

Gently stroking her trembling back, Nadeshiko lowered her eyes and obediently inhaled deeply.

Tap. —She felt something on her forehead and instinctively opened her eyes wide.

“Amana…?”

“…So that’s why everything’s been off.”

Amana’s appearance was no longer that of the nine-tailed fox.

The red and black garments had vanished, replaced by her disheveled Chinese blouse and black pants.

With her amber eyes lowered, Amana gave a soft smile.

“We’ve both been going in circles, haven’t we?”

“Both of us…?”

“Yes—matters of the heart are complicated things.”

That soft smile turned into a smirk. Nadeshiko, puzzled, opened her mouth.

—A scent of vanilla.

The instant she sensed it, Nadeshiko instinctively lashed her human-realm chains backward. Amana also seemed to sense it, quickly whipping her fan behind her.

Blue and gold sparks were blocked by wings, and silver rings were deflected by fists.

“Aww, being left out is so mean, don’t you think?”

Landing atop a streetlamp, Hisui casually looked at her own hands.

This was the version of her with a charred right hand. Her left was split open by a Tenrin attack—but as she lightly clenched it, the flesh and bone mended instantly.

“Come on, let’s play some more. Just a little fun before the gods notice. Wanna bet which one shows up first? Jaguar? Or maybe, by the nature of the ritual, Hummingbird?”

“…Tengu are really careless creatures.”

Amana sighed, and Hisui shut her mouth, tilting her head like a bird.

“Oh? Do you have a secret plan? But from what I can see, that costume-like aura that cloaked you before is gone. What can you even do in that weakened state?”

“I can kill that sun.”

“…Haha. Now that’s a bold claim.”

Hisui laughed and pointed to the sky. The fake sun, still burning like a red fireball, blazed above.

“Matsumaru? And just how do you plan to destroy that?”

“Nadeshiko—you’re misunderstanding something.”

“Hey, you know Hisui really hates being ignored, right~?”

Fanning herself, Amana made Hisui pout—a surprisingly human gesture for such an inhuman being.

“…Misunderstanding what?”

“That I, too, have my pride.”

Amana, still glaring at Hisui, swiftly opened her fan.

Before Nadeshiko could ask what she meant, Amana’s lips shaped a quick chant:

“Clear day, clear day, spring haze — Drive away the impurity of the mundane —”

Amana danced, her fan twirling, her toes sliding across the ground. As she moved, white clouds began to form in the crimson-drenched sky, and the air grew moist.

“Purification and exorcism, I offer—On Kirikaku Sowaka!”

A cold droplet touched Nadeshiko’s nose. Then came a loud downpour.

The shimmering rain clouded the sky, blurring the two sources of sunlight.

“A fox’s wedding…”

Nadeshiko widened her eyes at the glittering rain screen.

“Hmm… That technique’s usually used to cleanse curses or impurities before a wedding, but… you don’t think this can destroy Matsumaru, do you?”

Soaked wings glistening in the rain, Hisui laughed brightly.

“Tengu really are hopeless.”

But—Amana also smiled.

That smile resembled the moment a fox leaps at its prey.

“You look too far into the distance and miss what’s at your feet… Watch closely, feathered beast. Your sun is about to die.”

“Such dramatics. This little rain can’t do anything to Matsumaru—”

Just then—deep within her shadowed eye sockets, Hisui’s glowing eyes shuddered.

Her gleaming wings trembled, and her sharp beak gaped open as she stared up at her sun.

“No… way—!”

“One sun is more than enough—this conclusion was reached long ago!”

The sound of a bowstring rang loud across heaven and earth.

From the depths of the chaotic divine wasteland, a single flash of light shot into the sky—a fallen star returning to the heavens.

The dazzling silver streak pierced even the mirage, rushing straight toward the false sun—

—A heart-wrenching birdlike scream echoed across the sky.

“That’s a ritual invoking the myth of the archer Hou Yi—recorded in the Songs of Chu, Huainanzi, and Classic of Mountains and Seas.”

In an age forgotten by mankind—there were once ten suns in the sky.

To save the scorched earth, a legendary archer named Hou Yi stood up. With his unmatched skill, he shot down nine of those suns—

“Your ritual is a cheap imitation of Aztec rites. But in Aztec mythology, the sun has a lifespan. That’s why that sun could be killed.”

The blazing flames scattered in all directions, and the great bird’s shadow fell toward the ground.

It crumbled apart within the sunshower, vanishing completely.

“The curse is broken. And when a curse is only partially broken—”

“—Guh, ah…!”

“It returns to the caster…”

Before Nadeshiko’s eyes, Hisui clutched her chest. Her kingfisher-like face twisted, and blood gushed from her glossy beak.

“…Even if you’ve strayed from humanity, your blood is still red.”

Soaking in the rain, Nadeshiko gripped her Six Paths Iron Chains tightly.

She glanced toward Amana, who nodded in satisfaction. Her coral-colored lips still curled into that fearless smile.

—The ache in Nadeshiko’s chest every time she looked at her seemed to have washed away with the rain.

She steadied her breathing—and kicked off the ground.

Ahead, in those glowing red eyes—wings, drenched and tattered, unfurled.

Slipping past them, Nadeshiko swung her Binding Rod at the grotesque body.

“Nice one…!”

A hard sensation accompanied the voice filled with excitement—something solid had struck against her fist.

Nadeshiko furrowed her brows and glared at Hisui’s new weapon. It was a wooden sword carved with delicate detail, into which shards of obsidian had been embedded like saw teeth—an Aztec macuahuitl.

“Splendid, you all…!”

Even while coughing up blood, Hisui swung the wooden sword and knocked Nadeshiko’s staff upward.

Clicking her tongue, Nadeshiko quickly stepped back to evade the blade aimed at her neck. Then, she seized Hisui’s arm and, using a shoulder-throw technique, slammed him into the ground.

“Gah…!” Hisui hit the ground back-first, quite disgracefully.

Under normal circumstances, he would’ve been able to block with his wings. Evidently, the backlash from the curse had taken a severe toll.

Still, he immediately slammed his sturdy wings against the ground and regained his stance.

Leaving his torso wide open.

“──Iron Lotus.”

With that, Nadeshiko drove her flame-wreathed fist into him, carving fresh cracks into the earth.

The fist, burning like it was woven from steel threads, sank into his flesh. She felt a shock run up to her shoulder, but simultaneously, the sensation of something being crushed inside gave her a clear sense of impact.

His beak trembled, and with a wheezing moan, dark-red blood sprayed out.

She aimed to follow with another blow—tightening her side and stepping in forcefully.

“Nadeshiko! Come!”

Amana’s shout made Nadeshiko widen her eyes. At the same time, Hisui’s head twisted unnaturally.

“Kyah—hahahaha! Splendid! Splendid! Truly excellent, excelente!”

His laughter, spewed along with blood, gathered the clouds and spun an ominous premonition with the rumble of thunder.

“In that case, how about this?! The Wailing of the Feathered Serpent—Ehecatl Orochi!”

The wind howled, shaking heaven and earth.

Like a serpentine dragon descending from the sky, a violent gale blew down, instantly turning the surrounding buildings—no, the entire area—into a raging storm zone.

“What are we supposed to do against this?!”

Within the protective barrier spread behind a building, Nadeshiko raised her voice.

Amana clenched her fan, her amber eyes glaring at the sky. Her coral-pink lips curled into a smile.

“I have a plan! Listen—!”

“You’re all amazing!”

Hisui’s laughter drowned out Amana’s voice, echoing across heaven and earth.

“Let’s play more! Let’s laugh more! Let’s compete for survival, shall we?!”

One by one, buildings were swept into the white-fanged gusts. Glass shattered, outer walls crumbled. Utility poles sparked and fell, street trees were ripped from the earth like weeds.

“Show me how fiercely you can live, little green human—!”

The storm expanded, shaving away the blue sky.

Amid the howling laughter of the tengu, the raging wind threatened to consume the entire Kamusari Housing District.

──A red shadow took flight.

A fiery trail marked the clouds as the winds bared their fangs.

It resembled a swallow at first glance—a large bird, nearly as big as a human, flapping its blazing wings. A chain was wrapped around its neck.

Riding the sparking back of the creature like a sled, Nadeshiko steered the monstrous bird.

“Liorigenchou… the bird that flies through hell. Not bad at all.”

Hisui laughed and brought down his tengu fan in a powerful swing toward Nadeshiko.

The clouds split apart. The blade-like wind severed the chain, sending Nadeshiko crashing into a chaotic air current. Her limbs were slashed by the debris-filled wind, tiles and rubble pummeling her body.

“Ugh—gah…!”

“You think you can match a tengu in the air?”

Slammed into the ground, Nadeshiko still reached for the Sixfold Iron Chain.

“Nice! I love a hard worker!”

With a shrill laugh, Hisui’s gleaming wings turned into flashes of light. His form disappeared from the air, reappearing behind the girl in a blink.

The Aztec wooden sword came down, carving its obsidian blade into her elegant shoulder.

“Still got some fight in you, right?”

Hisui clicked his beak and chuckled. As he put more force into the blade, he felt the jagged obsidian tear through nerves and muscle fibers.

Nadeshiko let out a muffled scream and nearly collapsed to the ground.

Instead, Hisui caught her gently, almost mockingly. Tilting his birdlike skull of a face, he whispered:

“Hey now, hang in there. Your life’s gonna end here? That’s no good, right? You don’t want that, right? Keep clawing. Keep burning your life. Come on—!”

“──Tengu really are careless about their footing.”

At the clear, ringing voice, Hisui’s beak froze.

Countless ultrafine strings had entangled his hand.

“What?! You—you’re Osaki!”

As Hisui froze in disbelief, the girl laughed—and her form changed rapidly.

She transformed into something fox-like, long and slender—her body shimmering like polished jade. Countless steel strings stretched out from it.

A servant of the nine-tailed fox, she wrapped her supple body around Hisui in a flash and began to squeeze.

“Gah…! This much—!”

Coughing up blood, Hisui flung Osaki off with all his might.

With a strange warbling cry, the jade Osaki fled into the air. Her tails, like the neck of a string instrument, scattered blue phosphorescence in the wind and twirled like a swimming fish.

──Then the flames scorched the glow.

As Hisui turned to target Osaki, he looked up.

Flames spiraled through the sky—the Liorigenchou, which should’ve been defeated, came diving down.

And from its back, a girl leapt—wielding a flaming ring, her eyes like hellfire focused solely on the foolish tengu who had been lured from the heavens.

Hisui reflexively tried to shield himself with his wings.

It was pointless.

“Path of Asura—Extermination Ring.”

A burning ring tore through the tengu’s wings.

Tengu blood scattered into the stormy air. Hisui’s upper body, severed cleanly across the sash-like diagonal, plummeted to the ground. Staring up at his own bisected form, his bloodied beak quivered.

“…I… I was supposed to soar the skies…”

The Osaki of jade and stone twisted midair and brought its heavy tail crashing down, smashing Hisui’s head to pulp.

And yet, Hisui’s half-body remained standing. Not only that—it gripped the wooden sword in its remaining left hand and staggered a step toward Nadeshiko.

“This thing’s… hollow inside…!”

Parrying the desperate strike, Nadeshiko growled low.

The tengu’s exposed innards were an empty cavern, filled with a gas resembling blue clouds that swirled inside the darkened chest cavity.

“No way… this one’s a fake too?!”

“—Keep going!”

Amana’s sharp cry rang out from the Osaki’s jaw. Nadeshiko’s eyes widened.

“Tengu are hollow! Just destroy the vessel! Once it’s shattered, its soul will scatter!”

“So basically—tear it to pieces! Fine by me!”

Roaring into the wind, Nadeshiko unleashed the burning halo.

A wild, reckless swing of the wooden blade was cut down—arm and all—in a single strike. Still, Hisui’s half-body kept coming, and Nadeshiko let the execution wheel rampage wildly.

Blood flew. Flesh burned. Bones crumbled into ash.

Slash. Rip. Crush. Shatter. Smash.

Eventually, the winds subsided.

The swirling clouds dispersed, and clear sunlight poured down onto the earth.

“Ah…”

With a faint cry of victory, Nadeshiko raised her gaze to the lone sun.

In her hand, the execution wheel trembled violently, as if demanding, “More to kill!” Nadeshiko sighed, swung her right hand, and returned the savage blade to its original chain form.

The ground was stained red. Feathers scattered. Bits of flesh lay strewn everywhere.

Nadeshiko licked her lips for just a moment—then shook her head and turned her back on the tengu’s corpse.

“…Can’t eat that… Don’t want to eat—”

Suddenly, her vision tilted.

As she collapsed, it was the Osaki who caught her, chirping strangely as it gently helped her sit.

“…You can do this kind of thing too, huh?”

“First time trying it.”

Through the glittering curtain of misty rain, Amana slowly appeared, fanning herself with a black sandalwood fan.

The Osaki dashed straight to her, showing signs of affection. Amana absently petted it and narrowed her eyes.

“‘Royal Nobility.’ First time I summoned it in three thousand years.”

“What if you couldn’t summon it?”

“Then I’d go out there myself. All that mattered was pinning this feathered beast’s eyes to the ground. These things are so… extreme.”

It all began the moment Hisui conjured the great storm. While Nadeshiko had retreated beneath a barrier, Amana set up a sneak attack.

The real Nadeshiko flew secretly above Hisui.

Meanwhile, the Osaki took on Nadeshiko’s form to distract him.

Prideful and careless—tengu, when focused, have tunnel vision. Once he could only see the ground-level Nadeshiko, they bound him.

Then the real Nadeshiko, from above, struck and neutralized him in a single blow.

That was Amana’s plan.

“…I was never meant to use so much Hak power,” she added.

The Osaki, its body gleaming like polished stone, gave its master one final lick before vanishing.

“When you overuse Hak techniques like Divine Trickery… your nature starts to lean too close to Hak. The previous ‘me’s start interfering again… It’s a troublesome body.”

Amana turned. In her calm amber eyes, she saw Nadeshiko shakily standing up.

“…Still, I felt like trying… this time.”

Nadeshiko said nothing. She just stared back.

Meeting each other’s eyes so directly—it was unfamiliar, unsettling.

Amana quickly looked away and covered her mouth with her fan, almost fleeing the moment.

“Well… I’m not made for this kind of thing. It’s not in my—”

“────I’ll do as I please.”

The clouds kept drifting, but the sun’s rays—shattered yet clear—fell upon them both. In the translucent light, Nadeshiko’s red eyes sparkled, and her petal-like lips bloomed into a small smile.

“You should too. Just be who you want to be.”

Amana’s amber eyes widened. Then, with the expression of someone gazing into something blinding, she smiled.

“…Yes… that’s right.”

“You’re the one who said it—mutual coexistence. We’ll both work on it, little by little.”

“Honestly… you’re absolutely right.”

Amana chuckled as Nadeshiko started to walk toward her.

Then, a tremor ran beneath their feet. A small one, but Nadeshiko’s weakened body couldn’t stay standing and fell again.

Amana rushed over—caught her—and they both collapsed.

“…Ow.”

“Can’t be helped. I’m in pain too… nothing ever goes smoothly.”

“Seriously. But… doesn’t this tremor feel bad?”

The earth groaned. The rain intensified. Even the landscape blurred to white.

“The Wintersweet Feathers are gone. The tengu too… That means the Divine Abandonment Complex is vanishing.”

“…What about us?”

Forcing herself up, Nadeshiko looked down at Amana’s face.

To her worried gaze, Amana—still lying down—offered a small smile.

“…We’re more deeply tied to the real world. We’ll probably return there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… besides, I used the fox’s spiritual rain. With that and the tengu’s curse weakened, everything should be purified.”

Nadeshiko blinked slowly. Then collapsed next to Amana.

She felt no hunger—perhaps due to tasting Hisui’s flesh—but her limbs lacked all strength. Even her brain felt like it was melting.

“…We’ll go back to Kyoto, right?”

“Yeah… though who knows where in Kyoto.”

“You’re so irresponsible… I’d hate to end up as a nutria’s food in the Kamo River.”

“…They don’t eat people.”

The rain roared louder. The sunlight blurred.

Buildings shimmered like heat haze. Children’s laughter, wind chimes, the warmth of family—all of it vanished with the Divine Abandonment Complex.

Still gazing at the sky, Nadeshiko gently took Amana’s hand.

And so, all things dissolved into a sunlit rain… like a dream.