“What?! Masamune hath begun a neutralization ritual at Kyougamine
?!” Mogami Yoshiaki shouted when he received the report from the messenger.
“Is this true? Art thou certain?!”
A room in a hotel within the city. Yoshiyasu’s messenger reported rapidly, “‘Tis certain. Date is performing the dual rituals of ’Daiitoku Myouou-hou’ and ‘Gouzanze Myouou-hou’ with the intention of breaking through Lord Yoshiyasu’s ‘kinrin no hou’. Further, the Uesugi have evidently started to dissolve the «jike-kekkai».”
“What!”
Ueshima’s face twisted. Yoshiaki had never imagined that Date would counterattack like this. Neither Date nor Uesugi should know of his true objective.
But Naoe, still in Yamagata, should have succumbed to Ohigashi-no-Kata’s hypnotic suggestion and been made a servant of Mogami by now.
“How doth Yoshiyasu?!”
“Lord Yoshiyasu immediately performed ‘Dakiniten-hou’ to counter Date. He hath already dispatched soldiers to Kyougamine, but Date’s perimeter hath been fortified, and ’tis a hard battle...”
“Feh! What cunning, that cursed Date!” Yoshiaki’s fists shook. “And the Uesugi? Can they be held back?”
“Mercy...because our enemy are kanshousha, by their strength alone the soldiers stationed in Sendai are...”
“Useless wretches!” Yoshiaki roared, then commanded decisively, “This Sendai, which hath finally begun moving into my hands—my plans shall not be interrupted. Call the soldiers ofYamagata! I will destroy Date in one blow!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Send word to Ashina! ’Tis time to tighten the noose around Date. Tell them to invade Sendai!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Glaring at the lights of Sendai spreading outside his window, Yoshiaki gnashed his teeth.
“Masamune, thou wretch... I shall not allow the likes of thee to interfere.”
At Kyougamine, the ‘Rendan-hou’ continued. Two hours had already passed. Flames leapt brightly in the two fire-wheel platforms. The monks chanted their mantras without pause. On the platforms, Choukai and Keishun continued the rituals even as the blood climbed higher and higher on their increasingly ghastly-looking faces.
Meanwhile, Masamune and company had put Yuzuru, whose condition was odd, to sleep behind the curtain.
“What a terrible fever,” Kojuurou said to Masamune. “He was in fine health just earlier. I cannot think but that this is caused by the ceremony.”
“He hath worsened, so it seems, little by little as the ceremony progressed. ’Tis almost as if Narita-dono hath taken the curse upon himself.”
A great power lies concealed within him.
So Keishun and Choukai had said of Yuzuru. Though all of them were still in the same place, only Yuzuru’s condition had declined so drastically. Surely there was a connection.
(But what by the heavens is happening here...?)
“Dono!”
Masamune returned to himself as someone called to him. The feverish Yuzuru opened his eyes. He appeared to have finally regained consciousness.
“Art thou awake, Narita-dono?”
“How dost thou feel?”
Yuzuru looked dimly at Kojuurou, then Masamune.
“Lord Masamune...”
“Lie still for the nonce. We will protect this place—”
Yuzuru did not yet appear to have regained full consciousness, and hazy confusion filled his eyes.
He suddenly spoke as if in delirium: “The foxes...are moving.”
Masamune and Kojuurou’s eyes widened sharply.
“Eh?”
Yuzuru’s eyes seemed fixed on somewhere far away, but his voice was oddly clear as he said, “Dakiniten has...sent her koko. Someone is counterattacking with ‘Dakiniten-hou’. The foxes will be upon Kyougamine soon!”
“What!”
Yuzuru abruptly sat up. Kojuurou hurriedly moved to offer his assistance, but Yuzuru declined and slowly stood on his own.
“Narita-dono...!”
“The foxes are coming. Very soon,” Yuzuru said very clearly, and walked towards the goma-dan.
“!”
Masamune and Kojuurou couldn’t quite believe their eyes. Golden tendrils of light rose from Yuzuru’s body. The threads of light intertwined in the air and reached up into empty space. Enveloped by this golden light, Yuzuru walked towards the two fire-wheel platform as if called by something there.
Kojuurou shouted, “Dono! There!”
“!”
Then, as if they had been waiting for Yuzuru, the flames within the two fire-wheel platforms surged with earth-shattering energy. They rose to a height of nearly five meters, flickering wildly.
“Aaaah!”
Everyone present shouted involuntarily. In the next instant, the huge goma fires had taken on the forms of the terrible, wrathful Wisdom Kings!
“Th-these are...!”
Gouzanze Myouou. Daiitoku Myouou.
What had appeared in the ‘Gouzanze Myouou-hou’ fire-wheel platform officiated by Choukai was the three-faced, eight-armed figure of Gouzanze Myouou, his hands crossed in the vajrahumkara mudra. Gouzanze Myouou was the Wisdom King who had surrendered the corrupting thoughts of avarice, rage, and ignorance in the service of Diamond Realm Dainichi Nyorai. Among the Wisdom Kings, he was second in rank only to Fudou Myouou and had subjugated Daijizaiten, also known as the god Shiva, on Dainichi Nyorai’s behalf.
Meanwhile, the six-faced, six-armed Daiitoku Myouou had appeared in Keishun’s fire-wheel platform. He was riding on the back of a water buffalo, and his hands were set in the ritual makouin. This was the protector of virtue and punisher of evil, the manifestation of the mighty Buddha of Endless Light and Life (Amida Nyorai) as a Wisdom King, Daiitoku Myouou.
The two Wisdom Kings who had taken shape in the flames stood directly facing Yuzuru. Yuzuru, enveloped by that golden light, looked straight up at them with no trace of agitation in his bearing.
Yuzuru quietly raised his left arm. He pointed at the empty sky as if in command.
The two flames suddenly swelled and climbed as if to engulf the sky. The two Wisdom Kings spread across Sendai’s night sky like a mantle over Kyougamine.
(What...!)
Masamune and company gasped and shivered.
Yuzuru solemnly watched over them with wide, god-touched eyes.
The Exalted Gouzanze Myouou—
The Exalted Daiitoku Myouou—
Had descended in the skies over Sendai.
“Kagetora-sama! There!”
“Huh?”
Takaya looked up at Naoe’s shout.
“Holy...!” he gasped. The gigantic forms of the two Wisdom Kings had appeared in the night sky over the city.
“Wh-what the hell is that?!”
“Gouzanze Myouou and Daiitoku Myouou... Could that be—!”
Takaya turned to Naoe. “Kyougamine... Is that the true power of the ‘Rendan-hou’?”
“But the Shugen priests of Haguro do not have such enormous powers. To make them manifest so clearly...” For a moment Naoe was speechless. “There’s just no way... What has happened? Who in the world performed a spell of this magnitude?!”
“Yuzuru...!”
At Takaya’s murmur, Naoe’s gaze shifted to him in surprise.
“Isn’t it...Yuzuru? This mighty power... Isn’t that Yuzuru’s doing—?”
“...Yuzuru-san...”
Kousaka’s words abruptly echoed in the back of his mind.
“Narita Yuzuru is a menace to the Roku Dou Sekai.”
This? Is this what he was talking about? This terrifying «power» with the ability to awaken the Wisdom Kings and call on their presence?
A cold shiver ran down his spine, and he gazed up at the awe-inspiring forms of the Wisdom Kings towering above the city.
“! Naoe!”
“?”
He looked up at the sky in the opposite direction, where ominous, palely-glowing clouds had appeared. No, they were not clouds; they were...
(Foxes...!)
The ‘koko’ of Mogami Yoshiyasu!
Takaya and Naoe both shivered.
A mass of ‘koko’...Mogami had begun his attack on Kyougamine with ‘Dakiniten-hou’.
But on a terrifying scale. They stretched across the sky for about a kilometer. Where in the world was Yoshiyasu getting so much power? The mass of ‘koko’ coalesced into the shape of one gigantic fox with lightning crackling from its body. It drew closer and closer, filled with terrifying spiritual energy.
“We seem to have underestimated Yoshiyasu, huh...”
Going at someone like him with his bare hands had been...Takaya recalled his recklessness with trepidation.
The ‘koko’ savagely attacked the Wisdom Kings. Gouzanze Myouou swung his six arms in mighty blows. The bellow of Daiitoku Myouou’s water buffalo thundered across the sky. A battle between beings with powers beyond human comprehension had begun.
“Kagetora-sama.”
At the sound of Naoe’s voice, Takaya turned his gaze forward once more. The barrier point at Aobayama. The soldiers sent by Mogami against them had already arrived. Beyond them was the gigantic pillar formed from the spirits gathered there by the invocation of the dead.
“Hmph. Yeah, I know...” Takaya smiled defiantly. “We gotta take care of these guys before tranquilizing the earth. You wanna tell me that our task is to smash the barrier apart, right?”
“With the «choubuku» of father and son, Yoshiaki and Yoshiyasu following. Please do not squander your «power» carelessly. I will protect you. Please take care to preserve your strength.”
“That’s if we can afford it.”
Naoe took in his smile with a quick sideways glance. The sternness suddenly vanished from his eyes.
“You...have not changed at all, have you?”
“Eh?”
Stepping in front of Takaya, Naoe filled himself with «power» and glared at the soldiers amassed against them.
“Please stay behind me.”
“Naoe.”
Takaya gripped his right arm, and Naoe turned. Takaya gazed at him with direct eyes.
“I...don’t want you to die.”
“Kagetora-sama?”
“I can’t do without you. And I won’t forgive you if you just carelessly exchange bodies. I won’t forgive you, so.”
Naoe’s expression was serious.
“Is that a command from ‘Uesugi Kagetora’?”
“So you won’t listen if it’s from ‘Ougi Takaya’?” Takaya glared at him. “I won’t forgive you for disobeying me, Naoe. This my command.”
Ghosts waited expectantly.
The Sword of Bishamonten glinted sharply, the fangs of a tiger on the verge of pouncing on his prey.
Kokuryou’s gentle face appeared in the back of his mind. Saying—no matter where you are, don’t forget that you are yourself.
(—Gramps...)
The malice-filled ghosts made their move. Takaya shouted, “Watch and see, Gramps!”
The demon-conquering blade howled. Another battle had begun. Naoe formed the ritual gesture of Bishamonten and cried, “Ari nari tonari anaro nabi kunabi!”
Mogami’s warriors attacked, swinging their swords.
“ (bai)!”
The group in the lead disappeared, engulfed by a violent gale. The warriors surrounded Takaya and Naoe in a flash. Takaya mowed them down with the Sword of Bishamonten, and Naoe followed with «ressa-choubuku». Countless warriors fell by Takaya’s blade. A sword grazed his arm. A Mogami warrior had come on him from behind. Naoe instantly struck it down. Takaya, too, shielded Naoe countless times as he formed the ritual gesture of Bishamonten.
“ (bai)!”
“On dakini sahaharakyatei sowaka, on dakini sahaharakyatei sowaka...”
Meanwhile, Mogami Yoshiyasu had put his entire being into performing the ‘Dakiniten-hou’ to break the spell of Kyougamine.
His features, illuminated by goma-dan fires, looked all the more ghastly.
But it took no ordinary power to battle to a standstill two of the great Wisdom Kings. But why had he concealed it? With this fearsome «power», he could perhaps have annihilated Uesugi’sYasha-shuu.
(I did not recognize your strength.)
Kousaka Danjou watched over him soberly. —Ironically, the liberation of his mind from obstructive thoughts had released Yoshiyasu’s power. Until now, the tension that had always filled him had withered his mind. Because he had always lacked confidence in himself. Because he had never been able to freely wield the power he carried.
(—Because of his father...?)
Not impossible, Kousaka thought, crossing his arms. The greatness of the father probably had to be taken into consideration.
“Reporting!” The Mogami messenger who had arrived relayed the bitter news, “Despite hard fighting, two of the barrier points of the «jike-kekkai» have been dissolved!”
Yoshiyasu did not answer. He chanted the mantra of Dakiniten ceaselessly, without even appearing to have heard the messenger’s voice.
Kousaka replied on his behalf, “What of the warriors? What are they doing?”
“Well—” The messenger answered with trepidation, “They’re vanishing as if sucked into a wind conjured by some strange magic.”
(So the Uesugi, hmm...?)
Kousaka grinned.
“Gather the soldiers at the remaining three points. They must hold fast. This is Lord Yoshiyasu’s command.”
“Yes, my lord!” The messenger replied and rushed off.
A crow came winging past him and landed on Kousaka’s arm.
It had been sent from Yamagata.
Kousaka said sharply in response to its message, “Truly?”
Disaster in Yamagata. Mogami’s main army, on standby in Yamagata, seemed prepared to set out for Sendai at the worst possible time. Furthermore, Mogami had apparently issued the order for a general offensive against Date by his onshou allies. Kousaka’s expression sobered.
“Guess I won’t be an idle spectator for much longer, hmm? —Aye, I understand. Report to our lord. That I will take Sendai without fail. And to please leave matters here to me and advance soldiers into Yamagata. Then take this message to the Kouduke troops: Invade the Aizu immediately. We must not allow Ashina to make a move!”
The crow gave a single hoarse caw and flew off once more into the western sky.
Kousaka looked at Yoshiyasu’s back.
(Now then... Shall we finish things here?)
The blade of a dagger glinted secretly within his coat.
Chiaki’s «nenpa» smashed into the spirit pillar and exploded. He immediately began «choubuku».
Under its cover, Ayako pressed forward with the earth-tranquilization ritual.
“Noumaku sanmanda bodanan harachibiei sowaka, noumaku sanmanda bodanan harachibiei sowaka—...”
Chiten’s power gushed forth like water from a spring to purify the curse-sullied earth.
Chiaki continued to perform «choubuku» again and again.
“Fuck! This is endless!”
Dozens of spirits disappeared with each iteration, but just how many of them had the invocation of the dead summoned? A stunning number. It was impossible to place a «gebaku» on them even with «kouhou-choubuku». But more terrible still was the fact that so many spirits were not able to pass on to the next life.
“Whatever the path, you can’t stay in this world!” Chiaki shouted, performing «choubuku» with loud abandon. The onryou attacked like a tsunami.
“ (bai)!”
He put he had everything into it, and nearly a hundred spirits vanished at the same time. Then—
“...!”
Chiaki’s sixth sense tingled faintly.
Somewhere, someone was wielding the «choubuku» power of the Sword of Bishamonten.
(Kagetora?)
He could think of no other explanation. Chiaki’s lips curved in a grin.
“Huh. Wouldn’t be interesting otherwise...”
He’d been waiting for this. With Kagetora’s awakening, he had a rival. And the Kagetora who wielded that «power»—he had been Chiakis only rival for the past four hundred years.
“!”
The asphalt cracked apart right next to him.
“Ugh...!”
The onryou struck at Chiaki with their «nenpa», precipitating a violent explosion.
Chiaki raised his eyes sharply.
Kagetora had awakened...!
“I’m not gonna lose to you, Kagetora!” he roared.
“Come and get some!”
The Sword of Bishamonten tore apart the ghosts.
Takaya cut down the warriors still obstinately advancing in succession, taking out fifty at a time without even blinking.
“...you bastards!”
He panted unsteadily, gripped by weariness. But he could not rest.
His movements dulled. The warriors pressed forward mercilessly.
“...!”
He turned to slay an attacking warrior. But another advanced on him from the right at the same time!
“ (bai)!”
Naoe’s intervention saved Takaya.
“Are you all right, Kagetora-sama!”
“I’m...fine...”
Takaya raised his head abruptly and shouted, “Naoe, behind you!”
The warrior was on the verge of cutting Naoe down. Naoe nearly dodged it, but the blade grazed his temple.
“Fucking bastard!”
Takaya formed the ritual gesture.
“ (bai)!”
Dozens of warriors disappeared in a blink.
Perhaps finally rattled, the soldiers broke ranks and began to run. Takaya turned to Naoe without giving chase. Naoe’s temple was bleeding.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But you’ve exhausted so much of your strength...”
“Heh. Exhausted? This is nothing,” Takaya responded, wiping sweat from his neck and giving Naoe a fearless grin without a hint of tiredness. “Let’s hurry up and get rid of the invocation of the dead. We can’t just leave that thing there forever.”
“True enough. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I think the «malice» in the city has been gradually fading. If Mogami’s power has fallen even a small amount, then all the better forKyougamine...”
“What they’re doing is none of our business.” Battle-lust glittered in Takaya’s eyes. “What we gotta do is finish these guys off.”
His gaze, sharp and dazzlingly clear, seemed almost to belong to a wild tiger.
“Let’s go, Naoe!”
Takaya raised the Sword of Bishamonten and dashed forward, Naoe keeping pace immediately behind him.
Exploding «nenpa». Shattering asphalt. The onryou pummeled them with «nenpa».
(I will not let them touch one finger of his body!)
Showering rubble. Naoe put all his will into the «goshinha» he erected around them.
(I’ll show you how I will continue to protect him...!)
Onryou attacked from the sky. Naoe formed the ritual gesture. Takaya swung the Sword of Bishamonten.
A incredible number of onryou charged them.
“Namu Tobatsu Bishamonten!” Raising the Sword high, Takaya shouted at the top of his voice, “To this hand...! Lend me thy power!”
In the sky over Sendai, the spell-battle between Yoshiyasu and Kyougamine grew ever fiercer.
Koko without number ran freely about the skies of Sendai. Daiitoku Myouou’s water buffalo bellowed, and the two Wisdom Kings annihilated foxes with enraged war-cries.
The spells of Kyougamine and Yoshiyasu clashed in the skies above Sendai. The powers of the two sides were almost equal. Neither let the other take a single step forward.
The battle increased in vehemence. An immense, fearsome energy shook the earth and conjured dark clouds that split the sky apart with lightning.
Naoe’s «nenpa» broke apart the rubble that came hurtling at them again and again. Takaya mowed down the spirits with the Sword of Bishamonten.
A fresh troop of skeletal warriors appeared opposite them!
“There’s more?! Feh!” Takaya spat in disgust, and gathered his will. Fissures ran through the asphalt with loud cracks. The ground broke apart beneath the skeletal warriors’ feet, and they collapsed like dominoes.
“Let’s settle things here first, Naoe! Gimme a hand!”
“At your command!”
No soon said than Takaya began running. The onryou shot straight at Takaya!
“No you don’t!”
Naoe created a «goshinheki» with layers of «goshinha» and interposed it between Takaya and the onryou.
Pak pak pak!
The «goshinheki» intercepted the «nenpa» with a sound like crackling firecrackers. Takaya commenced their counter-assault with his will shooting out like bullets from a machine gun. Theonryou scattered.
However.
“...!”
At that moment, the spirit-pillar broke apart, and all of the individual spirits crowded around Takaya and Naoe angrily. ...Not good!
“Ugh...!”
A razor whirlwind pummeled Naoe and tore into his clothes and flesh with a dull scratching sound.
“! ...Naoe!”
The ground exploded at his feet as Takaya cried out, and he turned, shielding himself.
Mogami’s warriors crowded against his back.
(We’re surrounded...?!)
Takaya dashed towards Naoe. Naoe scanned the area around them, panting with the pain of his wounds. An enormous number of spirits surrounded them, filling their entire field of vision.
“It’s been a while since we faced this many of them.”
“«Ressa-choubuku»? We’re gonna run out of energy before we’re finished.”
Naoe looked at Takaya as the blood dripped from his cheek. Takaya glared at the spirits, the Sword of Bishamonten poised.
“Humph. Whatever, I don’t care.”
“Kagetora-sama!”
“This is what calls for power, huh? ...!”
«Nenpa» blasted from the onryou right next to him. Takaya shielded himself for a moment before yelling, “Let’s deal with all of ’em!”
Energy gushed from Takaya’s body. His «power» exploded!
Crackle!
A blast of silver lightning mowed down the besieging onryou instantly. The asphalt around them cracked apart, and fire spouted from the ground. The flames undulated in midair like a blazing dragon and swallowed the onryou. Terrible screams rent the night from every direction.
“I’ll make you rest in peace right now!”
Takaya sprinted forward. The razor whirlwind grazed against him countless times, cutting through clothes and skin, but could not stop him.
“Kagetora-sama!”
Naoe covered him with a «nenpa». The onryou attacked with ever more ferocity. Countless explosions rocked the ground. The blasts bombarded them.
“Don’t screw with me—!”
The Sword of Bishamonten whistled through the air. Naoe formed the ritual gesture. Takaya raised the Sword high.
“ (bai)!”
Its flare tore apart the darkness. All the spirits caught within its slanting beam instantly disappeared. The crowd of spirits immediately scattered in all directions.
“You’re not getting away! ...Ugh!”
An explosion threw Takaya tumbling.
“Kagetora-sama!” Naoe shouted, and sprinted to Takaya’s side as the skeletal warriors’ «nenpa» rained down on him.
“Ug...h...”
Pain warped Takaya’s face; his foot seemed to have been injured. Naoe’s eyes flashed as he looked up.
“You...!”
“! Naoe...!”
An amber aura flared around Naoe. He stood against the onryou’s «nenpa» with a hitherto quiescent energy and deflected them all.
Rumble!
Naoe’s flames swirled and coiled, burning the onryou to nothing. The onryou’s power plummeted.
“Now, Kagetora-sama!”
“All right!”
Both of them formed the ritual gesture. “ (bai)!”
“Noumakusamanda bodanan bai shiramandaya sowaka!”
“Namu Tobatsu Bishamonten! For this demon subjugation, lend me thy power!”
The onryou howled.
Light flared from their fists.
“«Choubuku»!”
“On sonbanisonba un bazara un hatta—...”
“On shuchiri kyaro roha un kan sowaka—...”
The bright goma flames continued to blaze as the monks’ mantras echoed eerily.
Yuzuru had been watching protectively over the fire-wheel rituals for a while. He stared motionlessly at the monks as they prayed, their attention focused and not wavering for even an instant. The faint golden light around him allowed no one to approach. But his mind appeared to be in the skies above Sendai, battling the foxes.
“Dono!”
Masamune turned to Shigezane as he dashed over.
“What news, Shigezane?”
“The Mogami warriors in Sendai appear to be moving furiously. Suda-dono on the outside hath requested aid.”
“What...?!”
A ferocious battle between their troops had already commenced within the city. Mogami seemed to be aiming for Kyougamine. The two armies had already skirmished quite close, but within the Date’s impregnable fortress, they still had the advantage.
“Very well. Send relief troops from Watari. I leave the command of the soldiers within the city to Suda and thee.”
“There are two barrier points remaining?”
“’Twill be but a matter of time for Uesugi-dono. But Mogami’s ‘Dakiniten-hou’ is quite strong. We must not be unprepared even when the barrier vanishes. I have a feeling that the enemy hath something in store. Attend to thy guard.”
“Aye,” Shigezane responded cheerfully and departed. His face glowed at the prospect of battle like a fish reaching water. He hadn’t changed at all from what he had been in his former life, Masamune thought, gazing after him.
At his side, Kojuurou said, “But the Mogami curse-caster is quite tenacious as well, is he not?”
“According to Naoe-dono, ’tis Mogami’s son, Yoshiyasu.”
“Thy cousin, then?”
“As usual, he shows no mercy to those near to him,” Masamune spat in disgust.
Black clouds loomed down from the sky, accompanied by flashes of lightning and roars of thunder. Ordinary people would have no way of knowing that this was from the battle between thekoko and the two Wisdom Kings. The fearsome power of the two sides were equal.
(Who will run out of power first?) Masamune looked over at Yuzuru. (Can he win against Yoshiyasu with his power?)
Yuzuru stood calmly. His gaze followed the summoned combatants like a commander watching over the battlefield.
It was obvious that Yuzuru was the one manipulating the two Wisdom Kings. His eyes blazed and glittered as if awaiting some opportunity. Even his composure was a palpable thing. A faint smiled played about his lips. If Takaya had been there, he would probably have rubbed his eyes, not quite knowing if this was really Yuzuru. He looked very like the Yuzuru who had been possessed by Shingen.
There was cruelty in his dilated eyes.
A chill ran down Masamune’s spine.
(Who is he, this young man...?)
“Dono!”
He turned at the sound of someone calling to him and saw Moniwa Sagetsu sprinting toward him urgently.
“Dono! The city—the people of the city look strange!”
“Strange? What meanest thou?”
“A large crowd is heading for Kyougamine! They come from everywhere, their aim set squarely on Kyougamine...!”
“What...?!”
“Each carries some weapon-like object. I cannot think but that they are being controlled. ’Tis as if some riot has begun...Dono!”
The retainers all turned to Masamune. The blood drained out of his face.
(Surely not...!)
“ (bai)”
Skeletal warriors disappeared at Ayako’s single command.
In the meantime, Chiaki Shuuhei and Kadowaki Ayako were at the Komegabukuro barrier point near Kyougamine. They had already dispersed the invocation of the dead there, and were tidying up the odd remaining warrior.
“I’m pretty much done here. How ’bout you, Nagahide?”
“Finished. Once Kagetora and Naoe wrap up their sites, we’ll be completely done,” Chiaki said, moving to leave. “Let’s get back to Kyougamine for now. Something’s bothering me. There’s something strange about the ferocity of that spell-battle in the sky.”
“Yeah. I’ve been feeling it for a while, too... ?” Ayako stared at something on the road. “Wait, Nagahide. Look—”
“Eh?”
A line of people moved down the road. Adults, children—all of them looked like ordinary city folk, but they continued down the road in endless succession, heading for some unknown destination.
“It’s not some kind of parade...is it?”
“Wait, Haruie. Look carefully.”
Each person carried a bat or wooden sword or kitchen cleaver or knife. Some even had Japanese katanas: obviously objects that could be used as weapons. What in the world were they doing?
“Nagahide! Over here, too!”
On the road behind them, more people followed each other down the road. Their expressions were dull and empty, and they walked along with the same gait, heading in the same direction. What were they doing? Where were these people going?
"...!
Chiaki sucked in a startled breath. He had felt the strange ‘energy’ above their heads. Ayako also noticed it. Some massive concentration of ‘energy’ enveloped these people, drawing them forward. A «malice»-filled ’energy. It was—
(Foxes...! The foxes’ ‘energy’!)
“No way!”
Chiaki and Ayako shuddered.
The townspeople walked along, pulled forward by their fox-controlled souls.
(They’re not really...!)
They could not let this continue. No sooner thought than Chiaki’s «power» filled his entire body.
“Scatter!”
His will, shot forth with all his might, crashed into the foxes‘ ’energy concentration’. For a moment it seemed that the lumps of energy might be dispersed, but some portions remained behind and could not be removed. They were ‘energy concentrations’ of considerable strength. But that was to be expected. They were, after all, woven by the koko of Mogami Yoshiyasu’s ‘Dakiniten-hou’.
“Bastard!”
He struck with his will again and again, but to no effect. A few people staggered, but he could not remove the ‘energy’ controlled them.
“No way!” Ayako wailed. The people walked silently forward. Their goal was...ahead of them was...!
(Kyougamine!)
Mogami intended to use these people to attack Kyougamine. Mogami’s ghostly warriors had been destroyed one after another by the Date’s strength. But Masamune would not raise a hand against these townspeople who had nothing to do with the battle. Having thought thus far, he could only use the ‘kinrin no hou’ in this manner!
“Dammit! You’re a coward, Mogami!” Chiaki shouted as he attacked with his will again and again. The lumps of energy would continue to multiple as long as their true form (koko) did not disappear. But even Kagetora’s power was probably futile against that enormous koko battling the Daiitoku and Gouzanze Wisdom Kings! Right now these people could not be reached!
“For Heaven’s sake! Wake up! Hey, wake up, dammit!”
The townspeople continued to walk towards Kyougamine.
To destroy Masamune and the Date!
“What?! Masamune hath begun a neutralization ritual at Kyougamine?!” Mogami Yoshiaki shouted when he received the report from the messenger.
“Is this true? Art thou certain?!”
A room in a hotel within the city. Yoshiyasu’s messenger reported rapidly, “‘Tis certain. Date is performing the dual rituals of ’Daiitoku Myouou-hou’ and ‘Gouzanze Myouou-hou’ with the intention of breaking through Lord Yoshiyasu’s ‘kinrin no hou’. Further, the Uesugi have evidently started to dissolve the «jike-kekkai».”
“What!”
Ueshima’s face twisted. Yoshiaki had never imagined that Date would counterattack like this. Neither Date nor Uesugi should know of his true objective.
But Naoe, still in Yamagata, should have succumbed to Ohigashi-no-Kata’s hypnotic suggestion and been made a servant of Mogami by now.
“How doth Yoshiyasu?!”
“Lord Yoshiyasu immediately performed ‘Dakiniten-hou’ to counter Date. He hath already dispatched soldiers to Kyougamine, but Date’s perimeter hath been fortified, and ’tis a hard battle...”
“Feh! What cunning, that cursed Date!” Yoshiaki’s fists shook. “And the Uesugi? Can they be held back?”
“Mercy...because our enemy are kanshousha, by their strength alone the soldiers stationed in Sendai are...”
“Useless wretches!” Yoshiaki roared, then commanded decisively, “This Sendai, which hath finally begun moving into my hands—my plans shall not be interrupted. Call the soldiers ofYamagata! I will destroy Date in one blow!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Send word to Ashina! ’Tis time to tighten the noose around Date. Tell them to invade Sendai!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Glaring at the lights of Sendai spreading outside his window, Yoshiaki gnashed his teeth.
“Masamune, thou wretch... I shall not allow the likes of thee to interfere.”
At Kyougamine, the ‘Rendan-hou’ continued. Two hours had already passed. Flames leapt brightly in the two fire-wheel platforms. The monks chanted their mantras without pause. On the platforms, Choukai and Keishun continued the rituals even as the blood climbed higher and higher on their increasingly ghastly-looking faces.
Meanwhile, Masamune and company had put Yuzuru, whose condition was odd, to sleep behind the curtain.
“What a terrible fever,” Kojuurou said to Masamune. “He was in fine health just earlier. I cannot think but that this is caused by the ceremony.”
“He hath worsened, so it seems, little by little as the ceremony progressed. ’Tis almost as if Narita-dono hath taken the curse upon himself.”
A great power lies concealed within him.
So Keishun and Choukai had said of Yuzuru. Though all of them were still in the same place, only Yuzuru’s condition had declined so drastically. Surely there was a connection.
(But what by the heavens is happening here...?)
“Dono!”
Masamune returned to himself as someone called to him. The feverish Yuzuru opened his eyes. He appeared to have finally regained consciousness.
“Art thou awake, Narita-dono?”
“How dost thou feel?”
Yuzuru looked dimly at Kojuurou, then Masamune.
“Lord Masamune...”
“Lie still for the nonce. We will protect this place—”
Yuzuru did not yet appear to have regained full consciousness, and hazy confusion filled his eyes.
He suddenly spoke as if in delirium: “The foxes...are moving.”
Masamune and Kojuurou’s eyes widened sharply.
“Eh?”
Yuzuru’s eyes seemed fixed on somewhere far away, but his voice was oddly clear as he said, “Dakiniten has...sent her koko. Someone is counterattacking with ‘Dakiniten-hou’. The foxes will be upon Kyougamine soon!”
“What!”
Yuzuru abruptly sat up. Kojuurou hurriedly moved to offer his assistance, but Yuzuru declined and slowly stood on his own.
“Narita-dono...!”
“The foxes are coming. Very soon,” Yuzuru said very clearly, and walked towards the goma-dan.
“!”
Masamune and Kojuurou couldn’t quite believe their eyes. Golden tendrils of light rose from Yuzuru’s body. The threads of light intertwined in the air and reached up into empty space. Enveloped by this golden light, Yuzuru walked towards the two fire-wheel platform as if called by something there.
Kojuurou shouted, “Dono! There!”
“!”
Then, as if they had been waiting for Yuzuru, the flames within the two fire-wheel platforms surged with earth-shattering energy. They rose to a height of nearly five meters, flickering wildly.
“Aaaah!”
Everyone present shouted involuntarily. In the next instant, the huge goma fires had taken on the forms of the terrible, wrathful Wisdom Kings!
“Th-these are...!”
Gouzanze Myouou. Daiitoku Myouou.
What had appeared in the ‘Gouzanze Myouou-hou’ fire-wheel platform officiated by Choukai was the three-faced, eight-armed figure of Gouzanze Myouou, his hands crossed in the vajrahumkara mudra. Gouzanze Myouou was the Wisdom King who had surrendered the corrupting thoughts of avarice, rage, and ignorance in the service of Diamond Realm Dainichi Nyorai. Among the Wisdom Kings, he was second in rank only to Fudou Myouou and had subjugated Daijizaiten, also known as the god Shiva, on Dainichi Nyorai’s behalf.
Meanwhile, the six-faced, six-armed Daiitoku Myouou had appeared in Keishun’s fire-wheel platform. He was riding on the back of a water buffalo, and his hands were set in the ritual makouin. This was the protector of virtue and punisher of evil, the manifestation of the mighty Buddha of Endless Light and Life (Amida Nyorai) as a Wisdom King, Daiitoku Myouou.
The two Wisdom Kings who had taken shape in the flames stood directly facing Yuzuru. Yuzuru, enveloped by that golden light, looked straight up at them with no trace of agitation in his bearing.
Yuzuru quietly raised his left arm. He pointed at the empty sky as if in command.
The two flames suddenly swelled and climbed as if to engulf the sky. The two Wisdom Kings spread across Sendai’s night sky like a mantle over Kyougamine.
(What...!)
Masamune and company gasped and shivered.
Yuzuru solemnly watched over them with wide, god-touched eyes.
The Exalted Gouzanze Myouou—
The Exalted Daiitoku Myouou—
Had descended in the skies over Sendai.
“Kagetora-sama! There!”
“Huh?”
Takaya looked up at Naoe’s shout.
“Holy...!” he gasped. The gigantic forms of the two Wisdom Kings had appeared in the night sky over the city.
“Wh-what the hell is that?!”
“Gouzanze Myouou and Daiitoku Myouou... Could that be—!”
Takaya turned to Naoe. “Kyougamine... Is that the true power of the ‘Rendan-hou’?”
“But the Shugen priests of Haguro do not have such enormous powers. To make them manifest so clearly...” For a moment Naoe was speechless. “There’s just no way... What has happened? Who in the world performed a spell of this magnitude?!”
“Yuzuru...!”
At Takaya’s murmur, Naoe’s gaze shifted to him in surprise.
“Isn’t it...Yuzuru? This mighty power... Isn’t that Yuzuru’s doing—?”
“...Yuzuru-san...”
Kousaka’s words abruptly echoed in the back of his mind.
“Narita Yuzuru is a menace to the Roku Dou Sekai.”
This? Is this what he was talking about? This terrifying «power» with the ability to awaken the Wisdom Kings and call on their presence?
A cold shiver ran down his spine, and he gazed up at the awe-inspiring forms of the Wisdom Kings towering above the city.
“! Naoe!”
“?”
He looked up at the sky in the opposite direction, where ominous, palely-glowing clouds had appeared. No, they were not clouds; they were...
(Foxes...!)
The ‘koko’ of Mogami Yoshiyasu!
Takaya and Naoe both shivered.
A mass of ‘koko’...Mogami had begun his attack on Kyougamine with ‘Dakiniten-hou’.
But on a terrifying scale. They stretched across the sky for about a kilometer. Where in the world was Yoshiyasu getting so much power? The mass of ‘koko’ coalesced into the shape of one gigantic fox with lightning crackling from its body. It drew closer and closer, filled with terrifying spiritual energy.
“We seem to have underestimated Yoshiyasu, huh...”
Going at someone like him with his bare hands had been...Takaya recalled his recklessness with trepidation.
The ‘koko’ savagely attacked the Wisdom Kings. Gouzanze Myouou swung his six arms in mighty blows. The bellow of Daiitoku Myouou’s water buffalo thundered across the sky. A battle between beings with powers beyond human comprehension had begun.
“Kagetora-sama.”
At the sound of Naoe’s voice, Takaya turned his gaze forward once more. The barrier point at Aobayama. The soldiers sent by Mogami against them had already arrived. Beyond them was the gigantic pillar formed from the spirits gathered there by the invocation of the dead.
“Hmph. Yeah, I know...” Takaya smiled defiantly. “We gotta take care of these guys before tranquilizing the earth. You wanna tell me that our task is to smash the barrier apart, right?”
“With the «choubuku» of father and son, Yoshiaki and Yoshiyasu following. Please do not squander your «power» carelessly. I will protect you. Please take care to preserve your strength.”
“That’s if we can afford it.”
Naoe took in his smile with a quick sideways glance. The sternness suddenly vanished from his eyes.
“You...have not changed at all, have you?”
“Eh?”
Stepping in front of Takaya, Naoe filled himself with «power» and glared at the soldiers amassed against them.
“Please stay behind me.”
“Naoe.”
Takaya gripped his right arm, and Naoe turned. Takaya gazed at him with direct eyes.
“I...don’t want you to die.”
“Kagetora-sama?”
“I can’t do without you. And I won’t forgive you if you just carelessly exchange bodies. I won’t forgive you, so.”
Naoe’s expression was serious.
“Is that a command from ‘Uesugi Kagetora’?”
“So you won’t listen if it’s from ‘Ougi Takaya’?” Takaya glared at him. “I won’t forgive you for disobeying me, Naoe. This my command.”
Ghosts waited expectantly.
The Sword of Bishamonten glinted sharply, the fangs of a tiger on the verge of pouncing on his prey.
Kokuryou’s gentle face appeared in the back of his mind. Saying—no matter where you are, don’t forget that you are yourself.
(—Gramps...)
The malice-filled ghosts made their move. Takaya shouted, “Watch and see, Gramps!”
The demon-conquering blade howled. Another battle had begun. Naoe formed the ritual gesture of Bishamonten and cried, “Ari nari tonari anaro nabi kunabi!”
Mogami’s warriors attacked, swinging their swords.
“ (bai)!”
The group in the lead disappeared, engulfed by a violent gale. The warriors surrounded Takaya and Naoe in a flash. Takaya mowed them down with the Sword of Bishamonten, and Naoe followed with «ressa-choubuku». Countless warriors fell by Takaya’s blade. A sword grazed his arm. A Mogami warrior had come on him from behind. Naoe instantly struck it down. Takaya, too, shielded Naoe countless times as he formed the ritual gesture of Bishamonten.
“ (bai)!”
“On dakini sahaharakyatei sowaka, on dakini sahaharakyatei sowaka...”
Meanwhile, Mogami Yoshiyasu had put his entire being into performing the ‘Dakiniten-hou’ to break the spell of Kyougamine.
His features, illuminated by goma-dan fires, looked all the more ghastly.
But it took no ordinary power to battle to a standstill two of the great Wisdom Kings. But why had he concealed it? With this fearsome «power», he could perhaps have annihilated Uesugi’sYasha-shuu.
(I did not recognize your strength.)
Kousaka Danjou watched over him soberly. —Ironically, the liberation of his mind from obstructive thoughts had released Yoshiyasu’s power. Until now, the tension that had always filled him had withered his mind. Because he had always lacked confidence in himself. Because he had never been able to freely wield the power he carried.
(—Because of his father...?)
Not impossible, Kousaka thought, crossing his arms. The greatness of the father probably had to be taken into consideration.
“Reporting!” The Mogami messenger who had arrived relayed the bitter news, “Despite hard fighting, two of the barrier points of the «jike-kekkai» have been dissolved!”
Yoshiyasu did not answer. He chanted the mantra of Dakiniten ceaselessly, without even appearing to have heard the messenger’s voice.
Kousaka replied on his behalf, “What of the warriors? What are they doing?”
“Well—” The messenger answered with trepidation, “They’re vanishing as if sucked into a wind conjured by some strange magic.”
(So the Uesugi, hmm...?)
Kousaka grinned.
“Gather the soldiers at the remaining three points. They must hold fast. This is Lord Yoshiyasu’s command.”
“Yes, my lord!” The messenger replied and rushed off.
A crow came winging past him and landed on Kousaka’s arm.
It had been sent from Yamagata.
Kousaka said sharply in response to its message, “Truly?”
Disaster in Yamagata. Mogami’s main army, on standby in Yamagata, seemed prepared to set out for Sendai at the worst possible time. Furthermore, Mogami had apparently issued the order for a general offensive against Date by his onshou allies. Kousaka’s expression sobered.
“Guess I won’t be an idle spectator for much longer, hmm? —Aye, I understand. Report to our lord. That I will take Sendai without fail. And to please leave matters here to me and advance soldiers into Yamagata. Then take this message to the Kouduke troops: Invade the Aizu immediately. We must not allow Ashina to make a move!”
The crow gave a single hoarse caw and flew off once more into the western sky.
Kousaka looked at Yoshiyasu’s back.
(Now then... Shall we finish things here?)
The blade of a dagger glinted secretly within his coat.
Chiaki’s «nenpa» smashed into the spirit pillar and exploded. He immediately began «choubuku».
Under its cover, Ayako pressed forward with the earth-tranquilization ritual.
“Noumaku sanmanda bodanan harachibiei sowaka, noumaku sanmanda bodanan harachibiei sowaka—...”
Chiten’s power gushed forth like water from a spring to purify the curse-sullied earth.
Chiaki continued to perform «choubuku» again and again.
“Fuck! This is endless!”
Dozens of spirits disappeared with each iteration, but just how many of them had the invocation of the dead summoned? A stunning number. It was impossible to place a «gebaku» on them even with «kouhou-choubuku». But more terrible still was the fact that so many spirits were not able to pass on to the next life.
“Whatever the path, you can’t stay in this world!” Chiaki shouted, performing «choubuku» with loud abandon. The onryou attacked like a tsunami.
“ (bai)!”
He put he had everything into it, and nearly a hundred spirits vanished at the same time. Then—
“...!”
Chiaki’s sixth sense tingled faintly.
Somewhere, someone was wielding the «choubuku» power of the Sword of Bishamonten.
(Kagetora?)
He could think of no other explanation. Chiaki’s lips curved in a grin.
“Huh. Wouldn’t be interesting otherwise...”
He’d been waiting for this. With Kagetora’s awakening, he had a rival. And the Kagetora who wielded that «power»—he had been Chiakis only rival for the past four hundred years.
“!”
The asphalt cracked apart right next to him.
“Ugh...!”
The onryou struck at Chiaki with their «nenpa», precipitating a violent explosion.
Chiaki raised his eyes sharply.
Kagetora had awakened...!
“I’m not gonna lose to you, Kagetora!” he roared.
“Come and get some!”
The Sword of Bishamonten tore apart the ghosts.
Takaya cut down the warriors still obstinately advancing in succession, taking out fifty at a time without even blinking.
“...you bastards!”
He panted unsteadily, gripped by weariness. But he could not rest.
His movements dulled. The warriors pressed forward mercilessly.
“...!”
He turned to slay an attacking warrior. But another advanced on him from the right at the same time!
“ (bai)!”
Naoe’s intervention saved Takaya.
“Are you all right, Kagetora-sama!”
“I’m...fine...”
Takaya raised his head abruptly and shouted, “Naoe, behind you!”
The warrior was on the verge of cutting Naoe down. Naoe nearly dodged it, but the blade grazed his temple.
“Fucking bastard!”
Takaya formed the ritual gesture.
“ (bai)!”
Dozens of warriors disappeared in a blink.
Perhaps finally rattled, the soldiers broke ranks and began to run. Takaya turned to Naoe without giving chase. Naoe’s temple was bleeding.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But you’ve exhausted so much of your strength...”
“Heh. Exhausted? This is nothing,” Takaya responded, wiping sweat from his neck and giving Naoe a fearless grin without a hint of tiredness. “Let’s hurry up and get rid of the invocation of the dead. We can’t just leave that thing there forever.”
“True enough. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I think the «malice» in the city has been gradually fading. If Mogami’s power has fallen even a small amount, then all the better forKyougamine...”
“What they’re doing is none of our business.” Battle-lust glittered in Takaya’s eyes. “What we gotta do is finish these guys off.”
His gaze, sharp and dazzlingly clear, seemed almost to belong to a wild tiger.
“Let’s go, Naoe!”
Takaya raised the Sword of Bishamonten and dashed forward, Naoe keeping pace immediately behind him.
Exploding «nenpa». Shattering asphalt. The onryou pummeled them with «nenpa».
(I will not let them touch one finger of his body!)
Showering rubble. Naoe put all his will into the «goshinha» he erected around them.
(I’ll show you how I will continue to protect him...!)
Onryou attacked from the sky. Naoe formed the ritual gesture. Takaya swung the Sword of Bishamonten.
A incredible number of onryou charged them.
“Namu Tobatsu Bishamonten!” Raising the Sword high, Takaya shouted at the top of his voice, “To this hand...! Lend me thy power!”
In the sky over Sendai, the spell-battle between Yoshiyasu and Kyougamine grew ever fiercer.
Koko without number ran freely about the skies of Sendai. Daiitoku Myouou’s water buffalo bellowed, and the two Wisdom Kings annihilated foxes with enraged war-cries.
The spells of Kyougamine and Yoshiyasu clashed in the skies above Sendai. The powers of the two sides were almost equal. Neither let the other take a single step forward.
The battle increased in vehemence. An immense, fearsome energy shook the earth and conjured dark clouds that split the sky apart with lightning.
Naoe’s «nenpa» broke apart the rubble that came hurtling at them again and again. Takaya mowed down the spirits with the Sword of Bishamonten.
A fresh troop of skeletal warriors appeared opposite them!
“There’s more?! Feh!” Takaya spat in disgust, and gathered his will. Fissures ran through the asphalt with loud cracks. The ground broke apart beneath the skeletal warriors’ feet, and they collapsed like dominoes.
“Let’s settle things here first, Naoe! Gimme a hand!”
“At your command!”
No soon said than Takaya began running. The onryou shot straight at Takaya!
“No you don’t!”
Naoe created a «goshinheki» with layers of «goshinha» and interposed it between Takaya and the onryou.
Pak pak pak!
The «goshinheki» intercepted the «nenpa» with a sound like crackling firecrackers. Takaya commenced their counter-assault with his will shooting out like bullets from a machine gun. Theonryou scattered.
However.
“...!”
At that moment, the spirit-pillar broke apart, and all of the individual spirits crowded around Takaya and Naoe angrily. ...Not good!
“Ugh...!”
A razor whirlwind pummeled Naoe and tore into his clothes and flesh with a dull scratching sound.
“! ...Naoe!”
The ground exploded at his feet as Takaya cried out, and he turned, shielding himself.
Mogami’s warriors crowded against his back.
(We’re surrounded...?!)
Takaya dashed towards Naoe. Naoe scanned the area around them, panting with the pain of his wounds. An enormous number of spirits surrounded them, filling their entire field of vision.
“It’s been a while since we faced this many of them.”
“«Ressa-choubuku»? We’re gonna run out of energy before we’re finished.”
Naoe looked at Takaya as the blood dripped from his cheek. Takaya glared at the spirits, the Sword of Bishamonten poised.
“Humph. Whatever, I don’t care.”
“Kagetora-sama!”
“This is what calls for power, huh? ...!”
«Nenpa» blasted from the onryou right next to him. Takaya shielded himself for a moment before yelling, “Let’s deal with all of ’em!”
Energy gushed from Takaya’s body. His «power» exploded!
Crackle!
A blast of silver lightning mowed down the besieging onryou instantly. The asphalt around them cracked apart, and fire spouted from the ground. The flames undulated in midair like a blazing dragon and swallowed the onryou. Terrible screams rent the night from every direction.
“I’ll make you rest in peace right now!”
Takaya sprinted forward. The razor whirlwind grazed against him countless times, cutting through clothes and skin, but could not stop him.
“Kagetora-sama!”
Naoe covered him with a «nenpa». The onryou attacked with ever more ferocity. Countless explosions rocked the ground. The blasts bombarded them.
“Don’t screw with me—!”
The Sword of Bishamonten whistled through the air. Naoe formed the ritual gesture. Takaya raised the Sword high.
“ (bai)!”
Its flare tore apart the darkness. All the spirits caught within its slanting beam instantly disappeared. The crowd of spirits immediately scattered in all directions.
“You’re not getting away! ...Ugh!”
An explosion threw Takaya tumbling.
“Kagetora-sama!” Naoe shouted, and sprinted to Takaya’s side as the skeletal warriors’ «nenpa» rained down on him.
“Ug...h...”
Pain warped Takaya’s face; his foot seemed to have been injured. Naoe’s eyes flashed as he looked up.
“You...!”
“! Naoe...!”
An amber aura flared around Naoe. He stood against the onryou’s «nenpa» with a hitherto quiescent energy and deflected them all.
Rumble!
Naoe’s flames swirled and coiled, burning the onryou to nothing. The onryou’s power plummeted.
“Now, Kagetora-sama!”
“All right!”
Both of them formed the ritual gesture. “ (bai)!”
“Noumakusamanda bodanan bai shiramandaya sowaka!”
“Namu Tobatsu Bishamonten! For this demon subjugation, lend me thy power!”
The onryou howled.
Light flared from their fists.
“«Choubuku»!”
“On sonbanisonba un bazara un hatta—...”
“On shuchiri kyaro roha un kan sowaka—...”
The bright goma flames continued to blaze as the monks’ mantras echoed eerily.
Yuzuru had been watching protectively over the fire-wheel rituals for a while. He stared motionlessly at the monks as they prayed, their attention focused and not wavering for even an instant. The faint golden light around him allowed no one to approach. But his mind appeared to be in the skies above Sendai, battling the foxes.
“Dono!”
Masamune turned to Shigezane as he dashed over.
“What news, Shigezane?”
“The Mogami warriors in Sendai appear to be moving furiously. Suda-dono on the outside hath requested aid.”
“What...?!”
A ferocious battle between their troops had already commenced within the city. Mogami seemed to be aiming for Kyougamine. The two armies had already skirmished quite close, but within the Date’s impregnable fortress, they still had the advantage.
“Very well. Send relief troops from Watari. I leave the command of the soldiers within the city to Suda and thee.”
“There are two barrier points remaining?”
“’Twill be but a matter of time for Uesugi-dono. But Mogami’s ‘Dakiniten-hou’ is quite strong. We must not be unprepared even when the barrier vanishes. I have a feeling that the enemy hath something in store. Attend to thy guard.”
“Aye,” Shigezane responded cheerfully and departed. His face glowed at the prospect of battle like a fish reaching water. He hadn’t changed at all from what he had been in his former life, Masamune thought, gazing after him.
At his side, Kojuurou said, “But the Mogami curse-caster is quite tenacious as well, is he not?”
“According to Naoe-dono, ’tis Mogami’s son, Yoshiyasu.”
“Thy cousin, then?”
“As usual, he shows no mercy to those near to him,” Masamune spat in disgust.
Black clouds loomed down from the sky, accompanied by flashes of lightning and roars of thunder. Ordinary people would have no way of knowing that this was from the battle between thekoko and the two Wisdom Kings. The fearsome power of the two sides were equal.
(Who will run out of power first?) Masamune looked over at Yuzuru. (Can he win against Yoshiyasu with his power?)
Yuzuru stood calmly. His gaze followed the summoned combatants like a commander watching over the battlefield.
It was obvious that Yuzuru was the one manipulating the two Wisdom Kings. His eyes blazed and glittered as if awaiting some opportunity. Even his composure was a palpable thing. A faint smiled played about his lips. If Takaya had been there, he would probably have rubbed his eyes, not quite knowing if this was really Yuzuru. He looked very like the Yuzuru who had been possessed by Shingen.
There was cruelty in his dilated eyes.
A chill ran down Masamune’s spine.
(Who is he, this young man...?)
“Dono!”
He turned at the sound of someone calling to him and saw Moniwa Sagetsu sprinting toward him urgently.
“Dono! The city—the people of the city look strange!”
“Strange? What meanest thou?”
“A large crowd is heading for Kyougamine! They come from everywhere, their aim set squarely on Kyougamine...!”
“What...?!”
“Each carries some weapon-like object. I cannot think but that they are being controlled. ’Tis as if some riot has begun...Dono!”
The retainers all turned to Masamune. The blood drained out of his face.
(Surely not...!)
“ (bai)”
Skeletal warriors disappeared at Ayako’s single command.
In the meantime, Chiaki Shuuhei and Kadowaki Ayako were at the Komegabukuro barrier point near Kyougamine. They had already dispersed the invocation of the dead there, and were tidying up the odd remaining warrior.
“I’m pretty much done here. How ’bout you, Nagahide?”
“Finished. Once Kagetora and Naoe wrap up their sites, we’ll be completely done,” Chiaki said, moving to leave. “Let’s get back to Kyougamine for now. Something’s bothering me. There’s something strange about the ferocity of that spell-battle in the sky.”
“Yeah. I’ve been feeling it for a while, too... ?” Ayako stared at something on the road. “Wait, Nagahide. Look—”
“Eh?”
A line of people moved down the road. Adults, children—all of them looked like ordinary city folk, but they continued down the road in endless succession, heading for some unknown destination.
“It’s not some kind of parade...is it?”
“Wait, Haruie. Look carefully.”
Each person carried a bat or wooden sword or kitchen cleaver or knife. Some even had Japanese katanas: obviously objects that could be used as weapons. What in the world were they doing?
“Nagahide! Over here, too!”
On the road behind them, more people followed each other down the road. Their expressions were dull and empty, and they walked along with the same gait, heading in the same direction. What were they doing? Where were these people going?
"...!
Chiaki sucked in a startled breath. He had felt the strange ‘energy’ above their heads. Ayako also noticed it. Some massive concentration of ‘energy’ enveloped these people, drawing them forward. A «malice»-filled ’energy. It was—
(Foxes...! The foxes’ ‘energy’!)
“No way!”
Chiaki and Ayako shuddered.
The townspeople walked along, pulled forward by their fox-controlled souls.
(They’re not really...!)
They could not let this continue. No sooner thought than Chiaki’s «power» filled his entire body.
“Scatter!”
His will, shot forth with all his might, crashed into the foxes‘ ’energy concentration’. For a moment it seemed that the lumps of energy might be dispersed, but some portions remained behind and could not be removed. They were ‘energy concentrations’ of considerable strength. But that was to be expected. They were, after all, woven by the koko of Mogami Yoshiyasu’s ‘Dakiniten-hou’.
“Bastard!”
He struck with his will again and again, but to no effect. A few people staggered, but he could not remove the ‘energy’ controlled them.
“No way!” Ayako wailed. The people walked silently forward. Their goal was...ahead of them was...!
(Kyougamine!)
Mogami intended to use these people to attack Kyougamine. Mogami’s ghostly warriors had been destroyed one after another by the Date’s strength. But Masamune would not raise a hand against these townspeople who had nothing to do with the battle. Having thought thus far, he could only use the ‘kinrin no hou’ in this manner!
“Dammit! You’re a coward, Mogami!” Chiaki shouted as he attacked with his will again and again. The lumps of energy would continue to multiple as long as their true form (koko) did not disappear. But even Kagetora’s power was probably futile against that enormous koko battling the Daiitoku and Gouzanze Wisdom Kings! Right now these people could not be reached!
“For Heaven’s sake! Wake up! Hey, wake up, dammit!”
The townspeople continued to walk towards Kyougamine.
To destroy Masamune and the Date!
