Volume 4
Epilogue Part
1
In the Silence
of Dusk, Dawn Unravels 1
Translator : PolterGlast
A vast cloud of dust
covered the entire mountainside of Renkyo, from the middle to the foot. —A huge
spider's body crawled out, crushing the very rocks that danced within it.
Thud, thud. With every
twitch of its swollen, dark abdomen, a crimson miasma polluted the air.
Its skull-shaped head
chattered its mandibles and looked up at the sky.
Beyond its crimson
single eye, the colors of the blue sky changed within touching distance.
It penetrated the
white, penetrated the blue. And eventually, even the sinking red being
penetrated, becoming infinitely clear.
—Beyond that, there was the starry night sky.
It was an
extraordinary divine authority granted only to the divine turtle, which protected
the present world from the interference of the divine age, to rewrite the
heavens.
The spider's crawling
slowed as it sensed the presence of the divine pillar it had somewhat
worshipped.
Kicking up the dust as
if to gouge it out, the spider's body cowered at the foot of Renkyo Mountain.
Beyond the overlapping
insect's vision, the object of its hatred (Yotsurugi Akira) reached out his
hand to the sky.
♢
Trembling lips uttered
words of awe and praise.
The night that had
descended from the northern sky spilled into his vision through the gap between
his fingers.
"I beseech you,
Banshou Banko Daigongen."
Beyond that, the sky,
which had become transparent to the extreme in response to Akira's prayer,
answered.
"Slumber in
silence, Divine Turtle Genrei-hime!"
In that instant, the
entire visible present world was dyed in the color of obsidian, a divine realm.
A sea of obsidian
where countless stars, fragments of divine power that spread to the edge of the
present world, rained down.
It is said that the
divine turtle that governs the northern sky slumbers in the midst of it.
Its gaze reflected the
divine age, and its shell was the nine-layered canopy that hung over the
present world.
The whole of the
present world was contained within the divine pillar, which slumbered until the
very end of it.
—In short, the divine realm of Genrei referred to the
present world itself.
The realm where the
great divine pillar resided quietly repainted the land.
A cold, thin finger
like a white fish suddenly wrapped around Akira's right finger as he lowered
it.
Beside him, a great
divine pillar with flowing black robes and obsidian eyes looked on anxiously.
"Finally, you
called me, Akira. —Are you ready now?"
"Yes, Genrei.
I've said what I wanted to say.
Thank you for watching
over me since I crossed the border of Kokuten Province."
"I see. Was that
Ugetsu?"
Genrei's concern
turned towards the giant spider cowering at the foot of Renkyo Mountain.
Even though she
pretended that it did not matter, Genrei and Ugetsu have known each other for
the longest time, excluding the Four Sovereigns and the Three Imperial
Families.
The divine maiden
squinted her eyes in a slight contemplation of their long-lasting relationship.
"Yes. After
Ugetsu boasted that he was number one, this is the result of trying to save
face."
"He was
manipulated by others and thought he was holding the reins himself.
To become something
that clings to threads (intentions) after being manipulated... it's fitting and
pitiful."
"...Indeed."
Akira's emotions,
which were only superficially composed, were conveyed awkwardly to Genrei's
fingertips.
It was a complex, calm
emotion that had overcome anger and hatred. As if considering that intertwined
complexity that only humans were allowed to have, Genrei simply nodded in
silence.
"—Akira."
At the sound of
someone approaching, Akira and the accompanying Genrei turned their gaze over
their shoulders.
The divine maiden's
fingers tensed impatiently at the presence of Rindō Saki, who stood beside the
empty space next to Akira.
"The miasma has
been getting thicker and thicker since a while ago. Can you purify the
surroundings in the divine realm?"
Hearing the girl's
request, Akira finally turned his attention to the glowing miasma.
The houses at the foot
of the mountain were collapsing beyond the murky vision.
As if their marrow had
been eroded by the everlasting poison, they collapsed one after another without
a sound, and Akira shook his head with difficulty.
"I can't. It's
not impossible, but I can't do it now."
"Why? If we don't
deal with it immediately, the core of Tsuzura will be rendered
inoperable."
Even though it had
lost the influence of the divine pillar, Samidare Territory remained an
important place in Kokuten Province.
If it were to be completely
destroyed by the miasma, future governance would become impossible.
"—He's worried
about you, little girl."
Although Saki's
request was perfectly reasonable, Genrei's voice came from beside Akira, who
stubbornly shook his head.
"From the looks
of it, you've probably never entered the divine realm.
The divine realm is
the dwelling place of the great divine pillar. Don't be so arrogant as to think
that you can safely look directly at my pure realm."
"Y-Yes."
Scanned by the sharp
obsidian eyes of the great divine pillar, the girl retracted her words.
Akira understood that
although her words were mixed with jealousy, her concern for Saki was genuine.
Compared to the fire
element, which is purification itself, the water element has a lower level of
purification.
While Shuka could
achieve purification even with a shallow manifestation, Genrei required a
certain depth.
Genrei's divine realm,
governing water element, was a bottomless ocean. Exposed to the moisture that
overwhelmed and dispelled the miasma, even Saki and Naotoshi would not escape
unscathed.
Agreeing with Genrei's
words, Akira carefully turned his gaze to the demon whose body was exposed.
"If we get caught
up in dealing with the visible miasma, we'll end up in a stalemate.
—It would be better to cut off the source first."
"The source, you
mean Tenzan?"
"Yes. It's
spewing miasma from its core. Given that it abandoned its role as a hidden
spider and chose to spread miasma instead, I'm sure that's Tenzan's last
resort."
The reason why
apparitions (high-ranked kegare) are feared is that they spew out endless
miasma.
A living disaster that
appears when the resentment burned into the land swallows up the miasma pool.
The concentration of miasma it possesses is comparable to that of the divine
power of a land god.
Naotoshi, standing
behind, folded his arms thoughtfully at Akira's judgment.
"...In other
words, we have to strike down Tenzan as quickly as possible and purify the
miasma pool.
What about the claws
that manipulate bones? If all eight pairs of them can manipulate bones on par
with Tenzan, we won't have enough manpower here to deal with them."
"He called
himself Ugetsu.
If he didn't hesitate
to abandon even his defeated self, he probably wouldn't be attached to the
bones, even if they were originally his own."
Given Tenzan's
personality, he wouldn't reuse tools that had become soiled.
As far as Akira knew,
no matter how troublesome it was, he had never retracted his condescending
gaze.
"—And even if he
were to do it, it would be impossible to manipulate multiple bones at
once."
Beside him, Genrei
opened her mouth in response to Akira's answer, which was certain but lacked
proof.
The purification of
the apparition was also Akira's wish. Even if he had something on his mind,
there was no reason to object Genrei.
"It would be
difficult for the remnants of a resentment that was originally a mere human to
have multiple thoughts at the same time.
If we leave it to our
numbers to whittle down the main body, Tenzan won't have the leeway to
manipulate the bones."
"If we rely
solely on numbers, it will take time. Considering the influence of the miasma,
I want to suppress it quickly."
Challenging Genrei's
glittering obsidian eyes, Saki stood beside Akira, holding her pure white
naginata (Pārijāta).
Genrei's cheeks puffed
up noticeably at the meaning of her action.
With one divine pillar
and a girl about to clash behind him, Akira looked up at the sky.
Although it would be
easy to kill it, as Saki said, they couldn't afford to take their time.
But the biggest
problem was that core that had swallowed the miasma pool.
If Akira's assessment
was correct, that core was nothing more than a balloon that spewed out endless
miasma.
Even though it's a bad
move to take their time, if they were to burst it prematurely, the surrounding
area would be contaminated with miasma.
Hibari-koroshi, which
he had only just achieved, was ruled out due to concerns about its control.
The remaining
possibility was to release the divine realm attributes using a divine artifact.
"Yeah. Assuming
we're going to unleash the divine realm, ...I'd need about 60 more
seconds."
"Understood.
—Fuwa-dono. Let us cut a path forward, shall we?"
"I don't mind. To
break through that miasma concentration, it would probably have to be the
Hariin-school or Kihoin-school. If we can minimize the damage rather than
simply descending the divine realm, I'd appreciate it."
Noticing the silent
negotiation between Genrei and Saki, Fuwa Naotoshi smiled wryly and stepped
forward in front of Akira and the others.
The spirit light that
erupted from that step provided a fleeting yet sturdy protection for Naotoshi's
thin layer of skin.
Hariin-style Spirit
Technique, Chuden, ―Gokōnanakamado.
"I'll go first.
Can you keep up with me, Rindō-dono?"
"—You must be
joking. If you let me go first, Fuwa-dono wouldn't have a place to stand, even
though I'm a youngling."
"That's harsh.
Well then, as a pioneer, I'll have to struggle a bit."
The provocative
lighthearted remark was meant to encourage the young boy and girl who were
heading to their deaths.
Saki's unyielding
retort was also amusing, and Naotoshi kicked the ground so hard that it left a
gouge.
—Kata, ta, tatata!
Words were no longer
necessary.
It must have noticed
Akira's fighting spirit. The white, murky skull's mandibles chattered as a
signal for battle.
"I was prepared
for this, but it's sure is huge."
Looking up at the
giant spider's body again, Naotoshi unintentionally grunted in admiration.
Its height was
probably about twenty meters. The shadow of the huge skull, which looked like a
small mountain, pressed down from beyond the miasma.
Despite the
overwhelming presence that could be felt even from afar, Naotoshi tried to
close the distance.
"I'll take the
first move!!"
Hearing Saki's voice
running past him from behind, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
On the girl's back, as
she sprinted along the path, he recognized her unconscious resolve to stand
alongside Akira.
—Three years ago. A vision of the boy who had been
bowing his head, being toyed with, taking a great leap.
It should be fine now.
I feel sorry for the Ugetsu family, who struggled, but for Akira, Ugetsu is
nothing more than a thing of the past.
Three years ago, the
retainers laughed at Akira as if he were a thing of the past, but the reality
was the opposite. The moment they let him go, Ugetsu became nothing more than a
thing of the past for Akira.
Without understanding
that, Tenzan, who fell along with Ugetsu and his retainers, will end here.
—Ironically, as Tenzan claimed, this is the end of
Ugetsu.
♢
Residual flames
exploded at Saki's feet. Leaving that reality behind, Saki accelerated
instantly.
She closed the
distance to the claw of the front leg that supported the spider at the speed of
time and swung her naginata horizontally.
Kihoin-style Spirit
Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Ranguri
Itoguruma"
With a metallic sound,
the chaotic slashes left behind exploding sparks.
Slicing through the
gap where the miasma and spirit energy were struggling, an unscathed claw aimed
at Saki.
"Ugh"
The girl's blade
flashed, deflecting the claw sharply.
A massive weight was
transmitted from the tip, leaving a gouged mark where her foot had escaped, as
if it had exploded.
"Are you
alright!?"
"I'm fine! —But,
it's tough!"
Naotoshi, who was
concerned, slashed at the claw of the other front leg.
Despite the multiple
consecutive slashes, the spider continued to parry without a single wound.
"The
concentration of miasma protecting Tenzan's body surface is almost like divine
power. It's better to focus on evasion than on a half-hearted offensive.
Rindō-dono, our main
job is to buy time, don't pursue it too deeply."
"I understand.
...But"
The claw disappeared
high into the miasma and plunged down, plowing the ground like a plow.
Each time, a chunk of
earth exploded and hit her cheek, and Saki responded resentfully.
She evaded and parried
the claw that fell close by.
The spider's speed and
number of attacks were overwhelming. She didn't doubt Akira's divine realm
release, but to be honest, she wanted to take out at least two of the front
legs to ensure a decisive kill.
—Ka, ka, kaaaa!
Perhaps it had grown
impatient, realizing that thrusting its claws wasn't enough.
A bone-rattling jeer
came down from above Saki and Naotoshi's heads, and the spider's massive frame
sank slightly,
"What?"
"No good.
—Retreat!"
Simultaneously with
Naotoshi's warning, the demon leaped high.
It coiled the miasma
into a whirlwind and condensed it into a thick mass at the spider's front legs.
Spirit techniques are
fundamentally assumed to be used by humans.
From body cultivation
to the use of spirit power, it follows the same principles. Even if Tenzan's
consciousness remained, there was no reason why it could be used in the
spider's joints.
However, Tenzan's
talent for swordsmanship ignored that contradiction.
Multiple layers of
condensed miasma waves extended from the tips of the claws on both front legs.
Spirit Technique,
―Seigetsu-no-Kagami.
A hammer of deadly
poison that would corrode everything into tiny pieces came crashing down on
Saki and Naotoshi, who were standing there.
"Just in
time,"
There was no escape.
Driven into a desperate situation, Saki smiled brightly.
"—If you have no
intention of letting me escape, you're a big target yourself."
She didn't care about
the miasma or the spirit technique. A golden glow flickered from the divine
artifact Saki possessed.
The power of the
naginata (Pārijāta) was to control flow. Just as it had diverted the spider's
mass to the ground, it was originally a flexible power for both offense and
defense.
But it was a divine
artifact of a Divine Pillar that she didn't even worship. Frankly, she couldn't
even handle the power properly.
However, that didn't
mean she had no tricks up her sleeve. As Yamamoto Gorōzaemon had shown, Saki's
naginata was connected to another one in the distant divine realm of Shuka.
Saki's eyes turned
violet as she called upon the divine power of Ezuka-hime, who cried out in joy.
She raised the blade
from the middle stance upwards and controlled the great divine pillar's power
with all her might. A clear, yet still clumsy incantation spilled from her
cherry-colored lips.
"—The falling
waves, the falcon that dances at night, your remaining feathers, end and fall
coldly at the heights."
Saki's thrust met the
avalanche of falling waves head-on. A huge wave of heat generated from the
naginata obliterated the two front legs and half of the skull.
Kihoin-style Spirit
Technique, Okuden, ―Higannue.
Looking up at the
burning tower, raging with crimson and gold, Saki sheathed her blade from
Zashin. She released a single, satisfied exhale.
Akira was standing by
her side. She smiled involuntarily at the feeling of Akira's hand touching her
shoulder beside her.
"The rest is up
to you."
"—Yes. I'll
finish it."
The boy's back
overtook the girl's shoulders. His hand reached high into the sky.
♢
—It was the protector of the falling stars. The
nine-layered canopy that separated the present world.
The colors of the
night sky that spilled from between his fingers created waves of color as they
circulated.
—A shield that protects the slumbering obsidian.
Grasping the world's
largest artifact (the sky itself), which was shifting in color, Akira pulled it
down from the sky.
"Pierce the heavens,
—Kugai Bakufu."
Kata, ta, ta!!
Even though it had
lost half its skull to the Higannue that was unleashed by a seemingly
insignificant little girl, the demon was still filled with hatred for Akira.
It created countless
threads of miasma, trying to bind and cut Akira to pieces.
"—Have you had
your fill?"
After the sound of the
atmosphere rotting away passed, Akira's indifferent gaze met the demon's.
A cold gaze. Though it
had often directed such gazes toward others before, it had never been on the
receiving end of such a gaze.
In place of Akira, who
pointed his finger towards the sky, Genrei's decree echoed.
"Aren't you tired
of being swayed by your obsession? —Crawl with the worms in the
underworld."
Whether it understood
the words of severance or was simply left with remnants of its obsession, the
spider's limbs retreated a few steps.
Kata, ka, ta,
"Divine Realm
Release"
Akira watched the
miserable end without emotion.
A sword that inversed
the protection of the Kugai Bakufu was born at the boy's fingertips.
The blade was 1.1
meters long. This sword, similar to Jakuen Gayou, was merely a vessel in which
the power of protection had been inverted.
"As it rises up,
the moon and sun fade in the shadows of the streaming sky."
Following Akira's pleading
voice, night was born in the transparent blade.
It was different from
Genrei's divine power or the divine power that exists in the world. It was the
brilliance of the stars that rained down on the obsidian sea beyond the
nine-layered canopy.
The otherworldly sword
that reflected the droplets dripping from the canopy was Genrei's divine realm
release.
—There was nothing in existence in the present world
that could withstand this strike.
Without any wasted
effort, a single slash pierced the remaining part of the skull.
A pressure close to
nothingness swirled and gouged out from the skull's head to its core along the
trajectory of the slash.
Having lost even its
miasma pool, the spider's giant body collapsed.
The miasma began to
scatter along with the thunderous sound, and yet the remaining limbs kept
wriggling from obsession.
"It's about to
die, ...what are you going to do, Akira?"
"I'll finish it
off. This will be the end."
As the miasma burned
up into black divine energy, Akira raised the otherworldly sword without
hesitation.
"—Please
wait."
Just as he was about
to swing it down, a voice from behind stopped the tip of his sword, and Akira
turned his gaze over his shoulder, squinting his eyes.
At the sight of the
boy standing there, he lowered the tip of his sword and sighed.
"...What are you
intending to do? Ugetsu Souma?"
"I told you to
wait. —Please, just for a bit."
"You should
understand. Now that he has fallen this far, there's no future for Ugetsu.
Considering the
aftermath, it would be a kindness to purge him as soon as possible."
"I know.
—That's why I'd like the opportunity to dispose of him
with my own hands."
Surprised by this
decision, which seemed painful yet unexpected, Akira turned to Souma.
Although Akira was
confused by his incomprehensible intentions, there were still many advantages.
"Are you saying
that you are willing to commit the murder of your parent?"
"There's no
reason to deny it, Yotsurugi-dono. If a noble who is to be transferred later
were to kill the former lord, it would cast a shadow over his governance."
Akira had recognized
Souma's intelligence.
The fact that he had
accurately pointed out Akira's concerns meant that he was confident Akira would
not refuse.
—Therefore, without hesitation, Akira pulled Futsu-no-Awai
out of his heart.
"I'll lend it to
you. —Return it later, Ugetsu Souma."
"Thank you.
—Yotsurugi Akira-dono."
From the boy who had
been his older brother to the boy who had once been his younger brother. Taking
the hilt of Futsu-no-Awai that was offered to him, the two brushed shoulders.
Without a word, they
simply bowed to each other. They didn't even exchange glances.
♢
He checked the
familiar feel of the divine artifact that had been his own until a short while
ago.
Still, with little emotion,
Souma stood in front of the spider's remains.
Gugrle. A mass of
flesh covered in miasma fell from the depths where the foul odor lingered.
"You're still
here, aren't you? —Father"
—Souma. Souma, huh? Ugetsu's, my treasure.
A mere puppet, with no
will, only repeating its obsession.
Souma, who knew
Tenzan's character well, had realized that it was lurking there.
—Come, Souma. Let us melt into one, and this time, let
us annihilate that pseudo-kegare.
"That's enough.
Neither Samidare Territory, nor Tsuzura needs Ugetsu."
Even though he
understood it was futile, Souma continued to speak.
No matter who he tried
to advise that Ugetsu was finished, no one was willing to listen.
Even if he advised
Tenzan, it would only serve to elevate himself.
—He had been aware of this for some time now.
Ugetsu Tenzan was not
looking at Ugetsu Souma. What his father saw in his vision was only the
glorious future of Ugetsu that would eventually come.
Souma could only shed
tears for his father, who clung to a glory that never existed even after facing
such doom.
It was the last thing
he could do for his father.
"Divine Realm
Release"
—Souma. Souma. You too? You look down on me too!?
"O, edge of the
white waves, where the sound of rocks reverberates, and a single leaf, carved
and falling, flows with the ripples."
Scatter. With the wind
that began to blow, a silent shock flashed.
The mass of flesh that
was stretching out its fingers stopped moving in breathtaking silence.
—...
There was no sound.
Tenzan's neck simply twisted and fell to the ground with a wet thud.
Watching the remains
of the apparition slowly crumble, Souma felt a heavy sense of having regained
his sense of self.
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