The streets of Kyoto.
The most historically storied city in all of Japan.
Every roof tile was steeped in centuries of heritage. Every flagstone pulsed with the lifeblood of Yamato culture. And now it was all coming down.
Todo charged forward at breakneck speed, hairline cracks splintering beneath each footfall. His massive frame displaced so much air that the curtain of rain was blown apart on contact—droplets shattered into mist the instant they touched his body. He barreled toward Hanami like a rampaging bull.
He could feel it: the enemy was deploying a terrifying Innate Domain. The life force of every surrounding plant was being siphoned away, all of it funneled into the flower at the crown of the giant tree.
An unknown domain was taking shape. He had to interrupt it.
Leaves withered one by one. Hanami stood atop the tree and reached out. The roots exploded through buildings, surging toward Todo like a tidal wave.
Spheres of woven branches materialized—one after another, brimming with vigorous life force and horrifying cursed energy. They bloomed in midair as if growing from nothing, an endless barrage raining down from every direction.
Todo sidestepped. The tremendous momentum he'd built was killed dead as he planted his feet, carving a half-circle to barely dodge the first sphere. He pivoted, channeled cursed energy into both fists, and let the rotational inertia carry his arms through a wide, sweeping arc before smashing into the second one.
Leaves and shattered branches exploded outward as the second sphere burst apart. Riding the momentum, his next punch was already rising before the first had finished its follow-through. Dust erupted as he hammered the blow into a massive root.
The tree shuddered. Not a scratch on it.
But before Hanami could breathe easy, Todo's left hand shot up and slapped against the right fist still pressed to the root. He exhaled sharply.
"Swap."
Todo's silhouette blurred for an instant—and in the next, Nanami Kira's figure snapped into sharp focus in the exact spot Todo had occupied, right hand pressed against the thick root.
"Killer Queen!"
The root began to shrivel, deflating as though the air had been sucked out of it. Then it swelled violently—expanding, expanding—the bark cracking in layer after layer. Through the yellowed surface, fire could be seen racing through the root's interior like blood through veins.
The explosion was silent. It detonated from within first, then bled outward bit by bit. The root disintegrated into fragments, the destruction propagating toward the center of the tree.
Kira had just turned an entire section of root into a bomb.
It cost him an enormous amount of cursed energy. Unfortunately, the explosion didn't travel as far as he'd hoped—it never reached the flower at the top.
"Swap."
Todo clapped his hands, switching positions with Kira again. This was his innate cursed technique: the ability to swap the positions of anything that possessed cursed energy—people or objects alike.
This was the plan they'd agreed on from the start. Todo handled mobility and opening a path. Kira handled the attacks.
The instant Todo touched down, the avalanche of green spheres was already bearing down on him. He poured cursed energy into his feet and slid sideways, sprinting in a circle around the tree. Crater after crater was punched into the ground behind him, pulverizing the old-world streets.
No chance to close the distance. He spat in frustration.
The petals were slowly opening, revealing a few pale-yellow stamens. A faint fragrance tinted the air with something almost intoxicating. Hanami watched the flower on the verge of blooming and thought:
Almost... it's almost done...
A shadow fell over his vision. A massive beam of light was taking shape nearby.
The colossal heat warped the air itself. Waves of scorching energy baked every inch of the earth, and then the beam compressed into a single point—one brief flash—and it was right in Hanami's face.
"Cannon-Enhanced Mode—Ultimate Mechamaru!"
Kira and Todo had been the decoys all along. The real heavy hitter was Mechamaru.
No time to dodge. Hanami redirected every drop of cursed energy in his body, shielding the flower with his own flesh, standing firm against the torrent of energy.
Inside that colossal beam, the searing heat stripped him away. A golden flood washed over his body—blood, flesh, skin, all of it gently and mercilessly scoured away layer by layer. He clenched his teeth and stood his ground in the heart of the blast.
At last, the golden torrent ran dry.
But what chilled his blood was the voice that followed: "Killer Queen."
A large pink hand reached into his arms and gently caressed the beautiful flower.
BOOM—
The blossom erupted in his embrace.
"Hah..."
Hanami exhaled slowly. His entire body was drenched in blood from the blasts, yet he seemed utterly impervious to pain. His form flickered—and the next instant he was in front of Killer Queen, seizing its head and slamming it into the ground.
The impact hit like a thunderbolt from the sky. The great tree shuddered violently. The earth sank two inches. Then Hanami dissolved into a blur, green spheres blooming in his wake and cascading outward in every direction.
He'd heard of Nanami Kira's exploits.
He knew the shikigami was extraordinary—immune to anything short of a soul-targeting attack.
So Hanami didn't bother trying to overpower the shikigami. Targeting the user directly was the obvious play.
Todo's technique swaps his allies' positions... Mechamaru is pure offense... He'd roughly mapped out the enemy's capabilities.
Kira watched Hanami dive toward him. His expression stayed calm.
Clap.
Todo swapped in, taking Kira's place and catching Hanami's fist head-on. The massive force traveled up his arms, shredding his sleeves. Cursed energy tore through his spine and erupted from his back as a violent pressure wave.
Hanami was every bit a Special Grade cursed spirit—his cursed energy dwarfed that of any Grade 1 sorcerer. In half a heartbeat, a second wave of power surged up, and he launched Todo flying.
Clap.
In midair, Todo clapped again.
Mechamaru—already prepared—swapped into his place. Jet flames erupted from his right arm, accelerating him like a missile as he rammed into Hanami in midair, leaving rings of vapor in his wake.
They smashed through the great tree. Wall after wall shattered as they tore through building after building, structures collapsing in their wake. Mechamaru pressed his right hand against Hanami's head, his left hand rising slightly—black cursed energy pooling in his palm—
'Sorrow.'
A woman's hoarse, breathy whisper brushed past his ear.
Boundless darkness swallowed his vision. Everything around him lost its shape, twisting into something abstract. Everything was strange and unfamiliar.
The light in his eyes was fading.
'Keep it up and I'll throw you in there to feed Mechamaru.'
'Sorry! I'm so sorry! Mechamaru, please don't eat me! I haven't even bathed!'
"I control a Cursed Corpse, but I don't eat people... I just want to be with everyone..."
He murmured.
"Miwa, don't be scared of me. I don't eat people. Everybody, please don't be scared of me."
"Everyone... don't leave me alone."
"Todo, Zenin, Kamo, Nishimiya, and Miwa... don't go. I don't eat people. Please don't go."
"I'm scared of the dark... Where are you? I can't find you. I can't find any of you..."
"Please..."
In a dark place, deep-red nutrient fluid cold as corpse-grease filled the space. IV tubes one after another punctured the boy's arms, so many that the skin was riddled with tiny holes.
His lower body was submerged in the fluid, like a corpse floating in a fetid river.
Layer upon layer of bandages wound around his body, leaving only a pair of lifeless eyes exposed.
Streaming with tears.