"Heroes" ("
Summary[]
Nearly 18 years in the past, Yura's wife calls out to him, asking if a meal he is preparing is ready yet. A younger Yura, one without rings in his eyes or markings around them, replies it is almost done. His wife comments her disbelief that the war is over and things were normal again, while a radio blares that in the one month since the war's end, reparations are already underway for the particularly affected areas. Master swordsmith Kunishige Rokuhira is said to have vowed to enshrine the Enchanted Blades. At his mention, Yura's wife notes that the end of the war was all thanks to the heroes, which Yura agrees with.
In the present, Soga stares as he stands in the Dungeon, noting he must be seeing Yura's memories. Remembering Yura's statement that on one day, he had come to see Malediction as the right answer, Soga notes that Yura must have lived in a particularly war-torn area. In the past, Yura tells his wife that they can rest easy with the knowledge that the heroes will protect the nation and its people.
Above the streets of Tokyo in the present, a burning Yura falls down, Chihiro still pinning him by the burning Enten. Chihiro internally sums up that only Shinuchi can bypass its Lifelong Contract, allowing someone else to wield a fraction of its powers, though paying the price of having their body consumed. Given how the Storehouse had collapsed when Kyora had wielded the blade, the proxy wielder's spirit energy must also be spent in the process. In order to harness more of Shinuchi's powers, the blade altered its body forcefully; by extension, the more the proxy wielder destroyed their body, the more power they could make use of. However, this damage to the proxy wielder's nervous system was something Suzaku's flames could recover.
The darkness burns out of Yura's eyes as Chihiro remembers Yura's statement that he would bring order to the world. Furious, Chihiro remembers the horrors the Hishaku had facilitated such as the Korogumi public executions or the Rakuzaichi, shouting that Yura's words were lies and all those criminal actions had been the Hishaku's fault, decrying that Yura could call such a thing for the greater good. As flames erupt around him, Chihiro demands Yura let go of the Enchanted Blade.
The two fall near a rooftop and briefly stagger to a stop. A huffing Yura croaks out that they had only made the minimum sacrifices necessary to gain control of Shinuchi, and snarks that the world had barely changed from when the Hishaku had begun operations, with the Rakuzaichi in particular having operated for far longer than they had. He noted that the Rakuzaichi was only one of many criminal organisations that preyed on the nation's civilians, only intensifying after the public reveal of sorcerers after the Seitei War. Anger mounting as he is reminded of after the war, Yura shouts that people were victimised for years, beyond what the Kamunabi could do to control it.
"Your father made the world like this!"
Chihiro once again pushes Yura off the roof, slamming Yura downwards. Yura continues screaming, adamant that with the Enchanted Blades, Shinuchi especially, they could have changed everything. Rather than the Hishaku's fault, Yura questioned who had hidden away the Enchanted Blades, who had vanished with the ability to defeat evil. A vision of his wife's corpse in the forefront of his mind, Yura stares straight at Chihiro and yells that the fault for the world degenerating as it has all lies with his father.
While Chihiro's eyes widen in realisation, Soga stares upwards. Flowers attempt to bloom on Yura's body but shrivel and fizzle in the flames; even so, Yura grits his teeth and forms a centipede construct, blasting Chihiro and himself into separate buildings. Cementing his will, Yura draws on everything as he resists Suzaku, flowers blooming as he tries to harness Magatsumi's power, not only on his body but on the surrounding area as well. Chihiro spots this and realises Yura is letting the blade consume him even more than usual. Rationalising (falsely) it is the Master Swordsman's doing, Chihiro observes that whether the Master Swordsman successfully uses Shinuchi's influence to conquer Yura's body or whether Suzaku can drive out Shinuchi's presence is currently in a critical tug-of-war.
Remembering Kyora had only contained it by his willpower and thus they had no idea how much the power had consumed him, Chihiro realises he has to stop it now and readies Aka: Suzaku. Chihiro dives down as Yura leaps upwards, but Chihiro is able to impale Yura, body and blade ablaze. Chihiro withdraws his strike as Yura's misses, before diving back as Yura falls to the ground, hard. Magatsumi lands sheath-first in the ground, several metres away from Yura and decidedly out of his reach. Chihiro notes that last time, he had merely acted as the trigger for Samura's Suzaku, but this time he had added his own; with the power of two uses of the flames of mercy, it had to be over.
The burning Yura cries out in agony as flowers continue to unsuccessfully bloom across his body as well as Magatsumi. Even in the face of his greatest enemy, Chihiro remembers Yura's declaration and his eyes briefly narrow in recognition of Yura's own motives. Yura weakly begs that it can't be over yet. In response to Soga's question of who he was, Yura internally admits that he was nobody, and neither were people like him. However, he croaks out that they needed a hero. In the Dungeon, Soga tells Yura to relax and promises to give his body back, telling Yura to give it to him. He states that he now understands the situation, and he will be the hero. Just before the last of the shadows fade in Yura's eyes, Soga collapses in the Dungeon.
In an instant, Chihiro notices the spirit energy from Yura and Magatsumi growing stronger as the presence of flowers greatly increases, fighting back the fire. The flames on Yura's body practically disappear as his now-levitating body is overtaken by flowers. More extend from Magatsumi, which begins emerging from its sheath.
Quick References[]
Chapter Notes[]
- It is revealed that Yura had a wife 18 years ago, but she died sometime afterwards.
- Soga sees this in Yura's memories.
- It is stated that to use more of Magatsumi's power, the proxy wielder's body and spirit energy are consumed and altered, something that Suzaku can fix.
- Chihiro shouts that Yura's claim that he will bring order is nothing but lies given the crimes the Hishaku have facilitated.
- Yura replies.
- He states they have only made the bare minimum sacrifices to reach Shinuchi, and retorts that the world has barely changed since they began.
- He brings up the Rakuzaichi is only one of many criminal organisations that had preyed on the innocent, only growing in activity after the public reveal of sorcerers in the wake of the Seitei War.
- He shouts that while the Kamunabi could do nothing, the Enchanted Blades could, and blames Kunishige Rokuhira for allowing the nation to become the hive of villainy it has become in the present.
- Chihiro launches Yura to the ground and uses Aka: Suzaku to intensify the flames.
- Soga tells Yura to hand his body over, promising to return it and saying he understands the situation now.
- The flames on Yura's body disappear in an instant, replaced by flowers. Magatsumi begins unsheathing.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Author's Comment[]
| Author Comment | |
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Takeru Hokazono |
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