Darkness (
Color Spread[]
Panel[]

In a mirror of their present situation, Chihiro stares at Hiruhiko with apathy on the stage, while Hiruhiko returns his gaze from his seat. Papers fill the air and blood coats both individuals' faces.
Cover[]

Chihiro and Hiruhiko stand in opposition to each other, Chihiro with Enten drawn and held to Hiruhiko's neck. In the background, Uruha and Samura stand armed with Kumeyuri and Tobimune respectively, both blades sheathed.
Summary[]
In Samura's courtyard over three years ago, Samura praises Chihiro's bladework, the teen having performed a successful slice through the training stand. To the side, Shiba praises Chihiro's 'Rokuhira eyes', believing him to be capable of learning swordsmanship easily. As Chihiro gazes at Samura in admiration, Samura brushes off Shiba's words, believing Chihiro to be too young. He abruptly pokes Chihiro's eyes, having sensed he was gazing at himself in admiration. Tone turning grim, Samura tells Chihiro that cutting people is very different from cutting straw, and tells him not to let his admiration go too far, as he and the other Enchanted Blade wielders had killed many people.
In the present, Chihiro, with Nishiki still active, responds to Hiruhiko's statement that he was the only one who could understand Chihiro, coldly wondering whether Hiruhiko wanted to kill him or become friends with him. Hiruhiko muses that it was a mix of both, and perhaps they could become friends by trying to kill each other; though he was unsure, having never had a friend before. As Chihiro rushes forward, Hiruhiko unleashes a storm of papers to obscure his position. Chihiro remarks on Hiruhiko's continued insistence on fleeing, and Hiruhiko admits battling in melee with an Enchanted Blade would be suicide, and so he had to take advantage of anything he had.
With papers completing blocking his vision, Chihiro sees a presence behind him and approaches it, but finds it is a terrified civilian. Looking around, Chihiro seees Hiruhiko has enveloped many civilians in his papers to use as hostages, before quickly parrying a barrage of paper cranes shooting out of the storm. Chihiro quickly catches on to Hiruhiko's strategy; detecting his location using paper and attacking with cranes from afar.

A theatergoer shouts at Chihiro to stay away
Behind the storm, Hiruhiko forms another volley of cranes using his sorcery, eyes closed in concentration. He speculates why Chihiro is not using his power of absorption, concluding Chihiro could not absorb physical objects. Hiruhiko then rationalises Chihiro wouldn't use Kuro when there were civilians in attack range, and Nishiki was not an option when the cranes could hit civilians. Hiruhiko concludes that Chihiro can only defend himself in close range, doomed to death by a thousand cuts. He then pushes one of the civilians near Chihiro, the civilian panicking and yelling at Chihiro to stay away, attempting to force Chihiro into a situation where he had to kill to progress.
Hiruhiko muses that in the play they had interrupted, there was a scene where the hero Sasuke faced enemies who took hostages, was paralysed and thus let the enemy get away. Hiruhiko looks upon Sasuke with disdain, thinking that in real life blanking out like Sasuke did was an invitation for death. Hiruhiko views killers playing the hero to be rejecting their nature as monsters, wanting Chihiro to accept that he was one of them. Speaking out loud, Hiruhiko wonders who Chihiro will sacrifice, urging him to continue their battle to the death.
Chihiro simply left his sword arm to his side, resolutely not making a move. Disappointed, Hiruhiko decides that Chihiro was just like Sasuke, sending forth his cranes to attack Chihiro on all sides, slashing through him.
In the past, Samura recounts to Chihiro that the first time he cut through a person, he was disgusted by the severed flesh, and the image stays in his mind even after blinding himself, having been another reason for his self-inflicted impairment; he could feel himself becoming a monster. Chihiro notes that Samura still decided to wield Tobimune in the end, and Samura remarks that he had to simply keep flailing through the darkness, but that was not something to aspire to, as he was undoubtedly going to hell. Chihiro decides to respect Samura rather than admire him. Samura is unopposed to his choice, especially as Chihiro wasn't trying to become a swordsman anyway, to which Chihiro agreed.
In the present, a bloodied Chihiro stands resolute after Hiruhiko's assault, and Hiruhiko ponders whether Nishiki could increase Chihiro's defences, still finding the sight unbelievable. Internally, Chihiro thinks that his father and the blade wielders avoided the term 'hero' because they felt guilty for their sins, and that was why they continually told Chihiro to find his own path and avoid the path leading to hell. Quietly, Chihiro apologises as he is going down the same path, and activates Kuro.

Chihiro severs Hiruhiko's arms
An incredibly large number of small black goldfish appear from Chihiro, overwhelming the number of papers and completely blotting out both Hiruhiko's normal vision and paper-vision. Chihiro surges forward and instantly severs both of Hiruhiko's arms, turning and placing his foot on Chihiro's shoulder, leaving his wakizashi impaled in Hiruhiko's right arm, the arm bearing the insignia of the Hishaku. An incredulous Hiruhiko is left to blankly question what had happened as Chihiro states that he was a sinner too, having accepted that he was a monster the first time he killed someone, but at the very least he could prevent himself from causing harm to others in his quest to take the Hishaku to hell. He then proceeds to interrogate Hiruhiko.
Quick References[]
Chapter Notes[]
- More on Samura's training of Chihiro is revealed.
- Samura tells Chihiro of his guilt, having killed countless individuals, the massacre and Samura feeling himself becoming a monster having been a driving factor for blinding himself. He tells Chihiro not to admire him and not to aspire to become like him.
- Chihiro and Hiruhiko's battle continues.
- Hiruhiko rationalises that the two of them can become friends through killing each other, which Chihiro derides as nonsense.
- Hiruhiko uses a swarm of papers to disguise his position whilst placing hostages to prevent Chihiro from going all-out with his abilities, adding in a volley of cranes to attack.
- Hiruhiko attempts to force Chihiro into a position where he would have to kill innocents or lose, and thus accept his position as just like himself.
- Chihiro endures the volley of cranes before unleashing Kuro, a swarm of goldfish overwhelming Hiruhiko's senses and allowing Chihiro to sever Hiruhiko's arms.
- Chihiro states while he is a monster and killer as well, he at the very least would take the Hishaku to hell with him and avoid any other casualties.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Author's Comment[]
Author Comment | |
Takeru Hokazono | |
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