Chapter 172: In the End of the World, wherever that may be
The country of Japan held its breath as the fateful day wherein the end of the war will be declared was rumored to be coming closer.
Several weeks after a few specialized divisions of soldiers surrounded the last mountain still being held by the enemy and unable to be entered by any of them due to the fact that there are still residual radiation, a tabloid newspaper spread throughout the country, holding rumors about some well-known people who are reportedly missing from the public eye.
"[SHOGUN AMANOGAWA, SHRINE PRIESTESS AZUSAGAWA AND KIRIN LORD IWASAWA, REPORTEDLY MISSING IN ACTION FOR SEVERAL DAYS! EXCLUSIVE EXPOSÉ FROM OUR INSIDERS!]"
Amanogawa Sora, Azusagawa Maya and Iwasawa Hiroshi. All three people who are integral to the chain of command and being looked up upon by many people were all mysteriously missing from any kind of public appearance.
"General! We demand answers!"
"The public is asking for answers!"
"Stop giving us the cold shoulder! The people deserve to know the truth!"
At Naka castle, hundreds of reporters from newspaper and radio companies came to no longer respectfully ask but to demand an answer from Himeji Kotori, the frontline general who came back as per the normal chain of command rotation in Kiko's armed forces.
"…"
"Please General Himeji! The people need to know where Iwasawa-sama is!"
"The war is ending, right? Why is he still not appearing in public?!"
"Please answer us, General!"
Hounded by their pleas for an answer, even the tight-lipped Kotori was forced to open her mouth and give them a neutral statement.
"Iwasawa-sama is at the forefront of the battle, As everyone knows, the terrible monsters that Miyazono Keiji brought against us was wiped out by the neutron missile strikes and even the mountain bunker of our enemy was hit by thermo-nuclear missiles that effectively turned it into an irradiated mausoleum for the enemy."
"What is Iwasawa-sama doing there if the war is ending, then?"
"The war hasn't been declared to have ended yet, isn't it?"
"N-Now that you say that-!"
"Iwasawa-sama… he intends to see this through until the very end. He said that unless he sees it for himself, he can't give his guarantee that we have won. To that end…"
Everyone held their breath as the words that Kotori left them was sure to be turned into a myriad of headlines.
"Await the day when the Kirin Lord comes home victorious."
After the press conference, Kotori made her way to her office in Naka castle where she left much of the documents that have piled up while she was away. Normally, someone like General Ishida Takeo of the Kiko Defense forces or Kusakabe Ino of the Ministry of Internal Government would be the ones to handle these documents that are mostly about running Kiko and occupied Kise, but due to the way that Kiko's laws are written, during the time when it is at war, the highest-ranking military official in Naka castle must also give their approval regarding any official action of the government.
"Iwasawa-sama…"
However, as she scanned over and gave the appropriate approving or denying stamp on the documents, there was but one person that was on her mind full of worry.
"Just what did you see for you to insist that you should be the only one to end all of this?"
The fact that their master, Iwasawa Hiroshi, has gone AWOL and gave strict orders to not have anyone come after him and attempt to save him was something that made all of his subordinates and even friends and allies to feel like there is something going on behind Hiroshi's veneer.
"Here's your coffee."
"Oh. Thank you, Asada-san. I didn't even notice that-"
While she's talking to herself about her worries regarding Hiroshi, she saw from the corner of her vision a cup of coffee and thanked the person whom she expected to have brewed it for her. However, as she raised her eyes, she saw someone she never expected.
"It's been a while, Kotori-chan…"
"Ch-Chiyo-dono!"
It has only been a few weeks since Chiyo woke up from her comatose state and underwent physical therapy to regain the bodily functions that was dulled during that time. However, this fact was kept hidden due to that fact that she may still be targeted by potential enemy assassins believed to still be lingering in sleeper cells all across the country. Because of this, her sudden appearance in front of Kotori and appearing to be back to full health caused the latter to be shocked.
"You seem… disturbed."
"I… Of course, I am. Ever since you got shot and Hiroshi-sama declared war against all of our enemies, you've been the subject of everyone's worry."
"I can see that because of your reaction, but I believe that's not the full truth."
"Huh?"
"You kept on murmuring Hiroshi's name… tell me, he's possibly in danger, isn't he?"
"…"
Normally, she would tell her straight away that it is true. But Kotori is currently in a state of contradiction.
As someone who deeply admires and once even openly stated her love for him, Kotori should say the truth to Chiyo who also loves Hiroshi. Even though she is her love rival and Chiyo has been accepted as Hiroshi's fiancée, no amount of envy would stop her from doing so… However, she is also the subordinate and direct retainer of Hiroshi. As a warrior loyal to the core to her master, she has to respect the order given by him that his disappearance in order to "end all of this" must be kept a tight-lipped secret.
"Kotori-chan… please. Of all the people that I can ask, I want you to be the one to say it to me."
"Chiyo-dono… You know that I can't do this…"
"Why?"
"As his subordinate… I can't go against his orders."
"Then what carries more weight for you, Kotori? Your devotion for him as his retainer… or your love for him?"
"T-That's an impossible question to answer and you know it well, Chiyo-dono!"
"Why so?"
"O-Of all of us that he showed kindness to, you're the one that he chose! I… I have accepted already that I can never receive his true affection, nor can he reciprocate my love unlike you that he chose!"
Even if she tried her best to hold it back, in the end, the painful tears that she held back ever since she received the admission of rejection from him finally poured out in front of the person that she wished to be the last person to ever see her shed them.
"So please, I beg you… Don't… Don't use what little unconditional love that I have for him just to betray his wishes. If… If that happens, I may not be able to look at him anymore nor have the right to stay beside him as a mere subordinate."
Choking on her tears and sobs, Kotori's true self that she kept beneath the façade of a ruthless military general who was willing to do anything necessary to bring her master victory, came out and showed its vulnerable and fragile side.
"I will say this once and only once in consideration of your love for him that isn't any less valid as mine, Kotori…"
"H-huh?"
"Hiroshi… no, Hiro… I love Hiro-kun. Back then, right now and unto the end of our new lives."
With a resolute expression that gave even Kotori goosebumps, Chiyo spoke of her love towards Hiroshi that seem to run deeper and stronger than it used to be before.
"I don't intend to give him up to anyone… because I know that after he discovered the truth, he also didn't give up on me… the fact that he declared war instead of ending this as peacefully as possible tells me that it is the truth. Just because he was afraid that he will once again lose me, he went against his peace-loving nature."
"Chiyo-dono…"
"And because of that… I want to do my part too. Just like he did everything for my sake. I want to do the same for him now that he's clearly the one on the path of danger."
"With all due respect, Chiyo-dono… what could you do to help him at this point?"
Hearing her words, Kotori's heart was pained by the fact that Chiyo has no intention to let go of Hiroshi, but it was warmed by her words that at least proved to her that her beloved will be at the hands of a loving and devoted woman. And yet, as a realist soldier and not a hopeful woman, Kotori spoke out about the seemingly wishful tone that Chiyo was using to affirm her desire to help Hiroshi out.
"Hiroshi… No, Iwasawa-sama is fighting face-to-face with an inhuman enemy that is rumored to still be alive after being hit by our weapons of mass destruction and the remnant that corrodes any physical body that it is subjected to."
"…"
"When he left, we can do nothing and we decided to respect his wishes and really do nothing… which is why I want to ask you right here and right now, Chiyo-dono…"
With eyes that showed an absolutely unmovable will to receive an appropriate answer, Kotori asked such to Chiyo who gave an answer that earned her surprise.
"I want to show him that this isn't a fight that only he will be fighting. Unlike before, the one that will eradicate our great enemy isn't a lone chosen individual or a certain group ordained by destiny to save this world. It will be us who wishes for nothing more but a world where we can live with happiness and contentment."
"Chiyo-sama… that is…"
"Just like we believed in him and the bright and beautiful dream that he once told us about… I want to make him believe that it is a dream that he can share with us as well."
Being utterly defeated by Chiyo's unstoppable care for the man that both of them dearly love, Kotori held her breath as she inwardly contemplated a decision that she knew will change the course of the future.
Deep inside, she was envious. No matter how much she tries to dig from her heart a sense of love as deep and devoted as Chiyo's, she knew that she will always be beaten. She felt jealous that Chiyo has such a huge heart that she has smitten Hiroshi and have enough composure to confidently be aware that other women loves her lover and yet not feel threatened at all.
However, such envy is nothing but a grain of dust against the sense of respect that she has for her. Not as a warrior, or a statesperson or anything that Chiyo is, but instead, as a fellow woman… That quality of hers that Kotori herself bore witness to was something that she admired.
And because of that… her side of being a woman worried to death for her beloved won over her side of being a warrior loyal to her master's orders.
"Chiyo-dono… If we're going to do this together, as you have just said, I… I want to do this correctly."
"And by correctly, you mean?"
After a short silence, Kotori spoke about her condition that gained Chiyo's surprise before she understood its purpose and agreed to it.
"…I guess you're right. I may have been his betrothed, but I am not alone in being the only woman who cares for him deeply and loves him in such a way."
"If you would agree, I will lead us to where he is."
"There's no need for contemplation. Your condition will make things easier later anyway."
That day in Naka castle, both General Himeji Kotori and Lady Aoyama Chiyo disappeared like mist and no traces of where they went came up when their absence was noticed.
"L-Lady Akizuki! Lady Chiyo is-!"
"Missing?"
"Y-Yes! She was last seen bringing coffee to General Himeji's office and now, even General Himeji is missing!"
"A-Akizuki-sama! We should send out the castle guards to look for clues! They might have been kidnapped or worse-"
"Calm down, everyone… Be calm."
"Akizuki-sama…"
As Akizuki Hisako finished her morning prayers at Kaiho sanctum, she stopped the guards from making any drastic action that is not needed.
"Chiyo-nee and Kotori-san is doing something important that they cannot talk about openly with others. There's no need to pursue nor locate them, they are in safe hands."
"H-how can you be so sure about this, Akizuki-sama?"
"Hehe! Let's just say that some dear friends have been kind enough to lend me their help in exchange for a huge favor I did for them once. Let's leave it at that."
"B-But still! We must at least inform Takeshi-dono and General Ayasaki that the two are-"
"Leave that to me. I will communicate it without fail and without agitating the public."
After the castle guards agreed to her proposal, she ordered her attendants to leave the sanctum as she wanted to go through the morning rituals alone that day. However, as the sanctum gates were closed and she remained as the only one in it, she was not alone at all.
"Kurumi-san and Reiha-san… how are the preparations going?"
"I've informed my kin to open the torii gates from here to the Sanctuary in Furuya. With that, they can cut their travel time to less than a day whilst bringing along the other ladies covertly."
From behind the shrine, Momiji Kurumi, the Shrine Priestess of Furuya Sanctuary answered her question. In order to prove her answer, she was carrying a sleeping young kitsune in her arms, showing that the pathways in the various shrines and temples dedicated to Inari-no-kami has been opened for the two aforementioned women.
"How about you, Reiha-san?"
"I've instructed both Bakedanuki and Tanuki youkai folk from Furuya all the way to Yamato province to let them through their pathways as well. They might be a bit naughty, but they'll get the job done."
From atop a branch of a nearby maple tree, the Mujina priestess Tanukichi Reiha appeared and answered whilst making it obvious that she wanted to rest on the branch. Knowing well that she worked hard on convincing the youkai to aid the passage of Chiyo and the others, Hisako let her rest and directed the conversation to Kurumi alone.
"I see… I'll be praying for their safety then."
"…You really made us pull the short stick this time, Hisako-chan. Of all the things that you can ask for to make us pay back the favor we owe you, it had to be this."
"Please understand, Kurumi-san. As friend of all of them, and probably even a woman, I believe you can understand why they had to do this and why I steeled myself to ask Inari-sama for this thing."
"…I never said anything about being against it, I just said that you girls sure are looking up to that guy a bit too highly for your own good."
"Hehe, He's Iwasawa-sama after all. It's not everyday that you can be born in the same generation as someone like him."
"Hmm… when you put it like that, I guess that makes sense in its own way. However, I belong to a race with longevity. I'd probably see two or even three more people like him before I ascend into my mature form."
"Wouldn't it be fun then to have me in that journey?"
"Haah… you're still serious with pursuing that goal, huh? I must warn you though, transcendence is something that only a few can achieve and only a miniscule number amongst that already chosen few deserves and can take responsibility for."
"You already heard what I said in front of Inari-sama… I am prepared for everything."
As Kotori looked at Hisako who spoke about that "thing" again, she can't help but admit that if this isn't fate at work, then fate mustn't be existent.
"Time will tell if you really deserve it, Hisako. For now, you should focus on the people that you hold dear today and what kind of lives they will lead after all of this mess has been settled."
"Right. I must focus on the present for now."
As a sense of silence and peace returned in the sanctum hewn inside a mountain cavern, none of them expected anything out of the ordinary to happen. However, even at the other end of this nation at the final stages of its war, their enemy's fury and stubborn clinging to life still exudes out like a voracious cancer calling out to all of its enemies.
"Calm down, little one… Everything is well."
"Pyuu~!"
The sleeping kitsune fox became agitated and moved around in Kurumi's arms.
"Man… he's really making a lot of noise, doesn't he?"
The sleepy tone of Reiha's complaint was mixed with annoyance and a tinge of anxiety.
"Please be safe, Hiroshi-san… For your sake… and for this world's sake…"
Hisako's fervent prayers was among the thin, fragile threads that is keeping the subject of her supplications from falling into the gaping maw of their sworn enemy.
"We're nearly there, Shogun."
"No need to continue onwards with me. From here on out, I'll proceed by foot."
For in the lone mountain where this will all end once and for all, stepped in three people brought here in this new world through various ways, circumstances, and connection to the awful fate of their past world.
"Good thing I tried sky diving once. With this, I can slip in unnoticed."
And yet, they are united by the same objective that they are prepared to fulfill even if it may end up killing them.
"Show yourself, Keiji… You and me, one on one… this time, it will really be the end of you."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
As soon as we arrived at the crossroads of the railways leading to the lone and irradiated mountain bunker, I told Minori to stop and let me walk the rest of the way to the place where I needed to go to.
"Are you really sure about this? I can easily slip through into the siege defenses given my position as a direct subordinate of Iwasawa-sama. If anything, having you seen here out in the open may invite more harm than good."
"I can manage myself, Minori-kun. Don't worry about it."
"Alrighty then… If you will insist on that."
As I stepped down from the locomotive's driver platform and stretched my limbs out that was kept immobile by the physically mundane trip, I looked at the lone mountain at the horizon just past the tree line.
"Well, well… just like fate has set it. I am here once again."
"Once again?"
"Nothing much, Minori-kun. Just talking to myself."
"That so? Well then, I'll be turning back here. Wish you luck on getting that enemy of ours finally dealt with. And remember, no words about this. I agreed to bring you here because you said that this would end without any more losses to the alliance and our people."
"That, I can promise. I fulfill what I say, and you can trust that I can do it."
As he reversed the movement of the train, I looked at the mountain that looms over the horizon. Normal people may see it as nothing more than a bald, stony mountain surrounded by a forest that has now either been burned by the many bombs that detonated near it or has shed all of its leaves after suffering from the radiation that those same bombs brought.
"The last among the heirs… the one who has held onto his last vestiges of life and strength."
However, for me that has clearly been given one last chance to personally finish what I started, I didn't saw that. What I saw instead was the weakened yet still very dangerous evil miasma that emanates from our last great enemy.
"I am here to do what I should've done before if not for the fact that my body has painfully failed me. But now… now that it is clear as day that there is something that I can do."
This is the end.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It took me years to successfully convince your cohorts that I have met my demise.
It took many bloody and painful sacrifices for me to finally find a place where you cannot find the body that I promised to hide perfectly.
It took almost my entire self-control to hold myself back from not falling into insanity and doing something horrid against people unrelated to your evildoings.
From start to finish, it was clear to me that I have one and only one enemy… and that no matter how much I try to twist it, ending your life is the only way for me to have peace once and for all.
And now… all of my frustration from not being allowed to personally bring justice for my beloved friends is gone. Back then, I had to accept that it was the might of someone far stronger than me who had to carry my vendetta… and I accepted it as he is the only other person who knew about all of the suffering that you went through and was just as enraged as me about all of it.
But now… Now, I feel nothing but elation.
Elation not just because what I did back then brought forth this new world where those two people important to me can finally be together happily… but also because I can finish what I was unable to personally end back then.
["Are you sure about this, Maya-chan?"]
"I am, great spirit. If this power can allow me to bring down that monster, I am prepared for what may come next."
["…"]
"Just like him, I have clung to life so much because I carried a desire so great that I cannot allow it to die with me. However, unlike him who has been tainted by Chaos, I am here as myself and nothing more."
["I shall warn you, Maya-chan, none of the previous Shrine Priestesses who braved to wear that form survived long enough to-"]
"As I said, great Sea Dragon spirit… I am prepared."
["…Very well then. Call upon my power when you are ready."]
As that voice disappeared from my hearing. I took my first steps towards the mountain where I knew that my enemy is still very much alive and trying to cling to a chance to break out of the maws of death.
"Once and for all… right, once and for all. This will finally be it."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
By a stroke of luck or perhaps, the work of destiny itself, Sora, Maya and Hiroshi all entered the caverns of the mountain in order to carry their long overdue vendetta against the last remaining enemy of theirs.
From the western side, Shogun Sora got through the defensive walls of the alliance by slipping through the woods that dot the area. Though there were close calls when he could've been caught, his body that was rejuvenated to its tip-top shape was able to move in a speed that made it look like a blur to any of the guarding soldiers.
From the northern side where the northernly winds brought her parachute down, Maya got past the walls by donning the spiritual garb of the sea dragon and going under the river that courses through the walls. By the time she emerged from inside, she is no longer able to be spotted.
It was Hiroshi who was caught by the soldiers but by his direct order, allowed to get through. The alliance soldiers, puzzled why the Chancellor himself was there, quickly reported it to their superiors, but was told to keep silent about the entire thing by no other than General Nobisuke himself.
"Iwasawa-sama has given his orders. We are not to intrude on his wishes."
"But sir, this is-!"
"Orders are orders, soldier. Don't question it."
By the time that he arrived at the foot of the mountain, his vehicle has ran out of fuel and he decided to continue on by foot. Carrying on his person all kinds of weapons and supplies, there was nothing on his mind but exhaustion and paranoia… and yet, there is a tinge of hope that he clings on in his heart.
"This is it… once this is done, I can… no… this world can finally be safe."
Not living his own life in the past world… and not even being able to live a proper life on this new one. It frustrated him… and yet, the selfless heart of Hiroshi, the love that he has for the only woman he loved and the sense of duty that he bears towards his people.
It gave him purpose… it gave him hope.
"If that is what my fate is once again… this time at least… this time, I will set thing straight so that I will be the only one to go through that hell."
One step after another, he climbed towards the cavern where he can faintly sense the dreadful and disgustingly suffocating aura of his enemy.
"Rai-kun entrusted this world to us. Along with everyone who sacrificed life and limb in order to give us one more chance to set things straight, I will prove that their trust is not unfounded… and all that they did was for nought.
After he entered the cavern, a whiplash of that repressive aura roared through the cave as if warning him to not get any closer. And yet, he stepped inside with no fear in his mind and heart.
On the two other entrances towards the mountain's cavern complex, both Sora and Maya received the same warning… and like Hiroshi, none of them took a step back or hesitated about their desire to enter the place.
"You're not scaring me, you brat… I've become a far more fearful monster than you can ever be."
The equally virtuous and evil Shogun spoke under his breath as if scoffing at the poor display of menace towards him by Keiji. After all, Sora is not a stranger on doing the wrong things for the right reasons and outcomes.
"No matter how much you cover it up, I can smell it, Keiji… you're horribly frightened right now, and so is that monster that you're harboring inside yourself."
Maya was scoffing as well at the warning given to him by Keiji. The monster that he has long seen as unstoppable and unreachable by her hands is now not just displaying a futile attempt to still seem like a frightening danger… he is also proving her suspicion that this enemy is no longer someone that she has to see as a danger.
"You and that monster said that I will pay dearly for standing on your way… well guess what, I don't give two shits, Keiji!"
As he rushed headlong into the dark cavern, armed from head to toe, Hiroshi wasn't aware that he is not alone in pursuing Keiji's life and because of that, he and the other two gained not a slim but a fair chance to actually end their enemy's life.
"Pest! DAMNED PESTS!!!"
"How dare they split ways and attack on different places!"
"WE HAVE TO SPLIT OUR STRENGTH BECAUSE OF THIS!"
"DAMN THEY!!!"
At the innermost cavern of the mountain where the radioactive slush of molten stone and glassy sand has stuck itself to Keiji's body that emerge from the misshapen and monstrous-looking blob of mutated human flesh, countless mouths taken over by Chaos spoke and complained endlessly about how the three split up and thus, they also have to split their strength to keep them at bay.
"The most dangerous one is that old geezer! He has to be stopped at all cost!"
"Don't be stupid! It is the wench who just won't die that we have to be wary of!"
The mouths argued about which of the three deserves to have much of their split strength and the two who came up was Sora and Maya…
"You lot! SHUT YOUR TRAPS!!!"
However, the one closest to Keiji's body shouted with a shrill, high-pitched voice which made the others to shut up immediately.
"You seem to forget, that the one who is really a danger to us isn't those two but that one who shouldn't ever have been here in the first place!"
"""!!!"""
The realization didn't take too much time to set in for the rest of the independently moving and thinking mouths. The moment they were reminded of "that person" they realized that they really are in a great conundrum.
"That Replicant! That rebelling Invalid! He is the one that must be stopped at all cost!"
At that very moment, the last duel that would decide the fate of the world was set and it will be settled by those who should've ended it back then…
"Hurry, everyone!"
"The next shrine is near here! Let's get going, you two!"
"Right behind you, Kyouko-sama!"
"Lead the way, Chiyo-dono!"
…But this time, those who wish to live peacefully in this world will also show their mettle against their oppressors.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ephraim_Chronia
Ephraim_Chronia Sorry for the month long wait, as usual, college life has been picking up and writer's block and other personal responsibilities are keeping yours truly very, very busy. I'll try my best to come up with more and faster chapters now that I am in vacation. Catch up with you guys later!
-Author Rai
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