Chapter 56

The Jinja-Hime rises once more. Despite the giant hole in its body and the blood spewing out of it, it loudly screams and thus declares its wish to strike us down and kill us.
But I am no different:

To fulfill your goal, you have to sacrifice something. That I understand. So why… Why didn’t Aomade succeed? Didn’t he sacrifice the most important thing? Didn’t he sacrifice his own life, the most important thing one has?

Ah.

Or perhaps he didn’t.

That is: He did sacrifice his life to defeat the enemy… But perhaps - and I know just how absurd this sounds - his life has never been the most important thing there is for him. Did he not succeed because of that?

…

What the hell am I even talking about?

I lose myself. Again and again I start talking about things that just… aren’t relevant. That aren’t important. Is it not the worst time possible right now to think about such useless things? Should I not perhaps focus on the one before me?

I gulp.

I do not want to see this Yokai live for even a single second longer. Even if I throw away my very existence, even if I throw away everything there is to myself… I want to kill. I need to kill. Not just for myself, not just for Aki, not just for Aomade… But for all three of us at the same time.

Everything turns black.

The heart of the Jinja-Hime glows red. It glows for a single reason: So that I will certainly see it and certainly strike directly at it. It functions as a target.

Despite everything being black, the bloodfilled blade of my trusted sword is red. As it gets swung across the black world, it leaves behind a red glow.

The red blade of death, held by none other than the Blessed chosen by Death, brings death to the Yokai.

The glowing red blade meets the glowing red heart.

And thus, a giant wave of red blood splatters out of the exploding body of the Jinja-Hime.

It, like everything else, dies within a single hit.

That is the blessing that Lady Death has given me. And now I understand.

Everything around me will die. Everyone will die. This is why, again and again, I am confronted with death. That is why I could not save anyone… That is why Aomade had to die.
My pure existence is calling forth death.

My vision does not change in the slightest. I still look at a dark world. As I look at the dark form of Aki, I cannot smile. After all, I see her red heart pumping right in front of me. If I were to make even a single mistake, I may or may not kill her.

Thus, I do not touch her.

“We… need to get to safety. Is there someone else still alive?”

She looks at me, crying. It was kind of tactless of me to be so direct, but this is not the time to hesitate anymore. She will survive. I will make sure of it.

“I… I have no idea… Muraoka and Arita are dead… I… have no idea who else is left…”

I do. The only ones who aren’t confirmed to be dead are Doctor Itu, Miss Haruka and Hibiki… Please, live. I cannot stand any more deaths…

Please… just… live…

As we run across the training grounds we see more and more Yokai. They… do not stop at all. There are many more Yokai than there are actually students… or well… have been students.

In the middle of some of them stands Hibiki. She is breathing heavily. She is giving it her all and defends herself against as many of the opposing Yokai as possible, though it becomes obvious she cannot fight for much longer.

If nothing happens, sooner or later, she will die.

Thus, something happens.