[The End of Osamu Ashikaga]: The End of All Things

(Takemikazuchi knows he’ll have to fight both Hima and I. Gekko will also try to stop him from killing me so he doesn’t render Dark Dawn completely irreversible. He’ll try to hide in the smoke and flank us. Hima’s senses are good, but I don’t know how useful they’ll be with all the smoke and fumes. Our best bet is to try and draw him out.)

Osamu clasped his hands and issued a command to the nearby Jikininki to find Takemikazuchi. Responding to their lord’s command, the Jikininki filled the air with their bloodthirsty howls from all directions. Roughly thirty of them raced down the streets on all fours like dogs. Some of them climbed atop the gutted buildings and began their search from higher ground.

Osamu and Hima marched down the street as the Jikininki scattered in pursuit of Takemikazuchi. Hima’s crawled over every corner and alleyway in the distance, her vampiric vision good enough to see past some of the smoke.

“The Underworld’s Eye is still healing.” Osamu said. “We’ll flush him out with the Jinkininki instead.”

The crumble of concrete chunks in the distance made Hima turn and snap her gaze down the street. She heard the distant echo of footsteps moving at a rapid pace, and they were getting closer.

“Osamu! Get behind me!” Hima urged.

Three red fireballs shot up into the sky, then came speeding down towards Osamu. Hima held her palm skywards, shielding herself and Osamu with a thin layer of protective moonlight. The fireballs slammed into Hima’s light and exploded like rockets against it.

Hima spread her wings out and flapped them forward, blowing away the black smoke rising from the blast. She looked around and saw no sign of Takemikazuchi anywhere, only obliterated buildings and ashen fog. However, the Jikininki in pursuit of Takemikazuchi made all the sound Hima needed. She heard famished grunts from afar, their hands and feet slamming against the ground as they closed in on their target.

Takemikazuchi’s shout of rage echoed from behind the line of buildings in front of Hima. The crackle of flames popped in the air like fireworks, then a red light flashed and spilled through the alleyways and broken windows. Two of Osamu’s Jikininki were sent flying into the air, their bodies completely engulfed in flames.

They crashed into the street in front of Osamu and lied lifeless as the red flames seared flesh and singed their hair. But a third Jikininki tackled Takemikazuchi and crashed through one of the ruined apartment buildings, popping out the other side of the complex and slamming him onto the street about a hundred meters away from Osamu and Hima.

Osamu sprinted towards them while the Jikininki stomped on Takemikazuchi’s throat and crushed his wrists in its hands. With blood dripping down his esophagus, Takemikazuchi wrapped his fingers around the Jikininki’s arms.

The mere touch of his fingertips caused the monster’s skin to sizzle like meat in a hot pan. The heat melted the Jikininki’s skin and flesh into a fetid sludge that dripped onto Takemikazuchi’s robes and fused with the fabric. With his hands free, Takemikazuchi blasted the flesh-eating demon away with a small fireball. He turned himself over on his stomach and pushed himself back onto his feet, his face and robes caked with powdery, grey dust.

Takemikazuchi aimed his bloodthirsty glare at Osamu and Hima. Osamu stopped dead in his tracks as Takemikazuchi regained his balance and aimed his glowing, red palm directly at him.

A tidal wave of flames spewed forth from Takemikazuchi’s palm, swallowing the wrecked cars and mounds of crushed concrete in its path. Osamu slapped his hand upon the ground, and without realizing it, Takemikazuchi mimicked his exact movement. Hima’s brows jumped in surprise as she watched Takemikazuchi aim his flame-throwing hand right at his own feet, setting his sandals and legs on fire.

(I’ve done it…I can use Bloodcraft without weaving signs now! He’s under my control. Takemikazuchi, I need one last favor from you.)

The flame in Takemikazuchi’s hand died out, leaving only wisps of smoke escaping between his blood-soaked fingers. Just earlier, he moved around like a lion chasing his prey, but now, controlled by Osamu, he had gone completely docile. He stood still as a statue in the middle of the street, his flesh and sinew ready to obey Osamu’s dark intent.

“You’re not going to kill him?” Hima asked, standing alongside Osamu.

“Like you said, Takemikazuchi is a tough opponent.” Osamu responded. “I’ll use that to my advantage.”

Hima’s ears twitched as she heard the squelch of footsteps in the rain. She turned around and pointed towards their six o’clock.

“Osamu!” Hima shouted.

A barrage of lightning bolts sped down the street, flashing through the ashen fog. Hima slammed her hands on the ground and erected a shimmering wall of moonlight about fifteen meters high. The lightning barrage smashed against the wall and was dispersed into a smaller shower of bolts that scattered like flechette rounds, shattering windows and crackling against soot-covered ruins.

“Hima, above us!” Osamu warned.

Hima cocked her head back and spotted Tsukiakari falling towards her with her blade held above her head. A dazzling, blue aura sprouted from the ground beneath Hima’s feet as she summoned the head of her moonlight dragon to shield herself. Tsukiakari’s blade pierced through the protective aura, taking Hima off guard.

Tsukiakari managed to stab the top of Hima’s right shoulder with the very tip of her sword, but the moonlight aura stopped her from going any further. Hima gnashed her teeth in pain as she stole a glance at her wound. Her agonized expression turned into a satisfied smile. She glared into Tsukiakari’s eyes as thin lines of blood ran down her arm, the wound burning like corrosive acid.

“And just like that, you’ve made yourself my enemy.” Hima snarled, aiming her palm at Tsukiakari.

The moonlight dragon’s aura popped like a balloon, the residual stardust flying into Hima’s hand. The stardust gathered into one mass and burned with a golden light like the sun.

“Shit! No!” Tsukiakari screamed, realizing she wouldn’t be able to get out of range on time.

“Checkmate!” Hima hissed with a smile.

The mass of light elongated into a javelin and shot right through Tsukiakari’s abdomen, knocking her to the ground. Tsukiakari hit the concrete with a hard thud. Tears that stung like vinegar slipped through her shut eyelids and as blood pooled out of the baseball-sized hole in her stomach. Her pained cries echoed in the air as Osamu watched her bleed to death on the pavement.

“You’re finished, Gekko. It’s over.” Osamu said, slipping his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. “All your efforts were in vain. I told you you wouldn’t be able to stop this. Not you, not Izanami, not even the whole world.”

Exhausted from the the day’s battles, Hima slumped her shoulders and released a long sigh. “I didn’t want to have to that, Tsukiakari, but that’s what you get for being a nosy little brat.”

Osamu slowly approached Tsukiakari and gazed at the growing puddle of blood around her lower back. He looked upon her tear-soaked face with an unapologetic glare, but his eyes betrayed the heartache hiding beneath the stoicism. He wore the dark, glistening eyes of a man who had just realized that he was willing to kill even his own wives to achieve his goal.

With so much dedication to his cause, Osamu asked himself just who he was doing all of this for. For his wives and children, so they could inherit a world without war? For Hima and the vampires, so they might be able to expand the borders of Minavere beyond the icy prison of Yakutsk? For Amaterasu and Inari, two gods whose lives were destroyed and forever altered by the machinations of war?

Was it all just his own selfish desire, or was he acting out a darker impulse he had always had since the day he was born? Standing there before his dying wife, he couldn’t find an answer for himself. All he knew was that he had to keep going. Something much bigger than himself, much bigger than the world, was pushing him to keep going until the wrongs of humanity had been wiped clean.

If anyone understood the desire to purge the world clean, it was Tsukiakari. She was no less guilty of mass murder than Osamu. Many moons ago, she had put men, women, and even infants to the sword as an act of vengeance against Bishamon. All the thoughts in her head were full of pain and hatred until she met Osamu, the young, wavy-haired boy with a bright smile and an infectiously positive outlook on life.

Tsukiakari’s heart broke for that little boy in the toy house she met all those years ago. She couldn’t protect him from the horrific experiences that turned him into the genocidal tyrant he was in the present. She couldn’t guard him from the profound and dark impulses that possessed him.

Never could she have guessed that such a sweet and kind soul was capable of committing an act of evil of such unprecedented scale. The most hateful dictators in history always blamed a specific target for the plight of their nation. The Jews, the Blacks, the Armenians. The Christians, the Communists, the wealthy.

But the scope of Osamu’s hatred was far bigger than that. He had no use for racial discrimination, nor class warfare. There wasn’t any ideology or religion in particular he blamed for the world’s troubles. To him, the problem was humanity itself.

How could anyone fathom that much vitriol nested in one person? How could anyone imagine the inhuman darkness it took to exterminate all races, cultures, and countries on the face of the earth? How could a loving wife bear to watch her husband change into such a terrifying figure of death and destruction?

“I swore…my life to you…” Tsukiakari sobbed. “I gave you everything I had…”

Hima crushed Tsukiakari’s throat with her foot, silencing her. “You poor thing. If you’re so inclined to join the rest of the world in death, then so be it.”

“Leave her.” Osamu said. “She’s not a threat anymore. Besides, we still need her.”

Hima scoffed. “For a man so determined to destroy the world, you care quite a bit about who will be there to lead what remains of it. As you wish, then. So, Osamu, what do you plan on doing with Takemikazuchi?”

“He’ll be my parting gift to the gods.” Osamu said.

“Parting gift?” Hima repeated, confused.

Osamu turned his head towards the docile Takemikazuchi. Without weaving any signs, without words at all, Takemikazuchi received Osamu’s command. Following his master’s orders, Takemikazuchi suddenly vanished behind a flurry of sparks. Hima reeled her foot away from Tsukiakari’s throat as a smile blossomed on her face.

“My god…you’ve become the devil himself.” Hima said.

Osamu turned his head towards the Underworld’s Eye, noticing a thick cloud of steam cloaking the eyeball. “Looks like it’s healing just fine. I wanted to go all the way to Kyoto, but we’re in no shape to keep fighting the military and exorcists by ourselves.”

“And there’s no need for us to.” Hima said. “Our job’s done. All the remaining pieces will move into play for us. We should go home, Osamu. Let’s go back to Minavere.”

“Yeah.” Osamu nodded, his eyes clouded and dark. “There’s still much for us to do there.”

Hima took Osamu’s hand into her own before giving one final glance to the dying Tsukiakari. “We’re just gonna leave her here? She might get swallowed up, you know.”

“That’s a good incentive for her to try and stay alive.” Osamu said.

Hima smiled. “As you wish, my king.”

Osamu and Tsukiakari locked eyes for just a few seconds. Each moment felt like a lifetime of anger and animosity that could never be healed. Their life together as they once knew it was officially over.

Osamu and Hima turned to the steaming eye of the Underworld sitting alongside the solar eclipse. They both closed their eyes and clasped their hands. The rain pelted their bowed heads and soaked their raven hair from root to tip.

The eye’s pupil shrunk into a tiny black dot. Suddenly, the earth beneath their feet jolted and wobbled. The terrifying tremor shook not just Japan, but the entire earth. All across the world, regular scenes of daily life were abruptly upended by the power rumbling Osamu sent forth.

School children attending class in mainland China shrieked in terror as their teachers instructed them to duck beneath their desks. Concert goers in the United Kingdom found their festivities halted and their cheers turning into surprised screams. From devout Muslims praying in the mosques of Tehran, to ascetic villagers in the rocky plains of Azerbaijan, everyone found themselves running for cover and huddling around their friends and loved ones. It was as if the earth itself trembled in fear, for it knew all that Osamu was about to do.

The tremors suddenly stopped, and moonlight projections of Hima and Osamu appeared all across the world. They projected themselves into every home, every school, every shopping center, every bedroom, and every place of worship on the earth so everyone could hear them.

Couples that had been lounging on their couches watching television before the earthquake suddenly jumped onto their feet as the moonlight projections invaded their homes. Children in their bunk beds awoke their parents with cries of fear as their dark rooms were illuminated by the moonlight phantoms of Osamu and Hima.

“People of the world, hear me now.” Osamu hollered. “My name is Osamu Ashikaga. By now, most of you know exactly who I am. A few days ago, I launched an attack that killed thousands of people in my hometown, Kyoto. I didn’t just do it to escape from Japan and its exorcists. I did it to force the world to form a coalition against me. I got my wish, exactly as I planned it.

“Today, all of my work has paid off. The global coalition and Japanese exorcists knew I would launch an attack on Fukuoka today. They thought they could kill me with warships and rockets. In reality, the entire world had fallen into my trap.

“Today, I have opened up the door to the Underworld and let out every single demon rotting in its abode. Those demons are currently swarming the nation of Japan. But don’t sit there thinking this is some faraway conflict you can just read about on the news and ignore as you continue living your daily lives.

“I have already commanded the strongest demons to venture across the ocean and kill every single human being beyond the shores of Japan. No country nor race will be spared this destruction. All of you, man, woman, and child, are going to die. The Third Great Holy War is coming to all of your doorsteps.

“You may flee and evacuate your communities as much as you like. It’ll make no difference. Even if you manage to survive this, the earth will be left in a near-inhospitable state. You and your loved ones will survive the massacre just to starve to death in the barren remains of your nations.

“I understand you’re all frightened, that you don’t know why you and your families have to die in a war you thought didn’t involve you. But it does involve you. My goal is to create a world without war. There was once a time where I truly believed this could be achieved through peaceful means.

“Ever since I received Inari’s power, I’ve realized that the current world order cannot ever lead to peace. For every nation’s honest efforts, there are hundreds of unanswered atrocities, hundreds of war criminals pardoned by their countries to avoid international backlash, hundreds of bodies left to rot while a toothless league of nations stands idly by.

“Wars are fought for profit, to protect national interests, to strengthen economies, and create power vacuums that only lead to further conflicts and wars. I’ve seen our future, and it ends in humanity condemning itself to armageddon. It ends with us losing everything and gaining nothing.

“I imagine that most of you agree with my goal for world peace, but your methods for achieving it differ from my own. You believe in diplomacy, in dialogue, and in fair debate. You believe the world you live is in rational and responsive to logical argument. That’s because you live isolated from the true horrors of the world.

“But I’ve witnessed our history firsthand. I’ve seen every nation’s lie, every senseless massacre, every unfathomable crime against humanity. I’ve been through the halls of your German concentration camps. I’ve stood atop the bodies of children that died with indignity in the mass graves of Turkey. I walked amongst the Jews exiled and left to die in Siberia.

“I’ve seen the empires of Ashanti and Dahomey build their countries on the back of the slave trade. I stood in the blood and mud of My Lai after American soldiers massacred the populace. I stood amongst the Russian firing squads during the Great Purge. I saw the bloated bodies of child soldiers laid to waste in Ghana and Somalia.

“Our future is the same as our history. It’s nothing but a samsara of savagery that keeps spinning around, all while we fool ourselves into believing we’ve done something to help. The only sure way to end this long history of suffering is to wipe away the peoples, countries, and civilizations responsible for it.

“But I want you all to know that the destruction of the human race is not my end goal. Eventually, what remains of humanity after this will thrive. The earth will become a hospitable place once again. Humanity will start fresh, with a second chance at stopping the conflicts that plague it now.

“However, most of you will not be allowed to witness this new dawn of humanity. Destroying the current world order means destroying your nations. And as Taeko Akiyama has always said, a nation is its people and its military. In order to transform humanity into a peaceful race, most of you must die.

“I didn’t have to warn you of your impending deaths. I could’ve just let you all find out on your own. I wanted to afford you at least a little time to get your affairs in order, to spend what little, precious time you have with the people you love, to forgive and be forgiven.

“Please know that everything you and your children are about to suffer will lead to a better, safer world. I hope that brings you some comfort. Nations of the world, don’t bother throwing your militaries at what’s coming. Don’t send those young souls to their pointless deaths. Let them die as soldiers, on their own terms.

“You’ve all suffered more than enough. Just let go…and let this Dark Dawn turn into a brighter tomorrow.”

The moonlight projections disappeared from across the world, leaving every nation and every human being they visited in complete and utter shock. Screams of horror erupted from every corner of the earth as humanity realized Osamu Ashikaga had already sent monsters to come and kill them.

Osamu had promised Hima he would bring the Third Great Holy War to everyone’s doorsteps, that it would be a war that involved everyone. It couldn’t be witnessed from afar and ignored. Osamu kept true to his word. He had plunged the world into its darkest and final moment.

That day was the beginning of the end of humanity, and the end of all things.