Saisatsu Hyoubi (First Half)

Saisetsu, present.

Hyoubi, present.

Cursed creatures! How dare you make your way directly through Lord Seimei's Bounded Field!?

Who are you!? Stay where you are! Not another step further!

... ...

We eight generals are corpses, and thus have nothing to discuss. We are here only to make our way to the demonic tree that stands at Suzaku Gate.

None can stand in our way.

Move aside. We may be corpses, but we are also invincible, ferocious blades.

The demonic tree at Suzaku Gate!? You know of it!?

Then you will go no further! We will cut your heads off where you stand!

...We JUST warned you about our power and ferocity.

But then, you humans never listen, do you? You just come at us with your swords and start hacking away.

Oh well...

I guess I'm not in any position to criticize, since I'm doing the same thing, now.

One head.

Two. Three.

Wh-what the...!?

Is that sword...floating in the air!?

Call for the warriors! We need their help! Get everyone stationed near Rashomon here, on the double!

... ...

Suzaku Gate is now the gate to hell. Once we arrive at the Naraka Mandala, this world will be no more.

So I suppose killing you all here and now is an act of mercy.

How kind of you, Lady Hyoubi.

Don't be ridiculous.

This is obviously, like, the opposite of mercy.

We have an emergency!

Monsters have appeared on Suzaku Avenue! The offers and warriors there have been devastated!

Yeah, I can see that huge evil-lookin' tree at Suzaku Gate all the way from here!

No, Lord Kintoki, it was not Suzaku Gate!

Two demons calling themselves Saisetsu and Hyoubi appeared out of nowhere at Rashomon!

After slaughtering every nearby officer and warrior, they began heading due north along Suzaku Avenue...

...directly towards the demonic tree at Suzaku Gate!

...So, we have two monsters headed for that demonic tree.

I recognize those names. Saisetsu and Hyoubi are both onmyoudou deities.

However, I have never heard of them being summoned with physical forms before.

Do you know what's going on, Caster?

No, I'm afraid not.

Then what can you tell us about that demonic tree now standing by Suzaku Gate?

Not much, I'm afraid. All I can say is that it possesses an enormous amount of magical energy.

？！

A Tree of Emptiness... Come to think of it, you mentioned those before, didn't you, Fujimaru?

You said they were monsters that look like giant trees that came down to Earth after the world beyond tomorrow became a world of pure white, right?

So if one of those things is growin' here in the city now, it must mean...

... ...

Um... What DOES it mean?

It means that Heian-kyo is going to transform into an entirely different world.

It also means that a new Tree of Emptiness will take root in Proper Human History's skies, which will bring our very future to an end.

And for Fujimaru there, it means his return destination will become even more distant.

Wow, that's amazing! There's writing just floating around in the air!

Who's doin' that!? HOW are you doin' that!?

I didn't cast this spell. Neither did Nursery Rhyme.

It appears to be a kind of long-range communication spell, though it is very different from telepathy. I suspect it is woven with a translation spell as well.

Then perhaps it was cast by Lady Murasaki Shikibu.

Oh, yeah! Now that you mention it, I can even sense Kaoruko here!

(Huff, huff...)

I-I apologize...for the intrusion...! I-I hope...you don't mind...that I let...myself in...

Y-yes... It's me!

Indeed. They appear to be much better at it than my own meager sensors.

？！

Oh my, Lady Kaoruko. I haven't seen you since we bumped into each other at Lord Michinaga's manor.

And even then, I saw you only briefly. Please, make yourself at home.

Bring her some water. And be quick about it.

Yes, ma'am!

Th-thank...you... (Huff, huff...)

Here you are! I shaved off some ice from the icehouse to go with it.

Oh, thank you. That's very kind of you.

...Ahh.

I feel much better now. Thank you, everyone.

I know very little about poetry, but I do adore your beautiful story.

Though, unfortunately...

...it seems we won't have much time for pleasant chitchat.

No, I'm afraid not.

I just came here from the palace as fast as my carriage could carry me...

...after I received a notice urging me to come here at once.

And no sooner had I left than that t-tree sprung up right at the palace!

It's okay, Kaoruko. You're safe now. Lotsa tough warriors here in the Genji house.

There's nothing to be afraid of here.

...Th-thank you.

That was great, Kintoki. I'm so proud to see you know how to behave like a gentleman. Well done.

C'mon, knock it off, will you? Anyway

What do you mean by notice? Did you receive a letter from someone?

Does it have anything to do with the writing we saw floating in the air?

Yes, it does. In fact, the letter I received...

...was from Lord Abe-no-Seimei.

!

Abe-no-Seimei? But I thought he wasn't in Heian-kyo right now.

Indeed, he isn't. Even now, Abe-no-Seimei is somewhere far, far away.

That is why I am speaking to you in this manner. Some of you, I have not seen in quite some time.

Those of you I am speaking to for the first time, allow me to say...it's a pleasure to meet you.

I am Abe-no-Seimei, the greatest onmyouji of all time.

I overheard everything.

Oh, and when I say everything, I do mean everything.

With all of Heian-kyo inside my Bounded Field, I know what takes place there better than I know how clean my own house is.

I hear every triviality that takes place on the east side, every event that happens on the west side and every underhanded trick playing out in the palace.

And of course, I know all about the conversations that took place in Lady Fujiwara-no-Kaoruko's house.

Including the ones between Kintoki, Lady Danzo, Fujimaru, and the people of Chaldea.

Yes. I realized it was important that I did so.

Ahahahahaha, come now, I'm not THAT good. You're going to make me blush.

Well, no, you won't, but even so. Hahahaha.

Zeus? What's that?

In this case, I believe it refers to an enormous monitoring device.

Ohh, I gotcha. Yeah, Seimei definitely gives off that impression. He always seems to know everything that's goin' on way before he could've heard about it.

You just know he's gotta be usin' a ton of shikigami or whatnot to watch and listen in on all sorts of stuff.

He does give off that impression, yes.

...That he does.

O-oh my. I had no idea...

Well now, it seems my stock is falling at a rather alarming rate.

Stock? Oh, you mean the stalks you see out in the field.

？！

？！

Hmm, do I now?

But, certainly you and your fellow Chaldeans already know about Mystic Eyes capable of looking into the future, no?

At any rate, that is not a crucial topic of discussion at this moment, so I suggest we move on.

Let's talk about what that great idiotthat is, Limbo, has been up to.

All right.

As you've most likely already guessed...

...Limbo is indeed the one responsible for this Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness that has taken root in the palace grounds.

？！

I'm still not sure what it means, but that is definitely what Limbo called it.

Regardless, Ashiya Douman summoned that black Tree of Emptiness.

Well, more accurately, while it pains me to say this, it was something of a collaborative operation between poor Ashiya Douman and Limbo.

It seems Limbo, who was summoned as the personification of the evil that dwelled within Douman's body...

...whispered something wicked in Douman's ear, which led to his soul being swallowed up, poor thing.

Swallowed up?

So then, back when we saw him in the palace...

...Limbo had already swallowed up Douman's soul!?

Oh yes. But don't beat yourselves up for not realizing it.

His evil nature was still hidden deep inside him at the time, so there was no Heroic Spirit presence you could have sensed.

None of you did anything wrong. Limbo just happened to be one small step ahead.

At any rate, he is certainly not hiding any longer. I believe that is due to your success in halting the Imperial Holy Grail War.

Then...that demonic tree was originally supposed to appear once the Imperial Holy Grail War had concluded?

Essentially, he got tired of waiting.

Originally, he planned to collect the souls of seven Heroic Spirits so that he could link a Holy Grail to his Tree of Emptiness, almost immediately completing it.

And that is Limbo's ultimate objective: to grow the tree to full maturity so that it may bloom.

While I don't know whether it will also function as a wish granter once it reaches that point...

...with seven Heroic Spirit souls powering it, I am quite sure it will generate tremendous magical energyenough to make the impossible possible.

That being said, I'm afraid I still don't know exactly what it is Limbo wishes to do with that Tree of Emptiness...

...since he never got around to saying anything about that...

...

Then the whole story about granting the winning Master's wish was nothing more than bait.

Lord Tsuna...

I'm all right, Caster. Kintoki's lightning has already given me the jolt I needed to wake up.

I will never again mistake what I should cut down, and what I should protect.

Limbo's wish is the only one the wish granter produced through the Imperial Holy Grail War will grant.

But now, you have surprised him by surpassing his expectations, and he has grown impatient.

That is why he has shown his hand, the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness, and abruptly canceled the Imperial Holy Grail War.

Now, he has begun summoning Heroic Spirits through different means.

I have to say, I'm surprised by how aggressive Limbo is being here. Douman was never so rash.

？！

Indeed.

They call themselves by the names of two of the Hasshoujinthe eight onmyoudou general gods, of all things.

As much as that infuriates me, I'll put it aside for now, since we still have more important things to discuss.

As I just said, there are eight Hasshoujin, and Limbo is calling himself by one of their names...

So we should assume he will summon the other seven separately.

At the moment, two of them have materialized and are making their way north from Heian-kyo's southern edge.

Once they have crossed Suzaku Gate and made their way into the palace grounds, they plan to sacrifice their own souls to the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness.

And since the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness has already acquired the souls of four Heroic Spirits from the Imperial Grail W

Limbo only needs three of these new Heroic Spirits to reach the tree for him to win. Got it.

But...

...what happens if we blow 'em away before they reach the tree?

That would likely help to some degree. If all they needed to do to feed the tree their souls was simply kill themselves on materializing, they would have done so by now.

So it seems safe to assume that their souls' proximity to the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness is an important factor.

However, given what happened in Shimousa, we should also assume that the Holy Grail will collect their souls automatically if they should die.

？！

？！

Uh... Hmm?

We cannot let these general gods cross Suzaku Gate, and neither can we kill them.

Is that it, Lord Seimei?

So we gotta capture 'em without killin' 'em, huh. Sounds like that's gonna be a tall order with these guys.

That it will be. The Hasshoujin will certainly be very powerful Heroic Spirits!

You're not likely to be able to stop them if you're holding back, but neither can you afford to shatter their Spirit Cores and let that demonic tree consume their souls.

So our only choice is to seal their souls away, without letting them dissipate!

Show them, Kaoruko!

Y-yes, Lord Seimei!

Are these...onmyoudou talismans?

They've got so many pretty patterns on them. Hehe, they're very cute.

These are Taizan talismans! I thought something like this might happen, so I prepared eight of them ahead of time!

Once you shatter one of the Hasshoujin's Spirit Cores, all you need to do is slap one of these on them!

Do that, and the Hasshoujin's souls will remain in this world for a while, never reaching the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness.

If you can then destroy the Holy Grailthat is, the Pseudo-Tree of Emptiness, before their souls can pass on, all will be well.

Once the tree is gone, their souls will be released before they ever have the chance to be used for something evil!

Then our next course is clear. Tsuna. Kintoki.

I'm ready.

Hell yeah! I'm good to go whenever!

Now we of the Seiwa Genji must band together. Now the Four Heavenly Kings and I must show what we are truly capable of.

Lady Medea, Nursery Rhyme, we cannot afford to lose you, lest the enemy gain new souls in service of his goal.

Lord Fujimaru, Lady Danzo, you two are our esteemed guests, and Kintoki's very first friends.

So, I would like to ask you to remain here if that is at all possible... Would you?

No, Lady Raikou. I promise I won't get in the way.

If you're going up against Heroic Spirits, then I know I can be of help.

I swear I will!

I'm going too, Raikou. Monjumaru. After all, I came here to help my friend.

？！

？！

...I see you're all intent on making me worry. But I suppose that is a mother's burden.

You're all so very brave. Tsuna, I feel as though the scales have fallen from my eyes as well.

Very well then. I shall consider all of you Genji warriors from now on!

Now, come, and let us protect Kyo together! Genji, move out!

Genji, move out!

Detecting a large number of monsters around Suzaku Avenue!

I believe they are a kind of familiarmost likely, shikigami that Limbo himself is manipulating with talismans.

Imperial officers and our fellow Genji warriors are doing their best to fight them off, but the enemy appears to have the advantage!

That said, these shikigami are

Leader! Thank goodness you're here!

These things are shikigami being controlled by an onmyouji somewhere! We've been cutting them and burning them, but they refuse to die!

It's almost as though they're undying corpses!

Corpses or oni, it makes no difference. We fight until we make our way through them!

GENJI! Advance!

Hell yeah! Genji, advance! Let's go, Fujimaru!

？！

Hraaaaaahhh!

Fuuma Missile!

Khh, the enemy is instantly regenerating from its injuries!

？！

Indeed. They have been made artificially immortal by keeping their Spirit Core separate from their bodies!

I am told that in Shimousa, Lady Musashi was only able to reach their Spirit Core thanks to her extraordinary technique and Lord Muramasa's peerless blade!

But all we have are these eight talismans Lord Seimei gave us! How can we stop these creatures for good!?

Out of my way.

!

The enemies have completely vanished!

Hraaah!

Ha!

...!

？！

I've also cast spells on them to enhance their attack power. When paired with their natural combat capabilities, they should be able to neutralize artificial immortality!

Then again, seeing how they fight...they might have been fine without my spells.

Get outta our way! We're comin' through!

We need to get to those two Hasshoujin makin' their way up the road before they reach Suzaku Gate!

C'mon, Fujimaru. No...Boss!

Hraaah!

The hostiles have all disappeared! That takes care of all the shikigami Limbo presumably sent!

I'm also detecting two extremely powerful magical energy signals ahead.

Please be careful, everyone. These must be the new Heroic Spirits Lord Abe-no-Seimei told us about...

Two of the Hasshoujin, Saisetsu and Hyoubi!

I just heard someone call our corpse names.

Ugh. And just when we were almost to Suzaku Gate.

Aha, I see. So there are a few Heroic Spirits here.

Now, now, don't be like that. Take a closer look. Or just sense their spirits for yourself.

These people aren't like the ones we killed so easily. These are real warriors, like the kind you surely once knew.

It seems we have no choice but to stop and deal with them.

Flee for your lives, brave and powerful Heian warriors. None can stand in our way.

My corpse's Cursed Name is Saisetsu Tawara Touta. I will be the death of all of you.

My corpse's Cursed Name is Hyoubi Suzuka Gozen. If death is what you want, I'll gladly kill you all.