Section 7: Farewell, Loving GUDAGUDA World

...We're finally here.

Ugh, they didn't hold back when it came to making more Mini Nobus.

...I guess I was no match for Big Sister...

Why must I always fail so hard...

I'm so bad, sometimes I question whether I'm really related to Big Sister.

Hey, don't say that. If there's anything to blame, it's the era we lived in. It's nobody's fault. It was just the times!

I suppose...

But I will accept any punishment Big Sister has for me. It is only right. Just do it quickly. I don't like pain...

...Very well. Goodbye, Nobukatsu.

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Nobbu...!?

Eh? Huh?

...Big Sister?

Geez. I really am a softie when it comes to family. Just who I am, I guess.

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BIIIIIIG SIIISSSTEEERRR...! I...I...! (Cling)

Arrgh! Don't touch me! That's disgusting! Besides, we still have another boss fight to deal with!

Oh yes... The remains of the Demon God Pillaror rather, the Gold Demon Taikou!

I am Hideyoshi, the Gold Demon Taikou...! I offer eternal life...!

Shut up, demon trash! And come on, Chacha! Take off that mask and wake up already!

You and I share the same noble Oda blood! No Oda could ever die so easily! This shouldn't phase you at all!

...A-Auntie?

Chacha! What a relief! She hasn't been completely consumed!

N-no, you don't understand, Auntie. This is all Chacha's fault. His Highness, Tsurumatsu, Hideyori...

Those who had tried to protect the Toyotomi family...

They are all blaming Chacha... Calling me the woman who destroyed Toyotomi... A horrible, wicked woman...! The obsession of a deranged Toyotomi!

Those words are boiling up from within me... Just like that day...forever and ever!

Ah, so that's what Monkey thinks...

Listen, Chacha. I know Monkey very well. He was naive yet calculating, emotional yet unequivocal, and truly coldhearted.

A man who was unquestionably two-faced, and yet he shone with glory. He was a man like the sun itself.

It was only natural for him to succeed me as ruler.

But there is one thing he couldn't do! And Chacha, you know very well what that is.

And that is:

He couldn't say no to the woman he fell for!

Auntie...

Th-that's right! His Highness was always kind to Chacha! Always and only to Chacha!

So that voice I hear coming from the pillar is...!?

Why... Why do you refuse... Toyotomi... Your children... They can live on forever...

And now our eyes are open to the truAHHH SO MANY EYES!!!

Whatever. It's just a stupid jerk that tried to deceive and devour Chacha.

Huh, what do you mean?

That thing really is the carcass of a Demon God Pillar.

During the battle with Solomon, it must have developed some self-awareness.

What happens when a living thing becomes aware of itself? Naturally, it begins to fear its eventual demise.

While the other Demon God Pillars stayed on the battlefield following orders, this one fled its post... Because it wanted to live.

However, weak as it was, it was unable to stave off death. And so it drew it last breathhere. Now, only its vindictive desires remain.

Wait, YOU figured this all out? I mean, you're right... That's basically the residual thought patterns of a Demon God Pillar that took shape.

It may just be a corpse that drifted here, but it's still a Demon God Pillar. Even that shell is a powerful magical tool.

The Demon God Pillar resonated with the powerful desire not to die, then fused with that very desire and materialized as something similar to a Grail.

It's like a nasty parasite. It can't maintain its existence without using the Spirit Origin of a Heroic Spirit as a catalyst.

So if we separate Chacha from it, this realm will go back to normal!

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Let's put an end to this, Fujimaru!

Chacha, we'll get you out of that piece of trash soon!

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Auntie... Fujimaru...

Okay! Chacha will wait!

Let. Go. Of. Chacha! Lemmego!

Oh, right! Chacha can shoot fire from her hands. Wanna get burned?

...Good. Sounds like the chitchat's done with.

All we have to do is slice it up, right?

THEN LET'S GET TO IT!!!

Mr. Hijikata... It's always like this with you...

Anyway, let's end this!

To be honest, I'm running kinda low on HP myself...

(Cough!?)

Come, to the decisive battle!

Hm! It's gonna get a taste of our powers combined!

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I...I don't want to die... I don't want to die... I don't want to die here...like this...

I just want to keep living...somewhere... Alone in my own world...

I don't need purpose. No ideals or conviction. No subjugation or rule. No pursuit or development. No camaraderie or parting... None of it.

I just...wanted to relish this newfound sense of self...a bit longer.

Hm? Where am I...?

Chacha remembers getting enveloped in flames that day...

I see. So this is what hell's like...

I don't want to die... I don't want to die...

Wh-what are you!? A D-Demon God Pillar!? D-don't come near Chacha...!

Chacha...? This record... You destroyed Toyotomi...? I see... You're going to die too...

I will die soon... And so I...I understand how you feel. Give me your hand... If I fuse myself with you, then we'll...!

S-stop! Ch-Chacha is not the one who destroyed Toyotomi!

Chacha tried to save Hideyori...!

Ah...you were branded a liar, and a woman who brought destruction in later history... You are a fitting vessel for me to inhabit...

O woman who denies destruction, as one who turns her back on it, you are truly fitting as my accomplice.

O infernal princess, your powerful sense of shame was the beacon that guided me through the sea of death.

N-no! Chacha isn't a destroyer! Or an infernal anything!

Chacha...Chacha just...

...Disappear... She will disappear... The woman who rejected destruction will never accept eternity.

...I do not understand humans. Life is incomprehensible. But...

One thing has become clear to me. Biological activity without purpose is no true voyage; it is merely drifting...

...And I...simply failed to properly order my goals and purposes in this brief existence...

Th-that was a close one, Fujimaru!

Good work saving Chacha! Make Auntie give you a reward!

Cut the crap.

We wouldn't even BE in this mess if you hadn't gotten yourself captured by that Demon God Pillar...

Now, now. All's well that ends well. We should be happy that everyone's safe and sound.

Well, Big Sister, I think this is goodbye...

Huh? Nobukatsu!? Why are you fading away!?

Well, you know, I'm pretty insignificant, so I don't exactly qualify as a Heroic Spirit.

It was only thanks to the Demon God Pillar that I was able to maintain my Spirit Origin.

You all went to great lengths to save me, but I think this is the end.

Nobukatsu...

Oh come on, Big Sis. I am not the sort of brother who should be missed.

I'm the dumb little brother whose jealousy of his amazing Big Sister started this whole insurrection.

I see... You're right...

Okay, bye then!

Oh come on! I'm disappearing forever and THAT'S the best you can manage!?

Ah, Big Sister. Just one last thing.

...What is it? Come on, spit it out.

...I leave THE REST to you, Big Sister.

Wh-what!? Don't give me that crap, you dummy! Who uses the same last words TWICE!?

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Sorry to cut into this..."touching" moment, but...

...the Demon God Pillar that created this realm has disappeared. We'd better get you all out of there.

That's right! Please hurry, Senpai! If you stay there, like last time, the space will...

Oh? It's not collapsing...

Eh? You're right. Why's that? Could there still be a shard of the Demon God Pillar somewhere?

Eh!? Does Chacha still have a chunk of that weirdo thing on her, Fujimaru?

...No, that's not it.

Right, Shinsengumi!?

...Hmph. Seems that way.

Eh? M-Mr. Hiji...kata...!?