Act Ten: Ooku, Part Two

Now I see. Those are no ordinary butterflies on these cards. They are from Izu...the crest of the Matsudaira clan.

Lord Munenori. How fortunate you are here. There is one last plan Lord Tenkai and I devised: a spell he engraved into my body at the cost of his own life.

I will say this only once. Look upon what I have done. I am, without a doubt, Tokugawa's mortal enemy.

!

You are a truly loyal man, Matsudaira Izu-no-kami Nobutsuna.

No, I am not. I am a traitor. I must be, for this to work. Now...do what you must do, Lord Munenori.

Then...I must cut you down where you stand.

Yes. Do it.

？！

Lord Nobutsuna is now no more than a soul, just like Lady Fuku.

I do not know if this is the result of Lord Tenkai's spell or his own sheer willpower, but now, like Lady Fuku, he too can change his shape.

I expect that shape will be no more than a single blade... A blade meant to be Tokugawa's mortal enemy.

Something is coming out of Nobutsuna's body! Is that...a katana!?

So, instead of a Izumi-no-kami Kanesada blade, you have become an imitation blade of Izu-no-kami Muramasa.

Very well. I will not let your loyalty go to waste.

Just this once, I, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami, warfare instructor to the Tokugawa family...will take up a false Muramasa blade to destroy this false Tokugawa.

I see. It is the same idea as Shogun Yoshinobu's power. He turned his own body into the ultimate Anti-Tokugawa weapon.

He spent all this time honing his bladehimselftrusting that someone worthy of wielding him would come and end this.

He chose to become the ultimate weapon to bring this false Tokugawa down from the inside.

...What the hell is happening here?

I knew Nobutsuna was betraying me, though I was surprised to find out he helped Tsubone escape.

I knew he was making those cards and leaving them for you to find while he thought I was busy reading.

I only kept him around because I was looking forward to seeing the look on his face when he found out all his work was for nothing.

He wasn't supposed to actually succeed!

He was obviously far more loyal to the Tokugawa than you could ever have conceived. That's why you failed to see the full scope of his plan.

Well of course. How could I possibly be expected to see something like this coming!?

You're telling me the whole reason he betrayed the Tokugawa shogunate to begin with was so he could imbue his own life with Anti-Tokugawa properties?

And that he chose to be killed just so he could turn himself into a Tokugawa-Slayer and help defeat me?

I don't even know where to begin. It's...utter nonsense! Worse than that! It's... I can't even come close to describing how sickening it is!

There's only so much suffering humans should possibly be able to endure. Ugh, just how much do you love hurting yourselves, anyway!?

I understand what he was thinking. As his wet nurse, I couldn't be prouder. This is exactly what I was trying to teach him, ever since he was a small boy.

Well done, Lord Nobutsuna. You may have handled it a little clumsily, like always, but regardless, you've truly outdone yourself.

The Tokugawa family could never ask for a more faithful retainer. In fact, I'll put it another way.

This is exactly what Lord Nobutsuna was trying to protect. This is a pure expression of his love.

No. Absolutely not. I'm the only one who gives love here. I'm the one who's going to fill the universe with it.

None of you need love of your own! Especially any sort of love I know nothing about!

Kama... Beast of Lust... That is exactly why you and mankind will never get along.

It feels good to love someone, and there are endless ways to do so. But you want to control all of that pleasure by yourself.

If you grow to full maturity, it would mean the end of the world. Even the entire universe could go up in flames.

...So I'm going to stop you, here and now. No matter what it takes.

I sure don't want someone else monopolizing the act of loving others. I wouldn't even be a Heroic Spirit if it wasn't for love.

As for whether that was true love or not, well, that's going to have to be my little secret.

Yes...I certainly don't want anyone controlling all the world's love, either. I'm not quite sure how I know this, but I do know that it is precious.

After all...love is the only thing that can help me forget my fear of death.

In my case, I still only know about love in theory, not in practice...

...but everyone has told me that I will know it when I feel it, and that it's meant to be shared with someone special.

Just imagining something like that in my future makes my heart skip a beat.

But right now, my heart is telling me in no uncertain terms that it doesn't want your brand of love.

Frankly, I don't see how one-sided depravity could ever do the job. That's desire, not love!

Master, we're counting on you to take down Beast III/L! We'll back you up here as best we possibly can!

There are too many Kama isotopes to count and more will probably keep flying in to back her up.

However...I am sure there is still only one Kama in control. Take out the head, and the rest should follow!

Understood. I know what I must do, and I will see that it is done. I will lay her to rest with this very blade.

...Prepare yourself.

Ugh... I swear. You're as adorable as farm-grown piglets.

You're all just one big pile of earthly desiresin this case, the desire to go around loving whoever you want.

All right then...since that woman I'm meant to surpass isn't here anymore, I'll say this in her place.

Bon'nou-muryou-seigandan. The vow to relinquish all one's earthly desires.

My love is the fire of depravity that satisfies all earthly desires. When all desires are satisfied, they will cease to exist.

That's right. I'm going to save all of mankind. Sure, that salvation will result in nothing new ever being created again, but so what?

I'm not worried about that. I detest humans, after all.

Now, come to me, my beloved Master.

I'll crush your arrogant dreams of defeating me right here and now, and replace them with the endless depravity of this new universe.

By remaking this historical garden of love into a trap meant to lure people into sin...

...I will emerge as the Beast of Disaster that my other half could never hope to become.

I am Beast III/Lapse. I am the Demon King of Decadence and Depravity. Now, feel my infinite love!

What's going on? I'm the embodiment of infinite love. My numbers are literally endless. And yet...

How is that sword so sharp? It's cutting me down faster than I can bring in new mes!

？！

Don't worry about the floor, Lord Munenori!

As long as you're in this Ooku, I'll make sure you have a path right to her neck, no matter how far she tries to run!

I am in your debt, Lady Fuku!

Ugh... You just don't give up, do you!? Dammit, I can't afford to take a direct hit from that thing...!

I guess I don't have any other choice but to let go of something.

I'll have to abandon being Tokugawa and the Ooku!

...Kama's properties just changed! Now is your chance, Kasuga-no-Tsubone!

So, you've given up your connection to Tokugawa, and to this false Ooku, have you?

I imagine you only did so because you're desperate to escape Lord Munenori's sword and Lord Yoshinobu's power...but you should have thought it through!

Now that you've given up those connections, you've also given up your right to be here. You've given up your ability to defy my Ooku!

This is no universe of lust. This is my Ooku, now more than ever!

Kasuga-no-Tsubone's is gaining more control over the Ooku!

Looks like in your desperation, you doubled down on a losing hand, Little Ms. Beast.

This is the true setting for the story of Kasuga-no-Tsubone. This is what the Ooku is supposed to look like!

Ugh, this sucks...

This place is awful. There's no way I can fill a place like this with my love.

How can anyone be happy keeping their lust locked away? How can anyone be happy without living in depravity!?

？！

As the wet nurse to the Tokugawa family, I have a few things to say about that.

There is more to love than simple indulgence. At times, tough love is just as important.

You keep calling yourself the embodiment of infinite love, but I bet you know nothing of the kind of love that comes from watching over someone grow and improve, do you?

...!

And while I'm at it, I have something to say as the head of the Ooku, too!

The Ooku has rules, and those rules are not to be broken!

There are all sorts of rules, such as no men allowed besides the shogun and no going out at night...

...but right now, the only one I'm going to focus on is this:

No strange women are permitted in the Ooku!

By my authority as Kasuga-no-Tsubone, head of the Ooku, I pronounce you unfit!

Now leave my Ooku at once!

What the... This is...!

Kasuga-no-Tsubone is exercising her absolute authority over the Ooku. It is a lot like a powerful conceptual spell!

It looks like...Kama is being sent flying!

Khh... Ah! I'm being repelled? Me!? How is this possible!?

You lost when you decided to mess with my Ooku.

Though I suppose things would have turned out differently if you hadn't let Lord Nobutsuna and Lord Tenkai rescue me.

But you were too indulgent to think to stop them, and now, that depraved love of yours will be your undoing!

Aaaaaahhh!

You did it! You drove Kama all the way out to the surface!

How are you going to finish her!?

My role in this battle is complete. There is another better suited to that.

How is this happening!? All humans crave love, and I'm the god AND the demon king of it! None of them should be able to touch me!

That reminds me. There is one more god I still need to thank.

She saved me for no reason, without seeking anything in return, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

As far as I'm concerned, she is the true god of love. Without her love, I simply would not be here right now.

It's over, Kama...and Mara.

Whether it's being given or received, I don't think love is meant to be a one-way street.

Either there's no clear answer for what it is exactly, or it's just not something gods like us can fully understand.

As the god of love, you should have been the closest to figuring it out.

But now that you've been consumed by the small-minded fires of depravity, I'm going to show you what I believe love to be, as my final gift to you!

There is one kind of love inside me I know for certain to be stronger, purer, and more just than anything else in the world...

The love I feel for my wonderful husband!

Trishula Shakti!!!

It is over. In addition to Pārvatī's Noble Phantasm, Kama is already

Indeed, she is no longer a false Tokugawa either. She is now but a mere creature, and I have already cut her down.

Aaah! Aaaaaah! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!! It's as bad as when Shiva incinerated me!

How!? How could I lose to a bunch of garbage wastes of space like these humans!?

I just made a little mistake! I just got a little scared and tried to run away!

Ow, ow, ow...! Ugh, this is exactly why I hate having a body!

I always end up the victim! It doesn't matter if I'm the god or a demon king of love!

People always say it's my fault there isn't enough love to go around!

That's why I tried to give them infinite love! I wanted to get back at them with every fiber of my being...!

I knew that a god who's meant to love others would never be loved herself!

That's why I had to love everyone. I had no choice but to dominate if I didn't want to feel like a victim anymore!

Aagh, this is the worst! I can't believe I've gone from the most powerful being in the world to the most pathetic...!

Please! I don't want it to end like this...!

There are still so many defective, detestable humans out there I haven't looked down on!

So many I haven't trampled with love! This can't be how it ennnnnnds!

...True, it does feel good to love. Especially when the ones you love are clearly weak and in need of protection.

All the more so if they are children.

Loving helpless people like that makes you feel needed. It makes you feel like you matter.

It can be terribly frightening to put an end to that.

But making a clean break with that desire...that obsession to keep loving someone forever...is a form of love we guardians must one day be willing to embrace.

As they say, if you truly love something...you must be willing to set it free...