Chapter 47: Three Paths |
"Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye!" Kanae didn't give her sister a moment to think. In the next instant, her eyes flooded with blood, and the world around her slowed to a crawl.
Simultaneously, the Flower Hashira parried all of the Upper Rank Three's attacks with a desperate swing of her Nichirin Sword, carving a small path through the impenetrable wall of frost, snow, and ice with a myriad of beautiful petals.
"Go!" Kanae shouted sternly.
Shinobu's conflicting thoughts were swept away by her sister's harsh cry. Her mind blurred, and when she regained her senses, she was already outside.
Behind her lay an impenetrable blizzard and the faint, indifferent voice of the Upper Rank Three.
"This wasn't the deal..." Doma shook his head atop a towering ice pillar and waved his fan toward the fleeing Shinobu, unconcerned about the fully surrounded Kanae.
A moment later, icy icicles sliced through the frigid air.
At the last second, the slender Shinobu spun sharply mid-air, nimbly sliding between them before sprinting away without a backward glance until she finally vanished into the darkness of the night.
Only tiny crystal tears remained, falling one by one to the ground and freezing solid...
But at that exact moment, Kanae hurled her Nichirin Sword at him with a fierce cry, completely ignoring the five miniature copies of the Upper Rank Three surrounding her.
Glistening with lethal sharpness, the blade streaked toward Doma's neck, forcing him to use his ice for defense.
In that brief window, the Insect Hashira finally moved beyond the reaches of the malicious demon.
Meanwhile, the sternness on Kanae's face gave way to her usual gentle smile. Deep within her eyes, a sorrow mixed with regret took hold; it seemed as if her sister's image stood before her.
Thwack! Thwack!!
A moment later, dozens of icicles pierced the Flower Hashira's body.
"Be happy, Shinobu..." Kanae murmured as the pain throughout her body rapidly faded along with her life force.
It seemed that everything was about to sink into oblivion.
However...
After a while, the girl fell into a state of confusion. Death, which had seemed so close and inevitable, simply refused to come, no matter how long she waited.
Then she looked around in astonishment and found that the world had plunged into absolute silence and was literally frozen in time—the frost, the mist, and even Doma's grim face were all perfectly still.
Only then did she realize...
She was floating in the air.
To be more precise, it was only her consciousness that floated; her body remained where it was. She could see herself pinned to the ground by a dozen icicles in a pool of frozen blood.
"So... is this what death is like?" Kanae murmured, puzzled. She had never experienced anything like this, and no news ever came back from the other side, which was hardly surprising.
"Well, almost, if you want to be pedantic about it..." an exceptionally harmonious and soothing voice suddenly rang out nearby.
Kanae turned sharply toward it and saw a carefree Yeruashi standing a short distance away in a simple white haori.
"You..." The girl's mouth hung open in confusion.
At this moment, Yeruashi still looked like an ordinary person with black hair and a slightly different appearance. Kanae didn't recognize him at first, but the realization quickly dawned on her.
A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind as she looked at the nonchalant Yeruashi against the backdrop of frozen space and time.
"Are you... a god?" Kanae whispered after a long silence.
"You could say that," Yeruashi replied, raising his hand.
Then.
The necklace around Kanae's neck emitted a soft glow and shattered into pieces. From the floating shards, a lock of light-colored hair drifted out.
The strand flew to its owner and landed gently in his outstretched palm before floating upward and dissolving into his hair.
Simultaneously.
His black hair lightened from the spot where the strand vanished, like ripples on a lake's surface from a thrown pebble, and his slightly altered appearance returned to its original state.
Mitsuri, who had been standing quietly to the side, let her mouth fall open at the sight. Yeruashi had already seemed very handsome to her, but this perfect face combined with silver hair and a detached expression left the impressionable girl speechless for a moment.
"You have many questions, but I will start first," Yeruashi said casually, looking at Kanae. "I once granted you a chance to change your fate, and now I am here to fulfill that promise... You may choose either complete healing and relocation to a safe place, a peerless power sufficient to kill this demon even on the brink of death, or to renounce all worldly things and serve me for eternity. The choice is yours..."
One cannot escape fate. Even with Yeruashi's significant influence on the events of this world, Kanae was still destined to die at Doma's hands without his direct intervention.
After these words, the Flower Hashira withdrew into herself.
The choice was not an easy one.
She naturally wanted to survive and stay by Shinobu's side, but killing Doma would mean preventing many future deaths.
As for the third option...
Eternal life itself didn't particularly tempt the Hashira, who had spent her life fighting immortal demons, but the prospect of service gave her pause. Yes, she would have to sever her ties to the world, but a mere thought from a God would be enough to influence everything...
"May I ask, how do you see this world?" Kanae asked softly after a long deliberation, deciding to delay her answer.