{What I wished for was the erasure of memories other than The Devils. The disappearance of my own existence. And the residue of thoughts.}
Hiwa wished for these three things simultaneously.
Ouryuu’s Judgement is absolute and will definitely be carried out.
It is said to be the reason why the Voice of Heaven hurriedly imposed restrictions on those abilities.
Hiwa began by raising his index finger to explain all the words he had just spoken.
{The existence of the voices is a threat. We judged that those who cooperate with them would interfere with the future. Originally, all memories of the war should have been erased, but then there would be no one to stop it. Therefore, only the devils left behind the memories of the war.}
“You erased the memories of the war and the memories about you and the others, right?”
{Yes.}
Next, he raised his middle finger.
{We didn’t want to make the Onis sad. By disappearing ourselves, we spare them from sorrow. We didn’t want them to remember.}
“Did Urushima, Amaka, and Awase agree to this?”
{Yes. They did, we didn’t say anything to the Onis, but… Looking back now, it was a mistake. When emotions get the better of you, you tend to make mistakes.}
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, though…”
{I appreciate your concern.}
Then, he raised his ring finger.
{The residue of thoughts… Their comrades, the angels, are their trump card. I wanted to have one for ourselves as well.}
“…Huh?”
{In other words… when the voice manifests and opposes you, and you need sleep, I ensured that I would appear before you.}
“The conditions are tough…”
{If they didn’t manifest, things wouldn’t have come to this. But there’s no turning back. In such a situation, I had planned to teach you how to defeat the voice. However… it seems that it wasn’t necessary.}
Saying this, Hiwa handed over a fan.
When I took it in my hand and looked at it, it was incredibly heavy.
I managed to hold it with both hands and exerted strength.
“Heavy-…”
{A fan of resentment. A fan imbued with malice. The souls of the Onis and monsters from five hundred years ago reside in it. Renma, Urushima, Amaka, and Awase are also there.}
“…So there are so many who harbor resentment against the voice inside this thing?”
{Yes. I would like you to witness it, by all means. The moment when the voice is killed.}
“Are you one of them too?”
{Of course, that’s given. However, to create this space and have a conversation with you, I must be inside you. My role is to put my soul into you to wake you up and restore your magical power. Therefore, I will truly disappear.}
“Are you okay with that…”
{It doesn’t matter. I can’t do anything more than this.}
He was serious.
It seemed that there was truly nothing else he could do, and his determination was so firm that it sent shivers down my spine.
His determination, unmoved by any leverage, seemed to convey itself to me.
“In the past, samurai did not hesitate to face death. You must be the same.”
{Now, I have one question.}
“What is it?”
{How do you intend to use Ouryuu’s Judgement?}
“It’s already decided.”
Then I conveyed to Hiwa what I wished for with Ouryuu’s Judgement. At first, he tilted his head in confusion, but by the end, he seemed to understand. He nodded with interest and admiration.
{I see. You plan to erase something different from what I did.}
“After hearing about the Valpan Kingdom and the angels, I remembered the weakness of that being called [God].”
{That knowledge and idea didn’t exist in my era. However, just doing that alone comes with a high price. Not only eternal slumber but something will be twisted for the sake of maintaining the world’s balance. Conveniently. There’s no turning back. We can’t go back to the past. There’s even a possibility of putting yourself in a dire situation. Nevertheless, will you do it?}
“I have to. It’s also to avenge you all.”
{…Indeed. Then, I wish you the best of luck.}
Hiwa took the katana he had placed on his right side and cut the cord.
The sword made a crisp sound.
{【 Hakuryuuzen】}
“Huh?”
{Explain to me the meaning of the name. Hakuryuu refers to you. Now, what does ‘Zen’ mean?}
I stood up and drew the sword.
The beautifully polished and refined drawing of the sword was as natural as breathing.
“The character ‘Zen’ combines the elements of ‘stop,’ ‘ship,’ and ‘sword.’ To move forward, you must overcome obstacles. The obstacle now is the Voices. ‘Hakuryuuzen’ means ‘The white dragon overcomes obstacles to move forward.’ Not only just cut down living beings. But if it’s with this, perhaps this can cut down gods.”
The blade was raised and struck the ground.
Light poured out from the gaping hole that appeared.
The white space gradually collapsed as if being burned.
After sheathing the katana, Hiwa grabbed my shoulder and pressed something into it.
{Take it. I will grant the entire Mitaki-ryu to you. This should be useful.}
“…It’s a white sword.”
{It’s my masterpiece. The name is from-…}
Before he finished speaking, Hiwa turned into particles of light and disappeared.
As those particles entered my body, I could feel my magical power recovering.
The white space completely collapsed, and light enveloped me.
I couldn’t see anything, and all I felt was the sensation of falling.
How far would I fall?
But I was powerless, just going with the flow.
Unconsciously, it seemed I had fallen asleep.
A pleasant breeze caressed my skin.
…A breeze?
I suddenly woke up and looked around.
It appeared to be inside a tent, with essential items placed around. However, it was very modest. It seemed like someone was trying to make do with what they had.
“Thank you, Hiwa. With this, I can fight.”
I immediately got up from the makeshift bed.
At that moment, I heard a clicking sound.
Curious, I looked, and there, the katana that Hiwa had given me was placed.
“Really…”
A white scabbard, a white handle, black guard and fittings. The guard was carved with a climbing carp, and the fittings on the handle and scabbard were carved like the flow of a river. It was a highly elaborate decoration.
I thought about it for a while but eventually strapped it to my waist.
“I’ll borrow this, Hiwa.”
I cut the cord with a click sound and inspected the blade instead of the tang. A name was engraved on the blade.
After reading it, I smiled softly.
“Man, is it common to engrave your own name? Well, maybe it was in the past.”
Satisfied with my decision, I left the tent.
Uchikage had said that he had Hakuryuuzen. I decided to go look for it.
With the vengeful fan in my hand, I stepped outside.