2

Meanwhile, in a world separate from Bisco’s, a parallel realm of possibility…

“Milo! This way! Hurry!”

“Y-you sure run fast for someone wearing heels, Domino!”

Domino Nekoyanagi, Milo’s ancestor, was helping him find the secret to defeating Lord Rust hidden somewhere in the New Tokyo Life Science Institute. Of course, Red’s True Red Star Bow had already put a permanent end to Lord Rust’s schemes, but separated across space and time, Milo had no way of knowing that.

“The problem is N’nabadu,” explained Domino. “He’s a lot more dangerous than he looks, you know. You saw how he dodged my technique earlier, right?”

“Isn’t that because…?”

Milo wanted to suggest that maybe it was Domino’s aim that had been off…but he tactfully refrained. Ignorant of his internal debate, Domino went on with her explanation.

“That’s Negative Ultrafaith. It’s got to be.”

“Negative Ultrafaith?”

“That’s right. Every time you boys use Ultrafaith to create hope, an equal amount of despair is produced as well. That’s what I sense in N’nabadu.”

“…”

Bisco and Milo had used their Ultrafaith powers to avert dozens of unwanted futures. From those unwanted futures’ points of view, this was a gross inversion of the natural law. It was a conglomeration of those regrets that had given birth to N’nabadu, and so…

…it’s only right that Bisco and I put a stop to it!

“If he has access to Ultrafaith power,” said Domino, “then that means he’ll be able to make Rust even stronger! But don’t worry—once we get our hands on Apollo’s program, we should be able to—”

“Gaaah!”

“Milo?!”

All of a sudden, Milo felt an agonizing pain shoot through his left eye. He dropped to his knee in the middle of the college halls, his face slick with sweat.

My eye! What’s…happening…?!

The pain wasn’t what shocked Milo so much as what happened next. Through his aching eye, Milo beheld a new scene, right at the very moment his partner’s eye was skewered by a cosmic laser.

This is…what Bisco’s seeing!

Through a veil of blood, Milo could see the vast sky and a goddess of ruin floating in outer space.

“…Sugar!!”

Though her form had changed, Milo would always recognize his own daughter. Domino raced over and helped Milo scramble back to his feet.

“What happened?” she asked. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” answered Milo. “It’s just a little pain. But Bisco was shot.”

“What?! But wait, how come you feel pain when he’s the one who got shot?”

“Well, because we’re partners,” replied Milo, wiping his brow with his sleeve. “Just now, I saw Bisco’s memories. Sugar’s in trouble; I have to get back!”

“W-wait, since when could you do that?!”

“That’s just what partners are like.”

“No it’s not!”

But before Domino could press him further, the whole building shook, and the hallway lights flickered on and off.

“What was that, an earthquake?! Eeek!!”

“Domino, watch out!!”

The floor collapsed beneath Domino’s feet, but Milo leaped into action, grabbing her and jumping to safety.

“Th-thank you, Milo! Oh, now that I get a close look at you, you’re manlier than I thought…”

“Look over there, Domino.”

Ignoring his ancestor’s overeager touch, Milo looked back at the collapsed hallway in shock.

“The building’s gone. It’s disappeared into space-time!”

“Aah!”

When Domino looked back to where Milo pointed, her hair stood on end. Where once there was a school building, there was now only the starry fabric of subspace, which seemed to stretch on forever.

“Our dimension itself is under attack! I didn’t even know that was a thing…”

“It’s N’nabadu,” said Milo. “He’s using Sugar to do his dirty work!”

“If he’s so dead set on stopping us, then we must be on the right track!” said Domino, finally stripping off her high heels and tossing them aside.

“The research lab is just ahead,” she said, pulling Milo’s arm. “This way!”

“Got it!”

Then the two of them disappeared down the crumbling corridor.

“Phew, we made it!”

After running down endless halls and up long staircases, the two finally spotted their destination, with a sign over the door that said LABORATORY7.

“Laboratory?” asked Milo.

“Well, I couldn’t just write ‘Apollo and Domino’s make-out spot,’” replied Domino, before calling out to the occupant of the room. “Apollo! I know you’re in there!”

“Domino? Domino! It is you!”

As soon as he heard Domino’s voice, the occupant rushed to the door and flung it open.

“Apollo!” cried Milo with surprise upon seeing him.

“Milo, too? It’s good to see you’re both safe!”

Apollo Akaboshi ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair. Seeing he was okay, Domino leaped into his arms.

Milo smiled with relief, but then he noticed something odd.

“…?”

Something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Milo,” said Apollo, offering a hand. “I’ve already finished preparing the Soul Absorption Program. Come into my lab, and we can begin the operation.”

“Erm, Apollo?” asked Milo, as a mysterious sweat formed on his brow. “Are you okay? Your tie is undone.”

“Is that important right now? We’re in a hurry!”

Milo’s question came out of nowhere, angering Apollo, and little wonder—who would give the slightest thought to fashion in the midst of such an emergency?

“There’s no time, Milo! We have to move now! N’nabadu is already attacking our dimension as we speak! If we don’t hurry, we’ll all be cosmic dust in minutes!”

“You’re right. Who would think of etiquette at a time like this…?”

Milo gulped and took a step back, and then another.

“But you would, Apollo. It was the one thing you cared about. It drove you mad. That’s why…you’d never tolerate an etiquette violation right under your own throat!”

“…”

“Apollo…?”

Sensing something amiss, Domino looked up at her husband’s face, gasping when she saw his cold, emotionless expression.

“Domino, get away from him! That’s not—!”

Bzoom!

As quick as a flash, Apollo shot a beam of cosmic light from his finger! Milo barely managed to leap aside at the last second, but the ray pierced the wall, revealing the interdimensional landscape beyond.

“Won/shad/varuler/snew!!”

Still mid-leap, Milo conjured his mantra cube, and a spear of Rust flew up from the floor, skewering Apollo in the side. While Apollo reeled from the attack, Milo grabbed Domino and pulled her away.

“No…this can’t be happening!”

“We were too late…!!”

Milo and Domino watched on in horror as Apollo smashed the spear in half, pulled the tip free from his own stomach, then turned to Milo with a dead look in his eyes.

“Milo…Nekoyanagi.

“You are more perceptive than I thought.

“Now I see why Father fears you.

“Without Apollo’s body and wisdom…

“…I may not have been able to defeat you by myself.”

Apollo’s lab coat tore open in a cloud of scales, and a pair of space-moth wings sprouted forth from his back. The thing wearing Apollo’s skin was revealed to be none other than one of N’nabadu’s faithful servants, the Cosmoz.

“You’re on N’nabadu’s side, aren’t you?!”

“What have you done to Apollo?! Give him back!”

“You want this body? You can have it.”

Apollo—or rather, the creature wearing his skin—tore at his own throat. However, instead of blood, space dust poured out like cigarette smoke.

“It’s empty. I’ve already drained it dry—of knowledge, of memories…”

“What?!”

“It was almost funny, you know, how much he loved you.”

Domino’s expression twisted from despair to rage in an instant!

“Raaaaaghhh! Life:Maker!!”

Her intellect flared to life, and dozens of trees burst from the ground, lashing at the Cosmoz like whips. However, none of them seemed to have any effect at all.

“I-it’s not working! My program isn’t working!”

The Cosmoz stood there, gloating in Domino’s powerlessness, before finally raising his palm and emitting a cloud of glowing fireflies. The starry swarm devoured the Life:Maker trees in a matter of seconds, before hooking Domino and slamming her into the ceiling.

“Aaaaghh!!”

“Domino!! Won/shad—”

“Silence.”

Before Milo could complete his mantra, the Cosmoz shot a cosmic ray in his direction. The ray skewered Milo in the chest, causing him to cough up blood!

“Ghah!!”

The attack had pierced his lung, filling his throat and stopping him from speaking the all-important mantra words.

“Milo! Help!”

“I will absorb you later,” the Cosmoz told Milo. “First, I have something to ask this one.”

D-dammit!!

Milo kneeled on the ground, clutching his wound. Meanwhile, the Cosmoz slowly took a few steps toward Domino, plastered to the ceiling by the swarm. Her mouth and nose were both dripping blood.

“Father is extremely concerned about Apollo’s Soul Absorption Program,” said the Cosmoz in Apollo’s voice. “In the dark world, Apollo joined forces with the Mushroom Keepers and caused Father no end of trouble. I was hoping to pick Apollo’s brains about its location…but it seems he has sealed off access to that part of his memories.”

“Of course he has! We’re not going to let you just buzz in and do what you want!”

“Where is the Soul Absorption Program?”

“Why would I tell you?” retorted Domino, sniffing up her blood and keeping a brave face. “Proper manners are the first step to a productive discussion. Maybe I’ll talk to you if you fix that tie and act like a human for once.”

“…”

The Cosmoz merely watched Domino without so much as blinking. Then, at last, it snapped its fingers, and the fireflies went into predator mode, nibbling and tearing at Domino’s skin.

“Gaaaagh!! Y-you think you can torture it out of me?”

“We Cosmoz lack this concept of ‘torture.’ However, you requested that I act like a human, and so that is what I shall do.”

“Th-this isn’t a game…!!”

Domino’s proud spirit allowed her to remain defiant, but at the end of the day, she was an ordinary human, and unlike Bisco and Milo, her body had not been tempered by the cruelties of postapocalyptic Japan. Eventually, the intense pain would cause her to crack.

“Gaaaghhh!”

Blood sprayed from her and drenched the Cosmoz’s face.

“Isn’t it bad manners to get your blood all over someone else?” it asked.

“Grrgh…grrghh!”

“Let us make a deal, Domino.”

“Don’t say my name…with his face!!”

“Both you and Apollo are mere fictions in this world. However, my father can allow you to live on in the new universe with your memories intact. You will be born again, meet again, love again—”

Domino spat blood at the Cosmoz, which struck it right on the nose. Taking this as refusal, the Cosmoz snapped its fingers again, and the swarm began to tear at Domino with renewed frenzy!

“Aaaghh! Gaah! Gaaaahhh!”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Gaaaagh! Rrrgh! It hurts… It huurts! Make it stop! Apollo, help meeeeee!!”

Each time the Cosmoz snapped its fingers, intense pain shot through Domino’s entire body. Eventually, she could take it no more.

Meanwhile…

Do…mi…no…!!

Domino’s blood struck Milo’s cheek, while his own dripped through the cracks in his teeth. With a punctured lung, it was beyond his ability to even stand.

However…

Bisco!!

The pain in his left eye connected him to his partner, and a blazing will filled Milo with courage!

I promised.

When we die, we die together!

I can’t die here…

Not alone…

Not without him!!

“What?!”

Suddenly feeling a chill down its spine, the Cosmoz turned, just in time to see Milo swipe a shard of glass off the ground and leap at it, bloody murder in his eyes!

“Give him back!” Milo yelled.

“Milo…no…,” Domino croaked, but her voice did not reach him. Instead, the Cosmoz raised a merciless finger in Milo’s direction and began focusing the boundless energy of the cosmos.

“Take this!!”

Stab!!

Milo lodged the blood-soaked shard solidly in the Cosmoz’s breast. However, the Cosmoz barely reacted at all. It possessed a part of Sugar’s power and was not so easily slain.

“Die.”

The Cosmoz raised its finger to fire the beam that would end Milo’s life, but just then—

“Bzzz?!”

The shard of glass shone pink, temporarily blinding the Cosmoz.

“That body belongs to Apollo…,” said Milo.

“Wh-what is this light?”

“Which means he must be in there, too!!”

Something somewhere inside the Cosmoz’s body transferred to the shard of glass. The pink light traveled up Milo’s arm, enveloping him in a gentle glow that healed his wounds.

“Y-you’ve taken something! What was it?”

“Heh-heh-heh. Do not underestimate Milo, my friend!”

All of a sudden, a person’s likeness appeared in the glass, and their voice issued from it. It was the being whom Milo had battled alongside in the past, the one he had called Red Tirol!

“I had faith in him and his intellect. I knew that he would be able to reach me!”

“Hope!”

Bwamm!

Then Red Tirol leaped out of the glass shard and manifested in midair, flitting gracefully about before grabbing hold of Milo.

“Purge complete!”

His voice was Tirol’s, but in fact, he was the very embodiment of Apollo’s emotion, Hope.

“Why do you have Tirol’s body?!” Milo cried.

“Tirol is fit and light and easy to move around in. Lately, whenever I leave Apollo, I have been taking her form.”

“I feel like you should ask first before doing that sort of thing!”

The girl hovered over Milo’s shoulder like a guardian angel. “D-damn you, Apollo…,” growled the Cosmoz, locking eyes with her. “You partitioned your personality into separate beings!”

“That he did,” replied Hope with pride. “And he also saved the Soul Absorption Program inside me! You can’t hope to win a battle of wits with the man who invented the Rust, you know!”

Hope folded their arms and turned to Milo.

“Apollo originally developed the Soul Absorption Program to restore Tokyo,” they explained. “I’m beyond honored that it should now be used to secure this planet’s future. However, Milo! The program will take some time to install. Keep me safe until then!”

“Got it!” said Milo, preparing for battle.

“Curse you…”

Finally feeling the heat, the Cosmoz began charging up energy in a bid to snuff out Milo’s life once and for all.

“Cosmic Ray!”

“Here it comes, Milo!”

“City:Maker:Generate!!!”

Splat!!

“Grugh…”

Before the Cosmoz could unleash his attack, Milo struck! Holding out his glass shard, he channeled the power of Hope’s City Maker, transforming it into a telegraph pole spear that skewered the Cosmoz and imbued it with a powerful electric shock!

The Cosmoz shook violently, and dark smoke rose off its body.

“G…gg…gggg…”

“Nice thinking, Milo!”

However, the Cosmoz did not fall. It tore open Apollo’s face like paper, revealing a moth’s head equipped with a fearsome proboscis. Then it began stepping closer and closer toward Milo, even as the electricity coursed through its body.

“It’s no use! He’s too tough!”

“Know-know-know…your…place…f-f-feeble…humans…”

The Cosmoz grabbed Milo in its sharp talons and planted its proboscis into the boy’s neck.

“I’ll…suck…you…dry!”

“Grrgh!”

“Milo!!”

Bright-red blood spurted from Milo’s neck, and the Cosmoz used its glowing proboscis to steal Milo’s soul, like a butterfly sucking nectar from a flower.

“Y-you monster! Get off Milo, now!” yelled Hope, preparing to jump in and help.

“No, Hope!” cried Milo. “You have to finish the install! Don’t worry about me!”

“But…!”

“Do as you wish. Either way, the Soul Absorption Program will be mine!”

The Cosmoz grinned and buzzed triumphantly. Once its proboscis latched on to a foe, there was no escape.

“Hyah-hah-hah-hah! I feel it! Milo’s soul! Oh, so delicious!”

“…”

However…

“So delicious! …Hm?”

The Cosmoz started to turn pale.

Why…why is it still going? A human soul shouldn’t be this large! How does it fit in such a tiny vessel?

“Weren’t you going to suck me dry?” said Milo, as cool as ice. “I’m sorry, but I don’t feel a thing. Is it even in yet?”

“I-impossible! I was granted my power by the Mother of the Universe! How can you possibly exceed that?!”

“Simple! Because I’m that mother’s mother!”

Boundless Ultrafaith filled Milo’s soul! And unfortunately for the poor Cosmoz, its proboscis was not designed to be removed until the process was done. It was forced to continue sucking until it reached its breaking point.

“Gaaaaagh…!”

Boom! went the Cosmoz’s neck as it burst open.

“Refusing to finish your food? That’s an etiquette violation if ever I saw one!”

“It’s not dead yet, Hope! How’s that program going?”

“Install at eighty percent…one hundred percent! We’re good to go, Milo!”

Milo began glowing with a pale light, ready to unleash the program’s power. He raised his arm toward the wounded Cosmoz, and the fires of determination flickered in his eyes.

I feel hot. Is this the Soul Absorption Program?

He thought back to Red’s technique that allowed her to absorb Kelshinha as one of her tattoos. That was the trigger code for the Soul Absorption Program!

“Won/ul…

“brahma…

“snew!!!”

The moment Milo intoned his mantra…

“Wah?!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

There was a series of explosions in the air around Milo, and in a scattering of shining blue spores appeared a cluster of azure mushrooms, glimmering geometrically.

“I-it worked!” gasped Hope.

“Mushrooms?!”

The mushrooms looked unlike any fungus Milo had ever seen. They seemed artificial, like synthetic matter, and their black skin was covered in what looked like shining blue Sanskrit characters. The mushrooms rotated slowly in midair, like prayer wheels on which the very truth of the universe was inscribed.

“What are they even growing on?!” exclaimed Milo.

“They are nethershrooms,” said Hope. “They grow on the very essence of a soul itself.”

“N-nethershrooms?!”

As Milo reeled in shock, the Cosmoz recognized its chance and leaped at him, baring not its tattered proboscis this time but its razor-sharp claws!

However, just before the hit could land…

“Gyagh?!”

The nethershrooms each unleashed a glowing ball of spores that tore the Cosmoz’s arms clean off. Then, as it staggered, they fired shot after shot, never letting its body land. The mushrooms appeared to be acting independently, with the goal of keeping their master, Milo, alive.

“The mushrooms have a mind of their own…!” exclaimed Milo.

“Your Ultrafaith caused the Soul Absorption Program to evolve into a new form,” explained Hope, clinging to Milo’s back in a mixture of fear and excitement. “That is what the nethershrooms are—a storage medium for the souls of the departed. Look, each one of those spores is a human soul.”

“A human soul?!”

“In many ways, those mushrooms are like miniature netherworlds. I suppose that makes you the ruler of the underworld—their Izanami!”

While Milo was still reeling over the scale of what was being said, the nethershrooms flew to his side and rearranged themselves like a halo behind his back, rotating slowly. His appearance was so divine—like a statue of a Buddhist goddess—that even the Cosmoz recoiled in fear.

“Th-the light of Nirvana…!”

“Hm? Look lively, Milo,” said Hope. “Our mutual friend is getting away!”

Milo turned toward the Cosmoz, but he didn’t know how to command the all-important nethershrooms. Meanwhile, the Cosmoz readied a sharp talon in a bid to escape into space-time.

“A-Akasha Tripper!”

“Sh-shoot him, mushrooms!”

“Milo! You’re speaking to the souls of the deceased! You have to show a little more dignity!”

“Spirits! Smite him!”

When Milo gave his command, spore-balls shot out from the halo behind him. The ring of mushrooms began spinning faster and faster, like a Gatling gun, peppering the Cosmoz with projectiles.

“Gwaaaah…!”

“Allow me to take back all the souls you’ve sucked!”

In tune with Milo’s wishes, the nethershrooms dispersed and recombined in his palm, stacking up to create a prayer wheel spire imbued with the power of Nirvana. Milo pulled the column back, ready to lunge.

“Samsara Wheel: Izana Bunker!!”

Splatt!!

Milo’s spear ran the Cosmoz through, enveloping it in the blue spores of the nethershrooms.

“Aaaaghh… Agh…?”

As the Cosmoz’s body disintegrated…

S-so warm…

…the expression on its face went from fear and terror to peace and tranquility. Its soul joined with the others within Milo’s nethershrooms, becoming a part of the boy’s power.

“I…I did it!”

“Good work, Milo!”

Having operated the nethershrooms successfully, Milo heaved a sigh of relief. However, the feeling only lasted a moment.

“…Wait a minute,” he said, looking at the mushrooms. They were glowing brighter than ever before, and as though their job was not yet complete, they reassembled behind Milo’s back, spinning faster and faster.

“H-Hope! I can’t stop them!”

“The nethershrooms have only just been born. They need many more souls to reach their full potential,” said Hope, grinning. “Unleash your power, and let them devour this whole world. That is our final duty.”

“B-but then…you and Domino will…”

“That’s what we want, Milo!”

This cheerful voice came from someone who landed next to Hope and placed their arm around him. Though her clothes were tattered and torn, Domino wore a refreshing smile.

“That’s what we’ve been working so hard for!” she said.

“Domino?!”

“Are you okay, Domino?” asked Hope.

“I am now, thanks to this,” she replied, turning to a single nethershroom hovering beside her. Its miraculous power had completely healed her wounds. “They’re every bit as considerate as their master, that’s for sure!”

“Even so, it must have been painful,” said Hope. “I’m sorry. If only I could take that pain for you…”

“Oh, Apollo, you really do love me a lot, don’t you?”

“Can you two stop flirting?” shouted Milo in the face of his ancestors’ incessant PDAs. “The world is literally ending!”

Just then, however, both of them were enveloped in the glow of the nethershrooms, and their bodies began to disintegrate.

“Domino! Hope! You’re disappearing!”

“It’s okay, Milo. Calm down.”

“We need to ensure you have enough power to face the Mother of the Universe.”

Both of them spoke calmly and kindly.

“We have faith in the world you and Bisco will create,” said Hope.

“Let our souls be your strength,” said Domino.

“Is this…good-bye?” asked Milo, his eyes trembling with remorse. While the entire school building began to rumble, Domino walked over and embraced her descendant in her arms.

“Of course not,” she said. “I’ll always be with you, Milo.”

“Come, Milo. This world has served its purpose. You know what you must do!”

In the midst of the crumbling Svapna Akasha, Milo felt comfort in the warmth of his ancestors’ bodies, and he let out a deep breath. When he opened his sapphire eyes, the twin lights of courage and wisdom burned once more within them.

“I do,” he said. “I need to use this power to help Bisco!”

“Let’s all chant together, Apollo!”

“Indeed!”

“““Won/ul/brahma/snew…”””

In response, the halo’s speed increased significantly, and the nethershroom spores wrapped Milo in an azure glow. Milo steeled his courage and lifted the spire high above his head.

*   *   *

“Return to me, your mother!” he cried. “Izana Bunker: Great Release!”

Shwoom!

As soon as Milo finished chanting, his halo inhaled the souls of Domino, Hope, and even the very fabric of the world itself. The mushrooms absorbed the laboratory, the hallway, the college building, and they didn’t stop there.

“Waaaaaaahhh!”

The souls of the world possessed an incredible energy. Each one was filled with a person’s joy, sadness, desire, and rage. Taking on that heat required an enormous mental fortitude—especially when considering that the container for all these millions of souls was the mind of one young boy.

However…

Of course…!!

While Milo endured this feeling, his mind finally struck upon a truth he had been pondering for some time.

Souls…are spores!!

They are seeds of potential, meant to grow and become life!

Humanity, the Earth, the universe…it’s all one big mushroom!!

This revelation enlightened the incoming souls, causing them to be engraved on Milo’s porcelain skin as shining blue patterns of wisdom!

“Spirits wandering the void!

“Take shelter beneath the cap of your mother, Izanami,

“until the time comes to sprout forth in the next life!”

Slurp!!

At last, the entire dimension was sucked into Milo’s spinning halo. Floating alone in subspace, Milo gasped for breath and opened his eyes.

I…I did it! I sucked them all up!

Then he slowly looked down at himself and cried out in shock.

“Wh-whaa—?!”

His clothes had been stripped away, and the souls were all tattooed on his skin. Unlike Red’s wild markings, however, Milo’s were ordered and systematic, creating beautiful geometric patterns that stretched down from his panda birthmark, down his neck, and all across his body.

“It’s…a lot flashier than I was expecting……Agh! My hair!”

Milo’s hair had also grown substantially, reaching his feet. It swayed softly in the darkness of subspace, shining like a jewel.

Milo had seen Red’s transformation with his own eyes—or with Bisco’s, at least—and so he knew the Soul Absorption Program would alter his physical appearance. However, it was so far beyond what he predicted that he conjured a mirror with mantra power and used it to examine his own reflection.

“Wh-what kind of doctor dresses this way? I can’t go to Sugar’s parent-teacher meeting looking like this!”

“Yes you can!”

“Huh?!”

All of a sudden, Milo’s reflection grinned and answered his question.

“The new universe can be whatever we want it to be.”

“The…new universe…?”

“When one universe dies, a new one is born. It is the job of Izanami to watch over that process and help it along.”

“But…I still have to—”

“I know.”

The Izanami in the mirror looked at Milo and smiled.

“We still have a job to do as Milo. Come on, everyone.”

“Wah?!”

“Let’s go save Bisco.”

The Milo in the mirror suddenly called out to the nethershrooms, and the ones making up his halo dispersed and attached themselves to Milo’s arms and legs, creating a tough-looking set of bracers and greaves.

“Milo. We can die as Milo…”

“…Huh?”

“And we can create a new world as Izanami.”

Before Milo could reply, his mushroom gauntlets ignited, propelling Milo onward like a rocket.

“Wah!!”

“There is no need to choose. We can have everything we wish for, deep within our heart.”

Accelerated to supersonic speeds, Milo could no longer hear what was being said. Like an azure meteor, he sped through the very same subspace tunnel that Bisco and Red had used, to the light world where his partner and his daughter were waiting for him.

3

“This is Hokuriku TV news!

“As you can see from our helicopter, the Cosmoz have already laid waste to much of the city. There’s smoke rising everywhere as far as the eye can see!

“The allied forces of the imperial palace, Imihama, and Tochigi have been wiped out!

“People are advised to travel to south Kanagawa, where Hokkaido is waiting to take on—Aagh!!

“There’s one on our tail! Shake it off! Shake it—”

Kaboom!

A cosmic ray tore through the news chopper, sending it spiraling into a crash. Through a cracked lens, the dropped camera captured a Cosmoz as it grabbed the reporter by the arm, sticking its fearsome proboscis into his neck.

“Waaaagh!!”

“Collect…souls.”

The brilliant light of the reporter’s soul disappeared through the transparent straw, and his body disintegrated to dust.

“Yum.”

“No more souls here.”

“Collect more souls.”

The Cosmoz took one last look around the ruined military base, then departed on gossamer wings, each one flying off to a new location.

“Dammit…”

Nuts swore and turned off the video feed.

“They’ve reached Imihama,” he said, lifting his gaze from the tablet in his hands. “Our weapons are useless against them!”

Before his eyes, a convoy of refugees was making its way southward to escape the Cosmoz’s reign of terror. The refugees had left their homes behind and packed themselves into Gunma’s sand-hippo trucks, which promised to carry them to the Kanagawa coastline where Hokkaido was currently moored.

“They’ll catch us up at this rate,” said Nuts. “Giddy-up!”

Nuts lashed the reins of his iguana, racing along the shoulder of the highway, until he caught up with a young Mushroom Keeper protecting the convoy’s rear.

“Kousuke!”

The Mushroom Keeper’s face lit up at the sound of his name. He and Nuts had been best friends since birth, growing up together in the Calvero Sand Sea.

“Nuts!” he cried. “Do you want to eat lunch together?”

“There’s no time for that!” Nuts barked back. “They’ve already reached Imihama! Let’s get these hippos moving!”

“No! They’re already working so hard!” Kousuke answered, stroking the head of his crab, Dazai. “They’ve been walking for hours! If you drive them any harder, they’ll collapse!”

“Then let’s lose some of these crates. They’re only weighing us down.”

“Good luck trying to convince the merchants to part with their hard-earned goods!”

“I’m not asking, I’m telling!”

“Nuts!”

“A human’s life can’t be bought with goods, Kousuke!”

Nuts struck Kousuke hard on the back, and the boy spun around. By the time he calmed down, Nuts was already leading the Vigilante Corps in tossing the merchants’ crates overboard.

“You’re always so forceful, Nuts…”

While he had his qualms about Nuts’s violent methods, he couldn’t deny that there was a thread of reason. Kousuke nodded, then blew on the mushroom whistle in his hands.

“Elders!” he yelled.

When he did, a group of bored-looking elderly Mushroom Keepers smoking by the side of the road all slowly stood up.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Feedin’ time?”

“Nah, ’s Kousuke! Wha’s he want?”

Turning to Kousuke, the geezers all gathered like he was their beloved grandson.

“Wha’s up, Kousuke?”

“The enemy is approaching,” Kousuke explained. “We’ve been ordered to lighten the hippos’ loads by ditching any unnecessary cargo.”

“Wossat?”

“People’s luggage is weighin’ the hippos down?”

“Sounds like the stubborn bastards get what’s comin’ to ’em, if you ask me!”

“I’m always sayin’ greed’ll be the downfall of any man. It’s none of my business if they don’t want to listen! Forget about ’em and come join us for a drink, lad!”

At first, none of the elderly Mushroom Keepers cared a whit.

“There’s a lot of anime and manga in those crates,” said Kousuke.

“““Hm?!”””

At that, their ears pricked up.

“And if there just happens to be a volume we got our eyes on in the loot…,” one of them ventured…

“…nobody cares if we nick it, right?”

“It’s a free-for-all!”

“Let’s go, Ikenami!”

“C’mon, Mishima! Last one there’s a rotten mushroom!”

In the blink of an eye, the elderly Mushroom Keepers all mounted their steelcrabs, big and small, and took off ahead of Kousuke, leaving him in the dust. After getting over his surprise, he started to worry about the potential damage an unsupervised group of Mushroom Keeper elders could cause, and he urged Dazai to join them.

In the end, Kousuke’s plan worked. The Vigilantes and the Mushroom Keepers worked together to dump all the unwanted crates onto the road, and the hippo convoy sped up significantly as a result. Of course, there were many cries of Nadoo! Nadoo! from the Shimobuki merchants whose goods were requisitioned, but at the end of the day, they couldn’t hope to overpower a Mushroom Keeper, even a half-senile one, and had no choice but to leave their precious wares behind.

“That’s a building-changer rug…”

“That’s a detoxicating artificial kidney!”

“Aww man, that’s the latest model portable nuclear generator!”

Tirol cried out in despair every time another article was carelessly flung from the cart.

“Hundreds of thousands of sols, heartlessly thrown away… Can I at least take the kidney?”

“Don’t say such sinful things in front of the baby, Tirol.”

By Tirol’s side, nursing Salt in her arms, was Pawoo.

“Da-oo.”

“See? Even Salt says money is the root of all evil.”

“You got some brass tits, y’know that? The world could be endin’ tomorrow for all we know.”

“Mothers have always been a hardy breed.”

“Tch yeah. Have ya seen the state yer husband’s in?”

Tirol looked toward the back of the cart, where a temporary medical bay had been set up. Pawoo was hardly so heartless as to ignore Bisco’s suffering, but…

“That is exactly why I must be strong in his place,” she said.

Even her husband’s grave state did not rob the light of determination from her eyes.

“I must not allow this to become a painful memory for Salt,” she explained. “If I do, then that will sadden Bisco as well, and he will blame himself for it…”

“…”

“I must stay strong and believe that Bisco will make it back from the brink, just like he always has.”

Pawoo fixed her fierce eyes on the tent where Tirol pointed. Her hold on Salt was tender and warm, and only the quivering of her long eyelashes revealed her inner turmoil.

…

……

“Gahahk!!”

“Bisco!!”

Bisco awoke from his deathlike slumber with a start, choking up the blood that filled his lungs. His heart was racing like a fire alarm, and his one eye was flared wide in shock.

“Marie! It worked! Bisco’s awake!”

“Don’t move him,” said Marie, hurriedly rearranging the vials on her desk. “I injected him with toadstool venom—fly agaric, to be precise.”

“F-fly agaric?! Are you trying to kill him?!”

“I needed to wake up the Rust-Eater somehow,” Marie shot back. “It was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off. Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself, Red?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m a lot tougher than this Bisco!”

“Don’t show off. You need to get your rest!”

“No!”

Bisco looked up from his sickbed at the two red-haired women overseeing his care, and his mind slowly clawed its way back from the brink of oblivion.

Sugar!!

He tried to scream, but no sound came. It was like his consciousness was trapped within an unmoving shell.

I—I can’t move!

“What is it, Bisco?!” yelled Red, grabbing Bisco by the shoulders and shaking him with superhuman strength. “You look like you want to say something! Do you remember who I am?!”

“Give it a rest, stupid child!” chided Marie, slapping Red on the back of the head and causing her eyes to nearly fly out of their sockets. “I half hoped you wouldn’t be as silly as my son, but you’re somehow even worse!”

“Ow! Even my own parent never hit me!”

“Well, you can go ahead and cross that off your bucket list. Bisco? I’m guessing you can’t move, so just open your eyes. You’re a lucky man, you know that?”

M-Mom… Red…

Seeing his parent and alter ego alive and well, Bisco was able to calm down a little. However, even just breathing required significant mental concentration.

“Look at Bisco’s eye, Red,” said Marie, setting Red’s cat-eye goggles to microscopic mode and directing her gaze to Bisco’s wound. “There’s a small cosmos in there. That seems to be what’s eroding Bisco’s willpower and interfering with his healing.”

“It must be N’nabadu’s doing!”

Nobody knew the nature of her foe more than Red, and she deduced the affliction’s cause at first glance. The cosmos was capable of inflicting N’nabadu’s despair upon Bisco. If he wasn’t possessed of such a strong will, Bisco would have already given up living.

“He’s probably finding it hard to even breathe right now. He might want to talk, but he can’t summon the willpower to use his voice.”

“Then how about blinking?” suggested Red. “He should be able to blink, right? Hey, Little Mushroom Boy! You hear that? Once for yes, two times for no, and a hundred times for ‘Shut up, asshole!’ Got that?”

Blink… Blink…

Blinkblinkblinkblink…

“See? It’s working!”

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

Ignoring the furious expression on Bisco’s face, Red and Marie gave a pair of fierce grins, impressed and relieved by the force of Bisco’s will.

“In that case, listen up, Bisco. I only have one idea for how to heal you. Do you wanna know what it is?”

Blink.

“Then first, we need to go to Hokkaido,” said Marie, wiping the sweat from her brow. “’Cause inside Hokkaido’s belly is the place with the most life energy on the planet. We should be able to take care of your wounds there.”

“Can it grow back his arm, too?” asked Red.

“I guess so. Just try to keep your spirits up until we get there. ’Cause without you and Milo, this world is fu—”

“WAAAGH!! What the hell is that?!”

““?!””

All of a sudden, the pair heard Tirol scream from outside the tent, and then there was a massive Boom! and the whole cart shook. Tirol came running into the medical bay, tripping over her feet as she entered.

“Tirol!” cried Red, catching her before she hit the ground.

“It’s N’nabadu!” Tirol yelled. “His goons caught up to us!”

“They are attacking the convoy from behind,” stated Pawoo, her visor lowered for battle. She handed the baby to Marie. “Please hold Salt for me,” she said.

“You’re gonna fight?! You’re wounded, remember?!”

“Nuts and Kousuke are defending the rear,” said Pawoo. “I cannot leave them to fight and die on their own.”

Pawoo’s brave words failed to distract Red from the pallid tone of her skin, proof that she had lost significant blood in her trials.

“You look after Salt,” said Red. “I’ll go!”

“You of all people cannot!” Pawoo yelled, so hard that she threw herself off-balance. With Marie supporting her, she went on. “You know just as well as I do that N’nabadu brought you into this world, and he can take you right back out again with a snap of his fingers. How are you supposed to take up arms against your own creator?!”

“Urgh…!”

Pawoo was right. Red was little more than a mote of dust dancing in a fly’s palm. Even if she possessed the strength to take down N’nabadu, her nefarious master could unmake her before she even had a chance to bring it to bear.

Dammit! I don’t care if I die! This is my one chance to help! Is there really nothing I can do?

Red clenched her jaw and looked down at Bisco.

…Blink, Blink.

Seeing him respond, a sudden idea occurred to her like a jolt of lightning.

“Aahh!!”

“““Waagh?!””” cried the other three, tumbling over at Red’s sudden scream.

“I’ve got it!” Red yelled, ignoring them. “There is a way Bisco and I can help! I can use the Soul Absorption Technique to swap my tattoos for Bisco’s wounds!”

“Wh-what do you mean by that, Ms. Red?”

“…I get it!” said Tirol, the only one smart enough to pick up on what Red was saying. “If we put the Soul Absorption Technique into reverse, we can move girl Akaboshi’s tattoos over to guy Akaboshi. It only works because both Akaboshis are the same person, but that should be able to fix our Akaboshi up, too!”

“But what about Red?” asked Marie, standing up. “She’ll have to withstand Bisco’s damage without the tattoos to protect her! There’s no guarantee she’ll survive that!”

“It’s okay,” said Red, thumping her chest. “I’ll endure anything if it means getting back at that stupid fly. If Bisco’s out there, using my power to fight…that’s kind of like I’m fighting there, too. Then you can take me to Hokkaido to be cured in Bisco’s place.”

“Red…!”

“What? It’ll be a piece of cake! Anything this bean sprout can survive’ll be a walk in the park for me! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

While Red went on and on, Bisco was frantically blinking at her from his prison of silence.

Th-this isn’t funny, asshole! I’m the one who messed up and got myself hurt! Why should you have to suffer for that?!

“This isn’t the time to worry about fairness!” Red yelled, as though able to read Bisco’s thoughts. “I know you fucked up, but the world needs you. If you wanna show remorse, then get out there and kick some ass!”

Not if it means giving up on you!

All of a sudden, there was a great Bang! and the hippo cart shook violently. Salt slipped out of Marie’s hands and into the air, and Tirol slid into home base to catch him. Knocked to the ground by the force of the falling baby, Tirol shouted over his playful laughter.

“Akaboshi!” she yelled. “Get ready! Whatever you’re gonna do, you better do it before we all get killed!”

At her voice, Bisco attempted to abandon his fears and summon his courage.

Grr!

“Listen to me, Bisco. You have to be with me one hundred percent, or it’s not going to work. Without a strong will to guide the tattoos, they’ll end up takin’ over your mind instead.”

…

“Do you understand or not?!”

…

……

Blink.

“All right!”

Red nodded and pressed her forehead to Bisco’s. Both of them closed their eyes and reached out with their souls, causing Red’s tattoos to erupt in a fiery light.

“Is that all you’ve got, Bisco? Concentrate! If you want my tattoos, you have to take them!”

Raaaaaghhh!!

Meanwhile, Bisco’s own power responded in kind, and catastrophic spores spewed from his skin. They were the secret art of the samurai cats, the catwisps, and the whole place was dyed in the harmonious light of mutual understanding!

Catwisp Blade: Hidden Art!!

“Ohh! My tattoos!”

Red watched as the catwisps dissolved into her skin, merging with the tattoos and synchronizing their thoughts with the heroic spirits enshrined within them.

“I can feel them, they’re starting to accept you! Keep going, Bisco!”

Hurry up!

“On…”

Ul…

“Brahma-snew!!”

“Dammit, they’re too strong!!”

“Our bullets aren’t working!”

Attacks rained down from the sky like meteors, peppering the ground and causing massive explosions all over the place. Looking closely, Kousuke and Nuts could see that the perpetrators were some kind of moth-shaped Cosmoz, firing cosmic rays from both hands. There were only two of them, but their strength was overwhelming, and even the combined might of the Iguana Cavalry wasn’t enough to put up a decent fight.

“They’re healing themselves! We have to get in close and finish them off!”

“Nuts, watch out!!”

Boom!!

Another cosmic ray gouged out the earth mere meters from where the two were standing, flinging them aside and tossing Kousuke from Dazai’s saddle.

“Urgh…”

“Kousuke!!”

Without waiting for Nuts’s help, Kousuke quickly got back up to his feet.

“Nuts!” he cried. “We need to buy time for everyone to escape! Give the order!”

“Got it! …Wait, Kousuke, what are you doing?!”

“Someone has to be the decoy…!!”

Kousuke glared up at the Cosmoz floating among the clouds and took a deep breath. When Dazai scuttled up to his side, he leaped atop the saddle.

“I’m a Calvero Fisherman. I’ll show you how we live!”

“Don’t be stupid! Stand down, Kousuke! I’ll go!”

“You’re the leader, Nuts. We need you. Thank you for being my friend…”

“No! Kousuke! Come back! Don’t do it!!”

Nuts screamed in vain after the galloping steelcrab. Meanwhile, the Cosmoz both turned and took stock of the approaching child.

“Small human spotted.”

“Small, but big soul.”

“Gather souls.”

Spotting his brilliant soul, they moved to intercept.

“Raaaaaaghhh!”

Kousuke made peace with never seeing his hometown again.

Just like Jabi taught me. Let them cut, then strike back!

He peered up at the Cosmoz overhead and their sharp claws glittering in the sun. Knowing those claws would soon slice his own flesh, Kousuke suppressed his fear and prepared to meet his fate head-on.

“Dazai! Counter with a right hook!”

“Tear the child.”

“Now!!”

Slashh!

“…Rgh…”

Kousuke squeezed his eyes tight.

“…Huh?!”

When he opened them, he saw that Dazai’s claw had sliced the Cosmoz in half. Meanwhile, the Cosmoz’s fearsome claws had never touched his own flesh…

“Nicely done, Kousuke!!”

…but were instead embedded in the flesh of the fiery Mushroom Keeper who had leaped in the way at the last second! With blazing skin, glimmering jade-green eyes, and a roguish, canine-baring grin, he had grabbed the Cosmoz’s claw in one hand…

“You’re goin’ down!”

…and proceeded to slam the Cosmoz earthward, where he exploded in a cluster of mushrooms.

“Waah?!”

Kousuke couldn’t believe his eyes, and little wonder—the sunlight warrior was none other than Bisco Akaboshi, the greatest Mushroom Keeper on earth! Bisco grabbed both Kousuke and Dazai and carried them back to ground level.

“Bisco?!”

“Damn, you’ve grown, kid. Puberty’s a hell of a drug, huh?”

“But weren’t you shot?! You have to rest! And…what’s that?!”

After getting over his initial shock, Kousuke finally looked down at Bisco’s body.

“What are all those tattoos?!”

“It’s a long story. I’m just borrowin’ ’em off Red.”

Red’s awakened tattoos shone over every centimeter of Bisco’s body. They glowed brightly, sharing their power with him.

In place of his right arm, torn off in his battle with Sugar, the tattoos locked and interlinked, behaving just like a prosthetic limb that Bisco could operate just as easily as his own. Bisco stared down at the limb, which glowed like a solar flare.

“It’s too much power, to be honest,” he said. “I can’t control it at all.”

“You saved me again! Just like the first time we met!”

“Not this time. You saved me. This moth bastard woulda sliced me to ribbons if you weren’t here.”

Bisco grinned and slapped Kousuke on the back, when a swarm of Cosmoz suddenly appeared, forming a circle around him.

“You want souls, come and get ’em!” he yelled, glaring at the mysterious beings. “There’s tens of thousands of ’em sleeping inside these tattoos!”

“Ooh…”

“Souls…”

“Collect souls!”

“Sorry, Kousuke, but you’re gonna have to stand down,” said Bisco. “Don’t want you gettin’ in my way!”

Bisco suddenly spun, flinging Dazai and Kousuke far out of the path of danger. With the boy’s scream echoing behind him, Bisco turned to take on the attacking Cosmoz!

“I’m still not used to havin’ all these dead dudes weighin’ me down. Let’s take a few of you guys out and warm up a little!”

“Bzzz!”

“Go!!”

Thudd!!

One of the Cosmoz flew at Bisco, swinging a razor-sharp claw. Bisco didn’t even try to dodge, and he countered with a punch of his own. The Cosmoz’s claws dug into Bisco’s flesh, where they stopped without doing any harm at all, while Bisco’s punch blew the Cosmoz’s head clean off, sending it flying straight into the ground and rebounding into the air like a billiard ball!

What the hell?!

Even Bisco was surprised by his own might, a combination of Red’s raw strength with the original Bisco’s speed and technique. One punch was enough to outclass even the Mantra Bow.

“The human is strong.”

Bisco tumbled in the air, unused to the new momentum his blows imparted. However, the Cosmoz didn’t seize that moment to attack, instead keeping their distance and watching Bisco warily.

“Gather…light.”

“Shoot.”

“Shoot the light.”

“What the—?!”

The Cosmoz began to gather light in their wings and formed into the shape of a mandala. At the center of the ring, a swirling galaxy began to form, containing an unbelievable amount of concentrated energy.

“It’s that cosmic beam again!”

“““Gather the light! Gather the light!”””

“If you think I’m gonna take the same hit twice, you gotta be out of your minds!”

Bisco drew his bow as fast as lightning, eager to take the first strike and secure his victory. Taking a mushroom arrow from his quiver, he affixed it to the string and pulled back tight. He pushed out his chest, and his bow bent like never before.

This should be enough!!

Feeling the power in his own muscles, Bisco began to glow with a solar light!

“Let’s see you survive this—my greatest draw!!”

All Bisco had to do was let go, and the Cosmoz swarm would be dust…

However.

Ka-chew!!

“Aagh!!”

The very moment that Bisco was about to release his grip, the bowstring snapped, slapping Bisco in the face with its tension! Blood sprayed from his nose, and the arrow deviated significantly from its planned trajectory, sailing right over the Cosmoz mandala and landing with a Gaboom! far away, where a colossal King Trumpet sprouted.

“Fuck, my nose!!”

Bisco clutched his face, his eyes wide with shock. The power of Red’s tattoos was too much. Bisco’s power was based on the ultimate balance of mind, body, and technique, so when one of those was thrown out of harmony, his overall skill plummeted.

Bisco collapsed in pain, dripping with sweat!

Fuck, the blood got in my eyes!

“Gather the light.”

“Shoot.”

“Bzzz! Bzzz!”

Meanwhile, the Cosmoz finished building up their cosmic energy. They all extended their palms at once, and a colossal beam of light was expelled from the center of the mandala.

“Oh, fuck!!”

Just then…

“Flourish—!”

The hem of a crimson robe fluttered as its wearer leaped out from behind Bisco and into the sky.

“What?!”

There was an explosion of flower petals, and the mysterious figure unleashed a diagonal streak at the cosmic mandala!

“Lion’s Crimson Sword!!”

Slashhh!

The attack unleashed a wave of energy that cut many of the Cosmoz in half, interrupting the cosmic ray just as it was about to fire.

“Do not falter, Brother!”

The figure landed amid the barren wastes with all the grace and dignity of royalty and raised their sword to shield Bisco from further harm. Standing tall and proud, their gown fluttering in the wind, was none other than—

“Shishi!”

It was the young king of the Benibishi people.

“’Tis not like you to miss a shot, Brother.”

“The bowstring snapped! I—I can’t believe it! How could I…?”

“Right now, Brother, you bear the power of not just two souls, but all those that Red carried with her. It is small wonder that your previous tools are far too weak for you now.”

“Grgh…”

“Now show me where you are hurt, Brother,” said Shishi, channeling the Florescence into her palm and placing it on Bisco’s shoulder.

“Are you stupid?!” Bisco yelled. “The enemy’s still alive! Are you askin’ to get shot?”

“We are safe, Brother. The seeds have already been sown.”

“The seeds?”

Just as Bisco wondered what Shishi meant by that, the remaining Cosmoz gathered energy for another attack, but…

Bwoom! Bwoom! Bwoom!

One after the other, bright-red camellia flowers bloomed across the Cosmoz’s bodies, knocking them out of the sky. Shishi’s attack had not just harmed those it struck but spread the seeds of the flower to any foes in the vicinity.

Wherever the Cosmoz fell, a great big camellia bloomed.

“W-wow!”

Bisco was in awe, not just at the technique’s power but at its beauty. A smile graced Shishi’s lips as she healed Bisco’s wounds with the power of photosynthesis.

“This is the Florescence I found by following you, Brother. Is it to your liking?”

“Your flowers have always kicked the shit out of anyone you’ve turned ’em on,” said Bisco, “but this is the first time they’ve looked so good while doin’ it.”

Shishi showed no reaction to Bisco’s words, save a slow unfurling of the flower by the side of her head. Her beauty had really progressed since she took on the mantle of king, and Shishi slowly approached Bisco while giving him a coy smile.

Who do you think is the cause of that?

“Somethin’ on my face?”

“Brother, would you mind closing your eyes for a second? Parts of your eyelids are still damaged.”

“Huh? Sure…”

This is all your fault, Brother.

Swallowing Shishi’s lie, Bisco closed his eyes, and Shishi lifted his chin with a slender finger. Then, putting aside her role and titles for a second, she silently brought her lips closer to his…

“Heeeeeeyyy!”

All of a sudden, a loud voice interrupted her.

“Ms. Shishi, ma’am!! That is too far, even for a prank!!”

“Oh no!!”

Shishi looked up and around in a panic, causing Bisco to furrow his brow in confusion. Even now, though, he didn’t open his eyes.

“What’s happening?” he asked. “Aren’t you healing me?”

“Mr. Bisco, sir! Do not allow this lustful king to deceive you!”

“Who’s that? Amli?”

“Y-you misunderstand, Amli!”

One of Japan’s last heroes came careening through the sky on a mantra air board, landing next to Bisco and Shishi. It was none other than the high priestess of the Kusabira sect, Amli Amlini.

“You couldn’t possibly think for a second that I, the king of the Benibishi, would leave you for someone else!”

“That’s exactly what you’d do! That’s why I’m here! You’ve really started turning out like your father recently. The Benibishi are all happy, but there are some parts of Housen I’d rather you didn’t inherit!”

“Brother started it. And neither you nor Pawoo were around. It was the perfect chance!”

“Ohh, now I’m mad! I’m going back to Izumo!”

“N-no, Amli! Forgive me! I swear I won’t do it again!”

“How’s it going, Amli?” said Bisco, striding up to the girl and giving her a pat on the back, seemingly ignorant of the steam spurting from Amli’s ears. “It’s good to see you’re okay. How’ve you been?”

Smelling the Rust-Eater, Amli cheered up a little and looked up at him.

“Mr. Bisco, sir! …Wait, when did you get those tattoos?”

Amli was well-versed in mantras and quickly deduced at first glance the nature of the patterns decorating Bisco’s flesh.

“They belong to Ms. Red of the dark world, do they not? Is she okay?”

“She’s restin’. She had to take on my wounds…but she’ll be okay. Mom’s takin’ her to Hokkaido to get her healed.”

“That is good to hear!” replied Amli, leaping up and wrapping her arms around his neck in a sisterly hug. It seemed her anger toward Shishi had disappeared for the time being.

“The Benibishi refugees are a little ahead of here,” she said.

“We were protecting the rear guard when we noticed the attack,” added Shishi. “We never thought the Cosmoz would arrive so quickly. I’m worried about Someyoshi. He was fighting on the front lines.”

“The big guy?!” Bisco went pale. “You asked him to hold off the entire invasion by himself? That’s suicide!”

“It was he who suggested it…,” said Shishi.

“And once he makes up his mind, there’s no changing it, is there?” said Amli. “I know, let’s head back and help!”

“No, you two stay here and protect the convoy!” said Bisco. “I’ll dash over there, and—”

But before Bisco could finish his sentence, there was a booming voice from overhead!

“I do not require assistance…,” it said, “from SCOUNDREEELS!!”

Boom!!

A large figure clad in navy-blue armor slammed into the ground like a cannonball, rippling the earth for meters around. Tucked under each of the figure’s arms were the remains of all the Cosmoz it had slain, and whoever the man was, it was obvious from the damage to his armor that he had just returned from a heroic struggle.

“Do not make light of my strength, Akaboshi, for you disrespect the Lord High Overseer himself!”

“Erk, the big guy’s here!”

“And what’s more, you show further disrespect with those horrendous marks upon your skin! For encouraging villainous activity the world over, I am forced to add two years of hard labor to your sentence!”

“Someyoshi!!”

Seeing their loyal retainer alive and well, Shishi and Amli rushed over to greet him.

“I was so worried about you, Mr. Someyoshi, sir! Oh, how mighty and brave you are!”

“My queen. I would never let such fiends get the better of me,” said Someyoshi, flexing his magnificent muscles.

“What a joke,” came a sudden voice from behind him. “You would have surely fallen were my blade and claws not there alongside you.”

“Grh…”

Landing on all fours beside Satahabaki was a samurai black cat.

“Yokan!”

“What gaudy tattoos, Akaboshi. Have you decided to try your paw at kabuki, perhaps?”

The former eighth shogun, Yokan Yatsuhashi, rose on his hind legs, causing the bell attached to his sword, Ookintsuba, to let out a chime.

“I can’t say they don’t suit you,” he said. “Geppei will surely be pleased.”

“Have you managed to evacuate the cats?” asked Bisco.

“We have. We were in the process of moving the Cat Gate out of the Saitama Desert when we ran into this fool fighting off ten of them like a one-cat army.”

Yokan sighed and, pulling on his whiskers, cast a glance in Satahabaki’s direction.

“Is there no brain inside that helm of yours?” he asked the infernal magistrate. “If simple calculation causes you so much grief, I hardly trust you to sum up a criminal’s sentence. Have you considered going back to school and learning to use an abacus?”

“Silence, cat! You are in the presence of my king!” Satahabaki yelled back.

“I am the lord of the Yatsuhashi clan. I answer to no rule save my own.”

“Such disrespect!”

“Draw your blade, mongrel!”

“Give it a rest, you two!!”

Bisco flew between Satahabaki and Yokan, breaking them up. For some reason, a catfight always seemed to brew whenever these two were around.

“Stop being so childish, sirs!” spoke one little girl, the youngest of the group. “Is this really how you should behave in front of your people?”

The two grown men grumbled and put away their weapons. Nearby refugees were already beginning to stare, and Satahabaki and Yokan weren’t exactly acting like perfect role models.

“The convoy’s become quite large now,” said Shishi, looking out over the combined human, Benibishi, and feline refugee groups. “Are these men, women, and children all that remains of this country?”

There were even crabs and hippos making up the convoy, and birds and Pipe Snakes flew overhead, in a huge exodus of all living things.

“The piper’s come to lead us all away,” said Shishi.

“…Even the animals can sense the end approaching,” said Amli, her voice aquiver. Shishi held her in her arms as she watched.

Off in the distance, city after city fell to the Cosmoz invasion. Kaso Prefecture and the Benibishi castle were surely rubble by now.

“Even if we survive,” Amli went on, “what are we supposed to do after this? Even Mr. Bisco’s miracles did nothing…”

Immediately after she said it, Amli clasped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. And in any case, her words echoed what everyone was thinking. They all stared at the floor in silence.

How were they going to make it through?

Was there anyone on earth who could stand up to Sugar, Mother of the Universe?

“There is!”

One voice—Bisco’s voice—cut through the silence like a knife.

“There is. There’s more than one miracle Mushroom Keeper,” he said.

Earth’s other trump card, the second miracle Mushroom Keeper. There wasn’t a single person who didn’t know his name.

“Milo’s coming,” said Bisco. “And together, we can do what I can’t alone. I know we can…”

“Mr. Bisco, sir…”

“Bisco Akaboshi and Milo Nekoyanagi,” said Shishi, making up for Bisco’s unusual reticence. “When these two come together, our victory is assured. My duty, then, is to keep you alive until Milo returns. The enemy may fell my castles and raze my mansions, but that is no blow to our strength.”

The hearts of all present were keenly struck by the proud words that escaped Shishi’s purple lips and the nobility that resided within them.

“We have lost nothing,” she said. “People, Benibishi, cats, even the animals. We all still have what we need to carve out a new tomorrow—our souls. Is it not so?”

“Quite,” said Yokan with a nod.

“As you say, my liege!!” Satahabaki kneeled with a thud, while Amli looked at Shishi with tears in her eyes.

Once, Shishi had walked a bloody path, but now she had blossomed, casting her vengeance aside and choosing to walk in the light. Bisco folded his arms and looked at the fine king she had become.

“Having said that,” Shishi went on, “the odds are surely stacked against us. There are still many refugees lagging behind the convoy. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to how we might move them all to safety?”

Just then, a languid voice issued forth from one of the baskets carried by a nearby feline basket-seller.

“Who could possibly possess the magnanimity to help at a time like this, save moi?”

“Geppei!”

“Luckily, you’ve caught me in a good mood. I suppose I can lend a paw.”

Out of the basket stood Geppei Amakusa, the white witch, stretching her long limbs and showing off her gorgeous, glittering dress. She yawned, seemingly unfazed by the state of emergency, and more interested in showing off her proportions.

“Urgh, these heels are killing me,” she said.

“What are you talking about?” asked Yokan. “You’ve been in the basket the entire time.”

“Do you even know there’s a war goin’ on?!” screamed Bisco.

“Silence, red monkey. I’ve come to help you out, so show a little respect.”

Geppei clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction and pulled a shining Ultrafaith Arrow from the belt around her thigh. Then, chanting her meowntra, she began to channel power into it.

“Nyan/nyareda/smeow… Fly, my Ultrafaith Arrow!”

Thud!!

Amakusa planted the arrow in the ground, and soon the earth began to rumble and shake. From out of the land itself rose a line of giant freight cars, golden and gleaming, and carrying all the refugees on their cargo beds.

“Whoa, what the hell is this?!” cried Bisco.

“It is a grand and highly exclusive mode of transportation called a train,” replied Amakusa.

Whether it was grand or exclusive was up for debate, but the fact remained that the feline sorceress had conjured up a train of epic proportions. It could probably pick up all the refugees ahead of it and still have space left when it reached its destination.

The only problem was its stylelessly gaudy form.

“Does it have to be made of pure gold, Geppei?” asked Yokan.

“You simply don’t understand, dear. Only something this gorgeous and magnifique could possibly transport my fabulous legs. Oh-ho-ho…”

“Where does the driver sit?” asked Bisco, already aboard and searching the front carriage eagerly. “When me and Milo rode one, there were all these switches and levers…”

“I don’t know anything about that,” said Amakusa with a sourpuss look. “I just created the carriage. Aren’t carriages usually pulled by horses?”

“I see,” said Shishi in a flash of comprehension. “Geppei is from Byoma. She doesn’t understand how trains are supposed to move.”

“Then this was just a massive waste of time!” yelled Bisco.

“Don’t fault my masterpiece! I’d like to see you do any better!”

But just as the goodwill earned by Geppei’s favor was about to be undone…

“Someyoshi.”

Shishi sidled up to Satahabaki and began whispering in his ear.

“It may be unfinished, but it will serve well to evacuate the refugees. I think we should use it.”

“That I understand, my liege, but what about the horses?” Satahabaki replied. “Even Winter Cherry could not pull such a formidable load. We would need at least a hundred stallions.”

“That’s where I’d like you to come in, Someyoshi.”

“My liege, what do you mean by that?”

“I know it may be rude of me, but you’re the only one I can ask,” said Shishi, a mischievous look on her face. “I want you to pull the train. Will you be the horse that leads our people to safety?”

“Y-you want me to do the work of a beast?!”

“Please, Someyoshi!”

“…Is that an order from my king?”

“It can be a request from an old friend, if you prefer. Which would you rather hear, Someyoshi?”

Shishi’s friendly smile was completely out of line with her usual regal behavior. It was like that of a young boy, and Satahabaki saw in it the face of Housen, Shishi’s father, a man whom he had known since childhood.

“Khaaaaaaah!!”

Whether in resignation or admiration, Satahabaki bared his ivory pillar-like teeth, took a deep breath, and bound himself to the hitching mount installed at the front of the lead car.

Meanwhile, Shishi called out to the others.

“Amli! Come with me. Everyone else, get on!”

“M-Ms. Shishi, ma’am, what’s happening?”

“Someyoshi has kindly offered to pull the carriage for us. Give him your thanks, Brother!”

“If I say anythin’, he’ll try to lock me up again!”

All of a sudden, there was a loud explosion in the distance, and everyone turned.

On the horizon, the spire of the Imihama Prefectural Bureau toppled as the building collapsed. Everyone watched in silence, a million emotions churning in their hearts.

And then…

Clang…clang…clang

Clang, clang, clang

Clang, clang, clang, ka-clang!

Iyoooooooooo!

With powerful kabuki-style steps and amid a blizzard of cherry blossom petals, Satahabaki marched southward with the entire train in tow.

4

“Bzzz. Bzzz.”

“Offer souls.”

“To Father.”

The sky above the fallen Imihama Prefectural Bureau was dominated by a swirling vortex of light. Cosmoz from all across Japan were returning to the bosom of their mother, Sugar, to offer the souls they had gathered. Sugar, with her mantle of stars, welcomed each and every one of them into her merciful breast.

“Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk-hyuk! All of Japan drained dry! And it didn’t even take a day!”

“…”

“Look at that view. Ain’t that the most diabolical sight you ever did see?”

“Yes, dear.”

Perched on Sugar’s ear was the ruler of the Cosmoz and Father of the Universe, N’nabadu. Mad with power, he gleefully drank from a wineglass of orange juice and watched the destruction he had wrought.

“Dee-lish!”

“Dear. There is something wrong with the Cosmoz.”

“What?”

“They are all full up. They all have tummy aches.”

N’nabadu turned to the Cosmoz in question, to see that they were all swollen up like balloons, ready to burst. Now and then, one of them would groan in pain.

N’nabadu scratched his ear. “Well, of course they are! It takes time to digest a soul, after all. Until that time, the individual’s consciousness remains, like a ghost. That’s why when I made Rust, I made sure to include a process for subduing them.”

“Then all these souls they have gathered…”

“They won’t go to waste. Filtering out those nasty personalities will be a piece of cake for me. How about it, want to see my skills in action?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Oh, what shall I do? Maybe if you give me a peck on the cheek first!”

“Yes, dear.”

“I was joking, stupid woman! With your size, you’d inhale me!”

N’nabadu clicked his tongue and tossed his glass aside, before jumping out in front of Sugar.

“Behold, my unique powers, a miracle of despair…”

Under the curious eyes of the Cosmoz, a mystical force began welling up in the fly’s body.

“Come, Nether Wheel!”

N’nabadu raised his ringed staff, and a black object was created. It was even smaller than N’nabadu himself and shaped like a cogwheel, pulsing and rotating in short, jerky movements. It seemed to draw in the light around it like a black hole and was both beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

Even Sugar narrowed her eyes, despite usually showing no emotion at all. “What is that?” she asked.

“Heh-heh. Quite horrifying, if I do say so myself,” replied N’nabadu, his brow slick with a fearful sweat.

“What exactly is that cogwheel, dear?”

“Everything that exists in the universe is created by transmutation of the soul. That miracle of creation is possible by only two entities: one, the Mother of the Universe, and two…”

“…”

“…this cogwheel, the Nether Wheel!”

Even N’nabadu himself couldn’t resist sweating at the sinister aura the wheel emitted. The fly had imbued it with all the souls of ruin that Bisco and Milo had stopped, and with their power created the dark world. It was such a potent device, like a miniature underworld, that even N’nabadu himself was afraid to rely on it too much.

The nearby Cosmoz began retreating from it in fear.

“Bzzz?!”

“Th-the light of Nirvana.”

“Run away!”

“Stay here, you lot, and let your souls be recycled.”

The light of evil flickered in N’nabadu’s compound eyes, and he chanted the words of his absorption spell.

“Take this! Ghost Vacuumer!!”

The cogwheel pulsed and began emitting a pitch-black, soul-sucking aura! This aura seized the Cosmoz one by one and dragged them into the wheel’s core.

“““Bzzz…”””

“Mmm, souls, souls.”

“Dear. You are scaring them.”

“It doesn’t matter, there’s nothing left to BE scared.”

N’nabadu spun the Nether Wheel in reverse, and the souls came pouring back out of the wheel. These bleached, mindless souls were then sucked into Sugar’s belly, reinforcing her energy.

“Here, eat up, darling!”

“Oh…”

Feeling her power restored to maximum in a heartbeat, Sugar was unsure how to respond.

“Whoops, better not go any further than that,” said N’nabadu, shutting down the Nether Wheel. “How is that, wife? Is the new universe in your belly feeling better now?”

Sugar patted her belly and gave a small nod.

“Yes,” she said. “However, we are still a little short for the birth…”

“I know, I know, don’t worry. Just leave it to ol’ N’nabadu! There are still plenty of souls all over the world, in Europe, America… I’ll suck them all up for you, just you wait! Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk-hyuk—”

“Dear.”

“Hyuk?”

Sugar suddenly pulled N’nabadu into her cloak of stars. “What’s the big idea?!” he yelled, and then…

Bvoom!!

A thick pale-blue beam of light gouged out the earth, coming straight for Sugar, where it collided with her cloak of stars and dissipated.

“Wh-what was that?!”

“I’m not sure…”

Sugar focused her infinite-range sight, seeing beyond the island of Japan and far out across the Pacific Ocean. There on a floating island, perched atop a clifftop, was a snow-white warrior, looking right back at her!

“Elder Chaika commands us! Second shot, loaded and ready!”

“Fire the Ghost Hail Cannon!”

“““OOOUUUYAAA!!!”””

Bvoom!!

Hokkaido opened its vast maw and fired its spore accelerator cannon, unleashing the power of the Ghost Hail! The absolute-zero beam grazed the seawater, freezing it instantly, before continuing onward to the Mother of the Universe.

“Protect Mother!”

“Bzzz, bzzz.”

The Cosmoz arranged themselves in a mandala formation before Sugar, taking the attack meant for her. When the spore cannon hit them, it froze individual Cosmoz solid, who all fell down to Earth.

“Argh, what a waste! There were still souls inside those ones!”

“It is too dangerous for you here, dear. Stay behind me.”

“What idiot dares challenge me now?! Come on out and show your stupid face!”

“As you wish! Take a good look at me, because it’s the last you’re going to get!”

“Wha—?”

All of a sudden, a jellyfish drone flew up to N’nabadu, unexpectedly answering his call. It began projecting a hologram, revealing the voice’s bearer…

Standing there, a war ax strapped to her back, folding her thick arms, was a female warrior. It was Elder Chaika, successor to her father Cavillacan, and leader of those rough-and-tumble Mushroom Keepers of the north, the sporko!

“So long as Hokkaido and I draw breath, you shall never succeed!”

“H-Hokkaido?!”

“…”

The hologram moved to depict the land upon which Chaika was standing. The island whale roared and bared its vicious fangs, like a giant kaiju waking up to defend its homeland.

“Who does it think it is? Godzilla?!” cried N’nabadu.

“That little laser beam of hers was just a friendly hello,” said Chaika. “You won’t like her when she’s angry—but you’ll see her true power in just a few more minutes, once she finishes charging.”

“What?!”

“Say your good-byes, little fly. We won’t miss you!”

“Don’t bring my size into this!—Hey, are you even listening to me? Come back!”

Chaika’s image stuck her tongue out at N’nabadu before blipping out of existence. The jellyfish drone then returned to earth, with the furious fly shouting curses after it.

“Hokkaido? Pah! More like an overgrown sea sponge! I’ll show that floating garbage patch what’s what!”

“Are you heading over there, dear?”

“Of course I am! Did you see that beam it fired?!” N’nabadu buzzed, as if his cosmic wife hadn’t been the very one who protected him from it. “You let that thing hit you, and labor pains’ll be the least of your troubles! You sit pretty and let me give that island a piece of my mind; they’ll have to redraw the maps once I’m done with it!”

“Wait, dear,” Sugar called out after her impatient husband. She took a closer look at her finger, the tip of which had just begun to freeze.

“A beam of this magnitude surely causes significant damage to the firing mechanism itself,” she said. “I believe the discharge we just witnessed to be the limit of their potential.”

“What are you trying to say, wifey?”

“They are taunting you. Nothing more.”

Sugar spoke with perfect precision. In the past, she had been a goddess of mushrooms, and so her knowledge of the Ghost Hail spores was not to be dismissed lightly. She knew that if the laser barrage were to continue, it would be Hokkaido, and not herself, that would end up frozen solid first.

“If we instead focus on the Cosmoz, we can ready the souls we need. They are attempting to distract you and delay the birth.”

“…”

“Please, ignore them and remember your task, dear.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Dear—”

“No! I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna!”

N’nabadu suddenly threw a tantrum like a child!

“They dared insult the great Father of the Universe—me! I won’t be able to rest at night without seeing that brat’s face twisted with fear and despair! The birth is on hold until she gets down on her hands and knees and begs for death!”

“…”

N’nabadu was incapable of listening to Sugar’s reason. Right now, he had only one desire: to teach the light world’s inhabitants just how much pain and grief they had caused him over the years.

“And if worse comes to worst, I can always use this…”

N’nabadu took out the Nether Wheel and felt its residual heat, while a wicked grin spread across his lips.

“Come on, Sugar! Let’s grind their souls to dust and turn them into one last memento to remember this sorry world by!”

“…”

“Now!”

“Yes, dear.”

The Mother of the Universe closed her eyes, nodded, and she and the entire Cosmoz swarm began floating across the ocean.

5

Meanwhile, inside Hokkaido…

“Humans! Line up on the right!”

The refugees fleeing Japan made their way through the island whale’s internals, finding temporary solace in the care and protection of the sporko.

Even so, however, there was little time to rest easy. Every able-bodied man, woman, and child gathered in the puktika, or liver, where they received their weapons.

Gopis was in charge of arming the scavengers and vigilantes.

“Anyone with military experience, pick your desired weapon from this rack! …What’s that? Rosary beads? Didn’t you hear me, fool?! The line for priests is over there!”

Amli was in charge of the monks and Benibishi.

“Anyone with training in the mystical arts, please line up here! Also, Benibishi warriors, I’ve provided some fresh water for you all!”

Meanwhile, the old veteran of Byoma, Shibafune, led the samurai cats.

“Felines of Byoma, receive your bells here! Ring them plenty, in preparation of the approaching battle! Come now, stop harassing the humans with them!”

“Hey! That’s my saddle! And get your foolish hands off our supplies! Why is nobody listening to a word I say?!”

“Perhaps they have mistaken you for a head of livestock with that repulsive nose ring of yours, Ms. Gopis, ma’am?”

“Don’t insult my fashion sense, brat!”

“This is utter chaos. But never in my nine lives did I ever dream I would see cats, humans, and Benibishi join paws to battle a common threat. It is a wonder there is any peace at all.”

All of postapocalyptic Japan’s roughnecks and vagabonds were gathered for the first time under one “roof.” Just as Shibafune said, the fact there was even a temporary truce between them was astounding. It seemed that these brave people understood the grave threat their world faced and were willing to put aside their differences to face it.

“Amli!”

Just then, a young girl ran over. Her beauty and her long golden hair were enough to captivate any of the roughnecks who saw her.

“Ms. Chaika, ma’am! Are you okay?”

“The plan worked! N’nabadu’s heading this way!”

Stopping before Amli, her cheeks rosy with exhaustion, was Hokkaido’s oracle, Chaika. Now she was leader of the sporko and a far cry from her former self. Back when they first met, Chaika used to be about the same height as Amli, but now the snow-white princess had completely outgrown her.

“Now the ball’s in our court! It’s time to show this fly the power of Hokkaido!”

Grrr! When did she get such a growth spurt??

“Amli?”

“Oh! Er… You’d better go and pass on the news!”

Amli wiped the look of envy off her face and pointed down the passage that led to the Ghost Hail Node.

“Brother Bisco and the others are planning their next move. They’ll be pleased to hear this!”

“Got it. Come join us when you’re finished up here!”

Chaika gave a wave and departed, making long strides.

Grr! How come she gets such a stylish figure?!

“Shall I make one for you, too?” came a voice, its bearer wrapping their arms around Amli from behind.

“Eep!”

“Genetic engineering is all the rage these days,” said Gopis. “You know I’m the one who created the Benibishi, right? I can give you your ideal body, if you like. How about it?”

“M-my ideal body?!”

“That’s right. I tested the technology on myself, so I know it’s safe. We can dictate everything, from height, weight, right down to the smallest freckle.”

Amli reacted with stunned silence, her eyes aglitter, then…

“I…I…I…I don’t need any help from you!”

The high priestess shook her head to dispel her worldly thoughts and stomped off in a huff. Gopis watched her go, scratching her head in wonder.

“Dammit, I was hoping to earn a favor there…”

“Pardon my intrusion. This technology you speak of…does it work on cats?”

“Cats?”

Gopis wheeled around to see Yokan’s aging retainer, Shibafune.

“You see, as shameful as it is to admit, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a pretty young puss—like Geppei, for example. Do you think you could give these old bones a new, visually purrleasing lease on life?”

“Get out of my sight, Bagpuss! I don’t want you getting your hair all over my laboratory!”

Meanwhile, inside Hokkaido’s central organ, the Ghost Hail Node, Red was floating, surrounded by the healing spores of the legendary lunarshroom. She lay, eyes closed, as silent winds of power billowed her long crimson hair.

Hokkaido’s healing seemed to be working, and Red looked at peace, unfazed by the cosmic wounds initially suffered by her alter ego. She was a sturdy girl, and already her scars were beginning to fade.

“Looks like we’re past the worst of it,” said Marie with a nod, turning to the others present. “Red should be stable for now. I don’t know how long it’ll be before she’s back on her feet, though—”

“Since when did the Godshroom turn into such a wuss?” spat Bisco, looking up at Red’s floating form. “Hurry up and heal her already. I can’t stand lookin’ at her like this.”

“And whose fault is it she’s hurt at all?!” barked Marie, grabbing Bisco’s head and slamming it into the ground before the gathered sporko. “You know the kind of energy it takes to heal damage like that? Why don’t you try showin’ some gratitude for once, instead of complainin’?”

“Urggh… Thank you…”

“We can heal anybody here, not just Red,” came a voice. “Think of this place as our inner sanctum in this war.”

It was Raskeni. She was joined by the other great minds of Japan. Relatively speaking, that meant Chaika, Tirol, Shishi, and Yokan.

“For now, it seems N’nabadu’s eyes are on us. We have Chaika’s plan to thank for that—without it, we wouldn’t even have the chance to fight back at all.”

“Yes, yes, thank me as much as you’d like!” chirruped Chaika.

“We may have drawn his attention,” said Yokan, the most pragmatic mind among them, “but what do we do now? I’d estimate the range of Sugar’s beam to be around a league, and we have the Cosmoz to contend with as well.”

“If they take us on at long range, we stand little chance…,” mused Shishi, turning to Tirol. “I fear I share in Yokan’s concerns. Is there any way we might fight back?”

“Sure is,” replied Tirol, her mouth stuffed with pokpok, the local delicacy of Hokkaido. She commanded her jellyfish drone to throw up a bird’s-eye view of the island whale using its projector.

The footage showed Hokkaido’s back and all the monks gathered upon it, chanting their mantras and producing a vast hemispherical shield that covered the whole island.

At the center of the gathering, Kandori of the Wizened led the monks with his powerful voice.

“All you who still have faith! I have heard your noble teachings! Now let us chant to protect our country!”

“““Won-aspal-shandreber-karna…”””

“Come on! Say it like you believe it!”

“““Won-aspal-shandreber-karna!!”””

“Om-nom-nom-nom. Om-nom. Om-nom-nom.”

“In the past, it was difficult for priests of different sects to chant together,” said Raskeni, taking over the explanation while Tirol was eating. “But now, with Tirol’s translation device, we’ve been able to unify the mantras across the various sects. That allows us to create a barrier much larger and stronger than ever before.”

“Hmm, so you have faith this barrier will hold, then?” asked Yokan.

“That’s amazing, Raskeni!” cried Chaika.

“It’ll hold so long as the attacks are spread out,” said Raskeni, rubbing her chin, “but this barrier is weak to concentrated fire. Against Sugar, I’m not sure it’ll hold for more than a few minutes.”

“Oh…”

“But if we know the enemy is comin’ from one direction,” said Tirol, wiping her lips and returning to the discussion table, “that means we can hole up against them. They might have more guys than us, but we have the terrain advantage. If we all work together, we should be able to put up a decent fight. Then all we have to do is hope Milo shows up…”

“He will,” said Bisco, arms folded. “Milo’s coming. And when he does, we’ll save Sugar. Together.”

Everyone looked at the flames of determination in his jade-green eyes and nodded.

“You heard the man,” said Tirol. “Anyone feel like copying his faith?”

“Of course!” said Chaika.

“If it weren’t for Brother, the entire Benibishi race would be extinct,” said Shishi. “I am more than happy to rest my people’s future upon his back once more.”

“…The cats of Byoma look to me for guidance, and I cannot make such rash promises,” said Yokan, the last to answer. He met Bisco’s hardy gaze with his own, then smiled. “However, I wish to see that child returned to us just as much as anybody. Thus, Akaboshi, I shall use my arts in your name once more.”

“…Thank you, Yokan. And thank you, all of you!”

There wasn’t a soul present who didn’t have faith in Bisco’s words, even when there was no proof to back them up. Each of them had found salvation at his hand and used it to alter the path of their own destiny. Now was their chance to pay it back. To use their own skills to fill in for the boy’s missing partner and to support him, just as he had done for them.

“It’ll be okay! I’ll bring back Sugar and save Japan! With my skills and Red’s tattoos—”

“—You’ll turn that measly fly into insect gratin? Is that what you were going to say?”

“““?!”””

Everyone turned and squared off against the incoming voice.

“Are you all quite finished patting yourselves on the back?

“You’re always like this, making yourselves out to be the victims…

“While I’m only out here, advocating for my rights, and I get painted as this big bad bully.

“All ganging up on one little fly…

“Don’t any of you feel ashamed of yourselves?!”

“Finally decided to show yourself, huh?!”

“This simple drone is no match for my elite hacking skills!”

Suddenly, Tirol’s drone began producing a strange noise, and soon the face of N’nabadu replaced the holographic map.

“I’m in! Oh, hello everyone! Quite the little get-together you’ve got here…”

The fly was lying back, with one arm wrapped around a barrel of caramel popcorn.

“I see, I see, so this is what it’s like inside Hokkaido, is it? When you said you had a fortress, I was expecting something a little tougher—this is nothing more than an oversized coffin!”

“You’re damn right it’s a coffin, N’nabadu, and we’ll put you in it with loads of room to spare!”

“Oh, Akaboshi? You’ve changed, I see. Are those Red’s tattoos? What a hoot!”

Seeing the patterns adorning Bisco’s skin, N’nabadu burst out laughing and prodded Sugar’s cheek.

“Look, Sugar darling, your daddy’s joined the yakuza!”

“Yes, dear.”

“Aren’t you embarrassed?” asked Chaika, stepping out in front of Bisco. “You know you only get to show off because you’re hiding behind Sugar’s back! Why don’t you cut the chitchat and fight us already?! We’re all ready when you are! It’ll take more than a few wisecracks to break through our defenses!!”

“Oh dearie me! Kids grow up so fast these days! Not to mention buff as hell!”

N’nabadu shivered in mock fright before grabbing his ringed staff.

“But I’ll teach you a lesson about how scary grown-ups can be! Cosmoz! Mandala formation!”

N’nabadu’s staff glowed starlight, and over a hundred Cosmoz arranged themselves in the night sky, gathering energy.

“Gather the light. Gather the light.”

“Shoot.”

“Shoot the light.”

Seeing the Cosmoz begin their assault, Raskeni grabbed a nearby transceiver.

“Attack incoming! All sects, focus your mantras!”

“Come on, you lousy lot! Get that barrier deployed!”

“““Won-shandreber-skerva-snew!!”””

Every monk from every religious sect in Japan combined their power, creating a large barrier in the skies over Hokkaido. The second it was complete, N’nabadu swung his ringed staff.

“Give them a taste of your power, my children! Cosmic Ray Shower!”

N’nabadu gave his order, and not a second later, beams of cosmic light descended from the Cosmoz mandala like rain, skewering Hokkaido’s hide—

“Whaat?!”

…Or at least, that was N’nabadu’s plan, but what he saw next betrayed his wildest expectations. Those deadly beams of light never even left a scratch, instead crashing against the mantra barrier like waves. Each layer was provided by a different sect, and together, it was far more resilient than N’nabadu had predicted.

“Damage to mantra barrier, layers one and two!”

Meanwhile, down on the surface, several monks collapsed in a spray of blood. Without delay, fresh faithful were swapped in to replace them, thus ensuring the defenses were never left weak.

“Flamebound, Mercurials, retreat and heal! High Hall, deploy the third layer!”

“All right,” said Raskeni. “Everything’s going as planned. I should head out to join them.”

“Nice one, Raskeni!”

Chaika jumped for joy, while N’nabadu’s face turned bright red with anger.

“Prrreposterous! You repelled my cosmic power?! Look alive, Cosmoz! Don’t stop firing until they’re all dead!”

“Dear, if we keep up the assault, the Cosmoz will disintegrate.”

“Whaaat?!”

“Something wrong, Daddy?” Chaika taunted. “I thought you said you were going to teach us a lesson.”

“Grh!”

“I mean, I knew you were all bark and no bite, but this is ridiculous! If this is all you’ve got, what a letdown!”

“Ggggrrrrggghhh!”

N’nabadu was trembling in rage, but he knew he couldn’t let his anger get the better of him. While he tried to keep his temper under wraps, however, it was Sugar who spoke, much to his surprise.

“Did you embarrass him?”

The Mother of the Universe, previously not inclined to show a single emotion, now had a tiny glint of something in her eye.

“What?”

“Did you embarrass my husband?”

Slowly, Sugar raised her finger…

“Then you shall be punished.”

Bzoomm!!

A cosmic beam flew from her fingertip! Its strength was in a different league from that of the Cosmoz, and a single shot punched through all the layers of the barrier and pierced Hokkaido’s flesh!

“Eek!”

“Look out, Chaika!!”

Somehow, the cosmic mother had known exactly where Chaika was standing, and after punching through the island whale’s hide and reaching the inner chamber, the beam would have disintegrated Chaika had Bisco not stepped in at the last moment, repelling the projectile with his stout arms.

“She tore through that barrier like paper! Sugar’s strength is on another level!”

“Hold on to something, everyone! Hokkaido’s shaking!”

“““Waaaaghhh!!”””

The island whale roiled in pain, transmitting the shock to all those standing in the Ghost Hail Node. They staggered, as if in an earthquake, but together, they managed to pull through.

“Stay calm, everybody!” shouted Tirol. “Hokkaido’s made of tougher stuff than this!”

“But what if they attack again?” asked Bisco. “We can’t hold out forever!”

“No—”

While everyone turned to grim despair, only Tirol’s eyes shone with the light of her wits.

“They won’t attack again. If my theory is correct, that should be the end of it!”

Meanwhile, N’nabadu looked down at Hokkaido, squirming in pain, and clapped his little hands.

“Ah-ha-ha! See that?! Witness my power, miserable earthlings!”

“…”

“What’s wrong, Sugar? Give ’em another one!”

“I just felt a kick…”

The backlash from firing the cosmic ray caused Sugar to slow down. She looked as though she was in pain and concerned for the new universe inside her womb.

“You’re telling your mother not to be so violent, aren’t you?”

“Now’s not the time, you stupid woman! We have to attack again before—!”

“But…if I fire now, the child will…”

“All right!”

Watching Sugar’s image on her screen, Tirol turned to Chaika.

“Sugar’s paused her assault! Move to plan beta!”

“Leave it to me!”

Judging by the speed with which Chaika responded to Tirol’s words, her taunting of N’nabadu had all been part of the plan. Now, presented with a golden opportunity, she wasted no time pulling out her horn and blowing on it.

“Now!!” she cried.

“““Ouya!!”””

The horn’s sound traveled through the passages of Hokkaido, shaking the very ground of the island’s back. Sensing the tremors in the earth, several sporko concealed beneath the snow all leaped out of their hiding spots. Behind them, new models of Tetsujin rose into action, activating the fan motors built into their chestplates. From atop the head of one of them, Gopis bellowed in a commanding voice.

“Tetsujin squad, boot-up complete! Are you ready, Namari?!”

Beside her, the scraggly-haired researcher, Kobe Namari, typed away on a laptop.

“A-Absolute Tetsujin Units 6 through 18, fully charged! R-ready at your command, C-Commander Gopis!”

“Sporko! Buckle up and get ready!”

Gopis barked her orders to the Mushroom Keepers lined up below. Each of them was holding a simplified Ghost Hail Bow that Marie had designed.

“Your target is Sugar! When Chaika gives the order, fire your freezing attacks all at once!”

“““Ouya!”””

The sporko all drew their bows tight, while Hokkaido opened its vast maw, concentrating cold air within.

“Te Ghost Hail cennon be reighdy te fire!!” yelled Cavillacan, the former village chief. “Chaika!! Te future o’ our people be in y’r hends noe!”

“Father…! Everyone…!!”

Her clan’s desperate wishes flowed into her, and Chaika felt power welling up, causing her golden hair to flutter.

I feel it. Hokkaido’s life force is resonating with mine!

Chaika brought her hands together in a dhyana mudra, and when she did, Ghost Hail spores began collecting in her palm, and a silver wind whipped up around her!

“Now! All priests, lower the barrier!”

As soon as the protective wall went down, Chaika opened her eyes, which shone with the rainbow light of Ultrafaith.

“I am the protector of all that live and breathe on this land!!

“If you would harm them, know my wrath!

“Ghost Hail Cannon, fire in 3, 2, 1!”

“““Ouyaaa!!”””

Boom!!

Hokkaido unleashed its fully charged Ghost Hail Cannon, right alongside a barrage of Ghost Hail Arrows from the rugged Mushroom Keepers! These attacks converged on Sugar, and the Ghost Hail, with its power to combat evolution, began freezing the space mother’s body.

“Impossible… How can mere humans have access to this power…?”

“Waaaarghh!! What the hell is this?! I’m freezing, I’m freezing!!”

“Get away from me, dear.”

“Don’t be stupid! You’re supposed to be protecting me!!”

“…”

Even this ice barrage was little match for Sugar if she ignited her body in flames to combat it. However, by doing so, she would surely immolate her husband as well.

Spying an opening, Namari watched, his spectacles glimmering.

“W-we’re almost there!” he cried. “Commander Gopis! It’s time to use that technique!!”

“I know, you fool! You don’t have to remind me!”

Gopis’s unit began to spin up its chest fans. Seeing this, several units waiting behind her followed suit.

“Flash-Freeze Hurricaaaane!!”

A violent blizzard ensued! This combination of all of mankind’s arts and technology finally succeeded in causing a thick layer of ice to build up across Sugar.

“Tirol, tiny, tiny child of man.

“By facing you, I first understood…

“…just how terrifying you can truly be.”

“I-it’s over! We’ve won!”

Even Tirol was shocked to see that plan seemed to be working perfectly.

“This is crazy… Just how godly are my smarts? Not to mention my luck. And can’t forget my beauty, too!”

“Tirol!” yelled Bisco. “Stop the cannon, now!”

“Imagine how good it would be if I didn’t have yer dumb ass weighin’ me down, Akaboshi!”

Tirol slapped Bisco away. They were deep within Hokkaido’s internals, but due to the intense blizzard, there was already a layer of snow building up around them.

“Why the frick would we stop now? Just a few more minutes, and Sugar’ll be frozen stiff!”

“But Chaika’s not gonna make it!”

“What?!”

At those words, Tirol turned to look through the blizzard at Chaika.

“Raaaaaaaaaghhh!!”

“Aahh!!”

Bisco was right.

Chaika couldn’t hold out much longer. She was at the center of the icy winds, ensuring that Hokkaido’s power was fully transmitted, but already the absolute-zero air was causing her skin to crack and her blood to freeze in her veins.

Everyone else was quite far from the epicenter, but even they felt the frostbite beginning to set in. It was impossible to even imagine the agony Chaika must have been feeling.

“Not…yet!!””

However, even as her life was chipped away, Chaika’s will still burned. Her heart rang like a clapper, rapidly pumping hot blood through her body, barely allowing her to cling to life.

“Aw crap, Hokkaido’s still damaged from Sugar’s last attack! Chaika’s tryin’ to repair that damage with her own life force!”

“At this rate, Chaika’s gonna freeze up before Sugar does!”

“But we can’t miss this chance…!”

Tirol bit her lip. If Sugar managed to unfreeze, she would wipe out all life on the planet. But even so, Tirol couldn’t allow a dear friend to lose their life right before her eyes.

Dammit! she swore. If only there was one more oracle!

And then…

“Aahh!”

Suddenly realizing something, she slapped Bisco around the back of the head.

“There is!” she said. “Akaboshi! You were granted the Ghost Hail by Hokkaido, too, weren’t you?!”

“What do I do? Just tell me how I can help!”

“First,” said Tirol, “we need blood! Bite your tongue!”

Without even questioning it, Bisco sank his sharp canines into his own tongue, causing fresh blood to flow from his mouth.

“Thake ath mutch ath you needth!”

Dribble dribble!

“Ack! That’s disgustin’!”

“Thuck you!”

“It ain’t for me, Mushroom-brains! Take it to Chaika now!”

“Chaika? How do I give it to her?!”

“Well, oral transfer, I guess!”

“Oral what now?”

“Kiss her!” said Tirol, a sly grin creeping across her lips. “Ain’t that your signature move by now? Hurry, before she dies!”

“I can’t! I’m a married man! I got a wife and kids to think about!” Bisco protested. “Besides, you know what Chaika’s like! If I kiss her, I’ll be—”

“Quit yappin’ and just do it!!” yelled Tirol, striding up to Bisco and shaking him by the shoulders. “It’s like Milo always says! It’s a medical procedure; there ain’t nothin’ immoral about it! Are you gonna let Chaika die ’cause of your own prejudiced beliefs?! Surely her life is worth more than your chastity!”

“Goddammit!!”

I…I can’t…hold on…

I’m going…to faint…

Is this…it?

Meanwhile, Chaika’s vision was beginning to blur, and she could feel her consciousness slipping away. The girl’s porcelain skin was no longer visible under the thick layer of ice that covered her, yet despite her approaching death, Chaika was at ease.

How strange.

Why am I not scared?

It must be because this is for everyone’s sake…

No…

Bisco…

For yours…

A single blazing tear ran down her cheek, melting the ice, the last living proof of the girl’s life.

As long as you’re happy, Bisco…

I don’t need you to choose me.

I don’t need you to remember me.

But…

Bisco…

Look at me…

Look at how I’ve grown…

One last time…

…

……

Good-bye…

Just then…

—Mmmrgh?!

Chaika suddenly felt something soft and warm pressed against her lips and opened her eyes. There, beyond her frozen eyelashes, she saw a pair of jade-green eyes, telling her to live! Chaika quickly realized that these were Bisco’s eyes and that the lips pressed against her own were his.

Wh-what’s this?!

The next moment, she felt his red-hot blood in her mouth, and the blazing power of the Rust-Eater flowed into her body, reigniting the candle of her life. Fire raced through her veins, bringing color back to her paling skin, filling her with courage, love, and…rage!

H-h-h-he’s the worst!

Anger at Bisco’s infidelity caused Chaika’s life force to blaze brightly once more!

You scum, you scoundrel!

Bisco, why are you…

…the worst person to ever exist?!!

Rrrumble…

“““Waaaagh?!”””

The island whale suddenly lurched with all the new power flowing into it! With Chaika restored, Hokkaido let out a howl, and all those gathered in its liver staggered for balance. Meanwhile, the Ghost Hail Cannon, which had been growing weaker with Chaika’s demise, suddenly returned to full power once more.

“Phah! Keep going, Chaika!”

“I’ll freeze you solid!”

Chaika wiped Bisco’s excess blood off her lips, and her eyes blazed with determination!

“Ghost Hail Cannon! Millennium Diamond Frost!”

With Chaika’s yell, the Ghost Hail Cannon became clad in rainbow light! This spiraling energy struck Sugar and broke through her defenses, finally encasing the Mother of the Universe in solid ice!

Hokkaido brayed triumphantly and crashed against the ocean, sending seawater high into the air.

“W-we did it!” cried Tirol, watching the aftermath through her jellyfish drone.

Sugar was unharmed, but the ice covered her completely, preventing her from moving a single muscle.

“We did it, everyone! Our wishes combined to form a miracle!”

“““Yeahhh!!”””

“That was amazing, Chaika!”

At his voice, Chaika suddenly snapped to. Bisco was right in front of her, a beaming smile on his face.

“You’ve changed a lot,” he said. “You don’t need us to protect you anymore—now you’re the one protectin’ us! I bet they’ll be tellin’ stories about Elder Chaika a thousand years from now!”

“…”

“Chaika?”

“You jerk!!”

Slappp!!

All of a sudden, Chaika slapped Bisco with such force that it sent him flying into the ground!

“Brlgrgh!!”

Bisco face-planted the earth before rebounding into the air. Chaika’s slaps were now of such strength that even a fit young man like Bisco could not withstand them. He slowly sat up, head spinning, and wiped the blood from his nose.

“Wh-what the hell was that for?!” he yelled.

“That’s what I should be asking!” Chaika wailed back. “Wh-what are you trying to do with me, you-you-you…?”

She slowly advanced on Bisco, a murderous look in her eyes that made it clear how much love and hate she was feeling.

Meanwhile, Bisco gulped, and all the color drained from his face!

“I just gave up on you, and now…”

“W-wait!” cried Bisco. “If I didn’t feed you my blood, you would’ve died! It was a medical procedure! And medical procedures don’t count; that’s what Milo always says!”

“Chaika and Pawoo. Two girls, and only one Bisco. That means…”

Chaika slowly drew the great big battle-ax from her back.

“I’ll split you in two! I get the left half!!”

“Waagh!! Tirol, help!!”

Bisco was running about for his life, desperate to avoid the killer swings of Chaika’s ax. Tirol and the others, however, were not paying this scene the slightest attention.

“Tirol, we’ve put up the barrier again. However, we haven’t been able to close it where Sugar’s beam pierced it through. Some kind of terrible power seems to be at work.”

“Hm,” said Tirol, nodding. “The Cosmoz will probably try to get in through there. But at least we’ve made a chokepoint.”

The plan to freeze Sugar may have been a success, but this was only the beginning.

“We’ll need everyone’s help for this. Go to the front lines and guide our forces!”

Tirol looked over the commanders present. It was then that Yokan Yatsuhashi placed a paw to Kintsuba’s hilt and nodded.

“So our time has come at last. With me, Shishi!”

“Keep your guard up, Shogun. Anything could happen out there.”

He and the Benibishi king set out together, after which the other great men and women departed to oversee their own duties.

I’ve done everything I can here.

Tirol took one last look around and closed her eyes, placing a hand to her heart.

Now we just need the Panda! Hurry up, Milo! You’re the only one who can bring Sugar back!

6

“Ooough…”

Tumbling through the sky, N’nabadu let out a cry of shock. Thanks to Sugar’s barrier, he was completely unharmed.

“Th-this can’t be happening!!!”

In return, however, Sugar, the Mother of the Universe and foundation of N’nabadu’s unshakable confidence, had taken the brunt of the hit and was now completely imprisoned. The fly looked left and right and, finding nothing to hide behind, let out an earsplitting shriek of fear.

“This isn’t the time to be getting cold feet, woman! You’re supposed to be protecting me!!”

“…ct…so…”

“What?! Speak up, woman, I can’t hear you!”

“Collect…the souls…my dear…”

Through the ice, Sugar attempted to communicate with N’nabadu.

“The humans will only grow stronger with time. Lead the Cosmoz and bring down Hokkaido swiftly, dear.”

“You’ve got to be pulling my leg! I can’t head out to battle; I’m a fly! I’ll be squashed in an instant! How could you possibly say something so irresponsible? Perhaps if I had something a little sturdier…”

But before N’nabadu could even finish speaking, Sugar used the last of her power to raise a column of water out of the ocean. The water then slowly coalesced, creating a familiar humanoid shape!

“Th-this body, could it be…?”

“Look! Up there!”

“Erk! How many of ’em are there?!”

Actagawa raced across the snow-covered plains of Hokkaido’s back, while Bisco and Tirol sat in the saddle and gazed upward in horror. The very skies were invisible, replaced with an aurora of eerily glowing mothmen.

“They’ve already made it through the barrier! This ain’t good…!”

“The enemy outnumbers us a million to one! If this battle draws out, it ain’t gonna end pretty!”

Milo…!!

For all their strategy, Team Earth was still in a losing position. It was very quickly looking like the only way to end this decisively would be for Bisco and Milo to fire the Ultrafaith Bow.

It’s strange. I can feel him so close to me…so why isn’t he here yet?!

“It must be N’nabadu’s doing,” said Pawoo, readying her staff and reading her husband’s mind. “He appears to have put up some kind of defensive barrier to keep Milo out. However, that only delays the inevitable. Whatever tricks he may try, my brother will find a way through!”

“…Yeah!”

“Da-oo!!” came Salt’s brave cry from the baby sling on her back. Tirol turned to Pawoo in exasperation.

“You’re really bringin’ yer baby into battle, Sister? You don’t think that’s a little…unsafe?”

“Ain’t no place safer than right behind Pawoo,” Bisco pointed out, leaning over and peering at his son. Salt reached out, grabbed his daddy’s nose, and twisted it.

“Aaghh!!”

“Salt! Daddy’s face is not a toy!” chided Pawoo.

“Owowow! Let go already…!”

“Hee-hee-hee!!”

Salt laughed innocently, but then all of a sudden, he turned to a point in space and reached toward empty air.

“Waah! Waahh!”

“Wh-what’s wrong, Salt?” asked Pawoo, hugging him.

“Miwo.”

Salt kept on pointing at the same spot, and said:

“Miwo! Mama, Miwo!”

A bolt of lightning ran through both of the boy’s parents as they realized what he was trying to say.

““…Milo!!””

He was there.

Separated by a thin layer of space-time, Bisco’s trusty partner was right by his side.

“He’s here! Milo! He’s so close!”

“Huh…” Quickly grasping the situation, Tirol nodded. “Milo’s on his way back! But his power must be too heavy to make it over the dimensional wall! We need to make a door using Akasha Tripper!”

“Then do it already! What’re you waitin’ for?!”

“I would if I could!” said Tirol, wiping her sweat and gritting her teeth. “But we’re outta resources! The Banryou Tetsujin was destroyed in the battle with Lord Rust!”

“Bisco, look!”

Boom!

Just then, a bombardment of cosmic rays fell from the sky. Actagawa leaped aside in the nick of time, carrying Bisco and the others to safety.

“Rragh!!”

Bisco countered with an arrow from his bow, which struck one of the Cosmoz, scattering its shining scales into the air. Tirol saw that and immediately hit upon an idea.

“Of course!” she cried. “The more Cosmoz we kill, the more this air will be saturated with souls! We can use those resources to power the Akasha Tripper!”

“So we just have to take out as many as possible?” asked Pawoo.

“Nice and simple, just the way I like it!” said Bisco, pulling on Actagawa’s reins. “Let’s go, Actagawa! Time to take out the trash!!”

The steelcrab shared in his brother’s motivation, setting off across Hokkaido’s back like a blazing fireball.

“Te Cosmoz ’ere comin’ this weigh!”

Boom! Boom!

““Waaaaghh!!””

The space moths tore their way through Hokkaido’s mantra barrier, filling the skies over the island and laying waste to the sporko protecting it.

The snowfields were the Mushroom Keepers’ home turf, and so they normally would have had the advantage, but many were exhausted following their battle with Sugar and lacked both the willpower and the energy to continue the defense.

“Keep your spirits up, soldiers!”

Marie cried out in encouragement, carrying an injured sporko on her shoulder.

“Fall back to the defensive line!” she yelled. “Swap places with the reserves!”

“M-Marie! Do nae worre ’boot me!”

Marie didn’t even know the name of the gentleman in her arms, and she couldn’t make out his face, either, for all the whiskers covering it. However, she could tell how badly wounded he was from the deep crimson stains that pooled at his feet.

“Liefe me and save y’rself!” he bellowed.

“Like hell I’m gonna leave you behind! You guys are fighting for your country! If I let you die, Chaika’s gonna have my head!”

“B-but… Aagh!”

The sporko looked over his shoulder and yelped with fright. Up in the sky behind him, the Cosmoz were constructing a mandala formation, preparing to fire their cosmic rays in unison.

Shit, there’s too many of them!!

The Cosmoz invasion had begun in earnest, completely obliterating the triumphant mood among the allied forces. Marie readied her Ghost Hail Bow, determined to answer with even the slightest show of resistance, when…

“Namariii! Lock on!”

“Error compensation complete! F-firing now!”

“Flash-Freeze Hurricaaaaane!!”

Fwoom!

The absolute-zero blizzard became a twister that was fired into the atmosphere, freezing solid every Cosmoz it touched. These blocks of ice then fell out of the sky, landing in the ocean with a series of splashes.

“Tetsujin?!” cried Marie. “Is that Gopis?!”

“Quit your dawdling, fool!” yelled Gopis, caked in sweat, from the cockpit of the Absolute Tetsujin. “Take the wounded and get them to safety! Our Tetsujin squad will cover your retreat!”

“Your what?!”

“Erm, please, it’s no trouble at all,” came Namari’s timid voice. “In fact, we’re too slow to do anything but cover your retreat.”

“You don’t have to tell them that, fool!”

Just then, several Tetsujin on autopilot gathered behind Gopis’s unit. Marie picked up the wounded sporko and beat a hasty retreat through the gap between their legs.

“Hold the line!” she bellowed upward. “I’ll get reinforcements; just wait!”

“You heard her, Commander!”

“Tch. How long does she think we can last…?”

Gopis had little hope for her own prospects, but still she snorted, rattling the ring-shaped piercing in her nose and readying herself mentally for the task ahead.

“Fine. I’ll prove myself a hero and earn myself a prefecture to rule. Then I’ll turn it into a sadist’s paradise, where slavery is legal and everyone has to bow down to me. How’s that, Namari, feel like making it through this now?”

“Of course, Commander! My Tetsujin mecha squadron is completely invincible!”

“That’s what I like to hear! Now, all units, open fire!”

The Tetsujin battery began its assault, firing shot after shot into the sky and holding the Cosmoz swarm at bay. In the meantime, the sporko used the opportunity to help each other get to safety.

“You see that, fools?! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha—!!”

Booom, booom…

Grrrrk…

“—Hah?”

“Unit seven, unit five, critical damage! Wah, unit four’s gone dark as well!”

“Namari, you fool!! You just said they were invincible, like, five seconds ago!”

“W-well, I wasn’t expecting the enemy to be so strong!”

Namari adjusted his spectacles, his eyes starry with scientific wonder.

“Look, Commander! See how they slip through the Tetsujin barrage and stick close to our units! We can’t reach them at such close range! This is a remarkable impetus to downsize the next model!”

“You fool!! There isn’t going to be a next model!!”

“Commander, watch your twelve!”

“Shit!! Flash-Freeze Hurricaaaa—”

But before Gopis could unleash her technique, one Cosmoz managed to punch through the hull and get inside the cockpit, slashing at Gopis with its razor-sharp claws.

Shit! I’m dead!

However.

“Mark I! You’re up!”

Vwoo!

From a charging bay at the back of the cockpit came a whirring noise and the flutter of a cape, and a single humanoid machine launched a punch at the oncoming Cosmoz.

Thud!!

“Waaagh!”

The crimson robot then scooped up Gopis and, with Namari clutching on to its back, tore a hole through the side of the cockpit and descended to Hokkaido below.

“A-a Mokujin?!”

“This is the Akaboshi Mark I! A robot built upon the genetic code of Bisco Akaboshi! He’s a bit of a scamp, but you’ll love him once you get to know him!”

“Vwoo!”

“You fool! If I knew Akaboshi was going to save me, I’d have let that thing slice me up instead!”

The three quarreled, standing in the snowy plains of Hokkaido, while Namari’s prized Tetsujin battalion was slowly reduced to scrap metal in the background, like a colony of ants ravaged by an anteater. Unable to do anything against the overwhelming numbers of their foe, one by one the Tetsujins fell to their knees, before collapsing face down and exploding.

“Argh… My prefecture… My slaves…”

“The Tetsujin signals have all gone dark! Commander, the entire squad has been wiped out!”

“I know, you fool! I just watched it happen!”

“Vwoo.”

This ain’t the time to be feelin’ sorry for ourselves, imparted the Mark I with its engine noise. Gopis and Namari may have been alive for the time being, but they were sitting ducks out here.

“Y-you’re right,” said Gopis. “We’re still breathing, and that’s what matters.”

“That’s the spirit, Commander. It’s best we keep our minds on what’s truly important—all the valuable combat data this skirmish produced!”

“You know, sometimes I’m amazed at just how foolish you can be.”

“Vwoo.”

“Erk! They’re coming this way!”

Mark I raised its arm, protecting the pair from a shower of cosmic rays, but the sheer force blew off its limb, and a stray beam caught Gopis in the toe.

“Gyah! My leg!”

“Vwoo!”

“M-Mark I! Commander!”

“Sh-shit…! Not like this…!!”

Gopis felt her foot grow warm with her own blood, and she realized this would be the moment all her ambitions were cut cruelly short.

But just then…

“Ms. Gopis, ma’am!”

“?!”

She heard Amli’s voice! Gopis turned to see the girl racing across the snow on her mantra hoverboard, cutting a path through the Cosmoz swarm.

“There you are! Ms. Marie told me you’d be here!”

“It’s Amli of the Kusabira sect!” cried Gopis. “And with her, it’s—it can’t be!!”

When she saw the person riding alongside Amli, Gopis’s face went pale.

“It’s Shishi!”

“Flourish…”

When Amli gave the signal, Shishi leaped off the hoverboard, her red cloak fluttering, and brandished her blade, shining like the moon.

“Lion’s Crimson Sword!!”

Slash!!

One slice from Shishi’s signature technique bisected all the Cosmoz in Gopis’s vicinity and scattered seeds that exploded one after another—Bwoom, Bwoom—into bright red camellia flowers that eradicated the rest.

Shishi landed in front of the Akaboshi robot and cried, “Mark I! It’s good to see you again! Excellent work!”

“Vwoo.”

It had been in the depths of Six Realms Penitentiary that the two had last met, and each was overjoyed at the long-awaited reunion.

Gopis, on the other hand…

“Grh… Shishi…”

Even though the young king had saved her life, Gopis didn’t look the least bit happy about it.

Why…? Why is it always her?!

Gopis always had delighted in torturing the helpless Shishi, back when the former was a vice-warden at Six Realms. Now she was forced to witness the young girl blossom into a fine king, and her pride couldn’t handle it.

“Why, we should count our lucky stars, Commander! Shishi and Amli are here! They’ll save us!”

“Grgh…”

“You really have the devil’s luck, Gopis,” said Shishi, seemingly ignorant to the hateful glare directed her way. Instead, Shishi’s eyes fell on Gopis’s wounded foot. “You cannot flee like that,” she said. “Hold still. I shall use my arts to…”

“Don’t touch me, fool!”

Overcome with fury, Gopis shoved Shishi’s shoulder.

“I don’t remember asking you to save me!! Listen to me: one of these days I’m going to kill you, so I can’t go racking up debts before that!”

“Ms. Shishi, ma’am!”

“…Wh-what?!”

Gopis suddenly realized something.

Shishi wasn’t fighting back.

Gopis had thought that such a light shove would be nothing to Shishi, reinforced with the power of the Florescence. However, seeing Amli run over to Shishi, fraught with worry, Gopis finally realized what had happened.

“Both of you…you’re hurt!”

The two were gravely wounded.

Both of them had used Shishi’s ivy to sew up the cuts and gashes, only surviving thanks to the power of the Florescence. They had lost a lot of blood, and their faces were as pale as ghosts.

That was because the two of them had been hurrying across the battlefield from place to place, aiding all those in need of healing. In the course of their duties, they had taken many stray beams from the Cosmoz’s attacks.

“C-come on…Gopis. L-let me…heal you.”

Shishi used her sword as a crutch, lifting herself up and wandering over to Gopis like a ghost.

“You can still be saved. I want you to live.”

“Fool! Wh-why did you come to save me?! I don’t deserve it! I’m the butcher of the Benibishi! You should want me dead!”

“I told you once already, Gopis. I have already forgiven your sins.”

Shishi spoke through ragged breaths as she and Amli helped each other to stand. Then they shared a smile, and Shishi reached out her hand to Gopis once more.

“Take it,” she said. “Let’s go home. Together.”

When Gopis looked at Shishi, covered in cuts and wounds, she saw the little girl she used to torture over and over again. She recalled the hate she used to foster in that girl’s eyes, the thirst for revenge she once sensed. There was no sign of that hate in Shishi’s eyes now. Shishi had battled it and won.

You…

You utter fool!!

Tearing into her lip, Gopis reached out in frustration for Shishi’s hand, when…

Hmm? What’s that?

Her finely honed senses of evil picked out a kindred feeling, a blackness amid the spotless snow.

“Move, Shishi!!”

Bzoom!

From Shishi’s blind spot came a sudden beam of deadly light!

However, though Shishi was its target…

“Glurgh…”

““Aaahhh!!””

…it was Gopis who took her place, and the beam skewered her breast.

One Cosmoz, seeing how the Lion’s Crimson Sword decimated its brethren, had decided to hide amid the snow and wait for Shishi to drop her guard. The beam hit just below Gopis’s throat, splattering her blood all over the snow.

“Gbluh…”

“Gopis!!”

“Commander!”

“Ms. Gopis, ma’am!!”

Even with the blood pouring down her, Gopis did not fall. She staggered back a few paces, then with the last of her strength stood firm. She cracked her whip, blasting away the snow and revealing the Cosmoz lurking there.

“Bzzz. How did you know…where I was?”

“Evil knows…how evil smells…”

Then Gopis strode over to the Cosmoz and crushed its face under her high heels.

“Fool!! Ghah! Gblugh.”

Blood spilled in torrents from her lips, but Gopis could no longer care about the pain. It was almost beyond the threshold for a normal person to feel, and there was no saving her now.

She fell to her knees, gazing in shock at the crimson liquid flowing out of her and turning the snow red.

Why…?

Why did I do that?

So foolish…

Gopis placed a hand to her breast and felt her heartbeat wane. What had her life been for? Her mind raced, searching for an answer to that question.

And then…

“Gopis!!”

…Shishi fell onto the snow and crawled up to her.

Gopis’s sworn enemy.

The Benibishi child whose life she had made a living hell.

Right here, staring down her oncoming death, Gopis felt her eyes swelling with the fires of vengeance. With the last of her strength, she grappled the Benibishi girl, gripping the Lion’s Crimson Sword in her right hand.

“Wh-what are you…?” Shishi asked, taken by surprise, as Gopis threw the girl to the ground and…

Splatt!!

“Aaagh!!”

…Shishi felt blood drops on her face.

“Pathetic…”

Eyes wide, she realized what had happened. Gopis had skewered herself on Shishi’s sword!

Though her face was white as a sheet, Gopis stared back at Shishi and grinned, the same sadistic smile she had worn during her time at Six Realms.

Her blood soaked into the Lion’s Crimson Sword, becoming Shishi’s strength.

“N-now…my rotten blood will be part of you…keeping you alive… No matter who you become, no matter what you go on to do… Cough! Cough!”

“Gopis!! What have you done?!”

“…You’ll never…ever…be able…to forget me…”

On the brink of death, Gopis was proud. She had satisfied her wicked heart and at the same time found her love. Now she was prepared to etch herself into that person’s mind—as traumatically as necessary.

“I win, Shishi! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha…”

As Shishi sucked up Gopis’s blood, the color returned to the young girl’s cheeks once more. Gopis watched her recover with trembling eyes and then said:

“I…I always knew…

“…that I was the biggest fool of them all…”

Then, in an instant, her flesh disintegrated into shimmering spores that dissolved into the snow. It was a far more beautiful death than such a self-professed agent of evil could ever deserve.

Everyone stared, transfixed by the sight, and then…

“Commander!!”

“What…have you done?!”

“Gopis…”

Shishi felt her still, alive within her own body, and silently exhaled. Then she picked up the woman’s nose ring, lying in the snow, and held it firmly.

“Once, you tormented and oppressed our people. Now their fate rests on your noble sacrifice.”

“Miss Benibishi? Miss Amlini? We really must be going!”

“Vwoo.”

The Mark I looked sadly down at the snow. Namari patted it on the back and then called out to the other two.

“We must not let the commander’s death be in vain. If we die here, then I am sure that woman will kick our heinies down in hell!”

“Very well. Can you stand, Amli?”

“Yes, Ms. Shishi, ma’am!”

“Commander! Worry not!” spoke Namari into the void. “Your data will make a fine foundation for my new model, the Gopis Mokujin!”

“What kind of last rites are those?!”

“It is done. Carry us to safety, Mark I!”

“Vwoooo.”

Shishi took the power that Gopis had given her, converted it into Florescence, and channeled it into the Mark I, causing the robot to spring into the air. With renewed vigor, it departed, ferrying the two humans and one Benibishi that rode upon its back.

“Ninety-eight…”

Boom.

“Ninety-nine…”

Thud.

“One HUNDREEED!”

Ka-Boom!

Hokkaido’s gullet shook as another Cosmoz was crushed beneath the weighty wooden scepter of the Iron Judge. A considerable proportion of the swarm had managed to make it past the surface defenses and enter the island whale’s mouth. If they were allowed to reach the Ghost Hail Node, then Japan was all but finished.

The nation’s last bastion of defense was the squadron of old Benibishi laborers, led by Someyoshi Satahabaki himself. He had set up a perimeter of ivy in Hokkaido’s esophagus, along with an army of samurai cats, led by Yokan Yatsuhashi.

“This is our Battle of Okehazama, noble warriors! Do not let the Benibishi outdo us!”

“““Myaaa!!”””

These two battalions possessed no long-range capabilities, but here in Hokkaido’s gullet, the ceiling was low, and the Cosmoz had little room to fly about. Meanwhile, when it came to close-range combat, the thick armor of the Benibishi and the sharp blades of the samurai cats made for a terrifying combination.

The samurai cats ran along the vines set up by the Benibishi, letting the enemy taste the steel of their katanas!

“We have the terrain advantage, Someyoshi. But we must not let down our guard!”

“It is just like the battle of Gojo Bridge, as recorded in the Tale of Genji,” said Satahabaki, sweeping his scepter to clear away the dust of the Cosmoz he had slain. “I accept your challenge, cat! First to fell one thousand foes earns the glory of today’s battle!”

“This isn’t a game! Take your duties seriously!”

“Behold! Full Bloom Vista: Wakaushi Daaaaance!”

“Wakaushi? You see yourself as Yoshitsune? You’re a Benkei if ever I saw one!”

Boom! Crash! Boom!

Satahabaki swung his scepter madly in wide, destructive strikes, while Yokan filled in the gaps with quick yet devastating swings of his sword and claws.

While these two brave warriors may have gotten on each other’s nerves a fair few times, when acting in concert, they formed an impregnable defense. By following their brave example, the Benibishi’s heavy infantry and the samurai cats were able to hold the Cosmoz at bay.

“Do not stretch the defense too thin, Someyoshi! If we let even a single one through, Earth is finished!”

“No! We must push forward, or else they will force our lines back down the throat! Charge, my brave brethren!”

Satahabaki raised his scepter high, to which the Benibishi warriors responded with a yell of courage. It seemed by all accounts the armies of Hokkaido had the overwhelming advantage…

“…Wait. What is that shaking?”

Suddenly, a tremor rocked the esophagus, and Yokan sensed the presence of something approaching from the front. He strained his eyes in the darkness to make out what it was, when…

“Oh, no! Someyoshi, get back!”

He wrapped his tail around Satahabaki’s neck, putting the brakes on his sudden charge.

The very next moment, a rushing torrent of red liquid flowed into the gullet and crashed into the front lines!

“““Myaaa!”””

“““Waagh!”””

This crimson flood was so strong, it washed away the samurai cats and threatened to do the same to the stout and heavy Benibishi, too, were it not for the vines they quickly called upon to secure themselves in place.

“Whence comes this tsunami?!”

“Someyoshi, look!”

“Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk-hyuk…

“Now I see why they called him a sea god…

“For once, it looks like I’ve found a body I can trust!

“Let’s hit ’em with another one, shall we?

“Blood…

“Ocean…

“STREEEEEEEEEEEAM!!”

Thud!!

““Waaaaagh!!””

Once again, the crimson floodwaters assailed the front lines! With his enormous frame, Satahabaki was able to withstand them while also protecting Yokan, but the other Benibishi warriors were flushed away, and the ivy mesh keeping the Cosmoz out of Hokkaido began to fray and split.

“Th-this technique…”

“It is the Life Ocean Stream!” exclaimed Satahabaki, following on from Yokan’s words. “The divine work of the sea god Mare! But Mare was supposed to have perished protecting Akaboshi—were we mistaken?!”

“Oh, I’m afraid not. Mare’s dead, all right.”

Stomp… Stomp…

After the waves subsided, powerful footsteps echoed through the gullet.

“And he stupidly left his body lying around where anyone could get their mitts on it!”

““N’nabadu!!””

The figure that came out of the shadows was larger still than Satahabaki—it was the giant form of the sea god Mare! Only, his pristine diving suit was now an evil black, while the liquid sloshing about his helmet had turned a deep shade of crimson, like blood.

Inside that helmet was a single small fly, swimming around like he owned the place.

“Still, despite how stupid he may have been, I can’t deny he had the strength of a god!” said N’nabadu, reminiscing on the technique he had just unleashed. “I’ve tried on a fair few bodies in my time, but none as powerful as this one! The only problem is I don’t like being all transparent and gooey…”

“You villainous cur. Not content to simply slay our friends, you would parade their corpses around like puppets?!”

Yokan could remain silent no longer, and his eyes flickered with rage. N’nabadu, however, wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the shogun cat.

“It’s called recycling, pussycat! It’s good for the environment! A god of the sea ought to be grateful for all the philanthropy I’m doing!”

“…You fiend!”

“Gyah-hah-hah-hah! What’s the matter, pussycat? Righteous indignation got the better of you? Why don’t you take a strike at this body, if you think you can?”

N’nabadu’s diving suit struck a muscular pose.

“He’s trying to taunt us!” roared Satahabaki, stepping in front of the trembling Yokan. “Do not stoop to his provocations, cat. That suit of Mare’s is harder than diamond. Even your blades shall—”

“Haargh!”

“Are you not listening? Hold, I said!”

Ignoring Satahabaki’s warning, Yokan vanished into the air! His crimson eyes aglimmer, he drew his sword, Kintsuba, cloaked in the scarlet glow of the catwisp particles.

Mrh! The cat has unleashed his hidden art!

“What’s that?”

N’nabadu didn’t even have time to put up a guard before Yokan was upon him.

“Catwisp Art: Amberjack Decapitation!”

With a single slice, Yokan’s blade carved through the steel of Mare’s neck!

“Wha—?!”

“Ohh!”

Seeing the headless torso stagger back, Satahabaki let out a murmur of disbelief. He hadn’t expected that any sword could make so much as a dent in Mare’s suit.

But of course! The hidden secret of the Catwisp Arts!

Satahabaki soon realized what had happened. Yokan’s blade was capable of altering the minds of all it touched. As soon as steel met steel, the shogun’s technique had caused N’nabadu to lower his defensive ability of his own accord. The Iron Judge was just about to grant Yokan’s excellent display a Bravo! Nine-Tenths Bloom! when he thought better of himself and held his tongue.

However…

“…Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk.”

Watching the helmet of Mare’s suit roll away, N’nabadu chuckled to himself. The ever-cautious fly had already taken refuge within the chestpiece.

“I see. So this is how that kitty cat’s ability works…”

“What?!”

“Quite a nice technique you’ve got there, idiot!!”

From out of the suit’s severed neck, the crimson water rose and lashed like a whip, attempting to entangle Yokan. The samurai cat kicked with his sharp claws, but his attacks had no effect at all on the watery form of his foe, and the whip wrapped around Yokan, ensnaring him.

“He…he got me!”

“Who decided that someone dies just because you chopped off their head?” jeered N’nabadu, traveling up the water spout and prodding at Yokan’s nose with the tip of his staff. “You can’t kill water just by cutting it, you know.”

“Then I will keep cutting until I hit you, fly. I—Gblgbl!!”

Yokan attempted to summon the catwisps to his aid once more, but the liquid whip entered his body through his mouth, attempting to suffocate him.

“Gyah-hah-hah! Hope you don’t mind if I take those catwisps for myself!”

Just then…

“Flourish! Full Bloom: Spring Blizzard!!”

Just as Yokan was about to drown, Satahabaki blew, expelling a storm of cherry blossom petals that descended on N’nabadu. These petals, sharp as shuriken, sliced the crimson lash to pieces, saving Byoma’s hero from a watery grave.

“Gyah! Th-that was close. What’s the big idea?!”

“Cat! Cough up that water now!”

“Cough, Hack…”

“Don’t interfere, you big oaf!”

Just as Satahabaki stepped forward to cover for Yokan, N’nabadu slammed Mare’s giant leg into him, catapulting the giant away. The suit’s strength was unimaginable! N’nabadu was usurping power meant to safeguard all life on Earth and repurposing it solely for destruction.

“Grrrgh!!”

“You go find a pot to plant yourself in! I have business with this cat…or to be precise, with the power of the catwisps that he possesses!”

“The catwisps?!” Satahabaki roared, baring his great white teeth.

“Cough… Hack… I see…now…,” said Yokan, spluttering up the last of the bloody seawater in his lungs. “With her power, Sugar could destroy this planet any time she wishes. The only thing stopping her is the last vestiges of Sugar’s mind—her love.”

“And so this insect seeks to rob your power and rid her of it.”

Straining his muscles, Satahabaki rose once more to his feet.

“What a contemptible being. Is your greed more important to you than your own wife?”

“I don’t remember asking for marriage counseling from a goddamn tree!”

Slammm!!

Mare’s frightening right hook landed right in Satahabaki’s face! The incredible force shattered his trademark white teeth, leaving him battered and bloody. Satahabaki fell to his knees, at which point N’nabadu strode up and grabbed him by the helmet.

“Grgrgrgh…”

“Listen up, Judge Dickwad. Once Sugar does what I say, there’ll be a whole new world, without any of those pesky criminals you hate so much. A world free of sin, where Adam and Eve never ate from the Tree of Knowledge.”

“A world without sin…?”

“That’s right! A pure and peaceful universe! Sounds like heaven for someone like you, right?!”

“You contemptible fly…”

“Wh-what?!”

Despite the beating he had suffered, despite the blood that streamed down his face, Satahabaki stood. Placing one mighty hand atop Mare’s, he tore the fly’s grip away.

“Justice cannot bloom outside the soil of sin!”

The light glimmered off his piercing, showing a set of scales.

“To erase sin itself is the very height of evil! It is denying justice the chance to grow! Fettering the freedom of every infant!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be against bad guys?”

“Evil men, when cleansed of evil, are men!”

“Someyoshi…!!”

Watching Satahabaki catch his breath, Yokan was struck by the giant’s devotion. He didn’t hate criminals—he loved them. That was precisely why he devoted his life to catching them, purifying their sins, and allowing them to bloom again.

So dedicated was he to this task that he willingly adopted the mantle of Iron Judge and earned infamy among evildoers and innocents alike.

“Grgh! E-even Mare’s body isn’t strong enough?!”

“Of course not. This place is your trial. The accused has no right to take up arms against the judge.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?! That’s all in your head!”

Each time Satahabaki flexed his muscles, a branch of a cherry tree protruded from his skin, flinging the metal plates from his armor.

“Someyoshi! You cannot take much more! Fall back and allow me!”

“The judge cannot leave the courtroom.”

“What?!”

“Watch and listen well, cat. The final court case of Someyoshi Satahabaki!!”

Crak! Crak! Crak!

Florescence coursed through his body, swelling Satahabaki’s muscles to several times their original size. His beloved armor was torn away, revealing the enormous cherry blossom branches that grew from his flesh!

“Halt, Someyoshi! Fall back!”

“You think I’m stupid enough to let you do this?”

N’nabadu bore the giant’s strength and hopped back to a safe distance.

“I’ll wash you away!Ocean! Streeeeeam!!”

Screaming, he unleashed a spiraling tsunami shot!

Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk-hyuk! Once this hits him, it’s over!

Whether Satahabaki dodged the blow or not, the waves would continue on down Hokkaido’s passages, eventually reaching the Ghost Hail Node where Chaika and the others were hiding.

However…

“Bountiful Art: Revelation! Floodgate Sakuraaa!”

Satahabaki allowed his Florescence to run wild, transforming him into a demonic tree whose roots sucked up the bloody seawater on contact. In doing so, he became a living dam to keep the flood at bay!

“Khaaah!!”

It brought to mind the time Satahabaki had almost sacrificed himself in his fight against Bisco, when the branches of that tree threatened to wipe out the entire Benibishi race. The only difference was that this time, the only feeling guiding Satahabaki was his desire to protect all life on Earth.

“H-he’s sucking up the waves?!” exclaimed N’nabadu, shocked by Satahabaki’s absolute defense. The former warden took one step and then another, advancing on the wicked fly without letting a single drop of bloody water through. Yokan clung to Satahabaki’s helmet, yelling into his ear.

“This is suicide, Someyoshi! Even you cannot withstand the unbound Florescence for long!”

“The time for cherry blossom viewing has passed…,” Satahabaki replied.

“?!”

“It is the noble camellia that must bloom upon the throne of the Benibishi.”

As Satahabaki pressed on through the Genocide Wave, his Florescence swelled to untold magnitudes, granting him superhuman strength like never before. However, Yokan knew what a terrible cost that power would exact. Already, Satahabaki was unable to see and hear, and only his own sense of duty drove him on.

“Oh, I see it. I see it now, Housen, my liege. The path of Shishi’s flower, blooming on and on, all the way to the horizon…”

“S-Someyoshi…”

Satahabaki’s eyes were no longer working, but there was no doubt the vision he saw was exactly as he described.

“It is beautiful.”

Then the Iron Judge finally seemed to notice the friend sitting atop his head.

“Yokan Yatsuhashi. Honorable warrior. If my sacrifice can allow you to live, then it is a worthwhile one!”

“Silence! My pride will not allow me to desert you!”

“Farewell!”

Satahabaki grabbed the unwilling Yokan in his teeth and, using only his neck, flung the samurai cat far away. By the time Yokan sprang to his feet and looked back, Satahabaki had already taken N’nabadu in his thick arms.

“Someyoshiiiiii!” he cried.

“L-let go of me!!”

“Gah-hah… Gwah-hah-hah-hah-hah…”

Bwoom.

“How to measure the life of one so great as I…?”

Bwoom, Bwoom.

“Bravo! Ten Thousand Coin BLOOOOOOOOM!!”

Bwooom!!

The branches of the Satahabaki tree, growing larger and thicker by the second, coiled around Mare’s suit, crushing it under the burgeoning pressure of the wood’s rapid growth.

“Ggyaaaagh!!”

Even if N’nabadu tried to escape in liquid form, he would instantly be sucked up by the plant’s roots. Satahabaki kept on growing, eventually breaking through the surface of Hokkaido and bursting out into the open air.

Bwooom!!!

“Badger squadron here. Darned if we ain’t clean outta bullets! The front line’s gonna have to say bye-bye to their backup!”

“Retreat formation! The crab cavalry will support the priests from behind! Fall back to the center ranks!!”

“The Flying Blowfish squadron is falling apart! The enemy is routing them!”

“So is the Escargot Plane regiment! We’ve lost air superiority!”

The surface of Hokkaido was in chaos. An alliance of Japan’s greatest military forces was facing off against the Cosmoz swarm, and while they had initially been making gains, signs of exhaustion were beginning to grow. The enemy, meanwhile, just kept coming and coming, and there seemed to be no end of them. What had started off as a promising campaign was now starting to look like a slow but inevitable defeat.

There ain’t nothin’ wrong with our strategy. The problem is that they’re learnin’!

Sitting atop Actagawa’s back, Tirol clenched her teeth.

The Cosmoz shared a hive mind, which meant that if one was killed, its accumulated experience was shared among the others in the swarm. They were gradually building up a resistance to all the techniques used against them, and by now even the famed arrows of the Mushroom Keepers rarely hit their mark.

Bisco watched as, far off in the distance, part of the swarm devoured an airborne Pipe Snake, sending its remains crashing down into the ocean.

“Those damn flies think they’re so big and strong just because they’re in a group. Fight me one-on-one and see what happens!!”

Pawoo had to hold Bisco back. “Tirol, we’re running out of time. Where’s Milo?!” she asked. “Shouldn’t we have more than enough power to fuel the Akasha Tripper by now?!”

“It’s still not enough,” said Tirol. “Milo’s way stronger than I was expecting. If we open the gate too early, he might not be able to fit through!”

Actagawa was leaping from side to side, swiftly evading the cosmic rays that rained down from above, but even the steelcrab’s endurance had its limits.

“Da-oo.”

“Huh?! Watch out, Bisco!”

Noticing Salt’s gaze, Pawoo looked to the sky, and what she saw there turned her face pale with fright. The Cosmoz had gathered in rings, surrounding Actagawa from above.

“They’re everywhere! Brace for impact!”

“What?!”

Even if Bisco shot now, he couldn’t possibly eradicate them all, and the remaining Cosmoz would make short work of Actagawa with their lasers. Perhaps this was the moment the Cosmoz had been waiting for all along.

Just at that moment, when all hope seemed lost…

“What’s that?!”

Bisco and Actagawa both felt the ground rumble. Just as they wondered what could possibly be causing such a large quake, the source broke through the earth and revealed itself.

Bwoom!!

It was an enormous cherry blossom tree! Bursting from the earth directly beneath the crab’s feet, it catapulted Actagawa high into the air!

“““Waaaaaahhh!”””

Everyone atop the crab’s back screamed in terror, but the tree’s hasty arrival had saved all of their hides. The Cosmoz unleashed their cosmic rays at the spot where Actagawa had just stood, but only succeeded in hitting the tree, whereupon the energy was absorbed harmlessly into the bark.

“Wh-where the hell did this come from?!”

“It’s him!!”

Bisco immediately knew what the tree meant. Surrounded by a storm of cherry blossom petals, he felt their warmth and devotion deep within his bones.

“Your Honor!”

“SHOOT NOW, AKABOSHIIII!”

Before Bisco had time to mourn, Someyoshi’s voice resonated within his very soul.

“Wh-what the hell?!” muttered Tirol, watching through a monocular scope. “That tree’s suckin’ up all the energy from the atmosphere! It’s filled with the stuff! If we put the Akasha Tripper spell onto an arrow and shoot that thing with it…”

“LET MY FLESH AND BARK PROTECT THIS COUNTRY!!”

In the face of death, Someyoshi Satahabaki remained a stalwart and noble warrior. His flourishing determination overwrote Bisco’s fear in an instant and replaced it with courage. Bisco drew his bow as tightly as he could.

You’ve shown me…how you chose to live…Your Honor!

A pair of jade-green eyes converged on their target.

“Charge level one hundred percent!—No, one hundred sixty percent! Two hundred eighty…! Waah! Four hundred sixty! Seven hundred ninety!”

“Give it to me now, Tirol!”

“Wrooh! Akasha Tripper! Deploy!!”

Tirol chanted her spell, imbuing Bisco’s arrow with the magic to warp space-time. The tattoos Bisco had inherited from Red glowed brightly, and he roared with determination.

“Milo!!

“I’m right here!

“Get your ass over here, right now!!”

Thud!!

The space-time arrow landed directly in the enormous somei-yoshino.

And then…

Gaboom! Gaboom! Gaboom!!

From out of the bark blossomed a ring of shining azure mushrooms, forming a dimensional gate. And from out of that gate…

Fwoosh!!

…came something blue and bright, an azure meteor racing through the night sky!

“““Waaaagh!!”””

The object left a trail of blue spores in its wake, like a comet’s tail. It moved so fast that a sonic boom appeared in its wake, threatening to lift people off the surface of Hokkaido and fling them away.

However…

“The light…of Nirvana.”

“Run away.”

“Run aw—”

Bwoom! Bwoom! Bwoom!

The spores themselves seemed to only affect the Cosmoz, disintegrating their bodies on contact.

“Wh-what is that?!”

“Miwo. Miwo.”

“What?! That’s…Milo?!”

“You’re damn right it is. He’s back!!”

Only Salt and Bisco recognized the true nature of the meteor. At Bisco’s words, the faces of Pawoo and Tirol lit up in relief, but Bisco began to sweat.

“Something’s off,” he said. “I don’t feel him in there… Did somethin’ happen?”

“Bisco?”

“Actagawa! Take care of everyone for me!”

Sensing something amiss, Bisco hopped off Actagawa and began bounding up the trees of the giant cherry blossom, working his way to the light of Sirius.

“Akaboshi?! Where the hell are you goin’?!”

“Tirol, watch out!”

Pawoo grabbed Tirol and pulled her close, just as a blue beam struck the ground, filling the air with spores. A second later, Actagawa leaped free of the blast zone, the two adults and one baby safe and sound atop his back.

“I thought Milo was back! What’s happenin’?!”

“He is back…but he’s unable to distinguish friend from foe. Something must have happened to him in the space between dimensions—he’s gone wild! It’s not like him at all!”

“Ain’t it? I feel like he’s been goin’ wild pretty often lately.”

“In any case, my husband will figure it out. Let us go, Actagawa!”

Pawoo paid no heed to Tirol’s retort. Instead, she urged the giant crab onward and set off to rescue any wounded left on the battlefield.

“What is that?”

“Shoot.”

“Shoot the light.”

The Cosmoz focused their aim and attempted to shoot down the shining dog star weaving through their midst. Despite their firing beam after beam, however, the blue streak was too fast, and not a single attack managed to graze it.

““Bzzz.””

Instead, the comet blazed through the swarm, leaving a milky trail in its wake. And then…

“Bzah.”

“Doh.”

“Gwaoh.”

When the Cosmoz touched those shimmering spores, they were immediately swarmed with mushrooms and turned into soul dust, which was then sucked into the meteor’s skin. The blazing streak then slowed down to a halt, hovering in the night sky, waiting for those souls to catch up.

Regular geometric patterns were etched into the figure’s ice-cold skin. His sapphire hair grew down to his toes, while nethershroom armor covered both his arms and his legs. His eyes were so beautiful, so cold, that they seemed to be from another world, and they watched the world go by without emotion—like the eyes of Izanami, the goddess of death herself, watching over the demise of all living things.

“Hwooooooo.”

Izanami emitted a noise partway between a whistle and a sigh, calling Hokkaido’s lost souls into herself. Humans, Benibishi, animals, Cosmoz, all those gravely wounded in the battle so far were invited equally to find solace in their mother’s breast.

“Hwooooooo.”

Izanami caressed her own skin, as if caring for those thousands of souls, and then…

“G-g-give them back…

“Those souls…

“…are miiine!!”

All of a sudden, there was a glint of steel in the night, and a deadly blade sliced at Izanami’s flesh.

Clanggg!!

But although the sword was sharp enough to slice through steel…

“…”

…Izanami parried the blow with a single one of her long fingernails.

“Raaagh! Curse it!”

The wielder of the blade was knocked back, and the light of Izanami shone upon them, revealing the attacker to be none other than the aged feline warrior Shibafune.

Drat! If this was Yokan’s body, I bet that would have worked!

Of course, the one controlling Shibafune was the wicked fly N’nabadu. He had managed to escape Mare’s body and transfer into that of Shibafune, lying unconscious on the battlefield. Despite his miraculous survival, however, there was not a hint of relief in his voice.

“Nekoyanagi!! Looks like you managed to get your hands on the Soul Absorption. But you’re too late! The end is nigh! You cannot stop what’s coming!”

“…”

“Look at you. Trying to copy my Rust god, are you? Looks like you’ve got a few souls under your control, but that’s nothing compared to the Father of the Universe!”

“…”

Izanami said nothing but stared silently into Shibafune’s eyes, as if able to pierce straight through them and into N’nabadu’s own.

…S-something’s wrong. This isn’t Milo Nekoyanagi!

Looking closely, one could see that even Milo’s trademark blue eyes had turned white like diamonds and were missing their usual kindness. Instead, Izanami’s gaze was probing and sterile, devoid of either anger or fear. His ice-cold glare gave N’nabadu the heebie-jeebies.

“Raargh! I don’t need this stinkin’ feline!”

Recovering, N’nabadu ditched Shibafune’s body, dropping Yokan’s aged retainer, still unconscious, into the oceans below.

“Listen—I don’t give a rat’s ass who you are! I’m gonna take those souls of yours…with this, my Nether Wheel!”

N’nabadu flitted to a safe distance, then raised his little fly arms, calling his forbidden tool to his side.

“Come to me, Nether Wheel! Suck it all up with Ghost Vacuumer!!”

“Hwoooooooo.”

“…Huh? Huh?!”

Something was wrong.

The Nether Wheel failed to respond to N’nabadu’s orders, remaining completely motionless in his hands. Instead, it was Izanami’s whistle that caused it to spin, offering N’nabadu’s stored souls to the goddess of death.

“Waaaagh! Stop it! Stop it! That’s the opposite of what I told you to do! Why isn’t the Nether Wheel listening to me?!”

Then a clear, commanding voice addressed N’nabadu.

“Your task is over,” it said. “The balance of the Ultrafaith—between hope and despair—has already been restored. You have no right to birth a new world.”

“Wh-who are you? What are you?”

“I am Izanami. And I will remove all traces of you from this world. I will make it as if you and everything you touched never existed. Only then will the world start moving once more.”

Izanami gathered souls in the tip of her fingernail and aimed it at N’nabadu, ready to fire. A pale-blue light, the light of absolute order, illuminated the sweat on N’nabadu’s face.

“B-but if you do that, then Sugar will cease to exist as well!”

“Naturally.”

“That’s your daughter!”

“All life is simply foam on the ebb and flow of the universe.”

“Wha—?”

N’nabadu felt a primal fear, as if he were talking not to Milo but to a far more ancient and powerful being that was simply borrowing the young boy’s skin.

Swiftly, he moved in between Izanami and Hokkaido.

“Sh-shoot me, then! If you do, you’ll destroy the humans as well!!”

However…

“Hwooooo.”

“A-are you serious?!”

To his utter shock, Izanami showed no hesitation at all. To her, the space between humanity dying out and new life evolving in their place was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

“Farewell.”

“Waaaagh! I don’t want to die!” N’nabadu screamed, all his hair standing on end.

He would be erased, forgotten. Sent back to the Brahman, to be born anew, as if none of it ever happened…

“No, no, no! I’ve got to—!”

Just then…

“Miiiiiiiiloooooo!!”

Gaboom!

Riding the explosive growth force of a King Trumpet, Bisco, glowing red, catapulted himself high into the night sky. He traced a ballistic arc in the air before impacting Izanami in the back.

“Hwoooo—oo?!?!”

Clad in wisps like fire, the Bisco bullet brought a look of shock to Izanami’s glacial features.

“Waah. Waah! Waah?!”

She flailed about, trying to shake Bisco free, but he stubbornly held fast.

“Dude, you’re as cold as ice—literally! I knew it, somethin’s taken over your head!!”

“Who…are you?!”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Bisco climbed around to Izanami’s front and pressed his own forehead to hers.

“Say it. Say my name, Milo!!”

“—”

She felt the heat of his body. His eyes, a burning jade. As soon as she recognized what it meant, it was like a bolt of lightning ran thorough Izanami’s cold, dead eyes, turning them a beautiful blue once more.

“—Bisco!!!”

Milo came back.

Human blood flowed once more through his cold veins, bringing warmth and color to his skin. Milo clung to his partner, his tears wetting Bisco’s shoulders.

“I was so scared!”

“I know.”

“Bisco. Bisco!!”

Bisco thought about saying something else, perhaps some words of thanks for his partner’s efforts, but he realized such words were unnecessary. Instead, he simply held Milo as the warmth returned to him—as he clung to Bisco’s shoulder and cried.

…Milo.

Though his partner’s face had changed significantly, the warmth of his tears was the same. Those tears told the story of his struggle, his longing, his desire to see Bisco again, far better than any words could.

“I thought I might never come back…”

“I know.”

“I never should have told you to leave me behind, Bisco. I don’t care if the world ends. I just want to be by your side when it does…!”

“But you came back. Because our story’s still going.”

“Waaahhh!”

Milo tightened his grip around his partner, as if to say, “Don’t say it like that!” With the boy’s divine strength, however, he nearly squeezed the life out of poor Bisco.

But as if to make matters worse…

“Milo! N’nabadu’s minions are here!”

As if to seal off their escape, the shining star moths formed a shell around Bisco and Milo and focused their lasers inward. Bisco was not able to fly and was only clinging to Milo, so there was nothing he could do.

However…

“Sob… Sniffle…”

“Hey! Let go of me! We’re both going to die!”

“I can’t! I haven’t finished crying…”

“They’re about to shoot! We’ve only got three…two…one!”

“I’m not letting go!!”

Try as he might, Bisco was unable to wrest himself free of Milo’s divine strength. Eventually, Milo grew incensed at his partner’s lack of attention and yelled…

“Aaargh! Look at me, not them!!”

Right at that moment, Milo’s long hair grew like needles and stuck out to skewer the surrounding Cosmoz, turning them into mushroom clusters.

“Waah!!”

While still embracing his partner, and without even turning around, Milo had managed to eradicate the entire Cosmoz swarm. The light of the explosion illuminated the two boys’ faces.

“Wh-what the hell happened to you? What was that you just did?”

“Anyone would do that if they’ve been through what I have!”

All of a sudden, the pair heard a voice from below.

“Akaboshi! Nekoyanagi! Helllp!!”

Bisco and Milo looked down at the ocean beneath, and each let out a simultaneous shriek.

“Shibafune!”

“Shit! I forgot about the cat dude!”

“Don’t worry about—blub—me!” yelled Shibafune, attempting to stay afloat. “It’s the fly! N’nabadu! He’s left my body, but he’s still alive! I saw him flying toward land!”

“N’nabadu,” growled Bisco. “How can it be so hard to squash one damn fly?”

“Because he possesses the negative Ultrafaith, the polar opposite of our power,” said Milo, his eyes tinged with ice once more. “Whenever he’s in danger, he can rewrite reality with his miracles. And since he’s only a little fly, they don’t have a big cost like ours do.”

“You sure know a lot about this negative Ultrafaith stuff. You go back to school while you were gone?”

“Shibafune!” Milo called out. “Grab on to this! It’ll take you back to dry land!”

Milo then detached part of his nethershroom armor and let it fly over to Shibafune, hauling him out of the water. The soaked cat shook himself, casting the water free.

“So his power’s the same as ours, huh? Then it just comes down to—”

“AACHOOO!”

“—Careful you don’t catch a cold, old cat!”

“Which of us is stronger, right, Bisco? Let’s show N’nabadu who’s boss!!”

With Bisco riding on his back, Milo set off once more like the light of Sirius, streaking toward the war-torn back of Hokkaido.

“Marieee!!”

“Who’s that? Oh, Pawoo?”

“I’m so glad to see you safe and sound!!”

Racing across the war zone on Actagawa, Pawoo arrived at the front lines, where Marie was leading the Mushroom Keepers in battle.

“Milo’s come back!” she reported. “We’ll be able to win this war if you can hold out just a little longer!”

“Ah-ha-ha!! I really must be gettin’ old if my daughter-in-law’s comin’ to help me out!”

Marie’s fatalist attitude was the same as ever, but there was a clear glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“I knew somethin’ must have happened. The Cosmoz are breakin’ up. There ain’t as many of ’em as there used to be. I was thinkin’ we were all gonna die out here, but now it looks like we might pull through…”

“Gwanny! Whee!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m your gwanny, pumpkin spice. And you’re a little cutie, ain’tcha?”

“I shall fight by your side,” said Pawoo. “With you and Tirol on our side, not to mention—”

But just as she was about to say Actagawa, Pawoo turned to see a strange sight.

“Gyaah! Acty?! Where are you going?!”

““Aaagh!!””

Both brave warrior women were stunned speechless. Actagawa had suddenly turned and started scuttling off, with Tirol still atop the saddle.

“Wh-what are you doing? Actagawa! Come back!!” shouted Pawoo.

“Wait, I get it. That’s…”

Marie seemed to have some idea of what the giant crab was up to, so she held Pawoo back, softly shaking her head.

“Marie! We can’t leave him!”

“Actagawa isn’t one of us. Just as we humans mourn our own, so too must he.”

“Mourn…his own?”

Just then, Pawoo understood what Marie was getting at. She looked out over Actagawa, who had swiftly plowed a path through the deep snow and was already out of sight.

Meanwhile, the one having the most difficulty was Tirol.

“S-slow down, Acty! What’s got you in such a hurry?! Are ya hungry? Even so, ya can’t just leave in the middle of the fight!! Look, you can have one of my starfish crackers—aww dammit, they’re all smushed!”

However, just as she attempted to placate her steed, Actagawa suddenly stopped, nearly flinging the girl from the saddle. Tirol gripped the reins in an attempt to stay on.

“Hey! Tell me if yer gonna stop like that! I nearly—”

But just then, Tirol fell silent. In front of her were dozens upon dozens of unmoving carapaces.

“Wh-where are we?”

Souseki.

Rohan. Doppo.

Shimazaki. Takuboku. Saneatsu…

It was a mass grave of crabs that had been killed in battle.

Some had died protecting their riders. Others had charged the enemy alone. A few had simply been hit by a stray beam when they weren’t paying attention. Each lifeless shell told a different story.

Bearing the names of writers past, these brave heroes were united in death, their bodies a testament to the glory of their species.

I heard stories about this place. The steelcrab graveyard, where all crabs come to die… They say they do it so their souls all stick together, in the hopes that they’ll get reborn as one huge crab…

No one had gathered the bodies here—the crabs themselves had done it, following the call of their instincts as soon as they realized death was near.

Actagawa betrayed not even a shiver as he stared at the pile—the tower—of his fallen brethren.

Right at the bottom was the largest specimen, a brave steelcrab who supported the others, even in death.

In life, his name had been Ogai.

That’s Jabi’s crab…

Tirol recalled seeing that grand creature before. Ogai had been Actagawa’s rival since he was just a little crab, and every time he molted, Actagawa would test his strength once more.

Actagawa waved his smaller pincer, trying to provoke the old steelcrab into a fight.

But there was no response. Ogai was dead.

Actagawa, however, didn’t seem capable of understanding this. He kept on doing the same taunt over and over, eventually growing mystified and downcast at his mentor’s silence.

“…Actagawa,” said Tirol, leaning down from the saddle. “Ogai’s gone to be with Jabi now. But ya know what Grandpappy told me? He said that souls are always drawn to each other, whether in this life or the next. So you’ll meet Ogai again, I know ya will. You’ll meet all of ’em. And Akaboshi, too…”

What am I doin’?

Even Tirol was amazed at her own behavior. She was attempting to cheer up a crab. But, perhaps understanding her a little, Actagawa looked up and beat his pincers together.

“Y-yeah! Let’s say a few words in their honor! Um… O, Eighteen Gods, guiders of the myriad souls, lead these brave heroes safely to Izanami’s breast…”

Tirol had been a priestess of Banryouji Temple—before she ran away, at least—and so she recited one of the few prayers she still remembered from that time.

“S-still, this is my first time givin’ last rites to a crab…,” she muttered dryly to herself. “Wait, what the—?!”

Something too small to make out zipped by and flew into Ogai’s carapace. Then, the next moment, the deceased crustacean burst to life, swinging a claw at Actagawa while his eyes were still closed in prayer.

Clangg!!

“Actagawa!!”

Luckily, Actagawa’s peerless reflexes allowed him to dodge the blow, but the sheer force of Ogai’s claw left a crater in the ground where he had been standing. Actagawa quickly squared off, ready for a fight, while Ogai’s ragged corpse jerkily stood up.

“B-body… Need…a harder…body…”

“Erk, it’s the fly!” cried Tirol, pulling on Actagawa’s reins. “—Wait, no, this is our chance! He’s all outta juice! It must be costin’ him all he has to reanimate a lifeless corpse!”

“Give meeee…a bodyyy…”

N’nabadu groaned like a zombie, languidly swinging his other claw at Actagawa. Of course our brave aquatic hero was not so sluggish as to be caught off guard by such a miserable move.

Clangg!!

With a swing of his own claw, he parried the blow like a swordsman parrying a bullet.

“Gwaagh… This body’s useless…,” cried N’nabadu, spitting bubbles from Ogai’s mouth.

“Looks like he can’t escape. Good! Now’s our chance!”

Even if he shed Ogai’s body and fled, N’nabadu couldn’t survive long in the frigid climate of Hokkaido. Still…

“He’s got the power of negative Ultrafaith, Acty! Let me handle this!”

N’nabadu’s strange power had saved his skin on countless occasions, and it no doubt had the potential to do so again. Tirol fiddled with a device in her hand connected to the City Maker program, training its sights on N’nabadu.

But just before she could fire…

“Whoa! What’s wrong, Acty?!”

To her surprise, Actagawa leaped high over the snowfield.

H-he’s angry! It’s ’cause N’nabadu’s disrespectin’ his pal!

Actagawa’s sense of honor was one thing he shared with his brother Bisco, and there was no way the giant crab could stand idle and let such a slight go unanswered.

He raised his big claw, ready to deliver the decisive chop, when…!

How…how humiliating!

N’nabadu’s greatest strength was that he only shone brighter the more he was shoved into a corner. Deep within Ogai’s hide, the flame of vengeance burned ever brighter.

I’m ugly. An ugly face. An ugly heart. A wretched existence. And still you would try to tread me further into the dirt?!

N’nabadu called upon his boundless reserves of hate, recovering enough energy in an instant to power the Nether Wheel.

Keep on laughing, punks!! It only makes me stronger!!

“Actagawa! Stop! He’s up to something!”

I’ll have the last laugh! I’ll pay you back a billion times over!!

Crashh!!

Actagawa’s greatclaw collided with Ogai’s shell, splitting it in half! However, even cracked in two, N’nabadu managed to manifest his ultimate weapon at the tip of one of his claws!

“Surge forth! Ghost Converge!!”

The Nether Wheel began to spin at a blinding speed, creating a whirlpool out of the nearby souls. When he did, the shells of all the fallen crabs began drifting toward him.

“Wh-what the—?!”

“If quality won’t do it, then quantity will! Come, my bodies… G-gwaaagh!!”

N’nabadu’s technique appeared to be causing him significant pain. It was possible that his reserves of negative Ultrafaith had already run dry, and the rest was being extracted from his own soul. Even so, however, the technique continued to bring together the crab carcasses, not only from the tower atop Ogai’s back, but from all around, including from behind Actagawa as well.

“Shit! I’m gettin’ sucked in, too!”

Tirol was so stunned by N’nabadu’s evil that she was slow to react. Seconds before the whirlpool dragged her in, Actagawa grabbed the girl in his claw and tossed her away.

“A-Acty!!”

After landing in the snow, Tirol turned, just in time to see the vortex of carcasses engulf her former steed.

“No!!”

“Gwaaaagh…

“Gwaa…ha-ha-ha…

“Gwah-ha-ha-ha! Behold, my newest body!”

Before Tirol’s eyes was a single crab of gargantuan size, its pitch-black carapace twinkling like the stars of night!

It was N’nabadu, the Cosmo Crab.

With his last remaining Ultrafaith, N’nabadu had succeeded in acquiring the ultimate form. And since Actagawa himself was counted among the conglomeration, his power far surpassed that of a few hundred lifeless shells.

“L-looks like I’ve still got it. Now all I need to do is get back to Sugar!”

Tirol scrambled to her feet. Aw hell! she thought. How am I supposed to hold this guy off?!

The chaos drew the attention of the rest of Earth’s army.

“The wee lass o’ Banryouji be in deinger!”

“Come on, everyone, let’s fight!”

“Out of my waaay!!”

N’nabadu swept his greatclaw, flinging all who opposed him aside!

“““Waaaaagh!!”””

“Iguana Cavalry, stay strong! Keep up the assault!”

Japan’s heroes fought bravely, but all who fell in battle, be they soldiers, iguanas, or even tanks, were stuck to the Cosmo Crab’s shell, making N’nabadu’s armor even thicker.

“S-stop!! City:Maker:BuildWall!!”

Tirol manipulated the program through her device, conjuring an enormous city wall in an attempt to keep the Cosmo Crab at bay. However, her impromptu barrier was inevitably weaker than those of Amli and the other high priests.

“Who’s that??”

Aww crud! There really ain’t no substitute for the real thing!

“Well, if it isn’t Tirol Ochagama!”

The timid fly of only a few moments ago was nowhere to be seen. Now that N’nabadu was in a powerful body again, he was brimming with confidence once more.

“You’ve been a thorn in my side for far too long, missy. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have won this war by now! I wouldn’t have had to taste this embarrassment…this humiliation!”

“You wouldn’t have had to taste anything if ya’d just left us alone!”

But the furious N’nabadu was in no mood for argument.

“Don’t think I’m simply going to kill you. I’ll harvest your soul and put it in a world of eternal torment—like I did to Red, only a million times worse! An eternal cycle of death and misery!”

“E-eep!!”

Tirol tried to run, only to be picked up by a jet-black pincer.

“Grgh… If yer gonna kill me, you’d better do it fast!!”

“I considered it, but I think not. Your death will be slow. First, I’ll cut you in half, and then…”

“No… I don’t wanna die! Milo! Akaboshi! HEEEEEEEELP!!!”

“Gyah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Out of time, little girl!”

Slice!!

“Gyah-hah-hah-hah!”

N’nabadu laughed triumphantly. Then he spotted something strange.

“—Hah?!”

Sailing through the air, past his head, his own severed claw!! A blinding streak from far over the horizon had punctured the Cosmo Crab’s impenetrable armor and torn it clean off.

“Hands…”

“…off…”

““…our friend!!””

Boom!!

The next to arrive was a pair of stars, Antares and Sirius, streaking like comets, delivering a pair of devastating kicks to the Cosmo Crab’s face! The meteoric impact sent N’nabadu reeling back, groaning in pain.

“Grooah!!”

“Don’t worry, Tirol. I’ll avenge you!” declared Bisco.

“I’m still aliiive…”

“Tirol’s falling! I’ll save her!”

Leaving Bisco to deal with N’nabadu, Milo flew over, catching Tirol in his arms before placing her safely on the ground.

“Y-you saved me… Gyaagh! Milo!!”

“What’s wrong, Tirol?”

“What’s wrong?!” Suddenly feeling every emotion at once, Tirol beat her fists against Milo’s chest. “Where the hell have ya been? Akaboshi an’ Pawoo were worried sick about ya!”

“And you, Tirol? Were you worried sick as well?”

“I—I can’t believe—”

But when Tirol looked at Milo’s smile, all her anger was blown away. She buried her jellyfish head in Milo’s shining chest, so he wouldn’t see her tears.

“J-just don’t do it again…”

So N’nabadu’s taken over another body…

Stroking Tirol’s hair with a slender finger, Milo glared at the Cosmo Crab.

“He should have run out of power ages ago. How is he still going?”

“He won’t last five seconds against the two of you!” protested Tirol. “Hurry up and beat him!”

“Attack, my beauties! Aim for the girl!!”

N’nabadu issued an order, and the Cosmoz descended from the skies, raining down their cosmic rays upon the defenseless Tirol.

“Eek!”

“Tirol, stay close to me!”

Milo commanded his nethershroom wingmen, shooting down the Cosmoz before they got too close. With Izanami’s power, N’nabadu’s minions were no threat to him, but their relentless pursuit of Tirol left him unable to assist Bisco.

Relieved beyond belief that he didn’t have to face two legendary Mushroom Keepers, N’nabadu looked at Bisco and grinned.

“Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk… Looks like it’s just you and me, Akaboshi. And I know you can’t fire the Ultrafaith Bow alone!”

“…”

“Besides, your dear crustacean friend is at the core of this body of mine! You should know better than anyone how powerful he is! Do you really think you can weather my claws with that puny flesh bag of yours?!”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence as a no.”

Leering, N’nabadu raised one claw and began calling more crab corpses to it, making it even larger.

“I’ll take you…and Nekoyanagi…I’ll cook you…and season you…with salt and pepper…and feed you to Sugar!!”

While Bisco simply stood there, arms folded and staring, the Cosmo Crab leaped into the air with astonishing ease, raising its other claw high…and swinging it down with all its might!!

“One minced Akaboshi, coming up!!”

Clangg.

“Gyah-hah-hah…huh?”

“Actagawa’s strength isn’t in his body,” said Bisco, completely unhurt.

In fact, N’nabadu’s attack hadn’t moved him a centimeter. He still stood there, arms folded, with a knowing glint in his eye, blocking the Cosmo Crab’s claw with only his brow! A thin line of blood dribbled down his face, within which the light of the Rust-Eater glowed.

“It’s his courage. The fire inside his heart that never goes out. That’s what gives him his strength—not you. If you’re the one pullin’ the strings, then I got nothin’ to worry about.”

“I-impossible!”

N’nabadu faltered but raised his claw once more.

“Th-there must be some mistake! S-stay right there, Akaboshi! Let me try again!”

“Try as much as you like!”

Bisco stood, defiant, and pierced right through to N’nabadu’s eyes.

“But don’t trust your body—trust your heart! Listen to it. Let it free! Come at me with your own soul—not with anyone else’s! Let me see what you’ve got!!”

“Roaaaaaghhh! Die, Akaboshiii!!”

N’nabadu swung his claw, and in answer…

“Raaghh!!”

Bisco swung his own fist! His blazing left arm, glowing with the heat of Red’s tattoos, delivered an uppercut as hot and heavy as a glowing iron spike!

Thudd!

“…!”

“I…I beat him!!”

N’nabadu’s claw, and Bisco’s fist.

The first to bleed…was Bisco’s fist! The flesh was torn away, revealing the bone of his knuckle. N’nabadu’s heart soared, his victory within reach, when…

“Whaat?!”

N’nabadu suddenly noticed the long crack running up his own claw! The fissure grew, spreading like a spiderweb across the lifeless shells that made up N’nabadu’s body.

“That’s more like it,” said Bisco. “Glad to see you finally got serious.”

“No… no, no, no, no! Why, why, why, why?! Why is it me?! Why is it me?! Why is it always meeeeeeee?!”

“Too bad you didn’t show that from the start. And also, you were up against me.”

“Why is it only you I can never beat…Akaboshiiii?!”

Crk, crk, crk, crk, crk…

Boom!

At long last, the Cosmo Crab disintegrated, scattering the crabs’ remains to the four winds, while their souls ascended into the skies.

Among them all, Actagawa looked up from the ground in confusion.

“Actagawa! You’re okay!”

The giant crab gave his human brother a look of “Why are you here?” before sensing another incoming threat and squaring off against it.

“Wh-what now?!” cried Bisco, as Actagawa stepped in front to protect him.

“Ghoooost Vacuuuuuuumer!!”

It was almost impossible to see him against the night sky, but up in the air was N’nabadu, raising his black cogwheel above his head in an attempt to gather all the fallen souls to him.

However, his power was exhausted, and the suction of the Nether Wheel was nothing like as strong as it was before.

“Wheeze. Wheeze. Come on, Nether Wheel, spin!!”

“Give it up, N’nabadu! You’ve fought enough! It’s clear who the winners are here!”

“Stop it, Bisco!!”

All of a sudden, Milo flew over and began whispering in Bisco’s ear. Leaving Tirol in Actagawa’s care, he swiftly prepared to summon the Ultrafaith Bow.

“His power is the complete opposite of ours! We can’t possibly talk this one out!”

“An’ anythin’ less than the Ultrafaith Bow, an’ he’ll escape again with one of his negative miracles. You gotta shoot him now!”

“Got it!”

Bisco showed utmost faith in his partner’s deductions, and the manifestation of that faith appeared in his hands. Bisco raised his weapon, the same color as his eyes, and filled it with the light of his life.

One small fly gazed into that light…

“L-let me win.

“You have to let me have just one, Akaboshi!!”

Tattered and defeated, drowning in his own darkness, N’nabadu cried out in despair.

“Every time you knew love, I knew hate.

“Every time you knew truth, I knew only lies!

“This is your last chance, Akaboshi!

“Your last chance to make up for everything you did to me!!

“Let…me…win…

“Let…me…win…

“LET ME WIIIIIIIN!!”

“There you are!”

Like a quivering bowstring, Bisco’s heart throbbed, his boundless love resonating with the hate and despair of his foe, and allowing his jade-green eyes to pick out a minuscule shape amid the darkness.

Though his target was a single fly, Bisco knew he could hit it, and that confidence spread to the spores saturating the air around Hokkaido, eliminating the negative energy that fueled N’nabadu’s miracles.

“We can’t miss, Bisco!”

“No, we can’t!”

““Ultrafaith Bow! Fiiiiire!!!””

Ka-chew!!

The Ultrafaith Arrow surpassed the speed of light, bearing down unerringly on a being only a few millimeters long.

“Gwaaaagh! Save me, Nether Wheel!!”

Just before the arrow hit, N’nabadu held up his sinister artifact as a shield. Though small, it contained a miraculous power, the same as Bisco’s and Milo’s, and so it managed to hold the arrow at bay.

“Sh-shoot it back…

“The wheel will protect me…

“So long as I have it…”

However…

In order to stop the arrow, the Nether Wheel had to spin at blinding speeds, and before long, it began eating away at N’nabadu’s own body!

“G-gyaaaggghhh!! M-make it stop! Make it stop!

“It won’t stop! Why won’t it—Gyggh!

“Gyaaaaaaghhh!!”

The wheel stole his wings, his legs, and began eating away at the fly’s body. The unimaginable pain of being erased caused N’nabadu to cry out in anguish. Ironically, it was not Bisco’s arrow but the fly’s own power that had spelled his end.

“Cancel it, N’nabadu!!” yelled Bisco. “We’ll have our rematch in the next life. You ain’t got to suffer anymore!!”

“Gyuuurghhh…”

N’nabadu summoned all his hate and tried to answer, but it was impossible when half of the fly’s brain had already eroded away.

Yet even now, N’nabadu refused to abandon his defense. It was clear what he had wanted to say. Even in death, I will never forget this humiliation.

“N’nabadu!!”

Bisco could do nothing but watch the pitiful scene, the last moments of a wretched fly.

N’nabadu was beyond salvation.

There had been no agreement, like there had been with every rival before him.

The fly would die as he lived, clutching to his misery and hate, as if they were the only things of value he had ever possessed.

“A…

“ka…

“bo…”

Splatt!

Eventually, the Ultrafaith Arrow overpowered the Nether Wheel and destroyed it. From out of the shards spilled thousands of luminous souls, creating an aurora as they flew away.

“Milo, what’s that?”

“It’s the souls of the dead!”

Milo tried to use the power of Izanami to call them in, but the souls ignored him. They all seemed to be heading in a single direction.

“N’nabadu’s souls…of course! They’re heading for Sugar!”

“For Sugar?!”

“Well, that ain’t good,” said Tirol, groaning and crawling out from the shelter of Actagawa’s belly. “Sugar’s just barely bein’ kept frozen as it is.”

“We’d better hurry,” said Milo. “Bisco and I will bring Sugar back!”

The two boys leaped atop Actagawa and grabbed the reins, leaving Tirol behind.

“Giddyup, Actagawa! Let’s go!”

“Bisco. I saw Pawoo fighting over in that direction. Let’s head there first.”

“You want to pick her up? This ain’t a sightseeing tour.”

“She’s your wife! This is a family issue, and you’ve got to step up and be a dad!”

The two boys’ customary lack of urgency appalled Tirol, but in any case, they and Actagawa set off to recover Sugar.

…

……

………

“…Hyuk…hyuk…

“Hyuk-hyuk-hyuk…

“F-f-f-f-fools…”

After they had gone, there was only a little black speck, lying in the frigid snow.

Bz—Bz—

With torn wings and ragged breath, the speck twitched and squirmed.

“The wheel…

“It kept me safe, right until the end…

“But…

“I can’t see… I can’t fly…

“I can barely even crawl…

“How miserable…

“But it is misery that drives me…

“Akaboshi!

“My hate for you will burn forever!!”

Despite his agony, N’nabadu chortled.

This hate, this anger, this misery, was where he felt at ease. Whenever he begrudged Bisco, whenever he wailed at his own misfortune…those were the times he was truly happy.

“J-just…you…watch… Hyuk-hyuk…

“I’ll find a new body…

“I’ll keep doing it…

“As many times as it takes…

“…

“…

“…H-huh…?”

However.

N’nabadu’s body failed to answer the anger burning in his heart. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he hated, his tiny wings could only tremble, and his tiny legs could only stroke the snow.

And soon, even that meager strength began to leave him.

“…

“…

“…So…cold…”

It seemed that N’nabadu’s boundless reserves of negative Ultrafaith had finally run dry. His sacred treasure shattered, the fly could only writhe weakly, while the snow piled up atop him.

And slowly, it started to dawn on N’nabadu…

…that this was where he was going to die.

“…

“…Is there…

“…anyone there…?

“Anyone to see me freeze to death?

“I am the source of all your woes…

“I am the source of all your grief.

“Laugh!

“Rejoice!

“I’m dying! The great and evil N’nabadu is dying!!

“…

“…

“…S-someone…

“…Anyone…

“I don’t want to die alone…

“I need someone to see me…

“To hate me…

“To think of me…

“…

“…

“…

“I’m so cold…

“So alone…

“…

“…

“Please, somebody…”

The snow piled silently and steadily upon the black speck, slowly hiding it from view. Eventually, the fly’s tiny form was completely hidden, and yet the snow continued to fall, softly smothering the earth, as though there had never been anything there at all.

7

“They’re breaking ranks! We’re winning!!” cried the old Mushroom Keeper hag, Gifune. Despite the blood in her eye, her voice was strong and inspiring.

“Move to attack! Old hands, charge in while the young’uns support with their bows!”

“Gifune, Marie Akaboshi is forcing back the enemy lines by herself!”

“Dammed if I’ll let the pip-squeaks have all the glory!”

The aged Mushroom Keeper leaped atop her loyal crab Raicho and gripped the reins. “Any old geezers lookin’ for a place to die, follow me!”

“This is for Akemi!!” one cried.

“Ain’t Jabi been dead a while now?” said another.

“Whatever lights the ol’ fire of courage! Protect the young’uns!”

The veteran Mushroom Keepers charged in and, with astonishing speed, began forcing the Cosmoz back. Their heroic actions inspired the Vigilante Corps and the sand hippo battalions, and soon what seemed like a losing battle was beginning to turn around.

Just then, Bisco rode up on Actagawa, squinting toward the site of battle.

“Did the elders go up to the front lines?” he asked. “It’s too dangerous! They gotta back off!”

“Uh-oh, she’s in trouble!”

Milo watched as Gifune failed to finish off one of the Cosmoz, and the enemy locked her in its sights for a counterattack. Just as the boys raised their bows, however…

“Blacksnake Staff…”

“Bzzz?”

“Snakebite!!”

Slashh!!

Pawoo leaped out from behind them, slicing the Cosmoz in two with her staff! Then she turned, still high up in the air, and yelled…

“Catch meee!”

Bisco tugged the reins, directing Actagawa over to where Pawoo was falling, and caught his wife in his arms.

“Oof!”

“Thank you, my love.”

Pawoo hugged him back, her monstrous strength threatening to crush Bisco’s bones to dust.

“Gwaaagh!! You could have landed by yourself!!”

“But then I wouldn’t get a hug. Oh, Milo, welcome back!”

“Hello!”

Milo took Salt from Pawoo’s back and began playing with his nephew.

“What a good boy you’ve been, Salt! Well done!”

“Whee!!”

“Mommy was so cool, wasn’t she? Bang, bang, bang!”

“Mama bam!”

Tickled by her child’s praise, Pawoo threw out her chest with pride.

“He-hem. The Cosmoz are abominations. There is no sense in using the Whitesnake Arts to preserve their lives.”

“Still,” said Bisco, “should you really be using your forbidden techniques in front of the baby?”

“Da-oo!”

“See? He says you’re a bad influence.”

“Who are you to talk about bad influences? How about we work on your language before worrying about me?”

“What’s wrong with the way I talk? Ain’t a better example of perfect speech anywhere in the whole damn world!”

“That’s right, Pawoo! Besides, if Bisco can’t swear, he’s basically mute!”

“Open your mouth, asshole.”

“Aaagh! My kongue! My kongue!”

“You brain-dead morons!” yelled Tirol from the saddlebags. “Stop making out and start saving the world already!!!”

Pawoo evidently found it embarrassing to remain in her husband’s arms while Tirol was watching, for she swiftly cleared her throat and sidled up beside her friend.

“Stay on yer guard—we’re comin’ up on the coastline now,” Tirol said. “Sugar should be just ahead!”

“Wait, look over there!”

Squinting, Pawoo looked out over the ocean and spotted Sugar’s colossal form, frozen in place by the previous attacks. When she saw it, however, a terrible premonition gave her goose bumps.

“The ice…it’s melting!!”

“What?!”

Sugar’s prison of ice began to fracture, and cosmic light escaped the cracks.

She was waking up. What’s more, her recovery was much faster than Tirol had predicted.

“It must be because she’s taken N’nabadu’s soul!”

“Aargh! According to my calculations, we were supposed to have another hour, at least!”

“Heh. Your measly calculations can’t account for good genes,” said Bisco.

“What are you lookin’ so pleased about, bozo?”

“Wait, this could be our chance!”

Pawoo sounded confident, and she braced herself for combat.

“Bisco, Milo,” she said. “We have the Ultrafaith in the form of you two. There’s nothing to fear! Go and give your daughter the hug she needs!”

“Yeah!”

“All right.”

“Aargh, guess we got no choice!”

Tirol took Salt from Milo and held the baby in her awkward grasp, taking deep breaths to keep herself composed.

“If we’re gonna die anyway, then I’ll pitch in, too! Let’s go, guys and dolls!”

Responding to her determined cry, Actagawa set off across the snowfields like a tank, carving a path through the swarm of Cosmoz. Just as he reached the edge of a cliff, Sugar shattered her prison and was free at last! Great shards of ice slipped from her body and into the sea, where they produced great plumes of water.

“Sugar!”

Bisco looked at his daughter and noticed a droplet of starlight that ran down her cheek.

“Where are you?

“Dear…

“Where are you?”

Something was wrong.

Sugar’s usual emotionless facade was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she looked scared.

“What’s happened?!”

“It’s all the souls from the Nether Wheel! She must have given in to their despair!”

Milo held up his nethershroom-clad arm and compared its glow to that of Sugar’s.

“Sugar’s a sensitive girl. I don’t think she can handle the darkness that N’nabadu had inside him! We need to fire the Ultrafaith Bow now, or else it’s only going to get worse!”

“Then do it already!” Tirol yelled. “You’re close enough to take the shot, ain’t ya?”

“No, we can’t!”

Bisco’s jade-green eyes glimmered, recognizing the myriad souls that swam about inside Sugar’s colossal form.

“Sugar’s soul is in there somewhere, but we gotta hit it exactly! Else she’s never gonna come back!”

“Where are you, dear…? Where are you…?”

“Suuugaaar!!”

Bisco looked up at his daughter and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“It’s me! Your papa!!”

“Where are—?”

“Let’s go home!!”

Bisco thrust out his hand.

For a moment, the Mother of the Universe paused, as the heat of a love sealed and forgotten came rushing back.

Spurred on by that heat, Sugar began to reach out her hand…

“I hate you…”

Just then, the voice of despair whispered in her head.

“I hate you… I despise you…

“Akaboshi… You did this…

“I hate you… Left me all alone…

“Give me back… Bisco…

“I hate you…

“Die.”

“Waaaaaaaaaghhh!!”

The remnants of N’nabadu’s darkness swirled like a vortex in her mind!! As she clutched her head with one hand, her other finger began to glow with concentrated starlight.

“Go awaaaaaay!!”

Screaming, she unleashed a cosmic ray toward Actagawa!

“Wh-where is all this hatred coming from?!”

“Get out of the way, Actagawa!”

With his signature eight-legged running style, Actagawa tried to evade, but Sugar’s cosmic ray was far more persistent than the Cosmoz’s, and almost seemed to be locked on to his very existence.

“This hate is just as strong as our Ultrafaith!” yelled Bisco. “It’s like we’ve already been shot!”

“Keep running, Bisco!”

“Milo?!”

Bisco looked in shock at his partner, who had stood up in the saddle.

We have to hit it with a love just as strong! Milo thought, concentrating the light of the nethershrooms into an azure bow.

“Refute this!! Nethersoul Bow!!”

Milo’s soul-light arrow struck the cosmic ray head-on, annihilating it.

““Ohhh!!””

“Bisco!! I felt Sugar’s soul! It’s wavering!!”

His brow slick with sweat, Milo prepared another Nethersoul Arrow.

“Keep calling her name!” he yelled. “We have to drag her back before the darkness swallows her up!”

“Got it!!”

“W-wait!” cried Tirol. “If you do that, you’re just tellin’ her where to aim!”

“If she wants to aim at me, she can!” replied Milo. “Because I’m the only one who can cancel out her power!”

“Wraaaaaaaaargh!!!”

Sugar wailed and fired her beams of hate! Yet every time, Milo met them with arrows of his own love, completely eradicating them.

“We can’t hold out forever!” warned Pawoo.

“Do it!” cried Tirol. “Akaboshi, Milo! Call her name!”

““Sugaaaaaaar!!””

There, at last, the two boys’ throat-rending screams succeeded in piercing through to Sugar’s heart.

“Sugar, it’s me, Papa.

“Mama’s here, too.

“We love you.

“We love you so much!”

At that moment, the space mother’s pale eyes cracked, and the jade-green light of Sugar’s own leaked through.

“M-Mama… Papa…”

““Sugar!!””

“Mama! I’m here!

“I’m right—Aaaagh! No!!

“Let me see them! Let me see my mama and papa!!”

Sugar’s clarity lasted only a brief moment.

Sensing danger, the Cosmoz left the battlefield and returned to their mother’s side. There, they began melting down, becoming a black sludge that coated Sugar’s body.

“Eeeeieeee!!”

““Sugar!!””

“Mama… Papa…”

As the black sludge slowly consumed her, Sugar stretched out her arm, a look of terror in her jade-green eyes.

“…Help me!!”

Bisco opened his mouth, but before he could speak, there was a Zwowww!! and a force strong enough to topple Hokkaido shot from Sugar’s body. Milo and Bisco combined their powers, and the tattoos across the two of them shone in sync.

““Refute this! Nethersoul Wall!!””

Milo deployed a barrier of souls that barely managed to cover Hokkaido in time, but…

“““Waaaaaaghhh!!”””

…the force of impact rattled the entire island like an earthquake, flattening trees and leveling hills.

The land outside of Milo’s protection, meanwhile, was not so lucky. Sugar’s one attack destroyed Japan entirely and cleansed the Earth of life. The only beings left on the entire planet were those atop Hokkaido’s back.

“…I-is everybody okay?”

“Bisco, look!!”

When the boys opened their eyes, they saw that Sugar was still there, but her entire body was covered in some sort of cosmic slime, meant to keep the Mother of the Universe trapped in her prison of despair and ensure the successful birth of the new world.

Now her Ultrafaith was usurped, repurposed, turning her into a cursed entity of destruction, existing solely to despise the world and everything in it.

“Sugar!!”

“OOAAAGGGHHH!”

The deity screamed as dozens of new arms burst forth from her once-beautiful face. Her boundless power was being redirected toward destruction, and all of it was focused on Hokkaido.

“We were so close!” screamed Tirol, desperately trying to keep Actagawa reined in. “Akaboshi, Milo! Let’s fall back and replan!”

““She’s there…””

“What’s wrong, you two?!”

“It’s Sugar,” said Bisco. “She’s in there, I can feel it!”

“Sugar!” cried Milo. “Where are you? Mommy’s right here!”

To the untrained eye, it was a hopeless situation, but Bisco and Milo could sense Sugar’s presence, and it was closer than ever.

Responding to Milo’s will, several of the nethershrooms detached themselves from his armor and entered the sludge that made up the calamitous deity’s body.

Their azure glow lit up the inside, revealing…

“Ahh!”

…the form of a small child, curled up in the fetal position! It appeared that Sugar was still safe and sound, trapped inside the goddess’s left breast, where she fed power to the icon of disaster like its own beating heart.

“Milo, look!!”

“That’s her!! The heart is Sugar!!”

The sight of his own child in danger spurred Milo to action, and he tried to take off. However…

“Wh-what?!”

The nethershrooms only emitted a feeble glow and refused to heed Milo’s commands. It was as if protecting the entire island of Hokkaido had used up all their power.

“I-it’s not working. I can’t fly. We were so close, too!!”

“Look out, you two! She’s attacking!!”

Hundreds upon hundreds of the cursed goddess’s arms came flying toward the flustered duo. Pawoo immediately stepped up, brandishing her staff, and alongside Actagawa and his claws, managed to repel many of them. However, the force was so strong that they were being steadily forced back.

“Dammit, we know where Sugar is, but we can’t reach her!”

The cursed goddess drew nearer and nearer, until she reached the shores of Hokkaido. There, her sludge fell upon the island whale, sizzling and scorching and burning the creature alive.

“There’s no time left. We have to act!”

Beneath her visor, Pawoo’s eyes released a determined glimmer.

“Boys, dismount. Tirol and Actagawa, we three will be the diversion!”

“““Whaaat?!”””

But before anyone could protest, Pawoo swiveled her staff and leveled its point directly at the encroaching goddess.

“Listen to me, foul creature!” she yelled. “It matters not how many souls you accumulate, it will never measure up to a single soul of noble character!”

“Stop it, Pawoo!” cried Bisco. “You tryin’ to get yourself killed?!”

“N-no, she’s right, Akaboshi!” said Tirol. “We’ll create an opening so you can get in close!”

“But…!”

Getting in close was the easy part. The problem was what came after. Though Sugar seemed tantalizingly near, the goddess’s size was on par with Hokkaido itself, and just reaching her heart would be akin to scaling a skyscraper.

However, just then…

“Mr. Bisco, siiiiir!!”

A small girl waved at the duo from afar.

“It is good to see you alive and well, Mr. Milo, sir!”

““Amli!!””

The head priestess of the Kusabira sect was accompanied on this occasion by her mother, Raskeni.

“Amli, let us use the Sati Talisman!”

“Understood, Mother!”

““Won-skerva-snew!!””

Amli and Raskeni’s mantra fixed hundreds of paper talismans in midair, forming a series of platforms that led up and around the cursed goddess. But these platforms were more than a mere staircase. Each of these priceless talismans was imbued with mystic power that sealed the goddess’s abilities, while simultaneously blessing those that stepped upon it.

“Listen to me, you two!!” yelled Raskeni, carrying Amli and dodging the goddess’s attacks. “The Sati Talisman is an ancient art passed down through the priestesses of Izumo! These talismans will show you the path and protect you from harm!”

Raskeni’s face was tense, but it was a far sight better than the gloomy, fatalistic soul the two had first met back at Six Towers. Now she was brimming with life, like a young girl again.

“Amli and I will be praying for you!”

“Mr. Bisco, sir!!”

Amli choked back her tears and yelled.

“From the moment we met, I have always held faith in the two of you. That is why I am sure you will save us, Brother Bisco! You are the only one who can!!”

“Thanks!!”

Amli’s words gave Bisco and Milo the courage they needed, and both of them sprang from Actagawa’s back toward the goddess. When they did, the paper talismans flew beneath their feet, supporting the two boys’ weight, just like Raskeni said they would.

The talismans moved as the boys ran, leading them up the goddess’s side. Whenever the cursed being tried to swat at them, the talismans would explode, keeping her at bay.

“Damn, these paper tags are hot shit.”

“We need to stick as close to her as possible,” said Milo. “She’s big, but that just means there’s more places to hide!”

The two boys ascended, spiraling around the goddess’s body. They followed Milo’s plan, but as if to thwart their efforts, dozens of Cosmoz rose out of her swamp-like skin and attempted to bar the pair’s advance.

“Looks like we’re going to have to fight our way through, Bisco!”

“Got it!”

The two boys’ charge was not going to be stopped by anything so trivial. The pair used their daggers, their fists, and their kicks to tear open a path through the zombified Cosmoz. However, the enemies just kept coming until Bisco and Milo were practically swarmed.

“There’s too many of them! We can’t make the Ultrafaith Bow like this!”

“If only we could halt them long enough for just one shot!”

Just then, the pair heard a young boy’s voice.

“Mister!!”

They swiveled to see something approaching in a cloud of powder. At first, it almost looked like a shrine…

It was Nikko Sencho-gu, the giant mantis shrimp covered in tanks!

“S-Sencho-gu!” Tirol cried from atop Actagawa’s back. “Who the hell is riding that thing?!”

“That’s Kousuke’s voice!” shouted Amli, as she and Raskeni landed alongside Tirol.

“Whaat?!”

“Nuts and Plum are there, too!” said Pawoo, straining her eyes. “What are those three thinking?!”

Atop the temple’s back, arms crossed, was Nuts, standing beneath the gate inscribed with the three wise monkeys, like a captain bringing in his ship for a broadside!

“Keep her steady, boys and girls!! Kousuke, what’s our speed?”

“Full steam ahead, Captain! Once you get used to it, this is even easier than riding a crab!”

“Plum, Kewpie! Status report!”

“Secondary guns are not looking good, sir! But they should work to intimidate, at least!”

“Kewpie here! Main gun is loaded with three armor-piercing rounds!”

The three other children with whom Nuts had braved the dangers of the wasteland were here by his side once more.

“This is the final stage for the Calvero Kids!” Kewpie declared. “Kousuke, Plum, Nuts, let’s all go out with a bang!!”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s save Milo!”

“You guys…!!”

Amid the raging winds, Nuts closed his eyes. When he opened them, the fires of determination burned within, and he yelled through his shark mask as loudly as he could.

“Begin the barrage!”

““Raaaaghhh!!””

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Sencho-gu began firing in all directions, in a bid to intimidate the goddess of destruction. The deity reached out to block the shrimp’s path, but that was when the main gun fired, tearing her arm clean off.

“Yee-haw!!” cried Kewpie. Meanwhile, Kousuke called back from the driver’s seat.

“Nuts!! Brace for impact!!”

“All right! Everyone! On the count of three, get back here!”

“Got it! One, two…”

““Three!””

Kousuke leaped back from the saddle, and the giant mantis shrimp rammed straight into the goddess with no hesitation at all!

The impact shook her whole body, giving Bisco and Milo, high up in the air, the golden opportunity they needed!

“Heh! The kids are all right!”

“Bisco! Now’s our chance! With me!!”

“Got it!!”

Their timing and distance were precise down to the atom. The two boys reached out with their hearts, feeling each other’s presence, and their trust in each other became their strength.

Bisco believed in Milo.

And Milo believed in Bisco.

This pair of souls, red and blue intertwined, created an infinite vortex that spiraled out forever!

““Take thiiiis!!””

Ka-chew!!

The Ultrafaith Arrow hurtled toward its target, and the goddess of destruction reached out its many arms to stop it.

Thud, Thud, Thud, Thudthudthuddddd!!

The arrow tore through anything that stood in its way, ripping the arms from her body and clearing a path to her heart!

“OAAAGHH!”

Splattt!

The arrow tore a hole through the goddess’s chest, revealing…

Their child, the five-year-old Sugar, asleep inside a cocoon, the tiniest of tears staining her little cheek.

““Sugar!!””

Both of them immediately moved to rescue her, but…

“Milo! Above you!”

Sensing a new threat, the two boys suddenly stopped. The arms that had been torn off by the Ultrafaith Arrow had all turned into arrows in midair and were now hurtling toward them. Spiraling in the opposite direction from the pair’s Ultrafaith Arrow, it seemed determined to hit its target at all costs.

“She inverted our technique?!” cried Milo in horror. “That’s a Negative Ultrafaith Arrow! It’s going to pay us back for all the miracles our powers have caused!”

“Out of the way, Milo!—Aaagh!!”

Bisco stood up for his partner and was peppered with Negative Ultrafaith Arrows, which flung him from the talisman platforms!

“Bisco!!—Gyagh!!”

Milo turned to look and quickly met with the same fate as his partner. The force of the arrows rocketed him into the ground far below.

“Fuck, that hurts…

“B-Bisco, are you okay?!”

“Do I look okay, asshole?”

What had just happened to the two boys would kill any ordinary human instantly, but Bisco and Milo were more than human. The fact Bisco was still able to fire off insults even after being turned into a human pincushion was a testament to that fact. Even so, however, the arrows were pinning the pair to the ground, preventing them from moving a muscle.

“Milo! The wound is closing!”

“Sugaaar!!”

Milo screamed and held out his arms, watching in despair as the hole in the goddess’s heart slowly shrank until there was nothing left.

But just before it did…

“Rrraaaaaaaghhh!!”

““?!””

A figure leaped.

Using Sencho-gu as a stepping-stone, they hopped up the staircase of talismans.

“I’ll save her!”

Blazing red, the figure ascended at a blinding speed!

“This time…

“This time!!

“I won’t be too late!!”

““Red!!””

It was Bisco’s alter ego, Twinshroom Red! Her skin was unmarred, having granted her power-bestowing tattoos to Bisco, yet she was hale and hearty, and just as fit as ever. With near-superhuman strength and agility, she swiftly followed the path to Sugar!

“She’s back! She’s all healed!”

“Nethershrooms! Keep her safe!!”

Milo’s trusty wingmen flew to Red’s side, blasting away the Cosmoz for her, allowing the woman to reach the top of the staircase, where she immediately leaped inside the goddess’s cursed body.

Splatt!

“Grgh!!”

There, the sinister ooze stuck to her skin, burning away her flesh!

“Grggghhhh!!”

“Red!!”

Red heard Bisco’s worried voice from far below, but she was no longer thinking about her own safety. Instead, she reached out her hand toward the sleeping child.

“Sugar. Sugar. Sugar!!”

The cocoon protecting Sugar was even more toxic than the sludge, and it scorched Red’s hands as she tore it apart. However, this brave woman didn’t even flinch until Sugar was in her arms.

“I…made it.

“I wasn’t too late this time…

“I’m here for you, Sugar!!”

Red pressed her cheek into the sleeping child, searing her own flesh, but the joy she felt was enough to outweigh any pain.

I…I guess without my tattoos, I’m just an ordinary girl…

Witnessing her own body fall apart, Red received a bitter reminder of her own mortality.

But at least I can save…this…huh?

Just then, from out of the sleeping Sugar rose a second form, spectral and similar in appearance. When Red saw it, great big droplets rolled down her face.

“Sugar…”

The soul was that of her own son, the young boy Sugar, transformed by N’nabadu into the foundation for his new universe. The baby’s eyes fluttered open, as if awakening from a dream, then he slowly looked up at his mother’s face and giggled.

Red couldn’t speak. While she stood there, stunned, the ghostly child flew toward her heart, exploding into a shower of Ultrafaith spores. The particles sank into her skin, becoming a brand-new tattoo, golden with Sugar’s light, that stretched across her entire body and decorated her brow.

You’re back…

You’re back with me now, Sugar!!

Meanwhile, down below, Bisco looked up at the gradually closing hole and yelled.

“Red!! Shit, she needs to get outta there, now! Without the tattoos to protect her, she’ll die!!”

“Let’s try the Ultrafaith Bow again, Bisco! It’s our only shot!”

The two began to prepare their ultimate technique, but before they could fire…

Thudd!!

…a loud, fleshy sound signaled that the hole in the goddess’s side had completely closed.

““Aaahh!!””

Just as the two boys cried out in terror, there gradually appeared a dark patch, surrounded by fiery light, like a sunspot. The patch grew and grew, until…

“No cage can bind me!”

…the blazing Sun Goddess, Twinshroom Red, appeared! She stood tall and proud, with Sugar in one arm, pulling the wound back open with the other.

““Red!!!””

“You can never destroy me!!” she yelled, her jade-green eyes flared wide. “You can never crush a mother’s love!!”

Fwoom!!

Red’s newfound divine strength created a blazing column of fire that engulfed the cursed goddess whole! Red herself leaped from the goddess’s body and landed on the snow.

“OOOOOGHHH.”

Without Sugar’s form to sustain it, the cursed goddess howled and began to melt. However, so stubborn was the creation to cling to life that its sludge became a raging tsunami, seeking to engulf Sugar and take the child back within itself once more.

“Bisco! Milo! Fire!!” Red yelled, racing to save the Calvero Kids while Sencho-gu was being slowly engulfed. “It’s not over yet! All this sludge is the Mother’s egg! If you don’t take it down, it’ll start a Big Bang, and the whole universe will reset!!”

Now that Sugar’s power was gone, the Negative Ultrafaith Arrows dissolved into nothingness and vanished. The two boys leaped to their feet.

“All right! Just tell me where to shoot!”

“Let’s go!”

Still caked in blood, Bisco and Milo hopped up Raskeni’s talisman staircase, ascending nearly three hundred meters. There, they looked down at the sludge that threatened to engulf Hokkaido. Any plants or animals the sludge touched were immediately assimilated.

“Look at that!” Milo exclaimed. “It’s trying to devour the whole island!”

Wait…

Meanwhile, Bisco was staring intently at the sludge, for it resembled something he was very familiar with.

That’s…a slime mold!

A slime mold was a type of fungus that attempted to convert all it touched to a single monogenous mass.

It wants to make us all a part of itself, so it can start this universe again from scratch!

“Where are we supposed to hit it, Bisco? Maybe we should just start firing randomly…”

“No, wait!”

“But…!”

“The slime mold has a sorocarp—a kind of fruit.”

Bisco’s eyes were keen, and his mind was sharp.

“That fruit has to be the egg for the new universe. If we hit it by accident, all the souls will be released—that’s what the Big Bang is!”

“A soro-what? Waah!!”

Milo jumped as at that moment, a large, bulbous mass was ejected from the mold. Just like Bisco predicted, this was the sorocarp. It looked like a mushroom, but its strange, spherical cap glittered like a galaxy, swaying to and fro on the breeze.

“That’s the egg that will hatch into a new universe?!”

“It’s our final opponent, Milo!”

“Yeah!”

Bisco leveled a jade-green glare at the egg, then began summoning power for his ultimate move.

““Come to us! Ultrafaith Bow!!””

The spores coalesced, forming a rainbow-colored greatbow in Bisco’s hands. The egg’s core was surrounded by trillions of souls. A difference of even a single millimeter would mean the end of the universe and the beginning of a new one. Only a team of demigods such as Bisco and Milo could ever stand a chance at making the shot.

“Let’s do this, Milo!”

“Yeah…!”

“…Wait, what’s wrong?!”

Just then, through the touch of their bodies, Bisco felt his partner shiver.

Milo’s skin was unnaturally cold.

“You…you used up all your power!!”

The boy’s Ultrafaith was running dry.

He had been wielding the power of the divine within a human vessel. It was only natural to expect to pay a heavy price. Milo had been supplementing his Ultrafaith by thinking of Sugar, but now that she was safe, he was finding it difficult to summon up the intense motivation needed to make the impossible possible.

“Just shoot, Bisco. I can handle it.”

“Bullshit! Your breath is cloudin’ up! You’re freezin’!”

“We have to!!”

Milo summoned up what little energy he still possessed, but now it was coming from the boy’s own life force. A thin layer of ice crept across his beautiful skin and hair, but Milo shook it off and placed his own hand on the bow around Bisco’s.

“If we don’t shoot now,” he said, “everyone we know and love will be erased. Not just us, not just Sugar…but every last soul who makes up this beautiful world.”

“Milo…”

“So we have to, Bisco. We have to keep them safe. We’re the only ones who can!!”

Bisco huddled close to his partner, sharing his blazing body heat with Milo. He pulled the bowstring tight. Twin wreaths of fire and ice, like a pair of serpents, wrapped around the bow, forming the shimmering arrow.

All was silent, save the boys’ rippling power and the beating of their hearts. Their faces were lit up by the crimson and azure spores that danced around them in the night sky.

…

……

“Bisco?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you…like me?”

It was a sudden question.

But as soon as Bisco turned to say, “Of course,” his eyes met Milo’s.

A deep, clear, perfect sapphire gripped his heart.

And for some reason, Bisco found he couldn’t speak.

“…”

“Do you…”

“…”

“Do you…love me?”

Bisco felt in those simple words something new. Something Milo had never shared with him before. Something final.

“We’re partners, aren’t we?” he replied.

“…Yeah.”

“So you shouldn’t even need to ask. You already know what we are. We’re one.”

“…Yeah.”

Milo smiled silently and nodded.

It was exactly the answer he had been expecting. An answer filled with warmth and love…and yet…

And yet, right there, at the very end, enveloped in the spiral of each other’s faith…

…it was not a conscious movement, but…

…each of them felt their eyes slip from the other, just for a moment.

“Bisco!! Fire!!”

“Got it!!”

There was no time to acknowledge it. No time to acknowledge the tiny sliver of isolation, of loneliness, that had crept into each of their hearts. The next moment, it was eclipsed by the boundless light of hope—an arrow free of error, free of doubt, an arrow of absolute trust!

“To protect this world…,” said Milo.

“…and everyone in it!” said Bisco.

“Last chance…”

““Spiral Ultrafaith Arrow!!””

Ka-chew!

A rainbow arrow, powerful enough to blast back the two boys who fired it, raced toward the space egg! The slime mold raised wall after wall, trying to impede its progress.

Boom! Boom!

“Look! It’s Akaboshi and Milo’s arrow!” cried Tirol.

“You can do it, you two!!” yelled Pawoo.

Pop-pop-pop, burbled Actagawa.

“Goo-goo ga-ga!” cooed Salt.

The arrow absorbed their prayers, increasing in magnitude, until it was powerful enough to overcome the barriers!

Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Mr. Bisco, sir!” Amli shouted.

“Brother!” Shishi called.

“Come on, Bisco!” Chaika prayed.

And then, at last…

We made it!!

…the pair’s ultimate arrow pierced every obstacle and reached the final stretch on its way to the universe egg…

“C…

“Come…

“Come oooooon!!”

…But just then! The two boys’ hawklike eyes picked out a single black speck buzzing its way into the arrow’s path!

“Aaaghh!!”

It was N’nabadu! Half his legs were missing, his one remaining wing was tattered and torn, and his compound eyes no longer worked at all.

And yet he moved, driven only by a terrible grudge.

He flapped his frozen wing so hard, it seemed likely to come off, propelling his bloodied body onward, into the vacuum-wave path of the Ultrafaith Arrow.

“Gaaaaaaghhh!!”

To all who saw it, it was the last pathetic struggle of a wicked fly. But to the mushrooms, there was no such thing as good and evil. The Ultrafaith reacted to the determination in N’nabadu’s heart, granting him the power to accomplish a small miracle!

“Come on…

“Come on…

“Let me stop it!

“Don’t…

“forget…

“me…

“Don’t—”

Splat!

With the last of his strength, N’nabadu tossed himself in front of the Ultrafaith Arrow, which obliterated him without a trace.

“No!!”

The last stubborn resistance of a wicked fly. It was little more than an imperceptible speed bump to the arrow, altering its trajectory by less than a millimeter.

But that millimeter was everything. Bisco and Milo’s arrow had been accurate to the atom, and this one small error was enough for it to miss the core and land with a Thunk! in the space egg’s shell!!

GGGGGGGGGG…

Instead of splintering, the egg, its core intact, began absorbing the Ultrafaith Arrow’s energy! It grew and grew, rumbling loudly, ready to unleash the Big Bang!

“…”

At that moment, Bisco and Milo knew. For the first time, they had well and truly lost.

Bisco exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

“…We missed.”

In midair, he fell to one knee, caught by one of Raskeni’s talismans. He stayed there, in silence, until a frigid drop of water brought him to his senses.

“Milo!”

“…”

Milo was standing dead still, eyes fixed on the space egg, as his tears spilled like jewels.

“Milo. It’s okay. We’ll—”

“It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not!!”

“I doubted. Just for a moment, I didn’t care if the world ended. I didn’t care if all my sources of happiness were destroyed…so long as I still had you.”

The tears came, one after the other, streaming down Milo’s cheek.

“And so…that became real.”

“No… You’re wrong, Milo!”

Bisco held him tight, but Milo’s skin was cold.

“My loneliness made N’nabadu strong enough to overpower you,” Milo went on. “That emotion was closer to reality than some great big dream of saving the world.”

“…”

“We’ve always relied on the mushrooms for everything, but they’re neutral. They only care about the truth, and now…we lost to that truth. That’s all there is to it.”

It was a perfect argument. One that left no room for rebuttal. Victory and loss were two sides of the same coin, and Bisco had always known that one day that coin would come up tails.

The cosmic egg continued to swell brightly, counting down the seconds until the universe was born anew. Those who had fought looked upon it with acceptance and a strange sense of ease.

Everyone was staring into the light.

None of them blamed Bisco and Milo for being unable to save them once more. They stood with pride, knowing they had fought alongside them, gazing with wonder at the light of their imminent destruction.

“…”

“…”

“Milo. Are you mad?”

“A little.”

“…I…”

“Just joking! Ah-ha-ha-ha!”

“I’ll die with you, Milo. Just like we promised! But I haven’t nearly paid you back for all the love you’ve shown me. So…”

“So…you’ll let me ask a favor?”

“Anything you want!”

“Are you suuure?”

“Of course! Just tell me what!”

“If you say so…”

Milo opened his bright, starry eyes, and said with a smile…

“Then forget about me.”

With tears streaming down his face, he smiled—

—and pushed Bisco away.

“Thank you, Bisco.”

“Milo!!”

“I’m sorry.”

Bisco felt his determination, so warm and yet so, so cold, and his heart shivered. He tried to grab hold of his partner, but Milo flew back, departing with the azure spores to where the cosmic egg lay.

“Nethershrooms!”

Milo jumped atop the egg, and a large, heaven-scraping nethershroom appeared above it. The ring-shaped cap turned and glowed, as if interacting with the egg.

“Listen to me, egg of the cosmos!

“I am Izanami!

“I will be your mother and guide the new genesis!”

Gaboom! went the cosmic egg in response!

The nethershroom released a cloud of spore-like souls that caressed the egg, reassuring it while enveloping it in the light of order. Recognizing Milo as its new cosmic mother, it knew that it could start moving once more toward the right future.

I knew it.

Milo closed his eyes, channeling the laws of the new, unhatched universe.

If the universe is one big mushroom, then the nethershroom is its genetic code. It’s the control panel to reality itself. With Izanami’s power, I can—

“Don’t do it, Milo!!”

Bisco screamed and tried to leap over to the egg. However, under Milo’s power, the heat from the egg formed a blazing wall to impede his progress.

“Gwaaagh!!”

“Bisco!!”

Yet Bisco powered through regardless, disregarding his own burning flesh. Seeing that, Milo cried out and extended his hand, before biting his lip and retracting it.

“Just stop, Bisco. You’re not strong enough to get in here.”

“Come back, Milo…!!”

“Mm…”

“We promised. We’re partners, remember? We promised to die together!!”

“You’re not going to die, Bisco.”

“Then you can’t, either! Don’t do it. Don’t leave me alone!!”

“Look after Sugar.”

The light swelled. The impending force of the Big Bang made the tears fly from the boys’ cheeks.

“Take care of her. Tell her you love her…because I won’t be there.”

“Milo!!”

“I love you.”

Just before everything went white, the tip of Bisco’s finger penetrated the barrier of heat and reached for his partner.

“I’ll always love you, even if you don’t remember me anymore…”

Bisco’s scarred hand, and Milo’s cheek…

Just before they could touch, Milo stabbed the nethershroom into the cosmic egg, and a massive explosion ensued.

“Milo!!

“Milo…

“Milo!!!

“Me too…

“Me too!!

“I lo—”

The air and the land were stripped away, replaced with nothingness, and Bisco’s hand never reached his partner’s.

Even as his mind went white, he never stopped thinking of Milo…

…until the waves of holy power tore his soul to shreds.

“…”

“……”

“………”

“Wake up. Bisco, wake up!!”

“…”

“It’s me, Red. Can you hear me?”

Bisco opened his eyes to see Red peering back at him, a worried look on her face. It had just been night, but now the sun was shining overhead.

“Oh, he’s awake! Bisco’s alive, everyone!”

“Wh-what are you doin’ here?”

“What am I doin’ here? I’m your sister, am I not allowed to be here?”

Sister…?

Red, Bisco’s own flesh-and-blood sister?

Now that she said it, it made sense. In fact, that was the way it had always been…wasn’t it? Bisco’s memory was hazy, and there was a pain in his head he just couldn’t shake.

“Attaboy, Akaboshi!”

“Papa!!”

Tirol and Sugar came running up to him. Bisco caught his own daughter in his arms, then dozily looked up at where Tirol was pointing.

“Look! You did it! You beat the Rust god!”

Stretched out before Bisco’s eyes, across the landscape of Hokkaido, was the fallen form of the wicked deity, mushrooms growing all over its corpse.

“The Rust…god?”

“You took the main engine right out!” said Red. “How did you even hit that tiny little target? That’s my little brother for you!”

“I…I did that?” asked Bisco, confused.

“Hey, what’s eatin’ Akaboshi? He’s actin’ even dumber than usual.”

“You’re right. It’s almost like he lost his memory.”

All of a sudden, Bisco hopped to his senses. “Sugar, where’s your mama?” he asked the child in his arms, shaking her so her head rocked back and forth.

“Ha-ha. What’s the matter, Papa?”

“Mama’s calling me, I can feel it!”

“Don’t worry. Mama’s right there!”

Bisco followed where Sugar was pointing…

“Bisco!!”

There was a person running up to him. With Salt fastened to their back, the person embraced Bisco.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“…Pawoo?”

“Papa’s fine, Mama, just like you said he’d be!”

“Ba-oo!”

“…”

Bisco felt his wife’s hot tears on his neck. He held her long, beautiful black hair. Yet for some reason he could not grasp, his eyes were wide with fear.

His wife was here. His two children were here. Pawoo’s children, Salt and Sugar Nekoyanagi. Bisco held them, the two most important things to him in the entire world, yet still felt empty. Something was missing. Something he couldn’t say.

No closure, no sadness. The only thing Bisco was allowed to feel was loss.

Where is he?

There’s supposed to be someone else.

Someone very important.

Someone I love…

Tears rolled down Bisco’s cheeks, tears his family mistook for tears of relief. There was no one in this world who understood their true meaning.

“Brother, you’re safe!”

“Mr. Bisco, sir!”

One by one, Bisco’s longtime companions came running over. This world, this sun-blessed world, was safe and sound, thanks to Bisco’s efforts, and had a beautiful future to look forward to.

There was only one thing missing.

Milo…

The one person with whom Bisco had shared his fate, the one he cherished most.

8

******

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******

“Not this junk on the comms again.”

In the void of space, punctuated only by flashes of neon light, Ota sighed, clouding up her glasses.

“Sorry, Prof, we can’t cut the advertising channel.”

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”

“We should arrive in fifteen minutes… Hey, Prof, why d’ya want to come to Earth anyway? You know nobody lives here anymore, right?”

“You’ll see.”

“Well, I’m sticking my neck out for you, lending you my ship and coming to a place as dangerous as this. You’ll repay the favor when it’s time to publish your new book, right?”

The small vessel bore a stamp on the hull reading HIRUKADO PUBLISHING. In the back seat, cross-legged, sat an old man, healthy despite his years. In response to the obtrusive commercial, he put down his pen, looked up from the manuscript he was writing, and began to light his pipe.

“Hey, Prof! No smoking! This is a company vessel!”

“This commercial’s been on the air a lot recently.”

“Each new ark claims to be better than the last. The real problem is, no one wants to stay in one place.”

“They might not realize it, but I’m sure everyone misses old Earth,” said the old man with a detached air, before peering out the window at the endless stars beyond. “The arks are different. They each have their own charms, their own personalities. And it’s something you don’t realize unless you’ve spent a lot of time with one of them.”

“Just like people!” Ota replied.

“Precisely. Every ship, every mushroom…is a child my sister loved.”

The old man gazed out toward the boundless cosmos, his eyes clear and kind, filled with the curiosity of a young boy.

…Then a furrow slowly formed on his brow as the commercial stubbornly repeated itself.

“Join Ocean Shuttle now for the best service in the cosmos!”

“Why does it have to be so loud?”

“I think the ad ship is following us,” said Ota, sighing. “Get a clue already. We don’t want your crappy shuttle…”

Then the cheerful young editor girl suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah!” she said, her eyes asparkle. “Why don’t we just hit the jets?”

“That again?” The man in the back seat gave a weary sigh. “You just want to feel the thrill, don’t you? Take it from an old man, if you’re that reckless at your age, you’ll never reach mine.”

“Then why did Sugar live to be one hundred?”

“What are you trying to say about my sis—?”

“Setting engines to overdrive! Hit it!!”

Ota pushed the joystick forward with all her might, and the ship barreled off in a plume of rocket fuel. With acrobatic movements, it pulled free of the advertising ship and its oppressive transmissions.

“Waaaah!” the old man cried, pinning his stack of papers to his desk. “That’s enough, Ota. That’s enough. Lower the speed.”

“Bogeys on our tail, Prof!”

“What?”

“It’s those revisionist freaks again. How did they know you were here?!”

Just like Ota said, several fighter-class warships had sprung from the shadow of the advertising vessel, bearing down on the Hirukado. Their top speed far outstripped that of a simple company ship.

“Oh! Look at that organic structure! They must be Benibishi warships! They’re so cool!”

“Now’s not the time!”

“Halt, vessel!”

One of the warships, evidently the leader, engaged the Hirukado from behind.

“Surrender peacefully. We know the historian Salt Nekoyanagi is on board.”

“And what business might you have with me?”

“Don’t even talk to them, Prof!”

“Salt Nekoyanagi! Your wretched history book is causing the universe to adopt a twisted course of events! We, the Benibishi History Enthusiasts Club, seek to correct this injustice!”

“As I’ve told you before, I am a fiction writer,” the old man carefully explained. “My book is only meant to entertain. Think of it like Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You’re not supposed to take it literally.”

“You might say so, but the rest of the world sees it very differently!”

“And which part do you have a problem with, may I ask?”

“The part that claims that Sugar, the colony mother, was a human!”

The radicals of the Benibishi History Enthusiasts Club had the Hirukado surrounded. It was a dicey situation.

“The real Sugar was a pure-blooded Benibishi, born to our ancestral king, Shishi! It is always we who have guided our civilization’s past! How dare you suggest that Sugar possessed the blood of lower life-forms like yourselves!”

“Whaaat?!”

“You overgrown petunias! How dare you insult Professor Nekoyanagi! He’s a living textbook!”

“Hold on, if Shishi gave birth to Sugar, then who’s the father?” Salt asked.

“Well, that was Bisco Akaboshi, but he must have been a Benibishi, too!”

“Whaat?!”

Salt reeled at each wild claim, while his editor Ota steeled her nerve and sent the ship into a nosedive.

“All right, we’re heading into Earth’s gravitational field, Prof!”

“Wait, come back!”

“Emergency landing, Prof! Grab ahold of something!”

“Ohh, don’t be so rough…”

The ship passed through the upper atmosphere, revealing through the cockpit window the pale-blue planet where Salt had spent his childhood.

It’s Earth…I’m back.

“Get back heeere!!”

The Benibishi warships fired their seed autocannons, converging on the Hirukado from all angles. But with Ota’s expert piloting, the dilapidated old ship managed to make its way through unharmed.

However, even as the Hirukado approached the Earth’s surface, the Benibishi fighters did not give up their pursuit.

“Wah-ha-ha! Fools! You can run, but you cannot hide!”

“Dammit!” Ota cursed. “If only I was in my own ship! Then I’d outrun these measly fighters!”

“Prepare yourselves! Fire!!”

“Aaahh!”

At long last, one of the seed volleys managed to score a hit on the Hirukado’s wing! Ivy vines spread out from the point of impact, covering the body of the ship.

“We’ve lost control! That’s it, Prof, I’m hitting the eject!”

“This is the Weeping Valley.”

“Prof?!”

“Look. It’s a Pipe Snake.”

Salt sounded excited by the prospect of something. Just then, a huge white serpent leaped out of the valley below, just skimming the Hirukado’s hull! This twin-headed wyrm let out a beautiful screech, swimming through the Earth’s atmosphere on hundreds upon hundreds of fingers that jutted out of its side.

When Ota saw it, she froze stiff.

“A…Aaaaaghh! It’s huge!!”

“It’s the primordial serpent. The one Father met…”

Then the Pipe Snake swiveled in midair…

“Wh-whaaaat?!”

“Captain!! Wh-what is that?!”

“Fire, fire, fiiire!!”

Gaboom!

Despite the fighters’ desperate volleys, the Pipe Snake slowly closed its jaws around the spacecraft. While the others scrambled to flee, Salt spurred Ota on.

“Looks like luck is still on my side. What are you doing, Ota? This is our chance to escape.”

“We can’t! The right wing is completely immobile!”

“Then open the window.”

“What?!”

Salt calmly leaned out the starboard window and blew his tobacco smoke toward the rampant vines. When the spores therein touched the ivy, they sprouted into bright-red mushrooms, which cleared away the vegetation like soap on oil.

“C-control restored! I can move the ship again!”

“It’s a good thing I still smoke this deadly toadstool tobacco.”

“That’s gotta be bad for your health!!”

In any case, owing to Salt’s monstrous good fortune, the Hirukado had narrowly escaped peril. Accelerating onward, the ship left the Weeping Valley behind.

Setting the ship to autopilot, Ota finally let out a sigh of relief. “I knew the spore clouds had grown denser,” she said, “but I didn’t know there were monsters like this on Earth these days! People were talking about building a safari park down here, but that’ll never work with all these titans squirming about!”

“That’s a Pipe Snake,” said Salt. “They’ve always been here, even before we left.”

“Really?”

Ota was born in space, one of the New Generation, and as a result, only knew of Earth the things she had been taught in school. However, she also learned a lot from speaking to her grandmother, who was a photographer from Gunma Prefecture.

“Some of Granny’s photos showed people riding hippos and iguanas. Did that really happen…?”

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

Salt cast his eyes forward, the wind flowing through his long white hair. Coming up on the horizon was a large ruined wall with writing that read:

“Welcome to Imihama, the City of Love!”

The paint had long since faded, and the face of some kind of rabbit, or maybe a squirrel, gave the writing an amicable charm.

Beyond those walls stretched the ruins of a city, and at that city’s center stood an enormous mushroom, with all sorts of colorful stalks growing off it. They had free rein over this planet now that humanity was gone.

“It’s Japanese. What does it say, Prof?”

“Nothing that matters anymore. Take us down over there, please, Ota.”

“Over there?! That’s right where all the mushrooms are!”

Ota was more than happy to follow Salt’s reasonable demands, but this was a step too far.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble I’ll be in if you get sick or something?”

“Where’s the fun in exploring where everyone else has been? I brought you along, Ota, because I thought you might be interested in adventure. It seems like I was wrong.”

“Grrr!”

“You haven’t even told me what we’re here for!” Ota wanted to reply, but the old man’s cunning taunt had cut straight to her journalist’s soul. Her face turned bright red, and she puffed up her cheeks.

“Oh, I’ll take us down all right,” she said. “But in return, you have to put your next two books through us!”

“Hyo-ho-ho. Hirukado Publishing will go far with you on the payroll, young Ota.”

In order to keep the ship safe, Ota touched down just outside the city gate. Once, this area had been known as the Northern Saitama Iron Desert, but now the grass grew waist-high and gently folded in the breeze, scattering the sunlight.

“Oh, that air feels good.”

“Prof! Wear your anti-spore mask!”

“We don’t need those.”

“I’ll boot up the Mokujin and—Prof, wait!”

Ota ran to the trunk to activate her company robot, but Salt was already wandering off, as if he didn’t need its protection.

As he passed through the ruined gates of Imihama, brightly colored mushrooms greeted him, stretching everywhere as far as the eye could see.

It’s been so long…

Salt smiled and was about to set off, when he saw something small staring at him from behind a short mushroom.

“What’s this…?”

“Bab-ba-ba-bam…”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a gramps.”

“Hwuh…?”

It was a family of short mushroom folk, huddling in the shade, debating the identity of this mysterious intruder. Despite their attempts at stealth, however, they didn’t seem to be particularly quiet about it.

They were monstrooms. Salt crouched down to their level and gave a small bow.

“Hello, children.”

“““Hm?”””

Once addressed, it seemed the mushroom folk had no choice but to return the old man’s greeting.

“““Howdy.”””

“How’s the boss? I’d like to speak with him, if you don’t mind.”

“The boss?”

“He’s—”

“Don’t tell strangers.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh?”

“You got a problem?”

““Let’s fight!!””

Salt watched with a smile as the monstrooms tussled, almost as though he had known it would come to this. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a box of biscuits.

“Here, here, don’t fight. Eat these and let’s all be friends.”

“Sweets?”

“Give.”

“Give, give!”

“Yummy.”

“De-lish!”

Salt’s little gift was more than enough for the monstrooms to trust him completely, and they grabbed his hands and began leading him deeper into the mushroom forest.

“This way.”

“Boss! We got a guest!”

“O-okay, thank you…”

Their strength, however, was unreal! For all their pixie-like appearance, the grip of the mushroom men was enough to crush Salt’s bones to dust. The old man was therefore jerked toward his destination without any further say in the matter.

However, all of a sudden, there was a cry of “Look out, Prof! I’ll save you!!” and a set of mantra machine guns fired—Da-da-da-da-da-da-da!!—at the ground in front of Salt. The monstrooms all screamed, let go of the old man, and scattered off into the shadows.

The machine guns were the primary armament of Ota’s Mokujin, which also came equipped with a pair of mantra batons. It was a high-spec defensive model, but Ota had managed to procure it for the purpose of keeping her company’s patron safe.

“Look what you’ve done, Ota. Was there really any need to—?”

“Paws off the prof, freaks!” Ota’s trigger-happy mood made it difficult for Salt to calm things down. “With me, Prof! The Mokujin’ll keep you safe!”

With powerful movements, honed during her tenure at her school’s basketball club, Ota ran up in front of Salt and pointed her handgun at the monstrooms.

“Stop it, Ota, you’re scaring them.”

“Look, Prof, they’re fleeing into the bushes!”

The mushroom minions climbed up a small hill, then disappeared one after the other into a patch of thick red grass. However, just as Ota figured the coast was clear, the grass suddenly shook, like a flickering flame, and began rising into the air.

“Wh-what’s happening?!”

The grass was not grass at all, but hair! What was more, it seemed to belong to someone who had been lying down. The creature, whoever they were, yawned loudly, revealing a set of white teeth, and opened their jade-green eyes.

“Wuhh!!” Ota recoiled.

“Who’re you?” the figure asked.

It was an old man.

He wore a ragged cloak, covered in mushrooms, and while his muscles had waned in old age, he was still clearly fighting fit, and each of his scars glowed like the sun.

“You here to see me?”

“M-m-m-monster!!”

“Here, I’ll pour some tea.”

“Waaaagh!! Die, die, diiiee!!”

Taking the old man for some kind of fiery apparition, Ota raised her mantra handgun and squeezed the trigger.

However, the bullet never came. Ota looked down at her weapon, to see a bunch of strange mushrooms beginning to grow all across it. It had happened with just one look from the old man’s jade-green eyes.

“What the…?!”

“Ota, throw away the gun.”

“Eeep!!”

Startled by Salt’s tone, Ota tossed the weapon aside, but the mushrooms suddenly exploded into life, the force of their growth blasting the two of them back.

“Hostile presence detected!” barked the Mokujin robot, and a siren blared as it transitioned into extermination mode. Producing a mantra rifle, it began firing at the flame demon.

The mysterious figure was not too keen on being shot, it seemed, and calmly leaped aside, using a sequence of mushroom footholds to hop through the air, dodging the bullets.

“Ota, tell it to stop.”

“There’s no emergency override, Prof! I can’t shut it down!”

“Then I will,” spoke the fiery demon. His hair burst to life, and he shot forward like a fireball, catching the Mokujin’s head with one of his feet.

The man was so powerful that he caused the steel armor to buckle and grabbed hold of the Mokujin’s neck with just his toes. He then leaped into the air, dragging the robot with him, and, spinning several times like a windmill, slammed it into the ground.

“Wah! My robot!”

“Uh-oh. It’s going to explode.”

Salt watched as the ruined robot began to glow.

“However, I think I’ve put out my back. Lend me a hand, would you, Ota?”

“Give me a break!”

Ota grabbed Salt and leaped back, and not a second later…

Gaboom, Gaboom, Gaboom!!

…an incredible mushroom explosion blew the Mokujin’s body to bits. Where it had been, there was now only a bright mushroom growing out of the wreckage.

“Wow…”

Seeing its glow, radiant like the sun, Salt smiled like a young boy.

“It’s beautiful…”

“This is bad, Prof! It’s gonna spread its spores! Here, take my mask!!”

“Wmph…”

Her bravery unquestionable, Ota removed her own gas mask and pulled it around Salt’s face, but just then…

Thud!

…a blazing meteor landed behind her, stood up, and peered into Ota’s eyes.

“What the hell d’you think you’re tryin’ to pull?”

“Eeeek!!”

“Let me see your face.”

“Nooo! Don’t eat meee!!”

The demon stared at her and blinked, two jades set amid a forest of burning hair. There were mushrooms growing atop his head, and upon closer examination, Ota could see that the mushroom folk were there as well, peering at her along with their host.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” came Salt’s timely intervention. “She’s my editor, you see. She put in a good word for me with the company, and that’s how I got here.”

“I just thought I’d seen her somewhere before, that’s all.”

“It’s been a long time, Dad.”

“Yeah.”

The demon released Ota’s head and turned to look at Salt. After examining him for a while, he gave his son a nod.

“How’ve you been?”

“I’m sorry for disturbing your siesta,” Salt replied. “And I didn’t think the Mokujin would go wild like that, either.”

“It’s fine. It’ll make good nutrients for the mushrooms. Not to mention…”

The demon reached up into his hair and plucked out one of the mushroom folk.

“These guys have grown real lazy recently. Too peaceful round here. Thanks for wakin’ ’em up.”

He glared at the struggling monstroom before tossing it off into the mushroom forest, where its brothers and sisters who ran from the machine-gun fire were waiting and watching. The demon shot them a fierce look, whereupon they all scattered into the depths of the jungle and disappeared.

“Those guys need to be able to deal with danger if they ever want to grow,” he said.

“Y-you…! It’s r-really you…!”

Ota looked back and forth between Salt and this strange talking demon, then sprang to her feet.

“You’re Sugar’s mother, Bisco Akaboshi!!”

“Don’t shout.”

“Dad.”

Salt took a glass vial from his pocket and showed it to his father.

“This is Tirol.”

“…Huh.”

At first, it looked like the demon was about to ask something, but soon the answer dawned on him, or perhaps he decided it didn’t matter, and he took the vial.

“I see,” he said.

“I was told she didn’t suffer.”

“Damn shame.”

The demon—Bisco Akaboshi—offered a short prayer, accepting the passing of his dear friend with surprising grace. Then he opened the bottle and scattered Tirol’s ashes into the mushroom forest, where they became one with nature.

“You took that rather well,” noted Salt.

“I saw it in a dream,” Bisco replied. “I’m all right now. I’ve shed my tears. Want some tea?”

As he turned around, however, Salt called out to him.

“I’m afraid that’s not the only reason I came today,” he said, taking out a stack of papers. “This is for you.”

Still collapsed on the floor, Ota recognized what Salt was handing over. “Your manuscript!” she cried.

Bisco stared at it. “I can’t read,” he said.

“It’s about Milo.”

Bisco’s eyes flew wide.

“Tirol was searching for the one called Milo—the one you lost that day,” Salt explained. “Just before she died, she shared with me her life’s work: the secrets of Ultrafaith, which she locked inside this pen.”

Salt held up a strangely shaped writing tool, glittering gold, and shedding the very same spores of possibility that Bisco constantly emanated.

“Using it,” Salt went on, “I wrote a different tale. One about a boy called Bisco and a boy called Milo, adventuring like an arrow in the wasteland. Then, just as the universe was about to be destroyed, Milo transformed into Izanami—a goddess of rebirth—and created the world anew.”

“…”

“Search as we might, we can never find this ‘Milo,’” said Salt. “Izanami erases the memories of all who approach her. But with this book, it’s a different story.”

Salt proudly handed the manuscript, glimmering in all the colors of the rainbow, to his father.

“The journey may be long,” he said, “but as long as the fire of determination burns inside you, this story will lead you to him.”

Bisco stared at the stack of papers, unmoving. Ota seized the opportunity to approach and sneak a peek at the manuscript.

“Sabikui Bisco?” she muttered, reading the title.

All of a sudden, Bisco snatched the papers and held them high above his head!

“Actagawa, wake up!!” he yelled, at such a high volume, Ota thought her eardrums would burst. In response, the manuscript glowed brightly, filling the air with Ultrafaith spores.

Ota fell on her backside, and from behind her came a great rumble. The mushroom tower shook, and then the ground burst open as a colossal creature surfaced. The words of the manuscript left the page, dissolving into spores and entering the creature’s body.

“Waaaaghh! Save me, Prof!!”

“You’re leaving already?” Salt asked.

“Yeah,” Bisco replied.

“Take care.”

Bisco nodded, then paused as if to say more, but, unable to think of anything, he instead walked over and gave his son a hug.

“…Dad.”

“…I know. Hold still.”

Then Bisco reached up and unfastened his old, worn-out goggles, placing them around Salt’s brow.

“Dad, I can’t! These are your favorite—”

“They suit you.”

“…”

“Have a good life.”

With that, Bisco turned and, with the agility of a mountain goat, hopped atop the large creature’s back.

It was, of course, Actagawa, who had been sleeping beneath the earth and upon whose back the mushroom tower had formed. Now the crustacean was of such immense size that he looked like a fallen star.

“P-Prof!” cried Ota, clinging to Salt for dear life.

“Look, Ota,” he replied, pointing up.

A single beam of light radiated from the manuscript, traveling far off into space, as if guiding its bearer to some distant location. Actagawa leaped into the beam, and a strong wind ferried him upward.

“You’re pretty lively for having just woken up, Actagawa!” said Bisco.

The giant crab shook his claw, as if to say, “What did you expect?”

The monstrooms all came out of the mushroom forest, startled by the earthquake.

“Gee whiz, a spaceship crab.”

“To infinity and beyond!”

“You guys are stayin’ right here,” said Bisco.

“““Aww!”””

With that, Bisco slapped the ground, and Actagawa spun around, turning the entire mushroom forest upside down.

“Waagh!”

“Boss, we’re falling!”

“This planet was our home,” Bisco said. “It’s in your hands now. Whether it prospers or dies is up to you. Show me whatcha got!”

Still upside down, Bisco folded his arms, clinging to Actagawa with just his toes. He plucked one of the mushroom folk that was clinging to his ear and gave it a daring smile.

“So long as you live in moderation,” he said, “Sugar will show you the way.”

“You can’t leave us!”

“That’s bad parenting!”

“See you.”

“““Waaahh…”””

Actagawa shook the monstrooms free, and they all fell one by one back down to Earth. After they were all gone, Bisco righted Actagawa, and their speed gradually increased until the pair were nothing more than a distant speck among the stars.

Salt and Ota remained for some time, unable to speak, in the large crater where Actagawa had once been. The soft winds of Earth caressed their faces.

“They’re gone,” said Salt, adjusting the goggles on his head and offering a silent prayer. “Good-bye, Dad.”

“Erm, Prof…?” asked Ota, looking worried.

“Let’s go.”

Ignoring her, Salt began walking briskly back toward Ota’s ship. Ota stared at him blankly, before hurrying to catch up.

“Y-you’re leaving already?”

“Is there any reason to stay?”

“I mean—”

“I’ve seen all I came for. My research is complete. There’s nothing left here now.”

“R-research?”

Come to think of it, that was the excuse he gave, thought Ota.

“It’s time to write.”

Ota looked into the old man’s eyes, and her keen journalist’s senses picked out the flame of inspiration that had once more been ignited within them.

“You’re starting your new book?!”

“Well, the tale of me and Dad is finally over.”

“The legend of Bisco Akaboshi?!” asked Ota, grabbing hold of his arm. “The unknown story of how Sugar came to be?! Th-the whole galaxy awaits its release, Prof!!”

“It won’t be easy,” said Salt, smiling. “The more I stick to facts, the more unbelievable it sounds. Besides, I may not live to see it completed…”

“You will! I’ll make sure of it! First off, you’re eating too many mushrooms! Second, stick to one smoke a day! Third—”

“Urgh…”

The two returned to their ship under the curious gaze of the mushroom folk. Steadily, each one of those life-forms rose to their feet, looked around at their new playground, and set off in search of a new adventure.

9

Bisco Akaboshi traveled from star to star, his story spanning galaxies.

Although the manuscript guided him, Bisco couldn’t understand its contents, and even after hundreds of millions of years, he never learned how to read.

And so, from time to time, he would land on a nearby planet and ask its inhabitants to read to him. And every time, he would experience new adventures, new encounters, and new farewells.

When the time comes, those stories will reveal themselves to the hearts of those chosen to accept them.

Those stories were what motivated Bisco to continue along his unending path.

Encounters drove him to search, and loneliness drove him to rest.

The cycle continued perpetually, and although time made dust of all things, the one thing Bisco could never forget…

…was Milo.

Milo was his life. His meaning. Even after all else withered and perished, his jade-green eyes never lost sight of their target.

Actagawa flew on—

—a shooting star among the endless cosmos.

FINAL CHAPTER

Off in the distant reaches of outer space stood a great nethershroom spire, slowly rotating like a prayer wheel, imbuing an azure glow to the infinite black.

Planets were born, lived out their lives, and returned to dust, like the eternal ebb and flow of the tides. Each time a civilization self-destructed, its countless souls were scattered to the cosmos.

They all found their way here, to a place where space and time held no meaning. Where a single wave of a little finger could create galaxies and nebulae formed and scattered in the blink of an eye.

Only one figure lived here, with long, beautiful sapphire hair. Swimming through space, the figure approached a recently deceased galaxy and whistled.

“Hwooooooo.”

That gentle, appreciative noise guided the lost souls to the blue figure’s side. The figure then swam through the darkness like a dolphin, bringing the souls to the nethershroom spire.

The souls, wrapped in the light of warmth, returned to the spire, becoming one with the universe. In response to each one, the nethershroom spire glowed a little brighter.

How many years had passed? A billion? A trillion? Did time even matter anymore?

“Hwoooooo.”

The figure simply swam in a sea of stars, collecting and releasing souls, sensing that the time to accomplish its duty would soon be at hand.

Nirvana approaches.

Soon, all the universe’s souls would gather within the nethershroom spire for the final time. Soon, the wheel of suffering would halt, and there would be no life or death, only endless happiness.

This was the nethershroom spire’s mission. It had tasted all the kinds of suffering there were to experience, and it was nearing enlightenment.

Very soon now.

Very soon, I will put a stop to all the sadness in this world.

The figure spoke with love and affection to the souls in its care. The culmination of an eons-long work was fast approaching.

“Hwooooooo…”

The figure closed its eyes, ready to spend another million years in pursuit of its task, when…

Gaboom!!

…?!

A loud rumble shook the noiseless world. The blue figure had spent close to eternity in peace and quiet, and so the explosion came as an unimaginable shock. It looked in the direction of the blast, to see that a crack had appeared in this impenetrable space, and out of that crack grew something large and colorful.

Ah…

It was a mushroom.

What…?

The blue figure reeled in surprise, mostly by the fact it could still feel surprise at all. In the meantime, more of the bright, colorful mushrooms burst to life along the edge of the space, before finally…

Gaboom!

…a galactic clamshell mushroom broke down the wall between complex variables. Through the hole came a tiny little crab, no bigger than a sesame seed—though to ordinary humans he would have surely appeared much larger—who soared through the space and floated in front of the nethershroom spire.

“Whoa! What the hell is this place?!”

From that tiny speck—or to be precise, from an even tinier speck atop its back—came a cry of surprise.

And when the blue figure saw him, something stirred within its chest.

…

……

Why?

“So that’s the mushroom behind all this, eh?”

Bisco, his hair flaming like the sun, flipped through the manuscript in his hands. As if by magic, fresh words appeared on the page, guiding Bisco and Actagawa to their goal.

However…

“Fuck, I can’t read this shit! Whatever! I guess I’m supposed to shoot it, right?”

No…

“Let’s do this!!”

Bisco summoned the Ultrafaith Bow and pulled it tight, while the blue figure raised its arms to protect the nethershroom spire. From Bisco’s perspective, just the tip of its finger was like a cosmic wall upon which his ultimate technique fizzled into nothing.

Gaboom.

It hurts…

“Huh?! Somethin’s trying to stop us! Let’s try this again, Actagawa!!”

Excuse me.

“The hell? What’s that voice?!”

Who are you?

“Get out here and fight me like a man!”

Despite the blue figure’s attempts at parlance, Bisco and Actagawa looked around blindly, unable to even comprehend the scale of the figure’s existence. The blue figure sighed, then shrank itself down to the same size, appearing suddenly upon Actagawa’s back.

“Waagh!!”

“Three-dimensional beings should not be able to access this multidimensional space,” it said.

“Ah…!!”

“Then again, I suppose a lot can change in three hundred trillion years… From which planet do you hail? I shall return you there immediately.”

“…”

“Erm, did you not hear me?”

“Earth’s gone.”

“…”

“Besides, I’m not going back. I came here for you.”

“For me…?”

The blue figure recoiled.

“Milo!!!”

Overcome with emotion, Bisco threw his arms wide and tried to wrap them around the blue figure. Shocked, the blue figure flew back to a safe distance.

“Hey, why you runnin’?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” replied the blue figure, shocked at the audacity displayed by the three-dimensional intruder. “I do not know you. I know not who this ‘Milo’ is, but I am not him.”

“If you ain’t Milo, then who are you?”

“The Work of Izanami has no name!”

But even so, the blue figure felt like something long frozen was beginning to thaw. Irritated, it scratched at its own skin and cried, “Go away! Leave me alone!”

“No. Come back to me, Milo!”

“I said stay AWAAAAY!!!”

The blue figure screamed, and one of the nethershroom fragments protecting it emitted a beam of white light. This beam was powerful enough to wipe out a galaxy in an instant, but…

“Salt. Lend me your strength!”

Bisco shielded himself with the manuscript, and the beam dispersed into nothing.

“This is our final battle, Milo! Actagawa, don’t interfere!”

“Stay away! Who are you?! Tell me who you are!!”

Beams of light formed from all directions and raced toward Bisco. Bisco leaped off Actagawa’s back, dodging them all, and unslung his bow from his back.

“You want to know who I am?

“I’ll remind you as many times as it takes.

“I’m Bisco!

“Bisco Akaboshi!

“Sweet and strong, just like my name!!”

Bisco was like a blazing meteor as he zipped around the space, firing off arrow after arrow that blasted the blue figure’s mushroom satellites to bits.

I—I don’t believe it. How is he so strong?!

“It’s been a while since our last fight, huh, Milo?!”

“I’m not Milo!!”

Bisco fired shot after shot, never stopping. Several beams managed to graze him, but Bisco seemed to be protected by some great power of thought.

The blue figure, on the other hand, tried frantically to fight Bisco off, but all the while, it felt like its frozen time was beginning to move again, and some great emotion was on its way—something the figure greatly feared.

“I… I…

“I…

“I…barely remember the time I was Milo anymore.

“It was only a tiny, tiny, infinitesimal part of my life.

“I’ve forgotten it all.

“And I’ve forgotten about you, too!

“So go.

“Go back!

“Go AWAAAAAAAY!!”

Boom!!

At last, the blue figure spun, unleashing a spinning kick of incredible force at Bisco! Bisco flew back through hyperdimensional space, slamming straight through several planets and reducing them to dust.

“Rrraaaaghhh!!!”

However, Bisco’s willpower, honed through countless adventures, was not so easily broken. Grabbing a nebula to slow himself, he then hopped across several galaxies, before springing upon the blue figure once more.

“Hi-yah!”

“Take this!”

Crashhh!!

The two kicks clashed, releasing a thousand Big Bangs’ worth of energy. With every punch, every slice, a countless number of life-forms were created and destroyed.

“Come to think of it,” said Bisco, “I’ve never beaten you one-on-one before!”

“I don’t care!”

“I always respected you, you know? That’s why…”

“Grh!”

“Today, and today only…

“…I’m going to win.

“I’m going to show you what I’m made of.

“So have some faith in me, Milo!!”

“Raaaaaaghhhh!!!”

The blue figure reached the height of its love and fear, and summoned up all of its strength to construct a nethershroom spire around its arm. The spire spun like a drill, piercing through all the higher dimensions as it bore down on Bisco.

Seeing that, Bisco prepared the Mushroom Keepers’ ultimate technique, a punch from his right hand, into which he channeled his entire life energy.

Karooom!!

—

—

What passed might have been seconds, or it may have been millennia, but afterward, Bisco’s hand began to crack, and the Rust-Eater spores leaked forth. Seeing that, Izanami closed her eyes, and her long eyelashes quivered.

However…

“…Aghh!!”

…the very next moment, there was a Crkcrkcrk!! and the nethershroom spire burst apart! There was no way a mere fist of flesh could destroy a weapon that transcended dimensionality, and yet that was precisely what had happened!

“H-how?!”

“Rooaaghh!!”

The blue figure recoiled, and, seizing that opportunity, Bisco shot forth like a meteor.

I-it’s over!

Izanami squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the finishing blow, but…

“Milo…”

…what came was the strongest…

…most tender…

…hug that Izanami had ever felt, filled with an eternity’s worth of Bisco’s heart.

“I love you.

“I finally got to tell you. Properly. After all this time.

“It was so obvious.

“So simple…”

“………

“Bisco…

“You big dummyyyy…!”

At that moment, the blood returned to Milo’s ice-cold heart. It coursed through his veins, filling him with the feelings that had been locked away for so, so long.

Hot tears welled up from the depths of his heart, wetting his eyes alongside Bisco’s shoulder. Their heat spoke of Milo’s feelings more than any words could.

“You weren’t supposed to come here, Bisco. I created a world where you could be happy without me!”

“I could never be happy without you.”

“Everyone’s gone. Earth’s gone. Where are you going to go?”

“I know where I’m going.”

“…”

“Wherever you are, Milo.”

“…”

“What about you?”

Milo didn’t need to speak for Bisco to understand. Instead, he gave Bisco a hug and cried his eyes out.

“I’m so glad…!!”

“I know.”

“But it’s all over, Bisco. I’ve tasted happiness again. I can’t lead all the souls of the universe into Nirvana like this.”

“Nirvana, huh?”

“I’m not fit to carry out Izanami’s role anymore.”

Milo turned to look at the nethershroom spire. As if sensing the fall of its master, it was spinning rapidly, getting ready to erase all trace of Milo.

“Can’t we just destroy it?”

“If we do, the whole universe will vanish with it.”

“Then I guess this is as far as we go.”

Bisco readily accepted his fate. He had expended all of his energy just getting to Milo, unfreezing Milo’s heart so his partner could face the end as himself.

Milo looked at Bisco, as if trying to burn the image into his mind. Then he softly closed his eyes and buried his head in his partner’s chest. Bisco cradled Milo’s head and stared down the spire, facing his imminent obliteration head-on.

As for the nethershroom spire, Milo’s human joy made him a threat to the everlasting stillness of Nirvana. Its glowing spores traced out an arch in the cosmos, constructing a bow of soulstuff, before gathering several suns into an arrow of galactic proportions.

The light of Nirvana was enough to eclipse the two boys’ existences…

…but just then…

…Actagawa fished from the endless sea a single soul and brought it over.

“Actagawa!”

“Actagawa! Come with us!”

The colossal crab hurled the soul toward his master’s voice, and just as the nethershroom arrow was about to hit, the soul reached his side and…

Pwoompf!

…turned back into his beloved daughter, Sugar Akaboshi!

““Sugar!!””

“Mushy Magic Pooooole!!”

One swing of Sugar’s signature technique, and all the love she poured into it was enough to deflect the apocalyptic arrow bearing down on her two parents.

“Mommy! Daddy! Now’s your chance!”

With the same childlike appearance as ever, and with the same voice as ever, Sugar clung to Milo’s side.

“Shoot the nethershroom and start the wheel again! Then I get to be your child all over again!”

“We can’t do that, Sugar!” cried Milo, cradling his daughter’s soul and weeping. “The nethershroom was made to house all the souls of the cosmos and free them from pain and suffering! After eons and eons, it’s finally ready to bring the universe to its conclusion!”

“Maybe there was pain and suffering in our lives…,” came a familiar voice, causing Milo to look up, “…but because of that, we met you, and Bisco, and Salt…”

““Pawoo!!””

“I can always tell how you feel, Milo.

“I’m your big sister.

“No matter how many centuries pass, I’ll always be two years older than you.

“It’ll all be okay. Me and everyone else are right by your side.”

Milo couldn’t see her, but he could feel his sister’s presence. Her warmth, her love, enveloped him and Bisco and refused to let go.

Pawoo’s.

And Tirol’s.

And Shishi’s and Chaika’s and Someyoshi’s and Yokan’s and Geppei’s…

Their prayers and kindness became a blinding light, and when that light faded…

…Bisco and Milo were transformed back to when they first met. A pair of seventeen-year-old boys, each dressed in the garb of a Mushroom Keeper.

“Waah!”

“What the hell? I turned back into a kid again!”

“Don’t act like you ever grew up, Akaboshi.”

“You stay out of this, Tirol!”

Cackling, Tirol’s soul entered Bisco’s body and became one with him.

“You guys…”

“…Actagawa!”

Finally, it was the colossal crab’s turn. He stroked Milo’s cheek with his claw, before transforming into a pure-white light that in turn became a bow of supreme brightness, along with an arrow that the two boys grasped.

Bisco and Milo looked each other in the eye, nodded, and pulled the bowstring tight.

Hey, Bisco.

On the other side…

How do you think we’ll meet this time?

What kind of adventures will we have? What kind of people will we love?

Forgetting everything and living again, only to forget it all…

Again and again, in an endless cycle.

Living.

Forgetting.

And being reborn.

But.

I’m not scared, you know?

In fact, I’m happy.

Because I get to experience it with you!

Ka-chew.

The pure-white arrow flew toward the nethershroom spire.

Gaboom.

Gaboom.

Gaboom.

Gaboom.

Gaboom!!

A snow-white mushroom devoured the house of heaven.

The supreme end-state of the universe, a realm of eternal stillness, free of human suffering.

Right before the very end, one greedy band of love-loving savages ruined it all.

“Are partners always together?”

“Yeah.”

“Even when they die?”

“Yeah.”

“Even…after they die as well?”

“Yeah. We’ll always be together, Milo!”

The two perpetrators of this metaphysical crime huddled together and watched as the universe came apart. Soon, the nethershroom hypernova engulfed them both, annihilating their physical bodies completely.

And eventually…

…after seconds, or perhaps after trillions of years, a new universe spawned in the place of the old. And although the myriad souls of existence had been promised eternal life in everlasting balance, they were left with no choice but to begin their journeys anew.

And so the gears of the cosmos ticked away,

resuming their endless cycle

of life and death,

of hardship and joy,

all over again.

On a planet with no name,

in the expanse of a vast desert, under the blazing heat of the sun,

a small creature moved across the sand.

It came to an old girder jutting out of the ground and climbed to the top for a better look.

The creature was a mushroom.

It was about the size of a thumb, wearing a cape that fluttered proudly in the wind.

Through the goggles on its brow, tucked beneath its red cap, the mushroom looked ahead, across the distance it had yet to travel.

Then, its reconnaissance complete, the mushroom lifted its goggles, leaped down to the sand, and whistled.

When it did, a smaller, rounder, cuter blue mushroom sidled up to the first. In its hands, it held a freshly picked cactus fruit.

The red mushroom opened its mouth expectantly, and the blue one fed it the fruit. When the two mushrooms had finished their meal, they both whistled in harmony.

In response, the ground rose up, and a sturdy-looking stag beetle appeared from the earth. It was much larger than the two mushrooms, with a saddle fixed atop it.

While the blue mushroom cleaned the dirt off the stag beetle’s back, the red mushroom climbed into the saddle, took the reins, then finally reached out its hand to the blue mushroom. Once both mushrooms were safely upon its back, the stag beetle buzzed its wings and took off.

Blessed by the light of the sun, the two mushrooms set off across glittering sands, in search of whatever adventures fate had in store for them.