"Hmm hmm hmm… Hahaha—hahahahaha!"
Laughter rang out through the starry sky.
But this time, it wasn't Ashiya Douman laughing—it was Abe no Seimei.
After turning every member of the Mikado-in into nourishment, the Fantasy Tree had finally bloomed.
An intense, resonant vibration shook the world, and every crystal making up the Fantasy Tree groaned with a grinding sound.
Having devoured most of the spiritual power from the ley lines of the entire nation, as well as the lives of all the Mikado-in onmyōji, the Fantasy Tree was now in full bloom.
The illusory sea of stars burst open, blossoming and spreading like a veil, blanketing the planet's surface. Fantasy began to overwrite reality itself.
A thunderous roar, trampling all of humanity's logic.
As if reenacting the Big Bang, the stellar sea spread and expanded without restraint.
"Look! This is the reenactment of creation! A world of pure white, unsullied by even a speck of filth, will bear fruit atop the branches of my Fantasy Tree!"
"Bloom! This is the ultimate realization of my ideals! Let the old, tainted world be corrected and erased—let new branches stretch forth and guide the dawn of a new world!"
"A thousand years of prosperity and peace were nothing but hypocrisy. Only under my rule can the world know true peace, order, balance, perfection—untainted purity!"
The Fantasy Tree blossomed, blazed, erupted in full bloom.
It had grown many times larger than before, its trunk losing all texture and dissolving into bands of pure white light—countless glowing ribbons stretching out to every corner of the cosmos, each carrying a dazzling star.
It was like the World Tree of myth, connecting all worlds and infusing them with life.
So sacred, so imposing, that resistance seemed impossible.
The ominous malice coiled around the Fantasy Tree melted away like darkness under sunlight. The rotten, blighted branches fell away, revealing fresh, newborn twigs—pure white light banishing every hint of death.
Even Douman's sea of malice was now being suppressed by the Fantasy Tree.
Crystalline light radiated from the tree, its roots and branches stretching out, constantly reclaiming territory, driving back the evil spirits invading its divine realm.
"Weren't you so smug a minute ago, Ashiya Douman? Now it's my turn!"
Abe no Seimei, having endured humiliation for so long, wasn't about to let this chance to kick an enemy when he's down slip away. As if determined to repay Douman's earlier arrogance tenfold, the Fantasy Tree lashed out with a branch.
Like a ribbon of pure light, the branch whipped across the black sun of malice shrouding Douman, sending it shuddering violently.
Countless evil spirits shrieked, disintegrating into ash. Douman, seated in the heart of the black sun, trembled as though struck by some inner wound, his expression twisting in pain.
Seimei took intense satisfaction in that look of agony and defeat.
"See that, Ashiya Douman? This is my ideal, my ambition—my divine kingdom! Fate is on my side, the world itself is on my side! Even after you devoured foreign gods and turned yourself into some lawless abomination, you still can't shake my triumph!"
Starlight roared, streaking through the heavens. Now supercharged, the Fantasy Tree's blasts of light were far stronger than before, burning one after another of the black shadows of evil to cinders.
Vengeful spirits wreathed in black smoke and malice were purified by that sun-bright light, their bitter screams fading as the endless sea of curses was incinerated. The black sun and mocking laughter faded into the distance, while the starry domain shone brighter, lighting up a thousand new stars.
It should have been a beautiful, hope-filled scene. But Nura Rikuo and the others couldn't find it in themselves to celebrate.
Sure, Ashiya Douman never looked like a "good guy" from any angle—but Abe no Seimei? He was definitely not on the side of good.
If Douman lost, as galling as it was… there'd be nothing they could do.
It wasn't a matter of self-esteem; even the densest idiot could see the overwhelming difference in strength.
Right now, they had no way to deal with Seimei. No means of stopping him. Seimei had ignored and dismissed them time and again for a reason—when the difference in power was this great, all plans, all cleverness became meaningless.
It was like in those anime where the hero has both super strength and super intellect, but the only thing that brain is really good for is reminding them to use their super strength.
"…Is Limbo really about to lose?"
Rikuo tried to sound annoyed, but his hand fidgeted restlessly on the hilt of Mikazuki Munechika, betraying his unease. He went off on his own, took Seimei from me with all those cool lines—if he dares to lose now, I'll…
"Hm, hm? Hmhmhmhmhm… This humble monk thinks there might still be a way to salvage things."
The voice in his ear startled Rikuo so badly he jumped. He glared at the shikigami Douman.
"You're still here?!"
"Fufufu! I am everywhere."
The shikigami's obsidian eyes fixed on Rikuo as he patted his chest, giving a weirdly sharp, villainous laugh.
How can anyone sound that much like an evil mastermind just by laughing…?
Everyone present couldn't help but think it.
If the shikigami Douman could hear their thoughts, he'd probably let out a gleeful, "Kekekeke," to show them what a real villain sounded like.
Ever since the shikigami Douman appeared, Keikain Ryuuji had fallen silent, glaring with such intensity it could make little girls cry.
It was precisely because he wasn't a good person himself that he was so sensitive to malice.
The aura of evil radiating from the shikigami Douman was like a bottomless pit—even someone like Ryuuji instinctively recoiled, wanting nothing to do with it, not even to speak.
At that moment, Keikain Seimei—reduced to nothing but a soul—stepped forward, his foxlike smile as unreadable as ever, and bowed deeply to the shikigami.
"Thirteenth Head of the Keikain, Keikain Seimei, and the Keikain clan, greet our ancestor—Ashiya Douman."
"Hm? Hmhmhmhmhm… This humble monk isn't nearly so impressive."
Staring back at Seimei's inscrutable smile, the shikigami Douman finally returned a smile just as difficult to read. "Right now, I'm just an outcast, obsessed with vengeance, a wandering ghost who's even thrown away his sense of self. No need to stand on ceremony."
"…If that's what ancestor wishes, then so be it."
If you had to describe Seimei's manner facing the shikigami Douman in one word, it would be "flawless."
Looking at Keikain Seimei, Douman couldn't help but feel this guy seemed more like a descendant of that fox Seimei than of Douman himself… He smelled too much like a fox.
And the white court robes didn't help.
The more I look, the more I want to poke a hole in his chest…
After all, I'm the one entitled to take Seimei's heart, aren't I? (Just kidding…)
"Ancestor, as you can see, your true body seems to be losing ground in the fight against Abe no Seimei."
Seimei's narrow eyes gleamed as he pointed up at the battlefield. "Honestly, none of us here have the power to fight the current Seimei. If even you fail, he could crush all of us with a single finger… Do you have a plan?"
"Hm… I wouldn't call it a plan, exactly."
"So you do have a way, right?"
Seimei's mood suddenly soared. "As expected of our ancestor! Of course you already had a way to break this deadlock—Abe no Seimei can't even compare to you, the greatest onmyōji of a thousand years!"
The shikigami Douman frowned, but as soon as Seimei finished, his smile brightened.
"Mm! Mmmmm! I may not like flattery, but that last line was music to my ears!"
In high spirits, Douman stopped playing coy and turned to Rikuo.
"My method to break the deadlock… is you, Nura Rikuo."
Rikuo blinked, utterly lost.
"You mean… there's some hidden power inside me I don't know about? If I awaken it now, I'll be able to defeat Seimei? And Limbo-san, you're going to help me draw it out?"
"You think this is a shōnen manga or something?"
"…Yeah, fair point."
Rikuo realized just how unrealistic his own hope was.
There was no time left for leisurely training—no magic time-dilating room in this world.
"Seriously, why did you think I brought you here?" Douman shrugged. "I reserved Seimei for myself from the start—never planned to let anyone else touch him. Do you really think I dragged you here just to watch? I'm very good at squeezing every last drop of use out of a tool, and you're no exception."
Douman gave a sly smile. "I said it at the very beginning, didn't I? You're here to cut down the tree."
...
As the conversation continued atop the floating island, the battlefield above raged on, energy tides surging with each new clash.
The starlight of the tree leapt and burned, its flames roaring. The Fantasy Tree, wrapped in spiraling bands of light, its stars flickering like artillery cannons—absorbing, condensing, and unleashing terrifying magical power in endless waves.
No mystique, no fancy tricks—just pure, overwhelming force. The very aesthetic of raw power.
If the Fantasy Tree simply unleashed all that light and heat, it could turn every inch of this planet to ash.
Of course, that would be a terrible waste.
"Ashiya Douman, I'll admit it—of all my adversaries, you are the most troublesome I've ever faced."
Seimei spoke in a measured, cold voice—so calm, it sounded like he was reading a victory declaration in advance.
"For a thousand years, you've always been in my way, wrecking my plans, giving me endless headaches."
"For a thousand years, your descendants blocked my resurrection, joined forces with Nurarihyon, delaying my return by centuries."
"And now, you stand before me again, just like we dueled before the court long ago… And you've progressed so far—were it not for fate's protection, my ideals might have been crushed by you. Maybe I should've destroyed you outright, not just exiled you back then."
"But I won't make the same mistake twice. I won't give you another chance to ruin my plans! By this time next year, Ashiya Douman, you'll be nothing but a memory!"
The Fantasy Tree's barrage burned away the churning sea of black mud, Douman's domain shrinking by the second—it looked like things were turning hopeless for Douman.
Yet from the mire came laughter.
Wild, unrestrained, ridiculing laughter—born from contempt for his enemy's ignorance.
"…What are you laughing at? Is there something funny in what I just said?"
"Hmm? Hmmmmm… Forgive me. I'm not the kind of fool who bursts out laughing over a pair of silly pants. But someone like you—so self-satisfied, so oblivious to your own stupidity—that's what really kills me!"
A monstrous, twisted grin—one no human could ever make—spread across Douman's face. "To see you working so hard at being a clown… even I almost feel sorry for you!"
"What did you say?"
"Not making the same mistake twice? Fool! Idiot! Don't make me laugh! You don't even realize what your mistake was in the first place—how can you talk about correcting it? That nauseating arrogance of yours hasn't changed in a thousand years!"
Douman laughed, loud and sharp. "A thousand years ago, you always thought the whole world revolved around you, and that's why you lost! That's why you failed! You never saw the strength of those who gathered to oppose you, and that's how we got to this point!"
"And now! Just like a thousand years ago—while you're focused on me, those so-called 'gnats' you're ignoring? They've been moving all along!"
Abe no Seimei's brow furrowed, an uneasy sense creeping over him. He'd dismissed those rabble out of hand—what could they possibly do?
Then his eyes widened in disbelief.
"My Fantasy Tree… someone's gotten close?! Who?!"
---
T/N: to think that ashiya prob planted the fantasy tree himself... (I THINK DONT QUOTE ME ON THIS)