Abe no Kippei—Abe no Seimei's son.
He should have been sacrificed by Seimei, his life given to the Fantasy Tree as nourishment. So why was he here now?
Raising Mikazuki Munechika in front of him, Nura Rikuo dropped into a fighting stance.
Even if Kippei had come to stop him, Rikuo would not back down. If I could defeat him once, I can do it again.
Their eyes met. In silence, Kippei closed his eyes—then, unexpectedly, he stepped aside.
"…What are you…?"
Rikuo looked at him in confusion, unable to guess Kippei's intentions.
After a moment's pause, Kippei glanced up at the Fantasy Tree, speaking words heavy with emotion.
"My father's wish was to create a world of harmony between yin and yang—a land of eternal peace and stability. I don't believe there's anything wrong with that wish."
He raised his hand, gazing into his own palm.
"With a quarter yōkai blood in me, I've always been haunted by this cursed lineage—never belonging in either the world of humans or yōkai. Only my father, who was also half-human, half-yōkai, ever guided me. Everything I did was to live up to his expectations, to win his approval."
"I never really had a wish of my own. My father's ideals—whatever they would bring to the world—never really mattered to me… But for the others in Mikado-in, it was different. They truly believed in my father, believed he could banish all suffering from this land, and for that dream they endured centuries, willing to give up everything—even their lives."
Kippei clenched his fist, brow furrowing in silent pain.
"But when my father chose to sacrifice every member of the Mikado-in, just to make the tree bloom, I finally understood… A father like that—even if he did remake the world, the pain-free paradise they longed for would never come."
"I… I can't accept their hopes and trust being betrayed. I… can't accept them dying in such sorrow."
"So—"
He turned, fixing Rikuo with a piercing gaze.
"I want to ask you—please, stop my father. Show him, with your actions, that his ideals are wrong."
After he spoke, a long silence fell.
With astonishment in his eyes, Rikuo looked at Kippei as if seeing him for the first time—as if finally understanding the man before him.
Then, a bright, honest smile spread across Rikuo's face.
Saying you have no wish of your own… Isn't this wish of yours more powerful than anyone's?
Footsteps echoed as Rikuo stepped forward, passing Kippei, his words ringing out with determination.
"Your wish, your resolve—I'll carry it forward."
He felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier, but a smile crept onto his lips… For every new burden made him stronger, kept him moving forward, and helped him never lose his way.
As Rikuo advanced, the branches blocking his path to the tree slowly withdrew, opening the way. That, of course, was Kippei's doing.
Turning to watch Rikuo's retreating figure, Kippei stood silently as more and more motes of light drifted from his body. His form grew transparent.
"It's up to you now… Nura Rikuo."
The last motes of light joined the starry sea, becoming just another star among thousands, and Kippei's figure faded away completely, leaving no trace behind.
---
"My Fantasy Tree… Someone's gotten close? Who?!"
Locked in battle with Douman, Abe no Seimei felt the change and panicked, instantly wanting to return and swat the intruder.
But Douman would never give him the chance.
"[Six Roots Cleansed, Evil Karma Judged]—by my command!"
A black sun rained darkness down, death and decay spreading and seeping in, as if they stood in a sea of death, every breath heavy with the stench of malice.
The black sun, the sea of blood, evil spirits howling a requiem, a tide of malice surging in to drag Seimei into the filth.
"Ashiya Douman—!"
"Hmm… Hmhmhmhmhm! Seimei, you're making things hard for me. Isn't it rude to take your eyes off your humble opponent?"
Smiling, Douman reveled in Seimei's frustration, his words dripping with venom.
"This is your doing, isn't it?"
Seimei's face was dark, but he quickly saw through Douman's plot. "You sent someone into the Fantasy Tree—to destroy it, weaken me, shatter my ideals?"
"Hmhm! Glad you figured it out. Saves me the trouble of explaining. If you know what I'm planning, then you must also know—I won't let you go and get in their way. You'll stay right here and keep me company."
With that, Douman raised his hand, gathering hundreds of howling evil spirits. It was as if invisible hands crushed their cries into a single mass—molding a long spear shrouded in darkness. He hurled it.
The Fantasy Tree's cannons fired back, weakening the spear but not stopping it completely. The spear struck the tree's trunk, exploding on impact, a surge of black malice spreading and beginning to corrode the Fantasy Tree.
Seeing this, Seimei was forced to focus all his strength on repelling Douman's attack, purging the evil that now clung to his tree.
"So, this is your last trick, Ashiya Douman?"
Once he regained his composure, Seimei seized the initiative again. Victory was tilting back in his favor. "But even if you send those gnats to the Fantasy Tree, so what? Besides you, no one can threaten it! My victory is assured!"
"That's what I keep saying—"
Parrying another of Seimei's fierce attacks, Douman looked tired, but his lips curled into a wild, beastlike grin. "Even after a thousand years, you never learn, Seimei—!!"
---
With Douman tying up Seimei, and Seimei underestimating them, Rikuo was able to reach the Fantasy Tree.
From up close, the immense tree—its spiraling bands of light stretching out into the cosmos—felt even more overwhelming.
It was like standing before the ultimate, the divine.
The closer he got, the smaller he felt.
The closer he got, the easier it was to lose his sanity to dread.
But Rikuo never hesitated.
With every step, his resolve grew stronger.
Until—a sudden wind whipped through the space.
The wind came from the Fantasy Tree itself. Sensing Rikuo's murderous intent, the tree, guided by a faint survival instinct, began to move.
Blazing white light exploded, filling the universe.
Starlight built to a breaking point, and in an instant, beams fired across the galaxy, crashing down on Rikuo.
It was a pure, concentrated energy barrage—enough to erase even a mighty yōkai like Tsuchigumo without a trace.
By all rights, Rikuo shouldn't have survived… The tree's faint instincts saw no chance he could withstand it.
"So… you're attacking me now."
A figure wreathed in black smoke appeared—his body nearly a third gone, what remained covered in burns, one eye left.
Yet, despite his mangled state, Rikuo glared at the Fantasy Tree with that single eye, lips twisting in a fierce smile.
So you're afraid of me now, huh!
The Fantasy Tree trembled, as if shivering with fear. Barrage after barrage of starlight rained down.
Rikuo, face set, wrapped Mikazuki Munechika in yōkai energy and slashed.
In a flash, the energy blast was cut in two.
And at the same time, Rikuo reached the Fantasy Tree, raising his sword high.
"If you're afraid of me—then there's nothing to fear!"
Mikazuki Munechika pierced into the trunk, burying itself to the hilt in the tree.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing but silence—then the entire space began to shake.
Winds howled, a shrieking, earsplitting roar filling the void.
It was the Fantasy Tree's final, despairing scream.
Stars dimmed and shattered, the cosmos' deep magic breaking into oblivion.
The World Tree—collapsed.
The first to sense it was, of course, Abe no Seimei.
For ten full seconds, Seimei was frozen in shock, unable to accept reality. Only when he saw the Fantasy Tree falling apart, felt the divine energy draining from his body, did panic seize him.
"No no no no no—NO—!!"
Almost tearing his own throat, Seimei's scream was a raw, uncomprehending wail.
"My ideal! My ambition! My life's work!"
"Damn it! Nura Rikuo! Damn you, Ashiya Douman! Unforgivable!!!!!! How dare you destroy my Fantasy Tree, my path to a perfect world… Don't think it's over yet!"
Seimei already knew who had destroyed the tree. Just before its collapse, Douman's spell on Rikuo had activated, bringing him safely back—Seimei saw it happen.
Now, Rikuo, battered and near death from the tree's cannon, lay as Douman's shikigami healed him. The others could hear Seimei's voice ringing out.
"What's Seimei planning now…?"
"I don't know… but I have a bad feeling about this."
Tsurara, Kurotabō, and Aotabō all felt a deep unease at Seimei's words.
So did the Keikain onmyōji—but Keikain Seimei simply said:
"What are you worried for? If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. Leave the big stuff to our ancestor; we're too weak to do anything anyway. Better to stay calm and wait for his orders."
…His tone was utterly relaxed, almost comical.
But he was right. As harsh as it sounded, it was the undeniable truth.
Power drained away, like water spilling from a cracked pot.
The Fantasy Tree, losing its strength, grew dim, pale fragments dropping off one by one.
No matter how Seimei struggled, he could not stop or reverse it.
The collapse of the Fantasy Tree was inevitable.
"Hmhmhmhmhm… Hahahaha! Look at that miserable sight! The end has come, Seimei! I exist for this very moment—to see you licking your wounds, to laugh in your face the instant you fall. Yes… everything I've done has been for that look in your eyes!"
The collapse of his ideals was nothing compared to the humiliation of Douman's mocking laughter—salt in his wounds.
"The Fantasy Tree is finished! Your ideals, your dreams, will vanish like mist—meet your end in regret and despair! Listen to my victory, and die like the loser you are!"
Douman never missed a chance to mock Seimei; his taunts cut deeper than any spell—especially now.
"…So it's over. My plan to remake the world with the Fantasy Tree is dead."
Gritting his teeth so hard they nearly broke, Seimei's eyes burned with hatred as he glared at Douman.
"…From the start, I shouldn't have tried to be so merciful. What a naïve, laughable plan—trying to reshape the world. Now that I've tasted the strongest power, I should have wiped everything out from the beginning, cleansed all filth! On this pure land, I would have created my ideal world—one ruled by me alone!!"
"The tree is finished! I get it now! I finally understand what I should do… I'll devour everything—every single thing that brought this Fantasy Tree into being—I'll consume it all! All the remaining power, I'll take for myself!"
"Not as a creator god, but as raw sustenance—I'll devour it all, inside and out! Then… I will become the one and only god walking this earth!"