Mumei tried hard to steady herself, refusing to break down like Horobi had.
She stepped up to Tatsuki, asking in a pleading tone, "May I ask why you want to kill my brother?"
The petite girl was truly a pitiful soul—used and discarded like a pawn.
Tatsuki placed his hand gently on her head. To his surprise, Mumei didn't flinch away. He wasn't patient with hot-headed people like Horobi earlier, but with obedient girls, he was gentler.
Tatsuki didn't reply right away; instead, he chose the simplest way to show her the truth.
"Domination."
His eyes turned to starlight.
That immediately drew Kusuo Saiki's attention—he could feel a vast psychic power, stretching beyond his perception.
Tatsuki transferred Biba Amatori's memories directly into Mumei's mind. He even gave Horobi a "bonus pack" of the same memories.
Both stood frozen, silently processing the flood of information.
That just left Ayame Yomogawa.
Tatsuki lifted the time-stop placed on her.
"Everyone, hurry! The Iron Fortre—"
Her commanding shout stopped abruptly. Ayame looked around in confusion. Wasn't I just on the Iron Fortress? Why am I suddenly on the streets of Aragane Station?!
Her momentary panic shifted to realization—everything was frozen.
The stares of the others, Kurusu and Biba locked motionless in strange poses, and Horobi floating midair—it was all too eerie.
"What's happening? Is this the afterlife?" she asked anxiously.
Tatsuki didn't answer her right away. He instead released Kurusu and Biba from the time freeze.
"HAHAHA! I am invincible!"
Biba's sudden manic laughter startled everyone.
Mumei and Horobi—now fully aware of his true nature—could only stare at him with complex, hollow expressions.
Mumei finally understood she'd only been used. Horobi, on the other hand, felt something deeper—pain. Unlike Mumei's innocent trust, hers had always been a mix of fear and longing. She'd followed Biba knowing his cruelty, still hoping for some acknowledgment in return.
Now, seeing his memories laid bare, she realized how pathetic she'd been.
She'd pitied Mumei as the manipulated child… but she herself was no better—a bigger, more willing victim.
To Biba, she was worth less than Mumei. A pawn to be used, abandoned, and killed at will. And what stood before them now wasn't even the real Biba anymore.
Tatsuki and the others had to hold back laughter at his mad performance.
Then, the two reincarnators—Kurusu and Biba—both sensed something was wrong.
Before either could speak, Tatsuki said calmly, "Show me your power. I want to see what this 'demonic cultivation' really looks like."
What's going on? both men thought.
Kurusu stayed composed, but Biba's reaction was pure panic. He spun around frantically, searching for something.
"My Soul-Refining Banner! Where is it?!"
"You mean this?" Tatsuki raised a tattered black flag in his hand.
"The Soul-Refining Banner!" Biba's face twisted in fury. That artifact had cost him so much to create!
No one knew what he'd endured after reincarnating into this primitive world.
Stripped of his former power, he had found solace in one thing—this world was perfect for a demonic cultivator.
Countless corpses. Weak, fragile humans. All perfect nourishment.
To rise again, he sent away the samurai who could threaten him, laid formation sigils beneath the city, and used Kabane as catalysts to refine both humans and Kabane into his banner of souls.
Several stations, multiple cities—entire populations had been turned into sacrifices.
With this artifact, he would become invincible—he would reclaim his peak!
Kurusu's expression froze. "That's… the Soul-Refining Banner?! How can it exist here?! The formation I set up in Aragane hasn't even been activated yet! And the number of souls bound within… that's not thousands—it's millions!"
"Give it back!" Biba screamed hysterically. "That's my life's work!"
"Sure," Tatsuki said casually, tossing the banner to him. His face clearly said, Go on, show me your little trick.
Biba caught it, blinking in disbelief. He… just handed it to me?
But his confusion lasted only a heartbeat before madness replaced it.
"HAHAHAHA! You'll regret this! Witness my true power!"
He rose into the air, waving the banner wildly. Dark clouds rolled in, shrouding the bright sky in moments.
A chilling aura swept across the land. The sunlight filtered weakly through gaps in the clouds, casting eerie shifting shadows.
Then, a shrill wailing pierced the heavens—the cries of countless tortured souls.
"Ahhh!"
"Ughhh!"
"ROAR!!"
The howls overlapped, merging into a cacophony of anguish. The air grew cold and suffocating, the world itself trembling under their pain.
Leaves shuddered in ghostly wind, and even the ground seemed to mourn the countless lives consumed.
Mumei and Horobi could almost see it—the faces of the slaughtered, twisted in agony, screaming silently through the dark. The Kabane. The victims. Their wrath had become the very energy now fueling this monstrous display.
Even Mikasa felt a chill she couldn't describe. The others could only stare at the scene in grim horror.
Within that storm of death, the truth was undeniable—Biba Amatori had destroyed entire cities. He had refined both humans and Kabane alike, condemning their souls to eternal torment within his banner.
"Kehehehe! Behold my power!"
Cackling, Biba was surrounded by writhing phantoms—thousands of spirit wraiths howling as they clung to his body.
Kurusu's throat tightened. "A perfected Soul-Refining Banner… it takes millions of souls to achieve that. How did he—?"
Vivi trembled. "S-so scary…"
Mikasa tightened her grip on her blades. "What are those things?"
Even Kusuo Saiki's detached composure cracked. "Those are… souls."
He'd seen souls before through Rinta Toritsuka's mediumship, but those had been calm and peaceful—lingering only to fulfill regrets. These, however, were nothing but suffering and rage incarnate.
Seitenshi whispered, "He's killed… so many."
Tatsuki nodded. "The stench of his sins reached me before we even met."
He glanced at the raging sky. "This power comes from pure resentment. If we hadn't come, humanity on the surface would've been wiped out soon enough."
"Your performance is over. Die." Tatsuki's hand closed.
"Kehehe—guh?!—" Biba's laughter cut off with a choke. His face turned white as his body froze midair, his grin still plastered on like a grotesque mask.
Then—
"AAAAAAHHHH!!"
A foul, wet scream tore from his throat. Air surged violently through his mouth, nose, and ears. His body swelled like an overfilled balloon—and burst.
BOOM!
Flesh and blood exploded into a thousand pieces. But before they could hit the ground, the spirits he had enslaved descended like rabid dogs, devouring every shred of him.
"..."
Mumei and Horobi watched in stunned silence, neither moving to stop it. Their disappointment was as heavy as their grief but Biba Amatori had already died long ago.
Kurusu trembled uncontrollably. "Impossible… the great Soul-Refining Banner's master… dead in an instant?!"
He understood now. These people—were untouchable.
Clatter!
The banner, its wraiths now loose, fell before him.
Tatsuki squinted, smirking slightly. "Your turn. Want to give us a show?"
Kurusu flinched, rubbing his head with a troubled expression. Then, as if suddenly awakened, he turned to the stunned Ayame Yomogawa.
"Lady Ayame, are you unharmed?" he asked with genuine concern.
Mikasa and Vivi exchanged confused glances. Wait… he's not acting like a demonic cultivator at all?
...
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