Chapter 40: The Road to Kagutsuchi

Naoki woke up to find himself back in the hospital, in the same room he'd first woken up in for this new life. Nearly all the information about the room was the same: a morgue with a wall of refrigerated body storage, some very old bloodstains around, he was lying on an exam bed for patients, it was cool and dry here. It felt so natural now that he took it in like looking around visually. And, there was a faint presence, like someone had been here until just before he'd woken up. There was a long blond hair nearby.

Heh, I bet he didn't imagine that he'd want to stay by my side this time.

But there wasn't a point to lingering here long. He still needed to take care of Isamu with Noah, and Hikawa with whatever god he was calling. And, he had to find Yuko once again because she held a vital key to finishing off his tasks in this world. Then things would be dead serious.

As he walked over to the terminal, he snapped his finger. "Pixie."

She appeared immediately and flew alongside him. "Oh hey, we're back here! Where to now?"

"The Diet building, though I'll have to go overland to get there." He smiled at her. "Since you're small again, want to come with me on the bike?"

"Oh yeah, that'd be great!" she said excitedly.

The Diet Building was large and distinctive, making it easy to navigate to on the bike. In his old life, he'd come here on a school trip once. They'd been limited on where they could go then, but he wasn't now since it was still intact. Despite that freedom, he only had one goal here and the flow of magatsuhi made it obvious where he wanted to be. There was a sealed door in his way. But, who cared about that when he could bust the door down with his own power?

There was a problem though. Yuko and Aradia were in the building too, with Hikawa. "We need to hurry," he told Pixie, then slammed his shoulder into the door to break it open physically.

This world was so dream-like; Yuko couldn't explain how she ended up in some places, or what all was going on. Like why she was being followed by a foreign warrior. "M'lady, I don't think you should be doing this," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder before she entered the room.

"It's all right, I need to talk with him," she said, opening the door.

The room was spinning, although that didn't surprise her. The very center of the room held a covered altar with a complicated puzzle trunk. Hikawa already had the puzzle undone so the lid was loose. However, he turned to beckon her forward. "Good timing, I need you now."

"Don't do this," the warrior warned, gripping his spear and ready to fight for her. Why? Not that it mattered when he got blasted into the wall by a red dragon with many wings.

"Hikawa," she said, her throat tightening up. He was an intimidating person. But, she might not have had any effect on the world if he hadn't chosen her.

"It's time to fulfill the last part of your role in bringing about Shijima," he said, still gazing at her.

That was right, what she'd seen in the Nightmare. But while Shijima would bring serenity, it wouldn't be the peace she was seeking. "I don't think this is the proper direction for the new world," she said. "A world isn't still."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why bring that up at this stage? You were working towards it all along. Did you need that much time to decide, enough that the whole world passed away?"

Yes, that burden was hers to bear. But, it was to make things better, not worse. "Not everyone is like you; not everyone will be happy with this."

He closed his eyes and snorted. "Happiness is an ephemeral thing people waste so much time and money looking for. What the world needs for a Reason is reason, not vague feelings."

At this point, Aradia appeared, fluttering near her. "We should go, woman," she said softly. "There will be other worlds. You can find your hope in them."

That was tempting. But this was the kind of thing a person should stand up for. "No, I know what I want now." Although giving it a name, putting it to words, filling in the details… those were still rough ideas. But her god was supposed to help with that. Perhaps she didn't mean to act until the time of Creation.

"I think I should go," Aradia said, making Yuko feel a coldness in her chest. "You should find your dreams, woman. Don't give up." Then she vanished into blue-green sparkles.

"How pitiful, abandoned even by the one you thought would help you most," Hikawa said scornfully. Yuko wondered if she was always meant to be the weak one, no matter what happened. "But did you think such a frail thing that could only manifest as butterflies could truly help you? No, you had to find the answers within your self. Instead of that, you were always looking for someone to answer for you. That was what you meant with calling those foolish students of yours here, didn't you? But they found no answers for you, and what answers they found for themselves were utterly ridiculous. Nothing you've done so far has amounted to anything."

He was right. She'd not accomplished anything at all. Maybe the nightmare had never ended. She fell to her knees, feeling energy draining from her. Hikawa was going to have his way after all.

"Yuko!" With no more warning than that, someone was by her side. It was Naoki, crouched down by her with his hand on her shoulder. Maybe she had helped him find his own way after all? For some reason, he was surrounded by a halo of ethereal light, with strange black wings.

But the dream was nearly over, she could tell that. "Naoki, you have such a strange light to you now," she said.

He gripped her, trying to support her when she'd already fallen. "I have the light to illuminate the depths of hell," he said softly.

That was oddly comforting. If he could pierce such darkness, maybe he could have even helped her. If she'd listened, if she'd been able to properly help him. "I'm sorry; I ended up being nothing to you."

"No," he said. "What you've taught me from the beginning has led me to find what I want in all this."

She smiled, feeling like she could let go knowing that. "Good, I helped someone. Here, let me return this." She called out the Yahirono Himorogi and offered it to him. "You need it more than me."

He took it and soon had it away somewhere only he could reach it. "I'll make good use of it. And, I promise, Hikawa is not going to get his way with the world. I'll end him here and now."

Then the world could have a good future. "Good, thank you Naoki."

She could finally let go and fade away, knowing that what she was being sacrificed for was not what was going to be.

Hikawa turned away once Demifiend entered the room. It didn't matter what they did now. As he had his sacrifice along with the store of magatsuhi with the treasure in this chest, he was ready to call on his god. He still had to deal with Demifiend and the Reason of Musubi, but they were bound to fight each other at this point. Whichever one won and had to face him, he was sure he still had the upper hand. The powers of the Demifiend, as he'd last checked on them, were not any more than that of a high ranked demon. Hikawa knew how to deal with demons, even if this one needed extra force to be made to comply.

"Samael, keep them from disrupting me," Hikawa ordered, clasping his paper charm to give the orders.

"Of course, master," the dragon said, a little too eagerly. But no matter.

Now, to contact his god. He'd carefully researched gods that could qualify for Creation before he'd triggered Conception, looking for an exact match to Shijima. Although who he found seemed like an odd match, he felt like Arihman would be able to enforce the serenity of the world. He could protect it from those who would invade, like angels, demons, or other gods. And this god wasn't widely acknowledged, not just in the old world, but through many worlds in Amala. He should be eager to take the offer.

"Arihman, god from the deserts, answer my call to rule the world of Shijima," he chanted quietly, while shifting the lid off the chest. There was an old round mirror in here, one that was said to be valuable to a goddess. He didn't care who it belonged to as it soon wouldn't matter. However, it had garnered adoration from all of Japan's citizens. As a result, a vast amount of magatsuhi from centuries was here with the mirror.

Power began to fill him. Of course; he knew he would triumph. A cold stone appeared in his hand, one of the keys to Creation. Now he could just open the road…

"Guh!" A sharp pain cut through his torso, piercing through his whole body. What… why now? He looked up and saw a massive figure in a golden chariot. It had sent a green tentacle through his body to assassinate him while Samael was busy fighting Demifiend. "Wh-why?"

"Because you're a prude who didn't use sex for Conception," the demon said. "You don't deserve to partake in Creation."

"Damn..." what the hell was this? He… he was Hikawa, the most powerful man this world had produced, the one who could kill it. He didn't deserved to be killed… by a giant green dick.

And the stillness came for him, but he could not welcome it.

Before long, Mara joined them in fighting Samael. "My main task is complete, but I feel like hanging around," he said.

"When did you get here?" Samael asked, getting defensive. "And, you killed Hikawa?!"

"Heh, I come when I come," Mara said.

"I told him to wait until Hikawa had the stone key," Naoki said.

"Well I was mainly here to fight you, so that no longer matters," Samael said, then cut his wing through the air to attack them all.

Force magic was Mara's weakness, but since Naoki just nullified it, it didn't give the dragon that much of an advantage. He hadn't even called any of the fiends for this yet. He let loose the Friekugal he'd been waiting on. With all of his power unlocked, Lucifer had given him the ability to pierce any defense with his physical attacks. That included Friekugal, even though that cut through anything anyhow in being Almighty. The attack tore apart two of Samael's wings, forcing him to use more energy keeping himself aloft and repairing that damage as quickly as he could.

But no matter how he tried to keep himself whole, Samael could not stand up to the combined forces of the three of them. "That was more than I foresaw," Samael said, finally letting himself sink into death. "Good, we shall throw off these yokes."

"Everybody's really counting on you, even those who are fighting us now," Pixie said, coming closer to him again.

"I won't let you all down," Naoki said, then looked to his temporary ally. "Thanks Mara, you saved us a lot of headache."

"It would have been a headache if he'd gotten the god he wanted," Mara said. "Glad I could be here. Also, you have grown in power immensely since we met last. Keep my medium for yourself and call on me anytime. I mean, you're not one I'd normally answer to at all since you're untouched by my temptation. But I still like you in spite of that."

"Same to you," he said, giving him a bow before letting him take off to wherever he wanted to be. Once he was gone, he sent the chariot wheel charm away. "I just won't be calling on him very much, I don't think."

Pixie giggled. "He'd be useful for brute force, or if you're caught in the situation he specializes in."

"True." The place where Hikawa had fallen seemed to float in the middle of this strangely spinning space, but he could sense an invisible path heading out that way. He climbed up to retrieve the Netherstone. That was three keys he had, one to the road and two to Kagutsuchi himself. "Now I just need to handle Isamu. We're going back to the Amala Temple, as I have a feeling he'll follow us there. If not, he'll be easy to find afterwards."

"You got it!" Pixie said cheerily.

As expected, Naoki sensed Noah as soon as they arrived in the terminal room. The entrance hall seemed pulsing with energy nearly as much as the labyrinth. All the magatsuhi that the gods had required might have been returned to the world, leading to this. It was unfortunate that the world wouldn't get to use it. But then, so many other worlds would be freed in return.

In the outer area of the temple, inside with the four pyramids, Noah hovered over the reflective pools with Isamu curled up in a small red bubble. The unborn god wasn't even visible on the water's surface except near where Isamu was. "I thought you'd come back with everything," Isamu said, trying to make it seem like this had been his plan all along. But his lie was painfully obvious. "Now Musubi is the only Reason left, the only way for the world to go."

"It is not the only way, and I won't let it be the way," Naoki said firmly.

"Wh-what? But why?"

Just give this to him. He deserves to hear it. "What have you done for your Reason?" he asked.

"I've done everything that was required," he said. "I chose a Reason that would make people happy."

"You chose a Reason that didn't require you to consider what anyone else wanted because you'd thrust the responsibility on them," Naoki said. "No good."

"But it would work!" he insisted. "And, I found a god to support me."

"This god would answer to any Reason, regardless of what it was," he said. "In fact, it was the laziest god you could summon since it took no effort to do so. You had no connection to the one you sacrificed either, not even in a strong feeling like the disgust Chiaki felt for her sacrifices."

"He was trying to take the network from me!" Isamu said, his bubble quivering. Noah moaned; there wasn't even anything it had to communicate other than anxiety that a being of destruction seemed to be angry nearby. However, the god wasn't sure what to do about that. "And, the sacrifice set up here was all his idea anyhow! He was going to make his own Reason too; he was going to sacrifice one of us instead, I know it!"

"I doubt it because his true self knew that he wouldn't be allowed to conceive a Reason, not without an immense backlash like everything he tried to do for himself," he said. "And another thing you just said, it wasn't your idea. You copied it from someone else so you didn't have to do the work yourself."

"Well if it works, it works," he said.

"And this kind of thing is why you never had good grades in school," Naoki said. "Why I had to help you have the grades you did. Hmph, and how much of the work into this project did you do yourself? You had me go kill the demons that were keeping the magatsuhi within the outer pyramids. And then you waited around until I had claimed the keys from the other Reason bearers, not lifting a finger yourself for the Reason you claim to support. While you might have gotten a barely passing mark in school, in the Vortex World, that's considered failure."

"B-but you're not the judge of Reasons! Kagutsuchi is!"

Naoki shook his head. "I'm not playing by the star's rules; I'm playing by my own. And I have the power to determine which of you deserves to get to see Kagutsuchi. I had chosen someone, but since the others conspired to kill them off, I have decided that none of you Reason bearers will get to see Kagutsuchi. None of you will even reach the road."

"That's not how things work, that's not..." he was whining now, shivering in his protective shell. Even Noah was getting the idea that it was in a bad situation.

Tapping into his power of Charisma and all the intimidation he could muster, Naoki told him, "And you must realize by this point that failure is punishable by death, and I have no reason to hesitate against you anymore."

Noah got the message clearly this time and squealed noiselessly in alarm. Deciding that a chance at birth wasn't worth this much bigger chance of death, the unborn god fled back to the depths of the Amala Universe where it was more comfortable being. Perhaps it would never again try to become real, letting itself be undone with time. Isamu crashed down onto an island of little blocks. Since his life had been connected to his god since the summoning, he was rapidly fading from life.

"Fine, I don't care anymore," he said bitterly, giving up then and there. "Do what you want; it doesn't matter to me."

"That was so lame," Pixie said, turning away from the sight.

"Right," Naoki said. He wasn't going to remember Isamu like this if he could help it. He'd remember Isamu as when they'd still been friends, biking down to the beach and getting along well. "Would you go pick up the key he had?"

"All right, then we can just leave him be," she said, flying over to grab the dark stone. It was the Earthstone. That should be all he needed to meet with Kagutsuchi in person.

He entered the upside-down pyramid to put the Yahirono Himorogi in place. The dense magatsuhi was comforting now, feeling life sweeping around and through him. What would Kagutsuchi be thinking, being called to a world that had no more Reasons? But it would come. It had to obey its own rules. The artifact slid into place effortlessly, becoming a gear that had been missing in the machinations of the world.

Perhaps this was part of what was actually natural about this process. Once the pieces were in motion, the magatsuhi around him, no, in the whole Vortex World, was drawn into the small artifact here. It then directed that energy through a channel that led straight to the Obelisk. With the energy it properly needed, the Obelisk pulled itself out of the ground and grew straight up to meet with the shining blue star in the center. That was the road, something more immense than Naoki had ever encountered beyond the world itself. The soul of the world awakened, seeking out its new life.

"Sorry everyone," he said quietly. "This is goodbye."

Things were not going as they were supposed to. Everything was working, Creation was ready to happen. But, the Reasons were missing. There were a few left in the world who might have a say in things. Most would simply be ignored. Somehow, the misbegotten manikins had gathered at the base of the Obelisk, watching the rise of the road to Creation in person. One being in the world had the will and complete soul to earn a say in things. There was a plan should things turn out to be directionless. The world would come back and, step by step, grow closer to God.

The manikins did not deserve Creation, but they still entered as a group. They started climbing, arduous as it was on such weak creatures. Before long, the one with the right to give meaning encountered them as he started to climb. "You all made it here?"

"Yes, but it's just us," a woman said, looking over their assorted group of six. It included one child who was not letting his small size and tiny fragmented being stop him from such a long journey. "But it's okay, we'll still fulfill Futomimi's dream! We're going to prove everyone wrong and make it to the top of this Obelisk."

"That's right," an apparently old man said. "We're gonna go right up to Kagutsuchi and tell him, 'Make it so!' Um, is that going to be enough?"

"If you have the will to reach the top, you deserve to have Kagutsuchi listen to you," the one said.

"Sure, we can do this," the child said, waving his arms for lack of better expression.

The one nodded and decided to take things at their pace, rather than what he was capable of. It was nonsense, but he was the one with the right to speak. As long as he made it to the end with the keys to Creation, Kagutsuchi did not care how the game was finished off.

At least having only one able to speak made things easy in this world.

One of the manikins who'd gotten ahead of the rest was sitting on the ground. The demons here were actually ignoring them, preferring to pounce on Naoki as he seemed like a more exciting fight. To be honest, he liked that. It broke up this immense climbing and kept the manikins safe. "You all right?" he asked the one waiting there.

"Yeah, just tired," the manikin said. "I know this tower looked massive, but it's something else to be within it. Some parts, especially in the center, really feel sacred when you move through them."

It was because the soul of the world was around, climbing with them. Naoki had to keep himself from reflecting on that too much. This was his sacrifice. "I know. But you've made it this far, more than anyone expected out of you. I have a good feeling that all of you can make it to the top."

"Yeah," he said, getting to his feet. "And hey, thanks for sticking with us. As strong as you are, you could just zip right up there if you wanted."

Naoki gave him a reassuring smile. "Possibly, but I think this is more meaningful."

Meaningful or not, there was something to consider. Despite what he said, he knew Kagutsuchi wasn't going to listen to them. Futomimi had barely met its requirements and he had been something quite special among the manikins. This group would not meet the requirements, nor would their support of Jiyuu move Kagutsuchi at all. Even if Naoki supported Jiyuu now, there would be only sheer will to make it happen. What he meant to do took a great deal of willpower as well, but he felt there was a greater future for everyone across the Amala Network of universes if he followed this path. Then, what should be done about these manikins?

He called on Pale Rider to discuss the matter with him while trailing behind the regrouped manikins. "I know they're doomed to fail at this point," Naoki said quietly. "But with this, they could have some triumph."

"I understand," Pale said. "Even the smallest creature of life struggles to maintain itself. There are good ways to die, and bad ways. You want to see to it that it ends as well as possible."

"Then we can do this for them?" he asked. Although if Pale balked, he wouldn't hesitate to order him into it. The terms of the game of candelabrum still stood.

Thankfully, he nodded. "Death can move soft and swift, you will see." He then vanished.

He started to catch up to the manikins, but a demon entered from a hall they'd ignored. There was Thor, from wherever he had been hiding after his king had been defeated. "Hold it," he said sternly, getting the manikins' attention. "The Demifiend I can excuse, but what are you weaklings doing here?"

"Go on ahead, I'll meet you later!" Naoki called to the manikins. They nodded and hurried ahead; one even raised up a pillar to block the way. He turned to keep Thor here. "They made it up here because they have a strength you can't recognize."

"If there's a strength I do not recognize, it cannot be strength at all," Thor countered. "You're wasting your time with them."

He shrugged, not caring about insulting him. "And just what have you been spending your time with? The Mantra fell while you were away. Then it got taken over by Yosuga, which also fell with you not doing anything to help. So you suck as an ally."

"None of that ever really mattered," he said. "I've been through this war for thousands of years, across many worlds. Whichever side wins, the other side will rebel and take back over in a generation at least. It's at the point that I don't care anymore which side I'm on, as long as I get good battles out of it. You can change things. Yet here you are wasting time with those who only exist to be defeated and used."

He felt angry, but decided not to act on it. There was someone much more worthy of his anger further on. "Then you really suck as an ally, and as a judge of others. I can change things, but what happens in the time left for this world ultimately doesn't matter as long as I accomplish my main goal. On the other hand, that time is all they have left. What happens now is of great value to them. For that reason, I don't mind seeing to their safety."

"Then you help them out of pity?" he asked, angered at that.

"Out of respect," he corrected.

"What a waste," Thor said. "If you can't see what true strength is, I can correct that easily."

"Really?" he asked skeptically, challenging him to do so in a look.

"Hmph." He raised his hammer behind his shoulders, electrifying it with a large amount of power. Then he struck Naoki across the chest.

He felt it, but the magatama negated any damage that might have done. He was even able to stand his ground. While Thor was taken aback by that, Naoki grabbed the god's chest with both hands. He would have liked to do this one-handed, but Thor was much larger than him and this afforded a better grip. He picked up Thor off the ground, then hurled him into the wall.

"The Mantra respect power, didn't they?" Naoki said sternly. "So respect that and stay out of our way. I have chosen to see them to the top of the Obelisk."

"To the top?" Thor asked, ignoring what pain he had to get himself steady against the wall. "Very well. If that is what you choose to do with your power and you can overcome me, I have no right to stop you."

It was dumb reasoning that he did not agree with. But as long as it worked in his favor, he could deal with that. "Good, I expect not to see you again in this world as a result." He then turned and left. The pillar was still there, but it was nothing a bit of climbing couldn't overcome. Actually, Thor would have had no difficulty vaulting himself over this.

They were well over halfway now.

One of the demons, after Demifiend gave them a critical look, had been nice enough to direct them to an elevator that took them directly to the locks before Kagutsuchi. The walls were completely gone this high up. A scattering of the huge blocks that made up the Obelisk orbited around a massive shining globe, within which Kagutsuchi would be waiting. Another of the cubical elevators was here, in front of three tall white pillars that had indentations for some kind of key.

It had been such a great effort making it through the Obelisk that they hadn't thought to look for keys. "They look like sixes," the child with them said, keeping close to one of the women as he was tired from it all.

"Are they going to be down in the Obelisk?" a man asked. "There were so many passages we didn't take, and places I'm not sure we could find again."

"No, I've got those keys," Demifiend said, making three black stones appear in his hand. Unexpectedly, he offered the keys to them. "Why don't three of you set these in place? No one expected you to come this far, so you may as well prove that you made it."

"Oh, thank you Demifiend," a male manikin said as he accepted one of the three keys. "But where do they go?"

"It doesn't seem to matter," he said. "But if you want something to make sense, put the Earthstone, that one, in the middle, and the Heavenstone and Netherstone, these two, on either side."

"Okay," he said, going to put the Earthstone in place. He trembled with excitement, so it was hard to fit just right. But once he managed to stay still, it slid right into place. The pillar even shot lights up the sides, celebrating their accomplishment too.

Once all three stone keys were in place, the whole platform shone, clicking to unlock. It was large enough that the six of them and Demifiend could rise up at the same time to the floor above. This area stood before a long straight path straight into the glass dome where Kagutsuchi resided. After many harrowing hardships and a long exhausting climb, they had made it here before the Star of Creation.

They had done it! The six manikins looked at each other, overcome with glee and not sure what should be said now. If they could, they would all be smiling. "We've made it at last," the old one said. "To where Kagutsuchi lies, with Futomimi's dream in hand."

"Yes, you've done very well to make it this far," Demifiend said, smiling for them. "Congratulations."

And then…

A strange mist surrounded them, sparkling with many colors. It was full of comforting scents, welcoming them with a loving embrace. All the weights they had carried, all the pain and sorrow they had bore, it all slipped away into serene peace. Perhaps Kagutsuchi had already accepted them?

And with them, Demifiend had changed. Black wings sprouted from his back, gleaming with blue light that was different from that of Kagutsuchi. That's right, it was like Fuitomimi said. He was their guardian angel.

"I will not forget that out of all who were in the Vortex World, you were those who had the real strength to emerge victorious," he said. "I will never forget you, even if everyone else does."

They would be remembered as victorious. If only the other manikins could feel the joy and triumph they had at this moment.

No, there was no need to wish. The six victors knew that the others would feel this. For they were being welcomed back to the others, in a place where there would be no pain or suffering.