The footsteps of the two who had emerged from the villa were heavy.
For several days, the sky over Heian-kyo had been shrouded in black clouds.
Utsugi walked before Kiyo.
He did not maintain his usual distance. With a firm grip on Kiyo's wrist, he walked, staring only ahead.
The small wrist held within his grasp was slender enough to break at any moment.
It was a half-day’s walk to the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Yet, the path was by no means smooth.
Now that the original Star Plasma Vessel was dead, curse users had swarmed the outskirts of the capital like ants, seeking to strike down Kiyo, the sole remaining replacement.
"Stop! Hand over that wench, and..."
Shing!
The head of the curse user who had sprung from the forest fell to the earth.
He was not even granted the moment to finish his sentence.
Thud!
"Gah!"
The assassin who leapt from the trees was severed in two mid-air.
Only slaughter remained.
Utsugi's Six Eyes perfectly grasped the location and magnitude of the enemies swarming from all directions.
There was no danger. It was nothing more than the task of clearing away nuisance insects.
However, Utsugi’s insides were burning black.
With every swing of his blade.
With every step forward over the fallen enemies.
It was the terrible contradiction of driving the person he loved to her death.
The hand gripping the hilt trembled minutely.
"Lord Utsugi."
Kiyo halted her steps.
Utsugi came to a stop as well.
They were in the middle of a mountain path stained with blood.
Though dozens of corpses lay strewn across the ground, Kiyo’s gaze remained fixed only on Utsugi's back.
"Shall we rest for a moment?"
Kiyo offered a forced smile.
"There is no time."
Utsugi replied coldly.
"But your breathing is ragged. You are not injured, but you are pushing yourself too hard."
"I am fine."
Utsugi tried to pull Kiyo’s wrist once more.
But Kiyo stood her ground, unmoving.
"Lord Utsugi."
Kiyo’s clear eyes stared straight at Utsugi.
"Why are you rushing?"
"...What?"
"You could take it slowly. It would suffice to catch your breath whenever an enemy appears and strike them down then. Why are you in such a hurry, as if being chased by something?"
It struck the heart of the matter.
Utsugi gritted his teeth.
The reason he hurried.
It was fear.
He feared that as time dragged on, the impulse to let go of this hand, to take her and flee, would devour his reason.
The selfish desire to shatter her noble resolve, to destroy the world if need be, just to keep her alive.
"...It is to finish this quickly."
Utsugi managed to squeeze the words out.
"To place you on that cursed altar. To end it all."
It was a lie.
There was no way Kiyo did not know it was a lie.
Kiyo approached and gently took hold of Utsugi’s blood-stained sleeve.
"Thank you."
"...For what."
"For saying that. To honor my resolve, that you would suppress your own heart and hurry like this for me."
Utsugi could not answer.
Kiyo’s clear response, that kindness of considering him, became a blade that carved into his heart.
"Let us go."
Utsugi turned his head away.
He quickened his pace once more.
Before long, a massive red pillar began to appear over the mountain ridge.
The entrance to the Tombs of the Star Corridor. A colossal torii gate leading into the sanctuary where Tengen resided.
The end was drawing near.
A powerful cursed energy could be felt before the torii gate.
Vestments marked with the crests of the Fujiwara and the Sugawara.
Elite forces belonging to the Jujutsu Headquarters. And the elders of the clans.
"You are late, Utsugi."
An elderly Sugawara elder stepped forward.
Behind him, over a dozen elite jujutsu sorcerers held a strict guard.
"I shall praise you for escorting the Star Plasma Vessel safely. But why did you not acknowledge our communication? We sent shikigami several times."
Utsugi did not respond.
He merely swept his indifferent gaze over the elder and his troops.
"You have worked hard. Now, we shall take custody of the Star Plasma Vessel and deliver her to Master Tengen. You may withdraw."
The elder gestured with his chin.
Two sorcerers from the Headquarters approached Kiyo.
Whoosh.
Utsugi blocked their path, standing before Kiyo.
"...What is the meaning of this, Utsugi?"
The elder's brow furrowed.
"I will take her."
Utsugi’s voice was as cold as ice.
"All the way into the Tombs of the Star Corridor. I will take her there myself."
"Do not speak with such insolence! Outsiders cannot enter the interior of the Tombs of the Star Corridor as they please!"
The elder barked at him.
The approaching sorcerers raised their cursed energy to suppress Utsugi.
At that moment.
"Begone."
Utsugi’s blue Six Eyes flared.
"Ack...!"
"Urgh!"
The two sorcerers who had been approaching recoiled.
"U, Utsugi! Are you trying to commit treason now!"
The elder turned pale and retreated.
Dozens of elite troops pointed their weapons in unison, but not one dared to strike recklessly.
"Clear the way."
Utsugi growled low as he fiddled with the hilt of his tachi.
"Before I cut you down."
The elite sorcerers of the Headquarters sweated as they parted the path.
None could stop him.
Utsugi grabbed Kiyo’s wrist once again.
"Let us go."
Kiyo nodded.
The two walked past the frozen lines of sorcerers and stepped under the massive red torii gate.
A long, dark staircase leading to the bowels of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Now, once they descended these stairs, they would reach Tengen’s sanctum.
The final, irreversible act.
Utsugi’s pace slowed.
In the middle of the staircase, he released the wrist he had been holding so tightly.
"Kiyo."
Utsugi looked back.
His expression was blank, as if every emotion had been erased, but his eyes glowed with an intense blue light.
"I ask you one last time."
Utsugi’s voice trembled minutely.
"Must you truly go?"
The chilling wind blowing from the underground ruffled Kiyo’s hair.
Kiyo touched the blue hairpin in her hair once, then smiled brightly.
It was the most radiant smile.
"Yes. I will go."
A resolute answer.
Utsugi’s pupils shook.
Kiyo stepped forward and threw herself into Utsugi’s arms.
She buried her face in his chest and whispered into his ear.
"Please remember me."
Her voice dissipated quietly into the dark staircase.
"That I existed in this world. That I stayed by Lord Utsugi’s side, if only for a brief spring day."
Kiyo pulled away.
And without looking back, she began to walk down the dark stairs of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Tap, tap.
The sound of her footsteps grew more distant.
Utsugi could not reach out his hand.
His hand, hovering in empty air, lost its purpose and dropped.
He could only etch her silhouette into his eyes.
As she disappeared completely into the darkness.
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