4-5 The Boundary Between This World and the Netherworld
1: Temporary Ceasefire#
Kanami: Whahh, I didn't see that coming...
Yukari: Juujou's body still hasn't fully recovered. This should give her some time.
Kanami: So that's why, Yukari-sama... You broke us through the roof to help Hiyori-chan.
Hiyori: To help me...?
Mai: Thank goodness! We made it...
Kanami: --Ah-! Guys!
Ellen: You were safe after all, Hiyoyon!
Nene: Nene-!
Kaoru: You've got a lot of nerve, just coming on back. Guess what you lack in the chest department, you make up with boldness.
Sayaka: But, you were the most worried, Kaoru.
Kaoru: D-Don't tell her that, idiot!
Sayaka: Oww...
Nene: Ne, ne-!
Kanami: Fufufu!
Hiyori: ......Er... Sorry... I made you all worry.
Hiyori: ...Thank you.
Yukari: Are you two alright?
Kanami: Yes! Thanks for the help!
Kanami: ...But, it doesn't look like she's coming after us. Tagitsuhime.
Hiyori: After absorbing Takirihime and Ichikishimahime, we're just an afterthought to her.
Kaoru: Perfect. That means we can rest for a bit. Hey, Eternal, catch.
Hiyori: -! This is...
Sayaka: Chocolate mint cookies.
Kanami: Kaoru-chan, you brought this for Hiyori-chan?
Kaoru: It's not like I had it on me. I just stole it. From over there.
Mai: That's, this office's snack bar? But, that's stealing...
Kaoru: We're in a real emergency here. I'm sure they'll let it slide.
Sayaka: Stealing isn't right.
Kaoru: Urgh...
Yukari: --Give me a moment. I'll leave a note.
Ellen: Let's see... "Send a bill to Origami Yukari later"!
Kaoru: Now we can eat our fill, right?
Nene: Nene-ne!
Kaoru: Anyway, snack bars have improved a lot lately, huh. They've got chocolates, cookies, gummies, candies; even senbei crackers.
Ellen: A war can't be waged on an empty stomach! We have to eat a lot to build up our strength!
Yukari: Heh......
Hiyori: ...Origami Yukari. Would you like... A chocolate mint cookie?
Yukari: Ahh, no, I...
Hiyori: You aren't about to say some nonsense like it tastes like toothpaste, are you?
Yukari: ...I'll have one then.
Yukari: Mm...? ...It's an unusual flavor, isn't it.
Hiyori: Huhh-!? There's nothing unusual about it!! What's with that weirdly forced smile!?
Tagitsu: What now, toji? Will you challenge me once again, or be swallowed with this world into the netherworld...
Tagitsu: Whatever the case, your time is done.
2: Escape from the Building (1)#
Yomi: --GGAGH-!! Rrgh, cough, cough...
Yume: Yomi-onee-san!?
Maki: Yomi, a rescue party will be here any minute! Just bear with it a little longer!
Yomi: ...Ev...ry...one...
Maki: Don't force yourself to talk! You can say whatever you want later!
Suzuka: It might be for the best if we carry Yomi-san outside. Maki-san, could you take care of her?
Maki: Sure.
Yukina: ............
Suzuka: President Takatsu, please come with us!
Yukina: ...............I don't, have anywhere left to go.
Suzuka: Does that mean you intend to die here!?
Yukina: ............
Suzuka: Don't be ridiculous! After putting her life on the line to save you...
Suzuka: Please do not deny Yomi-san's wishes!!
Yukina: ............
Aradama: SHAAAAAAAA-!
Suzuka: --Kh! Of all times, more aradama...
Yume: Suzuka-onee-san, you get Takatsu-obaa-chan out of here! I'll take care of this on my own!
3: Escape from the Building (2)#
Suzuka: ...By some luck, we made it out safely.
Yukina: You think you're... saving me? Don't be so presumptuous...
Maki: President Takatsu. We can listen to everything you have to say later too. Now isn't the time for this.
Yukina: .........
Yume: Ah-- Look! There's the rescue team's van!
Maki: We should be able to breath easy for now. Suzuka, Yume. We'll get right back to suppressing aradama in the area.
Yume: Eh-!? We're not going with Yomi-onee-san!?
Maki: There's nothing more we can do to help. We'll leave her to the rescue team, and do the work that we're needed to do here.
Yume: ...I got it. I'm still worried about Yomi-onee-san, but... I'll do what I can to help!
Suzuka: President Takatsu, please advise the rescue team. You should know the condition of Yomi-san's body better than anyone.
Suzuka: Yomi-san was willing to give her life to save yours... You should do at least that much for her in return.
Yukina: A-As her president, of course I would do what I can to protect a toji's life...
Yukina: P-Protecting the lives of toji, is of course my duty as president...
Maki: Please take care of her, President Takatsu.
Suzuka: --What's that? A toji got off the ambulance with the rescue team? If I recall, that's--
Yui: All you cute toji out there in need of rescuing-! Please step right up-! ...Wait, huh?
4: The End of the World#
Mai: President Maniwa and President Souraku are on the phone.
Sana: All of you, listen up. About fifteen minutes ago, the gate to the netherworld began descending.
Sana: Evacuation orders have been sent out to Special Task Team units operating in all 23 wards, as well as all police and JSDF forces.
Sayaka: ...The sky, it's falling down.
Nene: Ne-...
Kanami: What's going to happen when it falls all the way down?
Sana: Beats me.
Kaoru: "Beats me", she says...
Yuzuki: To be honest, it's hard to grasp how much destruction it will cause.
Mai: But...
Friedman: Try not to judge us so harshly here.
Ellen: Grandpa?
Friedman: I know it doesn't make it easy on you all, but we really don't know a thing. At any rate, we've tried measuring with lasers, and differing frequencies of sound and radio waves...
Friedman: But, whatever we try, we simply can't make any observations of what's happening on the other side of it.
Friedman: Though, going from the fact that we can't observe it, we can naturally draw one conclusion.
Ellen: And, what conclusion is that?
Friedman: That this is the very boundary between our world and the netherworld.
Hiyori: ...! Then, on the other side--
Friedman: Yes, the netherworld is there.
Friedman: The boundary between both worlds is already indistinct, and noro is seeping through. But that's far from our primary concern.
Friedman: Tagitsuhime's objective is the collision of both our world and the netherworld, completely eliminating the boundary.
Kanami: The boundary will get destroyed...?
Kaoru: And, what happens then?
Friedman: What we call the netherworld is a gathering point for the countless possibilities of our world; "the many shadows of our reality".
Kaoru: I'm not following you at all.
Nene: Ne-...
Friedman: To give an example, you could think of the world we live in as a sugar cube, and the netherworld as a raging ocean.
Mai: A sugar cube and an ocean...?
Friedman: That's right. Our world would easily melt away in it.
Friedman: And we would find ourselves in a chaotic place, where our physical laws don't apply, and time and space are both unclear.
Friedman: It would surely be the end of the world.
Yukari: ......
Kaoru: ...Guess that means we've gotta take her down after all.
Ellen: That's such a simple Kaoru kind of solution. Not that I dislike it though!
Sayaka: From the start, that's what we planned on.
Nene: Nene!
Yukari: All of you...
Hiyori: We don't have time. Let's go.
Sana: Ah-, hang on a sec. Have Asakura and them made contact with you?
Kanami: Mihono-chan...? Is she coming here!?
Sana: She is; I sent them your way as backup, but it sounds like they haven't made it yet...
Sana: Nothing we can do. Focus all your efforts on your own operation.
Yuzuki: --Etou, Kohagura, Mashiko, Itomi, Yanase, Juujou. And Yukari. You will not be given the order to retreat. Your orders are to suppress Tagitsuhime, and nothing else.
Yuzuki: Go, and with all your might, strike down that evil god!
Everyone: Understood-!!
5: Promise For Sure We'll Meet Again (1)#
Mirja: It seems the JSDF has begun evacuating. The situation must be that dire now... Then we don't have any more time...
Chie: Whatever it takes, we have to make sure that Mihono-chan reaches Yukari-sama...!
Aradama: SHAAAAAAAA-!
Mihono: But, we're surrounded by aradama here... We're almost there too... Just a little farther and we'd catch up to Kanami and them--
Mirja: Asakura Mihono! Setouchi Chie and I will handle this, while you go!
Chie: That's right! If we use the last of our strength, we should be able to cut open a path for Mihono-chan to get through!
Mihono: W-We can't do that! Just look at how many aradama there are!?
Mihono: I don't know if all three of us could even fight through them all, and you want me to leave you two here!?
Mirja: This is an order from your captain! Do not forget our mission!
Chie: And this is an order from your onee-san! You have to catch up to them, Mihono-chan!
Mihono: ...Both of you...
Mihono: ...Alright! I'll do it; I'll go! But, we'll see each other again for sure, okay! You have to promise!
Mirja: That goes without saying! Go! Asakura Mihono!
Mirja: Setouchi Chie and I will clear a path for you! HAAAAAAAA!!
Chie: Now's your chance, Mihono-chan! Go on!
Mihono: Okay!
Chie: ...She's gone.
Mirja: Yes... Then...
Aradama: SHAAAAAAAAA-!
Mirja: Though... Truth be told, with this number of aradama, I'm not sure we can manage...
Chie: It doesn't matter if we can or can't. After all, Mirja, you promised her, didn't you?
Chie: We'll meet again, for sure. A captain isn't allowed to break a promise, are they?
Mirja: ...That's true. As her captain, hm... Then, by whatever means, we must break through!!
6: Promise For Sure We'll Meet Again (2)#
Chie: Pant... Pant... We did it... somehow... but, I can't...
Mirja: ...No, Setouchi Chie. I wish this weren't the case, but it doesn't seem to be over.
Chie: Eh...?
Great Aradama: GGGGAAAAAAAAA!!
Chie: A gr... great aradama...?
Mirja: ...I can no longer apply utsushi, or have the strength to wield my okatana. Setouchi Chie... Leave me, and escape on your own.
Chie: Sorry... Mirja. I can't move, any more...
Chie: Hey... Why are you, covering me with yourself...?
Mirja: I am your captain. Protecting my unit is my duty...
Chie: You promised, didn't you? That you'd see her again...
Mirja: But, we managed to send off Asakura Mihono.
Chie: Yes. As a toji, and as an onee-san, I can be proud of that...
Mirja: Setouchi Chie. Thank you for everything.
Chie: ...Me too, thank you. Meeting everyone in the investigation team, I really enjoyed it...
Great Aradama: GGGGAAAAAAAAA!!
Yui: Just what do you think you're doing to my precious Chie-san and Mirja-san--!!
Mirja: Yamashiro Yui...?
Chie: What are you doing here!?
Yui: What are you saying! Whenever either of you are in a pinch, you know I'll be there at the speed of light!
Mirja: ...It doesn't seem to be a hallucination either...
Yui: Umm~! There's a ton of things I want to ask about! Like, why is it just the two of you! And, what happened to everybody else!
Yui: But for now, it's all going to be okay! Since you two are all worn out, please just sit there and watch me be your hero!
Yui: Don't blame me if you fall in love-!
7: In the Threshold (1)#
Tagitsu: So you've come, toji. Your faces filled with determination.
Tagitsu: Oh...? An aradama joined the humans in coming here.
Nene: Nene?
Tagitsu: Aradama, will you not join me? Would the hunger in your soul not be satisfied?
Nene: NEE-!!
Tagitsu: Hmph, without even consideration... So an aradama of this world, who fell to man, will join their fate. Then...
Tagitsu: Why don't we share in the sight of this world's end together?
Ellen: Wow, you sure are starting to talk an awful lot more like a human.
Mai: Maybe that's the effect of her absorbing Takirihime and Ichikishimahime?
Kaoru: But, you know what? The last boss only gets put there so it can be beaten.
Nene: Nenne-!!
Sayaka: That's right. The world won't be destroyed. You will, Tagitsuhime.
Tagitsu: Were this only a dream.
Sayaka: --HAA!
Kaoru: KIEEEEEEEEEE!!
Tagitsu: --But, this is reality.
Ellen: You're wide open!
Mai: HAAA!
Tagitsu: --How foolish.
Mai: Gagh!
Ellen: Maimai-- Urgh!
Tagitsu: Even if the seven of you were to strike at me, you could not hope to touch me.
Tagitsu: Delightful... Come.
8: In the Threshold (2)#
Kanami: YAAAAAAAAAAA!
Hiyori: --HA-!
Tagitsu: Kh... The cornered rat tries biting back?
Tagitsu: But, that ends here.
Kanami: Where are we...!?
Yukari: The threshold between our world and the netherworld.
Yukari: The fact that we were drawn into it must mean there are only minutes before the boundary makes contact with the ground.
Tagitsu: This is true. The joining of this world and the netherworld is now an inevitability. Though, it is indeed regrettable you will be swallowed into it without this being settled.
Tagitsu: I'll allow you to enjoy the little time left till your last moment.
Mai: She raised the level of her jin'i!?
Hiyori: You're not getting away!!
Kanami: Wait!!
Kaoru: We need to go too!
Nene: Ne-!
Ellen: Right!
Mai: I'm going--
Sayaka: Mai!
Yukari: .........
9: Three Rescuers (1)#
Yui: But, wait...? If Chie-san and Mirja-san did fall in love with me, isn't that just what I've been hoping for?
Yui: ...Gyahn!
Maki: What are you even talking about, at a time like this...!
Suzuka: She certainly does have trouble reading the atmosphere.
Yume: Quit screwing around and start fighting seriously!
Chie: ...It's you!
Mirja: The former elite guard!
Suzuka: You don't need to add the "former".
Maki: Leave the rest to us! We'll take on the great aradama!
Yume: I'm going to show you a whole lot of what makes me so great here!
Yui: Ah-! I'm going to fight too, okay-!
10: Three Rescuers (2)#
Maki: It wasn't easy, but we managed to down it.
Suzuka: Just as you'd expect from a great aradama...
Yume: You two are such a mess-. I can still keep going and going.
Yui: You sure are full of energy, Yume-san... How can you still have so much after fighting all those aradama...?
Chie: Um... Thank you, so much.
Mirja: However, why is Yamashiro Yui with the elite guard...?
Yui: Ahh! Right after I left Hana-san and the others with the rescue team, a request came in to pick up Yomi-san.
Yui: So, I volunteered to guard the rescue team on their way there! And then, I met up with the three from the elite guard! And, after that, I spotted you two getting attacked by that great aradama!
Yui: And that about sums it up!
Yui: See, Mirja-san! I did juuust like you told me! I didn't do anything too crazy, and made it back alive! See!
Mirja: Yamashiro Yui! Asakura Mihono... Have you heard anything of Asakura Mihono's current location!?
Yui: ...Mihono-chan? ...!!
Yui: Ahhh... That's why, you and Chie-san... And Kofuki-san and Kiyoka-chan too!
Yui: You all sent Mihono-chan forward to reach Kanami-chan and the others...!
Yui: Why did all of you go and do something so reckless!? You're the ones who told me not to do anything like that!
Suzuka: I don't quite follow.
Maki: Right... Why would it be that important to send Asakura Mihono to meet with Yukari-sama and the rest...?
Chie: Mihono-chan's okatana, Kashuu Kiyomitsu, has the potential to fatally wound a great aradama. Which means, even Tagitsuhime would...
Mirja: According to the Sword Administration Bureau's archives... that is. However, if the possibility exists, it is worth attempting.
Mirja: But... I've seen it with my own eyes. Asakura Mihono, wielding the power of Kashuu Kiyomitsu. It could--
Maki: I see, I understand now.
Maki: ...Yume! Catch up to Asakura Mihono, and go with her to Yukari-sama's side! Can you do that?
Yume: Not a problem~! I told you, I can keep going and going!
Suzuka: But, you mustn't force yourself.
Yume: ...Nihi! Alright, I'll go and show everyone how great I am!
11: The World of Jin'i (1)#
The threshold of the netherworld, in the world of first level jin'i--
Hiyori: Kgh...
Kanami: HAH!!
Kaoru: KIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
Tagitsu: Hnph!
Mai: She raised the level of her jin'i again!?
Kaoru: ...Sorry, this is as far as Ellen and I can go.
Nene: Ne-...
Ellen: Make sure you win, okay!
Mai: We will!
Sayaka: Mai! Let's go!
The threshold of the netherworld, in the world of second level jin'i--
Hiyori: HAA-!!
Kanami: YAA-!!
Mai: HAAH-!!
Tagitsu: --Fgh!
Mai: Grgh...!!
Sayaka: Mai-!!
Tagitsu: You move well at this speed... Entertain me, on and on through eternity in this moment.
Mai: Her jin'i went up another level... --I'll be fine! All of you, go on!
Kanami: Got it! Mai-chan! We'll see you later!
Mai: ...Everyone... Please be safe...
The threshold of the netherworld, in the world of third level jin'i--
Tagitsu: I hadn't expected that three of you would be able to follow me this far.
Tagitsu: You've done well, toji. This is the first time my heart has danced as such.
Hiyori: ...I pity you, Tagitsuhime.
Tagitsu: ...Hm?
Hiyori: I won't let you say you haven't noticed it. That deep loneliness, in the depths of your heart.
Kanami: Eh-?
Hiyori: Fusing with people made you aware of the fundamental loneliness in noro.
Tagitsu: Oh-...?
Hiyori: A child is formed when humans come together, and their nature and destiny continues to be passed down. Inherited, as Kanami and I did...
Hiyori: But, it's different for your kind. Noro, removed from the connected circle of life, is a lonely thing.
Tagitsu: We are unmatched. We have transcended the bounds of time. Such a circle is no...
Hiyori: That's true. Your kind isn't afraid of time. The only thing you fear is--
Hiyori: The okatana.
Hiyori: If you're cut apart by an okatana to the point that you can't maintain your intelligence, even if you were to reform, it wouldn't be you anymore.
Hiyori: Just a different aradama, with different memories and characteristics. That phenomenon makes you fear death the same as us living beings.
Tagitsu: ............
Hiyori: You have the same concept of death, but you're outside the circle of life. Wanting to cure yourself of that loneliness... No, realizing you can't be cured of it, here you are--
Sayaka: On a rampage. Because you're lonely... Because you want someone to be with you-- Like a child.
Tagitsu: You have no room to talk, toji. With those okatana in your hands, you have only slaughtered my kind--
Hiyori: That's right. All we're capable of doing is killing and exorcising you. We don't have the power to save you. That's why--
Hiyori: I'll go with you!
Kanami: They raised their jin'i again... Hiyori-chan!?
Sayaka: Fourth level jin'i... Kanami!
Tagitsu: With this, we enter the fourth level of jin'i. You are finally alone, Kogarasu toji.
Hiyori: That's what I was after from the start!
Tagitsu: Is that so. Then--
12: The World of Jin'i (2)#
Tagitsu: You've failed to strike me yet, I see.
Hiyori: Ggh...!
Tagitsu: Then, Kogarasu toji! Be slain here, in the momentary flow of time!
Tagitsu: --Wha-!?
Yukari: Surely you didn't... Forget about me, did you!?
13: The Final Battleground (1)#
Tagitsu: Gh, grgh...
Yukari: --Let's go, Tagitsuhime! To the depths of hell together!
Hiyori: -!? Yukari!?
Yukari: This time, it's my turn! Juujou!
Yukari: Now that I've stabbed Tagitsuhime, you will be the one to suppress her! That is your role, with the power of the Hiiragi you've inherited!
Tagitsu: YUKARIIIIIIIII!!
Yukari: --!?
Yukari: ...Kgh!! We've come this far...!!
Tagitsu: Heh... Your strength has failed you, has it...
Tagtitsu: Yukari... You are only human, after all. The effects of twenty years of resistance won't be erased so easily. --HMPH!
Yukari: GAGH...!!
Tagitsu: How pitiful, you had no chance to apply your utsushi.
Yukari: ...Juu...jou...
Hiyori: --Tagitsuhime!
Hiyori: ...Thank you, Yukari-sama.
Hiyori: But, this is my duty after all!
Mihono: Pant, pant... I finally made it... Up this building is where Kanami and them...
Mihono: Ahh... The sky keeps coming down more and more... I don't know what's going on up there...
Mihono: I heard this crazy noise up there earlier too. Maybe they're already fighting Tagitsuhime...
Mihono: I have to get there somehow!!
Aradama: SHAAAAAAAAAA-!
Mihono: Geh!? More aradama!?
14: The Final Battleground (2)#
Mihono: Pant... Pant... This building... They made it way too complicated...
Mihono: The elevator wouldn't work, and there were places I couldn't get through cause rubble or aradama were in the way...
Mihono: I have to get to the roof fast... I have to get to Kanami, or else...
Mihono: I'm gonna make it! To wherever Kanami is...!
Other: Unbelievable
Yui: Mmm~, that's what I'm saying! Since we took the same kind of ampoule, aren't we as good as family! As good as sisters!
Yui: In that case, after this is all over, and so we can deepen the bonds of friendship between us, we should freshen up in the bath together!
Maki: Can you explain what she's even talking about? She's been like this the whole time.
Mirja: No... It's for the best that you ignore her, because it will surely be something unbelievable.
Chie: Yui-chan, you're like this even when dealing with the elite guard...? You're acting a little unbelievable right now...
Suzuka: Does she always act like this...? That I find unbelievable...
Maki: And you two work together in the same unit as a toji like this? You're unbelievable yourself...
Mirja/Chie: Sigh...
Yui: What's unbelievable is that such close friends as us wouldn't want to share a bath together! Right!
Maki/Suzuka: Sigh...