"It's impossible. Without a price to pay, there's no way Tailless could ever be pulled free."
Misako's voice reached his ears, but it didn't sway Geno in the slightest. He slowly bent down, both hands resting on Tailless's hilt guard, and spoke softly.
"If you truly have a mind of your own, then you should understand what I mean. Since you want a price, I'll naturally pay it — but in return, you must never defy my will."
With that said, Geno gripped the hilt firmly with both hands, then wrenched it upward with all his strength.
Zing!
The blade slid free of its sheath, cold light bursting outward. The pale blue glow radiating from Tailless's blade lit up the entire space, forcing Misako and the others to shield their eyes.
"How is this possible? Why could Tailless be drawn?"
She hadn't felt her own end approaching — which meant Geno had drawn Tailless without paying any price at all. Tailless had already accepted Geno!
"I told you, I wouldn't let you pay some so-called price. After all, if you vanished, a certain fox lady would cry her eyes out."
Geno flashed his big white teeth, slung Tailless over his shoulder, and raised his other hand in the shape of a finger-gun, aiming it at little Miyabi in Misako's arms.
"Miyabi..." Misako lowered her head.
She looked down at the girl in her arms — utterly calm, unmoved — and the guilt in her eyes grew heavier still.
She knew the child in her arms wasn't truly her own daughter, yet she had chosen to treat her as a substitute all the same. All the false affection she'd poured out over the years now condensed into a bitter, overwhelming guilt.
"I'm sorry, Miyabi."
"Miyabi doesn't hate Mom. But... it's time to say goodbye."
As little Miyabi spoke, her body began to Dephase.
"Miyabi?!" Misako.
Misako's panic became plain to see. She stared in disbelief at her daughter, who was about to vanish, then glanced over at Geno, not far off, still holding Tailless aloft. A despairing thought surfaced in her mind.
"Miyabi, don't tell me you—?!"
Misako tried to say more, but little Miyabi stopped her.
"Miyabi has always known. Miyabi is only a substitute. But Mom is still Mom. So even though Miyabi isn't really your daughter, Miyabi was willing to play the part — because—"
By now, little Miyabi's body had faded to little more than a translucent outline. Only then did she finally lift her head and look her mother straight in the eye.
"Miyabi loves Mom more than anything."
At those words, Misako's tears broke loose all over again. Trembling from head to toe, she watched little Miyabi finish dissolving, then collapsed to the ground, sobbing until her voice tore itself raw.
Little Miyabi's disappearance made the mother relive the pain of losing her daughter all over again.
Watching this sorrowful scene, Geno awkwardly lowered his hand, but he also realized Misako seemed to have misunderstood something. So he spoke up.
"Um, Aunt Misako, please don't be too upset. This parting is only brief — little Miyabi hasn't really disappeared."
"What do you mean?"
Misako snapped her head up. She had assumed little Miyabi had taken her place as the ritual's price and become fuel for Tailless.
She'd known all along that some price would be demanded, but the moment she watched little Miyabi vanish from her arms, a flicker of resentment toward Geno had still risen in her heart.
Taking her as the price would have been one thing — but why did it have to be her daughter?
Yet the instant Geno said little Miyabi hadn't died, a thread of hope stirred in Misako's chest.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Little Miyabi hasn't disappeared. She's simply gone back to where she belongs."
Gone back to where she belongs?
Geno's words left Hoshimi Misako more confused than before, but now wasn't the time to explain further.
"I promise you, she's alive and well out there in the world. But right now I need to deal with what's happening outside first. I'll give you a full explanation afterward, I swear."
Given the circumstances, Geno had to set his priorities. After doing his best to ease Misako's distress, he vanished from that place entirely.
"Miyabi..." Misako murmured.
In this world that belonged solely to Misako's memories, little Miyabi and Misako had spent who-knew-how-long together, and every ounce of Misako's feeling had been poured into that small, fragile figure.
Even knowing that some of it was false, she knew her feelings themselves had never been anything but real.
All she could do now was pray that what Geno had said was true — that little Miyabi hadn't disappeared, but had simply returned to some place Misako knew nothing of.
So Misako slowly rose to her feet and walked back to the room where she and little Miyabi used to spend their days together. She knelt there, waiting for Geno to return.
Waiting here, holding on to hope.
Back in the real world, far off at the harbor, Yanagi Tsukishiro and the others watched Geno's sudden eruption of inner cosmos, and not one of them could keep their expression steady.
Yanagi was the first to compose himself. A meaningful smile crept across his lips as he adjusted his glasses and turned toward Desmoulins, who was mid-interrogation.
"It seems we won't be needing your plan after all, Ms. Desmoulins."
"Tch!"
Desmoulins made no effort to hide her disdain. She understood perfectly well what Yanagi meant.
If that really was that person's power, then the so-called monster was nothing more than a lamb waiting for slaughter — dealing with it was only a matter of time.
But Desmoulins wasn't willing to slink away with her tail between her legs. It wasn't about the mission — it was simply that the woman's undisguised mockery had gotten under her skin.
So she stood frozen there, neither leaving nor pressing her claim to take over the area, just frowning as she watched the battle unfolding out on the distant sea.
Out on the water, facing Geno's sudden eruption of power, the Calamity Beast had grown far more wary.
Even a fool could see that Geno now wielded a power of the same origin as its own — the only question was how much of it he'd truly mastered, and even the beast couldn't say for sure.
It didn't dare gamble. If its opponent truly possessed power on that scale, it would vanish from this world once more, dragged back into that lightless prison, never to know peace again.
So it made the most correct decision of its entire existence — and also the one it would come to regret the most.
Run!!
The once arrogant, domineering beast spun on its heel and bolted, fleeing toward the distant sea.
Not a single person there had seen this coming.
Geno froze for a moment too, but quickly kicked off in pursuit.
He'd been having far too much fun beating on it — there was no way he'd let it get away now.
"You dare piss off young master and think you can just run? Behold — Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon!!!"
____
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