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Published In:
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| Publication Date: October 2, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Manga Summaries
Volume 3
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| Chapters Originally Published in: | |
| Shonen Sunday 2019 Vol. 44 - 51 & 2020 1 - 2/3 |
Chapter
19: 描鬼
Byoki
(Byoki)
With Byoki's eye looming among the smoke billowing in the sky both Mao and Nanoka are showing cat-like eyes as they stare up at the specter high overhead in the aftermath of the massive earthquake. Byoki takes notice of Mao and bellows for him to return his body, something that catches Nanoka by surprise. Mao had told her that Byoki had tried to possess his body, but the huge creature acts as if Mao has taken something that belongs to him. Mao struggles to slice Byoki, but a barrier knocks his blade away each time he tries. When the cat moves from the clouds Nanoka is shocked to see it is a huge decapitated head with no body at all. Mao thinks back to the day he fought Byoki 900 years ago as the ayakashi demanded to take Mao's body. Mao managed to slice Byoki's head off as the cat tried to bargain that they could both live on with Mao gave his body to Byoki. With the head severed it flew away and Mao passed out from his injuries as he verged on death. When he awoke there was blood all over his hands, his hair was streaked white and he saw the corpses of soldiers a thinks back upon a hazily remembered woman- Lady Sana who also died. Snapping back to the present Byoki tells Mao to become one with him, that his body is the only one in a thousand years that he would search for for so long. Nanoka and Otoya listen but Otoya says he can only guess at Byoki's meaning. Mao retorts that he wishes only to kill Byoki and end the curse but the ayakashi snarls back that he and Mao were framed for murdering Mao's master and burning down the store room Mao was tasked with protecting. Byoki spits out lightning bolts from his mouth, striking Mao down and then turning his attention to Nanoka. He muses about who she is that has his own blood within her and that she too would make an ideal vessel. As he glares at her Mao struggles out from beneath the rubble, his appearance further transformed.
Chapter
20: 七又の尾
Nanamata no o
(Seven Tails)
Nanoka is shocked that Byoki would consider her as a suitable vessel just like Mao. Nanoka thinks back to the day of the sinkhole when her parents were killed, knowing that must have been the day Byoki cursed her. When she asks the creature why he did this to her however, Byoki admits that he has been asleep for hundreds of years and has no memory of her. Suddenly Mao emerges from the rubble, transformed into a demonic seven tailed cat-like creature. He pounces towards Byoki's head and the two do battle. Nanoka remembers seeing the creature Mao has become so many years ago during the accident. Otoya explains that he has rarely seen Mao this way, but that he has taken Byoki's body from when he severed his head so many centuries ago. He says he knows it must be Byoki's body due to the seven tails Mao now has. Mao overpowers Byoki easily and the cat flees into the sky, promising that this will never end so long as Mao possesses his body. As the flames from the earthquake rise Otoya urges Nanoka to move to safer ground. As they run they see the flames lapping around the gate she has used to travel back and forth through time and hear a child's voice crying out. Nanoka is shocked to see herself as a young child standing among the chaos and calling out for her mother and father.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: October 9, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
21: 新しい器
Atarashii utsuwa
(The New Vessel)
Nanoka is stunned to see her younger self emerge from the gate at the moment of the earthquake. She watches in shock as the memories she has had for over a decade unfold before her. She realizes the strange monster she saw clutching what she believed was a decapitated head was actually Mao in this monsterous form leaping to catch one of the demonic heads that was hurtling towards her. Suddenly she hear's Byoki's voice from the heavens telling Mao that he no longer has need of him for he will take a new vessel for himself. Suddenly he darts out and nearly seizes Nanoka in his jaws but Mao fends him off. Then he turns and sees the child Nanoka and realizes she is the same as the teenager before him. Byoki snags her and slips through the gate with her in his mouth as Mao tries to follow but finds the gate has a barrier that prevents his passage. As Mao is flung back he glances at the his suitcase which Nanoka saved from his office and something flies out, passing through the gate in pursuit of Byoki. Exhausted, Mao collapses and changes back to his human form. With Mao unconscious and naked Otoya tells Nanoka they have to move Mao somewhere safe. Numerous ayakashi appear seeking to help their wounded doctor and together they move Mao to a small temple on the outskirts of Tokyo. Finally Mao stirs, weak with exhaustion and asks after Nanoka who is outside. From the countryside she watches the flames on the far horizon as Tokyo is destroyed in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. She thinks about all that has happened in her life and slowly pieces together the puzzle. The earthquake awoke Byoki who was hiding beneath the keystone, hence the crater where it once was. Then when he passed through the portal the power of the earthquake caused the sinkhole that killed Nanoka's parents in the present as the force rippled beyond the gate. Nanoka wonders why Byoki would choose her as his replacement vessel instead of Mao. Mao comes out to see Nanoka and explains that he sent a shikigami to follow Byoki, but he says there is no doubt that Byoki is now seeking her back in the present.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: October 16, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
22: 守護の式神
Shugo no shikigami
(The Shikigami)
Nanoka ventures back into town and finds the gate connecting the past to the present is still standing despite the destruction throughout the rest of town. She wanders back to the temple where Otoya and Mao are staying, wondering if the gate is still functional. Otoya explains to Nanoka that Mao was asking about what happened when he became the beast, clearly having little memory of what happened. Inside they find him looking at small sculpture-like figurines from his suitcase. Mao explains that Byoki has escaped into Nanoka's world and he cannot follow, but his shikigami was able to pass through the barrier. Nanoka explains that she is worried about returning home and explains that she is not certain about her grandfather, recalling that he was on his deathbed when her parents's got into the car accident that killed them. Mao explains that Byoki can control the lifespan of others and may have done the same with her grandfather. Mao offers to let Nanoka remain in the past and work as his apprentice. Mao keeps emphasizing that Nanoka would work as his junior until she becomes angry and says she has no interest in being his minion and demands that he gives her something to protect her so she can return home safely. Mao gives her a guardian stone bracelet, telling her it will help to ward off evil. Bracing herself, Nanoka passes through the gate and back into the present where she immediately runs into Shiraha, her classmate. He is shocked to see her as she looks battered after her time in the past. Shiraha tells her that he heard she was discharged during summer vacation and Nanoka is shocked to realize how much time has passed when it was only yesterday to her that she went back to the past. Suddenly Nanoka hears someone call her name and turns to find their housekeeper, Uozumi, staring at her from across the street. Suddenly Uozumi asks if she went to meet with Mao.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: October 23, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
23: 魚住さん
Uozumi-san
(Uozumi)
Nanoka sits down on a park bench with Uozumi to speak about who the the odd housekeeper really is. Uozumi explains that she is a shikigami from a small wooden fish that Mao had and he sent its spirit through the gate in pursuit of Byoki and the much younger version of Nanoka. After Byoki came into the present he dropped a bloody Nanoka into the sinkhole in front of the gate and flew away. Nanoka was taken to the hospital where her grandfather has been hospitalized. Uozumi remarks that her job has been to protect Nanoka from Byoki and that is why she has been feeding her the smoothies her entire life in order to supress the powers Byoki's blood gave her. When Nanoka asks if her grandfather has had any connection or contact with Byoki Uozumi says that when Nanoka disappears he hardly moves or gets out of bed, it is as if his sole purpose for living is for her sake. When Nanoka returns home her grandfather approaches her and she recalls Mao's words that if evil approaches her the guardian stone bracelet he gave her will repel it. When her grandfather draws near the bracelet shows no reaction and she realizes Byoki has not possessed him. In the past Mao and Otoya are relieved to see Tenko, the waitress from the Milk Hall, survived the ravages of the earthquake as she comes to bring some things to them in their temporary home on the outskirts of the city. She explains that the restaurant survived though the cracks in the building will keep it shuttered for the time being. She tells Mao in the areas of the city where the dead have not been removed from the rubble flaming, decapitated heads have been appearing floating in the sky. Otoya suggests that the heads they saw during Byoki's attack were ayakashi that were attracted by his evil aura to the area. When Tenko asks if those were the same as what she has heard about Mao suggests otherwise, saying long ago he once saw similar flaming heads. He thinks back to the very distant past, 900 years ago, when he saw a flaming disembodied horse's head flying through the countryside and watched a priest punish a novice for summoning it outside of the their temple and frightening people. Elsewhere among the rubble of Tokyo a traveling freakshow passes through the ruins and decides that they cannot hold a show in such a devastated location and vow to move onwards to Osaka. When the boss calls out to each member of his troupe to make sure they are all accounted for and ready to move on the others tell him that the boy responsible for summoning the flaming skulls has decided to quit after all his flaming heads got loose. The young boy wears an eyepatch and has a streak of white hair like Mao's.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: October 30, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
24: 凌雲閣
Ryouunkaku
(Asakusa Tower)
Mao, Otoya and Nanoka all go into the heart of devasated Tokyo to the site of the crumbling Ryouunkaku also known as Asakusa Tower, the first western skyscraper built in Japan. The structure is heavily damaged from the earthquake but lights flicker oddly behind some of the windows. Otoya begins to dig around in the dirt and uncovers a wooden effigy of a person with writing scrawled on it. Mao says this is the work of a magician when suddenly dozens of flaming heads burst forth from the building surrounding the young boy with the eyepatch. The boy says he knows they have come to try to kill him and Nanoka immediately wonders what it is he is talking about. Mao asks if he is Hyakka which puzzles the boy at first. Suddenly the boy recognizes the man he calls "Traitor Mao". Hyakka sends a wave of flaming heads to attack but Mao slices them with his sword, asking the boy if they can just have a moment to talk things over. Hyakka recognizes the sword as the one Mao's master entrusted to him centuries ago, a blade that was handed down from one generation to the next. Mao also thinks of Lady Sana, a woman he knew in the past as she asked him about the Hagunsei, the sword he had just inherited which he comments is an inauspicious blade. Hyakka tells him the sword is wasted on him and strips it out of Mao's hand, but Mao warns him not to touch it. As soon as Hyakka does however he vomits up blood.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: November 6, 2019 | |
| Pages: 3 (full color) 16 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
25: 兄弟子百火
Anideshi Hyakka
(Hyakka the Senior Apprentice)
Mao thinks back to where he once knew Hyakka when they were both pupils together. Hyakka was Mao's senior, and his skills were less impressive, but Mao would pretend to overlook his obvious tricks and feign falling into them due to his own humility. Nanoka wonders how this boy could know Mao from so long ago and Mao admits that though his appearance is different due to his hair color and eyepatch he believes it truly is his senior from so long ago. Mao picks up the tained sword he carries, explaining that anyone else who touches it dies from Byoki's blood that taints it. They all stand over the dead body of Hyakka who suddenly stirs and sits up, something seemingly impossible except for those touched by Byoki's blood. Hyakka washes his face and gruffly yanks a towel from Nanoka who ponders his course attitude. When she asks if he is really Mao's senior despite being younger he balks at the question. Mao explains that Hyakka began his training at the estate where they lived ten days prior to Mao's arrival which makes him Mao's senior, though Hyakka explains that is why he is superior. Nanoka asks Hyakka if he is still alive due to the same circumstances that made Mao as he is, but Hyakka simply says he has died many, many times. Mao ponders this saying that the sword indeed rejected Hyakka and killed him, he does not seem to have the same curse that Mao has. Then Hyakka asks Mao about their former master, inquiring if Mao ever saw what was under the half-mask he wore over the right half of his face. Hyakka says he saw what was under the mask once. Hyakka explains that several of their fellow pupils were called to a small temple in the days after Mao was named as the successor to the school, the Five-Sided Temple. It was there that Hyakka met with their master. He explains that the temple was partitioned so he does not know who else went through the same process as he did, there the master explained that he would give all their teaching to Mao, including those that can prevent a soul from dying. Nanoka suggests Mao was chosen because he was so talented, but Hyakka laughs, saying that Mao was a poor student who could not master any of their spells. Their master spoke from behind a screen explaining that there were five of his pupils in the temple at that moment, and he tasked each with killing Mao. Whomever could kill Mao and be the last one standing would become his true heir. Then as demons surrounded Hyakka he added that if any of them refused he would kill them on the spot. Removing his mask he shows that he has a mouth and eyes growing on the side of his face adding that he once survived a curse. He tells his pupils that Mao will the the sacrifice they offer up.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: November 13, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
26: 不吉の太刀
Fukitsu no tachi
(Sword of Ill Omen)
Speaking with Hyakka Mao is shocked by what he has heard- that five of his former cohorts were tasked with murdering him after he was given the cursed blade by his master and named as the inheritor of the clan's secrets. Hyakka explains to the others how Mao being chosen as the successor was seen as a shocking move by the other pupils given his limited skills with magic and being the last to join the order. The resentment that the master fostered in the other members of the Goko Clan due to Mao's selection as inheritor were meant to help create the dark atmosphere needed for curses to be cast. Mao speaks of the Big Dipper constellation and how the seventh star supposedly has an ominous purpose, comparing it with his task as a scapegoat. Hyakka tries to put things in order in his mind, wondering if Mao betrayed everyone with Byoki, killing their master and burning the treasure house as a result of his being betrayed by their mentor but Mao says that is a misunderstanding. He was never allied with Byoki. Hyakka says he does not give a damn what happened to their master or about Mao seeming to have burned down the temple where their teachings were stored but he does want to know why Mao murdered Sana. Hyakka says that the others told him Mao killed her. Mao claims to have no memory of it and when Nanoka asks who Sana was Mao explains that she was the daughter of their master. Elsewhere as refugees from the earthquake wait in line to recieve a meal they comment on the disappearance of another young girl. Some believe she was just moved to another refugee camp but another suggests something has happened to her, hinting that the young son of the Itagaki family who is allowing them all to shelter on their estate is somehow responsible. Inside the mansion of the Itagaki family a young man sips wine while a dead woman lays in his bed having clearly been strangled to death. As the man enjoys his wine he calls to his employee, Kuchinawa, to come in. Kuchinawa calls the young man Tanehiko and asks if he has "done it again?" Kuchinawa takes the body of the young woman away and dumps it in a destroyed greenhouse and watches as the thorny vines sweep over her corpse.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: November 20, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
27: 灰丸
Haimaru
(Haimaru)
Nanoka asks Uozumi about Mao, but the maid says she knows nothing about his youth since it was so many centuries ago. Nanoka decides to invite Shiraha over to see if he can help her investigate. Shiraha is delighted to be invited to Nanoka's room, cheerfully commenting on the retro quality of the decor. Nanoka asks him to research "Jugondo" which an internet search explains that it is a magical/medical Taoist-based concept used to treat illnesses in the past. During the Nara era Jugondo was taught at pharmaceutical dormitories that were set up to help train practictioners. Shiraha explains that it uses curses, poisons from venomous creatures and even small dolls, all things that Nanoka has indeed seen Mao make use of. Shiraha says he cannot find anything about the Goko Clan in particular however. Nanoka hopes this information can shed light on what happened to the woman named Sana that Mao was accused of murdering. Mao thinks back to the distant past where Sana stands in the garden where Mao and Hyakka trained and watches helplessly as her pet cat, Haimaru, is stuck in a tree. Hyakka tries to yank the cat's leash to bring it down and gets scratched for his trouble. Mao calmly climbs up and invites the cat to climb onto his shoulder so he can take it down safely. Nanoka returns to the Tokyo of the past and finds Mao back in his clinic. The fires in the aftermath of the earthquake did not destroy it, but the building is badly damaged from the quake itself. Inside Nanoka finds Mao supervising the repairs being made by various tanuki, kappa, karasu tengu and other creatures. Mao seems quiet when Nanoka arrives and then tells her that although he does not remember hurting Sana it is possible that he killed her. Nanoka then bluntly asks him if he was dating Sana which shocks Mao. Mao recalls Sana telling him that she was meant to be with him because he was chosen by her father to inherit the secrets of their order. Mao however wants to know if that is alright with her and she responds that is her father's wish. Elsewhere Tanehiko is out driving when he comes across a young woman walking alone - Tenko as it turns out. He offers Tenko a ride in his car but she refuses citing the recent disappearances of young girls in the area including a friend she is looking for. In a flash Tanehiko knocks her to the ground and smiles over her, pleased that his nightly prowling has found another victim.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: December 4, 2019 | |
| Pages: 18 (black and white) | |
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Chapter
28: 朽縄
Kuchinawa
(Kuchinawa)
As the ayakashi tidying up Mao's office finish for the evening a small fox-like spirit drifts into the room. The sight of it immediately concerns Mao and he tells Nanoka and Otoya to follow him as he picks up his katana. Elsewhere Tanehiko has the apparently dead body of Tenko in his arms and takes her to the rose garden where he has disposed of other young women he has abducted and killed. Tanehiko begins to undress deciding he will rape the unconscious Tenko there in the garden without bothering to return to his room when suddenly her hands grab his side. He is shocked then when her fingers sproud claws and her eyes darken. With fangs in her mouth she bites him leaving Tanehiko confused as to what sort of girl he has abducted. Suddenly Kuchinawa, Tanehiko's manservent appears and begins speaking a spell that makes the vines of the garden spring to life and yank Tenko free of Tanehiko. Kuchinawa pulls out his scythe and then begins to cast a spell promising to kill Tenko. Just as he is about to send blades whirling at her Mao leaps in to save her. Nanoka quickly runs over to help free her from the thorns and vines and is shocked to see Tenko's inhuman eyes. Tenko quickly tells everyone that it was Tanehiko who is responsible for the abduction and murder of all the missing girls in town prompting him to tell Kuchinawa to immediately kill them all to cover up his crimes. When Mao hears the name "Kuchinawa" he is stunned. Mao tells Kuchinawa that he once knew someone that looked like him with a different name. Kuchinawa tells his master that he will take care of all of this rabble that are threatening his good name and Mao stares in shock, unable to imagine how this could possible be someone from his past yet still be living.
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Published In:
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| Publication Date: December 11, 2019 | |
| Pages: 1 (full color) 18 (black and white) | |
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