Who is that behind me?
Very good, Roku...
You're finally standing on the same stage as I am.
Now I can actually fight with 100% of my real stre—
The same stage as you?
It can't be...
No—
I'm already stronger than you...
With the cursed strength of a Kegare!
I'm impressed, Roku...
You're able to put me on the defensive!
You think you can defend against this?!
What is... this?! What is this?!
You're finished!
It feels good!
This pain that surges through my entire body...
Roku, I've never felt this alive before!
Good! So good!
But you know... That won't be enough to break me, Roku!
It's begun, hasn't it? The prelude to destruction...
Yuto Destiny
Hey there. It's been a while, hasn't it?
You had the run of the place while I was gone, I see...
Mikage-kun.
Have you come to stop me?
And if I have?
Things have progressed beyond the point where the Head Exorcist can control them.
Especially now that you've lost nearly all your spell power.
There is nothing you can do.
Do you realize who exactly you're talking to, Mikage-kun?
Do you need a spanking?
I could easily ask you the same thing.
I am the forebearer of all exorcists...
Abe no Seimei himself.
More...
Give me more, Roku!
You hate me, don't you?
You've been wanting to kill me, right?
If so, then hurt me more! Much more!
Yuto!
Yes... I love the look on your face, Roku.
I'm not gonna fall for your trick.
You're trying to goad me into losing control, right?
What a shame...
If you had kept it up, you might've awakened as the Cataclysm King.
I'm not gonna turn into the Cataclysm King.
All the people who have supported me through all this are with me now.
I'm fighting to protect them.
And I'm not gonna kill you either, Yuto.
I just want to stop you.
And keep you from going any further in the wrong direction.
Excuse me? How insulting.
You actually think you can beat me by being that naïve?
Still, I do have to admit that the balance of power has flipped.
Yuto, what are you...
Well, in that case, if I want to make you push your limits,
then I'll have to exceed my own, won't I?!
You really are the best, Roku!
You're the first person to ever force me to fight seriously!
How's that, Roku?
Looks like we can keep playing now.
What the...
I'm just unleashing the spell power
of the Twelve Guardians and the Basara I've assimilated!
Yuto, you...
Your spell power's leaking out...
You're using power beyond what you can handle!
Come, let's keep going!
Yuto, why are you going this far?!
I keep telling you...
I just want to fight with you!
Just like back in the old days,
when we purely competed with each other!
I honestly used to think we could end up as friends
who'd motivate each other.
We used to be headed in the same direction...
I wonder where we got lost?
Of all the things to ask...
You do realize it's all your fault, don't you?
We were headed in the same direction?
Not at all.
In truth, we were totally different.
Even though, back then, I did think we were headed in the same direction...
Enmado Rokuro...
He was unlike anyone I'd ever met before.
A really strange guy.
He was almost refreshingly stupid,
always bluntly honest, and passionate to the point of being obnoxious.
The kind of person I usually can't stand.
And yet, as I interacted with you...
At some point, a strange feeling began to stir in me.
Almost like I had met another version of myself.
And what convinced me of that was...
Here's your penalty.
For three days, you two will be living here.
Huh?! Three days in this tiny place, with him?!
What about food?!
Figure it out.
What is this?
This incense emits a special type of miasma.
If you're exposed to too much of it, it'll eat away at your body,
and you'll die in less than a day.
I'm the only one who can put out the incense.
Whether you walk out of here or get carried out as a corpse
is up to you two.
Control...
your spell power...
Okay!
I thought I was gonna die!
It's too soon to be relieved just yet.
We're going have to emit a certain amount of spell power
for three days, without rest.
Seriously?
That damned sadistic teacher...
This is no penalty.
It's fairly advanced training for spell power control.
It was bound to wear on me after three days...
I guess Roku is done for, too.
I thought he was better than that...
I'm kind of disappointed.
Wake up, Yuto!
Hang in there! If you sleep, you'll die!
You're a fool, Roku.
You'd have one less rival if you let me die.
You're the fool!
You tick me off,
and if I had to say whether I like or hate you, I totally hate you...
But still, you're one of my comrades,
and a rival who's aiming to be the strongest exorcist with me!
You're stupid beyond redemption...
I was certain of it then.
Enmado Rokuro... With his help...
With him at my side,
I could reach heights as an exorcist beyond what anyone else could reach.
But you betrayed my expectations.
How many times must I say it?!
You should've just shut up and done what I told you!
Yuto...
Then we would be the strongest,
and we could've wrecked this pathetic world!
I never... wanted... to do that!
You're wrong, Roku.
Whether you want it or not,
you're an incarnation of yin energy... the Cataclysm King.
I told you I—
You and I are the same!
The only two in all the world with the same kind of power...
That's why you should've come with me!
I finally understand...
why Enmado Rokuro and Adashino Benio
were chosen to be the Twin Stars.
The key to it all is the Ame-no-mihashira.
I see.
The incarnations of yin and yang, created by the Ame-no-mihashira...
It's the two of them.
Originally, the function of the Ame-no-mihashira
was to absorb the yin energy humans generate
and contain it within a barrier, which would form Magano.
And the compression of that yin energy created the Cataclysm King...
Which is to say, Enmado Rokuro.
But the Ame-no-mihashira has another function.
To transform the yin energy it absorbs into yang energy, which it then expels...
A bit like how photosynthesis works for plants.
And the yang energy that was generated,
after entering reality, ended up in one place...
The Adashino clan.
Inside her mother's body,
Benio-kun absorbed the Ame-no-mihashira's yang energy before being born.
Yin and yang...
Which is to say, Rokuro-kun and Benio-kun, through their union,
would create the Miko, who would then wield the two opposing powers.
However, the one thing Abe no Seimei didn't account for
was the irregular existence of Ijika Yuto.
Right. Enmado Rokuro and Adashino Benio
were original creations shaped by me, Abe no Seimei.
However, there was the unfortunate matter of another incarnation of yin,
the imitation that became known as Ijika Yuto.
An imitation, huh?
Yes.
The only entity born as an expression of pure yin
was supposed to be Enmado Rokuro.
However, the yang incarnation that was to be born to the Adashino clan,
by whatever quirk of fate, took the form of a pair of twins.
And one of those twins, as a counterbalance to that yang,
became an incarnation of yin.
It later became the person known as Ijika Yuto.
However, his existence is unnecessary to this world.
I believe that Ijika Yuto must have learned that fact
as he was recovering in the Ame-no-mihashira.
And now, with his reason for existing on the line,
he has challenged Enmado Rokuro to their final battle.
I suppose even an imitation like Ijika Yuto ultimately served a purpose.
To lead this corrupt world to its destruction,
he has served to awaken the Cataclysm King.
That's it...
No matter how strong I try to get,
I'll never be the same as you.
And that's why I've decided...
That we'll fight each other to the death with all we have.
That way, we can be together forever.
You prove the worth of my existence!
So let's get along, okay, Roku?
Let's have a real battle so we can enjoy trying to kill each other!
I told you—
That's the reason I was born!
And the only reason!
Would you listen?!
You have to accept my love, Roku!
If you don't give me a serious response, my love will swallow you whole!
I told you... I'm not going to kill you!
This pain...
It fans the flames of my love more and more.
Huh?
My spell power...
It's over now, Yuto.
What are you talking about?!
Let's play some more, Roku!
It's already over.
Soon you'll lose all your spell power.
Where are you going, Roku?!
Come back!
I can still fight!
Sorry.
But I have friends who are waiting for me to come home.
Friends, huh?
I'll make you forget all about those insignificant worms!
Yuto...
Come on, let's continue our fight...
while we destroy the world you've worked so hard to protect!
Yuto!
I won't let you!
That's right... It's deep inside you...
Ijika...
The rage, hatred...
and love.
...Yuto!
Give it all to me!
That didn't hurt at all, Roku!
Come on, now!
Better stop me soon, or they're all gonna die!
I won't let you!
I'll protect them! I swear it!
Everyone!
This is the best, Roku!
This was such a good idea!
Fighting in the real world is so much more fun!
I have to protect them...
If I don't, then why did I...
That's it, Roku...
Protect them! Protect them!
You're finally going to grant my wish, aren't you?
Protect them!
Hey... What is this?
Wait...
Wait a minute!
I was supposed to have friends!
Precious friends that I wanted to protect...
Why...
was I fighting?
Congratulations, Roku.
You've lost all your memories,
severed your connections to your previous life,
and are now the one who will bring an end to the real world...
You've become the Cataclysm King.
That's right...
I...
I can't let...
you disappear, too.
It can't be...
He was able to overwhelm the Burial Ritual?
This is the end of everything.
No, I suppose that only applies to you all.
A new world will begin now.
Through the holes in the patterns...
There is the bird inside the cage...
When, oh when will it come out?
In the night of the dawn...
The crane and the turtle slip away...
Who is that behind me?
It's Roku, isn't it?
Man, you guessed right again!
Come to think of it,
since you're actually playing with us for once,
can't you act like you're enjoying it?
Who is that behind me?
It's Roku, isn't it?
Next Episode
Higuchi Ichiyo said,
"A heart full of earnest love is as divine as any god."
Ichiyo's love life didn't work out,
Benio Positive
but you guys will be okay, won't you?