Fighting by yourself? Are you trying to be some kind of hero?
No, I...
Do you think you're the only one grieving
for Yume, Yukari-sama, or Princess Tagitsu?
Shidou, Konohana has been fighting as well.
She has worked with us on researching how
to remove aradama that are fused with the human body.
Thanks to her, our research has advanced dramatically.
It may take some time,
but one day, we will be able to remove the aradama from your bodies as well.
Remove the aradama?
Shidou-san, Konohana-san, we will not let your battles go to waste.
That goes for Tsubakuro-san as well.
You've been fighting with this all this time, haven't you?
Usumidori is an okatana deeply tied to my Kurama style.
But I guess I have no choice but to leave it with you for now.
Suzuka...
Now if only Yomi-san would come back,
all four of us would be together again.
You're right.
You will all be accompanying Akane-sama tomorrow.
Where are we going this time?
To visit the deputy director of the Sword Administration Bureau,
my sister, Origami Yukari.
You're reviewing the imperial guard candidates again?!
Yes.
How do we have time for that?!
We know where Princess Takiri is located, and the princess returned with injuries!
You must deploy an imperial guard right away!
You have plenty of ampoules!
And there are no issues with the candidates' preliminary compatibility tests!
So why are you doing this?!
The imperial guard must be able to protect the princess at the risk of their own lives.
I am assessing the level of their morale.
That's what you're doing?
No one can disobey the princess once they receive the aradama.
If you are ordered to become a shield and die,
you will offer your life without hesitation.
Just as Yomi and Tsubakuro Yume have done.
As the president of Ayanokouji,
I will make the decisions for Ayanokouji's students.
Don't interfere.
I'm warning you. There's no turning back now.
Name: Uchizato Ayumu
Katana Maidens
Episode 17 The Goddesses' Madness
Hiyori-chan.
Here, it's milk tea with lots of sugar.
Thanks.
Still feeling conflicted about things?
After my mother died, all I've ever thought about
was killing the great aradama, Origami Yukari.
Akane-sama said that Yukari-sama is no longer Princess Tagitsu,
and that she's gone back to being herself.
I know...
But you're not convinced, are you?
That's so like you, Hiyori-chan. You're so straightforward.
You have your own faults, too.
You just prioritize swordfighting over everything else.
That's true.
I really want to fight Yukari-sama again.
You've already fought with her plenty.
But this time it would be against Origami Yukari's actual Niten Ichi style.
You're so easy to figure out.
I think you're pretty easy to figure out, too.
I am not! I'm just saying you don't change.
You are you, and I am me.
You're right. I think chocolate mint tastes like toothpaste.
What are you thinking about?
Nothing.
Maybe you could've said that you're not sure how to face her?
You see right through me.
It's just because you're really easy to read.
You're probably right.
I knew about Yukari-sama taking in an aradama,
but I didn't know that it was Princess Tagitsu.
Had I known...
Would you have killed Yukari-sama?
I don't know, but I don't think I would have accepted the aradama.
Why did you accept it, then?
Because I felt like I wanted the power to keep fighting.
No matter the light, it always seems to be swallowed by darkness.
I thought that I should accept the darkness to confront the enormous darkness.
That's surprisingly cowardly for the first member of the elite guard.
Cowardly, huh?
One of the girls from Osafune said something similar that night.
I knew my own weaknesses.
So I decided to face them.
I would find Princess Tagitsu before anyone else and kill her myself.
I was even prepared to be destroyed along with her.
And you are foolish and reckless, too.
That's true.
Instead of killing Princess Tagitsu, I confused those around me.
I never imagined that she would be split into three conflicting parts.
Whether it's you or Juujou Hiyori,
must all Heijou students make such impulsive and straightforward decisions?
Speaking of, Suzuka, why did you accept the aradama?
I never asked you before.
Good grief! You never realized, did you?
Because I didn't want a certain someone to get too far ahead of me.
That's the only reason?
I envy such an admirable opponent.
You're so dense.
I am sorry for making you wait so long.
This is the last of the final interviews.
Y-Yes, ma'am! Thank you for having me.
There were no issues with the results of your compatibility test,
but I want you to really think about this.
There are various risks involved in the administration of strengthening drugs.
Even so, do you still wish to take them and join the imperial guard?
Yes, I do.
Why do you wish to do so?
When I was dispatched to Kamakura the other day,
I keenly felt my powerlessness.
I want to get stronger.
I want to get stronger and contribute to society as a Toji.
What about getting stronger with the normal curriculum?
I don't know that I could...
Also, I got to meet someone I admire at Kamakura!
She's a really strong Toji,
and I want to quickly become a useful Toji like her.
Please excuse me.
Rejected
Origami Yukari...
I wasn't expecting the director, who is supposed to be recovering in a hospital,
to show up in an armed submarine.
It is fully equipped with medical facilities, so I was not lying.
You're no longer an aradama, right, Yukari-sama?
Etou-san!
Y-You...
Yes.
We have inspected her numerous times,
and no aradama has been detected in her body.
But physically, she's still 17 years old.
Shidou-san, Konohana-san,
I'm sorry that we haven't been able to remove the aradama from your bodies.
It's fine.
How did you overcome it?
I didn't overcome it. I was cast aside by the aradama.
Cast aside?
We believe that Princess Tagitsu expelled herself
from the director of her own volition.
On that night?
What happened between you and Princess Tagitsu?
Juujou, watch your language!
That night, I, who had been assimilated by Princess Tagitsu, was defeated by you.
We were on the verge of perishing together
when Princess Tagitsu cast aside my body and escaped to the netherworld.
The aradama split herself up to throw off pursuit.
So you were cut off like a lizard's tail, then?
Kanami-chan, you could have phrased that more politely.
You're right. I'm the tail that was cut off and cast aside.
But we can't dwell on that right now.
You mean the three goddesses?
What was once known as Princess Tagitsu has now split into three.
Princess Tagitsu has been taking noro from various places.
Princess Takiri is in the possession of the Ministry of Defense.
The remaining one is...
Princess Ichikishima. They really are the three goddesses of Munakata.
I cannot believe aradama are naming themselves after gods.
Princess Tagitsu is after Princess Takiri.
Why would she be fighting another part of herself?
I summoned you all here to explain that.
And there is also someone I want you to meet.
The third remaining part, Princess Ichikishima, is here?
My spectrum meter isn't detecting anything.
This submarine is to hide her from Princess Tagitsu. We use various tricks.
Etou Kanami and Juujou Hiyori.
I see, so you are here to destroy me.
My existence as an individual was brief, but that was unavoidable.
So very brief...
We wouldn't be protecting you if we were going to destroy you.
This is an aradama? She seems rather...
No, Princess Tagitsu was like this, too.
Like a real person.
Konohana Suzuka and Shidou Maki. I was once a part of Yukari.
I know you both well.
She's pretty different compared to Princess Takiri.
You met with Princess Takiri?
O-O-Oh, yes.
Princess Tagitsu learned of Princess Takiri's location and attacked.
We have been selected to guard Princess Takiri.
I see, so you are all heading to Princess Takiri.
No one even wants me.
It is better for us that you remain split in three parts, as you are.
We would like to keep it this way.
Indeed, perhaps it is for the best.
I was discarded by them, anyway.
Discarded?
Princess Takiri told us to give you to her.
She wants your power.
You are going to give me to her?
If she absorbs me, Princess Takiri's victory will be assured.
Princess Tagitsu will be destroyed, and she will win this battle as well.
No, the Sword Administration Bureau has said it will protect you.
Pardon me, but I don't really understand.
What do she mean by being absorbed and winning?
First, we must explain why they were split into three parts.
Rui-san?
Right.
The spectrumization of noro.
When noro fuse together, it forms something like a brain
and will have advanced intelligence.
In the process, emotions will form, and the noro will become an aradama.
It is said that the first thing every aradama feels is a sense of loss.
A sense of loss?
A sense of being deprived of the divinity of the tamahagane steel.
In order to assuage this sense of loss, which is similar to a hunger,
noro instinctively seeks something to bond with.
We can understand this, since we have taken in aradama.
That thirst is hard to resist.
As their intelligence develops with each repeated bonding,
the feeling of loss turns into anger.
Anger at the humans who stole the tamahagane steel that was a part of them.
It is thought that this is the fundamental reason why aradama attack people.
How ironic that the only weapon that can quell an aradama
is what causes them to attack in the first place.
Yes, all of this is caused by you humans
stealing the power of the gods from us, due to your greed.
Getting back to the point.
The reason the great aradama that was integrated with me split into three parts...
Our intelligence evolved to a high level,
and eventually, we became a logical contradiction.
A logical contradiction?
Our thoughts toward people split into three, and we began to oppose each other.
Princess Tagitsu was born from the original feelings of anger and resentment.
She wishes to retaliate against the humans.
Meanwhile, Princess Takiri wishes to dominate, control, and guide humans.
She intends to reign over this world as a god.
And you?
I sought the reason that I exist in this world.
Are we, the aradama, really necessary in this world?
What is the reason for the existence of something unnecessary?
I sought for it and finally found it.
A way for humans and aradama to combine.
A way to evolve the human species.
A way for humans and aradama to combine?
Yes, the technology to strengthen humans with aradama
was made by Princess Ichikishima.
Then you made this power?
I found it. My reason for existing in this world.
That night in Kamakura,
we separated from Yukari and escaped to the netherworld.
In order to resolve the logical contradiction
which had become seriously irreparable enough already,
each of our thoughts were separated, and we were made independent individuals.
The three goddesses will fight each other, the winner will absorb the losers,
and they will ultimately obtain their true form that is still in the netherworld.
If the winner obtains the true form and becomes an evil god,
then a crisis like the great disaster from twenty years will befall us again.
First, we need to defend Princess Takiri.
Princess Ichikishima is safe as long as she remains in the ocean.
Princess Ichikishima, who isn't suited to fighting,
promptly requested the protection of Yukari-sama.
Yes, I have no one to rely on.
Though I also do not feel like fighting my own self.
But you're strong when you fight, right?
I am fairly strong, but I won't bother with things when I know the results.
More importantly, do you humans not intend to side with me?
Someday, all of humanity will be fused with aradama,
and you will evolve as a species.
Don't be ridiculous.
Do you have any idea how much we and Yume have...
I am aware that Tsubakuro Yume received us rather favorably.
What about that result?!
Stop. Princess Ichikishima may have completed the theory,
but I was the one who completed the drug and administered it.
And I got both the presidents of Renpu and Ayanokouji involved.
Maki-san...
So not only was President Takatsu of Renpu involved,
but President Souraku of Ayanokouji as well.
Yes, and it is also likely that Princess Tagitsu is operating out of Ayanokouji.
Princess Ichikishima is essentially the most dangerous of the three goddesses.
Though the most immediate risk is Princess Tagitsu.
First, we will be defending Princess Takiri
in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense.
If we can defeat Princess Tagitsu,
we think we might be able to negotiate with the remaining two goddesses.
Are there any plans to individually defeat or seal away
Princess Ichikishima and Princess Takiri at the present time?
That will likely depend on whether or not
we succeed in beating Princess Tagitsu, won't it?
You are correct.
So we can't destroy their main form in the netherworld?
Because the netherworld is considered theoretically infinite.
Unless we have some kind of special link
that can allow us to identify coordinates from this world,
it's difficult even to determine its existence.
Some kind of special link...
That means that there is a special link
between the three goddesses and their main form.
Juujou, Etou, do you have a moment?
Y-Yes, ma'am.
Sit.
Are you still not able to forgive me?
N-No—huh?
Yes.
When you were possessed by the aradama twenty years ago,
my mother constantly lamented
that everything was her fault until the day she died.
Juujou, Etou...
I'm sorry.
Yukari-sama...
On the day of the great disaster twenty years ago,
I was placed in charge of the Special Unit
and faced the final battle along with your mothers.
My duty was to push Princess Tagitsu, who clung to this world, into the netherworld
and seal the hole back up.
Then Princess Tagitsu fell to the depths of the netherworld with Kagari,
scattered, disappeared.
Princess Tagitsu sought for a way to avoid annihilation.
She proposed that she would assimilate me in exchange for saving them.
I didn't want to lose my friends,
so I accepted the aradama who had thousands of victims.
You know what happened after that.
I was the only one to survive,
unable to save either Minato or Kagari.
But my mother seemed happy up until her death.
Though putting it that way is kind of weird.
She taught me lots about swordfighting,
and she felt proud to have been a Toji.
Your mother did?
I see.
Kagari and Minato lost part of their Toji powers,
and Princess Tagitsu was sealed from the inside.
Essentially, Minato took charge of half of what Kagari was supposed to bear.
The effect of that was that both of them became something rare
that simultaneously existed in both this world and the netherworld.
In this instance, the same effect was had on the okatana you possess,
Chidori and Kogarasumaru.
So that's the reason they resonate with each other sometimes.
We're so late.
This is bad. If we don't hurry, all the food at the dorm will be gone.
No kidding.
Huh?
Stop!
You have no choice but to use that now.
Damn you!
You should probably hurry, while they still draw breath.
Chidori and...
I wonder if something of our mothers remains in Chidori and Kogarasumaru.
What do you mean by "something"?
I'm not sure,
but I was wondering if that's what brought us together.
Who knows?
Hey, by the way, Princess Ichikishima was a pretty strange person, wasn't she?
She's not a person, she's an aradama.
Yeah! But—huh?!
Now what is it?
I forgot to ask Yukari-sama to have a match with me!
You don't want to have a match with her?
Nope!
Wha?
What made you change your mind?
Well, it's no matter.
You have all overcome a multitude of compatibility tests
and have been chosen as the imperial guard for the living god, Princess Tagitsu!
Each of you are expected to protect the princess even at the cost of your own life!
Yes, ma'am!
Next Episode Aradama Domination