Those are mine!
Hyakkimaru!
Give them back.
Give them back?
You make me laugh!
These were never yours.
We are the ones here to reclaim what is ours.
What?
Hey, easy now!
Don't worry, we'll find a place to run away to.
There, there. I've never seen him act so wildly.
Must be the demon.
We don't know yet.
But we should get the women and children away from the border just in case.
There will be a war anyway.
I'm sick of this.
Being moved here and there.
It's the same wherever we go.
Hey, wait!
Something's not right.
I'll go check. We can run later.
I'll go with you.
Bro...
Those are mine!
No, they aren't.
These are Daigo's eyes now.
And Daigo's limbs.
The land will crumble if they're taken away.
It's already on the verge of collapsing.
Because you broke the contract with the demons.
We have no time left.
We must take all of you for the sake of the people.
We will devour you for Daigo!
This is my body!
Betrayed this world
And it simmers within
Rupturing my innards
Swelling a reddish black
Until the sun burnt skin ruptures
There is a light in the depths of the seething darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
There is a light in the depths of the darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
#23 The story of the demons
Tahomaru! Mutsu and Hyogo, too...
-Bro! -Stop.
You wouldn't last a second out there.
I gotta stop them.
I'm not sure Hyakkimaru would even be able to recognize you now.
The other three are not themselves either.
I know this feeling.
I'm positive of it.
I felt it at the Hall of Hell.
Hall of Hell...
What's that?
It's where the statues of the 12 demons that ate Hyakkimaru are.
Yet...
one of the 12 failed to devour him.
I see. It all makes sense now.
That's why Hyakkimaru lived.
And is now being chased by demons.
They're trying to get back what they failed to eat.
Then why hasn't bro gotten his body parts back for a while now?
What parts are still missing?
His arms and his eyes.
Your answer may lie with those three out there.
The power of demons resides within them now.
It's a terrible struggle over body parts now.
Between Hyakkimaru and the 12th demon.
All because of the contract made by my husband, Daigo Kagemitsu.
This land cannot prosper without Hyakkimaru's sacrifice.
That's why Tahomaru...
But...
Hey!
Somebody catch that horse!
-Hold on! -Stop!
Hyogo!
Hyogo...!
Mutsu! Hyogo!
Out of my way!
Was this horse your...?
Hyogo! Mutsu!
Young Master...
You will create... a land of peace...
No, you mustn't go, no!
Mutsu, Hyogo!
You must be joking, sir.
We would follow you even into the depths of hell.
-Bro... -Hyakkimaru!
Hyakkimaru!
Bro...
Hyakkimaru...
I...
Mother, please stand back.
Tahomaru.
Do you still pity that thing, even now?
It is a curse upon our land.
Stop!
Bro...
A beast it may be, but the bond of mother and child is likewise strong.
Bro...
These are my hands. Mine.
Why does everyone get in my way?
...the body you regain will be stained with human blood.
Will you still be human then?
Human? What is human?
I'm...
A curse upon our land.
No, it's mine! I'm getting it back!
What's so wrong about that?
You won't escape.
He's gotten his arms back, so his reach is longer than before.
Hyakkimaru.
The body you regain will be stained...
But still, I will...!
How can I stop bro?
Well, it may be impossible to stop them until one or the other dies.
Hey, from what I overheard...
this Hyakkimaru guy got his body parts back from the demons, right?
And that's causing disasters in this land.
So what?
Well, you know...
If he gives his body back to the demons...
Say that again!
So now you want to live on eating bro up?
Do you realize what he went through to get his body back?
You've all gone through a lot of tough stuff, too.
But you're fine with making another human go through worse?
You're just like the samurai and the demons, you jerk!
Stop it, we're not saying it's right or anything.
But consider it this way. It's your bro or a whole domain...
-You little...! -Stop it.
But they said that the land is more important than bro.
And it must be true.
How could you...
-You don't care about... -But.
That kind of prosperity.
Peace built upon the sacrifice of one is but fragile.
I understand that painfully well now.
The years of prosperity in our land.
It was thanks to the sacrifice of just one, Hyakkimaru.
We were but chicks being fed by the hen.
We stood here, mouths open, just devouring what was fed to us.
What we do not obtain with our own hands, we cannot protect.
I cannot...
I have not the power to stop my own children.
With our own hands, huh.
We've always had things taken from us by samurai and wars.
But just complaining about samurai and wars doesn't change a thing.
We still end up waiting for the samurai to do something for us.
If we want to protect something...
If there's something we want...
We have to get it like bro is doing.
We have to grab it with our own two hands.
We have to be strong to do that.
We have to become stronger.
I see.
But be careful.
You saw them fighting.
You could turn into a demon as you pursue strength.
Or you could let go of all power and not fight anymore.
That would be the path of Buddha and of mercy.
But either way,
you'll no longer be human.
Lord! Another Asakura army has emerged in the east.
There are about 1,500 of them.
Bring men around from Mitsutoshi's regiment.
We mustn't let them pass, or they'll reach us in no time.
Tell the men to fend them off at whatever cost.
I cannot lose.
If I do, all that's happened this far will amount to a mere dream.
Everything...
I mustn't let that happen.
I, the lord, cannot have made the wrong decision.
Lord!
Young Master is fighting a demon-like boy at the two pines.
They say the fighting was abnormal.
What do you mean, abnormal?
I do not know, sir.
He only has Mutsu and Hyogo with him.
I have no troops I can send to him.
Worry not, Tahomaru is the heir of Daigo.
He will be victorious.
He won't lose to a demon's leftovers.
I shall fight, too.
I will go to defend the east.
Get ready to march!
That's right.
That is how it must be.
Y-Young Master...
Everybody, vacate the castle.
A demon will come any minute now.
Run if you value your lives!
Yes, sir!
No human either way, huh.
Humans can only struggle between the two extremes.
Or maybe that's what makes us human.
You don't know till you try.
You don't stop being human just cuz you're strong.
I know. I've watched bro all this time. It's not about strength. It's about heart.
If you have a good strong heart, you won't become a demon.
That's right. I'm sick of being tossed around by samurai and wars.
We gotta protect what's ours by ourselves.
But how do we obtain that power?
We can think about that later.
We just gotta start now.
So don't give up, bro...
Any last words?
Must be hard to fight indoors with your longer arms now.
Hyakkimaru.
Die in this castle where you were born.
Give them back.
My last missing parts!
Hey, look.
Is that the castle burning?
Has the enemy come?
No, it's probably...
Bro, right?
Hey, stop!
You're going?
I must go.
The ones that are fighting up there are my sons.
I may not be able to do anything,
but I am their mother.
Hyakkimaru.
It is time to do what I must do.
Bro, I think I kind of understand something now.
About what we need to do.
But I can't do it alone.
I need you with me. You have to be there with me.
Let them have your eyes, your arms, your legs, whatever.
If you want eyes, I'll be your eyes. I'll be your limbs. So please...
Don't become a demon!
Don't die!
Bro!
Born into this world
There is no salvation
The distorted shape of the heart
Yet it beats courageously
There is no turning back
Even from the path of evil
Witnessing the withering seasons
We search for the truth
In our ugliness
we don't even recognize the pain
As we peel back the skin
We are forever tormented by our stupidity
But if the dawn never comes
Through the painful night
You who distrusts nothing
You will be able to love this accursed world
Now that we carry the world on our shoulders
It's time to take it back
"Tahomaru"