Chapter Hundred Forty

The Last Lesson

 

 

Abihiko opened his eyes, a frown of agony dissolving into a stunned expression.

"Neko?" His lips barely moved.

He recognized Nekohiko even in this form? Just from hearing his voice, even when Nekohiko was murmuring? Nekohiko's heart panged at the idea -- even more so than seeing Abihiko reduced to such a wreck.

Morokata and Hibiki hadn't maimed or mutilated him. Not yet, at least. Unclear whether they planned to do so later, because, in their place, Nekohiko would have.

Abihiko was dangerous. He was powerful. That he was incapacitated at the moment meant nothing if he was free once again.

Yet the only things those two had done to him were some hideous etchings on Abihiko's chest, arms, legs... running in intricate lines of an array, having been carved into his flesh with a knife so fine, its edge must be as thin as a hair's breadth. But... why?

Nekohiko could not spare too much thought to this. He had to hurry. But even from a quick glimpse, he could not recognize the spell array carved on Abihiko's skin -- or its goal.

An invention of Hibiki's?

Abihiko stirred as though wanting to touch him, and Nekohiko flinched away.

"Shhh. Don't move." He threw at Hibiki a skittish look, then back at Abihiko.

His robes almost didn't cover him. Abihiko's arms and legs were stretched to the four bedposts on the sides, ropes keeping him in place. Yet with all these precautions, Hibiki hadn't Split Abihiko's hands off to prohibit him from casting. Instead, Abihiko's fingers were strapped together by twos to limit their movement and his casting.

An odd choice, but an important one. Nekohiko saw why.

The spell array carved on him. It was crucial that nothing ruined its fine lines -- not even Splitting in the middle of it. Thus, they preferred not to tamper with its design in any way.

Nekohiko would tamper with it on his own, then.

"I have a plan," Nekohiko threw at Abihiko, then hopped over him to the nearest bedpost.

"What plan--"

For the first time, Nekohiko knew what it felt like, to not be able to tell the whole truth to someone he cared about so deeply. Even when their success depended on them both playing their roles to the fullest.

Especially then.

And Abihiko's role was partly to be enraged or horrified with what was going to happen.

Nekohiko's teeth closed over one of the rope binds. He jerked back, ravaging them to his best ability -- which was minimal. Even his sharp bronze talons didn't seem to do much because the rope was reinforced with Binding. It would take him minutes to get through just one bind with physical attacks.

Yet this was how it was meant to be.

Abihiko's arms tensed up, his fingers twitching as though trying to grab Nekohiko and pull him away. "What the hell are you doing," Abihiko whispered, stunned. "Leave me, just run away, are you an idiot? This is the only viable body you have--"

"What. the. fuck."

...

Hibiki didn't sound remotely amused with what he was seeing. And judging by how Abihiko's fingers nearly curled into fists, infuriated by his own helplessness, Abihiko thought this situation a goner, too.

Perfect!

Nekohiko didn't waste his time. He amassed the simplest Nagare burst out of his cat paws and directed at the rope bind. Now that Hibiki already noticed them, why hide his magic from him?

But Hibiki was quicker.

"Oh NO, you do not!" He smashed a powerful wind gust at Nekohiko's small form. That almost toppled Nekohiko off the bed and only didn't because he sank his claws into the mattress.

"Neko, RUN! Please -- leave me!"

"Never," Nekohiko spat, only getting more riled up.

The sight of the disheveled kitty and Abihiko so desperate and exposed on the bed must have been a great pleasure to Hibiki. The maniac's expression was frozen between a mocking sneer and a gleeful feral grin. He spread his arms to his sides, the carving knives in both glinting dully in the lights.

Slowly, he stepped forth, cocking his head to the side as he devoured the scene before him with his eyes.

"Excuse me, what is this--" He chuckled tinnily. He wasn't blinking as though afraid to miss any small detail. "What the fuck is this cat, ha-ha-ha! I can't even comprehend... Your savior, Tree-lover?! My congratulations!"

He was not taking Nekohiko seriously at all.

As he shouldn't.

Abihiko ignored him, thrashing in his binds to try and free himself long enough to push Nekohiko away. The veins popped in his arms and over his neck while the capillaries broke in his eyes once again. "RUN! Please, I beg you -- run!"

"Na-na-na. Stay, Emerald," Hibiki cooed, elated. He beckoned Nekohiko with one of his knives like he would a pet. "Why leave if you're already here? Wanna see what I will do to your hapless boyfriend? I am dying for an audience. And you have been such a bad, bad kitty -- haven't you? Escaping the perfect human body I've given you to dwell instead in this garbage?"

His mood shifted into a deranged one the moment he pointed at the cat.

"I rather prefer this one," Nekohiko told him.

Then he jumped off the bed and tried to make a run for Hibiki as though to attack. He'd done it once before, hadn't he? Killed a Binder with just this insufficient kitty form.

And with how much noise that had made during the Trials, Hibiki had to be aware of that.

"You ingrate."

Nekohiko was fast in his cat form. His talons were razor-sharp and he sliced and slashed with them mercilessly. But only Hibiki's clothes and boots suffered. The smooth porcelain surface underneath merely chimed when Nekohiko's talons made contact with it.

Not that it mattered.

This was solely to amuse Hibiki, to entertain him with the silliness of a cat attacking him -- one of the most ingenious Binders in the Empire. And once Nekohiko made an impression, he rolled out of another of Hibiki's idle kicks and back to the bed.

And once there, Nekohiko threw another destructive burst of energy at Abihiko's binds.

"Furry trash!"

Hibiki deflected the strike once again. But this time, he was getting annoyed rather than giggly. His grin was still splayed on his face, yet he no longer toyed with his knives. He'd stashed them in his working leather apron, freeing his hands for full-on casting.

As though preparing for a real fight.

However, rather than attack, he snapped his hands toward the doors. Nekohiko knew why immediately.

To call reinforcements. To connect through his other dolls with Morokata or the Imperial bodyguards, or who knew what else. Hibiki was endeared by playing with a desperate kitty. But he wasn't dumb.

He knew the kitty housed the mind of the most powerful enemy. He wasn't taking his chances. The thing that had always made Hibiki so invaluable as a Binder in Nekohiko's bodyguard group was that he was very cautious. And bent on survival above everything -- like a cockroach.

Nothing would ever dislodge these two great paradigms in his mind, unless...

Time to switch his tactic.

Rather than try to cast another spell easily outcasted by Hibiki, Nekohiko unleashed his claws. Their fiery bronze shine flashed in the dark for a brief moment. Then he dashed it against Abihiko's body.

Not aiming at the Binds. Aiming at Abihiko's flesh.

Or better to say -- all those careful and precise spell runes incised on the skin. Had it taken Hibiki almost an entire day to make these? Had it?

He succeeded in catching Hibiki's attention with that.

"You--!" Hibiki roared, his voice breaking in utter fury. "You are fucking DEAD!"

Nekohiko didn't even manage to gloat at his triumph. Hibiki's temper flared so fast, Nekohiko only felt the fraction of victoriousness at the realization:

He had managed to get Hibiki out of his cautious, smart mode. And straight into the raging, depraved Hibiki. One that Nekohiko so desperately needed.

A punch of pure condensed energy zoomed at Nekohiko's frail body. The slam was so powerful, it took all breath out of Nekohiko. He flew backward. The opposite wall smashed into his skull with a loud crack, making his sight explode with white.

The pain!

The agony and the loss of control in all his limbs was so severe, he had forgotten what he was supposed to do, at first! All he did was bounce off the wall limply and sag to the floor, twitching with the frenzy of blood and broken bones stabbing his insides at each and every breath.

"Nekoo!!"

Abihiko's cry drenched Nekohiko in the ache of a different sort. A pathetic wheeze came out of Nekohiko's throat, mixed with the broken purr-box as he coughed up blood from the impact.

He shook, lifting his head to see and tell with his eyes to Abihiko -- that this was not for real. That this was the plan. That Abihiko should not worry--

But the boot flying into Nekohiko's small stomach stopped him from even that.

"You! Fucking! Deadmeat scum!" Hibiki raged, landing kick after kick at Nekohiko's paws to maim them forever. Smash. Crack.

Shatter.

Precious wood snapped under Hibiki's heel no harder than pottery.

Nekohiko couldn't even hear him from the bloodrush and dizziness his shattered body was suffering from. "You dare to ruin my work?! You worthless piece of garbage!"

Do not let him win this, Nekohiko reminded himself. Through pain, he had to focus!

Do not allow him to kick you to death in this body!

If he lost this cat, he would truly lose everything. With just a flicker of his mind, Nekohiko took his agony under control. And rather than lose himself in it, he...

...redirected it.

Along with damage.

 

 

---

***

 

With an ear-shattering crack, part of the human doll's body split apart several rooms away. In the quiet and lonesome concubine bedroom where Nekohiko's human body slept.

All the damage Hibiki had inflicted upon the cat channeled right into it.

And wrecked apart one of Nekohiko's human legs.

 

 

---

***

 

It was wasteful, to sacrifice a leg in his human doll form. That body was a masterpiece, truly. Not because it was pleasing to Hibiki's eye -- or to anyone else's. No, solely because it could cast and it could fight. Losing one leg below the knee to save the cat was an unequal exchange.

The cat was nearly useless in fighting and magic.

But this had to be done. Nekohiko knew what he had been going into. He had chosen to sacrifice a leg rather than an arm, and maybe the second leg, too, if Hibiki persisted and didn't realize what was going on sooner.

Yet even knowing what his choices were, it still... hurt. To lose his mobility for this?

Better be worth it.

Most of the wreckage in his cat's body was undone by the mere act of transferring damage and pain. Even his sight and hearing returned in full. Enough to glare up at Hibiki's distorted features in the dusky room. And to grin at him in the closest way a cat could grin like a human.

"Good luck destroying your masterpiece, you moron," Nekohiko told him. "That last kick of yours went directly into my human doll's face, just so you know."

...

Hibiki's eyes were hard to describe.

The horror mixed with disbelief. With betrayal. With ache.

With burning, toxic resentment.

His features twisted into a dark mask. He wanted to swing another brutal kick into Nekohiko's side, but--

He held himself off, realizing that Nekohiko would shift all of his damage to another body. A hue of satisfaction flickered in Hibiki's eyes as he restrained himself.

"Almost forgot that you aren't as useless as I thought you were," he said velvetly. "Learning from the best, I see, Emerald. Stealing my techniques." He whipped his hand back toward Abihiko. "Did that asshole help you do that stupid damage-redirection spell, huh?"

"Leave him be! If you want to punish someone, punish me, you sick fuck!"

But Hibiki ignored Abihiko's insults.

Already, he was cooling down to his usual senses. Going back to his reasonable and cautious mode. Nekohiko could not allow that.

If Hibiki gained back his calm, he would warn someone else about what was happening here now. And if he connected with Morokata or his other dolls before he destroyed this cat's body...

No!

"Guess which other part of my body the next damage will be redirected to!" Nekohiko screamed, snapping Hibiki's attention back to himself.

Rather than waste more of his attacks on Hibiki, Nekohiko cast a destructive Nagare burst at... himself. His casting in cat form always had a quality of failing with how aimless it was, so a potent enough spell could blow up in his paws at any time.

Like right now.

It didn't matter from whom the damage came as long as he could threaten Hibiki's craftsmanship with it. As long as he could dislodge Hibiki's calm.

Hibiki's eyes narrowed. Murderously, he smiled.

"What a nuisance you are when I cannot shut you up," he said. "I will fucking demolish your brain in all your bodies after we're done here. Just so you know. I will leave you a damn comatose vegetable only fit to please people in bed, you stupid tree."

And before Nekohiko managed to finish his spell...

Hibiki snapped his hands, casting a complex sequence. His motions quick and precise as though in a spell he was all too closely familiar with.

Nekohiko didn't know this spell. Another invention of Hibiki's?

Yet he could feel the effects of the spell already taking hold in his body. It was a sort of a dome of power, restricting all flow of Binding energies and Aspects from the small area Hibiki specified.

Like a lid on a pot, shutting off any of Nekohiko's abilities to redirect damage. Or pain.

Or to link his consciousness from the cat and into the other bodies. He knew he still could do it, but it was much harder to do -- as though pushing through a dense film rather than shifting instantly as he usually did.

Gods.

What an incredible, powerful spell.

"Do you think I have not invented a way to counteract my own spell inventions, YOU IDIOT?" Hibiki mocked him, deranged. "How will you like it now when you can't redirect anything, you cat trash?!"

--

The pain would be unimaginable; Nekohiko knew. Even before Hibiki's fist connected with his small cat muzzle. Even before it punched right through the half of his wooden skull, splintering Nekohiko's head with all the enjoyment it gave Hibiki to do.

Nekohiko could no longer redirect the pain or damage. None of his First-rate Aspects could escape Hibiki's vicinity. They were all gathered here, fresh for the massacre.

His soul would survive it, of course. And will be able to return to the remaining bodies afterward. But not before he experienced the full scope of pain and misery the obliteration of the cat would bring.

"Neko!!! NOO! Please--"

Abihiko's cries were drowned out in the squelching noise of Nekohiko's viscera smashed under Hibiki's heel. Once, twice -- dozens of times.

The monster did not just want to kick him till Nekohiko's cat body couldn't convulse in dying throes anymore. He wanted to savor it, too.

He wanted to stomp the life out of the cat body as though punishing Nekohiko for everything that had been going wrong to Hibiki for the past few days.

"Die! Die, you garbage piece of wood! You have a much better body! A perfect body, and you chose -- to -- ruin -- it! With your stupid actions?! You monster!"

Nekohiko's ribs shattered, piercing his lungs. The purr-box gave out, sputtering under the assault. His eyes popped under the assault, giving out. Every last inch of his body trembled and quivered with agonized spasms. Like electricity currents unable to escape into the dim unconsciousness and forced to relive the irrevocable damage to his form hundreds of times as strongly.

...

His cat body was being stomped to death.

Into mulch.

Into nonexistence. His first ever body. The one he hadn't known he had cherished so much before it was too late. Kataji had crafted it from scratch to house Nekohiko's pained soul in. Like a lantern shrine to his undying Spirit. Like a home to something lost and abandoned.

Made to meet such a gruesome and ugly fate.

Yet with it, cracking beautifully under Hibiki's boot -- was the Master Bond Kataji had made. One that Nekohiko had done his best to connect with his other Master Bond just in time before Hibiki caught all of his redirecting spells in a loop here, in this room. Including the one Kotone had helped him make just a day ago.

Hibiki was creative, yes.

And he taught Nekohiko how to abuse that, too.

...

The Master Bond of Morokata's and Hibiki's cracked along, trampled into splinters.

Destroyed in the most epic fashion by its very own maker.

 

 

---

***

 

With how original and inventive this psychopath could be, it was a pity his talents had never gone into anything better than torture. But his creativity was his downfall, too.

He had taught Nekohiko by his example.

When someone so brilliant appeared in the world of Binding, why not learn from the very best?

Nekohiko's consciousness faded inside the cat along with the shattering of his wooden bones, so fragile and small and tender...

But his mind rejoiced.

He felt it, even from afar. The freedom.

Kataji's Master Bond being destroyed in his cat body was like a weight lifted off his soul that he hadn't known he had ever carried in this lithe, swift, and dear body of his. But Morokata's and Hibiki's Master Bond destroyed was like--

--finally plunging into the sky from within a prison. 

It was... delicious.

 

 

---

***

 

Darkness met him again after the cat's destruction. Hibiki's spell of limiting all of the First-rate Aspects still worked in the area.

Nekohiko could not easily flee it even if he wanted. But, seething with the ache of every last bit of damage he'd had to endure while Hibiki wrecked him -- Nekohiko also relished the idea.

You deranged freak, Nekohiko laughed, maddened, in his own mind. You also limited your own mind shifting between your bodies at the same time!

Which meant that, for the time being, Hibiki could not call Morokata or his dolls for help! Neither could his mind flee that room, even if it wanted!

How wonderful.

A few brief moments to keep Morokata away. The best moments, really. Nekohiko's human doll body had no leg now. Even with his endless reserves of Binding power, he had no doubts he would not be as mobile or efficient as he'd been with a whole body.

Still, he laughed.

He... won!!

A cat! He hadn't needed his most powerful body to defeat Hibiki! The cat was enough! A furry dummy made by Hibiki's doll apprentice and powered by Hibiki's most inspired Binding disciple, too!

Nekohiko's inane mind's eye laughter did not sound all that different from Hibiki's by now. Hibiki ended up teaching him much more than creative Binding...

At last, Hibiki was done. He was heaving, tired with the tantrum he'd just had. Sweat and exhaustion colored him fainter than before, but also pleased.

With a relieved sigh, he rolled his shoulders and made a mighty yawn. Only then did he feel ready for more torture of the helpless things at his disposal.

"Go back to your real body," Hibiki spat at the wreckage of Nekohiko's cat. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the spell barrier from around the cat, allowing Nekohiko's mind to go back to wherever he wanted.

Then and only then, Hibiki turned to Abihiko with the most delicious of smirks.

Abihiko's face was that of a man having lost all hope. Which, naturally, pleased Hibiki to no end.

Hibiki kicked the dead bits of the cat's crushed body on the floor -- like a little child would kick his toys.

"Enjoyed the performance?"

...

He will.

Oh, he will, Nekohiko told Hibiki vengefully in his mind.

He was free to come back to any of his other bodies, except--

...

"Why is he talking to Morokata?!" Aomi's voice came through the lightless scopes of Nekohiko's mind, as though pulling him to come to the one body closest to her.

To the ladybug.

...Spirits, Nekohiko realized. I do not have any casting or mobile bodies other than the human doll body.

Only the seashell and the ladybug.

His mind flashed between the bodies as though refusing to believe that this was how few he had left. He wouldn't even be able to redirect damage he would get from now on! Redirect to what?

To a ladybug or the seashell? They would be destroyed from less than a single attacking spell flying at him!

...

"He promised to talk to me first, not to Morokata!" Aomi kept complaining to somebody out of sight.

Nekohiko's mind came to life inside the ladybug, bleary from all the bright lights here. He was still reeling from the dreadful feeling of fading away into nothing as his cat body had died... and already he was being pulled into something going on elsewhere.

But the mention of Morokata...

Was he really here? If the dummy servant had been correct, and Aomi was indeed waiting for her audience with Kataji in Okinaga's mansion, then that would mean...

Morokata was here, too.

Not coming back to Hibiki to help battle with Nekohiko. Not at all.

Ahh... what a relief. Nekohiko almost felt like letting out a moan of "thank you" toward Aomi. This silly annoying girl who had helped him so much today, she didn't even realize!

But he also wanted to warn her. To tell her to get the hell out of here as fast as possible. Morokata being here was not good news for her! Or anyone. Anywhere.

The girl was too busy fidgeting in front of the doors of one of the bigger lounging rooms of Okinaga's mansion. This was the place Kataji, Nekohiko, and Mikawa had drunk tea in the evening, Nekohiko recalled wistfully. A classy yet welcoming place with the lounging couches so roomy and soft.

The doors to the room were closed now. Not letting Aomi inside. The lanterns in the hallway she was in shone so fiercely, Nekohiko's eyes watered just from the few seconds he spent here. Sitting atop Aomi's collar, all he saw around the two of them were mainly...

...some incredibly menacing men standing guard in front of the room. Not menacing in an impressive way, though. More in the way of looking so sleazy and slippery as they eyed Aomi up and down that Nekohiko felt a pang of worry for the girl's proximity to them.

Who were these guards? They weren't dressed in any uniforms. They looked like some random marauders caught on the streets of the chaotic city rather than professionals. They clearly were neither the Hira Binders nor the Imperial soldiers who would have escorted Morokata here. So why were they guarding Kataji's temporary rooms?

This was incredibly suspicious.

As though reading Nekohiko's mind, Aomi tilted her chin and gave the nearest man who was ogling her -- a glare.

"Excuse me, do you have any rights to guard my brother? I am unsure about whose jurisdiction you belong to--"

"His Majesty Morokata's Orders, sweetums," the man told her, smirking greasily.

Nekohiko felt Aomi's cringe as she drew back with distaste. "Sure, why not." She glanced right and left into the hallway anyway as though seeking out any of the real Binders or professional guards and soldiers, but...

Oddly enough, Okinaga's mansion was empty. Apart from this small spot by the doors, every other part of the mansion was dark, all lights snuffed out. The haze of fires on the horizon only highlighted the cataclysmic nature of the situation in the city.

Spirits, how had Aomi walked all the way here! Alone?!

Nekohiko had completely abandoned her! And this poor child had only wanted to see her brothers and find out what had happened to them... No wonder she had sought any audience she could get. Even going so far as to dash across the burning city -- solely to see one of her brothers she could get to.

"Where are the other servants? The ones who let me in just half an hour ago?" Aomi asked, genuinely sounding nervous now. "I--"

Just then, the doors of the lounge room opened. And out of them, came Morokata himself.

But as much as Nekohiko expected him to give Aomi a hard time for being here -- with his politeness and charm and endless manipulations... he didn't. He didn't even spare her a glance as he walked past her stiffly.

Which might have stunned the girl. But really, she seemed to enjoy his company much more than the assortment of the scummy-looking guards who claimed to be his escort. Relieved, she gave Morokata a mocking bow and wanted to greet him.

But she got distracted almost immediately.

"Aomi?" Kataji's voice came over from behind her.

The lounging room was lit up beautifully -- as though no cacophony nor mayhem were going on in the center of the city further away. A tea table, an already prepared set of teas and cups waiting only to be served. And beside the table -- Kataji.

His face still bore the marks of his brief fight with Nekohiko and Abihiko. Bruises, cuts, the faint veneer of barely-suppressed spite... but he looked cleaned-up and well-dressed -- in the somber Hira colors.

Black velvet on lava-red trim. Courteous, he extended his hand to one of the lounging chairs as though in an invitation.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Kataji asked.

And without a single doubt, Aomi rushed into the room. To yell with Morokata or his guards -- the girl was just too happy to see one of her miserable silly brothers. She did not forget to close the doors behind her, though -- with the stares of the creepy men behind them. Yet all her shivers quietened the moment she lay her eyes down on Kataji.

On her alive and healthy and... only slightly bitter older brother.

"Kata!" With a squeal, she ran toward him. Only to be met with Kataji's newfound cool politeness.

"Let us drink the tea first. Then you can 'Kata' me all you like. You traitor." He cut her a smile and sat down, narrowing his eyes only a little. "Do you think I do not know you are on Abihiko's side, through and through?"

...

Oh well.

Nothing Nekohiko wanted to be a part of.

Just a flicker of his attention here sufficed. Aomi was all right. And so was... Kataji.

Well, good. For both of them.

Morokata, on the other hand -- was far away from the Emerald Palace. But it didn't mean he wouldn't come as soon as he could to his best boy Hibiki. Which only meant one thing:

Hurry.

Now.

 

 

---

***

 

 

Nekohiko gasped when he snapped into his human doll body, so harsh coming back into it was. No Master Orders working on it anymore.

Nothing. Only his self, as it had always been.

All the denied feelings of disgust, hatred, resentment, horror, pain, misery... For one whole day, this body had been subjected to tortures of so many sorts yet had not been allowed to fully perceive them, instead swaddling every negative emotion into the blanket of fuzzy happiness.

It did not imply the body hadn't been battered and abused and wrecked, emotionally or mentally or physically.

No.

It had been. Just that the impact of all these various horrors came crashing onto Nekohiko once he was inside it with all the filters of joy, and happiness, and memory erasure canceled out.

He heaved, clutching his chest and bending in half to catch his breath. An urge to vomit, an urge to scream, an urge to cry blended in him, threatening to rip him apart.

But he had no time for that either!

"Hibiki--" he growled, smashing his fist into his own side as though to slap himself out of his desire to curl down and weep.

HIBIKI.

I will murder you.

The last of my traitorous bodyguards.

You have had it coming for a long while, haven't you?

His tears still fell when his gaze swooped past the mangled mess that was his left leg. One he had redirected Hibiki's damage to -- from the cat.

It hadn't felt as frustrating before, when he hadn't seen it. But now he did.

His leg was gone. Not just below the knee. Slightly above it too, almost to his thigh.

ARGHHHHH!!

He wanted to punch something so badly, but first... first, he had to make himself a new leg to not be hobbled.

His hands dashed to his sides, his Binding energy extending far to the corners of the room, needy like claws to clutch anything in his vicinity and pull toward him. Some small bed table and a wooden shelf. Anything he could get a hold of.

He crushed them in his Binding pull just as he drew them to himself. Then, with one fluid motion, he Fused them together. Kind of in a lump of wood -- just enough to support his weight once he attached it to his half-ruined thigh.

The foreign lumber grain felt cold and unpleasant, Bound together with his own wooden core. But he gave it no mind.

He'd had worse things done to him.

And it was time he paid it all back in spades.

 

 

---

***

 

A whole section of the rooms and hallways separating the concubine room from the Imperial bedroom blew out into the air as Nekohiko made his entrance.

Cries and yelps of shock and pain rang through the rooms. Half of the dummies, whether humanoid or not -- were smashed by the impact. The other half froze in shock and fright. They only tried to recoil from him when they saw the source of all the colossal damage done to this part of the Imperial quarters.

Nekohiko.

Marble dust and grit and the traces of Bound energy that had been used in the construction of this place settled down on him, slowly. The last twilight rays of purpling hue cast a halo of glow around him. He squinted up at the dusky sky, opened with his demolition of the walls and the ceiling.

The Palace had already been brought to ruin. What were the Imperial quarters compared to the rest of it?

Nothing.

The sky still glimmered with the protective barrier of the Marital seclusion array which would keep out anyone other than Nekohiko, Abihiko, and the two Hisome monsters who had also forced their way in as though wishing to trap Nekohiko here with them.

Wrong.

Nekohiko was not the one trapped here with them. Neither was Abihiko.

It was the other way around.

"Morokata--" he heard Hibiki's distinct raspy voice from beyond the coughing and heaving on the dust-filled air. Clearly desperate, Hibiki's cries blared into one of the messenger dolls to pass the message to Morokata instantly about what was happening here.

And gods... that particular hue of desperation in Hibiki's voice...

It sounded like music.

Nekohiko charged up both his arms with the most potent combination of Utsuro, Nagare, and Hira -- and rammed straight through the trail of destruction his previous blast had caused.

Toward Hibiki.