Nanoka...
There was so much more I wanted to teach you.
Mao?
Mao?!
Mao!
Mao... Hey! No!
Don't leave me!
I don't know anything!
I can't do anything by myself.
Please... Come on, Mao!
No... Don't die!
No! No! No!
Nooo!
Maooo!
Huh?
What's... happening...?!
I feel dizzy.
Master Mao's wound...
is healing.
Na... noka...
It seems your blood...
somehow kept me alive.
So that's what happened...
My blood...
is just like Mao's...
Cursed by the Byoki.
But I'm just glad... Mao is still alive.
I'm up against a senior apprentice who is a Water sorcerer.
Water is everywhere around us.
Could they be watching me through the water?
If that's the case...
I shall take you to Kyoto.
Why not come in person?
What's keeping them from leaving Kyoto?
My precious son and heir...
fell gravely ill and even the doctors gave up on him.
Just when I was at my wit's end, I heard the rumors about you.
I realized an onmyoji of the Goko Clan was my last hope...
I'll pay whatever it takes.
Preserving life is the duty of the Goko Clan.
SHIRANUI
I shall save your son.
Please, put your mind at ease.
Ahh... What a truly divine presence.
Master Shiranui...
Nothing's showing up in the water mirror anymore.
What? You failed again?
You shikigami...
are so useless.
Mao...
I can't wait to see you again.
WATER SORCERER
Where are we going today, Master?
We're going to see how things are going at Northern Beach.
Northern Beach...
MAO
That is where the Water sorcerers train.
MASTER OF THE GOKO CLAN
Yes.
Mao, it will be good for you to observe them.
Yes, Master.
That's amazing!
Oh... Master...
Master...
Who cast that spell?!
The caster was Masago?
MASAGO
A woman?!
Well done, Masago.
You don't look familiar.
Your name is Mao?
Yes. I only recently arrived at the compound.
I see...
And yet,
you've already been permitted to accompany Master on his rounds.
Get out while you can.
What...?
If you stay here long enough, you'll understand why.
Idiot!
You have no talent!
Just quit!
Forgive me, Master!
This is a cruel place.
Among the Water sorcerers,
HYAKKA
Masago was the most powerful, wasn't she?
You think so as well, Hyakka?
Yeah.
NANOKA KIBA
She was a woman, but...
if anyone was worthy of being summoned to the Goshikido,
there was no sorcerer greater than Masago.
But somehow, the way I'm being attacked now
doesn't fit with the Masago I knew.
Maybe living for hundreds of years changes a person?
Alright, eat up!
Why udon?
It's my next gig.
The show I used to perform in was all based on fire.
But that doesn't go over well these days.
OTOYA
People are still traumatized by the earthquake and the fires, after all.
In that case...
Thank you for the food.
Dig in! Tell me how it tastes.
Hey, when are you going to start eating?!
I'm like a cat, I can't handle hot food.
Good grief, you're such a slowpoke.
You, too, Mao?!
Give me a moment.
They gained access to a wealthy family whose daughter was near death
and convinced them they could prolong her life.
KAMON
But it was almost disappointingly easy to connect the dots.
Claiming to be a member of the Goko Clan,
they were peddling their crude spells to the upper class.
That person is probably a Water sorcerer.
If that's true, could it be...
Masago?!
Master Shiranui.
A visitor has appeared in the water mirror.
This fellow...
Just as Master said...
Whoever survives the battle of deadly curses
and is the last one standing, is the true successor.
But Mao, the sacrifice, was still alive.
And also...
Kamon, why are you still alive?
Well, that's what I'd like to know.
Welcome! Thank you for coming.
Mr. Kuchinawa... Is that what they call you?
It isn't Masago.
What's with that look?
Mr. Kuchinawa, you're...
Kamon, aren't you?
What a fool...
To think you'd walk right into my trap.
Who are...
you again?
If you don't remember, that's fine by me.
Just to let you know...
The killing...
isn't over yet!
Could it be that guy?!
Kamon, I'd like some medicinal herbs that will stop bleeding.
Did you injure yourself, Masago?
They're not for me.
One of the junior apprentices pushed himself too hard during training.
My apologies, Miss Masago.
That's what happens when someone tries to use spells
beyond their abilities.
It seems he's been secretly watching my techniques
and trying to imitate them.
Then expel him.
I'm afraid I can't do that.
Masago was always looking after that hopeless junior apprentice...
What was his name?
I remember now. It's...
Shiranui.
So, Shiranui...
The fact that you're alive in this era could only mean...
You were...
summoned to the Goshikido?
Why you?
If anyone was going to be summoned, it should've been Masago.
You were completely hopeless back then.
I'm not who I was back then.
No, you haven't changed.
Even now,
all you can manage are half-baked life-extension spells.
And on top of that,
you're going around using the name of the Goko Clan.
Shut up!
Die.
BENIKO
Master Kamon...
Were you injured?
I paid him back twice over, though.
But what is up with Shiranui's legs?
Damn it! I failed to kill him.
What do you say, big brother?
Instead of staying cooped up inside this barrier,
YURAKO
why don't we go to the Imperial Capital?
If only it were that simple.
It is.
There are powerful people everywhere who don't want to die.
And besides...
I want to see Mao, too.
The Mao I saw in the water mirror
has changed since those days...
but I want to see Mao again.
FIFTH STREET SHOPPING
I came back to this side...
But if he gets attacked like that again...
It seems your blood...
somehow kept me alive.
Maybe, I should stay by his side all the time.
No... no... Am I some kind of blood bank?
I don't want our relationship to be like that.
BYOKI
What's Otoya up to?
He's creating a new kodoku pot.
The kodoku pot that sustained my life until now...
was destroyed...
It was a prized concoction Otoya spent centuries cultivating, but...
Sounds like a secret sauce.
I have to keep adding to it...
And it will take forty-nine days for the first kodoku to be ready.
Will your body be alright until then, Master Mao?
For the time being, yes.
If anything,
ever since then...
After Nanoka's blood flowed into me
and my wounds healed...
Na... noka...
I've been overflowing with strength.
Is it because our blood shares the same curse of the Byoki?
FUNA UOZUMI
Oh dear...
Mao gave me these protective stones.
He said they would protect me from evil.
She forgot to wear them...
Miss Nanoka...!
The Byo... ki...
I found... you...
No... How?!
Unless it reclaims the body that fused with Mao,
the Byoki shouldn't be able to transfer itself into me
as its new vessel.
So then why?!
What does it want from me?!
Help!
Help me, Mao!
SHIRAHA
Nanoka?
Huh?
I think I'm safe now...
I'll head home.
Nanoka.
My body... won't move!
You can still turn back now...
If you continue to give yourself to Mao...
you will...
Uozumi!
Are you alright?
It's gone...
It appears that the Byoki's wounds still haven't healed.
Because of that, I was able to cut through its barrier.
Thank you... Uozumi...
Miss Nanoka...
I...was so afraid...
What did it do to you?
Nothing.
But...
If you continue to give yourself to Mao...
you will...
What...
does that mean?!
So, Mao... What's the plan from here?
Are you going to Kyoto to kill that senior apprentice
who's a Water sorcerer?
Well... I'm not interested in killing...
But, I do want answers...
That day, when the compound burned down...
What really happened that day?
Did I really kill Lady Sana?
Answers?!
Hey, they came to kill you!
You've always been such a softie.
Ahh, I'm exhausted.
Mao, mind if I crash here?
What?
Kamon...
NEXT TIME
I have to let Mao know that I encountered the Byoki.
Why did the Byoki appear before Nanoka to warn her?
I went to the mansion...
But...
a family I had never seen before was living there...
and they politely turned me away.
What was Lady Sana like?
For you.
Merry Christmas!
I have something for you, too.
Next time: Byoki