Was that the beginning, I wonder?
Was it the end?
My meeting those people.
The time I spent with them.
Something inside me has finished. Something has changed.
That's why... why I must go!
To Kitabayashi... where Mataichi and the others are!
Even if what awaits me there...
is something horrible!
Wanting you to just be near, (to feel your breath upon my ear)
Wishing you would call my name, ('Cause only you can light the flame)
Constantly searching, still can't find
Ever illusive peace of mind
Sometimes it's near, but slips away
And I'm faced with another day
Of wanting you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
...to just be near ('Cause only you can light the flame)
Of wishing you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
...would call my name, to feel your breath upon my ear
Of wanting you...wishing you... (to feel your breath upon my ear)
Call my name, 'cause only you can light the flame
I am the Lady of the Point.
My enmity knows no end.
If you wish to quiet the curse, raise a shrine to me!
Pray for me!
The curse of the Lady of the Point?
Yes, milord. It has everyone, from the maids...
to the head lady-in-waiting, in a panic.
They're wondering if it isn't the ghost of Lady Kaede.
So, the source of this curse...
is my mother, you mean?
Apparently, people are already starting...
to spread rumors in the castle town.
What shall we do?
You may kill them.
Milord?
Maid or lady-in-waiting, I don't care.
None may be spared.
Is that clear, everyone?
Anyone spreading insolent rumors of a curse by the Lady of the Point...
regardless of who they are, shall suffer immediate punishment...
by order of Danjou, lord of the castle!
Milord!
Have mercy!
These women shall be burned at the stake. So...
You people...don't you want a little sample beforehand?
The castle's-- the lord's maids are yours to do with as you please.
The lord has granted his permission for it!
Our shrine!
It's the curse! The curse of the Lady of the Point!
Damn you! Still you say it?!
There is no curse!
Danjou, lord of the castle, so declares it!
What was that?!
That came from the castle's family temple.
This must be...
The curse!
This fief is cursed!
By the Lady of the Point.
Can you not hear it? The enraged voice of the Lady of the Point?
Can you not hear it? The cursed voice which lingers here?
If you hear it, then pray!
Pray to calm her anger.
The Lady of the Point...
resides over there!
Pray! Pray with all your might!
Those who do not pray shall not survive.
But prayer alone will not save you!
Then what should we do?!
Master Exorcist, we beg of you!
If you're serious, then pray with...
the miraculous power of these sutra talismans!
One sheet, a mere 10 or 15 mon, is the source of life itself!
Here. Distribute these to those in the castle as well.
Thank you so much.
I get involved in these things and can't ever back out.
For heaven's sake, isn't that what Mr. Author's always doing?
Guess I'm in no position to criticize him, huh?
Oh? Looks like it worked.
Hmm? Where's Mr. Author?
Say, now that you mention it, when did he...
You don't suppose he...
Ukon...
That samurai was looking for a place to die.
I won't let this place be where he dies!
It's been a while.
You! Shiragiku!
I mean, Tatsuta!
So, you remember me.
You can't escape! What do we do with him, Sis?
He's working with those meddlers in the castle town.
He was safe, yet chose to fly into danger again.
Straight into Lord Danjou's pictures of hell!
I thought so! He's reenacting those atrocity prints!
Reenacting them?
Lord Danjou has no interest in such things.
Look well at these devils.
They're from the first group we brought here.
Some were good people chosen from here.
Good sons, loyal to their parents.
How do you like them now?
Because they want to stay alive, they torture, rape, and kill.
Now they enjoy it more than anything else!
What are you...
Lord Danjou is testing them.
How far can humans fall?
What are they after they can't sink any lower?
At the moment, you can't understand.
But eventually you will.
Stop this!
You'll understand, too! You'll understand, too!
Ukon! You're all right!
Yes. And thanks to that, I was able to see my wife.
Then your wife is still...
She lived because she wasn't due to give birth, as in the picture.
But her heart... Her heart is gone.
Even so, I was able to see my wife again thanks to you. I am grateful.
It wasn't...
Anyway, Master Momosuke...
Iook at that.
Tell me that isn't...
Yes. It is the flame lance.
We have to stop it somehow!
Then, shall I have you lend us a hand, huh?
Ogin?!
Boy, you're so troublesome.
Now listen, don't move until our plan's complete.
Wait here and keep still.
How long?
Not long. So don't get any ideas about saving your wife by yourself.
Ogin... I've felt nothing but fear.
When I saw those pictures and thought the same thing they did.
All I wanted to know is whether or not I've become like them now.
To see with my own eyes...
Mr. Author, you've spent too much time with us.
You've just seen a few too many dirty things.
Don't worry.
No matter what happens, you're still human.
They're all dead!
It's just as the exorcist said!
Pray! Pray!
The day of the curse draws near!
The Lady of the Point's great rage shall strike!
Master Exorcist, we beg of you!
When is the day of the curse? When will this disaster strike?!
On that day, rain will fall.
Rain? Rain, you say?
Yes. A rainy evening upon which...
the cosmic balance of light and dark shall be upset.
It shall surely be a moment of peril.
If you wish to avoid disaster...
then purify your homes and pray to the Buddha!
We have to purify our homes!
Hurry! We have to get home!
Hold it, Mata!
Even we can't whip up rain for one of our operations!
No matter. You feel this wind? We're due for a shower.
I can't ask anymore if the roar of thunder tags along.
I see. Now that you mention it...
The day of the curse?
Yes, milord. Rumors are spreading...
that disaster is doomed to strike on a rainy night.
Even the castle staff are leaving one by one...
and retreating to their homes.
It's the curse! The day of the curse is here!
The day of the curse, just as the exorcist said!
All this... the result of one exorcist's machinations?
Appropriate weather for a disaster, don't you think, Junai?
Y- Yes, milord.
Is the flame lance nearly finished?
Yes, milord! Soon.
Tonight! Tonight we will test fire it.
Pardon me, milord, but I've heard the flame lance...
is so destructive you could overturn the heavens with it.
The test firing should be kept absolutely secret.
Kaburagi, you seem to have misunderstood something.
Milord?
Th- then, you mean...
Lord, it's arrived.
That foreign beast Master Junai asked for.
The foreign beast! The foreign beast!
Wh- What the...
Master Momosuke, could this be...
A reenactment?!
Stop!
Now then, milord, please be satisfied.
It's not often you see a plan like this!
I've changed my mind.
Did you not hear me? You will be devoured, instead.
L- Lord, surely you're not serious!
You both shall be devoured!
Milord!
What's going on?!
To the end, they did not see their own vanity.
Now the girl.
No!
Stop this!
Time to start.
What?!
I am the Lady of the Point.
My enmity knows no end.
Lord Danjou, it's dangerous here. This way!
Sis!
Who are you?!
That's enough mischief out of you, young lady.
When it comes to controlling beasts, I have far more experience than you!
White Hermit! Black Hermit!
After them!
Mataichi!
Master Momosuke! Hurry!
Mataichi!
Shiragiku, soon it will be realized...
the wish you and I share.
All will be consumed in a sea of fire.
No. All will be reduced to an age of darkness.
Yes.
This will incinerate everything.
I can't let you do that!
Mataichi!
You're too late. What can you do at this point?
You think so?
- The waves!
- Dear!
It's a tsunami!
Either way the city falls, the outcome will be the same!
Mata, you can't stop it.
Heh. I'll admit it's difficult.
Mainly because the one who set this all in motion isn't actually human!
Were he human, he'd feel pain in his heart.
But that person isn't actually a person...
am I not correct... Kyogokutei?!
So, you figured it out, Mataichi.
Impressive as always, my trusted agent.
You three casting out the darkness...
in people's hearts, one by one, will not change anything.
It lies far deeper.
There is no limit to its depths.
And so you would have everything swallowed by the darkness?
I'm merely returning things to their original state.
The world as it is now is an illusion.
Within the darkness, there is truth.
Thanks for all your good work!
Really! You did an excellent job!
Now, as for you all...
return to the darkness which spawned you!
Mataichi! Ogin!
Kyogokutei...
the one who will be returning to what he was...is YOU!
What?! What have you...
It was you who underestimated the darkness of the heart!
The darkness of the human heart is blacker than you can imagine...
This fire springs from those you killed!
From the darkness of those you used!
Now, these dark feelings, these bitter thoughts...
Iet them absorb YOU!
Lord Danjou!
The curse!
Burning! It's all burning!
Mataichi!
Mr. Author, it's time to say good-bye.
This may sound conceited...
but the real death spirits here may have been us all along.
Because death comes to all who involve themselves with us.
Mataichi...
You can still go back, Mr. Author.
Please go...
back to where you live.
No, please!
Momosuke...
OGlN!
If I turn here, I'll find Kyogokutei.
Soon, I'll be publishing The 100 Stories, which I've so longed to do.
"Thank you for all your help. "
"Thanks to you, I got my wife back. "
I've spent my days writing of the strange things I've seen from the sidelines.
However...
I couldn't write any more about the time I spent with Mataichi and the others.
I haven't seen them since that final night.
Evil and ambition scatter in the darkness...
Ieaving behind dubious rumors to fly in public.