Thank You, Your World

The moment the two woke up, they shouted their daughter's name.  ✋👽

"Yakumo! Yakumo!"

"Uh, what happened? Where's Yakumo? Kurenai, why are you here? And why are you hurt?"

Kurenai stepped forward and explained what had happened. Then she asked them to think about where Yakumo Kurama might appear.

"So this place is actually Yakumo's illusion? We understand. Come with us! Yakumo likes to paint in one particular spot."

Everyone followed them, heading deeper and deeper into the streets.

By then, they had realized that the path they had entered through was gone.

They had no choice but to keep going. Yakumo's parents led everyone around the Kurama compound and up to a small hillside.

On the hillside, Yakumo Kurama was painting in front of an easel, making one change after another to her work.

A closer look showed that the painting depicted the place they had been earlier, but by now it had been completely painted over and erased.

Everyone turned to look back, only to find that the place they had come from was gone.

The only thing left in the entire world was this small hillside.

"Yakumo! Yakumo!"

Yakumo Kurama's parents called out to her with all their might, but she didn't react.

Everyone cautiously moved a little closer. After what had happened before, Kimura Takuya and the others weren't about to rush in.

"You're all here to kill me! I'll kill you!"

"That's a monster, not Yakumo Kurama!"

Kimura Takuya pulled Yakumo's parents behind him.

The monster's presence felt strange. Why was it somewhat similar to his own?

Before he could think it through, the monster raised its hand and wiped across the easel. Everyone's legs disappeared.

"My legs! I can't feel them anymore. What's going on?"

Yamanaka Muku cried out. Not only were his legs gone, his Soul Energy had also been weakened.

Meanwhile, the monster was growing stronger.

It wiped across the easel again, and everyone's bodies disappeared.

The monster's presence grew stronger once more, and the similar energy it shared with Kimura Takuya intensified as well.

Kimura Takuya's eyes flickered.

Something's strange.

Then he cautiously restored his own body.

The monster erased it again, but its presence didn't grow any stronger.

He also restored Kurenai Yuhi, who was beside him.

The monster erased Kurenai Yuhi's body once more.

The similar energy in the monster grew stronger too.

Seeing this, Kimura Takuya gave a cold laugh.

"Heh, you've got quite a scheme there."

"Takuya, what are you talking about? Hurry and save us!"

"Yeah, Takuya, save us! We're about to disappear!"

Kimura Takuya didn't budge. He only cursed himself for being an idiot and taking this long to figure it out.

He closed his eyes and focused on his soul.

His soul was unharmed, with no sign of having been erased.

It looked as though his body was gone, but in reality, nothing had changed.

He was simply invisible in this world. His soul hadn't actually been erased.

"Takuya, save us! Please, save us!"

"Use your Soul Healing Technique to heal us!"

"Heh, heal your ass!"

Kimura Takuya swore loudly. His figure appeared in an instant, a Kunai in each hand.

He wildly stabbed the heads of the four people around him whose bodies had disappeared—just like a brat popping balloons. Kurenai Yuhi, Yamanaka Muku, and Yakumo's parents.

There were four heads, and Kimura Takuya stabbed each of them twice.

In the blink of an eye, he had killed them all!

"Ah!"

The scream came from the monster!

"Ah! Impossible! This is my world. How can you hurt me?"

"Heh, your world's so damn impressive, huh? It can't affect me at all. You can only use those fakes to trick a little power out of me. You really thought you were something, didn't you?"

The monster sprang to its feet in terror and turned to face Kimura Takuya.

"When did you figure it out?"

"Your greed gave you away. You absorbed the energy I used to heal that fake Kurenai Yuhi too soon."

"Then you absorbed the power of those fakes right in front of me. You even pretended to erase their bodies, making me think you were absorbing the souls you'd erased."

"But your own presence didn't change at all."

"The only energy growing stronger inside you was mine! You underestimated how sensitive I am to Soul Energy."

"Even though you suddenly blocked my ability to sense things, you couldn't block my awareness of my own Soul Energy."

"You kicked Kurenai Yuhi and Yamanaka Muku out of the illusion when I'd just come out of the burning building after rescuing everyone, didn't you?"

"So what if you guessed right? This is my world! I'm invincible!"

The monster's expression suddenly froze. It looked as if it had been constipated for ten years, straining for ages without saying a word until its face turned red.

Kimura Takuya walked over to the monster. Seeing it panic, he couldn't help laughing.

"Hahahaha! Can you feel that you can't get away?"

"Your world?"

"You're invincible?"

"Then why do you run whenever you see me?"

"You can't get away now, can you?"

"You've eaten too much, haven't you?"

"You think you can just take my power?"

With every sentence, Kimura Takuya stabbed the monster once. After seven or eight stabs, he killed it outright.

Looking at the monster's resentful eyes, Kimura Takuya sneered.

"Heh, confused? Wondering why you died? You're a soul. How could I stab you to death? Something that can save lives can also take them sometimes. I told you, you were too greedy!"

He struck off its head with one slash!

The monster's body instantly dissolved into a cloud of energy. Kimura Takuya took a deep breath and absorbed all of the energy it left behind.

The moment he absorbed it, Kimura Takuya felt his soul grow stronger.

He also seemed to gain control over everything in this world.

He could tell that his control over this world was far greater than the monster's!

Kimura Takuya raised his hand and swept it across the sky. The dark clouds parted, revealing the morning sun, which shone down on the ground beneath his feet.

Then he spread his hands to either side, and the sunlight widened with his gesture.

At the same time, the land stretched endlessly, and mountains, rivers, and streams appeared across it.

The emptiness around them suddenly opened up into a vast world.

Sunlight bathed the land as flowers, birds, insects, and fish frolicked.

Life thrived, and spring was in the air.

Kimura Takuya spread his arms and faced the sky, feeling the warmth of the morning sun.

He took a deep breath, savoring the fragrance of the flowers and grass in the air.

"Now this is a damn world!"

Meanwhile, in the real world.

Lying on the bed, Yakumo Kurama's lips lifted slightly, and the tip of her nose twitched.

It was as if she could smell something. Then tears of emotion rolled down her cheeks.

On the bed nearby, Yakumo's parents, Kurenai Yuhi, and Yamanaka Muku had already woken up.

But with all five senses cut off, they couldn't truly wake.

In the real world, Kimura Takuya opened his eyes. He finally understood.

The illusion was Yakumo Kurama herself. Overwhelmed by the immense pressure, she had fled to the deepest part of the illusion.

Like a child hiding under the covers during a thunderstorm.

The monster, meanwhile, was only a destructive impulse born of her fear—a mere thought.

That was why, in the original story, when Yakumo faced her fear, she could destroy the monster with a casual gesture.

All Kimura Takuya had done was draw back the curtains and let the sunlight in.

He had shown her that the storm had passed.

As expected, Yakumo's true self finally appeared beside him, while her parents had been with her the whole time.

No wonder she had no memory of what had happened that day in the original story.

Kimura Takuya brought them back to the real world.

He got up and restored everyone's five senses.

Then he explained everything.

Yakumo's parents promised her they wouldn't put her under so much pressure again. Smiling, Yakumo embraced them.

Then she came over and hugged him tightly.

"Takuya-kun. Thank you, your world!"

Everyone was delighted that everything had worked out so perfectly.

Only Kurama Unkai quietly slipped away from the crowd, intending to leave without anyone noticing.