All of a sudden, Narukawa extended his arms out wide toward the heavens and called out.
"Soul of the light of heaven and earth, light of the moon, come here to me, Tsukuyomi!"
Feed turned around in shock.
"So you've finally lost it." Isma also stopped the giant serpent, its mouth wide open and ready to swallow Nakajima, and turned to stare at Narukawa.
But the rumbling of the heavens and the earth that started the next instant wiped the sneering grin off his face.
The sky is falling, Nakajima thought as he looked up.
The stars in the sky, which were shining far more than usual, became a single band of light and shot down toward Narukawa, leaving a streaking tail behind it. Or at the very least, that was what it looked like to Nakajima.
"Mr. Narukawa..."
But it was no longer Narukawa that was standing up to fight the demon, but his identity in his former life, that of the moon god Tsukuyomi. Not waiting a moment, he threw the light that was gathered around his right hand at the enormous snake.
GYAAAAAGH!
Like a laser scalpel, the arrow of light split Typhon's body in two down the middle. As Isma tumbled to the ground, Narukawa showed no mercy as he launched another attack on him. With no time to even cast a defensive spell, in an instant Isma was wreathed in flames, and screaming in anger and pain, attempted to grab Narukawa as he crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
The sight reminding him of the death of his mother, Nakajima shrank back as a sudden shock ran down his spine. The air around him suddenly compressed, and a surge capable of freezing body and mind alike shot through the ground.
At last, Set had decided to fight directly.
The surface of his protoplasmic membrane rippled, and as the tower of flesh undulated, it came over Narukawa's head like a tsunami. Not retreating a step, Narukawa fired an arrow of light at the fleshy pillar, which stabbed deep into it with a slimy sound. But that appeared to have done no damage to Set whatsoever.
"Hurry! Hurry and escape with Nakajima! Hurry, while I hold him off! He is an important warrior!" Narukawa cried out to Feed.
"...OK. Good luck!" Nodding regretfully, Feed smacked Nakajima in the back of the head with his pistol as he tried to run and help Narukawa.
"Kerberos, run!" Putting Nakajima's unconscious body on Kerberos' back with surprising speed for a man of his age, Feed leapt up onto the beast after him.
"Forgive me, Narukawa." As if in response to the tear-choked cry, volleys of light beams fired into Set's body again and again. But they soon became less and less frequent, and the Soga Forest was again surrounded in an eerie silence. The fleshy pillar writhed into the sky triumphantly, and increased the speed at which it fused the demon and human worlds together. In the center of that protoplasmic mass, Yumiko, tied to the Egyptian cross, cried tears of blood.
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5 comments:
Whew, finally got all caught up. I really like how this book is moving compared to the first. It's too bad it didn't earn an OVA as well. Good work as always!
Also random fact I just learned... apparently the guy that wrote the initial 3 made another series called "New Digital Devil Story" that spans six books. Anyone know any info on it?
I gather that it's a semi-sequel to the original DDS series, except the hero/heroine are reincarnations of two of three of Izanami and Izanagi's most important kids Amaterasu and Susanoo. (Tsukuyomi having apparently snuffed it in this chapter)
Other than that I know practically nothing about it.
Uh oh, I got 9 chapters of catching up to do... better get on it.
The Set mass suicide chapter happened to be the first one under my belt, so hopefully it will spur me through the rest before dawn.
Finally a chapter more than a casual framing of what was or what will be.
The chapter did not confirm the amoeba was Set, nor whether or not the crucifiee is the disappeared heroine. Can anyone confirm / deny this? Or is that a plot device.
Masakado: Is there any chance you could post on the relevance between the illustrations and chapters?
Wow, that was... certainly a lot. Nevermind that Typhon got one-shotted --- Isma is dead!
And Narukawa/Tsukuyomi may be dead as well, or at least captured much like Yumiko is!
What is this second book about? So far, I would say it's about Nakajima dealing with his sin,
of being a dark mage who summoned a demon to make a contract with. So far, the first 2/3
have been about him dealing with Ohara, a direct victim of his actions, and Isma, who is but
a twisted version of Nakajima - who Nakajima would have become, had he not met Yumiko.
Sacrificing thousands of innocent people, using a demon's power to try and rule the world...
The first third ended with Ohara dying, the second third with Isma dying... and now only Set is left.
But in a way, isn't this setup the same the first book had? Taking down a demon to save Yumiko.
I wonder if Shimazaki (and Ota?) will be able to bridge the gap and make things interesting, with
their selfishness. I would still like Nakajima to confront his own, more than Isma made him do.
In a way, when Isma burns to death and Nakajima sees him, it's a senior mage
being made an example to a novice mage of what fate awaits those like them.
When it comes to Narukawa, we didn't get any one on one scenes with Nakajima.
It would have been cool to have gotten a couple, to make them have a certain relationship.
Even the relationship between Tsukuyom and Izanagi/Izanami (the latter the former's parents)
is left unexplored. Of course, this can still be developed in the coming chapters, and I hope it is.
A couple of extra things.
It is ironic how all the actions Isma took led to him obtaining what he wanted this chapter: enough Magnetite to summon Set. He sent out Ohara, and the Magnetite-loaded reincarnation of Izanami, Yumiko, was captured. Now, due to all the people he lured and sacrificed, the Magnetite-loaded reincarnation of Tsukuyomi, Narukawa, was captured. And yet he still died due to an unexpected factor - that is how uncertain and dangerous things always are for a mage, even an experienced one.
At first, one thinks "Narukawa sacrificed himself by staying behind." But, if you ponder on it, he was dead since he transformed. Remember how on book 1 Yumiko died as a result of channeling Izanami's power, and after being revived she was taken to train under her, to be able to wield her power without dying? Here, Narukawa, without any previous training, full on transformed. There is no way he could have survived it, even if he had escaped.
Finally, I'm not sure if Set has been described as a serpent at any point. At least I have that image of him, since all his underlings have been serpents. I think a tower of flesh that suddenly falls on someone to attack them sounds a lot like the body he built to materialize resembles a snake. A single, limbless extension.
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