"Everyone meets death eventually — sooner or later, it makes no difference. But... Sakuko might not be entirely dead."
Watching Hinako Shimizu's grief-stricken face, Amamiya Rin softened his tone. His comforting words eased her emotions, if only a little.
"Not entirely dead... a human host? Ultraseven! Are you planning to become one body and mind with Sakuko — to make her your human host?"
The boy named Shu froze for a moment, his eyes suddenly widening. His voice carried barely restrained excitement as he stared at Amamiya Rin with burning intensity.
"A human host?"
"Really?"
Before Shu had even finished speaking, Hinako Shimizu and Rinko both snapped their eyes up to Amamiya Rin in unison. Their red-rimmed eyes instantly blazed with fervent light — not only the excitement of something lost being regained, but also a trace of the youthful envy and longing every teenager felt toward a Giant of Light.
If Ultraman said someone wasn't entirely dead, the implication was that he intended to revive the deceased.
There were two known ways an Ultraman could bring a human back to life. One was Life Solidification technology — I brought a life with me.
But had the Land of Light developed that technology at this point in time? And besides, Ultraseven was supposedly a civil official of the Land of Light — Stationary Post Observer 340 — who'd come to Earth to chart orbital maps. Would someone like that really bring a spare life along with him?
The other method was far more plausible, more iconic, more orthodox! Sharing one's own life force with an injured human, becoming one body and mind, turning that human into one's own human host.
Which meant their good friend, Igarashi Sakuko, might one day transform into Ultraseven herself!?
The thought stirred a faint thread of jealousy in Shu. After all — transforming into Ultraman! What boy hadn't dreamed of that?
But Igarashi Sakuko, a girl, transforming into Ultraman? Could she even handle it? Did a girl have what it took?
"A human host? I haven't tried that before."
Hearing this, Amamiya Rin's brow twitched slightly. He rested a fingertip lightly against his chin, murmuring thoughtfully.
Could the strange tale he himself had created — Ultraseven — actually seek out a human to form a contract, achieving that bond of one body and mind? He couldn't say for certain, not right now. After all, he wasn't a true Ultraman; he was merely an Ikiryo that had taken on Ultraman's form.
"That said, Sakuko's situation is a special case — or rather, this space itself is a special case. For now, I have no way to become one body and mind with anyone here."
Amamiya Rin shifted the subject.
Even if it were possible in principle, it likely wouldn't work here. Everyone's physical body remained out in the real world — this sacred domain held only their souls and spirits. Without a body to speak of, how could there be any bonding at all?
At his words, the light that had just kindled in the three teenagers' eyes dimmed, like a flame snuffed out by a sudden storm.
Shu parted his lips as if to say something, but in the end only let out a heavy sigh, his face full of helplessness.
Rinko's shoulders slumped too. She turned away sullenly, staring at the moss-covered mud wall beside her, sorrow plain on her face.
"What... what is even happening? Why has our Ebisugaoka turned into this? Sakuko...!"
Hinako Shimizu slowly knelt beside Igarashi Sakuko, carefully reaching out with a still-trembling right hand to gently touch her friend's pale cheek.
The instant her fingertips brushed that cold, lifeless skin, her body shuddered again, a choked sob breaking through her voice.
Hinako Shimizu simply couldn't accept it — that Igarashi Sakuko would die so abruptly, so carelessly, before ever paying back the five hundred yen she'd borrowed.
Amamiya Rin spared little emotion for Igarashi Sakuko, who had already lost her life. He remained utterly composed, sweeping his gaze over the three grieving teenagers before steering the conversation back to what mattered.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to determine right now. Something has clearly gone seriously wrong with Ebisugaoka. Since I entered this village, I haven't seen a single human being besides you three — and that sea of red spider lilies just now was beyond anything I anticipated. You've all been living here in the village. Have you noticed anything unusual?"
"You haven't seen any humans besides us?"
Shu, Rinko, and Hinako Shimizu lifted their heads at that, exchanging bewildered glances, as if unable to make sense of what Amamiya Rin meant.
"I said goodbye to my parents and left home just now."
Rinko said, baffled.
Shu and Hinako Shimizu nodded along. How could there be no one else? They'd walked here straight from their homes, and along the way they'd even heard people talking. To suddenly be told that, in truth, there was no one in the village besides the four of them...
The color drained from all three faces at once, their bodies trembling despite themselves.
It sounded exactly like something out of a ghost story.
"Either Ebisugaoka has suffered some sudden calamity, or the three of you and I have all wandered into some strange, alternate space. Either way, this place is clearly not normal — I think you can understand that much. So please, think carefully."
Amamiya Rin said calmly.
Shu shook his head first, brow furrowed as he racked his memory, his voice full of confusion.
"I don't know. Ebisugaoka shouldn't have anything unusual about it. Ever since the dam project finished, the village has stayed peaceful and calm — nothing's changed, day to day. Until today, everyone's lived the same routine, over and over."
He paused, turning to Hinako Shimizu, who was wiping away her tears. "Hinako, have you noticed anything?"
Hinako Shimizu lifted a hand, wiping her tears with her sleeve. She drew a deep breath, forcing herself calm, and carefully combed through her memories.
In the end, though, she only shook her head weakly.
"No. Ebisugaoka's only so big — every household knows every other. If something really had happened, word would've spread through the whole village already. There'd be no hiding it."
"Could it be... that the Ultra Guard found a monster here in Ebisugaoka?"
Rinko's eyes suddenly lit up, as though something had occurred to her, and curiosity crept into her expression.
"Actually, does the Ultra Guard really exist in the real world? Like on TV — with a dedicated base, fighting monsters and aliens?"
"There's no lead pointing to a monster, but I've received a credible report — the fox spirit this village worships is no benevolent being. It has accepted human sacrifice before. An evil god that demands human lives as offerings must be utterly destroyed."
Rather than answering the question about the Ultra Guard directly, Amamiya Rin let the assumption stand. He shook his head, his expression unchanged.
Even as he spoke, he was rapidly sorting through the clues in his mind.
Shu, Rinko, Igarashi Sakuko, and Hinako Shimizu — all four clearly still perceived themselves as being in high school. This village called Ebisugaoka was, in all likelihood, a mental space woven together from their shared memories.
And that sudden red spider lily curse just now, if his guess was right, had been the fox spirit's power directly intervening in this space.
The thought made Amamiya Rin's frown deepen.
Just how powerful the fox spirit truly was, he had no way of knowing yet. What worried him most was that eerie curse ability. A curse that didn't work through direct confrontation was, if he couldn't understand it, far too difficult to counter.
Even if such a curse couldn't harm him directly, he had no way to stop it from harming others — just like Igarashi Sakuko's death, which had struck without warning, leaving him no chance to save her.
There had been no sign of it at all!
All he'd sensed at the time was a shift in the surrounding atmosphere, and then Igarashi Sakuko's body had suddenly bloomed with red spider lilies... Wait. Why had only Igarashi Sakuko died?
Something clicked in Amamiya Rin's mind. He studied the three teenagers before him thoughtfully.
They'd all been in this same space, all faced the same malice directly — so why had Igarashi Sakuko alone been struck down? Was there something special about Hinako Shimizu, Rinko, and Shu?
Or perhaps Igarashi Sakuko had possessed some singular reason she needed to die.
Amamiya Rin recalled what Igarashi Sakuko had told him back outside, in the real world.
The fox spirit had entered her dreams and threatened her — if she dared serve the sacred tree, it would crush her skull.
Was that the reason? Because Igarashi Sakuko had defied it, had the fox spirit simply killed her — the shrine maiden who'd once served it — both as retribution and as a warning shot aimed at him?
Or was there some other reason entirely?
And why leave Rinko and Shu alive? Was it simply unable to reach them, or was it like most evil gods and ghosts in horror stories — the kind that liked to toy with their victims, killing them off slowly one by one, savoring the struggle of the prey? Too many questions, and no one who actually knew the answers. Even the Brahma-Sound Illusion Art was useless here.
"Human sacrifice? That's impossible!"
While Amamiya Rin was still turning things over, Shu's face filled with shock. He waved his hands rapidly, disbelief thick in his voice.
"Ebisugaoka has worshipped the great fox spirit for centuries! The elders taught us from childhood to revere the fox spirit — we've never once heard of it accepting human sacrifice! That has to be a rumor!"
"A crime against heaven like that wouldn't be put out in the open, naturally. But if I hadn't found solid leads, I wouldn't be standing here in Ebisugaoka at all."
Amamiya Rin lifted his gaze to Shu. His tone remained calm, but carried an unmistakable certainty, and something pointed beneath it.
"Think carefully again. Even without any open sacrificial rites, has nothing strange ever happened here in Ebisugaoka over the years? Has anyone ever gone missing, for instance, without explanation?"
At that, the shock on Shu's face slowly faded, replaced by a thoughtful look.
He couldn't help it — the one making this claim was Ultraman, after all. If it had been anyone else, he might have dismissed it as idle talk, or the work of someone with ill intentions.
But this was Ultraseven! If Ultraseven himself had come all the way to Ebisugaoka, that alone proved the fox spirit the village worshipped was hiding some secret the villagers didn't know. The talk of human sacrifice was probably not baseless after all.
"Human sacrifice, hidden away in the dark?"
"To think something like that could really be happening!"
Not just Shu — Hinako Shimizu and Rinko fell into thought as well.
Like Shu, out of trust in Ultraman, they began thinking on the assumption that everything Amamiya Rin had said was true.
Before long, Rinko was the first to speak, jumping in ahead of the others.
"If I had to say something... there have always been stories passed around this town, the one that worships the great fox spirit. They say anyone disrespectful toward the fox spirit will suffer retribution — even be possessed by it. And here in Ebisugaoka, there's always been this saying too: if a young woman catches the fox spirit's eye and becomes its fox bride, she'll suddenly vanish."
Hinako Shimizu nodded, picking up where Rinko left off. "In the past, whenever a young woman went missing in the village, the elders would comfort her family, saying she'd been chosen by the fox spirit and was surely living a rich, happy life in its palace now. But... I always thought that was just something people said to ease the grief of a family who'd lost someone."
Hinako Shimizu's expression turned uglier still.
She'd never imagined that something this dangerous could exist right here in Ebisugaoka, the place she called home.
"A fox bride?"
Amamiya Rin's gaze flicked to Hinako Shimizu, a flash of understanding crossing his eyes.
It fit!
Every clue clicked together in that instant.
The fox bride, being spirited away, the fox spirit's palace, the Toshiyuki family's sacred domain... Those young women who'd vanished from Ebisugaoka over the years must have been brides just like Hinako Shimizu — forcibly transferred by the fox spirit's power into this Otherworld woven from soul and spirit, made into its offerings.
"Um... I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Shu — Shu Iwai. My family's been the town's apothecaries for generations."
The boy named Shu spoke up hesitantly, once Hinako Shimizu had finished.
Rather than offering up anything of value right away, though, he introduced himself first.
"I'm Rinko Nishida, Sakuko's good friend. If you and Sakuko knew each other, Mr. Ultraseven, did she ever mention me?"
The girl named Rinko added quickly, addressing Amamiya Rin.
"I'm sorry — today was the first time I ever met Igarashi Sakuko."
Amamiya Rin gave Rinko Nishida a small nod. At his words, the hope in her eyes fell away, disappointment plain on her face. Their first meeting — the unspoken implication was that Sakuko had never once mentioned her to Ultraseven.
"My name is Hinako Shimizu."
The teenage Hinako Shimizu offered her own belated introduction.
"My name... just call me Ultraseven, please."
Amamiya Rin answered in kind — though it wasn't his real name, of course.
"Because my family are apothecaries, even if something was kept hidden from everyone else — some strange illness, some bizarre death — it'd be hard to hide it from us. In truth, there have always been people in Ebisugaoka over the years who died strangely after offending the fox spirit."
Shu Iwai's expression grew heavier as he finally returned to the earlier topic, an indescribable heaviness creeping into his voice.
"When I was little, I once saw a corpse. The way it had died was beyond strange. The body was withered, unnaturally thin, as if every drop of blood and flesh had been drained from it — but the top of the skull had burst open like an overripe pomegranate, exposing the hollow cavity inside. Worse still, the inside of the skull was crawling with eggs — crickets, mantises, locusts — and even though it was the dead of winter, those eggs were still alive. Some had already hatched into larvae, slowly crawling out of the corpse's skull. Everyone in the village said the dead man had spoken ill of the great fox spirit and paid the price for it."
When Shu Iwai's words trailed off, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
"Uhh—!"
The color drained visibly from Hinako Shimizu's face. She clapped a hand over her mouth on reflex, brow twisted into a tight knot, shoulders heaving uncontrollably as a strangled retching sound escaped her, her body curling forward slightly.
"Uagh!"
Rinko's reaction was even worse. She pressed her lips shut tight as her stomach churned violently, sour bile rising up her throat. Unable to hold it back, she braced herself against the wall and retched.
"That's... that's so disgusting... how could something that horrible even happen..."
Rinko complained at Shu Iwai even as she gagged.
"Shu! Don't say things that disgusting! You didn't need to go into that much detail!"
Fighting down the urge to gag, Hinako Shimizu's brow furrowed into deep creases as she shot Shu Iwai a fierce glare.
No matter how little she carried herself like a proper girl on most days — hating nothing more than being lectured just for being a woman, hanging around Shu playing games until other girls froze her out — she was still, in the end, a girl.
And here he was, describing something that revolting in such vivid detail right in front of her and Rinko. What on earth was Shu thinking?
Even without laying eyes on the corpse Shu Iwai described, merely hearing his account was enough to conjure horrible images in both girls' minds, triggering a genuine physical wave of nausea.
"Sorry, that was a rough thing to hear. When I actually saw that corpse with my own eyes, I threw up on the spot too."
Watching the two girls' reactions, Shu Iwai belatedly caught on, a trace of guilt crossing his face.
"But if those strange deaths weren't caused by human hands or some bizarre disease, but by an actual curse cast by the fox spirit, then it proves Mr. Ultraseven's right — the fox spirit isn't some deity protecting our village at all. It's a cruel, evil god. It's been using the fox bride legend to spirit young women away and turn them into its offerings."
"Insect eggs — that does fit the profile of a curse from an evil god."
Amamiya Rin's expression didn't change. His gaze fell once more on Igarashi Sakuko's body as he murmured, thoughtful.
Evil gods and demons always favored these sickening methods of killing. Could Igarashi Sakuko's death have worked the same way? Had the fox spirit, from a distance, planted red spider lily seeds inside her body, then forced them into instant bloom with its own power, draining her life force in a single stroke?
Still, this wasn't especially useful information — it only confirmed the fox spirit's guilt.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from within the mist.
The footsteps were strange — a dragging, shuffling unevenness mixed with an eerie stiffness, like a marionette on strings, jarringly loud in the dead-silent air.
Amamiya Rin's gaze turned cold as he traced the sound.
Dozens of meters away, on another dirt path, a stiff figure emerged slowly from the thick fog.
It was a monster with what looked like a woman's body, clothes hanging in tatters. Its flesh looked as if it had been crudely stitched together from mismatched chunks of meat, the skin uneven in color and pitted all over. It moved like a soulless puppet, joints bending stiffly, its waist bent backward at some eighty degrees, its elongated neck twisted out of shape. Its gait was bizarre — limping, halting, yet carrying an unsettling bounce with each step. In its hand it clutched a rust-caked short blade, and it was advancing toward them, one step at a time.
"What is that thing?"
Hinako Shimizu's pupils contracted, her whole body shuddering — but the terror in her eyes gave way to fury.
"Is that the calamity that's struck Ebisugaoka? A creature like that... it must be what killed Sakuko!"
More than fear, what welled up in Hinako Shimizu now was rage and a raw urge to destroy. The desire to avenge Igarashi Sakuko rose within her, filling her with the impulse to smash the thing apart with her own hands.
Shu Iwai immediately pulled the two girls behind him, his eyes locked on the eerie monster while he watched Amamiya Rin from the corner of his eye.
With Ultraseven right there, surely a monster no bigger than an ordinary person would be easy enough to take down?
With that thought, Shu Iwai couldn't even manage to feel properly tense.
Rinko Nishida, on the other hand, went rigid with fear at the sight of the eerie monster. She grabbed tightly onto Shu Iwai's arm, trembling faintly, pressing close against him. Shu tried to pull free, but she gripped too hard, and with the mood as it was, he couldn't bring himself to force it, so he simply let her hold on.
Watching this, Amamiya Rin's expression eased into something almost relaxed.
He wasn't afraid of a powerful, terrifying enemy. What he feared was an enemy that stayed hidden in the shadows, wielding vicious, inscrutable curses that gave him nothing to strike at. In a standoff like this, any enemy that showed itself — strong or weak — became a way to break the deadlock.
"Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."
After a careful look, the puppet-like monster didn't seem like much of a threat. Amamiya Rin glanced back, calling this out to the three behind him, and without waiting for a reply, charged straight at the monster.
He didn't even need to transform, didn't need to draw on the power of light at all. The muscles in Amamiya Rin's legs exploded into motion, and the dirt country road cratered beneath his foot as he launched off it. Like a fired cannon shell, he crossed dozens of meters in the span of an instant and appeared directly in front of the monster.
Startled by his sudden appearance, the monster stiffly raised the short blade in its hand and thrust it toward his chest. Amamiya Rin turned slightly aside, dodging the clumsy strike, and at the same time raised a hand, pressing it firmly onto the monster's shoulder.
He tensed his arm slightly and pressed down, and a terrifying burst of raw force erupted from him. With a sharp crack, the monster's body — from shoulder to waist — snapped clean in two under his hand. Amamiya Rin then gripped the monster by the shoulder, dragging its broken body behind him as he strode quickly back toward Hinako Shimizu and the others, wary that some other monster — or the fox spirit itself — might strike at them the moment his back was turned.
____
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