"Gone? What do you mean? What exactly are you talking about?"
Amatori Biba got up from the ground, his face grim, and asked Inaba Tsukiyo.
"What else could it be? Your goal was to have people lower the drawbridge at Iwato Station, and then have the Kataribe use blood bags to attract Kabaneri to Iwato Station. So, when the drawbridge was lowered, I destroyed it."
Ignoring Amatori Biba's gaze, Inaba Tsukiyo surveyed the room.
The people of Iron Fortress had suffered some injuries, but none were serious.
Shikomorikawa Ayame was also not held hostage; everyone was safely here, except for the Kataribe.
"Your ultimate goal is to attack Kongokaku and take revenge on the Shogun for what happened ten years ago. Iwato Station was your stumbling block to reaching Kongokaku. So you thought you could conquer this stumbling block by force, but you miscalculated."
Inaba Tsukiyo had no interest in Amatori Biba's revenge, nor was she interested in saving the residents of Kongokaku.
It was just that Amatori Biba's plan endangered this world, and he had created uncontrollable weapons, so he absolutely could not be allowed to carry out his final plan.
"If I'm not mistaken, when you made Mumei a Kabaneri, it was also to make her a part of your plan to conquer Kongokaku, wasn't it? It's just that before your plan could be implemented, it was already impossible to complete."
She waved her hand, and the skin on Mumei's face began to peel off, revealing her original youthful face.
Amatori Biba looked at Mumei in disbelief. Although he found the person who stopped him from controlling Iron Fortress familiar, he hadn't recognized her as Mumei.
Mumei had never disobeyed his plans. He had originally thought Mumei had already reached Kongokaku, preparing to coordinate an inside and outside attack with her. But it turned out Mumei hadn't reached Kongokaku at all and was instead opposing him.
"Why? Mumei…"
Amatori Biba asked, his face looking somewhat grim. Mumei's rebellion was completely outside his plans.
Was it because of this person? Was it this person who made Mumei his enemy? Who made her a part of destroying his plan?
"Brother… I'm sorry, Mumei can't do such a thing. So… I must stop you."
Ultimately, Mumei was still very kind. She couldn't commit mass slaughter or do cruel things like Amatori Biba.
"Ultimately, it's because you've been deceiving her. Deceiving her by saying everyone would find happiness, when all your plans were just to make others feel the pain you once felt."
Inaba Tsukiyo interrupted Amatori Biba, who was about to speak further, and approached him with her short dagger.
"The day the station where Mumei lived was overrun by Kabaneri, you just happened to appear and save her. Those Kabaneri were probably attracted by you, weren't they?"
"…"
Amatori Biba didn't answer, but Inaba Tsukiyo already knew his answer.
"You… you killed my mother!"
Although Amatori Biba didn't directly cause Mumei's mother's death, the Kabaneri at that time were let in by Amatori Biba. He was the culprit.
Suddenly, Amatori Biba's foot hooked the kunai that had fallen to the ground, and he attacked Inaba Tsukiyo with all his might.
He was just one step away from completing his revenge. After so many years, he absolutely would not miss this opportunity.
"Naive fool… Kneel!"
Ten times the force of gravity pressed down on Amatori Biba, forcing him to his knees.
Under ten times the gravity, an ordinary human's internal organs would rupture if they tried to move.
But Amatori Biba's Kabaneri physique allowed him to move slowly, though his movements were so sluggish that he couldn't launch any effective attacks.
"What do you think you can still do? Your subordinates are dead, and even your Kurenai Castle has been destroyed by me. The power of revenge you spent so many years creating is lost. Do you think you alone can contend with all the forces of Kongokaku? Don't delude yourself."
"Now, it's time for you to pay the price. It would be too much of a waste to kill you here. I will let you meet someone—the one you hate, the one you want to tear to pieces."
"Before that, I'm going to take something from you."
With that, the short dagger in her hand pierced Amatori Biba's heart, which symbolized him as a Kabaneri, transforming him back into an ordinary human.
Without the powerful physique of a Kabaneri, Amatori Biba could at most be considered a skilled samurai.
With his internal organs injured, Amatori Biba was incapable of any resistance. Even the samurai of Iron Fortress could imprison him.
The samurai of Iron Fortress apprehended Amatori Biba. Shikomorikawa Ayame ordered her samurai to enter Iwato Station to search for survivors, and Mumei went with them.
Inaba Tsukiyo did not go with the samurai. She went outside the gate of Iwato Station, near the destroyed Kurenai Castle.
Kurenai Castle had been completely destroyed; repairing it was utterly impossible.
Inaba Tsukiyo wasn't concerned about the train; she was concerned about what was inside Kurenai Castle.
She remembered seeing a heart emitting a blue light in the carriage containing Kabaneri when she first entered Kurenai Castle.
That heart was somewhat special, and it was highly probable that the component used to turn Kabaneri into Nue was derived from that heart.
She just didn't know if her attack had destroyed that heart.
To find this heart, Inaba Tsukiyo searched through the ruins for a while before finally locating it.
Although it had suffered some impact, the heart's outer membrane protected it.
The first time she saw this heart, she hadn't noticed its peculiarity, but upon seeing it again, she realized there was a power enveloped within it.
Inaba Tsukiyo was very familiar with the special power inside the heart; she had, after all, bathed in a heart before. How could she not be familiar with it?
After violently destroying the membrane of the heart, Inaba Tsukiyo held it, and could still feel it beating through touch, which sent a shiver down her spine.
She only needed the ability within the heart; as for what the heart was actually for, she didn't care.
Placing both hands on either side of the heart, her eyes narrowed, and she exerted force with both hands.
[Magic Bullet]
Starting from her waist, a spiral force traveled from her waist to her wrists, delivering an explosive attack as her upper arms rotated inward.
Under the attack of a double [Magic Bullet], the heart directly burst, and the energy within, freed from the heart's confinement, leaked out.
Just as the energy was about to escape, a strong suction pulled the cluster of energy into Inaba Tsukiyo's hands.
The energy seemed to possess a will of its own, desperately trying to escape Inaba Tsukiyo's grasp, but without a container, it could do nothing.
The mutual attraction of two energy streams caused this cluster of energy to be uncontrollably absorbed into her body.
The moment the energy entered her body, Inaba Tsukiyo's eyes widened, and her body uncontrollably flew into the sky, beginning to transform.
First, the yellow heart, a symbol of a Kabaneri, appeared from within her body, followed by the gray armor of a [Nue] appearing on her.
This energy represented the power of the Kabaneri in this world. The power of the Kabaneri could be controlled, but to evolve this power, one must first become a [Kabaneri], and then, upon becoming a [Nue], make this power their own.
By perfectly controlling this power, the exposed heart would return to her body, and the gray armor on her would also disappear.
This state lasted for over a minute, until Inaba Tsukiyo completely absorbed this power. She remained in an uncontrollable state, only able to allow her body to accept the change.
Inaba Tsukiyo looked at her hands; her body, already strengthened by the Herrscher's power, had been further enhanced, evolving once again in a non-human direction.
Although it wasn't visible from the outside, her skin had become incredibly tough; unless she willed it, only special bullets could injure her.
"Now, I should be able to call myself the [Queen of Nue]."
Even Amatori Biba, who had extensively researched the [Nue], ultimately failed to allow his people to fully control this power.
Every experiment ended either with them becoming a [Biba Gattai] or transforming into uncontrollable monsters, annihilating all nearby humans.
Inaba Tsukiyo was different from these individuals; not only was her physique incomparable to theirs, but her mental fortitude also surpassed them.
Although she experienced a moment of losing control during the transformation, it was only for a brief moment before she quickly returned to normal.
"This power... never mind, I won't eliminate it. It's already fully integrated, and my heart is fine."
She pulled open her collar and checked the location of her heart, and seeing no glowing heart, she finally relaxed.
After dealing with Amatori Biba's problem, the next task was how to save this world.
Kabaneri still existed in this world, and the world's technology still had much room for improvement. At the very least, she needed to restore peace to this world before alaya sent the departure notification.
To achieve this goal, the help of Kongokaku was needed, as the Shogun of the Bakufu resided there.
Ten years ago, the Shogun of the Bakufu chose to remain in his territory and not actively eliminate the Kabaneri, which is why Amatori Biba harbored resentment.
Amatori Biba was one of those who chose to actively fight the Kabaneri, leading an army of 300,000 to battle them.
But at a critical moment, they received no backup, and even food supplies didn't arrive in time, leading to the near-total annihilation of 300,000 people, with only Amatori Biba remaining.
If that individual intended to use the same methods against her as they did against Amatori Biba, then she wouldn't hesitate to depose them and make Shikomorikawa Ayame the new Shogun.
Shikomorikawa Ayame had grown considerably; though still a bit naive, she could be considered an excellent leader.
"Next... there's still a lot to do."
I want a swimsuit ahoge! A swimsuit bear child!
Why won't it come out!
Though I am a zero-spender.
Note:
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!
I wish you all a year filled with blessings, success, good fortune, and happiness!
Important Announcement:
I will be on Lunar New Year holiday starting February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I will focus on resting and spending time with my family.
During my break, I will prepare some new chapters, which I will post regularly after the holiday ends. Please stay tuned — the following parts are very interesting!
Thank you so much for your incredible support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!