Previous | Back to Rg Veda Page | Next

Rg Veda IX

Here's Tomo's Synopsis for volume 9

1. Jikoku-ten Appears
Han-ranya (Taishakuten's Stargazer) was following the battle between Koumoku-ten and Yasha-oh with her "water-mirror", and sees Koumoku-ten die.

It turns out that Han-ranya and Kuyoh (the previous emperor's Stargazer) were twins (so many of them in RG Veda!). There have always been only one Stargazer at a time in any era, but because Han-ranya wanted to help Taishaku-ten, she burned her eyes out to obtain Stargazing powers equal to that of her sister. She wants to protect Taishaku-ten, and prove her sister's final prophecy wrong.

At the palace court, Taishaku-ten annouces that the Six Stars are coming to destroy him, and also that Koumoku-ten has been killed (Koumoku-ten's daughter goes into hysterics over this news).

He then finally introduces Jikoku-ten (the shogun of the East) - it is Kendappa-oh. She had become the new Jikoku-ten after her father, the previous Jikoku-ten, had been killed by Taishaku-ten during the 'Seisen' (only Taishaku-ten and Bishamon-ten knew about this succession). She is the most powerful of the shiten-nohs; so powerful is she that she herself is also the Bushin-shoh of the East. Her harp had contained her sword all along. (Remember in the short story in Vol. 8, she tells Tennoh that her harp 'is not only for making beautiful music'?)

When Taishaku-ten tells Kendappa-oh that the time had come for her to fight as Jikoku-ten, he asks whether she can kill Yasha-oh, with whom she'd been friends since they were kids. She says "I like strong people, but I enjoy fighting strong people even more," so he tells her to "show off your sword-wielding skills and entertain me".

Taishaku-ten orders Zouchou-ten to fight Kendappa-oh so she can prove to everyone that she deserves to be Jikoku-ten. She IS strong; Zouchou-ten realizes that if he doesn't fight with all his strength, she will kill him. Kissho-ten can't believe what is happening - she doesn't understand why Kendappa-oh didn't turn Sohma over to Taishaku-ten, and why she let Sohma go with Yasha-oh when she cares about Sohma so much.

After Taishaku-ten puts a stop to the 'fight', Kendappa-oh refuses Tennoh's proposal, saying that she has someone who is very important to her. Tennoh wishes her good luck with that someone; Kendappa-oh replies that there will be no happy ending, since she has to go and "fight with that person to death".

2. The Five Stars
The five stars have arrived at Zenmijou. At that point, Yasha-oh tells Ryu-oh to go home, saying that if he comes with them any further, he will also be treated as a traitor. Ryu-oh refuses to leave, saying that "this is path I've decided to take; no one will accept me as king if I turn back now".

Then Shura-toh (Ashura's sword) pops out - it shows that the last star is Kendappa-oh. Everyone's surprised (especially Sohma); they can't figure out why Kendappa-oh is shown wearing an armor.

As they make their way into the castle. Taishaku-ten orders the three shiten-nohs to start fighting. Shura-toh pops out of Ashura's hand again, and he (yup, Ashura's definitely a he - Tennoh later calls him his elder brother) proclaims that now that the six stars have finally assembled, the prophecy will be fulfilled. Ashura is now 'black Ashura', and goes to find his mother and kill her. Ryu-oh goes after him.

Yasha-oh asks Kendappa-oh to join them and fight Taishakuten. She refuses, saying that she "will get rid of all you traitors. I'm doing this because I'm the Shogun of the East, Jikoku-ten." So now it's Yasha-oh vs Bishamon-ten, Karura-oh vs Zouchou-ten, and Kendappa-oh vs Sohma.

Yasha-oh, of course, is trying to avenge the death of his clan members by Bishamon-ten's army. Zouchou-ten tells Karura-oh that he's glad to see that she's alive, but that he didn't want to meet her in this situation. Sohma tells Kendappa-oh that she can't fight against her, but Kendappa-oh strikes her down, saying simply that she "doesn't like weak people".

3. Ashura Confronts Shashi
Ashura finally finds his mother (Shashi) and confronts her. He says that he will kill her for her sins (double-crossing the Ashura clan, committing adultery, trying to kill Ashura). Tennoh trys to stop Ashura, but to no avail; Ashura simply thrusts Shura-toh into her.

When Kala (Shashi's twin sister) died, she ripped out the stone on her forehead and handed it to Ashura. The stone was half of Shura-toh's 'seal'. Ashura rips out the stone on Shashi's forehead, and places it in Shura-toh. Now Shura-toh is fully 'resurrected'. Vines appear and cover Ashura like a coccoon (similar to the 'coccoon' Ashura was in at the beginning of the story).

4. The Death of Ryu-oh
Ryu-oh finally catches up with Ashura, only to find Shashi dead. He can't believe that Ashura had killed her. Then he notices the occoon. Out steps the 'new', adult Ashura. The seals that have bound him have completely disappeared.

Ryu-oh asks Ashura why he killed Shashi; Ashura doesn't answer, but instead kills Ryu-oh with one thrust of Shura-toh.

Tennoh asks Ashura what he wants; Ashura replies "the destruction of all things". He continues, saying that the Ashura clan consisted of warriors, and therefore weren't a merciful lot. Tennoh can't believe this, since the previous Ashura-oh had assisted in keeping the peace. Ashura says that was because his father was still partly bound by the 'blood seal'. Once an Ashura-oh is 'fully freed', he acts solely on his instinct for death and destruction. Ashura however tells Tennoh that he won't kill him because he wants Tennoh to witness the Stargazer's prophecy being fulfilled.

5. The Mystery of the Third Eye
Taishaku-ten is standing in the corridor that connects Zenmijou with Ashurajou. Ashurajou looks like a reflection of Zenmijou, but it is actually in another dimension, and not everyone can cross the corridor and reach Ashurajou. Then Kujaku suddenly appears in front of Taishaku-ten.

Taishaku-ten notices Kujaku's purple eyes and his black wings, and asks him whether he is a mazoku. Kujaku answers "I'm just like you; I did something that even a mazoku wouldn't do. Here is the mark of 'da-ten' (falling from the heavens)" and shows Taishaku-ten his third eye.

Kujaku continues: "You made a promise with someone 300 years ago, and have lived just to keep that promise."

Taishaku-ten asks Kujaku who he is, to which Kujaku just says "I used to live here".

Han-ranya sees in her water-mirror that Shura-toh has been 'resurrected'. She is in tears, because she had tried so hard to stop her sister's prophecy from coming true, yet always knew that doing so was impossible.

Taishaku-ten and Kujaku also realize that Shura-toh has been 'resurrected'. The corridor opens. Kujaku says "Now we can see whether Yasha-oh and Ashura can overcome fate".

6. The Three Stars vs The Three Shiten-nohs
The three stars who've been fighting all this time realize that Ryu-oh is dead. Sohma notices that Kendappa-oh has also sensed his death. She asks Kendappa-oh why they must continue fighting, when it's now obvious that Kendappa-oh is one of the Six Stars. Kendappa-oh replies that it's too late, since she had made her decision to serve Taishaku-ten 300 years ago. The fact that he killed her father made no difference. Taishaku-ten was strong, and that was what counted.

She continues, saying that she hates weak people, whether they are related to her by blood or by fate. She tells Sohma that Sohma probably wouldn't understand her feelings, since Sohma wants to kill Taishaku-ten for her parents' death. She says that she really likes the way Sohma is kind, and that she really loves her, but that 'it just won't do'...

7. The Death of Karura-oh
Taishaku-ten finally appears in front of the three stars. Karura-oh goes to avenge her sister's death, but Taishaku-ten strikes her down with ease. Zouchou-ten trys to stop Karura-oh from fighting any more, telling her that if she continues, she will definitely die. She decides to continue fighting anyway, since she has lived just for this after her sister had died.

Kendappa-oh remarks that "Karura-oh is strong; she will fight until the end for what she believes ... but Taishaku-ten is even stronger."

She is doing well enough against Taishaku-ten that he decides to fight her using his sword. It is no contest now; Karura-oh and Garuda (her companion bird) are both coughing up blood. Taishaku-ten kills Garuda with one blow, and then deals the final blow to Karura-oh.

Previous | Back to Rg Veda Page | Next