Chapter 140: Flame of a Double-Edged Sword

(Leaves drift over the battlefield as Kenshin stands at the ready.)

Houji (thinking): He... he stood up. No... calm down, all he's doing is standing. It's highly doubtful he still has the strength to use the succession technique Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. The burns of the Homura Dana and the explosion of the Guren Kaina... it's obvious he won't survive. Lord Shishio is too strong for him... And yet... this chill! this unease! this fear!

(Kenshin roars, sending out a blast of ki that snaps leaves in midair and knocks Houji and Yumi back.)

Houji (thinking): Formidable! Himura Battousai surpasses everything I know! I cannot think that Lord Shishio would lose! And yet...

(Saitou and Sanosuke, too, have gained consciousness.)

Sanosuke: Why didn't... you get up before this? You had me worried...

(He looks down at his right hand, which is twisted and bloodied.)

Sanosuke (thinking): So this is what died. (aloud) He said, before the fight, not to interfere... and in the end he was the one we had to rely on.

Kenshin: Let's do it!

Shishio: What refreshing sword-ki... Yes. From an opponent I can face with all of my strength. Something I had never before experienced. Let us see if you can heat up even further my white-hot flesh!

(Kenshin strikes, Shishio blocks; the battle begins.)

(Yumi gasps, clutching the watch; it reads 5:16.)

Yumi (clutching at Houji's coat): He can't! You have to stop them! It's been more than fifteen minutes! It's too dangerous to fight any more!

Houji (slowly): What?

Yumi: Did you forget? Lord Shishio's entire body was burned. He can't regulate his body temperature by sweating. His temperature is higher than anyone should be able to withstand! The doctor said he can only do anything strenuous for fifteen minutes! If this goes on and his temperature continues to rise, I don't know what will happen!

(Kenshin and Shishio fly at each other in a storm of blades and flames.)

Yumi: Stop them!

Houji (thinking): So that's why he built up this organization and the Ten Swords, even though he's so strong, to act as his arms and legs...

Yumi: Hurry!

(Houji throws open his coat, revealing the gun at his side. Then, with a broad gesture, he throws it over the side of the enclosure.)

Houji: It's faith, Yumi. We were chosen by Lord Shishio as his subjects. It is a subject's natural duty to have faith in his master. This steam engine burns coal and uses steam to move. Heat is the key to generating power. Lord Shishio's explosive power and excessive body heat mean that the hotter it gets, the stronger he becomes!

Yumi: But... even his body has limits...

Houji: What limits?! If Himura can surpass then, you think that Lord Shishio cannot?

(At that moment Shishio's hand closes around Kenshin's throat. He lifts him off the ground.)

Shishio: Not yet. I'm still not finished with you. If I couldn't hurt you anymore, you couldn't get any stronger. Shall I help you once again? Would you like to try dying again? By my Guren Kaina!

(Just as he strikes the tip of his sword against his glove to ignite it, Kenshin drives the hilt of his own sword down on his elbow.)

Fifteen minutes since the final battle began, (Shishio is forced to release his grip; Kenshin leaps away.)

For two swordsmen, who lived through the same Bakumatsu to see two different Meijis, (Shishio is caught in the force of his own explosion.)

The time has finally come for the decisive battle.