Nurarihyon no Mago 187

[p001]

(right) The choice to advance on the Path of Shura...!!
(left, large) Nurarihyon no Mago
(left, small) Act 187: The Necromantical Barrier Specialist
口寄せの結界師

[p002]

???: Mount Osore... one of the four great sacred mountains...
???: Mediums who use a form of spiritualism known as "spirit summoning" are well aware that a large number of spirits gather in the vicinity of the mountain, making it literally a spirit peak!!
(The word "sacred mountain", reihou, is made up of the characters for "spirit" and "peak".)

Rikuo: Oi, Tsurara... where'd you put my sword?
Tsurara: Eh? Rikuo-sama, weren't you carrying it with you?
(right) The departed souls draw closer!!

Rikuo: So then I didn't give it to you back in Toono, when I was getting dressed...
Tsurara: I-I don't know anything about thaaat~ Rikuo-sama, in front of you, in front!!

Rikuo: Found it!! I was carrying it after all!!

[p003]

Yukari: You're unprepared, Rikuo!!
Yukari: Honestly... I can tell this is going to be hard going... is what Itaku's saying.

Rikuo: You're really dependable, Itaku!
Tsurara: Yeeeek, that was scaryyyy~

[p004]

Evil dude (thoughts): 3... no, 4 yokai... and also one human...

Evil dude (thoughts): Fools... if they're going to oppose Seimei-sama, then even if it kills me,
Evil dude (thoughts): I'll make them regret stepping foot on this mountain... on this Mount Osore where I, one of his successors, am staying...

Tsurara: Rikuo-sama... just what are these guys...
Rikuo: Just as you'd expect of Mount Osore... you could say it's... a welcoming party from the dead.
Rikuo: They're wearing the clothes of Shugenja... were these guys training here...?!

(left of Ryuuji) A Shugenja technique...?
Ryuuji (thoughts): Don't tell me...

[p005]

Evil dude: Like the wheels of a cart, forever turning, are birth and death in all living things---
凡そ輪廻は車の輪の如く
Evil dude: Six Worlds and Four Births you must journey; the flowers of yesterday are but a dream today, how sad my fate...
六趣四生を出でやらず。昨日の花は今日の夢と。驚かぬこそ愚なれ...
(These lines are evidently from a Noh play/poem called "Aoi no ue", which is based off part of the Tale of Genji. I'll go into much more detail in the extended translation notes, but I'll add that the translation I used was that of a Japanese scholar named Tsuge Gen'ichi.)

Rikuo: Oi.

Evil dude: Come forth once more.
Evil dude: Spirit Summoning: Night Parade of the Dead
口寄せ亡者夜行

[p006/007]

(top panel, center)
Upon my sorrow
Others heap their spite.
Unforgettable, unforgiveable.
To find a moment of respite,
Now the ghost has come,
Drawn
By the sound of the birch-bow.
(again, this is from "Aoi no ue")
Rikuo: Wh...
Rikuo: The corpses I destroyed were... resurrected?!

Tsurara: No, aren't their numbers increasing?!
Tsurara: 20... no, 50.
Tsurara: There are 100 corpses here!!

Ryuuji (thoughts): So then the dead... moved...

Itaku: ...hah?
Itaku: No matter how much I destroy these guys, they keep coming back?!
Ryuuji: Manipulating life and death was Seimei's specialty...

[p008]

Ryuuji: ......the Gokadoin, huh ......

(right) Oh vengeful spirits of the deceased, I can revive you as many times as it takes.
(left) Eliminate them... don't let them escape!!
Rikuo: Th...
Rikuo: There's no end to them...

Evil dude: Soon, the barrier will contract... and destroy all of you.

Evil dude: Seimei-sama,
Evil dude: The purification... is complete.

[p010]

Girl: Akifusa-sama...

[p011]

Akifusa: So you were here, Momoishi...
Momo: For the last 10 minutes...

Momo: This... is dangerous.
Momo: You have already been in this small shrine for 70 hours.

Momo: Please rest a little... if you don't, you'll suffer like the ones who came before you...
Momo: Since this place is the strongest concentration of fear on this mountain...

Akifusa: I know... but that's exactly why I chose this mountain.
Akifusa: Just as many master swordsmiths have chosen it.
Akifusa: Listen, Momoishi... I must complete this katana as quickly as possible.

Akifusa: That was... the promise I made with him.

[p012]

Akifusa: After this... I think there's only a little left to do.
Akifusa: I've put my all into it, but... there's something missing.
Akifusa: If I only knew what it was, I could attend to it immediately!!
それさえわかればすぐにでも届けるのに!!

Akifusa: Don't worry, Momoishi.
Akifusa: When I'm forging a sword, my body releases a large amount of adrenaline and dopamine and I don't get tired.

Momo: Geez, Akifusa-sama... that's why Momo is worried about you!!
Akifusa: Haha... I know, I know...! Just hold on a little longer.
Momo: Kaaay...

Momo: Ah!!

[p013]

Momo: P...please excuse me ...Taisei-sama.

Taisei: Akifusa-dono... I wonder how many months it has been since you begged me to teach you...

Taisei: This level of concentration... you are truly a magnificent onmyoji...

Taisei: As I shared your iron will toward supposedly exterminating a great yokai...
Taisei: Even knowing you were from the Keikain, I taught you many things...

[p014]

Taisei: But I see that was a mistake after all!!
Akifusa: Wh...

Momo: Please stop, Taisei-sama!!

Taisei: Open your eyes, Momoishi.
Taisei: This guy... is making a spirit blade in order to hand it over to an ayakashi.

Momo: Eh?!

Taisei: You... tricked me, didn't you, Akifusa...
Taisei: Don't you see that you've disgraced onmyojutsu, which is used for justice's sake...?!
正義のための陰陽術を汚したのだよな。。。?!

[p015]

Akifusa: You're saying something ridiculous... Taisei-dono...

Taisei: It's futile, even if you play dumb.
Taisei: I'll tell you this... I've just come from dealing with ayakashi.

Akifusa: H...he came...?!

Taisei: So you lied from the start...
吐きおったな...
Taisei: I'll slaughter you... just as I did them!

Akifusa: I see... so he's come here...
Akifusa: Then that's all the more reason...

Akifusa: I won't let myself die here!!

Momo: Kyaaa!!

[p016]

Akifusa: Taisei-dono... Momoishi... please, listen to me!!
Akifusa: It's true that I'm going to give that spirit blade to an ayakashi...
Akifusa: But that's in order to kill the great yokai "Nue"!!

Akifusa: That is the thousand-year ambition that we of the Keikain House harbor!!
Akifusa: The will of the katana's creator, the 13th, lives on in what I am forging...
Akifusa: This katana... is filled with all of our thoughts and feelings!!

Akifusa: If the Nue isn't slain, something terrible will befall the world!!

Akifusa: Please!! Let me complete the katana!!

Taisei: You are truly... a splendid person... just as I'd thought...
Taisei: Even now, my heart clenches as if infatuated...

[p017]

Taisei: However, I cannot allow you to destroy...
Taisei: the "Nue"... my ancestor, "Seimei-sama".

Akifusa: ...what.
Akifusa: J...just what... do you...?

Akifusa: Taisei-dono... you...
Akifusa: For Seimei to be your ancestor... how is that possible...?!

Taisei: If it's you, you should know from just the name...
Taisei: The name I have kept hidden... Gokadoin...!!

Akifusa (thoughts): Th... that name is...

[p018]

Taisei: By Seimei-sama's will... with this "Hagurugama" and the spirit blades in it, I will slaughter you!!
(Hagurugama is roughly "Frenzy-toothed sickle")

Taisei: Along with spirit summoning, I furthered my pursuit of spirit blade construction...
Taisei: The final form of which is this destructive sickle... as you should be able to tell, right?

Akifusa: Kuh...

[p019]

Rikuo: The heck's with this place...

Rikuo: Aren't you worried about having so many katanas around?!

Rikuo: So which one's my Nenekirimaru?!
Rikuo: Akifusa.
(right) What is Hagurugama's power...?! In the next issue, a direct showdown!!
(bottom right) ...Act 187 / End.