The Senior Council reveals that if the Seven Pillars are cut down, the city members will have to flee, but a portal that connects the human world to the yökai world will not be created. When the townspeople question the decision, Hime is unable to calm them. On her regular rounds throughout the city, she learns that Akina has sent out recommendations to the townspeople to hide in safe locations, and she accuses him of lacking the resolve to defeat Enjin