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The war has lasted for less than a day. Tenno’s Household Guards has achieved an overwhelming victory by ease. In fact their duty is just akin of making sure no body has slipped through the net. Because most of the opponents have already been slaughtered by HIM,
A tall blind with a 10 feet long golden kata kamayari (片鎌槍）
Now there are only less than 10 samurais in front of him. Gathering behind these soldiers are dozens of pathetic crying women, children and oldies. They know they are going to die soon together with their masters,
Okada Ryuichi and Yoshie Toyo.
These two old men are standing tall in front of the blind, though. Ironically, for the two who were supposed to compete to the death but now relying on each other as the sole solidarity, this is the best collaborative battle they have managed to fight.
They can each smile with no regret to welcome their imminent deaths, as a true swordsman, a proud samurai.
Toyo moves cautiously apart from his partner, step by step around the left hand side of the Blind, until he reaches the back of the him, in a perfect semicircular trail. Keeping a distance of at least 20 feet in between.
Their opponent has a supreme ultra-human sense of motion and sound way beyond visionary. Toyo and Ryuichi know so well.
Toyo finally stops at a point that three of them forming a straight line. He knows that this will be the last combo they can perform.
They have to perform it in their effort, though the chance to win is almost none. They synchronize their breathing, their movement. Toyo then yells,
But instead of charging towards the back of his opponent, he jumps quickly towards the right hand side of him.
An almost inaudible “woosh” is accompanying an extremely powerful, intensive but invisible blade slashing from the left of the Blind,
A string, coated with diamond dust!
As Toyo moved around the Blind, he laid the “String Blade” onto the floor, with Ryuichi holding another end of the string. It is so light that this made no sound at all. The string formed a semi circle with the Blind being right at the centre. So when Toyo moved vigorously and quickly away from his partner, transforming the curve into a straight line, the flying string became a deadly blade almost voiceless!
Almost doesn’t imply none. The Blind immediately thrusts the Kamayari onto his left- CLING! It stops the string blade!
The partners moves right at once, in the way trying to tie the Blind with the string. If they succeed, the string can easily bisect him once it contracts.
The Blind suddenly jumps in the midair. He then uses the spear to coil the string from above.
He lands and pulls the string to draw them both towards him!
It is exactly what they have predicted to happen! Toyo takes advantage of the momentum and dashes towards the Blind with his hardest and strongest slash!
Toyo cannot witness how successful this blow ends up to be. Instead he sees -his own body and then his partner, his shocking family and finally the floor.
His headless body falls on the ground while his last blow was in vain.
His partner, Ryuichi cries out in a mixed feeling. His tanto, holding in his left hand, is stabbing right at the heart of the Blind while blood is squirting from his upper right arm without the forearm. Right before he was pulled to the Blind, Ryuichi use his tanto to cut off his right forearm where the string blade is attaching onto a metal wrist band. This changes his trail immediately and he could just manage to dodge the sweep of the deadly spear as well as to rolled to the front of the Blind and thrust him with the tanto!
He could not stop laughing because the last combo was finally performed in perfection. Though his partner is dead and he predicts he will follow soon, the thrill of piercing the almost unbreakable defense of the Blind, the legendary Saint Five member, still overwhelms him!
But the laughter turns to shocking silence as he realizes the peculiar feeling of stabbing a scarecrow instead of the flesh of a human body.
His trembling hand slowly pulls out the tanto- it is CLEAN, as his own blood has been wiped away by SOMETHING .
”WHAT….THE HELL ARE YOU?!”
The Blind smiles and he swings his kamayari once again!
Blood splashes onto the floor.
Youta has shut down all the connections to the whole city, allowing limited access with 24 guarding and surveillance.
People inside the city knows what is gonna to happen to them soon. But inside of giving hope, everyone of them is trying the best to protect home. Men are training themselves to fight with the army. Women are harvesting farmland, preparing military rations and sewing/mending uniforms and armors. While teenage girls will look after others infants and kids. Youta has housed the weak and oldies inside his own castle. Motoya is assigned to protect them together with Asano Kouichi.
They are standing on the castle wall this morning.
”Tomorrow is the deadline. And this place will never be the same as before.” Kouichi says anxiously. “We saved the people here long time ago once from the hateful rulers of Tenno. I believe we can save them once again! We love them. We love this city. That is why we build our home here. And we love and respect Youta Sama. Everyone believes in him.”
Motoya listens. He knows he shouldn’t but he just keeps thinking of his home.
“Motoya san, I am sorry about the things being happening in your clan. Youta Sama has told me.”
Motoya looks at him.
”but I believe that your father is right! Let be gone by be gone! A man should try his best to live on the inheritance of his family, to carry on the love and hope, making use of them the will power to serve others! This should be the true destiny of you, Motoya san!”
”Yes. I believe in my family. Although I cannot fight with them, I know they will fight in a glorious way til the end, not for the pride and reputation of a clan, but for the true JUSTICE and EQUALITY of Mankind.”
“I,” Kouichi stands solemnly, “salute to your family and you!”
Motoya smiles and nods.
”Well….let us fight for the same here for this lovely place, Kouichi san.” Motoya puts his hand on Kouichi’s shoulder and encourages him.
”Thank you. It is my honor to fight my last battle with you, Motoya san!”
”No.”Motoya smiles and replies, “there will still be many many more battles to be fought in the future. Tomorrow we will win!”
Kouichi looks at his eyes, in which he finds absolute confidence, an unquestionable faith, as if it is an indisputable fact.
”Why, what gives you such a strong belief?”Kouichi wants to believe too- he needs Motoya to persuade him.
Motoya holds the Holy Sword tightly and points It to the East,
“Because I believe in her, Sora San!”
Motoya smiles and says, “Don’t waste time here. Let us go down and complete our last drill with others!”
They descend from the wall. Before they join the others, Motoya visits the great hall inside the castle. There he finds Otama Ai.
”How are the others? I hope we can keep up their spirit. Unity is as import as strength for us to win this battle.” Motoya says.
”Everybody is good. They believe in each other especially their ruler. Just that some of them are complaining why can’t they join the fight. Women here are tough. Some can be tougher than men.”Ai is smoking her pipe while she is playing with her tanto.
“Then how about you? Do you trust him?”
”……….he needs to prove that. Everyone can bluff. But in face of death, he face the true testament to his honesty.”
”But you still choose to stay along by his side, til the end….I think that’s the biggest motivation to Youta already.”
”I choose to witness the truth by my own eyes.”
”I believe the answer would worth the wait. I can see integrity and probity in Youta. He is true to himself and his people as well.”
Ai squints and sucks hard her smoking pipe. Then a teenage girl with a serious face rushes to her with a bucket of knifes and sharpened wedges.
”Ai san! Please examine these!” She presents the content to Ai carefully.
”Good. Yui. Please help distribute to everyone.”
”Yes!” The girl nods and rushes to the women and the oldies.
”At last, one should trust no one but her own self.” Ai blows out a series of smoke ring and continues proudly, “and don’t look down on WOMEN!”
Motoya laughs and replies without hesitation, “I guess you forgot who is my SENSAI already.”
SHE is going to rewrite History.
This was written by Haru! No doubt!
Sora’s hands are shaking. She opens the sealed envelop Aki just passed her, written outside:
To my love, Sora. From Haru.
Aki is dancing and singing in her room alone. It is a small hut situated a few hundred meters from Haru’s ruined Eastern Village. Since the massacre broken out, the village has become a ghost town, haunted and no human dares to come close. On the other hand, Aki can dwell in her small house without any disturbance since then.
“Mother left. And big sister has left Aki too. Now Aki has to live here alone….”the girl stops dancing and finds a chair to sit down. “Aki misses big sister. She is good to Aki. We travelled to a lot of places together. She taught Aki to fight, to hunt and
to dance.”
”So… you have been traveling with Haru so long? Do you remember when she said goodbye to you?” Sora hardly suppresses her tears and asks.
”Aki couldn’t remember when. But big sister brought me here and told Aki to stay here until the FLAME hurts Aki….the moment the Sakura blossoms, the cicidas sing, the forest turns orange and the snow flakes fall….”
“Aki saw the Sakura and so I put on MOTHER’s armor and set off. Big sister said IT will bring me to find you. Because you will be carrying this” Aki then points at the HELL BLADE.
Sora understand now. She can also “sense” the connection between the sword and an unidentified signal source, a moving emitter keeps tracking her and been following her until she stationed at Shikoku at last. There is some kind of resonance between the Sword and Mornga’s red armor.
Aki stands up and her eyes suddenly turns reddish, even her voice changes dramatically,
”Successor, now open the envelop and face the TRUTH yourself!”
Sora remember that voice, the one who stood on the roof top of the Tazu Ryokan and teased her.
She takes out a letter inside the envelop, written by Haru,
”I seldom write. You know that, Sora. Writing is never my style. May be it is because of the Enlightenment? I guess my skill has been improved! Hahaha! Since you are reading this, I don’t think I should introduce Aki to you. But as you see, she is a poor child. Mornga sure was not a good mum. But she did love her. And if love can save people, I hope you can use those you preserved for me to save her.
Don’t you see that? She is just an innocent baby, a blink sheet of paper that deserves to fill up by grateful and beautiful words of love. If ever fate has treated us badly and made us apart, I wish it treats her nicely this time. Because fate has allow us to find her.
Mornga was regret to have given birth to this child- the most forbidden part for her kind. Love was more likely a curse than a blessing to them. Mornga knew that when she discovered the FLAME on her child’s back- the scar which can only be found on Mornga. She could finally make sure one thing- she had created another Mornga to this world!”
Sora stops reading for a while as she discovers Aki is playing with herself again like a baby girl.
“Every Mornga should find her Successor to inherit the Hell Blade. Because it is the only way to get rid of the CURSE by passing it down to the next generation, via the Enlightenment by the Kami of FLAME, the Demonic Dragon.
The saddest part was- Enlightenment was supposed to happen ONCE AND FOR ALL for each Succession. This means the Dragon will only fulfill the wish of ONE MORNGA only, leaving the other on Earth to suffer the torture of the curse for her rest of life!
Mornga had made up her mind. So when she gave me the Hell Blade, she begged me one thing- to kill her so that the Dragon would pass down the curse of her daughter, the Sole MORNGA in the world, to me.”
Sora closes her eyes. The faded memory emerges in her mind once again-
“Thank…you….and please….look after Aki until you find someone who can…..give LOVE AND HAPPINESS to her.”
Mornga died with her weird smiling face. Haru’s shaky hands were holding the Hell Blade, with Mornga’s blood still dripping from the tip of it. She looked at the girl who was sleeping heavily in the bed- an innocent and beautiful face sparko like a baby.
Haru’s mind was in chaos. She had been beaten by Mornga and taken to her house after she was {forced} to inherit the Hell Blade. Here, Mornga healed her wounds, introduced Aki to her and told her everything about MORNGA- the origin, the FLAME and MISTAKE she had made to give birth of Aki.
Haru felt pity of Aki, and hoped to save her by whatever means, mysteriously but affirmatively, deep in her heart.
She didn’t hate Mornga. And killing a person you do not hate or even having sympathy for, made her feel guilty and frustrated. Because on the other hand she knew that may be the only chance to save Aki.
Those rages and depressions were the catalyst to trigger the summon- the Demonic Dragon was descending from above. Haru looked at the girl, who was still sparko on the bed, as if the encounter was happening in dimension of space time that could only be experienced by the Dragon and the Successor!
“Why…..YOU LOOKS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE I EXPECT! Who are you, MORTAL?”
”…….I am Haru, Haru of the Fire House of Tenryu Dojo!”
The creature coiled in the sky. It squinted as if it was considering something seriously.
“HARU! SUCCESSOR OF THE HELL BLADE! Your Rage and Despair have Summoned ME! Now, are you ready to INHERIT MY POWER!?”The creature glee at last and asked.157Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnf0fzXiZug
”Do it! Do it now, you bastard!” Haru had been waiting impatiently. She yelled to the Dragon.
”WATCHER! Your silly tricks cannot fool me! Both of these GIRLS would be ENLIGHTENED by my hatred and wrath!”
Red smog raised from the floor and covered Haru and the Dragon. Haru felt a piercing thrill and stimulus running all through her body. Pains and pleasure overwhelmed every cells inside her.
The smog slowly died out. Haru breathed heavily on the her knees. She rushed immediately towards Aki. She was still asleep.
Haru examined her back. The urgly lumpy scar was still there.
”DAMNNNNNNNN!” Haru yells in anger and forlorn. She rushed out the hut and knees on the muddy ground.
“Why I cannot save her!? Why do you have to fill me up with so much pain and sorrow!?” Haru was holding her head vigorously as if she wanted to squeeze the answer from it.
BOTH OF THESE GIRLS?
Haru suddenly had a very bad feeling about her loved one, Sora! She stood up and looked up the sky. There, she saw a soothing light shinning on her face:
A beautiful creative surrounded by a heartwarming bluish aura was slowing descending.
”HARU THE PATHFINDER! Your Thirst for True, Your Battle for Soul have summoned me! Now, are you ready to inherit my wisdom and power?”
Sora is shocked! She cannot imagine that Haru and herself had both been Enlightened by BOTH DRAGONS, yet in a reverse order!
But if Haru had experienced the blessing of the Kami of Aqua, why did she choose to fight me at last? Why did she choose to sacrifice herself instead of accompanying her in this tedious, perilous and turbulent journey, as per THE PROMISE she made to me?
PATHFINDER….what does that mean?
“Aki was woken up by the screaming of the Big Sis. Aki saw Aurora and Thunder in the sky. It was scary but beautiful…..Aki told Big SiS MUM WAS FALLEN ASLEEP, then she gave US a big hug and said everything would be fine…..”
Sora keeps on reading,
”We set off for my last journey the day after. I first investigated the conspiracy via the only surviving bandit who attacked my village and figured out how Tenryu Dojo was involved. Sadly as I rushed back to the Dojo, it was too late….. YOU HAVE KILLED ALMOST EVERYBODY!
The Dragon didn’t lie….IT must have come to you afterward and opened your Evil Mind already!
(Sora’s hands are shaking! She has no idea of what Haru was writing about! Wasn’t she the JUDGE WHO IMPOSED LYNCHING? She recalls her memory and ensures that she had spared their lives before she left the Dojo….she keeps on reading)
My journey for the Truth and Redemption continued. Sadly we were always a few steps lagging behind the Evil Subconsciousness inside you. Every criminal you punished and captured in the name of Justice, would finally perished mysteriously inside the jail or at places where they were exiled.
My hypothesis was proved right. There was a MONSTER breeding inside you, waiting for a chance to consume your mind and soul. It lured your subconsciousness at night, took control of your body and forced you to commit all those murders, including the whole Tenryu Dojo!
I must save you! So I kept following you, both to protect you from the assassins sent by Tenno and the Royalty, and to seek the chance to elicit the bloodthirsty MONSTER that the Dragon had implanted in you.”
Sora’s eyes are watering and the scene Haru smiled and turned around to execute her last Diabolic Blow keeps looping inside her mind.
Now she understands- How Haru elicited her to perform the Diabolic Sword in order to release the most savageness and berserk inside her. And how Haru put down the fire of vengeance and rages by LOVE and SACRIFICE!
“Haru had placed the right bet on you. But it costed her own life. Till then, when I was suggested to follow you and your partner, I haven’t noticed any weird berserk behavior of our Holy Successor…..”The Red Eye Aki suddenly appears again.
Sora cannot and need not to cover up her anguish of longing for her love, the guilt of her untold crimes committed by her dark side as well as the gratefulness for the redemption of consciousness that Haru had sacrificed her own life in order to bring along to her. Tear drops run down her face. She quickly moved Haru’s letter away from them. She needs to keep it intact.
Haru seldom writes. This letter is precious to us.
Sora feels the loved one somewhere around. She closes her eyes, imagining Haru standing in front of her,
”Sora. I am sorry that I broke my promise. I cannot accompany you any more. But my spirit and love will long live in your heart. And I hope you can look after Aki for me. I am sure your wisdom and endeavor will finally save her, just like I save you, from the inferno.
There is at last an interesting farewell present I should give to you. It is a scroll Aki’s mother had given me as our meeting gift. Aki should be keeping it for me.
Oh, dear. This must be the longest one I have written in my life. I hope it is not too difficult to read at least. So. It has come to the end at last.
Goodbye, my Love. And don’t ever look back. There are so many interesting things that will keep you busy in the rest of your life to look forward to. And I am sure you will find the best in your own way eventually!
Haru, your love.”
Aki’s innocent and lovely face bumps into Sora when she finishes reading. Her beautiful eyes, though always squinted, are clear and twinkling.
”So this is the PRESENT Big Sis wants Aki to keep until you arrive here.” She rushes to her bed and takes out a scroll from underside of the mattress.
It is an inked drawing. It must have been soaked in rain water. Some inked part had been washed running in a mess that spoiled the whole composition. Yet Sora can still recognize the original content of the drawing:
A picture of Two Dragons, coiling their bodies together, facing each other.
Strangely one of the dragon has its facial part being torn and removed, leaving a hole there.
”It ….looks like a kind of riddle, is it? Haru?”
Aki suddenly screams terrifyingly. She reaches out both hands to scratch her back!
”IT HURTS! IT HURTS!” Sora notices her lumpy scar turns burning bloody reddish if it is about to burst!
THE FLAME!
Sora tries to hold her tight to avoid her to hurt herself. “Stop! Aki! Take a deep breath! You can overcome it!” In fact Sora doesn’t have any idea of how to ease her pain and to calm her down.
Aki starts howling like an animal and her eyes are turning all red now, from the sclera to the iris, all red! And she struggles herself out from Sora’s embracement.
She pulls out a tanto from her kimono and thrusts at Sora’s abdomen.
Sora doesn’t dodge. She lets the blade stabbed into her tummy. Then she holds Aki’s hand tight.
Warm blood is bleeding from her wound and tints Aki’s forearm completely red. The warmth and the strong odor become a sedative to the lunatic little beast.
“It is alright now…..don’t be afraid! I will….save…..you!”
Aki’s ragged breathing gradually returns to steady and normal as Sora holds her tight. Her tanto still remains in Sora’s abdomen. But her hand doesn’t tremble with anxiety any more.
”Aki….feels good in your hug….Aki likes Sora.”
”I like you too, Aki.”
“Ugh!” Hikirichi wakes up from his weird dream. His body is soaked in cold sweat. He shakes his head to make sure that he is conscious
I must be too tired. After all I have flee for several days non-stop across hundred meters from the city.
Damn!
He examines his feet which are covered with abrasions. He reluctantly pulls out thorns and gravels inside those wounds. Pain does make his mind clear and keeps him awake.
But not clear enough to reveal the path that lies ahead of him.
Those Shoguns! I shouldn’t have trust those speculators! But damn! I am a fugitive wanted by the Royalty! Who else would dare to risk their lives to cover me up? Except those speculator warlords!? Well, if Uesugi Youta doesn’t have that guts, HE should have.
Hikirichi struggles to get up. He knows he can not take rest. The hounds can be right after him.
But I will survive, in this dog-eat-dog world! I don’t need to be the strongest. See who is the smartest after all!
He keeps going WEST.
Yeah…but holy shit!
WHAT DID I JUST DREAM ABOUT?
ns 15.158.61.48da2
