Chapter 375: The Kidnapped Children
"My, my, to just stand by and watch coldly with folded arms... I truly cannot agree with that." Behind the sorcerer, a blue-haired samurai walked up with his arms crossed, a very long, precious blade tucked across his chest. He looked at the pitiful young girl below, shook his head, and said.
"That is no pitiful young girl, but a Heroic Spirit Saber from Hell, and now she is a monster that is even beyond my control. Kojirou, the task I handed to you was not this," the sorcerer said in a cold voice.
"For your favor of a single meal, I will certainly keep my word and fulfill the request to act as your guard. Besides, I also wish to test myself against the legendary Sword Saint," Kojirou replied plainly. Though he felt pity for that miserable female ninja, in his very bones he was ultimately a swordsman whose whole heart was devoted to the sword.
The sorcerer turned and left, and the swordsman also fulfilled his responsibility, walking back to the place he was guarding.
What the sorcerer wished to do seemed to be summoning a city that represented destruction from the demonic realm or Hell into this world, thereby achieving the result of destroying the world. His ambitions were grand; his target was not just this single world, but a grand scheme connecting many parallel worlds and piercing through the entirety of human history.
Kojirou held no interest in things like destroying the world, but since he had already promised, he would fulfill it properly. At any rate, just as agreed, he would continuously guard this place until the sorcerer completed his most critical plan.
On the other side, Shirou and Illya, who had thrillingly escaped being swallowed whole by the giant snake, looked back at the frozen mountain. The swarms of snakes that had manifested within the black miasma had now also become sculptures made of ice crystals—flowers made of ice, trees made of ice. They were crystal clear, and after the black smoke dispersed, the sunlight shone in, making them glitter and sparkle, exceptionally radiant and beautiful.
Yet within this seemingly serene and beautiful scenery lay hidden a colossal monster possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth, no different from the worst kind of catastrophe.
Frozen within the ice, the Yamata no Orochi, which had fallen into a state of hibernation, finally calmed down for the time being.
"Fortunately, Yamata no Orochi's mind is incoherent; we must think of a way to completely get rid of this eight-headed snake," Shirou said.
However, the Nine Lives (Shooting the Hundred Heads) Noble Phantasm he had unleashed earlier, combined with the explosion of Broken Fantasy, had merely pinned it down for a brief moment and failed to cause any substantial damage to Yamata no Orochi. The scales on the
giant snake's body were actually several times harder than those of the dragon species Shirou had seen before.
"Don't you have any method? After all, the Counter Force sent you over here, right?" Shirou looked toward Illya in puzzlement and asked.
"No! No! It's impossible! How could I possibly win against a monster like that! My divine knowledge tells me that as long as it is within the land of this country, Yamata no Orochi's body cannot be destroyed." Illya shook her head repeatedly with lingering fear.
To deal with a monster like this, the two of them were definitely not enough; they still had to think of a corresponding method.
"After all, even the three most noble deities of this country failed to destroy this physical body. Perhaps we should change our line of thinking," Shirou said, making some conjectures in his heart.
The Kusanagi sword was one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the land of Wa, a divine object representing the inheritance of imperial sacrificial rituals closely connected to the nation's destiny. Yet the Kusanagi sword was birthed from within Yamata no Orochi, which meant that to some extent, Yamata no Orochi was also tightly bound to this country and had received unprecedented protection.
After all, once a divine beast or great yokai reached the level of Yamata no Orochi or the Nine-Tailed Fox, they were often correlated with certain phenomena or existences in the natural world, making them fundamentally unkillable. Even if killed, they would not die entirely; as long as the conditions were right, they could similarly be resurrected, or continue to bring blessings to the world or wreak havoc among mortals in another state.
Shirou spoke up and said, "We encountered the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons before, and I heard talk among the yokai at that time. Perhaps Miss Tamamo knows something. Let's head back to Toke Castle first to regroup with Gudako and the others."
However, the large white bear that had been acting as their mount and carrying them in a frantic sprint to escape their lives seemed to have no strength left.
"Shirou, good bear, good bear, thank you for your hard work." Illya stroked the large white bear, which was lying to one side, thoroughly exhausted long ago, as she spoke softly.
"Woo..." The large white bear tried to stand up in its weariness, but Illya waved her hand, signaling to stop it.
"For the remaining path, Shirou and I can just run back together. Go back and rest first," Illya said comfortingly.
Thus, Shirou and Illya ran toward the direction of Toke Castle. Without the large white bear, relying solely on footwork, even for the two of them who were of Servant level, it would still take a certain amount of time to run back to the city, so they had to seize the time to hurry
along. The two of them crossed over the mountain ridges, distancing themselves from this frozen zone, and finally turned into two black dots, vanishing from sight.
Meanwhile, inside the dark attic where the sorcerer and the Heroic Spirit Sabers hid.
No one went to pay attention to the woman in the dark bottom layer of the attic anymore. The black-haired young girl uttered incoherent sleep-talk as if in a dream; by now, she had fallen into a deep sleep, sprawled completely on the ground. Her body trembled within her slumber, curling up at times, straightening out at times, and arching her back at times, acting exactly like a snake.
No one noticed that the strangulation marks on the young girl's body were gradually beginning to grow purplish-black scales, which began to spread all over her body. She suddenly snapped her eyes open; her eyes, which were originally heterochromatic, had now turned into the bluish-gold of the snake monster, and the malevolent aura inside them was identical to Yamata no Orochi's snake pupils...
The young girl slowly crawled up, and then stood on her two feet, just like an infant taking its first steps, her movements extremely clumsy. Very quickly, however, she re-mastered the usage of her body. Then, blending into the darkness, she vanished.
By the time Shirou and Illya ran out of the mountain range where Yamata no Orochi slumbered and arrived in the city, it was already nightfall.
In order to search for traces of the giant snake, the direction they took when leaving was opposite to that of Musashi and Gudako. Therefore, they needed to run back from the mountains and pass through the village before they could access the city. This back-and-forth took several hours, and when they arrived in the city, it was already past eight in the evening.
Inquiring at the inn for the message left for them by the fox dancer, they came to the castle lord's estate. But when the servants escorted them into the princess's reception room, they discovered that the two children, Atsu and Shinsuke, were actually not here.
"Could it be that Atsu and Shinsuke went somewhere to play with Tamamo-san?" Shirou asked in puzzlement.
Yet Tamamo-no-Mae herself was right here, and like Princess Kiyohime, she wore a melancholy expression, remaining silent. Musashi and Gudako looked completely filled with vexation and self-reproach.
"Gudako-chan? Musashi-chan? What happened?" Sensing that the atmosphere was wrong, Illya spoke up and asked.
Gudako said in a low voice, "Actually, the Heroic Spirit Sabers... no, the corrupted Raikou and Shuten-Douji carried away Atsu and Shinsuke."
"What!" Shirou's expression changed, and he asked urgently.
"I'm sorry! Senior Shirou, it's all my fault for being careless and actually leaving them here alone," Gudako bowed and apologized.
"No! This is my fault for failing to protect them, I will take responsibility and bring them back! Even if I have to stake this life of mine!" Musashi similarly lowered her head and swore.
"Raise your heads, Musashi! Gudako! Apologizing won't solve the problem, you both surely did your best. First tell me now, what exactly happened earlier?" Shirou said solemnly.
"About that..." Gudako pulled out the letter left behind by the Heroic Spirit Sabers and began to explain what had occurred earlier...
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Several hours prior, Musashi and Gudako obtained intelligence regarding the Heroic Spirit Sabers from Princess Kiyohime.
"The arsonist is a female samurai with long silver hair and fair skin. She will slaughter every populated place she passes by, and then set fires to burn them completely clean," said the retainer who had gathered the information at the castle lord's estate.
"Do you know where that female samurai is right now?" Musashi spoke up and asked.
"Yes! According to the intelligence, that female samurai is currently in the town outside the city," the retainer answered respectfully.
Musashi and Gudako rushed to the town outside the city and finally found that Heroic Spirit Saber who was constantly massacring villages and burning them down. Only at this moment, she was completely different from what was described.
That was a young woman with silver hair and red eyes; her appearance was as pure, moving, quiet, and gentle as a girl next door.
According to rumors, she was utterly merciless when she struck, acting like a vicious ghost from Hell, possessing a terrifying monstrous strength as well as the power to control flames.
With a single hand, she could easily lift an adult man wearing heavy armor weighing over twenty catties, throw him high into the sky, and blow him up with a lit fire arrow. If she wished, she could even use her hands to directly twist a person's head off like turning a screw.
"Good afternoon, Miss Musashi, and the little Master of Chaldea. I am Tomoe Gozen," the woman bowed very properly.
"Eh? Tomoe Gozen?" Gudako opened her eyes wide as she looked at the woman. This was a figure who frequently appeared in the theatrical plays of later generations in the land of Wa, a
legendary female general similar to Consort Yu beside the Hegemon-King of Western Chu in China, or like Mu Guiying, capable of fighting better than men.
"Ara? Isn't she capable of communication? Shouldn't Heroic Spirit Sabers be more rampaging and unreasonable fellows?" Musashi said in puzzlement.
"Ah, the commotion regarding the snake earlier seems to have allowed my sanity to recover somewhat. I was completely tricked by Caster before," Tomoe Gozen said faintly.
"Snake? What is that? But that's great, since you've recovered and know you were wrong, it's still not too late to stop now!" Gudako didn't quite understand, but seeing the woman's normal behavior, she spoke up to persuade her.
But at this moment, Tomoe Gozen changed her expression, saying with a bizarre and maniacal air, "No, rather, after snapping out of it, I have become even angrier. Previously, what I loathed was the Genji, but now, what I loathe is all living things!"
"Eek!" Gudako shrieked.
"This body is a demon that has fallen into the Scorching Heat Hell, to burn everything to ashes. Miyamoto Musashi, no... if you wish to stop me, then use your sword to stab and kill me." When the woman opened her eyes once more, her dual pupils had turned entirely crimson, ferocious and terrifying, as she spoke in a cold voice.
"Words are useless, then there's nothing for it but to fight! Gudako! I leave the support to you!" Saying so, Musashi drew that Myojingiri she had obtained from Shirou's hands. As long as she had this sharp blade in hand, she wouldn't be completely without a chance of victory when facing a Heroic Spirit Saber. So long as it was like this, she feared nothing.
"Kill, kill, kill, burn you all to death!" The rampaging demon woman lifted her longbow and arrow, while her other hand unleashed demonic flames.
Musashi only felt the area before her turn scorching hot. She quickly fell backward to dodge the attack of the flaming arrow, letting the ground blow open with a loud boom. Remaining unmoved, she rolled forward, seized the opportunity, leapt upward, and slashed out with her sword, severing the bowstring and cleaving straight toward Tomoe Gozen's body.
The woman had indeed temporarily recovered her sanity, thereby gaining some memories. As a demon, as a descendant of the Great Daimyojin Yamata no Orochi, the birth of this divine beast had caused some mutations to occur in her body, allowing her mind, which was originally controlled and corrupted by the sorcerer into losing itself, to recover a portion of her memories and thoughts amidst this change.
However, the mania of a demon and the resentment of Hell merely caused her to exist in a different form, but she was equally dangerous; the demonic flames behind her became even more violent.
This was her destiny; during her lifetime things always went against her wishes, and even after death, it still could not be changed.
She had once prayed to live a peaceful and happy life together with her husband, staying away from disputes and growing old together. Yet as a demon and a female samurai, she had no choice but to fight and slaughter on the battlefield.
She was not even permitted to die together with her beloved. She was ordered by her husband to break out of the slaughter alone, because dying together with a woman on the battlefield was a disgrace. She could only obey the command, watching her husband, Kiso no Yoshinaka, die at the hands of the armies of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Escaping into the mountains, she spent her life with endless regret, unable to close her eyes in peace even in death.
She mocked the disputes of the world over fame and wealth, detested violent and bloody wars, and loathed cruel, cold-blooded slaughter that caused the people to suffer, involving innocent civilians.
Yet now she was doing the very things she detested, wiping out the Genji army, massacring everyone she met indiscriminately, and burning down every village she passed by.
Her long silver-white hair danced wildly, a pair of sharp, long demon horns grew on her head, and blood-tears flowed from her crimson eyes as she let out a piercing roar.
"Waaaaaaaah!!!"
Tomoe Gozen cast aside her longbow, drew her samurai sword, and charged toward Musashi, making her final charge. Although she was slashed twice from the front, her powerful and violent vitality as a demon still allowed her to make a final counterattack before death. The samurai sword she swung carried a formidable power, emitting the piercing howl of a scraping gale.
"It's over!" Musashi said calmly; in a duel of life and death, she had never slipped up.
Tomoe Gozen's wounds tore open, and a large amount of blood erupted from the carved gashes. More fundamentally, Musashi's previous slash had not only severed the string of the longbow, but simultaneously severed Tomoe Gozen's connection as a Heroic Spirit Saber.
Heroic Spirit Saber Showdown, Second Bout! The outcome is decided! The victor—Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu!!!
She had been endowed with the karma of total slaughter by the magus Ashiya Douman, and at this moment she also bore the vengeful resentment of Yamata no Orochi; she was already long beyond saving, and what she sought was merely an early release.
"Thank you..." Tomoe Gozen spoke softly to Musashi and Gudako at the final moment, then vanished amidst the fluorescent light.
Having resolved one Heroic Spirit Saber, Musashi and Gudako both let out a sigh of relief. But the good times did not last; when they rushed back to the city, they discovered that Atsu and Shinsuke were gone, leaving behind only a letter.
Inside was a map with a marked indicator, along with a message:
"If you want to save the children, come to the mountain here at midnight tonight! Once the time passes, they will be eaten up!"
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