Chapter 381: The Sorcerer's Curse
The Sorcerer's objective revolved around Princess Kiyohime, who carried the bloodline of the Tokugawa clan within this world. By using her as a living sacrifice, he intended to cast a colossal curse upon the entire lineage of the Tokugawa clan leaders—one capable of affecting even parallel worlds. As long as a world was ruled by the Tokugawa family, it would be eroded by the Castle of Onie Jodo, transforming those worlds into a hell overrun by monsters.
For this curse, the closer the target's blood relation to the head of the Tokugawa family, the better. Although the Princess Kiyohime here belonged to a branch family, the Tokugawa clan had only progressed to its third generation by this point; in truth, not many years had passed since the death of the first-generation Tokugawa. Being merely the second generation of a branch family, her bloodline was actually still very close, and she was likely a first cousin to the Shogun of the Bakufu.
Just as Yagyu Tajima-no-kami was about to step in front of Princess Kiyohime and reach out his hand to seize her—
"Hold it!"
A delicate shout echoed from afar.
The crystalline light of an icy arrow flew straight toward him.
With a single swing of his blade, he knocked the arrow away, but a layer of frost instantly coated his arm.
It was Illya. Over the past few days, she had been acting alongside the fox dancing girl to investigate methods for sealing the Orochi.
Although the main body of the Yamata no Orochi was still slumbering within that sunken valley, they had discovered traces of the serpent's activity elsewhere. That dense, oppressive demonic aura seemed to belong to a powerful duplicate, or perhaps the spiritual portion of its body.
Because of this discovery, she had rushed back to the castle lord's mansion at the earliest opportunity, enabling her to fire that critical arrow right before Yagyu Tajima-no-kami could capture Kiyohime.
"Hmph? Attire from the Ezo people?" Yagyu Tajima-no-kami ignored his freezing, discolored hand and coldly scanned the young girl standing atop the wall of the castle lord's mansion.
"To be precise, it's the Ainu people!" Illya corrected loudly, standing upon the wall while still holding her precious bow.
Yagyu Tajima-no-kami let out a cold snort and said, "Hmph, such things matter not! Our Yamato nation—not just the Ezo, but Okinawa as well, and Guam too—is destined to be invaded, slaughtered, conquered, annexed, and assimilated by the Yamato nation! Turning
barbarians into the Yamato race, wherever our armies reach, there shall only be one Yamato race left."
Illya furrowed her brows, raising her bow as she spoke, "An old man like you, who clings to the idea that this island nation has only ever had one Yamato race and one ideology since ancient times, completely blind to reality, really makes people detest you. Let go of Kiyohime, otherwise, even if you are a human, I will freeze you straight into an ice sculpture!"
"Hehehe, a goddess downgraded into a Servant, have you failed to perceive my state? If that is the case, then let my blade cut you down. Even if it is the true body of a goddess, my blade, which reaches the highest heavens, can kill it just the same," Yagyu said with a cold laugh. On the hand gripping his hilt, his thumb pressed against the tsuba and lifted slightly, exposing the silver blade from the top of the scabbard and flashing a chilly gleam.
As a spirit fused with a goddess, the great white bear manifested in front of the young girl, instantly erupting with the absolute speed of an apex predator hunting its prey.
However, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami on the opposite side controlled motion through stillness. Holding his blade with both hands, the edge facing upward, he assumed a stance ready to slash an enemy at any moment. His entire aura converged, making him resemble a blade that was just about to leave its sheath.
Sensing something amiss, Illya shouted loudly, "Shirou, come back! Close-quarters combat is too dangerous!"
"Roar!" The great white bear hurriedly halted its massive, sweeping paw. From its mouth, it unleashed an ultra-frigid ice breath, sweeping it toward Yagyu Tajima-no-kami.
"Hmph! Too slow." Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's Shinkage-ryu footwork was extraordinarily subtle; he actually moved parallel to the ice breath at a distance of mere centimeters, perfectly dodging the white bear's sweeping breath with a side-step. Reversing the direction of the sword in his hands, he changed from a slash to a thrust, piercing through the icy frost and driving straight into the white bear's body.
"Roar, aaah!!!" The white bear let out a howl of pain.
Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's blade was incomparably sharp and exceptionally swift. Although human physical attributes could not match those of a ferocious beast, in terms of drawing and swinging speed, he surpassed the great white bear by an entire tier. He easily gouged a hole into the white bear's body, causing blood to spray wildly.
"Shirou! Let go of him!!!" Illya shouted in rage. Chilly air surged from the bow in her hands as she fired at Yagyu Tajima-no-kami.
Colossal pillars of ice erupted from the frost emanating from the arrow, crashing toward the enemy like mountain peaks.
Yagyu Tajima-no-kami could only sheath his blade, step sideways, and leap up, evading the suppression of the frozen mountain.
Fortunately, Shirou was currently in the form of a spirit; otherwise, a wound of this magnitude would mean certain death by now. Even as a spirit, however, he could no longer move around.
"Shirou, it's alright. Go back and rest first." Illya recalled the great white bear into the spirit world.
If this curse succeeded, countless worlds would perish because of it.
Illya readied her bow and arrow, continuously firing icy projectiles in an attempt to freeze him.
"Too slow!" Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's footsteps seemed to teleport as he appeared directly in front of Illya, delivering a straight, downward slash.
When the old man before her held a sword in his hand, he was a rational demon who looked at all things with icy logic, unadulterated by personal emotion. He acted in the most rational manner without making a single redundant movement, following the laws of nature in everything.
Consequently, his sword was like ripples driven by the wind, or the moon reflected in water; ordinary attacks simply had no way of hitting him.
Although Illya surpassed Yagyu Tajima-no-kami in terms of her body's magical energy capacity, attack range, and versatility, she was ultimately immature as a specialized Lesser Grail and a fusion of three goddesses. At the very least, her personal combat experience fell far short of the old, crafty Yagyu.
All her arrows were evaded by the opponent, and Yagyu even found a opening to deliver a fatal strike.
"Watch out!" Kiyohime lunged forward, using her body to block this strike for Illya. Not wanting to kill Kiyohime right now, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami hurriedly pulled back his blade, but it still tore a large gash across her left arm.
"Ugh!" Kiyohime groaned in pain.
"Kiyohime!" Illya cried out in alarm.
Yagyu Tajima-no-kami watched all of this coldly. This small unexpected situation was not enough to disrupt his ice-like mind. He swung his blade toward Illya once more, thinking, This time, I won't slash the wrong person!
Right at this moment!
Thunder! Ice spikes! Storms! Flames! All rushed toward Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's back simultaneously, even blasting several craters into the ground.
"Let's go!" Arriving in the nick of time, the blue-robed dancing girl continuously unleashed the talismans in her hands toward Yagyu Tajima-no-kami while shouting to the young girl.
"Thanks, Tamamo-chan!" Illya hurriedly carried Kiyohime on her back and leaped outside.
Taking advantage of the smoke obscuring Yagyu Tajima-no-kami's eyes, the three women turned and quickly departed.
Within the smokescreen, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami whipped up a gust of sword wind, sweeping all the dust away. Aside from his clothes being slightly soiled, he was uninjured. Just as he was about to give chase—
"Wait." At this moment, the Sorcerer transmitted his voice to stop him.
"Don't pursue them. Bring the princess's blood over, the living sacrifice can proceed just the same," the Sorcerer instructed.
"Understood." Gazing in the direction the young girls had fled, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami sheathed his blade and complied coldly. His target had not been them from the start, so whether he let them go or not mattered little.
On the other side, Shirou and the others who were rushing toward the city now only needed to cross the final mountaintop to see Toke Castle. At this moment, they also saw the blood moon in the sky.
"Even though we only ate breakfast a short while ago, has it already become night?" Musashi said, looking at the suddenly darkened sky with a grave expression, "And we haven't even eaten lunch yet!"
"Stop joking around at a time like this. No matter how gluttonous you are, distinguish between what is urgent and what is not. This is the blood moon that appears when Heroic Spirits emerge, and that repulsive aura ahead is growing denser and denser. Something must have happened over at Toke Castle," Shirou said, gazing toward the mountaintop.
"Is it really alright for Atsu and Tasuke to be in the village right now?" Gudako asked.
Shirou replied, "Only without them here can we fight with our hands untied. Besides, the village is the safest place. I reinforced the barrier once more; even if a Heroic Spirit wants to enter, it will take some effort. As long as they aren't discovered by a swarm of demonic beasts, there won't be any danger. With the Heroic Spirits in front and the Yamata no Orochi behind, I truly had no way to bring the two of them along with us."
"Is that so, that's great! Let's head over quickly then!" Gudako smiled in relief.
"Yeah, that's true. Let's restore this world to normal quickly; we still need to secure a healthy environment for Atsu and Tasuke to grow up in," Shirou said, drawing a sword from his pack.
"Is this the new blade you forged last night, Shirou, clanging away all night long?" Musashi leaned over, asking inquisitively.
"Yes. Since I've cut quite a few strange things recently, I used those new materials to forge this blade," Shirou said.
"Have you tested the blade? You look quite satisfied, Shirou, is it super powerful?" Musashi asked curiously.
"It is a good blade, but I haven't tested it yet," Shirou nodded.
"Eh!! Then how does it compare to my Myoujin Giri? Try slashing something with it! If you won't use it to slash, Shirou, then hand it over to me," Musashi suggested, eager to try. She had already taken one priceless Myoujin Giri; taking another wouldn't feel like much of an issue to her.
Shirou shook his head, refusing Musashi as he said, "No, it's not time yet. For this trip, it's better if this blade doesn't leave its sheath if it can be avoided."
"Eh, why like that." Disappointed that her curiosity went unfulfilled, Musashi complained.
"Ah, the monsters we're supposed to slash have appeared." Musashi drew her Myoujin Giri and said with a laugh.
"Make it quick! We're charging straight into the city!" Behind them, Shirou projected lines of flying swords, aiming them at the avian monsters flying through the air. The swords flew forth, severing the avian monsters' heads outright.
By the time the corpses of the avian monsters crashed from the sky to the ground, the trio had already run past, leaving behind only a long trail of silhouettes.
However, even more monsters awaited them ahead.
At this moment, various tragic scenes were unfolding across the towns near the Castle of Onie Jodo because of Amakusa Shirou's Demonic Realm Rebirth.
This was a highly famous legend in later generations, stating that he had not been killed, but had instead fallen into hell, where he obtained immense power, swearing to return to the mortal world in a later era to enact his revenge.
Right now, across the towns, the closer one got to the demon castle, the more numerous the monsters became. The people around those areas had all been transformed into monsters.
Samurai turned into blade-wielding giants, some commoners became ferocious beasts on all fours, and there were even ordinary citizens turned into winged avian monsters flying through the sky, one after another opening their massive maws to unleash roars.
In the towns in between, the people who had not been turned into demonic beasts huddled together, seizing time to flee toward the outside under the protection of samurai. Facing ordinary monsters, the samurai still possessed the means to resist to some degree.
But right then, with a loud thump, a samurai went flying. A red, single-horned oni standing at least three meters tall emerged alongside an eight-headed serpent monster.
"Leave the Orochi and the oni here to me! I'll count on you two for what lies ahead!" Projecting a pair of giant golden axes in his hands, Shirou ran toward that direction and shouted loudly.
"Oh! Gudako, keep up with me!" Without hesitation, Musashi answered readily and ran toward the front.
"Understood," Gudako replied.
Musashi led Gudako as they charged toward the black demon castle ahead. Every second counted; only by resolving this a step earlier could they completely fix the issue of demonic beasts continuously spawning here.
Facing the red oni, Shirou gritted his teeth and leaped high into the air, bringing one axe down to meet the red oni's iron club.
"Nine Lives Kill the Hundred Heads (Nine Lives)!!"
"Roar roar roar!!!" Looking at the human challenging it, the three-meter-tall red oni unleashed a roar.
Enduring the aching pain of the tremors in his palms, Shirou utilized the heavily tempered martial arts of the Great Hero, delivering strike after strike with his axes.
Musashi and Gudako finally arrived at the Castle of Onie Jodo, which was the castle where the castle lord had previously resided. At this very moment, this place was covered by a blanket of blackness, with eerie dark-purple mist rising all around, and black, thorny, tentacle-like vines swaying about. It was almost impossible to recognize this as the grand castle lord's mansion from before.
"Ototto! Welcome to our Castle of Onie Jodo, Lord Shinmen Musashi, Master of Chaldea." At this moment, a long-haired man with a smirking face walked out from there. Despite being an Eastern Onmyouji, he possessed a great deal of Western style as well.
The hair on one side was long, straight, and white, while the hair on the other side was curled. magatama earrings hung from his ears, and his neck was covered by a Western-style purple high collar. On one side was a primitive green robe, while the other side exposed half of his torso. The five fingers of his hands possessed long, sharp, zombie-like nails, and his red-and-white striped long sleeves made him resemble a clown. His appearance was handsome, but the smile he displayed carried an eerie, sinister quality that made it impossible to like.
"Who goes there!!! Eh! A handsome guy?" Musashi hurriedly halted her steps, shielding Gudako behind her body.
"Musashi-chan!" Gudako called out, exasperated.
"Ah haha! Even if you are a handsome guy, you're just a monster wearing a beautiful skin, aren't you?" Musashi let out a dry laugh, reassuming her serious combat face as she raised the Myoujin Giri toward Ashiya Douman and said.
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