After finishing off the "Iaijutsu Brother," Zack returned to the Ghost Statue to meditate and replenish his depleted Dragonrot power before continuing his exploration.
He slipped out of the only designated exit, a window slot, and a grapple hook UI prompt appeared above him. Two consecutive grapple hooks brought him to the top floor of the Ashina Castle.
Zack's game screen froze, and a cutscene began to play.
"How is Grandfather?"
In the scene, Genichiro gazed out at the snowy landscape of Ashina.
"Lord Isshin... it's already a miracle he's still alive," replied Miss Emma, standing behind Genichiro.
"...Is that so?" Genichiro was silent for a moment, then turned towards Kuro behind him.
"Your Highness, I will say this again... Forge an unbreakable pact with me."
"I cannot, Lord Genichiro... Even if I have been defeated once, it is my duty as a ninja to stake my life and save my master."
As Kuro spoke, Zack watched in the game as Wolf, with a stylish grapple, sprung from the eaves onto the castle's rooftop.
"So cool!" Zack exclaimed, admiring the dashing Wolf on screen.
Although he had previously thought the game could be called "Sekiro: Die Twice Again," he had to admit the protagonist in the game was undeniably cool.
This wasn't just about his looks, but his aura and the way he moved in the game.
However, this part of the story, combined with the intel he'd gathered along the way, gave Zack a better understanding of the plot of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
The Ashina realm was under invasion and in grave danger.
And Isshin Ashina, the legendary Sword Saint who had once established the country's fame and might, had grown old and frail.
This was why Genichiro sought out Kuro, hoping to obtain the Dragon Heritage and use the power of resurrection to save Ashina.
In addition, Genichiro and others in Ashina were also researching something called the "Mortal Draught," which, like the Dragon Heritage, could grant immortality but seemed to have serious side effects.
But Zack wasn't paying too much attention to these plot details right now.
After all, the biggest feature of Souls-like games was their fragmented storytelling. Forget following the plot; you might not even understand what was going on even after finishing the game.
While Sekiro's story seemed more straightforward and easier to grasp compared to Dark Souls and Bloodborne, he still had many questions.
For example, what exactly was the Dragon Heritage, what was the Mortal Draught, and what happened at Hirata Estate three years ago?
These were the things he was most curious about.
"Come on, Genichiro, let's see how good you are!"
Holding the Kusabimaru in his hand, Zack switched Wolf's prosthetic tool in the game to the Firecrackers.
He had to admit, they were incredibly useful.
Whether fighting beasts or human-like enemies, being hit by firecrackers would stagger them for a bit.
However, beast-type enemies generally had longer attack intervals, like the previous Bull of the Path or the horse-riding General during the Gyobu encounter.
Human-like enemies, on the other hand, were more agile and sometimes dangerous.
But he found the shuriken and axe tools to be utterly useless, at least against bosses.
The axe had an incredibly slow wind-up, and while the shuriken was good against regular enemies, it was just chip damage against bosses.
So, of the spirit emblems items in his inventory, Zack felt the firecrackers were the best.
Facing Genichiro, Zack controlled Wolf to create some distance.
This was his habit when fighting bosses, a practice he'd maintained since his days playing Dark Souls.
He had generally observed bosses like this in previous Sekiro encounters as well.
But this time, facing Ashina Genichiro, he found something a little different.
The large bow strapped to Genichiro's back was no mere decoration.
After creating distance, Genichiro didn't rush forward immediately. Instead, he took down the large bow from his back and charged a shot.
The arrow came fast and furious. Zack couldn't dodge it and lost about two-thirds of his health.
"What the hell? Shooting from a distance? That's low!" Zack was shocked. Genichiro then pressed his attack, sweeping his blade left and right.
Zack quickly dodged with a step, retaliated with a slash, then created distance again and pulled out a healing gourd from his pocket.
As he was taking out the healing gourd, Genichiro across from him drew his bow again.
By the time Zack put the gourd away, he was too late to dodge. This time, he chose to parry.
The arrow struck. Since it wasn't a perfect parry, his posture gauge filled up by two-thirds. The immense shock forced the in-game Wolf to kneel on one knee, planting Kusabimaru in the ground to steady himself.
At this moment, Genichiro closed the distance again and attacked with two quick strikes followed by a slower one.
Zack reacted to the first strike and managed a perfect deflect, but he couldn't block the second. Coupled with the posture damage from the charged arrow, he was instantly broken through and finished off by the third strike.
"Die!"
A white, stylized "Death" appeared on the screen. Another "Death."
"Damn, is this Genichiro really that strong?" Zack was astonished.
This pressure, this aggression, it was just too much!
It reminded him of the purple-clad ninja he encountered three years ago in front of the triple pagoda at Hirata Estate.
Reviving and getting back on his feet, he faced Genichiro again, only lasting about ten seconds.
With a blood-red "Death" accompanied by a Dragonrot warning, Zack set off from the attic once more.
This time, he died even faster.
He found Genichiro to be almost unreasonable. His attacks were fast, but more importantly, his combos were relentless. When blocking, he couldn't possibly block an entire string of attacks.
Unless most of the attacks were perfectly parried, just like the Iaijutsu Brother downstairs.
And when he created distance, Genichiro's bow wasn't just for show.
As for the first deathblow?
That triggered a cutscene, so there was no opportunity for that!
On top of that, he had previously simply run away from some of the major generals. So far, he had only increased his attack power and obtained one set of prayer beads. He only had four healing gourds in total.
"Is this something a human can even beat?" Zack was on the verge of a breakdown.
After dying about 8 times, he still hadn't even passed Genichiro's first phase.
Although he had a decent grasp of his moveset, such as being able to endure the first two hits of his combo slashes and then dodge, and when creating distance, accepting a charged attack, and then when Genichiro leapt and attacked, there was a thrust attack that could be perfectly countered by simply pressing the deflect button.
But the key was that knowing the moves didn't mean you could win.
With his fundamentals not being solid, Zack's death count quickly climbed into double digits.
Now, he just had one feeling: a whole day spent fighting one tough monster with a blade and a flask of wine.
When he got into bed at night, he imagined the sheets would be full of Genichiro.
(End of Chapter)
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