"YAMATO!!!" Sengoku's scream tore through the hall, primal rage emanating from his very being as he cradled Enzu's lifeless form.
Yamato's face twisted into a sneer of contempt. "Shut it! Don't yell at me boy!"
Rage consumed Sengoku. He grabbed a sword lying nearby and hurled it with tremendous speed at Yamato. The blade cut through the air with deadly precision, but Yamato sidestepped it effortlessly. Black smoke suddenly formed around him, swirling like a tempest. When the dark clouds dissipated, Yamato was gone, leaving only emptiness where he had stood moments before.
In the aftermath of this confrontation, King Enor collapsed beside the body of his daughter. His weathered hands trembled as he cradled her lifeless face, tears streaming down his cheeks in uncontrollable rivers of grief.
"It should have been me, my beloved daughter," he sobbed, his voice breaking with each word. "Why did you do this? You had a promising life ahead."
Sengoku stood nearby, his own tears falling silently. The weight of failure crushed down upon him, making each breath painful. He had sworn to protect those he cared about, yet in a single day, two people he loved had been taken from him.
Within Sengoku's consciousness, Nickan observed all that transpired. Though not physically present and merely experiencing these events through Sengoku's being, he felt genuinely remorseful for Sengoku's loss. What's done is done, Nickan thought from within, but that didn't lessen the weight of the moment. Despite it not happening to Nickan himself, he shared in Sengoku's pain through their connected consciousness.
The six wives scattered across the room rushed to Sengoku's side, surrounding him protectively. They whispered words of comfort, though they knew nothing could ease the pain of such loss. Their gentle hands tried to steady him as he swayed on his feet, overcome by emotion. But how could he be calmed when he had lost two individuals so close to his heart?
The door to the chamber opened, and Ron stepped in cautiously. Immediately, the six wives took defensive positions around Sengoku, weapons half-drawn.
"Calm down," Sengoku told them, his voice hollow and distant.
Ron approached, his own eyes brimming with tears. When he reached Sengoku, he embraced him tightly.
"I'm sorry for your loss, my friend," Ron choked out. "I tried my best being a spy, yet I failed you."
Sengoku returned the embrace briefly before pulling away. "It's not your fault. You did awesome, but I was naive. I didn't consider Yamato showing up himself."
The six wives exchanged confused glances, their brows furrowed in bewilderment.
"Didn't you betray Ron?" asked Ruzu, her hand still resting on the hilt of her dagger.
A bitter smile crossed Sengoku's face. "Nope. We set up all the previous events for getting Yamato's attention, and we succeeded."
"But how did you communicate?" Ruzu inquired, suspicion still evident in her voice.
"Telepathy communication, thanks to Lady Akemi," Sengoku replied.
As if summoned by her name, Lady Akemi appeared at the entrance of the chamber. Her elegant robes were torn and stained with blood, and her usually composed expression had crumbled into one of profound anguish.
"Lord Koga is no more," she announced, her voice quivering.
The words hit Sengoku like a physical blow. He staggered backward, and for a moment, it seemed he would collapse entirely. But rage steadied him, burning away the edge of unconsciousness that threatened to overtake him.
"What are you saying?" he demanded, though deep down, he already knew the answer.
Lady Akemi's gaze dropped to the floor. "It's true! Yamato's son Hiroshi came suddenly and killed Koga, but I managed to escape with my body mildly injured."
Sengoku's eyes turned bloodshot, the veins in his neck bulging as hatred coursed through his veins. "I'll kill them," he whispered, then louder: "I'll kill them all and show no mercy."
Ron stepped forward, placing a hand on Sengoku's shoulder. "I bet I can't be a spy anymore, so I'll help you win every war from now on."
"Thanks, Ron," Sengoku said, his voice hollow. "I'm an orphan now, and I could use extra helping hands."
"Anytime," Ron replied firmly.
Sengoku looked around the room at the faces watching him. He then gathered everyone together, ensuring his six wives, King Enor, and Lady Akemi were close. Once they had assembled, Sengoku revealed a mind-blowing truth.
"Yamato is actually my grandfather," he announced, "and Hiroshi is my uncle."
The revelation sent shockwaves through the room. Ron was the first to speak. "Then why are they doing this to you?" he asked, bewilderment evident in his voice.
Within Sengoku's mind, Nickan already knew this part of the story and waited silently for Sengoku's reply, curious to experience how this crucial moment would unfold.
Sengoku took a heavy breath, his gaze distant as he recalled memories from long ago. "It was long ago when I was eighteen," he began. "The thing is, when one of our royal lineage turns eighteen, we are to hunt and kill a dragon. And that's what happened to me as well."
He paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing.
"We went out, me and my grandfather, to kill a dragon which was Ryujin. But an evil dragon had already engaged in fighting with the dragon God Ryujin."
The room was silent as everyone hung on his every word.
"Me and my grandfather watched Ryujin fight with the evil dragon Zorgen, and a while later it turned out that Ryujin lost to it."
Sengoku's hands clenched into fists as he recalled the memory.
"So my grandfather decided to beat Zorgen on his own to show me how to fight against a dragon, thinking it was exhausted. But things were not what he expected it to be."
His voice grew quieter, laden with the weight of that fateful day.
"Zorgen was about to kill my grandfather. With no other option left, I had to drink the dragon God Ryujin's blood, which could have killed me, but I survived as a chosen one."
A murmur ran through the group at this revelation.
"I killed the evil dragon Zorgen," Sengoku continued. "Then my grandfather decided to drink the blood of Zorgen, as it was a fairly strong dragon. But my grandfather turned evil for some reason after drinking the blood of the evil dragon Zorgen and attacked me."
He touched a spot on his chest, where a scar still remained from that day.
"I was out for the count. Later, when I woke up, I heard from my father Koga that my grandfather Yamato had left after knocking me out and destroyed more than half of the human kingdom and turned it into Dark domains."
Ron nodded slowly, absorbing this information. "So you guys are blood related, just as I thought."
"Yes," Sengoku confirmed. "But now the time to kill him has come. He's not the same grandfather I used to know. He's turned beyond evil."
Within the recesses of Sengoku's mind, Nickan contemplated the similarities between himself and Sengoku. As fate would have it, both of them needed to defeat their grandfather in their own way – Nickan in his original existence, and Sengoku in this reality that Nickan now experienced through their shared consciousness.
The room fell into a heavy silence, each person processing the revelations in their own way. The grief of loss mingled with the weight of truth, creating an atmosphere thick with tension and unspoken fears.
"I promise you," Sengoku whispered to his dead wife, "your sacrifice will not be in vain. Our son will be avenged, and your father protected. This I swear on my dragon blood."
By the time dawn approached, a solemn funeral ceremony had been conducted for Enzu. Her body, wrapped in silks of blue and silver, was laid to rest in the royal crypt alongside generations of her ancestors. Sengoku stood silent throughout the ceremony, his face expressionless as prayers were offered and traditions observed.
When the final rites had been completed, Lady Akemi gathered the group in the palace courtyard. Raising her hands toward the lightening sky, she began an incantation in a language even Sengoku didn't recognize.
Energy crackled around her, forming patterns in the air that gradually expanded into a shimmering portal.
"It leads to the outskirts of Koga's kingdom," she explained, her voice strained with the effort of maintaining the gateway. "We must move quickly. I cannot hold it for long."
Ron stepped through first, followed by the six wives. Sengoku embraced King Enor briefly before turning to the portal with his tied up son Enro.
"May the gods grant you strength," the king said, his voice breaking. "And may you find the justice my daughter and my grandchild deserves."
Sengoku nodded once, then stepped through the portal with Lady Akemi following close behind. The gateway collapsed immediately after, leaving King Enor alone in the courtyard with his grief and the rising sun.
On the other side, Sengoku emerged onto a landscape of desolation. What had once been fertile fields surrounding his father's castle was now scorched earth, blackened trees standing like skeletal sentinels against the horizon. In the distance, the castle itself stood partially destroyed, one tower completely collapsed, others bearing scars of intense battle.
"Hiroshi was thorough," Lady Akemi observed grimly. "But not all is lost. Some of your father's loyal subjects escaped into the mountains. They await your command."
Sengoku surveyed the destruction, his expression hardening with each passing moment. When he finally spoke, his voice carried a determination that sent shivers through Nickan's consciousness.
"This ends now," he declared. "Yamato sought to break me by taking everything I love. Instead, he has freed me from all restraint."