Chapter 131: The Sovereign of the Earth, Kobe Hikaru
A small path snaked through the mountain ridges on the western side of Musashi Province.
This particular road was not within the primary surveillance range of any major power. The Hojo scouts were fixated on the three-thousand-man camp to the north; Takeda spies focused their efforts on the border between Kai and Suruga; and the Imagawa clan's attention was consumed by the placement of twenty-three newly acquired ayakashi.
To travel this way was to move like a ghost, utterly safe and unlikely to cause the slightest ripple.
But for that very reason, the road was ill-suited for a large-scale military march. Five hundred soldiers were, in the end, only five hundred soldiers. They were more than sufficient for a field battle, but for a true conquest, their numbers were absolutely inadequate.
Fortunately, Uesugi Kenshin had no intention of relying solely on those five hundred.
Along the path she took, villages lay scattered like fallen leaves. The Echigo army, however, did not engage in the looting and pillaging so common in this era of war. Kenshin did not even enter the villages herself. She would simply stop by the Jizo statue at the entrance, a silent guardian of travelers and children, and have a scout deliver a message.
"Bishamonten patrols the Kanto region to eliminate demons and purge evil. Any who suffer from the calamities of war may march with the army. Food will be provided along the way."
It was just that one sentence. No threats, no coercion.
The effect was instantaneous.
In the chaotic world of the Warring States, Musashi Province had suffered far too much over the past year. Border friction between the Imagawa and Hojo had burned farmlands to cinders. The sweeps during Echigo's invasion, while exterminating ayakashi settlements, had also devastated the surrounding human villages. And the demonic vanguards from Kyoto had left a trail of corpses and a massive tide of resentment staining the very soil.
The common people were trapped in unspeakable misery.
Then, suddenly, an army appeared—one that did not burn, kill, or steal. An army flying the banner of Bishamonten, the God of War and a dispenser of justice, promising food for the journey.
The first village produced a dozen or so able-bodied young men, all of them unwilling to simply lie down and wait for death. Hoes slung over their shoulders, they fell in at the rear of the column.
The second village produced over thirty more.
The third, even more than that.
By the time Kenshin's army reached the fifth village, her ranks had swelled from five hundred to eight hundred.
Seeing the growing procession, one of the Princess Warriors accompanying the army couldn't help but sneer, "To think the Hojo Clan claims to practice benevolent rule, yet they command so little loyalty from their own people."
"The Hojo claim to rule Musashi, but who doesn't know they've never achieved true control over this land?" another Princess Warrior responded, her tone equally disdainful.
Throughout this entire process, Uesugi Kenshin remained silent. Her quiet authority was enough to quickly restore a solemn, disciplined state to the entire procession.
By the time they bypassed the southern foothills of Mount Hakone and entered the very edge of the Hojo Clan's heartland, nearly two thousand people were following in their wake.
Although the only ones truly capable of fighting were still those original five hundred personal guards, the remaining fifteen hundred, though merely refugees carrying farm tools, were still people.
They were a show of force. They were a host that, from a distance, looked like a proper army.
The dust clouds they kicked up billowed into the sky, and the crowds of people appeared dense and overwhelming. Was it two thousand? Or perhaps three?
It was enough.
Gathering such a group naturally required a vast amount of food. However, Uesugi Kenshin had already decided where that food would come from.
If it wasn't taken from the villages, it would be taken from the cities.
If it wasn't obtained from the commoners, it would be confiscated from the noble lords.
Pressing ever forward, Kenshin did not look back at her growing legion. She merely tilted her chin slightly, her gaze fixed on the horizon, crossing over the ridgeline of the hills ahead.
There, at the edge of the world, the silhouette of a giant city nestled against the mountains and facing the sea began to emerge. Its stone walls were layered and imposing, its watchtowers densely packed like the teeth of a dragon.
Odawara Castle. The strongest fortress in all of Kanto.
The Uesugi Army's North Camp.
Before the command tent, the sky had brightened to a pale, morning gray. Embers from the bonfires still sent thin wisps of smoke into the air, and a cold wind poured down from the valley, causing the great 'Bi' banner to snap and flap loudly.
The three-thousand-man military camp had already restored order from the chaos of the undead night raid. Tents had been re-pitched, the wounded had been moved to the rear, and the four Divine Artifact Princess Warriors had returned to their positions at the cardinal directions, glowing like beacons.
But every soldier's gaze was drawn to the bizarre scene unfolding in front of the main tent.
A pale hand remained clamped onto Naoe Kanetsugu's shoulder guard. Purple arcs of lightning jumped silently between the fingers, tracing the gaps in her armor. The gray-robed, white-haired Oni Samurai leaned against a wooden pillar of the tent, his crimson Oni mask appearing exceptionally striking in the nascent morning light.
Naoe Kanetsugu, the one being held captive, stood beside him with a composed posture. She had been a prisoner for an entire night, yet her expression was not at all what one would expect from a captured general. There was no panic, no anger. She even carried an air of confidence, as if she were secure in the knowledge of having powerful backing.
It was as if her capture was itself part of the plan.
Hikaru had noticed this. From last night until now, he and the girl had been locked in this standoff for a full night. The four Divine Artifact Princess Warriors surrounded them but dared not move; the three thousand soldiers stood in formation but dared not loose their arrows.
He had been waiting for Uesugi Kenshin to return.
But just now, Naoe Kanetsugu had told him—Kenshin wasn't coming back.
The three thousand men were bait. The true blade was already in the south, and its target was Odawara Castle.
When she spoke, her tone was utterly calm. So calm, in fact, that Hikaru felt a sliver of admiration.
'Island-hopping tactics,' he thought, giving Uesugi Kenshin's strategy a name from the memories of his past life. She wasn't conquering strongholds one by one but skipping over intermediate nodes to seize the strategic key.
Kaede Village and even the entirety of Musashi Province were the intermediate islands. The North Camp was the island she had already occupied. Odawara Castle was the next island she intended to leap to.
She didn't even need to capture Odawara. She only needed to force Hojo Ujiyasu, barricaded within its walls, to miscalculate. If he hesitated, not daring to strike out, she could form a pincer from the north and south, cutting Musashi Province in half and turning it into an isolated island to be swallowed at her leisure.
Very smart. In the history he knew from before his transmigration, Uesugi Kenshin was indeed recognized by later generations as a master of tactics.
Hikaru's gaze fell upon Naoe Kanetsugu's face. She tilted her head slightly, her profile sharply defined in the morning light. Those steady eyes were watching him, as if gauging his reaction, waiting to see if he had begun to feel anxious. But there was no urgency in her gaze, only a patient stillness.
It seemed she was waiting… for him to make the 'right' choice.
Waiting for him to understand.
Under the shroud of the Faith Field generated by three thousand men, within the encirclement of four Divine Artifact warriors, and inside a province that was about to be bisected by the Uesugi clan's armies… he, too, had only one path left.
Surrender. Or rather, accept Uesugi Kenshin's 'invitation' and become her Divine Artifact.
Hikaru's crimson demon eyes narrowed slightly behind his mask.
And then—he smiled.
The smile under the Oni mask was faint, but the mirth behind it was deep. Because he had suddenly figured it out. He had figured it all out.
Why did Uesugi Kenshin come to Kaede Village alone?
It wasn't a test. It wasn't an invitation. It wasn't a matter of being polite before resorting to force.
It was a lure.
That so-called act of bestowing a name—she had deliberately performed it from beginning to end for him to see. It was a calculated provocation. Uesugi Kenshin understood the hearts of warriors on the battlefield all too well. She knew that for an existence like him, being subjected to such a high-and-mighty gesture to his face, it was absolutely impossible for him to simply swallow his pride.
He would definitely strike back. He would definitely pursue or launch a counter-attack after Kikyo had joined him to drive her away. And that was precisely why she had so readily revealed the location of this three-thousand-man camp.
And he had done exactly as she predicted. He had led two hundred undead and charged headlong into this camp.
Everything had gone according to her plan.
He had come. And after coming, he found Naoe Kanetsugu waiting, three thousand soldiers waiting, and four Divine Artifacts waiting.
'Island-hopping' wasn't just about the five hundred elites marching south. The other side of the strategy was to lure him, the greatest variable, out of Kaede Village and lock him inside this camp.
Then, she would use the sheer momentum of faith from three thousand men to thoroughly… trap him.
Trap him until he died, or until he was won over. And Naoe Kanetsugu was the person responsible for winning him over.
Throughout the night's standoff, the changes in the camp had been slow but clearly perceptible. The aftershocks of fear receded from the soldiers' bodies like an ebbing tide. Heartbeats stabilized, breathing grew even, and the hands gripping their spears no longer trembled. The faith that had been shaken during the undead night raid re-coalesced, like a cracked sheet of ice slowly freezing solid again in the biting cold.
Hikaru could feel it. The invisible pressure, the military momentum, was gradually returning to its original clarity.
By now, it had been fully restored. Restored to the point where its mere presence could disperse minor demons. Restored to the point where even high-level demons would keep a respectful distance. Restored to a state where… even he might be restricted.
"So you were waiting for me here, not because you were left behind," Hikaru said, his voice low.
Naoe Kanetsugu's expression did not change, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise.
"It was your lord who arranged for you to be here," Hikaru continued, "to be responsible for my surrender."
He released the hand clamped on her shoulder. The purple electricity dissipated, leaving faint scorch marks on her armor. She didn't rub them, nor did she retreat.
Hikaru took a step back. His crimson Oni mask swept across the surrounding military formation, then across the four Divine Artifact warriors glowing with golden light.
"You're too calm. Unreasonably calm. A general held hostage by an enemy for an entire night should be angry. She should struggle, or at least think of ways to escape."
"But you did nothing."
Naoe Kanetsugu was silent for a moment. Then, she smiled—a frank, open smile without any concealment.
"My lord was right." Her voice became a little clearer, sharper. "She said you were very smart. Smart enough not to do something foolish in a desperate situation."
"The momentum of faith from three thousand men, overseen by four Divine Artifacts—this camp is a cage."
"You could break in, but you cannot break out."
"You have only one choice." She looked at him, her gaze sincere, carrying a seemingly well-intentioned offer. "Become our companion."
The air froze. Three thousand pairs of eyes stared at the two figures standing before the main tent. Four pillars of golden light glowed silently in the distance. The military momentum, now completely recovered, surged like an invisible tide.
Everyone was waiting for the demon's answer. Waiting for him to bow his head. Waiting for him to submit.
Naoe Kanetsugu's words were entirely truthful. The power of three thousand men, clustered together under an intense, shared faith, was not to be underestimated. Ordinary demons, even high-level demon leaders who had undergone a qualitative change, would likely be pinned down until they couldn't move.
Even if Hikaru was a special case, strong enough to fight his way in and out again… what then? He would still face a situation of total encirclement. The entire province of Musashi was being surrounded and segmented.
Unless he could defeat all three thousand men at once, crushing their military force in an instant.
But theoretically, that was impossible. Even if his personal combat power was sufficient, his Yao Qi, suppressed by the military momentum, wouldn't support such an expenditure.
That was the theory.
And even now, Hikaru could truly feel the suppression. The Yao Qi within him was stifled, making it difficult to release and intensifying its consumption. A single movement now required several times more strength than usual to achieve the same effect. Just as he had seen before, all powers not of the mundane world were being suppressed. External releases were ineffective, long-range attacks were useless, and hit-and-run tactics were unsustainable.
Facing Naoe Kanetsugu's seemingly kind recruitment, he still smiled.
He said only one sentence. Very soft, so soft that only Naoe Kanetsugu could hear it clearly.
"How do you know—"
He spoke as if whispering, then suddenly crouched down. His five fingers spread wide, and he pressed his palm flat against the soil beneath his feet.
"—that I really can't defeat you all?"
Theories, after all, were just theories.
As the words left his lips, Naoe Kanetsugu's smile froze. Not because the sentence was arrogant, but because… the earth was shaking.
Starting from Hikaru's palm, concentric circles of vibrations spread outward. It wasn't an earthquake, nor was it a release of Yao Qi. It was something deeper.
It was… a response.
[Kanto Region Favorability: 2]
This land, the land of Kanto, still remembered him.
It remembered the night in Kaede Village when he slew demons from all directions and purified the turbid qi. It remembered him repelling the demon general Kidomaru from Kyoto. Even more, it remembered the morning on the ruins of the Tahoto pagoda when he eliminated the centuries-old evil spirits and cleansed the lingering resentment.
As had been said before, the earth has no consciousness, no soul.
But it has memory.
And now, that memory—deeper than before—was waking up.
Demonic power surged up from underground. It wasn't the Yao Qi Hikaru had reserved for himself; much of that had already been consumed during the night-long stalemate.
No, this was the earth itself, feeding its power back to him.
Continuous. Inexhaustible.
It was like a spring, like a tide. It was like a river that would never run dry, spreading from the soles of his feet and flooding his entire body.
Hikaru stood up.
Yao Qi exploded from him, so immense that even the momentum of three thousand troops could no longer suppress it. But this time, the Yao Qi was completely different. It was no longer his alone. It was released in unison by him and the land beneath his feet—mixed with the heaviness of the soil, the hardness of the rocks, and the lingering resentment of all the dead buried beneath the Kanto region.
A blood-red mist began to seep from the ground.
Bone spikes erupted from the earth.
Continuous, endless.
It wasn't an attack.
It was a reminder. A reminder to these people standing on the soil of Kanto—
This land is not yours.
It is his.
The military faith condensed by three thousand men could suppress Yao Qi and restrain the extraordinary. But it couldn't suppress the soil. It couldn't suppress the stones. It couldn't suppress a single white skeleton growing from the ground beneath their feet.
This, indeed, was the real reason Hikaru had dared to charge into the formation alone. This world might not be one of absolute individual supremacy; organized groups possessed a collective might capable of suppressing individuals.
However, Hikaru was never just a simple individual.
The very earth beneath his feet could grant him a power that far exceeded that of any ordinary organization.
Naoe Kanetsugu's expression finally changed. Truly changed.
She looked at the gray-robed, white-haired Oni Samurai before her. His ghost mask flickered in the blood mist, and through its slits, his crimson demonic pupils peered out, filled with a chilling laughter.
He didn't swing his sword. He didn't release his lightning. He didn't even point a single finger at anyone.
He just stood there, standing on this land.
And the land did everything for him.
His voice cut through the rising tension, carrying over the groaning earth and the spreading mist, a promise laced with the chilling power of a Demon King reawakened under the bright daylight.
"Those who give up resistance…"
"I will only injure, not kill!"
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