Volume 8 Chapter 4 Part 3 (1/2)
The first one to reach the battlefield was, obviously enough, s.h.i.+baid.
The Kujou soldiers were in formation, ready to meet the Ichinose-monster allied army.
Alongside the Ichinose troops there were 6 monsters in total. They included 3 Green Tails around level 500 and 3 Yellow Tails around level 400.
There were no other monsters to be seen, maybe because they were acting alongside humans.
”It does not seem like they are being manipulated either.”
s.h.i.+baid, who had survived countless battlefields, knew very well the taste of the air on the field of battle. He had cut down manipulated soldiers, and those who were fighting on their own will.
Because of this, he instinctively felt that the Ichinose troops were not manipulated when he looked at them. He also confirmed it with a.n.a.lyze.
They appeared to be in the typical excited frenzy soldiers felt before battle, but no one was affected by status ailments such as Charm or Confusion.
”Are they possessed by the battle?”
s.h.i.+baid whispered after looking over the troops. They were a mixture of many different races and species, but they had one thing in common.
No one young was among them. Even Elves and Lords, who typically did not change much as they aged, looked like they had already pa.s.sed middle age.
Among the others, there were many who appeared to be in their early elderly years. Their eyes, however, sparkled bright with the intent to battle.
s.h.i.+baid was reminded of berserker warriors who would not stop fighting until their last breath.
”Hmm?”
He saw one man from the Kujou camp head towards the Ichinose troops. He was carrying a katana, but no armor.
It was an unthinkable thing to see on the battlefield, but s.h.i.+baid knew who the man was.
”Hinomoto's strongest swordsman, huh.”
The man's name was Toudou Kankurou.
As Kankurou was walking towards the Ichinose army, a man on horseback, clad in superb-looking armor, galloped closer to him.
”That's quite a large entourage you came with. Unfortunately, we received no announcement of your visit.”
”Of course you haven't. This is war.”
Kankurou knew the man well: he had once been appointed battalion commander in the Ichinose army.
”Why are there monsters with you? Are they not beasts to be defeated?”
”Who knows what those creatures think? They have their own plans too, I a.s.sume. Nothing that concerns us.”
The man answered clearly and boldly. He did not seem to be lying.
Kankurou thought that they were allied probably just because they shared similar goals.
”Why would you do something like this?”
”We were born among the flames of war. With large battles ceasing to exist, some of us simply pa.s.s away in silence. But we wish to die on the field of battle! We will not just wait to pa.s.s away in our beds!”
”You plan to kindle the fires of war in Hinomoto for such a reason?”
”You may laugh and call us foolish. All who came here today are such fools. Battle-crazy fools who cannot accept these times of peace.”
The man then laughed. A pure, clear laugh, without a shade of doubt in it. A ferocious smile on his lips.
The men behind him shared the same expression.
”The Ichinose house originally formed and grew from a gathering of such people. If not now, then in the near future, but this day was inevitable. Personally, I thought I was going to find some understanding from you.”
”I don't have the slightest idea of what you mean.”
”In Hinomoto, no man has seen as many battlefields as you, killed as many as you have. O ”White haired sword demon”. I give thanks to the heavens that my last battle will be against you.”
The man held up his spear, readying for battle.
His fighting spirit and murderous intent mingled together, p.r.i.c.kling Kankurou's skin.
”.so this is a warrior's way of life?”
”Hah. Nothing more than complacency.”
The man's lips sealed shut after those words.
We shall speak through our blades now, is what his eyes expressed..
”So be it then. I, Toudou Kankurou, shall be your opponent in this final battle!”
Before men who viewed death as a righteous boon, Kankurou's atmosphere changed.
Waves of murderous intent silently spread throughout the battlefield.
”Here I come!!”
Although pressured by Kankurou's murderous intent, the man unleashed a thrust enveloped in violent winds.
A single sharp thrust, which did not betray the man's old age. It was his coup de grace, a powerful blow which had felled many an opponent in the past.
This time, however, his speardid not meet its target.
”Wonderful”
As the man fell from his horse and into the ground, the tip of his spear, which had been cut off and blown away, stabbed the ground beside him.
The arc Black Moon had drawn in the air disappeared, the metal sound accompanying the katana's return to its sheath was overwhelmed by the trampling sound of the approaching cavalry troops.
The men rus.h.i.+ng on their horses, the men marching on the ground, no one bore expressions of sorrow on their faces. Their expressions well fit battle-crazy warriors, as the man had called them.
”Well well, to face such numbers of soldiers ready to die will be quite troublesome.”
The Kujou soldiers were not weak by any means. But against soldiers who do not fear death, or rather, soldiers heading towards death, even the most powerful soldier will be burdened with exhaustion.
For Kankurou, it was a group he could easily defeat, provided he had the time.
However, considering the possibility of the 7-tails' presence, he wanted to avoid both using too much time and exhausting his troops.
”Let me offer my a.s.sistance then.”
Kankurou was pondering how to break through the situation, when a Dragnil carrying a black halberd appeared before him.
The fighting spirit he emitted casted an overwhelming pressure on the surroundings.
”Well now, you are sir s.h.i.+n's”
”Sir Kankurou. I shall partic.i.p.ate in this battle.”
”My, it is a true honor to fight side by side with one of sir s.h.i.+n's companions.”
Kankurou naturally knew of s.h.i.+baid and his position in s.h.i.+n's service. Kankurou had witnessed him fight during his travels in the continent.
”I believe you have more speed than me, sir Kankurou. I will hold the soldiers back, I ask you to deal with the monsters.”
”That is a very welcome proposal. I shall go hunting then, please wait a while.”
Kankurou nodded at s.h.i.+baid's proposal and quickly ran off.
He was running among thousands of troops searching for just a few monsters, but his expression was not clouded.
”Be ready.”
Kankurou's path was opened by streaks of red slashes, created by the same skill Juugo had used, Infiltrator Blade.
Its power, however, was much different. Maybe because of his stats, or because of his expertise. The army was torn apart, as the armored men and horses on Kankurou's path were cleaved in two.
”It's the blade demon!! The blade demon is coming!!”
Crimson Slash. That was another name for Kankurou on the battlefield.
His sword arm alone could decide the fate of a battle. That was the symbol of Hinomoto's strongest swordsman.
”Do not enter the path of his sword!! Surround”
”I beg your pardon.”
A captain-looking man tried to give out instructions, as Kankurou's slashes cut through the army's formation.
But before he could finish barking his orders, Kankurou appeared behind him.
At the same time, the man's body was ran through by the same crimson slashes.
The man's torso, cut off from the rest of his body, slowly fell to the ground.
His dying expression, much like the spear-wielding man Kankurou had cut down before, seemed satisfied.
”So strong”
”A truly worthy opponent!!”
The army was losing its officers one after the other, but its morale was not falling, instead rising even higher. A phenomenon that normally would never happen when facing an overwhelmingly superior opponent.
Kankurou, slicing through the enemy formation, now pointed his blade at one of the monsters, a Green Tail. The monster was swinging its tails towards Kankurou.
Before a beast so huge one had to look up to see properly, Kankurou swung Black Moon without a word. The monsters' tails, sweeping through the surroundings-Ichinose soldiers included- were sliced away.
The instant after, the Green Tail wailed in pain, Kankurou was at its feet, the monster's blind spot, holding the sheathed Black Moon at his hip, ready to attack.
”First one.”
Black Moon was unsheathed, once again crimson slashes flew.
One slash was enough to cut off the Green Tail's head: soon after, the beast's huge body, much larger than a horse's, crumbled to the ground, causing a small tremor.
A cloud of dust rose, the soldiers stopped in their tracks for a moment. But even that would not stop them. As their actions showed, they did not count on the monsters from the beginning.
”Are you looking for a place to die? The country and age might not be the same, but those who live by the blade all share the same destination, don't they.”
s.h.i.+baid quietly whispered while sweeping away those who aimed to strike Kankurou from the back.
Even if he was not using any skill, the soldiers around s.h.i.+baid were blown away as if an explosion had gone off right next to them.
In the 500 years of s.h.i.+baid's life, he met many who thought of nothing except how to die.
Girard, who had battled and died at s.h.i.+n's hands, was not too different, a berserker who only thought about himself.
One of the destinations of those who live by the blade was now spreading before s.h.i.+baid.
Witnessing his formidable sweeps, many soldiers recognized s.h.i.+baid's great ability and gathered around him.
While silently countering their a.s.saults, s.h.i.+baid shot a skill towards one of the Yellow Tails.
”Hnngh!”
Placid Moon was held high, then came cras.h.i.+ng down.
Spear/Wind combination skill Storm Hammer.
Differently from Kankurou's Infiltrator Blade, the spherical hurricane born from Placid Moon's tip blew the soldiers far away, carved into the ground and through the battlefield, also damaging those outside the skill's range.
The hurricane, ravaging the battlefield in a fan-like shape, claimed the lives of 2 Yellow Tails, which happened to be close to its path. At the same time, Kankurou finished off his second Green Tail.
Then, among the chaotic ranks of the Ichinose soldiers, the Kujou troops finally arrived.
”To battle!!!”
The cavalry broke through the enemy troops, then the foot soldiers struck the separated groups of enemy soldiers. Their well-planned movements were the clear sign of the strict training they went through.
Corpses piled upon corpses on the reddening ground, riddled with broken weapons and crushed armor.
In such a scenery, the two oldest veterans of the battlefield simply continued to swing their blades in silence.
The second to arrive to the battlefield was Schnee.
After joining with Karin, Schnee separated from s.h.i.+n -who was heading to Fuji- and went on to ambush the monsters approaching the Futaba domain from the rear.
After self-introductions, Schnee had explained that she would fight alongside them.