[Great fires began to burn in Kyoto, just as in your memory.]
[On this night, you didn’t even feel the firelight, but under that mysterious sensation, you still raised your head and looked in that person’s direction.]
[There was no longer any need for more words; you knew the opportunity you were waiting for had arrived.
To this, your choice is…]
[A: Draw the sword, B: Personally intervene.]
This time there were only two choices; even Mitsuyuki couldn’t help but smile faintly at this.
Then, without hesitation, he chose to personally intervene!
…
Kyoto,
Watanabe Estate.
“What’s going on?
Why is it so noisy tonight?”
The elderly Old Swordmaster was awakened by the commotion.
After simply throwing on a cloth robe, he came out of the house and frowned as he stopped a panicked servant in the clan.
After the person recognized him as an elder of the family, he naturally didn’t dare to be negligent and hurriedly said: “It’s bad, my lord!
Kyoto is under attack.
Someone outside has started a fire, and not only that, they’ve already fought their way into Kyoto City!”
“Attacking Kyoto?” The Old Swordmaster was stunned and couldn’t help but say in surprise, “Who is it that has such audacity?”
“It’s not humans, it’s not humans!” The person hurriedly shook his head and replied with deep fear in his eyes, “My lord, as far as I know, they aren’t human at all, but corpse ghouls and various types of demons!”
“What?!” The Old Swordmaster was slightly shocked.
He grabbed the man and pulled him close, staring intently at him as he shouted with a frown, “What are you saying?
A large group of demons attacking humans?
How could that happen in this era…
are you sure you’re not lying to me?”
“How could I lie to you?
Everyone basically knows about this because those monsters, those monsters are heading our way!”
Heading our way…
The Old Swordmaster’s expression shifted as he immediately understood the current situation.
Thus, after pushing aside the person in front of him, he immediately ran toward the Kamidana.
The panic among everyone in the estate along the way undoubtedly made the Old Swordmaster realize the severity of the situation.
After reaching the Kamidana, he saw it at a glance—the onikiri, the Divine Blade enshrined by the entire clan!
The Old Swordmaster stepped forward, suppressed the various emotions in his heart, bowed respectfully to it, and then took it down.
Just as he was about to turn and leave…
He froze once more.
For at this very moment, a person stood before him.
That person wore the clan’s black attire and possessed a handsome face.
He stood there by the door, quietly watching the Old Swordmaster.
Then, before the Old Swordmaster could react, the onikiri seemed to feel his call; its entire body began to tremble, yearning to return to his side.
The Old Swordmaster looked at the trembling Divine Blade in his hand, then looked back at the youth before him who was watching him with a calm expression.
Gradually, a look of realization appeared on his face.
At this moment, it was as if he understood all the causes and consequences.
He couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter: “So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is!
I knew I hadn’t misjudged you, I knew it was impossible for me to be wrong, and even more impossible for onikiri to be wrong!
So you have been waiting for this day all this time, haven’t you?!”
“Mitsuyuki, can you tell me…
what exactly is that thing?”
Indeed, the newcomer was naturally Mitsuyuki; it could only be Mitsuyuki.
Mitsuyuki was silent for a moment before replying, “The last ghost story of this world, a collection of all the resentment, anger, and unwillingness of this era.”
“I see.” The Old Swordmaster understood.
He then looked at Mitsuyuki and said seriously, “Then…
are you confident you can slay it?!”
Mitsuyuki did not answer this question.
He only let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly, revealing a faint smile.
Garbled text…
…
Flames consumed the night of Kyoto.
Under the illumination of these raging fires, an army of walking corpses with hideous faces, varied shapes, and crimson eyes was revealed to the world.
They were monsters resurrected by demonic energy, their hearts filled with resentment, knowing only slaughter.
They slammed against tightly closed doors, letting out ear-piercing screams.
Inside a certain house, a mother held her young child in her arms, shivering with fear.
She was so terrified she didn’t even have the courage to scream.
Then, just as the thin door was torn apart and the rushing corpse-ghoul let out a piercing howl, sniffing the scent of human flesh and locking onto the terrified mother and child, it pounced forward—
Like a falling cherry blossom, a cold light flashed, and a sharp sword severed its head.
Subsequently, a somewhat slender and petite young girl appeared before the mother and child.
She wore the Haori of the Shinsengumi, with a black scarf fluttering around her neck.
Her face, cute yet appearing so heroic at this moment, left the huddled mother and child in a daze.
Seeing another corpse-ghoul pouncing from behind the woman, the mother widened her eyes and shouted, “Look out, be car—”
Before she could finish her sentence, another flash of cold light appeared.
A grim-faced, burly man, Hijikata Toshizo, walked in together with Kondo Isami, also of the Shinsengumi.
Raising an eyebrow, she asked seriously, “What’s the situation?”
“It’s very bad,” Kondo Isami spoke first, answering with a frown.
“Everywhere is under attack, we’re completely short-handed, and most importantly, this fire is strange; it can’t be extinguished by ordinary means at all!”
“The people from the Onmyo Agency in Kyoto have also arrived.
They say this is an ominous fire used by a Great Yokai and can only be purified, but…
the opponent’s strength is too great, and they say they can’t do it,” Hijikata Toshizo added with a dark expression.
“Then is there no other way?”
“There is, and it’s a very simple one,” Hijikata Toshizo said.
“Just slay the leader of this incident, who is also the one who set the fires!”
“And in fact, we know his location, and we’ve even identified who he is…
to be precise, he has no intention of hiding.”
Kondo Isami shook his head slightly and said, “His name is Shishio Makoto.
He was one of the Battosai from back then, a man who should have died.
Right now, his entire body is wrapped in white bandages, revealing only his black hair and the obvious demon horn on his head.
Carrying unwilling resentment and anger, he has crawled back from hell…”
“Shishio Makoto?” Okita Souji’s eyes widened slightly.
As a member of the Shinsengumi, she naturally knew of this person.
“Since he’s been found, why hasn’t he been decapitated?”
“He can’t be killed; we’ve even tried firearms,” Kondo Isami said helplessly.
“He is surrounded by corpse-ghouls, and there seems to be a Yokai with extremely strong perception following him.
Add to that the suddenness of the event—most of our people are out rescuing others, and we simply can’t muster enough manpower to launch an attack in a short time.
Thus, we can only place our hopes on the Onmyoji within the Onmyo Agency, and…”
Speaking to this point, Kondo Isami suddenly hesitated.
He looked at Okita Souji, the words catching in his throat.
“What is it?” Okita Souji asked in confusion.
While Kondo Isami was hesitating over whether to tell her, Hijikata Toshizo spoke up from the side, “Besides the people from the Onmyo Agency, aren’t there also samurai in Kyoto specialized in slaying demons?”
“Mitsuyuki’s side?”
After replying subconsciously, Okita Souji seemed to finally understand.
Her pale gold eyes snapped wide, and her speech quickened instantly: “Wait, where…
where are they heading?
Since you’ve found their tracks, you must have guessed their objective!”
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”