Chapter 243: The Purple Demonic Sword Muramasa
The purple, eerie sword qi—burning like a violet flame amidst a mist—collided with the fires of Purgatory. A plume of smoke exploded, obscuring everyone's vision.
The villagers hiding inside the house could faintly see the back of a lean man holding a blade, standing before the girl.
"Master!" Yukino cried out in surprise and joy.
"Yukino! That was too reckless. Really, using your body to block a sword—who on earth taught you that?" Shirou scolded, glancing back at the girl before muttering a complaint to himself.
"Yes! But I felt that if it were Master, you would have done the same! And Master came just as promised; you finally arrived," Young Yukino answered as she looked up.
The girl tried to smile, but two rows of tears uncontrollably streamed down her face.
"I'm sorry... it's all because I was too weak... By the time I got here, Master Hozoin had already sacrificed himself... I wanted to protect the people in the house, but I had to be saved by Miss Nobu..."
"I see..." Shirou slightly moved his right hand, which held the sword, behind him and reached out with his left hand to pat the girl's head.
"But... Miss Nobu and the Bad Miss Nobu died together..." The girl clutched Shirou's collar, her tears falling uncontrollably now that she was before her respected teacher.
"I know..." Shirou listened quietly to the girl's tearful lament, stroking her hair.
"Everyone is dead... I couldn't help with anything... Miss Okita was swallowed by strange mud, and now she's become someone else," the girl said sorrowfully, wiping her eyes.
"Yes. Yukino, you truly worked hard. You protected everyone in this house. So, leave the rest to me," Shirou said warmly, patting her head.
Shirou examined the Majin girl standing opposite him. Her silver-white hair cascaded down; she had grown taller, her figure appearing lithe yet curvaceous. Her clothing, skin tone, and aura had all changed; it was as if she were an entirely different person.
A long red ribbon was tied to the side of her hair. She wore a red-and-black battle robe adorned with golden patterns. Beneath her black stockings were high-heeled leather boots. Her expressionless face exuded the faint majesty of a top-tier warrior.
"You hold a very peculiar sword. It actually gives me an ominous and dangerous feeling," Majin Souji said curiously, looking at the weapon in Shirou's hand that had blocked her strike.
"Well, no matter how you look at it, it can't compare to the sword in your hand. Setting aside materials and craftsmanship, the most precious thing is that it's a sword that gathered a
lifetime of conviction and carried it to the end. Curiously, it gives me a sense of familiarity. What is its name?" Shirou asked, looking at Majin Souji's great katana with interest.
"I do not know its original name. Now, I call it 'Rengoku' (Purgatory). Your sword is decent, but with your human body, you cannot defeat me. Even so, do you still intend to fight?" Majin Souji replied expressionlessly.
"I do not wish for meaningless slaughter, and I do not dislike you. It is just that when I was summoned by the Holy Grail, I received a command to destroy this village and kill all the villagers inside. With your strength, if you take a few people, you should be able to escape, right?" Majin Souji said.
"No, there is no way to escape. Even if I could leave, you wouldn't let the other villagers leave this place, and you would still destroy the village," Shirou said.
"Yes. Destroying the village is also a command. Although I'd like to take a short nap and let everyone escape, I cannot do it. If you don't leave, I can only kill you," Majin Souji stated.
"Yeah, I'll probably really be killed this time. But I don't plan on not resisting. Even though fighting you is truly heartbreaking, I will try my best not to kill you," Shirou said unhurriedly, raising his sword. "A sword becomes sharper through the process of refinement and clashing. Just like a person, it constantly evolves through one adversity and battle after another.
"By defeating powerful enemies, drinking their blood, absorbing their marrow, and adding rare materials, a sword naturally grows stronger and stronger. Besides, tools always become more comfortable to use the more you use them."
Shirou looked at the girl whose appearance was familiar yet whose essence was entirely different.
"Knowing you will fail and die, you still fight? And you even say you won't kill me? What a contradictory man. No... my heart is also contradictory right now. My inner self is clearly telling me, 'He is a comrade, I don't want to hurt him.'
"But my body is saying, 'I must kill you.' Yet as long as my blade is pointed at you, my heart aches..." Majin Souji clutched her stinging chest, speaking in confusion. A sorrowful expression appeared on her face, one she wasn't even aware of.
Although the black mud was being suppressed by the flames on her body, it was ultimately an element that composed her physical form.
"Yeah, it's bound to hurt, because we were supposed to be comrades. I even looked at the other you as a younger sister. This is the only time I truly don't want to harm a blackened Heroic Spirit. But I cannot let the sacrifices of my comrades go to waste," Shirou said sincerely.
It was only thanks to Kojiro's distraction that he had found the opportunity to kill the giant serpent.
Until this point, too many people had died: the villagers killed by the bandits' intrusion, and of the seven samurai who came to this village together, only he and Yukino remained.
Human bodies are far too fragile; thus, they seek ways to grow stronger, ways to protect humanity. Consequently, the sword in his hand becomes sharper and sharper.
Accordingly, Shirou's sword had absorbed malevolent energy, magical power, and resentment from slaying numerous demonic men and the giant serpent, eventually transforming into a Demonic Sword (Youtou).
When he was modifying the weapon earlier, he had fused the severed horns of the demonic men into the blade, gaining the trait of "absorbing" malevolent energy.
The power of this Demonic Sword wasn't anything extraordinary; it was simply sharp. By drinking different blood, it would gain greater penetration against the type of being the blood belonged to.
Having cut through demonic men, it became easier to cleave through their bones. Having absorbed the blood of the giant serpent, it could easily slice open its body. Having come into contact with venom, it could even cut through poison itself.
Sharpness—it kept becoming sharper, until hair placed on the blade would be severed by a mere breath; until it could slice through water so cleanly the flow actually diverted; until it could cut anything in the world, even the flames of Purgatory.
Although this sword still couldn't slice through fate to bring true hope to all of humanity, he intended to use it to carve out a new future for this village and its people.
"Before the final battle, can you let me say a few words to my disciple?" Shirou asked.
"As you wish. For your sake, I will take a short nap. Sleeping for a minute or two is fine," Majin Souji agreed casually, standing motionless with her long sword held in her arms.
"Yukino!" Shirou shouted to his disciple.
"I'm here, Master!" The black-haired little girl, Young Yukino, stood up straight in response. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the man before her.
"You did well! You completed your mission and protected the villagers! You have officially completed your training!" Shirou declared. "Now, I give you one final task before your graduation! While I am fighting her, take the villagers and get far away from here!
"Tell them that it looks like Shimomura will suffer significant losses this time, but as long as the people are alive, there will always be a way. Tell them to leave the village quickly and leave everything to me!"
"Yes! Master!" Yukino gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She raised her head with tears in her eyes, but she answered resolutely.
She understood the meaning behind her teacher's words. But it was because he was such a person that she respected, admired, and liked him so much... Even though his body was already covered in wounds and he was exhausted, even though his clothes were tattered and stained with mud and blood.
Anyone could see he was just putting on a brave face, but he was truly, truly cool!
The girl's eyes blurred as she looked at her teacher. She wiped her tears with her sleeve, ran into the house, and began organizing the women and children to flee.
At this moment, as one of the able-bodied men of the village, A-ichi (Hajime) arrived with other militiamen holding bamboo spears. He shouted: "Lord Shirou! We'll stay and fight by your side!"
Shirou roared in an indisputable, authoritative tone: "Everyone in the village! The bandits have all been executed; your responsibility is complete! Subduing the enemy general is a samurai's job! A-ichi! Take everyone and leave this place!"
A-ichi shouted back: "Yes! I understand! Everyone! Follow me! Staying here will only hold Lord Shirou back! Hurry! As long as we all survive together, we can start everything over!"
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.
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Once Yukino had led the villagers out of the village to a flat area on the back mountain...
Boom!
A pillar of fire soared into the sky, followed by a thunderous roar. Even from the back mountain, the tremors of the earth could be felt.
Next came the sound of metal violently clashing. These sounds were like a hundred birds chirping simultaneously; the frequency was staggeringly fast and did not stop for a long time.
From time to time, another flash of fire would erupt, followed by cracks of thunder and the shaking of mountains.
The people on the back mountain sat on the ground in a daze, unable to imagine what kind of battle was currently unfolding within the village.
No words were needed. The two, understanding that battle was unavoidable, charged at each other the instant the villagers had left.
Silver-white hair fluttered in the wind. Her footwork was a level more refined than Souji's normal state; a black blur, she lunged before Shirou in an instant.
Though both used great katanas, the girl's swordsmanship was different from Sasaki Kojiro's. She was not an elegant, unfathomable mystery of a swordsman, but a more direct, swift, and violent warrior. Sword light flashed.
Despite being a heavy and long nodachi, it felt as light as a thin wafer in the girl's hand.
Yet the sword was the fastest and sharpest, possessing terrifying power. The pitch-black blade shimmered with red light, unleashing multiple strikes in a single breath. From time to time, the blade ignited with scorching flames, suddenly exploding in front of the man, the surrounding air smelling of ozone and char.
The purple blade swung continuously, leaving afterimages. Under Majin Souji's fierce assault, Shirou's right hand—gripping the Demonic Sword—emitted a purple mist. This mist had gradually seeped into his arm and spread throughout his entire body. To contend with a powerful Servant, he had no choice but to borrow the energy absorbed by the Demonic Sword.
The serpent's curse, the Holy Grail's magical energy, the demonic men's malevolence, and the hatred and resentment from the slaughter—at this moment, all of it became the source of his combat power.
This was the strongest power he could currently manifest with all his might. As "Muramasa," he had forged a sharp blade and modified it into a Demonic Sword. This was a brand-new Demonic Sword, distinct from the one famous in history.
Shirou struggled to keep up with Majin Souji's slashes, still searching for an opportunity to counterattack.
The Demonic Sword seemed to be responding to the wishes of its creator, growing stronger and stronger.
It became sharper, growing continuously through the clashing of blades. The Demonic Sword was honed to an even greater edge in the heat of battle; the wind from his slashes actually grazed Souji's face, leaving a small cut.
Several more slashes were exchanged as they passed each other.
The man stood, sweat dripping onto the ground, his body trembling slightly as he breathed heavily.
"Shirou, give up. Your current body can't hold out much longer. No, it has already far exceeded its limit. It wouldn't be strange even if you collapsed right now," the white-haired girl said. Her face remained expressionless, but she could see Shirou's state.
"Yeah! Unfortunately, what I'm best at is struggling in situations like this. The outcome won't be known until the very end," Shirou said with a smile. His right hand gripping the sword was already numb, and every bone in his body was creaking. A single movement brought the pain
of bone shards stabbing into him, and his stiff muscles would occasionally cramp uncontrollably.
Sweat wouldn't stop dripping from his body; the "hot sweat" from exercise was actually cold sweat caused by pain. Through his skin, one could see that the blood in several bulging, grotesque veins on his sword-arm had turned an eerie purple.
"Absolute Blade: Endless Three-Stage (Zekken: Mukyuu Sandan)——!"
The surrounding space seemed to fall into a dead silence at this moment. Majin Souji leveled the Purgatory Blade with her right hand; a golden light emanated from around the black blade, and then she thrust forward.
This strike tore through space. Footwork trained to the ultimate degree had reached the realm of the transcendent; a single step could pass through obstacles and ignore distance. The girl leaped high, her silver hair dancing in the wind, and disappeared into the air.
"It's not over yet——! Don't look down on my resolve!!! If this is a destiny ordained by heaven, then I'll slice through heaven itself to show you!"
At that moment, Senji Muramasa within his inner world fully awakened, letting out a roar from the depths of his soul along with Shirou.
Indeed, the wishes to seek justice, to bring happiness to everyone, and to change the painful fate of humanity were far too distant and far beyond their capabilities.
But no matter what, neither Shirou nor Senji Muramasa could stand by and do nothing when people were in distress.
As long as the body could still move, they would surely charge forward. Even if it meant sacrificing their lives until the very last moment, they would never give up—that is what it means to be an Ally of Justice.
The purple Demonic Sword erupted with flames, like a final cry from the depths of the soul made in response to its master.
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