Demon Sword Dance - Part 5 - Hell on Earth - Chapter 2

Demon Sword Dance

Book 2 of the Dororo Novel Series

Toriumi Jinzō

Part 5 - Hell on Earth

Chapter 2

     On the same day Dororo and Yosaku left the ruined temple, Hyakkimaru visited Tōshichirō, the leader of Hino Village in the evening. The moonlight shone on the harvested rice fields as he walked toward Tōshichirō's large estate. A cold wind blew through the silvered, withering grass from the northwest. Hyakkimaru picked up the pace to keep himself warm.

    A great black shadow emerged from the forest and passed over Hyakkimaru's head. It was large and amorphous: not like any animal or insect he'd ever seen before. Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and prepared to face the shadow.

    Countless thin white threads emerged from the shadow and shot toward Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru cut through most of them before they could reach him, but many found their mark; both he and the Muramasa sword were caught in the sticky white threads. Hyakkimaru tried to move and cut more of the threads, but they hardened to the point where they couldn't be cut. Hyakkimaru struggled desperately to get free, but he only lost his balance and fell.

    Hyakkimaru focused his psychokinetic energy, but the shadow engulfed him before he could even attempt to do anything with it.

    Surrounded by darkness, Hyakkimaru tried to roll, but he couldn't move. He couldn't even draw in breath. Hyakkimaru forced himself not to panic and tried only to breathe: nothing else. He felt air fill his lungs and relaxed his shoulders in relief.

    The effort of breathing left him exhausted. He understood that he'd lose consciousness soon no matter what he did...unless...

    "On abira un kashal..."

    Darkness spread across Hyakkimaru's vision. 

    Then, there was an deafening boom followed by a wild spray of fire into the dark mass. The darkness dissipated. Just before Hyakkimaru passed out, he heard a familiar voice that he couldn't quite identify. He cried out, and the world went dark.

 

***

 

    "Aniki! Hey! Wake up!" Dororo had arrived at Hino Village on horseback just in time to see Hyakkimaru being attacked by the giant shadow.

    "Let's get him to the village leader for treatment," Yosaku said. He lifted Hyakkimaru up, flinging his limp arm over his own shoulder.

    "Wait," Dororo said. "Is he...glowing?"

    Hyakkimaru's kimono caught and held the moonlight like some kind of beacon.

    Yosaku screamed and dropped him. "They're moth scales," he said. "They're poisonous!"

    Dororo gathered up the withered silver zebra grass in the field around them and used a huge clump of it to clear off the moth scales and sticky thread without touching Hyakkimaru's kimono with his bare hands.

    Yosaku and Dororo carried Hyakkimaru toward the village leader's estate. He was still unconscious. Dororo slipped an antidote pill into his mouth and made him swallow it.

    Jukai had prepared many antidotes before Dororo and Yosaku had left the ruined temple. Dororo also knew how to make several, since he'd learned how on Mount Kurama. Septicweed, burnet, bugbane, and wormseed could all be used in creating antidotes. Jukai had also taught Dororo how to mix ingredients together and bind them with flax so that they could be easily ingested.

    Hyakkimaru remained unconscious for five days. Dororo remained beside him the entire time, sleepless and vigilant. Every night, the villagers went up the mountain with torches and burned every moth, cocoon and egg that they could find.

    On the morning of the fifth day, Hyakkimaru saw sunlight under his eyelids. He felt like he was drifting, floating...was there a river? When he opened his eyes, his entire life flashed through his memory: being raised by Jukai and Sakuzō, meeting the beautiful princess on Mount Kurama, struggling in pain as he learned to move and see and hear. He also remembered the terrible pain of his limbs being ripped from him; a samurai's cruel laughter echoed in his mind.

    "Aniki!" Dororo said. He was crying.

    "Dororo?" His voice was hoarse from long disuse. He had slept for five long days, but Jukai's antidote had been effective; he was alive. He felt weak and sick still, so he would have to take some time to recover.

 

***

 

    Late on the night that Hyakkimaru returned to his senses, Mai visited Nuinosuke in his room. Her face was bright red. She hadn't slept a wink.

    Mai gazed down at Nuinosuke, who was drinking at a low table, and said nothing for a long moment.

    "You look fired up," Nuinosuke said. "Did something happen?"

    Mai sighed. "I need you to do something for me."

    "Anything," Nuinosuke said.

    "Kill Hyakkimaru," she said. "Please."

    "Huh? Why?" Nuinosuke looked at Mai with a doubtful expression. Nihil was propped up in a corner; it clattered to the floor.

    "I'm scared of him," Mai said.

    Nuinosuke glanced from Nihil to Mai. "Leave everything to me," he said.

    "What about the villagers?" Mai asked.

    "They'll believe that he was cursed by the moths. Everyone says he was attacked."

    "You must kill him," Mai said. "No matter what." Her voice was flat and cold.

    Nuinosuke and Hyakkimaru just kept running into one another. There was a time when Nuinosuke had thought they were meant to meet. Maybe that was true. And maybe they were always meant to be enemies.

 

***

 

    Hyakkimaru could sit up and speak easily in two days, and move around on his own in three. He was almost completely recovered from poisonous attack. The villagers speculated about what Hyakkimaru had encountered. They seemed to think that the surviving moths from the mountain had gathered together in a huge mass to avenge their burned and slaughtered species.

    But Hyakkimaru shook his head. "Insects don't behave that way. Whatever attacked me was motivated by an onryō—a spirit of rage. If I had to guess, that spirit comes from the accumulated grief and anger of the moths that were burned when the forest was destroyed sixty-four years ago."

    "Evil spirits can hang around for that long?" Dororo raised an eyebrow. "Is that priestess lady possessed by the spirit?"

    "I thought so from the beginning," Hyakkimaru said, "but now, I'm sure." He closed his eyes, still exhausted.

    While Hyakkimaru slept, Dororo had Yosaku take him to the estate of the village's priestess. It was high noon and the sun was blindingly bright, but this did nothing to enliven the silent estate. It was like there was no one living there at all.

    "Hide in that bamboo grove and keep your eyes open," Dororo said to Yosaku. "I don't know what to expect, but this place gives me the creeps." 

    Yosaku vanished into the bamboo grove, leaving Dororo to explore the rest of the estate alone. Dororo slid open the rear entrance silently and slipped down a dark hallway, stopping at a corner when he realized he could barely see. All of the windows were either shuttered or had their bamboo blinds pulled down and drawn shut.

    This place is spooky. It's definitely a monster lair.

    Dororo explored the estate for more than half an hour, but he saw no signs of life. He carried nothing except the same kind of bomb that he'd used to save Hyakkimaru the night he'd been attacked by the dark cloud of evil, resentful moths. Dororo didn't know for sure if the bomb had killed regular moths gone berserk or if they really were possessed by a monster or yōkai, but he usually assumed yōkai were the problem; Hyakkimaru had been chased by them all his life. Dororo had come here to find some clue about what he and Hyakkimaru were actually up against.

    Hyakkimaru was still recovering, so he couldn't come here as backup. Dororo had no one to rely on now except himself—and maybe the villagers. If they did nothing in their own defense, they would suffer and starve.

    One of Lady Mai's shrine maidens started walking down the hallway at just that moment. Dororo saw her, but she made no sound whatsoever as she moved. She was only twelve or thirteen years old and had an entirely innocent expression. Dororo gripped his bomb tightly in one hand, but didn't throw it.

    The shrine maiden realized there was someone there and stopped. Dororo rushed at her, throwing a cloth sack directly at her chest. The contents of the bag spilled out; the impact was great enough to make the girl lose her balance.

    The bag was full of insecticide. Dororo used it as a distraction and sprinted down the hallway, but he stopped when he heard the shrine maiden cry out in pain. She writhed on the ground, groaning in agony as her face sprouted antennae and transmogrified into a giant maimai moth's.

    Dororo was paralyzed by fear. He backed into the wall, dislodging one of the blinds over the windows and letting in sunlight. The shrine-maiden-turned-insect screamed even more at that. Dororo remembered that maimai moths weren't very active during the day. He mastered his fear and his shock and prepared to flee.

    But when Dororo reached the back door of the house, Sabame Nuinosuke was waiting for him.

    "So you're his friend, huh?" Nuinosuke asked.

    Dororo's eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape, but there was none.

    "Foolish child," Nuinosuke said with a sigh. "There's no running for you now."

    Dororo laughed bravely. "Oh, I've heard of you! People in the village call you fish-eyes, ‘cause your eyes are big and creepy and soulless. Well, I can see that the rumors are true."

    A smart mouth was, perhaps, Dororo's best quality.

    "Take that back," Nuinosuke snarled in rage.

    Dororo reached into his sleeve while Nuinosuke unsheathed Nihil. The blade rejoiced at the idea of shedding more blood, but the sunlight dancing on Nihil seemed strange and foreign. Nuinosuke was accustomed to this estate being a dim place. He gripped the sword in his left hand and advanced on Dororo.

    Sweat beaded on Dororo's forehead. He released a dart from his blowgun straight into Nuinosuke's heart.

    Nihil slashed up quickly and destroyed the dart before it could touch Nuinosuke.

    Nuinosuke pressed the point of his blade against Dororo's back, then seized his arm. "Come, brat," Nuinosuke said. He dragged Dororo into an interior room and bound him hand and foot, then carried him to the lowest level of the estate beneath the shrine. The rooms there were dusty and rarely used. Nuinosuke rolled Dororo inside the basement room and shut the door, leaving him alone.

    Dororo wasn't frightened. It's just a musty old room. No people or yōkai have been here for a while…I should try to get some light in here. That might scare the monsters off.

    Mai slid the door open and entered.

    "You're in trouble now," Dororo said. "Like a moth flying into a flame." 

    Mai's delicate eyebrows rose. "Big talk to someone who can erase your existence so cleanly that no one will ever know where you went." 

    Dororo broke free of his bonds and rushed at Mai with a dagger, but Nuinosuke caught him before he could reach her.

    "You can do no harm to us, dead or alive," Nuinosuke said testily. "Don't get in the way." 

    Dororo attacked Nuinosuke with the dagger, but Nuinosuke caught his arm and threw the weapon away.

    "I'll get in the way all I want," Dororo said. "Besides, you can't kill me. I'm a valuable hostage against Hyakkimaru." He winced when he said this, but it was very likely true.

    Mai's sharp-edged laughter sent shivers up Dororo's spine.

 

***

 

    Hyakkimaru awoke flat on his back on the floor. He felt a bit drowsy, but no longer weak. He looked around the room, expecting to see Dororo, but no one was there. He heard Yosaku cry out somewhere in front of him and sat up.

    "I saw it!" Yosaku shouted. He must have called all the villagers together to tell them what at happened at Mai's estate. "The shrine maidens are all monsters, and so is Lady Mai. They must be possessed by the vengeful spirits of all the gypsy moths we've killed." 

    "Then we'll kill them, too," a man said.

    "Exterminate them all!" 

    "Dororo was captured," Yosaku said. "They've probably killed him." 

    Hyakkimaru was on his feet before he could blink, Muramasa sword held tightly in his hand.

 

***

 

    Hyakkimaru stood in front of Mai's estate, sword in hand with Takumaru's feather shining in his bound-up hair. Nuinosuke appeared in the forest near him, moving in shadow. When he caught sight of Hyakkimaru, he stopped moving.

    Nuinosuke and Hyakkimaru faced one another silently, angry eyes nailed together. They were separated by less than three strides. Nuinosuke drew Nihil slowly, then cast the red scabbard away. Hyakkimaru didn't react. He kept staring at Nuinosuke, as still as a statue.

    "I won't kill you," Nuinosuke muttered darkly, "but this sword will." Although Nuinosuke still stood in the shadow of the trees, his blade flashed with a sudden, intense light. The sword cried out for blood, and Nuinosuke was happy to provide it.

    "Let Dororo go," Hyakkimaru said.

    "Sure. The only use he had was in getting you to come here." 

    "Let him go! What kind of monster kidnaps children?" Yosaku shouted from behind Hyakkimaru. He was leading several of the other villagers. The villagers spread out, carrying scythes and hoes as weapons; a few carried swords and spears.

    There was a long, tense moment. Everyone held their breath. The villagers kept well away from Nuinosuke and Hyakkimaru, but all eyes were on them.

    Dororo rushed through the entrance of the estate, then stopped dead in his tracks. "Aniki..." 

    "Stay back," Hyakkimaru said. He was relieved that Dororo was safe, but his words were a harsh command. He didn't like having Dororo so close before a fight like this.

    Dororo glared daggers at Nuinosuke, then sprinted toward the villagers.

    "I've been looking forward to seeing your psychokinesis," Nuinosuke said with a wolfish grin.  

    "Psychokinesis works on demons, not on humans," Hyakkimaru said.

    "Is that right? Shame. Looks like all you have to work with is that sword, then." 

    "Nihil is a demon sword. I'll destroy it." Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and assumed a low sword-fighting stance. This was the most serious fight of his life. If he lost there, he lost everything. He had killed people before—a lot of people: bandits and rapists and soldiers who'd attacked him, but this was different. This time, he would have to rely on the spirit of the Muramasa sword, which was infused with In Senju's wrath, and on the protection of Manjrushri, the Bodhisattva who had shielded him at birth.

    Hyakkimaru had no desire to kill. He never had. But if the choice was to kill Nuinosuke or die himself, then he had to kill Nuinosuke.  

    Nuinosuke was the best swordsman that Shinano Province had ever produced, now that Ito Kennōjō was dead. His sword was also possessed by an evil spirit and had killed countless people; it was a formidable and terrifying weapon.

    Dororo and the villagers looked between Hyakkimaru and Nuinosuke in alarm.

    Nuinosuke moved first; he lunged forward at Hyakkimaru, sword held high. As he brought Nihil down for a strike, Hyakkimaru dodged and threw the Muramasa sword away from him, off to the side. Rage or power caused a high-pitched keening sound as the sword slashed through the air.  

    Hyakkimaru jumped over Nuinosuke's next strike and rolled. Nuinosuke was about to split his skull open when Hyakkimaru caught the Muramasa sword and deflected the blow with a loud clang. The spirits within the two swords connected in the sudden stillness that followed. Hyakkimaru and Nuinosuke stood still, scarcely daring to breathe.

    Nihil snapped in two; the sound of its breaking echoed in the air. Nuinosuke collapsed to his knees with a cry, clutching the pieces of his sword to his chest. He looked up at Hyakkimaru, face pale.

    "I lose," he said hoarsely.

    Hyakkimaru stood up, then sheathed his Muramasa sword.

    Nuinosuke looked like he wanted to say something more, but he had no words. He got to his feet slowly and dejectedly, like a man who had lost his soul. "Goodbye, Hyakkimaru."  

    Nuinosuke brought the broken blade to his neck and cut his own throat. His blood stained Nihil red. Hyakkimaru looked away.

 

***

 

    Mai froze in place while walking along one of the dim hallways in her estate. Nothing of her former beauty remained; her face had completely transformed. "Nuinosuke is…dead," she said quietly. "His soul is gone." She felt something change in the air at the moment of his death.

    Don't grieve for me. Startled, Mai touched her ear and found a swallowtail butterfly perched there. You're not alone, and neither am I. We are bound in this world for as long as we're in it. She was certain that she was hearing Nuinosuke's voice.

    "Hall of Hell demon," Mai said, "show yourself. Lend me the power to wreak vengeance upon the world. I don't care how many people you kill; I only want my revenge." 

    A door leading into the hallway opened, revealing Hyakkimaru. He leveled his sword at Mai. She had given herself over to the Hall of Hell demons. Like Nuinosuke, he had no choice but to kill her. Before his eyes, Mai's own spirit was driven out of her body and was replaced by the ravening Hall of Hell demon. Her mouth twisted, warped, then split open so that it covered her entire face. Laughter spilled from her throat in a voice that was not her own.

    There was no trace of grief over Nuinosuke's death in Mai's expression; all such emotion had vanished when the demon took control. Her body continued to change, transmogrifying into that of a giant moth with two antennae and large white wings. She looked exactly like a gypsy moth, only on a much larger scale.

    Hyakkimaru removed Takumaru's feather from his hair and tossed it at Mai. At the same time, Mai released white, sticky threads to envelop Hyakkimaru, but they swirled around the feather instead, engulfing it in spirals like a whirlpool. Mai hissed and fled upstairs with Hyakkimaru running fast behind her.

    Mai finally stopped fleeing when she reached the altar of her shrine. She faced Hyakkimaru, then changed into a looming black cloud—the same cloud that had poisoned him before. Hyakkimaru retreated to avoid the cloud, ducking and dodging and rolling to avoid it, but it eventually backed him into a corner where there was no escape.  

    By good luck, there was a paper lantern at Hyakkimaru's feet giving off dim illumination. He picked it up and used it to drive the cloud back; it shrank away from him and flew toward the shrine again. Hyakkimaru followed, then lit the altar of the shrine on fire with the lantern. Red-orange flames engulfed it in an instant; the swallowtail butterfly chrysalis that was the sacred object of the shrine burned to ash in mere moments.

    Hyakkimaru got to his knees with the Muramasa sword gripped in his left fist. "On abira un kashal…" He gathered all of his psychokinetic energy and sent it through the sword at Mai. His energy lit the darkness, leaving behind seven dots of pale light that rose through the ceiling and disappeared.

    The shrine maidens, Hyakkimaru thought. There had been seven girls here, but Mai had changed them into something else.  

    Mai's demonic body was surrounded by white fire. She darted and flew and tried to escape it, but it followed her wherever she moved. She was dead in moments. Her body vanished as if it had never existed.

    The flames around the altar spread to the shrine's ceiling. By the time Hyakkimaru left Mai's estate, the entire building was ablaze.

 

***

 

    But the rage-filled spiritual energy of the slaughtered gypsy moths, and of Mai, was not so easy to exterminate, and Hall of Hell demons didn't need bodies to act on the world of the living. The demon that had possessed Mai planned to destroy Hino Village and everyone in it. Hyakkimaru knew this. The demon had pretended to die and was biding its time, waiting for an opportune moment to pounce again.

    That night, every family in the village stood outside their homes with torches clasped tight in their hands. Dororo taught Yosaku and other young men and women of the village how to make bombs. Dororo and Hyakkimaru also gave the villagers effective insecticides and the ingredients to make them, so that they would be able to prevent another moth infestation next spring. The village was currently under two equal threats: the thread of the demon and the threat of starvation caused by the gypsy moths.

    "I want to borrow some of your young men for a while," Hyakkimaru said to Tōshichirō, the village leader. "We have to stop this demon and protect the village."

    Tōshichirō nodded, but he frowned. "We don't know where the demon is hiding," he said. "What if it reveals itself?"

    "That's what I'm hoping for." Hyakkimaru gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll deal with it. I promise."

    Dororo tilted his head in confusion. "Do you know where the onryo and the demon are?" he asked.

    "I expect them to be in the same place," Hyakkimaru said.

    "Yes, but where?" Tōshichirō asked.

    "You'll see soon enough. Send all the men who are willing to me. We'll hunt down the demon tomorrow night."

    The next morning, Hyakkimaru started working with the other young men of the village on making a huge raft. He piled it high with bundled straw when it was done, then prepared torches to set the straw ablaze and distributed bombs to Yosaku and the others. Dororo identified the best archers in the village and had them coat their arrowheads with insecticide.

    That night, just as it was growing dark, Hyakkimaru coated the straw-covered raft with oil. The young men who'd volunteered for this stood around the raft with pine torches held aloft. Their preparations were complete; the only thing left to do was to lure out the vengeful spirit of the maimai moths.

    Not all of the villagers were convinced that the spirit would show itself. They'd never seen yōkai or evil spirits before, but they were willing to do anything to get rid of the moths, so they set aside their doubts.

    "Set the raft on fire," Hyakkimaru said.

    The villagers brought their torches to the raft. It was instantly ablaze.

    "The yōkai is in the middle of the marsh," Hyakkimaru called out.

    "What?" 

    They were on the edge of the marsh now, but the villagers had assumed that the source of the moths would be in the mountain forest where they'd seen so many eggs—not the marsh.

    The raft lit up the surrounding area as bright as day. The water in the marsh reflected the torchlight and glimmered yellow-gold.

    A short time later, seven people washed onto the shore. These were the shrine maidens at Mai's estate. Their bodies were human, but their faces had all transformed hideously. They had been lured here by the light. The monstrous shrine maidens shot white thread from their fingers and poison out of their mouths.   

    As the shrine maidens advanced on the villagers, a huge column of water broke the surface of the marsh, revealing an enormous maimai moth. Antennae and wings shed water as the moth flapped its wings, eyes full of demonic rage. The wings were white, long and trailing like a bridal kimono, patterned gold and silver. Hyakkimaru saw scales falling off them as the moth beat its wings in furious anger.

    This moth was not Mai; it was formed of the accumulated resentment of all the moths, eggs and larvae that had been burned to death in the mountain forest some sixty-four years before. So many had died and so much time had passed that the evil spirit that animated this monster was incredibly strong. Unlike Mai, the Hall of Hell demons hadn't even attempted to reason with or control this demon.

    Hyakkimaru jumped to a small boat in the marsh some distance away from the raft and stared at the demon. The shrine maidens vanished as the giant moth took to the air. "Are you finally showing us your true shape?" he muttered.

    The giant moth spread its wings and loomed over Hyakkimaru like cresting snow in an avalanche. Hyakkimaru drew his Muramasa sword and planted his feet, gathering his psychokinetic energy to protect himself. The moth shot white thread at him from its mouth, binding Hyakkimaru and his sword; he couldn't move, but he showed no fear. He shifted on his heels to face the demon.

    "Aniki!" Dororo called out. The moth was flying closer to Hyakkimaru.

    "On abira un kashal," Hyakkimaru said, placing the full strength of his psychokinetic energy behind the chant. The white thread flew away from his body as if it had lost all power to hold him.

    "Dororo!" Hyakkimaru called out. "Now!"

    The moth was directly above the flaming raft.

    "Right! Throw them!" Dororo shouted, tossing his bomb at the raft. The other villagers did the same.

    The resulting explosion rocked the ground. The moth shrieked in an eerie voice and flew into the air, still on fire. Lightning struck the raft from the sky. It started to sink. There was no thunder.

    Hall of Hell demons. Hyakkimaru had expected them to show themselves at some point.

    Dororo gaped, fish-mouthed, at the sinking raft. The Hall of Hell demons had saved the giant moth from being killed in the explosion. The Hall of Hell demon took no shape, but blew snow and cold through the air to extinguish the fires. As the giant moth writhed and squirmed in its death throes, a blast of icy wind swept over Hyakkimaru.

    Hyakkimaru stood his ground, though he was shivering and sweating from the effort of protecting himself. "Manjushri, protect me," he bit out, then launched the Muramasa sword into the air, right into the giant moth's neck. The moth screamed and tried desperately to fly away, but mere moments later, it dissolved into a smattering of sparks and moth scales.

    Can the sword really destroy demons now? Hyakkimaru blinked in surprise.

    The raft was completely submerged and all the torches flickered out. Hyakkimaru, Dororo and the other villagers stood on the edge of the marsh in complete darkness. The water level of the marsh rose, casting the raft up on the shore as if the marsh was spitting it out. Bales of unburned straw floated near Hyakkimaru's boat and drifted toward the treeline.

    Hyakkimaru removed Takumaru's feather from his hair and threw it straight up. It soared high into the sky, then plunged into the water. The water shifted and moved around the feather like a living thing. In the distance, Hyakkimaru saw a dark cloud move across the moon. A demon's wicked face appeared within the cloud, sneering and laughing. The laugh echoed in the surrounding stillness.

    The demon's laugh cut off abruptly as the cloud settled over Hyakkimaru. He was ready for the demon's attack: his sword was drawn and his psychokinetic energy was focused. He could see the energy moving around him, like leaping sparks. For perhaps the first time ever, Hyakkimaru was able to face a Hall of Hell demon on its own ground.

    "If you're here," Hyakkimaru spat, "then Daigo Kagemitsu must be close." 

    This wasn't the first time the Hall of Hell demons had used a yōkai to attack Hyakkimaru during his journey. One had pounced on him the moment he'd decided to travel north. He expected to encounter more Hall of Hell demons as he got closer to finding his birth father. If he managed to defeat this one, he might even discover Daigo Kagemitsu's current location.

    The demon gave him a disturbing smile. "Don't act like we owe you an explanation for anything." 

    "Let's end this now," Hyakkimaru said.

    The demon opened its eyes wide and shot two bolts of lightning at Hyakkimaru. Hyakkimaru deflected them both with the Muramasa sword.

    "That is an irritating trick," the demon grumbled.

    Hyakkimaru hadn't expected deflection to work. He had done much the same thing on Mount Monju. He had to rely on Manjushri's protection for this battle.

    The demon's laugh reverberated through the air as more demons materialized in the dark cloud and fell to earth. The demons surrounded Hyakkimaru, then started closing the distance. The demons were armed variously with a spear, a naginata, an iron bo staff, a broadaxe, a bamboo rake, a scythe, and a sickle and chain. They were the same size and shape as Deva Kings, brawny and nearly twice as tall as Hyakkimaru.  

    Including the demon in the sky, Hyakkimaru had eight opponents. He guessed that these demons had been selected out of the forty-eight Hall of Hell demons because they were the most formidable fighters. He kept his eyes on the demons, not letting his guard down for an instant. He had seen all of the Hall of Hell demons in his nightmares before, but he didn't remember the faces of these demons at all. He felt their threatening gazes on him and waited for one of them to move.

    The demon with the sickle and chain moved first, sending an enormous iron ball flying at Hyakkimaru's head. Hyakkimaru saw it and managed to dodge narrowly, but he lost his balance. He skittered from his boat to the half-sunken raft mere moments before the boat was sunk by the iron ball. He regained his footing in the middle of the raft and considered. If he didn't find some way to fight all seven demons at once, then he would certainly lose.  He could deflect or avoid their attacks for a while, but the effort would exhaust both his body and his psychokinesis.

    "Dororo," he shouted into the darkness, "do it now!" 

    Hyakkimaru and Dororo hadn't planned this, but Dororo guessed his intention correctly. He, Yosaku and all the other villagers threw their bombs along the edges of the raft. The instant the bombs exploded, Hyakkimaru leaped into the air, using the shockwave to vault himself upward. He pierced each of the seven stars surrounding the North Star that Hōichi had taught him about in rapid succession, making the Muramasa sword glow with an interior light. While still in the air, he threw the Muramasa sword at his enemies, one by one and moving fast.  

    The demons let out shouts and harsh cries of pain as the sword skewered them through. In less than a minute, all seven demons on the ground dissipated into mist. Hyakkimaru landed in the water, then crawled back onto the raft and stood up, glaring at the last demon, whose face was ringed in fire and contorted by fury.

    "This time, I win," Hyakkimaru said. His voice carried over the water; Dororo and all the villagers heard it.

    The dark clouds overhead scattered away, but in their place a demon just as large and threatening as the ones Hyakkimaru had just defeated landed on the ground in front of him.  

    Hyakkimaru had never seen demons in their true shapes before today. This one landed and grew larger, gaining height until he stood something like twelve meters tall. The demon's entire body was hairy; two horns sprouted from its forehead. Tusks gleamed sharp and wet inside his gigantic maw. White smoke spouted from the demon's feet. He carried an enormous club with iron stakes and wolf fangs embedded within it. The demon had been spat from Hell itself, with all the associated anger and ugliness that came with it.

    "This time we'll kill you, Hyakkimaru," the demon said in a booming voice. Fire fountained from his mouth, reflecting in pools of marsh water. A long trail of fire like a snake followed Hyakkimaru, even after he dodged. He dispersed it with the Muramasa sword, then put some distance between himself and the demon. He'd thought that most demons and yōkai were weak to fire and afraid of it, but this one seemed to be an exception.

    The demon laughed, then prepared to breathe fire again, but it was a feint. Hyakkimaru looked for openings to attack as he kept moving around the demon; he never stayed still for too long for fear of being struck or caught in a trap. The club whooshed overhead; trees and grass caught fire in the marsh. Hyakkimaru ran some distance away from the demon and jumped up with his Muramasa sword extended, but the demon deflected every strike he attempted. He was too busy defending himself to pause and channel more power into his sword.

    The club came down heavily just over Hyakkimaru's head. Hyakkimaru avoided the club, but the tattered raft that he stood on was smashed to smithereens.  

    Hyakkimaru's breathing was ragged. Despite his fight with the yōkai and the other seven demons, he still had plenty of psychokinetic energy to draw on, but he was physically exhausted. The demon released another bolt of lightning, then made a sweeping blow with the club.  

    Instead of dodging, Hyakkimaru bowed his head and prayed. This was a risk—a terrible, terrible risk. He could die, but he was prepared for that. His life had always been in Manjushri's hands, for better or worse.

    The Muramasa sword fell out of the air, coming to rest near the sunken raft. Nothing Hyakkimaru tried could get it moving again.

    When the demon laughed this time, it sounded like victory. He approached Hyakkimaru with slow steps; there was no need to hurry now.

    The sword's unresponsiveness was Manjushri's doing. The only way to create an opening for Hyakkimaru to attack was for the demon to believe that he was already beaten. Hyakkimaru stumbled and rolled toward the Muramasa sword, gathering his psychokinetic energy as he went. "Go!" he shouted to the sword, pushing himself half-upright.  

    The Muramasa sword sought out the demon's core as it soared through the air, piercing the demon's heart.  

    The demon grunted as he went to his knees, arms raised to the sky. The Muramasa sword emerged from the demon's wound and returned to Hyakkimaru's hand. The demon's face was bright red; his body shook and spasmed with pain. For an instant, the demon's body radiated bright light before it vaulted into the sky like a shooting star.

    Time passed. The demon's body rose high into the sky before dissolving into the clouds, leaving sparks behind it. This dazzling effect was the result of the sword destroying the demon's core.

    Hyakkimaru gripped the Muramasa sword, then stood up slowly. The technique that had killed all eight demons was dependent on the seven stars clustered around the North Star, so he named the technique Hokushinhyōken: Seven Stars Demonic Exorcism. He would never have learned it if not for the help he'd received from Hōichi and Takumaru, the hawk on Mount Monju.

 

***

 

    Dororo and the villagers looked speechlessly up at the sky. It looked like the demon had been defeated, but was it really gone? They had seen all eight demons dissipate and vanish with their own eyes, but it was hard to believe what had just happened.

    There were forty-eight demons in the Hall of Hell. If Hyakkimaru really had just defeated eight of them, then there were still forty left to go. That was the last thought Hyakkimaru had before he lost consciousness.