The Fall of Daigo - Part 4 - Demon Dragon - Chapter 4

The Fall of Daigo

Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series

Toriumi Jinzō

Part 4 - Demon Dragon

Chapter 4

     

    Lightning forked in the sky as Hyakkimaru stepped onto the grounds of the Daigo Clan's castle. Hyakkimaru's lips twitched upward in a cynical smile. The demons are here.

    Hyakkimaru ran over the details of his plan in his mind, running away from Kagemitsu's private study toward the trees that grew near the outer wall of the fortress city. The wind sighed loudly around him: a cutting sound that made him stop and stand still.

    Arrows soared over his head so thickly that they looked like one of the storm clouds. Crossbowmen were firing on Hyakkimaru from atop the reinforced earthwork walls.

    Hyakkimaru's hand dropped to the hilt of his sword. He could repel the arrows with psychokinesis, but he'd already decided to rely only on the Muramasa sword for this battle. He grinned to himself. From the outside, anyone witnessing him trying to solve the problem of the crossbowmen this way would likely think him an idiot.

    The center of the fortress city was red with fire. The light was reflected in the sky above. He heard men marching with synchronized steps and realized that the Judicial Office's army had broken through the fortress' outer defenses. He had no time to waste: he came out of the cover of the trees and headed for Kagemitsu's private study.

    He would be meeting Daigo Kagemitsu face-to-face for the first time. Hōichi had told him where the study was. Now that they were about to meet, Hyakkimaru had no idea what he should say. He wanted to believe that the demons had lied to him about his birth father. He wanted nothing more than for everything he'd seen at the Hall of Hell to be a fabricated nightmare.

    Maybe he really did think I was dead when he put me in the river. How do I get him to tell me something like that?

    Hyakkimaru had carried deep, fundamental questions about himself for the last nineteen years. His heart felt heavy with the weight of them. All he wanted now was answers.

    Kagemitsu's private study was ringed around by more earthwork walls. Regular archers caught sight of Hyakkimaru moving and fired. Hyakkimaru deflected the arrows that flew near him with the Muramasa sword and kept running.

    Arrow after arrow fell on Hyakkimaru, but he wasn't even grazed by a single one. He wasn't using psychokinesis. He was putting the sword training he'd received from Jukai to good use.

    Hyakkimaru pivoted sharply to stop running, then took a flying leap onto one of the earthwork walls where the archers stood. The archers, seeing Hyakkimaru jump all the way to the top of the wall in a single bound, fled the area screaming.

    Does Kagemitsu intend to kill me here? Will he fight me himself?

    Rage and deep grief intermingled within Hyakkimaru. Kagemitsu must have known that he would come. He had probably given orders to attack Hyakkimaru as he'd approached. Hyakkimaru had to assume that his birth father had commanded the fortress' army to kill him.

    There was no hope of a civil conversation, then, or a meeting on equal terms.

    Hyakkimaru jumped down from the wall to the other side, where Kagemitsu's private study was located. He dashed into the building with his Muramasa sword held protectively out in front of him.

    There were many rooms in the building that contained the study, all of them empty. Hōichi had told Hyakkimaru which room was the correct one using his own psychokinetic power, so Hyakkimaru knew that he wasn't lost.

    Hyakkimaru started trembling finely: a sensation that started in his chest and spread outward. He found Kagemitsu's private study, but Kagemitsu wasn't in it. No one was there at all.

    Hyakkimaru exited the study and kept walking down the hallway. Three men stood at the end of the hall with their swords drawn, waiting. There was a sliding screen behind them, and behind that, Hyakkimaru saw the edges of a door.

    Daigo Kagemitsu is in that room.

    Hyakkimaru sheathed his Muramasa sword and raised his hands slightly, showing that he intended no harm. "I wish to see the lord of this castle," he said.

    He'd tried to say Kagemitsu's name, but he couldn't. He could scarcely even think of Kagemitsu as a person. What kind of father would order the death of their own son?

    The three warriors faced him with their weapons ready and did not speak.

    Hyakkimaru suddenly remembered Nui no Kata's face, tender with unexpected compassion. He wouldn't know for sure if his father was a monster or loving parent unless he met him face-to-face. He felt like if he could only talk to Daigo Kagemitsu, he would understand somehow.

    But the men standing in front of the door seemed to have no interest in talking. Hyakkimaru drew the Muramasa sword and slashed it down in front of him. He would have to rely on his sword skills to get him through this obstacle, too. He didn't use psychokinesis against ordinary humans.

    The first guard faced him squarely, catching Hyakkimaru's blade on his own and knocking it out of his hand. The other two guards fanned out to the right and left.

    "Ah!" Hyakkimaru leapt over the swords of his attackers to avoid being skewered. He managed to jump over the man in front of him, then land on top of him to break his fall. The man's shoulders were squishy beneath Hyakkimaru's feet.  

    Blood dripped from the man's forehead. He crawled across the floor, barely conscious, while Hyakkimaru bent to retrieve his sword with his left hand.

    This was a dangerous situation, but Hyakkimaru didn't give in to the temptation to use psychokinesis. He relied on his training, which hadn't failed him so far.

    The other two guards saw what Hyakkimaru had done to the fallen guard. Their shoulders went rigid, but they didn't back down.

    Sensing their fear, Hyakkimaru decided to try something that had worked for him before. As he stooped to pick up his sword, he released his arm prosthetic at the elbow, revealing the sword that was built into it. The disembodied arm gripped his sword hilt, then slipped back on.

    The two guards jumped back and ran down the hallway as fast as if they were flying.

    Hyakkimaru had used psychokinesis, but only because he really hadn't wanted to kill the guards. There was no sense in them wasting their lives to try to stop him.

    Hyakkimaru sheathed the Muramasa sword, then shifted the folding screen in the hallway to the side. 

    The room beyond the sliding door was quite large and lit by iron braziers that stood in the corners. The windows were open, revealing a courtyard garden. Daigo Kagemitsu stood near the center of the room. It was unmistakably him. Though Hyakkimaru had only caught sight of him once and at a distance, he recognized Kagemitsu immediately. As before, he didn't look monstrous or demonic at all, but human: so human, with a slight beard and the solid build of a career military campaigner. He looked like a man who could conquer the world.

    Another man was in the room, standing a little to the side of Kagemitsu. This was the sword master of the Nen-ryū style, Tarao Tenzen. He wore no armor. Like Hyakkimaru, he was dressed in a kosode with no hakama. The kosode was bright white.

    Hyakkimaru focused all of his attention on Kagemitsu. Kagemitsu didn't so much as glance in his direction. His expression didn't even shift.

    By the flickering light of the braziers, Hyakkimaru saw Kagemitsu smile.

    Hyakkimaru nodded in greeting. "I'm Hyakkimaru. I came to see you." He waited for what Kagemitsu would say.

    Tarao Tenzen looked alarmed. "Tahōmaru told me about you. Do you really believe that breaking into this castle was the best course of action? Threatening our lord is a treasonable offense."

    Hyakkimaru's eyes flashed with anger. His entire body felt too warm all of a sudden. It seemed that his initial impression of the situation was correct. Kagemitsu's bodyguards had coordinated so as not to leave him alone, and Hyakkimaru was being treated as an enemy.

    "I will never forgive you for giving Nui no Kata false hope," Kagemitsu said. His tone was calm, and he sounded more sad than angry.

    "What? False hope?" Hyakkimaru couldn't believe his ears. Nui no Kata must have tried to convince Kagemitsu that he was telling the truth.

    "The world is full of people like you, missing all their limbs," Kagemitsu said. All trace of his previous calm vanished. "What do you intend by slipping past my castle's defenses to meet me, Hyakkimaru? Aren't you going to kill me?"

    "What are you..." Hyakkimaru's vision went dark. All of his hopes were dashed. He remembered seeing Kagemitsu's back in the Hall of Hell as he'd promised his newborn son's body to the demons and shook with rage. "Have you forgotten the promise you made to the demons? Are you really going to pretend that—"

    "Demons?" Kagemitsu raised an eyebrow. He was smiling in a condescending sort of way, like he thought Hyakkimaru was touched in the head. He laughed. "I'll admit to having my fair share of enemies in Hell, but I'm not on speaking terms with any of them."

    Hyakkimaru didn't flinch. He stared down Kagemitsu and said, "You sold forty-eight pieces of your son's body to those beasts to further your own ambitions. And then, you put your own child in the river to drown—while it was still living. I, Hyakkimaru, am that child. I'm your son."

    "Be silent. You are an onryō, a spirit of rage spat forth from Hell, and Hell is where you will return."

    Any good intentions Hyakkimaru had possessed before collapsed to nothing. Tarao Tenzen drew his sword and stood in front of Kagemitsu. His cruel smile made his face look as sharp as his blade.

    Hyakkimaru unsheathed the Muramasa sword. He was so angry that his blood felt like it would boil out of his skin.

    Tarao Tenzen slashed down, fast, trying to slice through Hyakkimaru's head. Hyakkimaru managed to deflect the blow, but the effort sent him stumbling back a step.

    Thunder shook the floor beneath Hyakkimaru's feet. Tarao Tenzen ignored the thunder and slashed open Hyakkimaru's side, just above his hip.

    Hyakkimaru fell and stayed low. He no longer had the advantage in this battle. His heartbeat was loud in his ears. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes. Tarao Tenzen was an expert in his sword style. Hyakkimaru wouldn't be able to win against him with swordsmanship alone. He felt his blood soaking through his clothes on the floor and was genuinely afraid.

    Even Sabame Nuinosuke hadn't been able to threaten Hyakkimaru like this. Kagemitsu was smiling again in a supremely self-satisfied way.

    Hyakkimaru focused all of his energy into the Muramasa sword. If this was a sword fight, he was going to strengthen his weapon as much as possible. He hadn't lost yet, and he wouldn't lose as long as he didn't lose faith in himself.

    Jukai's training had never failed him.

    The next strike would decide everything.

    Tarao Tenzen brought down his sword directly over Hyakkimaru's head.

    Hyakkimaru jumped back, narrowly dodging the hit.

    Tarao Tenzen chuckled. "Nice move, kid."

    Hyakkimaru aimed the point of his sword at Tarao Tenzen's eye.

    At that moment, lightning flashed through the window and struck Hyakkimaru down. The illumination blinded Hyakkimaru for an instant before his vision went black.

    Hyakkimaru couldn't see, but he did manage to stand up again. The sudden lightning had set the trees in the courtyard garden on fire. Thunder boomed, the force of it shaking the earth.

    By the time Hyakkimaru regained some part of his vision, Kagemitsu and Tarao Tenzen were gone. One of the window shutters was open, so they must have fled through there.

    Hyakkimaru looked up at the clouds roiling in the sky and heard a demon's cavernous laughter, mocking him. He slipped out the window and followed after Kagemitsu.

 

***

 

    The Judicial Office army's attack on Nomitadani Fortress continued into the evening. Drizzling rain started to fall, but it had little effect on all the fires still burning. Warehouses became skeletal structures of blackened beams. Men fought desperately amid the flames. Many fell on their faces in the mud and never rose again. The earth was stained with the blood of the fallen on both sides.

    There was a rumble like a strong earthquake as dark clouds condensed in the sky and shot down to the ground as fast as hailstones. The armies fighting on the battlefield looked up at the sky in astonishment as the clouds parted, revealing a gargantuan, long-necked creature.

    A dragon.

    The armies screamed and stood still, watching the monster streak across the sky. Lightning danced in the dragon's eyes. Most dragons had two horns, but this one had only one large horn right in the middle of its forehead. Its body was wreathed in mist, making it difficult to determine its exact size, but it was at least two hundred feet long. Claws gleamed razor-sharp on the dragon's legs, three to each foot. From its chest, white light radiated outward that was blindingly painful.

    Blue-white light shot from the dragon's eyes into an earthwork wall. The wall crumbled, as did all the others that used it as support. This dragon had magic similar to what Hyakkimaru had seen at the Hall of Hell, only more powerful.

    The battle ceased as the soldiers struggled to comprehend what they were seeing.

    "It's the wrath of the gods!"

    "The nine-headed dragon king has cursed us!"

    It was said that the monk Taichō, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Haku, had encountered a nine-headed dragon. It was a dragon very like this one, with power over lightning and water. Taichō had written that the dragon was formed of a fusion of different animal spirits: a bird, a unicorn, a turtle, and a water dragon. The dragon was considered an auspicious omen at the time, but it hadn't attacked Taichō or anyone else on the mountain. Dragons were ambivalent creatures and could herald good or ill according to their own will.

    There was now no such thing as allies or enemies among humans. It was every man for himself as they ran out of the dragon's path.

    The dragon caught sight of a group of men trying to flee through the front gate of the fortress city and fixed its strange eyes on them. The men screamed, enveloped in white light, and turned to so much black mud. Nothing remained of their bodies at all. Those who survived the blast from the dragon's eyes scattered in all directions.

    Like the dragon Taichō had encountered, this dragon's wrath originated from the spirits that comprised it. The dragon had started out as a minor water god that took the form of a snake. One day, it became jealous of a beautiful woman and transformed into a dragon to consume her. The dragon's rage was not abated, and it showed its displeasure by the blinding light it emitted.

    The soldiers of the Judicial Office army and Ochika's bandits sought gaps in the ruined walls to flee through. One long row of barracks was on fire, drizzling rain making the fires smoke  more and choke the people still unfortunate enough to be inside the city. Saruyoshi maneuvered his mounted cavalry through a narrow crack in the outer stone wall that was just wide enough for them all to run through single-file.

    "The yōkai are attacking!" Saruyoshi yelled. "Pull out!" He stayed inside the walls, however. It seemed that he wasn't of a mind to leave yet.

    Ochika and Dororo galloped up to Saruyoshi on the same horse. "Saruyoshi, run after the rest!" Ochika shouted. "You'll die if you don't run!"

    "There's still treasure inside the fortress," Saruyoshi said. "We shouldn't leave it behind."

    "You idiot! Did you forget what Hōichi said? Move!"

    Dororo backed up Ochika. "Treasure ain't worth your life," he said. "We've gotta get out of here."

    "The treasure would be wasted on you, Dororo," Saruyoshi said sourly.

    Dororo knew to be afraid of yōkai. Saruyoshi hadn't tasted that fear yet.

    Blue-white light set the forested area near the stone walls ablaze. The dragon was coming closer. The trees from above looked like a sheet of fire.

    Soldiers fleeing through the woods on horseback fell screaming to the ground. The horse Dororo and Ochika were riding shied and tried to buck them off.

    Saruyoshi swallowed heavily, then called for the bandits to retreat. He ran after the others, seeing the futility of staying for loot. This entire place was going to be leveled before too long.

    Ochika followed after Saruyoshi, helping guide the last stragglers through the gap in the wall. Ochika was about to ride through herself when Dororo put his hands on the reins.

    "Hey, what about aniki? We have to wait for him."

    "We can't," Ochika said harshly. "We'll be killed by the dragon if we stay here."

    "Fine, then leave me here," Dororo said, slipping off the horse.

    "Dororo!"  Ochika tried to catch Dororo's hand before he could flee, but he was too fast. By the time she turned her horse around, Dororo had vanished into the mist and smoke of the battlefield.

 

***

 

    Hyakkimaru emerged from Daigo's study to find the dragon flying directly toward him. For a second, he froze, uncomprehending, but he quickly returned to his senses. He had fought plenty of yōkai and monsters before, but never one this huge.

    He didn't see Hōichi anywhere. He prayed that Hōichi, Dororo and the rest had made it out of the fortress safely. He knew that Hōichi was an excellent fighter, but Hyakkimaru didn't think this fight would be easy even for him, with his advanced psychokinetic powers. Besides, Hyakkimaru had never been one to let other people fight his battles for him.

    Hyakkimaru took control of his finely trembling legs and leaped on top of one of the reinforced earthwork walls. He glared at the dragon as it approached. His Muramasa sword was unsheathed in his right hand. If he couldn't defeat this monster, the Hall of Hell demons wouldn't show themselves in their true form.

    "It's me you want," he called out. "Come and get me!"

    The dragon swiveled its long neck and squinted at him from a great height.  

    Hyakkimaru channeled psychokinetic energy into all his limbs. The armies on the ground below him lost their will to fight and started running toward the burning barracks and outbuildings.

    Dororo rushed toward Hyakkimaru from the direction of the barracks. "Aniki!" He stopped running when he saw the dragon. Like Hyakkimaru, he'd fought demons before, but never one like this.

    Hōichi stood atop the high cliffs surrounding the fortress, but Dororo and Hyakkimaru didn't see him. He took in all of the dragon's component parts, seeing its core with his blind eyes. "Hm...that's unfortunate."

    He had psychokinesis, but the dragon was powerful enough to make him doubt himself.

    The dragon caught sight of Hōichi and fixed its great and terrible eyes upon him. Hōichi jumped from the cliff a split second before it burst into flames. Sparks flew around his head as he moved, trying to avoid falling debris. The dragon pursued Hōichi, closing in.

    The lute on Hōichi's back sounded a shrill note. "On abira un kashal..."

    The sound of both the lute and Manjushri's mantra seemed to cause the dragon pain. Its eyes slid shut as it roared in agony. By the time it recovered, Hōichi was out of sight. The dragon scanned the area, but couldn't determine where Hōichi had gone.

    The dragon screeched in anger and turned its attention back to Hyakkimaru. A strong earthquake shook the ground. Hyakkimaru was about to receive the full brunt of the dragon's ire.

    Hyakkimaru gripped his sword and prepared to dodge the blue-white light shooting from the dragon's eyes.

    The light missed Hyakkimaru. The dragon let out a high-pitched wail and twisted its snakelike body in a spiral amid the clouds, partially concealing its eyes from view. Hyakkimaru wasn't able to see where the attack would come from clearly, so when he dodged this time, he fell.

    The wall Hyakkimaru had been standing on crumbled and collapsed onto the wet ground. Hyakkimaru was caked in mud and filth as he rolled, but he kept his grip on the Muramasa sword. He might be able to distract the dragon using the bombs that the bandits had stashed in the fortress, but he had no time to reach a cache and prepare an explosive.

    The dragon launched itself at Hyakkimaru's head, breaking down walls and shaking the earth with violent lashings of its tail. The dragon was right on top of him when Hyakkimaru stabbed in, all the way to the hilt of his sword.

    "Eat this!"

    The dragon writhed in agony and let out a high-pitched shriek that deafened Hyakkimaru for a few seconds. Its tail went completely out of control. More walls crumbled and mud went flying everywhere. One of the buildings it destroyed was a barracks; soldiers came pouring into the narrow streets. Their screams echoed in the misting rain.

    The dragon was irritated by the noise the soldiers made and trampled them with its tail. The stone wall behind the barracks splintered and fell in on itself, though it was still partially standing.

    The surviving soldiers seemed to realize that there was no place they could run. They stood up, weapons in hand, and tried to overcome their fear. Ochika and some of the bandits were still trapped inside the walls and lost their chance to escape. They sought cover behind a mostly intact warehouse and waited for the next attack.

    The light emanating from the dragon's chest grew brighter as it rampaged over the ground. The light fractured into multiple rays, shining on different places at random as the dragon's overpowering anger made it overflow with destructive power.

    The soldiers and bandits surveying the battle gulped. If that light so much as touched them, they'd be as good as dead. Many men ran for cover, hoping that the remains of the barracks and storehouses would be sturdy enough to shield them.

    Ochika's bandits were still mounted, for the most part. They put some distance between themselves and the dragon, with Ochika near the back of the line. She caught sight of Dororo scrabbling over an earthwork wall and shouted, "Dororo!"

    Dororo didn't hear her. He was still climbing the wall.

    "Look out!" Ochika shouted. Dororo was in the sight line of some crossbowmen standing on the walls above—the few that were still intact. They loaded their weapons and fired, but fortunately, Dororo was far enough away that their arrows didn't reach him.

    Unfortunately, the dragon caught sight of Dororo as he clambered over the wall.

    "Dororo!" Hyakkimaru yelled. "Run!"

    If Dororo heard Hyakkimaru, he showed no sign of it. He squinted, aiming at one of the dragon's huge eyes with his blowgun. When he was sure about where his dart would strike, he fired.

    The dart whistled through the air, faster than even Hyakkimaru expected. The dart was so small that the dragon didn't even notice it until the dart pierced it deeply in the center of the eye. Dororo's skill with his blowgun would put even Ochika's horseback archers to shame.

    The dragon collapsed to the ground, causing another earthquake. The force of it bowled Dororo backwards onto a muddy patch of ground. The dragon opened its mouth wide, taking painful breaths, then expelled a gust of air at Dororo.

    Dororo flew through the empty air, unsure of where he would fall. His feet scrabbled on the ground and he rolled, then started running.

    "Hey!" Hyakkimaru called out. "Not him! Me!  Come at me!"

    The dragon expelled more air, creating a cyclone that sucked in dozens of soldiers in the immediate vicinity. Hyakkimaru and Dororo were just out of range.  The cyclone gained force, propelling the men caught in it high into the the sky, arms and legs jerked at odd angles as if their bodies were leaves in the wind. The dragon clawed the soldiers open as they neared it and was coated in their blood. More blood swirled in the strengthening storm.

    Blood fell like rain. The shredded limbs and bodies of the soldiers the dragon had just killed fell to earth, littering the ground with their corpses. Dororo and the other soldiers and bandits that had managed to escape the attack gaped up at the dragon in terror.

    The dragon roared, this time in satisfaction, then turned its attention on Hyakkimaru.

    Hyakkimaru had not moved. He stood on one of the few remaining earthwork walls, as still as a statue.

    “Aniki!” Dororo called out. “Get out of there!”

    But Hyakkimaru was caught in the dragon’s swirling storm. He sent his accumulated psychokinesis to his feet, which brought him back to the ground, but he was still rolling closer to the dragon. He desperately tried to stop rolling, but the wind was too powerful.  His limbs blew in all directions like the soldiers’ had, though none of them blew off. His sword was still sheathed.

    Hyakkimaru had to risk getting close to the dragon to defeat it. He couldn’t attack any of its weak points from here. Blood from the dead soldiers collided with Hyakkimaru as he passed through the storm, staining his clothes and dampening his hair. Hyakkimaru remained calm and level-headed: this was something he’d expected.

    The dragon let out a cry of triumph and twisted its long neck toward Hyakkimaru.

    The dragon’s face was almost close enough to touch when Hyakkimaru yanked his Muramasa sword out of its scabbard with a sharp cry. “Go!” he yelled, releasing the sword so that it pointed directly at the dragon’s injured eye.

    The dragon’s shriek pierced the dark sky as the blade passed all the way through the eye into its skull. The wind storm weakened, allowing Hyakkimaru to stand. The Muramasa sword flew back into Hyakkimaru’s hand.

    The dragon writhed in pain and flew up high into the sky, concealing its entire body behind thick clouds. Shed scales fell to earth as the dragon howled in agony.

    Hyakkimaru believed that the dragon was nearly dead. While he’d stood on the wall, he’d pointed his sword at the stars and used Hokushinhiyōken, Seven Stars Demonic Exorcism. The technique allowed him to discover a demon’s core--and if he could see it, he could destroy it.

    Lighting forked overhead. Thunder rumbled nearby. The sky turned as dark as full night as leaden gray clouds spread across it like a sheet. The drizzling rain from before became a downpour.

    Hyakkimaru was soaked in seconds, like he was standing beneath a waterfall. He put his face to the sky and shouted: “Hall of Hell demons, I’m here! Come and fight me!”

    There was no response. Rain fell even harder. There was a sound like the earth tearing open, but Hyakkimaru couldn’t see the source of the sound.

    It had rained a lot the previous day, too, so the cliffs behind Nomitadani Fortress were already close to flooding. This new deluge was enough to shake out chunks of rock from the cliffs, making them fall onto the fortress below. Hyakkimaru’s psychokinesis tugged at his senses; something in the air had changed. He looked around, trying to figure out where the danger was.

    Hyakkimaru’s eyes went wide. “The cliffs are going to fall on top of us!” he shouted to Dororo and the soldiers. “Flee! Get out of the city!”

    With the dragon defeated, Dororo, the bandits, and the surviving soldiers snapped out of their panic and started running for the fortress city’s gates. Hyakkimaru jumped on top of a wall and started leaping from roof to roof, picking up speed.

    There was a great crack as part of the cliff above the city collapsed in on itself and slid toward the fortress in a terrible landslide. The slippery ground made the shattered rock move faster. There wasn’t much time left to escape. A wall of sharp, jagged stone blocked the rear gate and the forested area behind the Daigo Clan’s castle and swept over the stone walls, crushing people beneath the weight of the stone. Very few of the people stuck inside Nomitadani Fortress survived.