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Volume 4 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1: The Sniping of Nobuna

In north-eastern part of Japan, one could find Yonezawa Castle in Dewa Province. This was the main castle of Date Terumune of Oshu.

At a corner of Yonezawa Castle, connected with tons of rainforests, a black western church had been erected. If one were to look closely at it, they would see an upside down cross mounted on the roof as well.

Inside this western church that seemed more useful for worshiping an antichrist rather than the Christian god, a young girl had been shouting in a high-pitched voice since the break of dawn.

「Kojuuro~~! 」

This was the voice of Bontenmaru, otherwise known as Date Masamune, Date Terumune’s eldest daughter, calling her aide, Kojuuro, to her side. No matter how far apart they were, Kojuuro would always be able to hear Bontenmaru’s voice.

「Yes! Hime-sama, what is it that you wish of me this early in the morning? 」

Katakura Kojuuro, age fifteen. She was a girl born from a distinguished chief retainer of the Date clan.

The day Bontenmaru was born, Kojuuro was tasked with protecting her, and from then on she had acted as an aide and caretaker for the young and willful Bontenmaru. Before she knew it, the age where she could be married had completely passed her by.

Anyway, when Kojuuro arrived at the church that looked like a den of the antichrist rather than anything else, she found Bontenmaru, who was supposed to be touring around Sakai, wearing a black feathered western hat , standing on top of the altar with her arms crossed on her chest.

「Uwahahahaha, Kojuuro! I’ve decided that from this point on, I will be the conqueror of Oshu! 」

「Wh-what are you saying, Hime-sama? Don’t tell me you were affected by that ridiculous western culture that much… The Daimyos in Oshu are all bound by the complicated relationships they ended up in because of all the arranged marriages, so surely they won’t be eager to start fighting amongst themselves now, will they? 」

「You don’t understand, Kojuuro! Before I become the ‘Beast of Revelation’, I must first destroy this old way of thinking! Uwahahahaha! If I don’t hurry and become the conqueror of Oshu, I will be surpassed by Oda Nobuna who has already captured Kyoto for herself! 」

「Kyo…Kyoto is too far, that is a place that we…we Oshu people have no relation to, a completely different world… 」

「Shut up, Kojuuro!, Don’t say things like this anymore! Oda Nobuna is becoming stronger and stronger with each passing day! She has already started to attack the Soma clan! If enemies won’t listen to the will of the ‘Beast of Revelation’, they must be eliminated! 」

「HUH?! 」

The cowardly Kojuuro let out a small shriek.

「Don’t tell me you were affected by Oda Nobuna at Sakai that much, Hime-sama? Please, don’t become such a terrifying person like her! There will be enemies everywhere around you! Besides, you aren’t the head of the Date clan yet, Hime-sama~! Your father Terumune is the head~! 」

「Hmph… It’s unavoidable. Listen, Kojuuro, I can’t wait until I come of age. Because I have gained such an ambition, I want father to live a relaxing life in retirement. 」

「Ahhh~? Hime-sama is still too young for that! You can’t do it ~! 」

「There is no better choice for father than to give the position of head to me, ‘Beast of Revelation’! Ahh, how agonizing the path to the journey of a conqueror is for me… But I’m willing to bravely travel down this path, even if it is going to lead me straight to hell, just like Jesus who bore the heavy cross on his back and climbed impossible peaks! But, I must go against Jesus~, because I’m the ‘Antichrist’ whose advent the book of Revelation has predicted! Hahahaha! 」

After such a fiery speech, Bontenmaru revealed a beastly expression and continued.

「We decided before on the extremely cool nickname ’One-Eyed Hero Masamune’, but now I have no need for it. 」

「Eh? That is a nickname that Hime-sama and I thought of using after 3 days and nights, referencing the great Tang’s dynasty’s famous one-eyed hero, Li Keyong. I have said before that Hime-sama even looks very similar to Li Keyong when she wears all black… 」

「Listen to what you’re saying Kojuuro! I’m not one-eyed at all. In Sakai, a certain Saru who came from the future told me something. I am a hero for the ages, someone who possesses a ‘Demonic Eye’. It was said that in a place of the future named ‘Akihabara’, these eyes of mine are very popular! 」

「Demonic Eye? Is that supposed to allude to how your eyes are of different color? 」

「That is correct! 」

Bontenmaru, whose eyes were of different color because of heterochromia, was always convinced that it was actually because her father was a western barbarian… and that because of the sin between her mother and her western father, she was punished by the Buddha with the eyes that everyone scorned as strange and unnatural. The people surrounding her all whispered amongst themselves, and even her mother was stunned, saying 「So ugly」whenever she looked at her, and she even became despondent of her to the point of almost disowning her.

That’s why Bontenmaru made a request to her father, saying 「I want to see a western church with a real pastor in it! 」 and was sent to Sakai. The retainers of the Date clan all sighed with relief upon learning that, thinking: 「Maybe now someone would finally perform a real exorcism on her. 」and「Wpouldn’t it be better if we just sent her to the west and rid ourselves of her for good? 」and just like that, she was half-banished to Sakai. Because of the retainer’s scheming, her protector Kojuuro was not allowed to accompany her on her trip.

But the Bontenmaru who came back from Sakai seemed like a different girl altogether, having gained great confidence and ambition. But to be the conqueror of Oshu and compete with Oda Nobuna, whose ambition was to takeover the world… to Kojuuro, it all seemed like a story taken straight out of a fever dream.

「Kojuurou! From now on, I will be the ‘Masamune of the Demonic Eye’… Ha… Hahahaha…!!! Look out, Oda Nobuna! I will use my Demonic Eye to conquer Oshu and come at Kyoto like a storm! And then, like the true great Demon Lord, let us battle to the death! 」

「A-ar-are you serious, Hime-sama? 」

「Of course I am! Uwahahahaha! 」

「Uhh, you came back with the ambition to unify and return peace to the world, but that’s what you actually meant, Hime-sama? If that’s true, then I, Kojuuro, will do what I can to help you! 」

「No! My ambition is to destroy this world like a demon! To achieve world chaos! To become the foretold ‘Beast of Revelation’ and rampage throughout the lands just like my counterpart in the holy bible! Uwahahahaha! 」

「Ahhhh~, Hime-sama, Hime-sama! Though I’m overjoyed that you regained your spirits, what has this Sakai trip do to you to change you this much~!? What should I do~? 」

In this mysterious antichrist church outside of Yonezawa Castle, the sound of sobbing coming from the ever-serious Kojuuro could be heard for hours on end.

* * *

This scenery had never been seen before.

In the middle of the night, all one could see were the mountains… But the scattered sounds of hoes and shovels also echoed in the dark.

Hoes? Shovels? These weren’t weapons, they belonged in the hands of commoners.

(Why…? Isn’t Onii-sama heading towards Odani Castle?)

Sagara Yoshiharu was full of injuries, staggering alone in a battlefield full of tragic screams. An arrow had even embedded itself in his back, and his thighs and legs were covered in injuries from spears and traps. He couldn’t even walk straight, and was reduced to hobbling along with the aid of swords and rods he needed to support himself with, lest he would just fall to the ground on the spot.

「Nene… I’m sorry… I can’t return to your side anymore… 」

This was the last sentence he ever spoke… and then Sagara Yoshiharu suddenly collapsed forward as his soul was still heading back towards Kyoto…

* * *

「ONII-SAMA!!!!! 」

Nene woke up violently from her dream. The sight of Yoshiharu on the battlefield disappeared from her eyes as if it was nothing more but an illusion.

The place Nene had woken in gradually into focus: it was a dark room, and she was laying on a tatami mat.