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Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 4

At that moment, something seems to have snapped in Akechi Mitsuhde’s heart.

Kill. Kill. KILL….

「 I’LL KILL YOU…..! 」

Drawing out the arquebus on her back, she aimed and shot at the young Onmyouji. The low level shikigamis were frightened by the gunshot, exclaiming 「There’s still an arquebus around?! 」 and started fleeing in all directions.

The Onmyouji, who still acted like a child, calmly said:

「 Ara, ara, he blew himself to pieces? How utterly boring. As expected, no human can understand what monkeys are thinking. 」

He threw a talisman in his hand to block the bullet from Juubei, revealing a smile as cold as a that of a vampire.

「I don’t particularly wish to uphold a promise with that ninja and monkey, but my mood is exceedingly good right now, and I’ve accomplished my objective of killing the Oda clan’s Sagara Yoshiharu. As such, all of you are free to flee however you want. No matter how big of a racket you’re going to be making, I will avert my eyes this time round, but if anyone dares to come here and irritate me, I’ll kill them right where they stand. 」

Behind him, a Shikigami with the wings like a dragon’s appeared and the young Onmyouji flew up into the sky on its back.

「You dare to run away after what you’ve done?! I’ll kill you… I’LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU….! 」

Mitsuhide rushed forward alone, towards the Onmyouji flying in the air. Her eyes had become bright red as all of the blood from her body rushed into her head. Her mind was totally blank, and she wasn’t properly registering what was happeing around her.

「N….No! There are definitely traps in front… Wait~! 」
Motoyasu wanted to stop her, but she didn’t make it in time.

The ground in front of Mitsuhide trembled, revealing a large crack in it. The crack was deep, like an opening that would lead straight int hell if you were to fall inside. But Mitsuhide, who had lost all sense of reason, could only see of thing in front of her: the young Onmyouji who was still flying in the air.

To tear apart this enemy, this Onmyouji who brought Yoshiharu to his death… this was the only thought in Mitsuhide’s mind right now.

No, in actual fact, she was no longer thinking about anything. Mitsuhide’s body had succumbed to immense fury that was pulsing through her.

With her horse, Mitsuhide fell into the deep crack in the ground.

「Ah, ahhhh… H -How did things become like this…. Sar… Saruyoshi-sama and Mitsuhide-sama. are… How did things become like this?! 」

They could no longer see Mitsuhide anymore. The crack was like an enormous monster’s mouth, waiting to swallow everything that ended up in it. Falling into such a crack, there was absolutely no way for anyone to survive it.

Just like this, Motoyasu and Inuchiyo stood there in a daze. On their sides were the back troops, all covered in injuries.

「Uwahhhh! I’m so sorry, commander… we’re so sorry….! 」

「….Commander… Why did you choose to sacrifice yourself for lowly soldiers like us!? 」

「With this… he won’t be able to meet Nobuna-sama anymore…. 」

Not one soldier, at present, was happy that they managed to survive.

Inuchiyo silently bent her body, wanting to collect the pieces of Yoshiharu’s corpse. But, just when she touched them, the meat pieces disappeared like sand blown by the wind.

「Hanzo, what is this?! I ordered you to protect Saruyoshi-sama~! 」

Motoyasu was crying while scolding Hattori Hanzo who had reappeared quietly and kneeled in front of her. But, Hanzou said without a change in his expression:

「 After hearing such a loud explosion, the nearby squads of the enemy soldiers who were hunting for escaping warriors will soon gather here. If we don’t retreat right now, we will be eliminated. 」

「TO HELL WITH THAT! ANSWER ME, HANZO! 」

「’If we were forced into a corner by Tsuchimikado’s shikigami army, use my life to save the others.’ That is what Sagara-dono decided with his own will at the final moments of the final battle that we waged against Tsuchimikado Hisanaga. 」

「But, if that’s the case…..! 」

「In this situation where you brought so few aides with you and came to the frontline without any sort of backup, the mission that we of the Hattori clan have right now is to send you back to Kyoto using any means necessary. 」

「Hanzo? But… at the very least, at least let us save Mitsuhide-sama,… if we don’t go and save her…. 」

「The strength of Tsuchimikado Hisanaga is truly terrifying. Even if a miracle were to occur, we will not be able to put as much as a single scratch on that kid. And, to us members of the Hattori clan, your life is more important than anything else. 」

Hattori Hanzo was indeed as cold, and cruel man as the rumors were making him out to be.

Without any hesitation, he proclaimed something that could be summarized as: 「We are not the retainers of the Oda clan, but we serve Matsudaira Motoyasu instead. The mission to protect Sagara Yoshiharu ends here. Now, we will begin the mission o escort our master back to Kyoto safely 」and it was doubtful that he would ever change

* * *

In an instant, the situation had changed.

At the shores of Lake Biwa, along the narrow streets of western Omi, the armies of the Azai and Asakura clans were moving forwards, with an estimated amount of 35,000 soldiers. Their allied forces were nearing Kyoto. The Oda clan had no time to wait for Nobuna to wake up. With Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie leading a 25,000 strong army, they marched out to face their enemy.

During the retreat from Echizen, though the back troops that Sagara Yoshiharu led had absorbed most of the enemy’s attack to prevent their total annihilation, they still did lose great amount of soldiers.

The commander of the army was Oda clan’s strongest general, Nobuna’s chief retainer, Shibata Katsuie. At her side, advising her was Niwa Nagahide.

While the two of them were moving forwards, they were discussing strategies for the upcoming battle.

「I…I…I…I… d…do…don…don’t know what to do!? S-So matter what, we have to keep moving forward! Yeah! That’s the simplest and best plan possible! 」

「Katsuie-dono, isn’t the place to battle at Sakamoto? 」

「Sa…Sakamoto? 」

「An important location at the eastern side of Mount Hiei, if Sakamoto is conquered, Kyoto will just be a straight line for them. If we are forced to retreat back to Kyoto, it will mean our defeat. 」

Nagahide explained the geographical situation of Sakamoto to Katsuie, but Katsuie kept shaking her head.

「A…An…Anyway, in my dictionary, there is no word such as 「Backwards」! There is only forward! We are going to use our superior speed to attack them all at once! Especially Azai Hisamasa who betrayed Nobuna-sama! He is the only one whom I have to kill myself…..but, is it really okay for me to be the commander, Nagahide? 」

「Yeah, we can’t afford a to delay the battle any longer. If we are dragged into a prolonged battle, Koga’s Rokoku and anti-Nobuna forces everywhere will all start to move, Katsuie-dono. 90 points. 」

「Ahhh, this is the first time I had such high points from you, Nagahide, so I don’t know what to think about it! Look, Nagahide, I promise that I, Shibata Katsuie will turn into a demon to take revenge for Nobuna-sama! No matter what! 」

「Yes, I’m looking forward to it. 」

This battle was a battle to give righteous punishment to that despicable traitor, Azai Hisamasa, who had broken the pact between the Azai and Oda clans. Only this time, the morale of, the Owari’s troops, known as 「Japan’s Weakest 」, was abnormally high. The soldiers had not known of the sniping of Nobuna.. . But losing the respected 「Nobuna-sama’s Monkey」 pushed their fury to indescribable levels.

But, Katsuie and Nagahide who were traveling towards Sakamoto received shocking news from the scouts.

「The Azai-Asakura allied forces ignored Sakamoto and have climbed Mount Hiei! 」

「Wh…What is this?! Mount Hiei!? ….Nagahide, what is going on here!? I…I do not understand the reason behind this, uwahhh….!!! 」

「Looks like there is someone smart in the enemy ranks. To form their formations at Mount Hiei means that they want to drag this battle out as long as possible. 」

「So as to say….?「

「If this goes on, we will have to surround Mount Hiei, and the situation will stagnate. As time passes, the Oda clan’s army will face greater risks of being attacked by Rokoku at southern Omi or Kyoto being captured by the Miyoshi clan. But if we gave up on Mount Hiei and retreat, the allied forces of the Azai and Asakura clans will attack our army from behind as we are retreating. 」