Chapter 348: The Berserk Demon God Toyotomi
Inside the Matsudaira family's meeting hall, screams and roars echoed incessantly.
"Despicable cowards! Samurai, die! Nobles, die! Scoundrels, die!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi sat atop his black demon horse, shrouded in black miasma. He swung his weapons left and right like a crazed demon.
"Let me! Witness my family's heirloom blade! Hah!" A young officer drew a precious sword inlaid with agate and charged forward.
When the young officer's blade collided with the sword in Hideyoshi's hand, a crisp ding rang out, and the severed tip of his blade went flying through the air.
"What! My precious blade, worth a thousand gold, was snapped so easily!" The young officer stared blankly at the jagged break of his katana, looking utterly unable to accept reality.
"Die! Those who resist me! Those who would betray me! There is no need for you to exist!" Red light flared in Hideyoshi's eyes as he swung down, severing the young officer's head.
At that moment, a general in the rear recognized Hideyoshi's weapon and cried out in shock: "That is the Dojigiri Yasutsuna! The most famous precious blade of the Heian period!"
Hearing the name of the sword, others shouted in despair: "What! No wonder! No wonder our blades are being cut down like toys!"
Two streaks of red light flashed beneath Hideyoshi's golden sunburst helmet. Black miasma billowed behind him as he directly hurled the sword and spear in his hands. The sword embedded itself into the forehead of the general who had just spoken, while the spear pierced another's abdomen, bursting through his chest and protruding from his back.
"Quick! He's unarmed! Charge now!" A general led his men forward.
In that instant, a new blade appeared in Hideyoshi's palm as if by teleportation, materializing out of thin air. His fingers closed around it, and he swung downward.
Another broken blade fell to the ground, and another head flew into the sky.
"Hmph!" As if mocking the generals below who were frozen in a dilemma of whether to advance or retreat, the Demon God Toyotomi's lips curled into a cold sneer.
"This time it's Mikazuki Munechika!" a general shouted in shock.
As if responding to the general's identification, Hideyoshi swapped to yet another blade—all of them top-tier legendary swords.
"Dammit! We bankrupt our families just for one good blade, yet this guy has monopolized every famous sword in the world!" one general growled, his teeth gnashing in jealousy.
"Now is not the time for that! Find a way to stop him! We can't let him pick us off one by one—everyone, charge together!" Ieyasu commanded.
The Clan Head gritted his teeth and shouted: "Since it has come to this, it's either him or us! He is but one man. Everyone, attack at once! The warrior who takes Hideyoshi's head shall receive the highest reward! Any weapons you seize will be yours to keep!"
"Ooh!" The generals' morale surged as they roared and rushed forward.
"..." Watching from the back, Shirou shook his head privately, knowing this would still be futile.
Sure enough... once again, it was a wasted effort! Broken blades danced in the air as the samurai were either cut down by swords or impaled by spears.
"He is a Demon God! Ordinary blades are useless against him! Use the Cursed Blades!" Ieyasu drew his recently acquired Cursed Blade and shouted to the men behind him.
"Red eyes, black resentment... so you truly are no longer human!" the Matsudaira patriarch sighed as he gazed at his former rival.
General Honda shouted in exasperation: "He used to be a weakling as scrawny as a monkey, someone never known for martial prowess. How did he become so terrifying?"
Toyotomi Hideyoshi roared, his eyes blood-red: "Shut up! If you resist me, then die! You noble lords are all untrustworthy scoundrels, rebels, and traitors! I am the Kanpaku of Japan, I am the Taikou, I am the supreme ruler of the world! I am the Emperor! And not just the Emperor of this island nation—I will be the Emperor of Joseon and the Emperor of China!"
"He's completely mad! Normal weapons can't hurt him, let's go together!" General Honda drew the Cursed Blade forged by Shirou and shouted.
Ieyasu, the heir of the Matsudaira family, gripped his Cursed Blade and led four great generals armed with Cursed Blades, along with two elders, in a combined charge.
"Overestimating your strength!" Hideyoshi snorted.
Historically, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had issued the "Sword Hunt" edict to confiscate all weapons from the populace; he was arguably the most famous weapon collector in Japan. After unifying the land, he gathered every famous sword, bow, and spear he could find—a fact now manifested in his current form. Of the five most famous swords in Japan, four could be seen on his person.
Hideyoshi sheathed one precious blade and reached out to grasp a new one. Holding a long sword in one hand and a great spear in the other, he charged toward the Matsudaira patriarch like a god slaying gods and a Buddha slaying Buddhas.
The sword was the legendary Ichigo Hitofuri, the blade the swordsmith supposedly made only once in his life. The blade had been ground down to a length that matched Hideyoshi's originally small stature, but now, fueled by resentment, the blade seemed slightly short but its sharpness was undiminished.
The spear was Nihongo, one of the Three Great Spears of Japan. It was a straight-headed spear; the long, silver blade was engraved with the dragon-wrapped sword of Kurikara, the avatar of Acala (Fudo Myoo), while the black shaft was encircled with ornate patterns. Under the influence of the black miasma, a dark dragon now coiled around the spear blade, baring its fangs and claws.
Even the generals using the Cursed Blades could only withstand a few blows before being swatted away by Hideyoshi's monstrous strength, collapsing and spitting blood. Even if their weapons were hard enough, their martial skill was no match for a Hideyoshi who had transformed into a Demon God.
"Die! Let everyone who resists me die! Hahaha!"
The resentment radiating from Hideyoshi surged toward the heavens. He opened his mouth wide and let out a roar of despair and indignant rage.
In this world, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had also started as an ordinary man. Unwilling to remain a mere peasant, he had found a way to serve as an attendant under a samurai, learning in secret until he gained recognition. But one day, he suddenly came into possession of a different set of memories.
When the dying Demon God Pillar possessed him, he gained memories of history. As someone skilled at seizing opportunities, he naturally would not allow himself to fail a second time.
For a peasant who once farmed and chopped wood to rise to a position where he held the military and administrative power of an entire nation was truly remarkable.
'Are kings and nobles born to their status?'
However, while Hideyoshi possessed the right time and the right place, but he lost the support of the people.
Even though Hideyoshi, because of his background, was better at utilizing talent regardless of status and took better care of the common people than other daimyo...
The peasants would not remember who gave them the greatest favor, and the lower-class samurai would not remember who gave them their chance. Ignorant people were used to the solidification of classes, leading them to believe that the poor were destined to be poor forever, and nobles were destined to be nobles. They would not support a new sovereign, nor would they choose a leader to rule them. To them, there was no difference between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Because of his peasant birth, once he grew old, the Toyotomi family was destined to be abandoned by others, allowing the Tokugawa family to take the world.
While he held power, he spared the defeated daimyo; as long as they didn't resist stubbornly, he left them a way to live. Regarding Tokugawa Ieyasu, he only drove him out of Mikawa, making his family relocate to Kyoto.
But when the Toyotomi family fell, his son committed seppuku, his grandson was dragged to the execution ground and beheaded, and his only surviving granddaughter was forced into a convent, ending his lineage entirely.
Ultimately, they looked down on Hideyoshi, viewing him as a cancer that had to be removed. He lacked noble blood, so they couldn't wait to pull the Toyotomi family up by the roots.
In this world, when that Demon God Pillar descended upon him, Hideyoshi learned of his future. He felt rage, sorrow, and above all, a profound sense of injustice. No matter what reforms he made for the good of the country, no matter how hard he worked to prove himself, once he died, this country would overturn everything without hesitation.
Just because he was a peasant. Just because his ancestors were poor and he lacked "noble blood," he was destined to be loathed by the world. Even his descendants would be persecuted to death.
Hideyoshi obtained power from the dead Demon God; simultaneously, he used that power to communicate with the Demon Kings of the underworld. Just as Oda Nobunaga was considered the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, he too transformed into a Demon King of Destruction.
His mind was overtaken by fury, turning him into a monster seeking revenge against this nation. He was no longer Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but the incarnation of a vengeful Demon God.
"I have killed all the noble lords of Kyushu, and now it is your turn in Mikawa! After that, Kyoto! Nara! As long as there are no samurai or nobles, Japan will be mine. If I kill all the nobles in the entire world, then the entire world will be mine!"
The Matsudaira patriarch, the generals, and the elders huddled together on the high platform, retreating bit by bit until their backs were against the wall, with nowhere left to run.
At that moment, someone from behind shouted: "Toyotomi Hideyoshi! You monstrous scoundrel! You—"
Shirou spoke up: "Toyotomi Hideyoshi, you failure! You're too afraid to face your own future, so you want to drag everyone down with you? If Lord Nobunaga knew you had fallen this far, he would be utterly disappointed and regret ever promoting you in the first place!"
"Hmph!" Hideyoshi stopped his slaughter and turned his head toward Shirou in the corner.
Shirou continued relentlessly: "You are disloyal and unrighteous. You stole the empire of the Oda family; falling to such an end is exactly what you deserve."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You arrogant brat! I'll kill you first!" As he spoke, Hideyoshi pulled out a new weapon. This time it was an ancient sword; as it left the scabbard, it emitted a shimmering white light, carrying the aura of a tyrannical king.
"You've got to be kidding me!?" Shirou saw the sword and his expression turned to shock. He knew it was bad, but he couldn't dodge in time.
The next moment, Shirou was sent flying by a single blow, crashing into the outer wall. The wall outside the Matsudaira courtyard was demolished, and Shirou tumbled to the ground.
"I will kill you," the enraged Hideyoshi roared at Shirou. He urged his horse forward, closing in on the fallen Shirou, his eyes filled with hatred. He gripped the divine sword, wanting to tear Shirou into a thousand pieces.
"That hurts..." Shirou lay on the ground, feeling a sharp pain in his back. His head was spinning; for a moment, he lacked the strength to stand up.
Shirou had actually intentionally provoked Hideyoshi to lure him into the open space for battle, avoiding harm to the ordinary people nearby. However, the power Hideyoshi wielded was far greater than Shirou had imagined.
When Shirou first saw Hideyoshi, he understood what was happening to this world.
Two powerful energies were possesssing Hideyoshi, fused in an eerie combination. The dying Demon God Pillar had lost its consciousness, but as it was attached to Hideyoshi's body, its abilities could still be deployed—and they were still formidable.
And as the ruler of a nation, he had grasped the incarnation of a local Demon King, wielding world-ending power. He would be the cause of this world's collapse. Even if it weren't destroyed directly, it would become a closed space like Shinjuku, severed from the timeline and world-lines, with no future to speak of.
This world was destined for destruction. If Shirou wasn't mistaken, the world would soon break down due to Hideyoshi's rampage, at which point the White God would appear to transfer the humans here to a safe world.
As a Demon God, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would be treated as a disaster by the world until the world itself perished. This world was not being saved; the people were merely surviving.
However, Shirou had been a bit too overconfident. He never imagined that Toyotomi Hideyoshi would possess this divine sword and be able to wield its power so freely.
The blade Hideyoshi now held was the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (Kusanagi), one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan passed down through generations. It was a holy object required for the Emperor's enthronement, with a status equivalent to China's Heirloom Seal of the Realm.
The Ame-no-Murakumo is a King's sword and a Divine sword.
Its design looked like an ancient sword from the Han or Tang dynasties—unlike the later katanas, it was a double-edged ancient blade, the sidearm of the founding Emperor of the Yamato people.
In legend, this sword was taken from the body of the Yamata-no-Orochi.
In this world, this sword possessed an unprecedented and immense power.
The mere force of its swing had already reached the level of a Noble Phantasm. Shirou hadn't made any special preparations and couldn't withstand it; in the blink of an eye, he had been sent flying.
Hideyoshi closed in on Shirou, aiming a long spear at Shirou's heart.
At that moment, someone charged in from the outside. The spear they raised lunged like a dragon emerging from its cave, carrying the ferocity of a tiger descending from a mountain.
"Hah!!! Don't you dare harm my Master! Demon God! The divine spear Master Shirou forged for me with his own hands will never lose to the likes of you!" The heroic black-haired girl gripped her spear with both hands. Eschewing any unnecessary movement, she thrust toward the monster with all her might.
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