Chapter 349: The Power of the Cursed Blade Muramasa
"Watch out! Mr. Shirou!" The generals inside scrambled to their feet, shouting in alarm.
However, approaching him only resulted in being cut down by a sword or sent flying by a spear; they could only watch helplessly as the tip of Demon God Toyotomi Hideyoshi's spear descended toward Shirou's heart.
Fortunately, Hachi arrived just in time with a gust of wind, delivering her most powerful charge.
Shirou, lying on the ground, seized the opportunity to project throwing knives and thrust them upward at Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
"Hiss!!" The black demon horse beneath Toyotomi Hideyoshi opened its mouth, revealing two rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Its blood-red pupils dilated as it attempted to lower its head and bite Shirou in half at the waist, but its head was struck.
Besieged from two sides and with his mount injured, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was unable to dodge. He had no choice but to raise his precious spear against the charging girl. Tonbogiri against Nihongo—two legendary spears, point to point, thrusting at the exact same angle.
The spear tips collided with a heavy resonance. The girl was forced back several steps before halting her momentum. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's tall black horse let out a pained neigh; its footing grew unsteady as it was forced backward.
Compared to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had the advantage of being mounted, the girl on the ground was at a disadvantage, yet she still managed to force the demon horse back. Their strength was actually neck-and-neck—the girl might have even held a slight edge.
"Master Shirou, are you alright?" Hachi asked, looking at the man behind Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
"Yeah, thanks, Hachi. That was a huge help," Shirou said as he scrambled up from the ground, sounding grateful. Just a moment ago, he was a hair's breadth away from being wounded; even if he hadn't died, he would have been severely injured.
Shirou activated his divine eyes and finally understood Toyotomi Hideyoshi's current state.
The Demon God Toyotomi snorted, "Hmph, if Lord Nobunaga could become the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, then naturally, so can I! Since that lord has left this world, the responsibility of the Demon King to destroy the world naturally falls to me."
A fusion of a Demon King from the Buddhist Desire Realm and a Demon God Pillar—at this moment, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also using the power of the Demon God Pillar to draw upon the strength he would possess as a future Heroic Spirit. His current energy had long exceeded the scope of a Heroic Spirit; he was a hybrid of a Demon God Pillar, a Demon King, and a Heroic Spirit. As long as he remained within the lands he ruled, he was the strongest.
Now single-mindedly seeking revenge and the destruction of all nobles and daimyo, he was practically a weakened version of a "Beast."
Shirou finally understood the Witch's purpose in sending him to this world. If she sent him here, it wasn't a minor issue like changing history; it was because Demon God Toyotomi Hideyoshi would bring about the world's destruction.
The problem he had to solve was not the mutated monsters, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi—the trinity of Demon God Pillar, Demon King, and incarnated Heroic Spirit.
But there was a catch: to defeat this world-ending monster and repair the discrepancy in the world, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had to be killed by someone of this world.
To this world, Shirou was ultimately an outsider. Even the White God, faced with such a problem, could only find ways to transfer innocent people to another world to avoid death; they could not forcibly change the history of this world.
But with the girl here, everything was different.
"Hngh?!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi hadn't expected anyone to be able to withstand his blow and looked at Hachi in surprise.
"She blocked it!" The generals nearby who knew the girl's identity were equally shocked.
"Well done! That's my daughter! Hahaha!" General Honda shouted with a laugh.
"What is your name?" Toyotomi Hideyoshi asked, looking at the girl with a serious expression.
"Mikawa Province! Honda Heihachi Tadakatsu, reporting for duty!" The girl on the ground raised Tonbogiri and thrust forward again. She did not possess any stunningly brilliant or Peerless techniques; she only had immense strength and the hard practice required to exert it. However, with the principle of "great artistry is unadorned," every thrust met Toyotomi Hideyoshi and held him back.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's great spear Nihongo and the girl's long spear Tonbogiri collided once more, scattering sparks. Under the influence of the resentment, the great spear with the swirling black dragon was repeatedly cut back by the cold gleam of Tonbogiri. It was truly a perilous and fierce struggle between dragon and tiger.
Standing behind them, Shirou, who was secretly repairing his internal injuries, nodded.
Only another of the Three Great Spears could compete with one of the Three Great Spears of Japan. Although he was the one who manufactured this one, historically it was forged by a blacksmith of the Muramasa school, though the specific individual remains unrecorded.
In that era, swordsmiths were not particularly highly regarded; even the identity of the first-generation Muramasa is a mystery. In this form, Shirou already had a very close connection to Muramasa. Having come to this world, he now seemed to have replaced Muramasa's identity, so the weapons he forged naturally received the world's recognition.
'Having received the buff of the world's recognition, the current Hachi is the general Honda Tadakatsu known to later generations—hailed as the Zhang Fei of Japan, a warrior peerless in all ages, and the strongest general of the Warring States period.'
In history, Honda Tadakatsu also earned the praise of many daimyo; Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself once selected him as one of the Seven Spears, the seven strongest spear masters of that time.
"Honda Heihachi, eh? You are quite something for a female warrior! In terms of pure martial prowess, Lord Nobunaga might not have been your match even while he lived. But if you stand in my way, you must die!!!"
"Bring it on! Who's afraid of you? You think you're special just because you're loud? Do you know what those magic beasts you let in have done to the people in the city!" the girl shouted angrily, raising her spear to meet him.
With that, the girl raised her spear again and charged toward the Demon God Toyotomi, who was billowing with black resentment. She delivered her strongest thrust without a hint of fear; in her heart, there was only rage.
The girl had rushed here from the outskirts. Along the way, she had witnessed human tragedy, watching as monsters entered the city one after another.
From the soldiers guarding the castle, she learned that a terrifying, black-mist-covered freak had brought monsters into the city. Soldiers with ordinary weapons couldn't stop them at all. The commoners were being slaughtered indiscriminately—not even children were spared. Her chest had long been unable to contain her fury.
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill all the nobles, kill all the castle lords and daimyo! Cut off the Emperor's head! Rip out his heart! Let everyone see, let those self-important fools see exactly what makes them 'different'! You samurai! If you stand in my way, I will kill you all!" Demon God Toyotomi Hideyoshi shouted viciously.
"Toyotomi Hideyoshi! Do you want to drag the whole world down with you?!" Ieyasu shouted angrily from inside.
"If I am not of this world, then what use is this world!" The red light in the Demon God's eyes was like burning crimson flames as he roared.
The black giant of towering resentment and the long spear in the brave girl's hands collided repeatedly, producing thunderous booms like a sledgehammer hitting stone, sending intense sparks flying.
After dozens of exchanges, the Demon God Toyotomi, wrapped in resentment and possessing inexhaustible magical energy, showed no fatigue. However, under the intense vibration, Hachi's palms had gone numb and wouldn't stop trembling.
If this continued, even if they didn't bleed, her palms would be rubbed into blisters, and welts of blood would rise.
"Daughter! Daddy's coming to help!" Seeing the situation turn south, General Honda raised his Cursed Blade, intending to charge out and risk his life against Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Several people behind him quickly grabbed him, saying, "Get back! Get back! Don't make things worse. We are no match for that Demon God!"
Demon God Toyotomi struck down with a sword and then slammed down with a spear. His relentless dual-wielding offensive forced the girl back step by step. Her hands were so numb she was about to lose her grip on the spear shaft.
At that moment, the girl left an opening, pretending her legs were weak. She stumbled and turned as if to flee.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi seized the chance, raising the spear in his right hand to thrust at the girl's back, aiming straight for her heart.
"Hah!" Suddenly, the girl shifted her body, twisted her waist, and executed a turn-around spear (kaimagun), thrusting straight upward!
A squelch sound rang out! The blade of Tonbogiri hit its mark.
"Yes! We got him!" The crowd inside shouted in joy at the sight.
Until now, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had swept across the land with an invincible posture. He had encountered opponents capable of putting up a fight, and had even faced a siege by elite troops wielding weapons that could wound monsters, but in the end, it was always those people who died. Because Hideyoshi's current body was no longer that of a single individual.
"What! What the hell!" Hachi felt the sensation was wrong and looked up. She was startled, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
Just as the invincible Tonbogiri was about to pierce Toyotomi Hideyoshi's body, a face emerged on his golden armor. Its mouth opened wide, and several twisted tentacles emerged, wrapping around the blade of Tonbogiri and locking it firmly in place.
"Destruction... destroy everything..." The face within the tentacles let out a bone-chilling shriek.
Within the black resentment, one could faintly see a wicked Demon King mask hovering about. The mask emitted an eerie laugh, shouting: "Hehehe! Destroy everything."
"Yes! Destroy everything!" At that moment, Toyotomi Hideyoshi let out a triumphant, sinister laugh. He swung his spear shaft horizontally, lashing out directly at the girl's face.
Hachi hurriedly turned her spear to block, but she was sent flying by the massive force.
Shirou had already been on guard and rushed behind the girl, catching her in his arms. He asked with concern, "Are you okay, Hachi?"
"I'm fine! Master! I can still fight!" The girl, held in his arms, felt his warm body temperature and her face flushed, but she immediately composed herself. She stood firm, leveled her spear Tonbogiri, and glared forward, answering loudly.
"That brat who offended me just now! And the Matsudaira family inside! Ieyasu! You all shall die!"
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, like a madman, exerted immense strength to swing his weapons. The black resentment behind him fluttered high, and a chilling wind whipped up, making the eyes of the Matsudaira patriarch and his retainers sting so much they had to cover their heads and shrink into the corner in fear.
Under the influence of this towering resentment, the magical energy in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's body was practically infinite, as if it could never be depleted.
'This can't go on, he has to be dealt with,' Shirou thought to himself.
Hideyoshi's slaughter seemed to only kill a few people, but it actually had a massive impact on history.
While people say all are equal, human history is driven by these power-hungry rulers—the high-level masters who unfold it, whether through the class systems of civilized society or the nomadic tribes that burn, kill, and loiter.
When the Son of Heaven is enraged, a million corpses follow. A single benevolent national policy can benefit ten thousand generations; both good and evil governance come from their hands.
But when a commoner is enraged, it cannot exchange for justice; a commoner's kindness cannot maintain righteousness. Just to do something, one is restricted by various rules. Whether the world prospers or falls, the lives of the common people are never far from suffering.
The rule of these monarchs and the social systems they create are certainly not the optimal methods, but they were the choices made by the people of that time for that environment that seemed less terrible.
With them, the world remains imperfect; but without them, society would only become more chaotic and worse.
True, without the human race, the Earth would still rotate. But for human society, losing one common citizen is a completely different matter than losing the leader of a great nation.
In this world, if the nobles and warlords were all slaughtered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the impact would be far greater than anyone could imagine. This is especially true for a country like Japan, which maintains family lineages.
This is because the descendants of these imperial family members and nobles still account for at least 70% of later generations' cabinets, parliament members, and high-ranking officials across the country.
And every castle lord and daimyo, after hundreds of years of branching out—even if some declined or changed their names—left behind descendants numbering at least in the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. If the Matsudaira family was wiped out, it would mean the dynasty of this world's Japan would change directly.
This is no longer a problem for one country; the entire world would likely undergo earth-shattering changes.
Without the isolation of the Edo period Shogunate, would Japan become stronger or weaker? As an island nation, its volume is only so large; to rise in that era, expansion was inevitable. In the First Sino-Japanese War, would the Qing Dynasty still collapse? When fighting Tsarist Russia over Korea and Manchuria, would they still clash? Would Pearl Harbor still be attacked?
That is why Chaldea places such importance on Singularities. The appearance of every Singularity, regardless of size, forces the sole Master, Gudako, to risk her life.
In this current world, the more high-ranking officials Toyotomi Hideyoshi kills, the closer the world gets to destruction. At that point, even if the White God's true body came, it would be beyond saving.
Shirou had to act. He looked around and, beneath Demon God Toyotomi's feet, saw a sword emitting a bloodthirsty desire—it was exactly the Cursed Blade he had forged earlier. It had fallen to the ground because the generals had failed their challenge against Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
"Hachi! Cover me!" Shirou shouted to the girl struggling to hold back the Demon God. He ran forward.
"Yes!" the girl answered.
"Kid! You dare look down on me! Then die!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi saw Shirou rushing straight at him and took it as a provocation, shouting in rage.
Hachi thrust her spear, pinning down one of the Demon God's spear-wielding hands.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi could only use his left hand, which held a sword, to slash at Shirou's neck.
As the sword-light slashed down from above, Shirou instantly crouched, picked up the Cursed Blade from the ground, gripped it with both hands, channeled magical energy into his legs, and leapt high. In mid-air, he raised the Cursed Blade with both hands, used all his strength, and slashed down at Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Demon God Toyotomi raised his blade to block, only to find the heaven-sent Cursed Blade struck exactly at the point where he couldn't exert force. Shirou exerted more force, pulling his body downward. At this moment, the advantage of a two-handed grip over a one-handed grip was perfectly manifested.
The first Cursed Blade slashed against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Ichigo Hitofuri, sending it flying and embedding it into the wall. The blade's body was wrapped in white light, and it lost its connection with Demon God Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
"No! This is my best way of fighting!" Shirou said with a light smile, wielding the blood-stained Cursed Blade.
"Brat!" Toyotomi Hideyoshi watched his dripping palm and let out a furious roar, the resentment on his body surging over five meters high.
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