The Rampaging Beast
Perspective: Yusuko
After I regained my consciousness, a powerful blue aura began to surge from my body. I gripped my blade firmly with my steady hand and tightened my hold on the hilt.
I began to lose my humanity in this transformation — I was no longer who I once was.
My black eyes turned a blood-crimson hue. The jugular vein in my neck pulsed violently, and veins bulged along the sides of my face from my overwhelming excitement. Beneath my right eye, dark lines appeared under the skin, and my blade became enveloped in a blue aura mixed with my poison.
Akayama raised his eyebrows slightly, staring at me with calm yet piercing eyes. A faint, familiar smile appeared on his lips — before him now stood a warrior who had seemingly risen from death to fight him.
I dashed forward at full speed, leaping over shattered rocks that had fallen toward me and the scattered ruins of the mountain, charging desperately toward Akayama. Each step I took on the cracked ground carried a fierce will and a deadly intent to kill. I closed in on him and swung my blade from the right side. With my aura released, sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground like spears, striking the spot where Akayama had just stood a moment ago.
But he evaded all my attacks effortlessly, stepping back in swift retreat. A single strike might not harm him, but a series of them could — or so I thought. I repeated my attacks again, from different angles and with varying strength. Each time the ice burst apart violently, splitting into razor-sharp shards.
Yet, even after all that, Akayama managed to dodge every strike with absolute ease.
For a moment, I wondered — was I fighting a monster? Or was I simply too weak?
He predicted every move before I even made it. Yet, if these same blows struck anyone else, they would have been split into two — one half impaled by ice, the other sliced clean apart.
Now I understood his advantage. He was using true magic, while I was only wielding secondary magic — ice.
The battle between us intensified.
Throughout the entire fight, the upper hand always belonged to Akayama. Even though I, Yusuko, fought with complete seriousness, using the full might and experience of sixty years on the battlefield, Akayama treated our duel as if it were a mere sparring match. He didn't even bother to counterattack; he simply dodged with cold, effortless precision.
Until I decided to unleash my true seriousness — my hands became wrapped in a violent aura, and the black lines that once marked only my lower eyelids now spread across both of my arms. In a flash, I launched a devastating strike. The force of the blow formed a small circular wave that burst forward. Akayama shifted to the right, and the resulting blast surged ahead, striking four mountains at once.
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted, carving a crater through the four mountains. Dust filled the air, and from the sheer power of the strike, Akayama was nowhere to be seen — as if the blast had erased him from existence.
After five minutes, I believed Akayama was dead. I decided to leave, to wait for someone else to rescue me from the boredom — just as Akayama had once done. But suddenly, flames surrounded me once more in a perfect circle. My eyes widened, veins bulged across my neck and chest from tension, and I returned to my monstrous state again — but this time with deep unease and discomfort.
Then, Akayama appeared before me, completely unharmed — not a single scratch.
He smiled, and a dark crimson-black aura began to pour out of him, swirling like blood, radiating a terrifying power on the verge of eruption.
Anger twisted my face. My short white beard darkened as black lines spread across it. Poison energy surrounded me, and the flames that once encircled me froze solid.
Akayama moved at incredible speed and struck first. In a blink, he dodged my counterattack and punched me hard in the face with his right hand, forcing me back two steps.
Shocked, I felt sweat pouring down my body. I realized I couldn't defeat him — there was only one option left.
The ground began to shake violently. Akayama sensed the aura — it wasn't human. It was the aura of a beast.
He looked at me — my form was changing. My teeth grew sharper, my hands became covered in thick layers of ice, and black lines spread all over my body. Every inch of me was now encased in ice — forming a terrifying defense.
Akayama took his fighting stance, knowing that from here on, this battle would be completely different.
Yusuko roared, his deep voice echoing through the icy winds:
"What's wrong, samurai? Are you afraid now?"
Akayama replied calmly,
"We must always be confident in ourselves — but never arrogant."
Ice erupted from every direction, and the storm that had faded before returned, stronger than ever. The blizzard raged violently, and visibility dropped to barely two meters. The ice had become as sharp as honed blades.
Perspective: Akayama
Yusuko closed in again, trying to repeat the same sequence. His ice-covered hand came swinging toward me with immense power.
I mocked him inwardly and decided to slow down my movements deliberately. When the blow neared me, I couldn't fully dodge it, but I managed to block it — barely.
In this moment, Yusuko's power had clearly changed. Normally, he was a level-seven samurai — manageable enough. But now, after his transformation, he had risen to level five.
He tried to strike again. This time, I decided to release a small portion of my true strength. I parried his second strike, which was far stronger than the first.
The only way to block such an attack was to clash with a blow that exceeded its power.
Yusuko raised both his hands and brought them down toward me. He struck the ground with such force that the entire earth trembled. The ground beneath me split open, rocks tumbled down. I barely escaped in time — but as soon as my feet touched solid ground, he appeared in front of me and drove a punch straight into my chest.
This time... I couldn't dodge. I couldn't even block.
Blood burst from my mouth, and I coughed violently, staggering backward. Drawing my katana, the crimson aura around me grew denser, more feral. I decided to stop holding back.
Yusuko stepped back instinctively, but I appeared before him in an instant — my blade now stained red.
The real clash began. Steel met steel, my blood-aura blade clashing against his ice sword, every collision shaking the battlefield. With every blow, Yusuko spat more blood.
Each strike I landed shattered part of his ice armor. Though his power was level five, his defense was only level four — making the fight increasingly one-sided.
He launched ice arrows at me; I dodged them easily and appeared behind him. That's when I saw it — his weak point.
With a focused strike, a crimson aura shot from my sword straight into his chest — the one area not fully covered by ice.
Perspective: Yusuko
In that moment, countless thoughts flooded my mind.
I knew I was going to die in this battle... From the beginning, I felt the man before me was no ordinary human.
I felt like I knew him — yet I couldn't remember from where.
I had to find out who he was before I died.
Despair and failure showed on my face. I realized that throughout this fight, I hadn't achieved anything.
Did I truly deserve the title "Wall of Kagutsuchi"? It felt as though history was repeating itself — just like at the end of the Hundred-Year War.
I was fighting a monster... something beyond human.
Every strike I risked my life on was either deflected or dodged effortlessly.
Now, I finally understood the true difference in our power.
I unleashed everything — my full power wrapped my sword in energy.
"Ha... ha ha ha ha!" I laughed hysterically, my voice burning with madness.
Still laughing, I shouted, "It seems... this is the end!"
Akayama unsheathed his katana, already knowing my end was near — yet he chose to keep fighting me.
In that instant, as I lunged at him, time slowed. Everything moved painfully slow.
One second felt like ten. My mind sank deep into my memories — the day I was deceived by the beast, how my father sacrificed himself for me, how I lost everything for the empire's prosperity... and how my loyalty was repaid.
In the end... I was betrayed.
Betrayed by the emperor himself. That belief guided my whole life — and now I see it was a lie. I was the one who was wrong.
Yet still... I had to see it through. Whoever starts something must see it to the end.
I realized then that rulers never cared for humanity. Everything I did... meant nothing.
And before the final clash that would claim my life, I remembered the first and most sacred rule of the samurai:
Die with honor. Never die a coward.
The sun began to set — night was approaching.
A devastating collision erupted between Yusuko and Akayama. Sparks of raw energy exploded in every direction, and the ground beneath them seemed ready to collapse.
Only the sound of clashing steel filled the air, sharp enough to pierce the ears.
In the midst of it, both spat blood from the immense pressure. Yusuko unleashed his full power, while Akayama used only a quarter of his own.
And then — BOOOOM!
A massive explosion roared across the mountains.
In a blink, Akayama's blade tore through Yusuko's body, splitting him in half. With that same strike, seven mountains behind them were cleaved open — a testament to the horror of his power.
Yusuko's blood drenched Akayama's body. His parts fell to the ground, his blood scattering everywhere — but his face wore a peaceful smile, one free of regret.
Akayama smiled faintly, his voice calm and cold:
"You shouldn't have rushed."
End of Chapter