"I feel like I'm doomed. Just looking at this peak Sword Saint tells me he's not someone to mess with. A prime Sword Saint is definitely stronger than that old, dying one. That trash Genichiro—if he had to die, fine, but he had to throw a big boss at me right before dying!"
In Umaru's livestream, the viewers echoed her complaints with enthusiastic barrages.
"You offended the Sword Saint and think you can run?"
"Well, you killed his grandson. Of course it's fight to the death."
"Let the prime Sword Saint test the streamer's skills. Aren't you really good?"
"To be fair, that grandson Genichiro was trash, but he was still a real man. Rest in peace."
"Farewell, trash Genichiro—welcome, Prime Sword Saint!"
Joyful bullet comments flooded the screen nonstop. Sekiro—a game so good it could be called beautiful—had a storyline and spectacle that were an absolute explosion.
Although it was brutally difficult and made some people smash their keyboards, its solid quality ensured that even players who rage-quit would eventually return.
Nowadays, more and more people were forging blades day and night.
Umaru glanced at the chat. Seeing their schadenfreude, there was no way she was backing down.
Though nervous, she felt no fear.
"Heh! If I can send you to the underworld once, I can send you back again. Let me properly experience how strong a peak Sword Saint really is!"
The Sekiro released in this world was not the original From Software version from Raize's previous life. With enhancements across the board, Raize had naturally fine-tuned and buffed the final-stage peak Sword Saint Isshin as well.
The quick-clear strategies discovered in Raize's past life simply did not exist against this Isshin.
The moment Umaru began trading blows with Isshin, she realized that this Isshin no longer followed the old patterns. Compared to the elderly Isshin, he now had four additional moves.
The peak Sword Saint suddenly took a step back, sheathed his blade, charged up, and drew it in a flash!
Seeing the charge-up, Umaru reacted quickly and immediately retreated—but Raize's malice was far from that shallow.
Clang!
A chilling blade arc carved a circle through the air, and a crescent-shaped sword wave surged toward Umaru.
She barely managed to raise her blade to block, yet still lost a large chunk of health. Injured, she immediately pulled back to heal.
But the nightmare continued. The Sword Saint in the distance clearly had no intention of giving her that chance. With another sheath and charge, another crescent slash flew toward her.
Pulling away to heal—Raize had already accounted for that. You could heal, but never easily.
In a realistic-style game, enemies would not politely wait for you to drink a potion.
"What's wrong, Wolf… Is all you can do run away from me and cower in disgrace?"
"Wolf, retreat only invites death!"
As long as players avoided Isshin and tried to heal at a distance, the taunt voice lines Raize had set would trigger automatically.
Not only that—if the player keeps their distance and tries to observe Isshin without approaching him, it will trigger the enhanced version of "Secret Technique: Isshin" that Raize deliberately designed.
After Umaru deliberately stayed far away from the Sword Saint to observe his attack patterns, Isshin finished taunting her, sheathed his blade again, charged up, and then suddenly drew it to thrust straight at Umaru.
Clang clang clang!!!
Dense flashes of steel exploded in front of her eyes. Isshin rushed up to Umaru, instantly resheathed his sword, and then unleashed an endless barrage of sword energy directly at her.
Even though she managed to parry and block several strikes with rapid metallic clashes, deflecting part of the dazzling sword energy, her HP still dropped into a critical state.
In the end, the Sword Saint delivered a sweeping side slash that broke her guard, followed by a clean finishing strike that sent her on her way.
"Wolf… is this all you can do?"
If the player keeps avoiding Isshin without daring to attack, once Sword Saint Isshin fully understands their behavior, this disappointed line will be left behind.
It could be said that a concentrated essence of Raize's malicious design was packed right here.
Umaru died on the spot. After being mocked by Sword Saint Isshin at the moment of death, her expression instantly froze.
The live chat exploded with laughter, the barrage filling the entire screen in an instant.
"Hehehe, worthy of the prime Sword Saint—beating the streamer like she's a dog!!!"
"Wolf: You're the wolf, I'm just the puppy, hahahahaha…"
"Sword Saint Isshin: Did you think I was still that decayed old man?"
"Hesitation means defeat—surprised, streamer?"
"Dumbfounded?"
Umaru puffed out her cheeks in defiance, staring at the fallen Wolf on the screen, then at the imposing Sword Saint Isshin.
"This damn old man is seriously bad—hiding his strength like that?!"
She angrily pointed at Sword Saint Isshin on the screen.
"You hid so many secret techniques, you rotten old man!"
The viewers largely agreed with Umaru's shameless complaints, though that didn't stop them from mocking her anyway.
"???"
"So you can't afford to lose, huh?"
"Sword Saint Isshin: Then why don't you be the Sword Saint?"
"The Sword Saint being this strong—totally normal that the streamer can't win."
"Aren't you supposed to be really skilled? Don't be discouraged, it's not like you haven't died before!"
Watching the barrage scroll past, Umaru unhappily pursed her lips.
"I don't believe in this Sword Saint nonsense. I've died plenty of times along the way—sure, you can kill me, but you'll never break me!"
She loosened up her hands and started again. In the endless sea of snow-white reeds, Umaru once more faced off against the peak Sword Saint.
The wind stirred the grass like silver waves.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust swept through, pressing the reeds low and revealing the two figures.
"Come at me! Wolf!"
Sword Saint Isshin roared wildly and stepped forward, clashing head-on with Umaru.
Clink! Clink! Clang! Clang! Zing! Zing!
Blades collided, sparks flew, and the rhythmic clang of steel made the viewers' blood boil.
This kind of one-on-one duel between men, blades crossing, carried a raw romance and intensity that made both Umaru and the audience tense and exhilarated.
By this point, Umaru was already very familiar with Isshin's character.
A general who could intimidate an entire nation alone—a legendary man from the stories.
How could fighting such a man not excite Umaru and the viewers alike?
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
Slashes flashed, sharp arcs of light slicing through the air.
Dense waves of cutting force were unleashed by Sword Saint Isshin. Knowing she couldn't block this head-on, Umaru dodged and repositioned flexibly.
But Isshin suddenly shifted stance and lunged forward with a fierce thrust, once again ending the Wolf's life beneath his blade.
Death.
"Worthy of the Sword Saint—this peak version is on a completely different level from the old one!"
Under Raize's fine-tuning, no one would ever compare this peak Sword Saint Isshin to the elderly version.
This peak Isshin had ferocious attack patterns. His combos were elegant and fluid, with no wasted motion—everything was simplified purely for killing, sending chills down players' spines.
Even ordinary attacks, when used by Isshin, produced terrifying results that players struggled to handle.
Umaru died several times before finally grasping his attack patterns and rhythm, waiting for the right moment to exploit an opening.
When the familiar, unmistakable red "Danger" character appeared above her head, Umaru stayed calm and instantly read through Isshin's move.
She seized the opening during his attack—step back! Blade stomp!
A lift and a push disrupted his stance, and she brought her blade crashing down toward Isshin's head.
Clang!
Isshin raised his sword to block. Sparks burst out at the collision, and the Sword Saint's posture gauge instantly emptied—an opening!
"Now!"
The red deathblow prompt appeared. Umaru stepped in without hesitation and drove her blade straight into Isshin's chest!
Splurt!
Blood sprayed outward as Sword Saint Isshin's first health bar was officially destroyed.
"HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!!!!!!"
The live chat erupted in deafening cheers.
"Judging by how bosses work when their HP hits zero, this Isshin…"
Umaru ignored the cheers completely. Instead, her expression grew more serious as she immediately backed the Wolf away.
"Hmph! Haaah!!!"
Her retreat proved correct. As Isshin entered his second phase, he let out a deep grunt followed by a furious roar. A visible surge of aura exploded outward.
Then, with one hand holding a sword, a massive halberd appeared in his other hand, making him look overwhelmingly imposing.
"My blood is boiling!"
"Go, Sekiro!"
Seeing Isshin's grand setup, both Umaru and the viewers felt uneasy.
Still, Umaru didn't panic, maneuvering carefully and engaging him with agile movement.
But this phase of Sword Saint Isshin was not something you could simply "circle around."
He swung the halberd in wide, powerful arcs, sweeping and cleaving. Umaru quickly fell once again.
Death didn't discourage her—it fueled her competitive spirit. After adapting to Isshin's wide, heavy attacks, Umaru began actively going on the offensive.
With flexible movement and perfectly timed blocks, she danced back and forth with the Sword Saint, steadily chipping away at his health.
This phase made deathblows extremely difficult. Without fully mastering his rhythm yet, Umaru could only play it safe and wear him down.
Soon, Isshin's HP was shaved down significantly. Feeling like she had finally grasped his tempo, Umaru pressed the attack.
After all, his health wasn't much left.
But what happened next instantly shattered Umaru's rock-solid mentality.
Sword Saint Isshin swung the halberd with one hand, leaping back into a sweeping strike. Umaru also stepped back to evade it.
Just as she was about to rush back in and apply pressure, Isshin slung the halberd behind him, pulled a gun from his robe, and aimed straight at her head.
Then—
Bang! Bang!!
Two rapid shots fired in succession, hitting Umaru square in the forehead and instantly sending her flying.
Sword Saint Isshin's aged voice rang out:
"Hesitation means defeat."
And it wasn't over.
On screen, Isshin maintained his firing stance, showing not the slightest hint of guilt, and spoke in a low voice:
"Wolf… the times have changed."
Umaru: "..."
Audience: "..."
The live chat froze. Umaru stared wide-eyed, mouth slightly open, eyes vacant as she looked at the corpse on the ground. The huge word "DEAD" on the screen seemed to mock her naïveté.
"…Nani?!"
It was as if those two gunshots had blown her mind apart. Her brain stalled completely, taking a long while to reboot.
When it finally did, her face flushed red like boiling water. She raised a trembling finger and pointed at Isshin.
"Y-you… you're shameless!!! I-I-I—! As a Sword Saint, you shot me!?"
"Aren't you supposed to be a Sword Saint!? Fine, I accepted the halberd—but why the hell do you have a gun?!"
"Genichiro was trash, but you, Ashina—your whole family is trash!!!"
It took Umaru quite a while to fully react. Rage flooded her mind, her words tumbling out incoherently as she lost control and started pounding her controller.
Anyone would tilt after being reverse-killed when the boss's HP was almost gone. Umaru had a good mentality—but she couldn't accept dying like this.
Dying was fine.
But this kind of death?
Unacceptable.
Aren't you supposed to be a Sword Saint?
Relying on astonishing swordsmanship and overwhelming combat power, he once dominated the battlefield.
And then you pull out a gun!?
Have you no martial ethics at all?!
Are you just sore because you're losing?!
The barrage only needed a moment to react before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. The instant the gunshots rang out, everyone watching was struck speechless.
Once they recovered, the livestream exploded.
"Hahahahaha! I'm dying laughing! Pulling out a gun is way too funny!!"
"Hahahahaha!! Grandpa and grandson are exactly the same, this is way too cursed!"
"Sword Saint Isshin: As a Sword Saint, carrying a gun for self-defense is totally reasonable, right?"
"Genichiro: Compared to my grandpa's trashiness, I'm nothing. Truly ashamed…"
"This Sword Saint really has no morals. Using weapons other than a sword is one thing, but he even pulled out a gun!?"
"'Wolf, the times have changed'—that line was way too slick and way too fitting, hahahahaha…"
"I am the Sword Saint! Gun-draw execution!"
"If swords can't kill the streamer, how could sword energy be such an inconvenient thing?"
"This game design by Raiden Games is absolutely unhinged. Whoever came up with this situation is a dog."
"But honestly, this boss is insanely fun."
"I guarantee this scene will become a meme."
On Umaru's side, those two shots had already sent her blood pressure skyrocketing. When she got home later, anyone seeing her on the verge of tears would have thought something serious had happened.
Other streamers suffered one after another as well. Getting blasted by a gun in the Sword Saint's second phase was simply too devastating to one's mentality.
The viewers, on the other hand, were rather maliciously entertained. By this point, most people playing Sekiro had already reached the peak Sword Saint Isshin.
Watching others put on pain masks and have their mentality shattered brought endless joy to them.
Every game streamer was left dumbfounded by Isshin pulling out a gun. Broken keyboards, smashed mice, and abused controllers could be found everywhere.
Some people who loved stirring up hype pushed this moment into the spotlight. While casually browsing the official game activity, Raize saw this scene and immediately posted the meme images he had prepared in advance.
Instantly, Sekiro's popularity surged once again in a short period of time, and the loading speed of the games in Raize's system directory also increased noticeably.
[The Dishonorable Trash Sword Saint]
[Sir, the times have changed]
[All martial skills pale before my firearm]
[Is a sword really such an inconvenient thing?]
One topic after another related to Sekiro's Sword Saint ignited the entire gaming community.
Those who were interested went to buy the game to try it out. Those whose mentality had already been shattered eagerly recommended it to others. Even comment sections across the internet were filled with insidious "highly recommended for new players" remarks.
Meanwhile, the sales results from Raize's company were tallied. In East Asia alone, game sales had surpassed ten million copies, with revenue exceeding hundreds of millions.
In any case, Sekiro's production costs had been completely recouped.
From this point on, every additional copy sold was pure profit.
Such excellent sales figures delighted the entire company, and Raize also fulfilled his earlier promise.
There would be bonuses. There would be company rewards.