Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 214, Section 212: Passing Through the Three Gates
The battle visuals are quite rudimentary, similar to Pokémon, but from the pixelated style of Pokémon.

But you can still see a lot of details.

Daoman Zhongxing stood on the edge of the pool of blood, forming an equilateral triangle with Rihong and Daogui.

He has many skills and items, from the Demon-Slaying Sword to the Demon-Slaying Arrow, and he can also use a blessing spell to buff himself.

It can also summon the shikigami Chasing Shadow to help, creating a three-on-one situation.

The corpses scattered on the ground can also be used. The core idea is to use the puppet to avoid being selected by the demon sword, because there is a chance of being instantly killed.

Rihong's Buddhist teachings are profound, possessing both shields and offensive capabilities. When these two work together, he can rival the Blade Demon, who is under a curse, has uneven health, and weakened power.

The only downside is that the margin for error isn't high; the Demon Blade can replenish its health through the Demon Blade, making its endurance terrifying.

When health is low, it will enter the second phase of the classic attack, unleashing a powerful sweeping attack. Each parry requires a significant cost.

However, perhaps due to the curse, the healing effect would gradually weaken. Even so, Oshima tried several times, but all attempts ended in failure.

It wasn't that we ran out of cards, but rather that the opponent's ability to instantly defeat us was too strong.

Even if it's not a true instant kill, it can render him completely incapable of fighting, making him practically dead.

But whether or not the Demon of the Blades still retained a sliver of reason, knowing that Tadakatsu was his son, he prioritized targeting Hirohiro with most of his attacks.

If Ke Rihong dies, it will be difficult for him to fight alone.

The island was stuck here for several days.

Fortunately, with the help of Iwasaki and Yui, he finally managed to figure out the trick, discover the pattern of the sword demon's attacks on the two of them, remind Hirohiro to defend in advance, and use the corpse puppet to block the sword himself.

Finally, the Demon Blade's health bar was depleted, and the battle scene switched to the present, showing Tadashi's Demon-Slaying Sword piercing his father's heart.

The knife demon's body stiffened abruptly, and the frenzied, surging aura of ferocity abruptly stopped.

He slowly raised his head, and beneath his disheveled hair, his blood-red eyes, almost devoid of human emotion, seemed to regain a fleeting sliver of clarity.

That gaze pierced through the blood and madness, landing on Zhongxing's face, carrying an indescribable complexity.
"Zhongxing, do not get involved."

Leaving behind this advice that only Zhongxing could clearly hear, the demon sword fell to the blood-soaked ground, and the father's body, like a sandcastle scattered by a strong wind, quickly turned into fine black dust.

Flesh, bones, clothing—everything crumbled and scattered in the wind. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying figure that had stood there had completely vanished into thin air.

Only an inconspicuous old cloth bag remained, the standard demon-slaying bag of the Dao Man family, lying quietly next to the demon sword.

Zhongxing's body stiffened as he slowly picked up the demon-slaying bag and the demon sword.

The instant his fingertips touched the hilt of the knife, a strong negative killing intent swept over him, mixed with a viscous, frenzied killing intent as thick as mountains of corpses and seas of blood, like the floodwaters of the Styx bursting its banks, instantly rushing down the hilt into his palm.

Negative emotions surged into his mind along the meridians of his arm, and he seemed to see the distorted faces of countless tragically deceased beings and hear the desperate cries of millions of wronged souls.

Zhongxing's face turned deathly pale. He groaned, veins bulging on his forehead, and his body swayed, but he managed to suppress it.

At this moment, Rihong, who had been watching the entire process, finally spoke. His face was solemn and compassionate as he stepped forward and said in a deep voice:
"Homage to the benefactor of the Lotus Sutra, please accept my condolences. The murderous aura of this knife is beyond the resistance of ordinary people."

He had clearly figured it out and guessed that Dao Gui was a relative of Zhongxing before his death.

Rihong's gaze was fixed intently on the demon sword that Tadakyu was gripping tightly.

“If this humble monk is not mistaken, this sword is the demonic sword recorded by our sect’s founder, Nichiren. It is extremely dangerous, and if it goes out of control, it will surely unleash a monstrous bloodbath.” Nichihong clasped his hands together. “Such a weapon must never be allowed to remain in the world. Please, benefactor, hand it over to this humble monk. This humble monk swears on his life that he will take this sword back to our sect and suppress the demonic sword for eternity, cutting off any possibility of it wreaking havoc on the human world!”

Did Nichiren record the dangers of the sacred sword and pass it down to future generations?

Zhongxing was stunned, thinking in disbelief.

But isn't Nichiren himself inside the Holy Sword?
According to the family's secret records, the blade of the sacred sword is forged from killing stone, the hilt is blessed with a Jianzhen ritual implement, and the spirit of Nichiren voluntarily resides within it. If the hilt is disassembled, the words of the Lotus Sutra can be seen.

Oshima silently noted it down; this clue should be useful for the 1220 timeline that Iwasaki was in charge of.

In his mind, this should be Nichiren's backup plan.

Although he made a pact with Doman Hikmei, Nichiren worried that he might one day be unable to suppress the demon sword, so he recorded it in advance so that future generations would know that such a sword existed.

I guess he also noted down the weaknesses and such on it, otherwise Fa Cheng wouldn't have known so much about the demon sword and had a special method to counter it.

But how could Zhongxing possibly hand over the sacred sword that carried the family's mission for hundreds of years?

His purpose in coming here was to take it back.

"I'm afraid I can't comply." Zhongxing's voice was deep, and with a flick of his wrist, he had already sheathed the holy sword in a specially made scabbard.

The shikigami, Chasing Shadow, seemed to rise from the ground like ink from a brush, silently lying beside him, its large vocal sacs bulging, its fist-sized eyes locked onto Rihong, ready for battle.

Rihong's face showed even more sorrow, and he sighed deeply: "Benefactor, you know this knife is an extremely dangerous weapon, why are you still so stubborn? This humble monk... has no choice but to offend you!"

Before he finished speaking, the staff was raised, and a radiant light of Buddha shone forth.

The game instantly switched back to the battle screen.

However, Oshima's heart sank. The two of them were in a state completely reminiscent of the aftermath of their bloody battle with the Demon Blade. Tadashi's magical power was greatly depleted, and he was in a weakened state, while Hiro, although also injured, clearly had more energy left to conserve.

"Misstep."

Oshima was somewhat annoyed. If he had known that he would eventually fall out with Hiroshi, he shouldn't have wasted so much precious magic power and props to protect the monk. He should have let him take more injuries and act as a meat shield.

At this moment, Tadashi's condition was far inferior to Hiro's, and his shikigami, Chasing Shadow, was unable to exert any remarkable effect given that the opponent was already on guard.

The battle quickly deteriorated into a stalemate: either he would be defeated by Rihong and have the Holy Sword seized, or he would forcibly use the Holy Sword to fight back, inevitably resulting in being devoured by the surging malevolent energy. Either way, it was a dead end leading to a terrible outcome.

As expected, after the defeat, Oshima returned to the beginning of his battle with the Demon Blade, reflecting on his painful experience.

This time, the tactics and strategies were adjusted again to preserve their own strength as much as possible.

He used Rihong as a shield to draw away most of the Blade Demon's frenzied attacks.

Precious anti-magic arrows and protective talismans were used sparingly. The Shadow Chaser was also hidden away, with no intention of revealing itself.

After another arduous and protracted battle, and several days of repeated trial and error, Oshima finally succeeded in breaking through.

While remaining relatively intact and possessing some magical power, Zhongxing managed to defeat the berserk sword demon with great difficulty. At this moment, Rihong was covered in wounds, barely breathing, and in extremely low condition.

"Cough cough. Shi—!!" Rihong breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to speak, wanting to say something.

Oshima's instructions had already been issued.

"This guy will definitely stop me from taking the Holy Sword. I have to take him down and coordinate with Shadow Chaser to launch a full-scale sneak attack."

A fierce glint flashed in Zhongxing's eyes, and his power erupted instantly.

He moved with ghostly speed, his Demon-Slaying Sword aimed straight for Ri Hong's vitals! At the same time, the lurking Shadow Chaser sprang up from the shadows, its gaping mouth sealing off all of Ri Hong's escape routes.

Om-!
At the critical moment, a dazzling golden Buddhist light suddenly erupted from Rihong's body! It was probably because one of his personal life-saving magical artifacts was activated, which forcefully blocked this deadly sneak attack.

Even so, the powerful impact still struck him like a heavy blow, causing him to spit out blood and instantly lose the ability to resist, collapsing to the ground.

"As expected, he still had a trump card up his sleeve."

Rihong's life-saving methods were ineffective against the demon sword, but they were very effective against Tadakatsu's sneak attacks.

Considering that this monk was likely to be the future master of Facheng, and according to historical records he should not have died here, Oshima decisively ordered a retreat.

Zhongxing did not linger in battle, which suited him perfectly.

He glanced back at the heavily injured Rihong, summoned Zhuying back, and turned to speed towards the depths of the dense forest, his figure quickly disappearing into the blood-soaked ruins of the village.

"Cough cough."

Rihong struggled to his feet, watched Zhongxing's departing figure, clasped his hands together, and shook his head.

"Those who reap what they sow will not live," which only brings suffering to the innocent people.

After fleeing for half a day, and confirming that he was temporarily safe, Zhongxing finally stopped to catch his breath.

[My father's loss of control this time has resulted in the killing of tens of thousands. The resentment and malevolent energy absorbed by the Holy Blade has reached a terrifying level and must be temporarily sealed away while a method is found to digest it.]

[Directly controlling the Holy Blade is too risky; my father's last words are a warning against repeating his mistakes. But if I don't use the Holy Blade, how can I continue to accumulate enough 200,000 Yin Souls? Is there any way to allow the Holy Blade to continue devouring souls without me being corrupted by the evil energy?]

The answer is obvious: find a scapegoat.

This is also the origin of the Muramasa family. If it weren't for the clues from the previous game, we probably wouldn't know where to begin.

Zhongxing subconsciously touched the demon-slaying bag left by his father in his arms.

[Strange, Father's demon-slaying bag is empty?]

He opened the bag, and sure enough, it was empty except for a trace of demonic energy. Judging from the time, the demon had left the bag at least seven days ago.

Seven days ago, he had no idea where his father, who had transformed into a sword demon, had gone.

Those few days created a vacuum, and my father did not carry out any large-scale killings.

"So even the Doman family didn't know what the purpose of those monsters they collected year after year was?"

Oshima was filled with doubts. In the first timeline, Hikami's mother took the yokai with her when she left. Now, Tadakyu's father had died out of control, but the yokai bag was empty ahead of time.

So what role do these monsters, which the Doman family painstakingly captured, play in the grand plan to rebuild Yomi?
Suppressing his doubts, Tadashi returned to the turbulent Nara.

He didn't seem worried that Rihong would come knocking on his door, and began a long process.

The game has officially entered the family management mode, which is divided into several aspects.

She carefully taught her younger brother, Daoman Zhongji, and at the same time, she ensured the continuation of the family bloodline and mission by expanding the family line.
He studied how to control and utilize the holy sword more safely, and how to digest the terrifying resentment accumulated within it.

Arrange for Tadatsugu to take charge, or personally, to continue the collection of the monsters;

Find a scapegoat who can bear the burden of making a pact with the Holy Sword.

Guided by Oshima's clear objective, Tadashi's attention quickly settled on a rising swordsmith village in Kuwana District, Ise Province.

He accurately located one of the frustrated young knifemakers.

For Tadayuki, it was almost effortless to entice a Nichiren cult follower who longed to prove himself and desired to forge a divine weapon to sign a contract with the sacred sword.

Although the contract stipulated a nine-generation gap, Tadashi's vision was actually only focused on the third generation.

In his plan, by the time he reached the third generation, the Holy Sword would have already digested most of the souls it had devoured.

The third generation of the village is required to kill a hundred people to fulfill the contract, and during this process, he will inevitably become possessed by demons, resulting in another wave of souls being collected.

What he needs to do is to maintain control from behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, Zhongxing's idea was one thing, but the reality was quite another.

Once the chaos secretly orchestrated by the Doman family is unleashed, it will be beyond their control.

Nara was soon drawn into a brutal war.

Zhongxing was forced to expend a great deal of energy maneuvering between various forces, trying his best to maintain the family's survival amidst the war.

Immediately following, a nationwide famine and a terrible plague struck, and even Tadashi, an Onmyoji, contracted a deadly disease during this process.

The illness was severe, and time was running out.

In the final moments of his life, Tadashi, despite his illness, hastily passed the position of head of the family to his younger brother, Tadatsugu.

Then, as if summoned by something, he took all the monsters his family had collected over the years, put them into his demon-slaying bag, and left his Nara residence alone, disappearing into the vast distance.

The image freezes on that receding figure, and even from Oshima's omniscient perspective, one cannot know his thoughts or whereabouts at this moment.

"Finally, I've cleared the game."

Oshima let out a long sigh, a mixture of exhaustion and relief.

At this moment, June in reality is already halfway over.

Based on the previous mini-games, they had already started to complete them one by one, and now they had only just finished the preliminary tasks.

The team that Uesugi belongs to, and the last timeline of 1602 that Muramasa Taki is in charge of, is also coming to an end.

This timeline is basically the one that players are most familiar with, spanning the entire process from "Demon Blade" to "Ninja Heart".

The main character being manipulated is Shigemitsu Michimitsu, who has just succeeded as the head of the family.

At this time, the Warring States period ended, and the world moved towards peace.

Unrest has broken out within the clan, with some members questioning whether they are truly capable of undertaking the task of rebuilding the Yellow Springs.

And so many innocent lives have to be sacrificed. Is this really for the sake of all humanity?
According to our ancestors, the Underworld has disappeared, yet the human world seems to be functioning well, while the Underworld is causing wars and disasters everywhere.
Is it all worth it?

Thus, an assassination attempt was carried out against Shigemitsu; the assassins were hired ninjas.

The assassins are not difficult to deal with.

The difficulty lies in the fact that after dealing with the assassins, the barrier of the Other Shore Serpent Egg shattered prematurely without warning, plunging the family into even greater panic.

According to our ancestors, the barrier would last for about five hundred years, but only about four hundred years have passed so far, so something unexpected has clearly happened here.

As a result, the Doman family completely missed the crucial moment when the third generation of Muramasa was arrested, failing to retrieve the demon sword immediately, and instead allowing Hosei to succeed.

Fa Cheng was naturally Ri Hong's disciple, and he was following his master's dying wish to search the world for the whereabouts of the demon sword.

Based on the information from the previous game, Takii instructed Mokou to retrieve the demon sword from Hosei, give it to the Third Muramasa, and stop Hosei and his companions.

While Mao Guang was obstructing Fa Cheng from the outside, the family was unstable, forcing Mao Guang to divert his attention.

While the third generation of Muramasa did not complete the Doman family's plan, at least he prevented the demon sword from falling into Hosei's hands again.

Maoguang secretly helped a samurai steal the demon sword, then killed him.

Because the contract was still in effect, Maoguang wanted to simply break it, but he discovered that the demon sword was already becoming increasingly uncontrollable. The contract could help him control the demon sword, so he didn't want to suffer the consequences of breaking the contract.

At this time, the latent opponents within the family officially launched a rebellion, with his eldest son and younger brother as the masterminds.

At the critical moment when Maoguang was injured, the rebels were tormented to death by a sudden bloodline curse, which shocked Maoguang.

Because he had no idea that his ancestors had left such a contingency plan.

They were treated like mere tools.

Over the next few decades, he worked hard to save the snake egg from the other shore, merging it with the great centipede demon, making it a monster that was half centipede and half snake. This was the predecessor of Zhu Hai.

However, as a result, Zhu Hai's ability to communicate with Yin and Yang was greatly weakened, and Mao Guang's task became to help it regain its ability to communicate with Yin and Yang.

In 1638, his youngest son gave birth to a grandson who was exceptionally gifted, especially in an era when spiritual energy was gradually fading.

Mao Guang had high hopes for him and named him Xiao Che.

He had come to a realization: there was no turning back for the family, and the Yellow Springs Plan had to be carried out, otherwise it would be irresponsible to those who came before him.

Moreover, he doesn't have much time left.

So he carried out the plan arranged by his ancestors, giving the demon sword to the fourth Muramasa and leading him into a life of slaughter.

But that wasn't enough. They killed less than 10,000 before being stopped by Fa Cheng and his ninjas.

His control over the demon sword also dropped to a low point.

He delegated authority to his youngest son and helped him devise the Furisode Plan, using Muramasa's blood to incite the demon sword to riot and reduce Edo Castle to ashes. In this way, the number of dead souls would be just enough, and they would have given an account to their ancestors.

However, Xiaoche, who had already begun to get involved in the family's affairs, learned about this and took Zhuhai away by taking advantage of his closeness to him, along with Zhan Gui Xing Hong, in an attempt to prevent Zhenxiu from being delivered to Edo.

Ke Maoguang had anticipated this.

In the end, Xiaoche was stopped near Edo Castle. His elders threatened him with their lives, forcing him to give up his plan to enter the castle and stop the execution of the Fureiso plan.

Illuminated by the firelight, Doman Akatsuki stood for a long time, gazing at the burning Edo Castle.

With this, the three timelines are complete.

This allowed players to gain a basic and complete understanding of the origins of the Demon Blade, the Vermilion Skeleton, and the mysterious Onmyoji.

Although some questions remain, most of the previous issues have been resolved.

The only question now is: what hidden dangers did the Doman family leave behind after their plan ultimately failed? What kind of catastrophe will this lead to in reality?

(End of this chapter)