To become a king and a magician

"The rumors are probably a bit embellished," Natsukawa Tora sighed. "It's not a wilderness at all, but a battlefield."

Unlike the village they had seen near Shimosa Province the previous night, what came into their view at this moment was an endless battlefield.

Although it was burned beyond recognition, it could still be roughly identified from its shape. On the charred ground, wooden bunkers were scattered everywhere, and many samurai corpses were stuck in sharp wooden stakes. Countless samurai who had been shot also lay on the ground.

Heads, bodies, hands, feet... a large number of arrows were embedded in the bodies of the dead warriors, as if trampling on corpses, doing everything possible to destroy the integrity of the bodies.

"Is this what the heroic swordsman does?"

Miyamoto Musashi gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Unforgivable... Such a heinous act is truly unforgivable!"

"Calm down, Musashi." Natsukawa Tora patted her shoulder. "There's no use in being angry here. Save your anger for when you face the Heroic Swordsman. That's when you need to be driven by your anger to fight with all your might."

Anger may cause one to lose their usual composure, but it is undeniable that pure power is enhanced to some extent when one is angry.

And at that very moment—

"Whoosh—!"

Without warning, the entire world they were in suddenly went dark.

Even though it was already dark at night, Natsukawa Tora and Miyamoto Musashi could still feel their surroundings darken. Then, the clear moonlight that had been falling from the sky disappeared, and in its place was a crimson moon that radiated an ominous blood-red light.

[On the night of the blood moon, black demons will come riding on dark clouds and, led by the Demon General, will carry out divine punishment.] - During the day, the information about the heroic swordsmen that they learned from Princess Kiyohime in the shop came to mind.

"Tiger, what's going on here...?"

"Shouldn't it be the appearance of the Heroic Swordsman?"

Xia Chuanhu laughed, snapped his fingers, and a bright, daylight-like area instantly replaced the darkness, centered on him. Because of this sudden light, the scene in the darkness also appeared before their eyes.

It was a black army.

Just like the vengeful spirit that Xia Chuanhu killed last night, hundreds and thousands of vengeful spirits lined up neatly in the darkness, unknowingly surrounding the two of them in the very center.

"There are so many!"

Miyamoto Musashi gripped the hilt of his sword, preparing to draw it: "Dealing with this many is going to be troublesome. Should we retreat, Tiger?"

"No, no need—I'll do it."

As Xia Chuanhu finished speaking, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and then, beneath the feet of countless vengeful spirits—

"Pfft—!"

A series of synchronized piercing sounds rang out.

The iron stakes that suddenly pierced through the ground pierced through all the vengeful spirits in an instant! And at the very moment they were pierced, the dense horde of vengeful spirits immediately turned into black mist and dissipated into the air!

In an instant, the horde of vengeful spirits surrounding the two were completely annihilated!

"Quantity is meaningless to me."

Before Miyamoto Musashi could recover from his shock, Natsukawa Torara shouted at the empty space ahead, "Come forth, heroic swordsman, the demon who will burn this place to ashes—ArcherInferno!"

"boom!"

A flame ignited in the darkness, and with the sound of footsteps, a figure appeared before the two.

That was a figure that Miyamoto Musashi had never seen before, but Natsukawa Tora was very familiar with.

He wore white clothes, red armor, a crimson bow on his back, a sword at his waist, and a naginata in both hands.

Its hair was snow-white, its face was beautiful, its head was covered with a bunch of sharp demon horns, and its eyes were filled with bloody tears.

Carrying numerous weapons, the woman who came before the two was just like this.

"Ahhh... I found it, I finally found it..."

With eyes filled with blood and tears, Tomoe Gozen stared at Natsukawa Torato before her. She had long since lost her mind and was consumed by the karma of being slaughtered. At this moment, Tomoe Gozen felt a sense of peace.

found it.

Staying here was definitely the right thing to do. As long as we stay here, we're sure to encounter "that person" who will come looking for her by following the traces she left behind.

"We've finally found you, [Lord ■■]!"

9. The purpose of fighting is to survive and eat.

It was the right thing to wait here.

Tomoe Gozen, who had already transformed into Archer Inferno, thought to herself.

After destroying Hitachi Province, she was supposed to go to the next country as instructed, but she forced herself to stay behind.

She had this feeling that as long as she stayed here, she would definitely be able to see the person she loved again.

And now, she has seen it.

"Ah ...

Seeing Natsukawa Tora staring at him and speaking as if he were a girl lovesick, Miyamoto Musashi frowned: "Tora, is she someone you know?"

"It used to be."

Natsukawa Torato explained, "The Heroic Swordsman is an alien being formed by inserting something into a Servant. Its predecessor was a Servant, an avatar located on the Throne of Heroes outside the world."

“I’ve met the same Servant before, and I’m afraid that memory was fed back to the original Servant on the Throne of Heroes, and then this new Servant descended with that memory.”

That being said, if a Servant repeatedly manifests, the memories from the last time they were summoned are not carried over, but Tomoe Gozen is like that...

"Are you mentally deranged and mistaking me for [Minamoto no Yoshinaka]?"

"Minamoto no Yoshinaka?! Then this female general is—"

Miyamoto Musashi knew Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a military commander from the late Heian period. When it comes to female generals associated with him, the first one that comes to mind is the famous female warrior in Japanese history who could defeat a thousand men single-handedly.

"Tomoe Gozen".

"Yes, it's her."

The memory of the Seventh Singularity was only a little over a month ago for Natsukawa Torato, and he still remembered it vividly. At that time, Tomoe Gozen was very beautiful in his eyes.

But now, it can only be described as ugly.

“Musashi, although I enchanted your sword so you could fight the Heroic Swordsman, I’m sorry, can I take the lead this time?” Natsukawa Torara said. “Since he’s an old friend, let me handle him—you go and deal with the other one.”

"You really know how to order people around."

Turning around and standing back-to-back with Natsukawa Tora, Miyamoto Musashi stared intently into the darkness behind her—she didn't possess Natsukawa Tora's perceptive abilities, only the intuition of a swordsman, and her intuition told her that in the darkness before her, there was another [Heroic Swordsman].

Hahahaha~~~~

A sinister laugh echoed from the darkness, accompanied by the sound of footsteps pounding the soft earth. A monk wielding a long spear appeared before Miyamoto Musashi.

Like Tomoe Gozen, his eyes were also filled with tears of blood.

"Lancer Purgatorio—his true name is [Hozoin Inshun]." Natsukawa Torama's reminder came from behind. "The successor of the Hozoin-ryu spear technique, a Servant whose spear is said to be able to withstand the realm of gods and Buddhas, and now a heroic swordsman."

"You're kidding, right..."

Miyamoto Musashi's smile vanished. She knew that the Heroic Spirit Swordsmen were all formidable opponents, but with her skill level, she shouldn't be unable to win—but to be paired with a martial artist whose skills had reached the divine realm right from the start?!

"Your knife should be useful, right?"

"Fool, a sword is ultimately just an external force. It can only try to close the gap between you as much as possible—if you hit him, he will die, and if he hits you, you will die. I've only brought your situation to this point. The rest is up to you to make up for with your own swordsmanship."

The current Miyamoto Musashi is not the Miyamoto Musashi who has reached the vacancy. His swordsmanship is far inferior to the legendary "him". He would definitely lose in terms of pure technique when facing Hozoin Inshun, but with the protection of the spirits, his strength would not be a problem.

However, battles are not simply a game of numbers. With Miyamoto Musashi's strength and those twin swords, the possibility of defeating Hozoin Inshun is not small. All he needs to do is find a way to deliver a fatal blow to the opponent, and that will be Miyamoto Musashi's victory.

"By the way—" Xia Chuanhu continued, "It doesn't really matter if you lose. I can easily take on two people at once. I'll also collect your body and help you with the funeral. It's good that there's one less freeloader in the family."

"I can't believe you said that."

Miyamoto Musashi was so angry he laughed.

This was just a very crude attempt to provoke her; it was just something Natsukawa Tora said to avoid putting her in any pressure, something he deliberately said to annoy her. Miyamoto Musashi didn't usually fall for that—but now she was willing to.

This is the first time I've been looked down upon to this extent. Since that's the case, I absolutely must win the next battle, and then continue to stay by Xia Chuanhu's side and freeload off him! Eat and drink to my heart's content! Make him work himself to death every day outside, and use his hard-earned money to support her at home!

"Clang—!"

Miyamoto Musashi drew his twin swords from their sheaths, and golden light flowed through the air along the trajectory of the swords as they were drawn, wrapping around him like two pieces of silk.

At that moment, a sharp sword intent was released from Miyamoto Musashi, and Miyamoto Musashi himself also felt that something new had appeared in his body when he drew the two swords.

(Tiger really did add all sorts of spells to my dual swords. It seems a bit like cheating, using such external force in a one-on-one duel.)

(But since my opponent isn't human either, I don't need to worry about this kind of thing, right?)

With a flourish, Miyamoto Musashi said with a smile, "If I win, get me a treat when we get back, a midnight snack."

"You didn't eat enough for dinner? We'll talk about it after you survive."

"Okay~~~!"

If he wins, he'll survive and get to eat the midnight snack made by Natsukawa Tora—at this moment, Miyamoto Musashi's heart is filled with fighting spirit!

"Then come on, Heroic Spirit Swordsman Hozoin Inshun, let me show you the essence of my Miyamoto Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryu and Gorin!"

"Take this—!"

As the twin swords fell, the sword energy that had been lingering on the scabbards and blades, along with Miyamoto Musashi's swing, instantly transformed into a torrent and burst forth!

"BOOM——————————!!"

A surging torrent of sword energy instantly raged out, like two roaring dragons tearing at Hozoin Inshun!

A roaring sound echoed under the night sky.

Listening to the commotion behind him with a hint of helplessness, Xia Chuanhu sighed, "She really is a glutton. She should be more considerate of how hard I work to earn money. Maybe I should let her go and get a job too."

"So--"

The azure light pierced through the realm of daylight, and chilling cold air gathered in his hands.

Natsukawa Torata stared intently at Tomoe Gozen before him.

"Come, Tomoe Gozen."

“I will free you from the pain and hatred that you are suffering because of this posture.”