To become a king and a magician

And at that very moment—

"Bang----!"

Suddenly, an explosion came from the central city of Tuqi City, not far away!

(That direction is... Princess Kiyohime and Lord Tomoe!?)

Miyamoto Musashi remembered that was where Tomoe Gozen and Kiyohime were. Why did an explosion suddenly occur? Could it be that Tomoe Gozen was fighting the enemy? But the enemy should all be gathered in front of her right now; there couldn't be any enemies over there!

"—!"

A sharp aura suddenly reached Miyamoto Musashi's senses.

(Sword energy! And quite powerful sword energy at that! This feeling... could it be—)

"boom!"

The fiery figure then landed beside Miyamoto Musashi, with Tomoe Gozen, who was holding Princess Kiyohime, in her arms: "Cough cough cough... Your Highness, are you alright?"

"Lord Tomoe! Princess Kiyohime!"

Miyamoto Musashi quickly stood beside the two of them, alert: "What happened?"

“It is Lord Yagyu,” Tomoe Gozen said. “The last heroic swordsman, Yagyu Munenori, just attacked me and Princess Kiyohime, and as you can see, I was no match for him while protecting Princess Kiyohime and was beaten here.”

"Thank you for your hard work. Please take His Highness to a safe place first. Here—"

Miyamoto Musashi, sword in hand, stared at Amakusa Shiro and the others not far away, as well as the elderly swordsman who had just come into her view.

Muneki Yagyu.

This was the first time Miyamoto Musashi had formally met him. She hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise during the day, and after she volunteered to be his bodyguard in this rustic city, he hadn't paid her much attention.

This was the first time the two of them actually looked at each other.

"Gurgle..."

Miyamoto Musashi couldn't help but swallow hard.

She could sense that even with these two swords in her hands and the protection given to her by Natsukawa Tora, the swordsman named Yagyu Munenori was still a bit stronger than her.

The sword aura emanating from him made Miyamoto Musashi tremble uncontrollably—in every sense of the word.

"You failed on your end too, Empireo?" Amakusa Shiro approached Yagyu Munenori. "It's quite surprising that you failed."

“You’re the same.” Yagyu Munenori looked at Amakusa Shiro. “You’re way ahead of schedule.”

"The stranger's power exceeded our expectations."

A stranger in a foreign land.

That man named Natsukawa Tora.

"Then do as you please, sorcerer."

"I know—"

Pfft!

Amakusa Shiro didn't get to finish his sentence, because before that, when no one was paying attention, a sword blade pierced through his body from behind.

Behind him, amidst a multitude of heroic swordsmen.

Natsukawa Torato had appeared there at some point, holding the holy sword that had pierced Amakusa Shiro's chest.

"Looks like I made it in time?"

24. Why take them down one by one when you can kill them all at once?

Amakusa Shiro believed that he was already fast enough.

He rushed here from Katori Shrine, almost as if he were fleeing for his life.

but--

"Black Rope Hell..."

“Ah, you mean Minamoto no Yorimitsu?” Natsukawa Torara put his hand on Amakusa Shiro’s shoulder. “I eliminated him during the Noble Phantasm clash, and now only you guys are left—it seems we can finish everything tonight.”

As he spoke, Natsukawa Torara slashed downwards with his holy sword, cleaving Amakusa Shiro's body into a large "X" shape. Then—

"Bang------!"

With a heavy stomp, a terrifying impact swept outwards as the roof collapsed! It blasted all of Shuten-dōji and his entourage surrounding him into all directions!

(This power...)

(Waaah—)

(Just one kick and...)

(An extraordinary kick.)

The four remaining heroic swordsmen were forced back by the impact, and Amakusa Shiro, whose body had been severed by Natsukawa Torama, even cut off his own arm and quickly escaped from Natsukawa Torama's side!

"Tiger!"

On another rooftop in the distance, Miyamoto Musashi, Tomoe Gozen, and the already unconscious Kiyohime stood together, shouting Natsukawa Torato's name: "Take it easy! You're getting us all caught in the crossfire!"

"Anyway, you can't hit them, right?" Natsukawa Tora laughed. "Compared to that, why didn't you kill Mochizuki Chiyome?"

"Hmm... I was about to cut it off when that Unified Hell interfered, otherwise I could have cut it off."

“I thought so too—well, I’ll take care of things here from now on. You take the people and get out of here, as far away as possible, and be careful not to get caught up in it again.”

"I'll leave it to you?"

Miyamoto Musashi glanced at the Heroic Spirit Swordsman and the others who had regrouped not far away.

"Is everything alright?"

"Smack!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Xia Chuanhu walked up to her and chopped her on the head with a chop: "Who do you think you're talking to... Although I told you about our division of labor at the beginning, now that I have a chance to wipe them all out, I won't hold back."

"I don't care, this isn't the only chance to reach the Boundary of the Sky... The problem is, are you okay? Even if you're very strong, it's too much of a stretch for one person to take on five people, isn't it?"

"Yeah, maybe one or two will get away."

Xia Chuanhu smiled and said, "That's why I told you to go first, otherwise you might get caught up in my actions."

spread?

"So, what exactly are you trying to say—"

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz~~~~~~~!

Miyamoto Musashi's voice was suddenly drowned out. A spatial tremor and a mournful cry from the sky rendered her voice completely inaudible. Crimson light illuminated the pitch-black night like sunlight.

what happened?

Everyone looked up at the sky, and at that moment, they were all stunned.

Whether ordinary people or heroic swordsmen, everyone was stunned when they saw the scene in the sky.

"The moon... has set?"

Miyamoto Musashi's voice trembled slightly.

"Tiger, could this be you...?"

“Imagination materializes, moon sets.” Natsukawa Tora laughed. “Dealing with them one by one is too troublesome. It’s faster to smash them all at once, isn’t it?”

indeed.

The Heroic Swordsmen are all immortal, and even Natsukawa Tora cannot guarantee a one-hit kill every time. While dealing with one person, the others might all escape.

Therefore, in order to avoid any fish escaping, Xia Chuanhu unleashed his most powerful AOE map-wide attack without any regard for reason.

In the pan-human history, the Moonfall technique is rarely used by Natsukawa Torato because it would have a huge impact on the present world. But this is a Lostbelt, a world that has long been abandoned and cut off, a world with no future whatsoever.

Even if the entire Earth City were destroyed here, it wouldn't have a significant impact on the world, nor would it cause any problems for the Pan-Human History.

"Wait, Tiger! What about the samurai below? And the residents of the castle town?! If your moonfall comes crashing down—"

"Look at the ground."

"On the ground?"

Miyamoto Musashi quickly looked down—although it was not very obvious, he could vaguely see some reflections in mid-air not far from the ground.

“You understand now that I say it’s a barrier?” Natsukawa Tora said. “Do you think I haven’t considered this? After this moon falls, only the heroic swordsman and the sorcerer Amakusa Shiro will be destroyed, and at most, half of the Earth City will be added.”

Everything else will remain undamaged.

Gazing at the crimson moon falling, and feeling the immense pressure of its descent, Amakusa Shiro felt a surge of intense anger and resentment.

"Again...again..."

Another failure.

He experienced countless defeats in the Shimabara Rebellion and witnessed countless failures. This time, he finally abandoned his past naivety and decided to take revenge on the Edo Shogunate—but why did he still fail?

Why can't I ever succeed?

"Why......"

Why are you blocking my way, stranger!

Amakusa Shiro's arms glowed with a berserk magical light, and a ball of dark matter condensed between his hands.

"Why are you hindering my revenge! Why! This shogunate, filled with evil! Wouldn't it be better if I destroyed it? Why are you blocking my path!"

“I just couldn’t stand it,” Natsukawa Tora said coldly. “I’ve said it before: if you were still the leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, the saint who wanted to bring hope to the oppressed peasants, I would be happy to help you. But you are not now.”

The current Amakusa Shiro is merely a vengeful demon whose eyes are blinded by hatred, whose heart is consumed by hatred, and who only thinks about revenge.

Natsukawa Torama could agree with his ideas and understand his motives for revenge, but he could not accept his disregard for human life and his thoughts.

"Bang------!"

The ball of black matter that had gathered between Amakusa Shiro's hands was launched out. The moment it left his hands, it rapidly expanded and transformed into a small, pseudo-black hole, attracting and pulling everything around it into it!

however--

"boom!"