Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

The clanging sounds clashed, and Hattori suddenly felt strained.

He tried to change tactics, but found that his opponent was prepared. He threw out a kunai to buy time, but it was shot down in an instant, and his efforts were in vain.

His move had been seen through!

What's going on?! I've never fought her before, so why does she seem to know my attack frequency and methods so well?

Could her reaction really be that fast?! No, it must be the demon sword causing this!

Tokugawa sat cross-legged on the platform, his expression gradually turning displeased.

"If the miracle-working Hanzo were still alive, how could he not even be able to deal with such a petty scoundrel?"

His words were full of dissatisfaction with Hattori Masanari.

The samurai beside them exchanged glances, remained silent, and continued to perform their guard duties.

A little bit, a little bit worse!

Only the last two weaknesses of the white light were not broken.

However, due to the energy wasted during the battle, he now only has enough left to barely complete the kill.

However, she was more familiar with Hattori Masahiro's fighting style, and she was ready for another chance.

"Give me—die!"

Due to the decrease in his strength, Takii was ultimately unable to defeat Hattori.

"it is good!"

Through the blurry vision, Tokugawa stood up, pushed aside the samurai beside him, and clapped and cheered, completely forgetting his earlier displeasure.

Taki felt as if she had grabbed something, and her body went limp as she collapsed.

A sharp pain shot through my brain.

Taki continued to carefully recall Hattori's moves in reality, dismantled and countered them, and then re-entered the area.

"Use Qianzi Village—"

Enough talk, let's fight!

Hattori had barely begun to speak when he was forced to swallow his words and engage in a fierce exchange with Muramasa Taki.

How can it be!

During the battle, he seemed to see his deceased father.

This powerful suppressive force and insight made each of his attacks seem clumsy, like someone just starting to learn swordsmanship. With just a wave of his hand, his subsequent movements could be completely predicted.

One by one, the weak points of the white light were pierced, until the second to last one, clang—the Muramasa sword broke off, flew into the sky, and stuck diagonally into the ground.

Takii's magical sword tip was pointed at Hattori, whose face was filled with astonishment and fear, and it was only half a centimeter away from his last weakness.

Hattori felt a chill run down his spine; he knew all too well that if the knife were to strike even slightly, he would die instantly.

He was completely unable to match his father's fearlessness in the face of death. Under such fear, his survival instinct took over, and he threw down the broken hilt of his sword and surrendered.

"I...I lost."

On the stage, Tokugawa's face instantly darkened, becoming sinister and terrifying.

Hattori knew something was wrong the moment he said those words, but the knife was still pressed against him, making him unable to move and completely losing the courage to resist.

"Hattori Masanari, you really bring honor to the Hattori Hanzo family." Tokugawa squeezed out these disgusted words through gritted teeth.

Hattori Masashige's body trembled, he lowered his head dejectedly, and his whole body began to shake.

His life is over.

"Get back now, aren't you ashamed enough?"

".yes."

Hattori slowly retreated, moving out of the range of the blade and out of the fighting area.

"Namo Myoho Renge Kyo." Hosei walked up to Tokugawa, put his palms together and said, "Now that the outcome is decided, I would like to ask Lord Miyagata to personally step into the arena and have a duel between the three Muramasa."

"A duel between samurai," Tokugawa recalled. The last time he personally went into battle was more than ten years ago, during the Battle of Komaki-Nagakute.

The gloom on his face quickly faded, replaced by a calm smile: "Master Hosei, didn't I tell you that I would only agree to the contest if Muramasa killed Hattori?"

Fa Cheng's expression changed drastically: "If Muramasa had stabbed him just now, Hattori Masashi would have been dead without a doubt! Lord Muramasa's actions were merciful; he did not kill them all, so he should be considered to have achieved his goal of 'killing' them."

"But, realistically speaking, he wasn't killed, was he? Hattori Masanari is still alive and well, am I right?" Tokugawa stared at Hattori Masanari with a forced smile.

"Yes, yes." Hattori Masashi seemed to have had his backbone completely broken in this battle, lacking any of Hattori Hanzo's style, and full of cowardice.

"Guards, escort Master Facheng to rest. Muramasa Masaji has been controlled by the demon sword and has harmed countless people. Today, we will rid the world of this demon! This is an act of immeasurable merit!"

At Tokugawa's command, a large number of ninjas appeared from the surrounding eaves and walls, and groups of samurai, who seemed to have been waiting for a long time, appeared from the four exits, fully armed, and surrounded Muramasa Masatsugu, protecting Tokugawa Ieyasu on the platform.

Takii wasn't surprised at all; in fact, this was more in line with Tokugawa Ieyasu's character.

"Lord Tokugawa, you are breaking your promise and disregarding the honor and reputation of your family!" Hosei rebuked angrily.

"How laughable. My Manchiyo (Ii Naomasa) died of his injuries in Shiga Prefecture not long ago. This action is not only for the sake of the country, but also to avenge him. Family honor is incomparable to that of my beloved general." Tokugawa's gaze grew cold.

Upon hearing this, the samurai beside him felt honored, and their initial slight unease quickly solidified.

"Lord Ii died at the hands of the Onmyoji's shikigami. Since you have made up your mind, there is no point in saying more." Hosei sighed heavily and came to Takii's side. "Benefactor, I was wrong to trust others and became their accomplice. Now that things have come to this, I will do my best to help you get out of this predicament."

Tokugawa, looking down from his vantage point, sighed insincerely: "I have always admired the character of Master Hōchō and do not wish to oppose you. Remember, do not harm the Master. Go forth and rid the country of this demon!"

"To rid the country of demons!"

With a shout, the warriors charged toward the two men in the encirclement.

"Be careful, benefactor!"

The prayer beads in Facheng's hand split open, forming a golden light barrier.

Looking at the last glimmer of white light in the sword, Muramasa Takii roughly knew how to deal with Tokugawa.

But this time, the opportunity was gone.

Even so, he still charged out with his sword, trying his best to kill his way towards Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The latter stood on the stage, surrounded by his personal guards, and met his gaze indifferently.

Before long, Taki and Hosei were covered in injuries.

"Benefactor, leave! Let go of your obsessions. The world is still vast, and there is still a place for you to stand!" Fa Cheng pleaded earnestly during the battle.

Takii was exhausted, and the power of the Myoho exorcism was depleted, so he reverted to Myoho Muramasa.

The whispers of the demon sword took over his body.

Even so, a demon sword that has not accumulated any power through killing has no chance of turning the tables.

Finally, his hand holding the knife was severed, his body was riddled with countless blades and spears, and his breath slowly died.

This time, however, she wasn't kicked out of the game immediately.

Instead, it floats in mid-air, watching the plot unfold from the perspective of an observer.

"Stop it!"

Fa Cheng finally lost his temper, letting out a furious roar that transformed into a tangible sound wave, stirring up a large cloud of dust and causing nearby warriors to retreat in disarray, clearing a space for them.

He hurriedly supported Muramasa's body, which was riddled with swords, and looked at Tokugawa on the high platform—at this moment, a samurai had already picked up the sword that Taki had dropped, and presented it to Tokugawa with both hands.

"So this is the demon sword? It is indeed filled with evil energy. Master Facheng, it seems that you are not able to see through all evil spirits. Hahaha."

Tokugawa did not take the sword, but observed it from a certain distance.

Fa Cheng lowered his head in shame. He had indeed failed to see through the evil spirit, but it wasn't the demonic sword; rather, it was his failure to see through the evil spirit in Tokugawa's heart!

The demon sword is merely a tool; if one's heart is free of evil, even the demon sword can slay demons.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu, the demon sword is not the demon; the demon resides in your heart. You'd better watch yourself."

Facheng picked up Muramasa's body, left these words behind, and turned to leave.

"My lord," the trusted aide asked, leaning closer.

"No need, let him take the body. Consider it an effort to save face for the Nichiren Sect." Tokugawa waved his hand, signaling the archers to lower their bows.

He glanced sideways at Hattori Masanari, who kept his head down, and pointed at the cursed sword: "Destroy the cursed sword as soon as possible. I don't want to see this sword appear again. Select a death row inmate, take him to Kuwana, and next year when I officially issue the Muramasa ban, behead him as the third Muramasa as a warning to others."

"Yes!"

The scene ends there, lingering on the back of Hosei carrying the Third Muramasa as they leave, gradually fading from Taki's sight.

In the darkness, a notification box appeared in the center of his vision.

[You have successfully completed the ending - History repeats itself]

Thank you to "Blindly Eating Fish" for the donation.

Chapter 158: Official Announcement

[You have successfully completed the ending - History repeats itself]

[Ending Evaluation: Excellent ending. It is never easy for history to repeat itself. You have successfully left behind a rut exactly the same as those of your predecessors.]

[First-time completion rating: B+]

[Final Reward: Ability - Thousand Hands of Edge (Whether forging or wielding, you can feel the emotions of each blade)]

[Potential: B+, Growth Requirements: Aura, Skill, Focus, Growth Abilities: Insight, Magical Exorcism, Thousand Hands Weapon Control Style]

Muramasa Takii closed his eyes, receiving a flood of information.

She gradually came to understand everything.

Is this the real reward of the game?

It is indeed very generous.

She carefully felt the wondrous power she controlled and slowly realized that this ability, in addition to making her a master of cold weapons, also granted her the ability to forge cold weapons and equipment.

If one has sufficient skill and access to exceptional materials, one can forge extraordinary equipment with special effects.

"Could it be that all those extraordinary beings that have recently appeared in Tokyo were born through this 'unknowable' game?"

She thought of the players on the leaderboard—six in total. If some of them had been invited beforehand and completed the game, then the sudden appearance of supernatural events in Tokyo seemed quite reasonable.

The post-game description also mentioned that achieving a perfect ending would grant extra rewards and things like a player lobby.

I checked the player lobby and it showed that there was 1 person online.

Let's look at the added private messaging function. You can choose three people to send messages to.

These three should be the first batch of players, while the other three, including her, belong to the second batch.

Considering she's currently ranked number one, it seems that playing more games doesn't necessarily make you stronger. However, she's unsure if this theory holds true, because her identity gives her a huge advantage in the game.

If the historical context were different, she wouldn't be able to guarantee her ranking either.

Want to check out the player lobby?

Muramasa Takii dismissed the thought. Her thoughts were now transparent with the demon sword, and strangely enough, the demon sword couldn't know when she was thinking about game-related matters.

However, she couldn't guarantee that the information she knew in the game lobby wouldn't be known to Yaodao, so it was best to give up for now and try to contact other players again after the Yaodao incident was over.

Now that the game offers such generous rewards, and she's the one closest to the perfect ending, there's no reason not to keep trying.

This will give us a better chance of winning when facing the demon sword directly.

She couldn't rely entirely on the official traps to work; she didn't even know how powerful the Demon Blade was at its peak.

The only saving grace is that the demon sword's current abilities are not much different from those in the game. If there were a way to transform the Myoho Muramasa into the Myoho Exorcism, wouldn't everything fall apart on its own?

But how could Master Facheng's ashes possibly be found now? It's even unknown whether Facheng himself left any ashes. The Nichiren sect's only record of this monk is this one book, which most people treat as a storybook.

Is it acceptable to use the ashes of other Nichiren monks? Or are there other conditions she is unaware of?

Unfortunately, she had used up all three of her chances for the day and was exhausted, so she chose to rest for the time being and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Player Lobby.

As usual, Uesugi was lost in thought when he saw a new player, "正," appear in his private message list.

"Judging by the time, it's about time indeed."