Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Taki didn't want to waste any more words; every second she hesitated increased the chances that the demon sword would guess her thoughts.

Iwasaki was quite direct; without setting any restrictions, he threw his severed arm at Muramasa, where it transformed back into black mist and swept towards the demon sword monk.

Nobita breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this; with his help, things would indeed be much easier.

What they need to do is stall the demon sword until Muramasa prepares his ultimate move, or something like that.

Unicorns have a blinding effect against demon swords. Even if they don't completely blind the demon swords, the threat they pose to the demon swords is significantly reduced when affected.

Iwasaki's abilities, in particular, can produce quite good results when paired with anyone.

Even if we can't defeat the demon sword, delaying it for a while is definitely not a problem.

Taki took the severed arm and only felt relieved after seeing the bone at the break.

Since it was Riyan who committed suicide by burning himself with the demon sword, then this charred body must be Riyan's remains.

Her previous concern was that the corpse might undergo some kind of change due to being modified and corroded by the demon sword.

Fortunately, Riyan's bones are still intact, so her attempts can continue.

In the game, Fa Cheng transformed "Myoho Muramasa" into "Myoho Exorcism" using his master's ashes.

Takii pondered this question for a long time: why could Master Facheng's ashes have such an effect? ​​Was it due to the profoundness of Buddhism, or some other reason?

"These are the ashes of my master. It is precisely because my master firmly believed in the existence of the wondrous method to vanquish demons that I have this evidence."

It wasn't until Taki carefully recalled Hosei's words that she extracted the key word—firm belief.

A firm belief in the wisdom of our predecessors.

Therefore, Riyan can fully meet such requirements.

His unwavering faith in his predecessors was no less than that of Master Facheng.

Even if she wasn't 100% confident, without this method, the three of them attacking together probably wouldn't be able to match the demon sword's endurance and would only be defeated one by one.

"I apologize, Venerable Riyan."

All that remained in Takii's eyes was the severed arm; his sword danced wildly, leaving a trail of afterimages.

She maintained this high-frequency output for nearly a minute before finally stopping.

The flesh and blood of the severed arm in front of her had been stripped away, leaving only the white bones. The next second, Taki reached out and took it from the bottom up. The bones had actually been chopped into ashes by her, and she held them in her palm.

The demon sword seemed to understand something and suddenly became violent.

"Oops!"

Clang!

Nobita's sword was shattered and vanished as specks of light.

Iwasaki tried his best to control the demon sword, but the opponent's speed showed no signs of slowing down.

"'Hao'! Apply it to the inscription!"

Takii knew that among the three, the one most capable of achieving this goal was the Demon Mist.

She scattered the ashes across the sky, gripped the Demon Slayer sword tightly with her weary arms, and joined the battle.

Iwasaki did not respond, and the ashes were quickly gathered together, turning into a snowflake, which was then blown violently towards the demon sword.

The unicorn beast made a resolute decision, threw the wild beast off its back, transformed into a golden streak of light, rushed to the demon sword, and bit the blade of the demon sword.

Its body suddenly became ethereal, and the demon sword was briefly frozen in place, revealing the inscriptions on its hilt.

The ashes poured down, covering the inscription, and the demon sword trembled even more violently.

"Eh-"

The unicorn exploded into golden specks of light, and the demon sword lost control, even breaking free from the control of the charred figure, and began to dance wildly on its own.

The charred humanoid figure, now devoid of the demon sword, knelt on the ground, head bowed, like a puppet no longer controlled by its puppeteer.

Seeing this, Iwasaki quickly created distance, and the black mist disappeared through a gap.

Without his sword, Nobita can't use most of his attack cards, so he can only hold onto the save point, hide to the side, and be ready to retreat at any time.

Only Muramasa Takii was completely unafraid. Even if the crazed demon sword went out of control, it had to abide by the contract and could not attack her directly.

As Takii approached, the sword would strangely change its trajectory as it swung, almost touching Takii.

After several dozen seconds of this bizarre behavior, the crimson color on the demon sword gradually faded, its struggles became increasingly weak, and the white light on the inscription became bright and soft, dispelling the evil aura that had been permeating the air.

As depicted in the game, the demon sword has two sides: one of slaughter and the other of compassion.

Just like the third Muramasa in the game, the ninth Muramasa Takii has never killed anyone, so she can naturally activate the demon-slaying aspect of the demon sword.

The white light split into strands that drifted above the demon sword, forming the phantom image of a monk.

His eyes were unfocused yet held a hint of clarity.

He glanced around, then his gaze finally settled on Riyan's charred remains, a complex expression flashing across his face.

"I'm... bewitched."

"The blade does not contain the Yellow Springs, nor am I Ksitigarbha."

"Namo Myoho. Renge Sutra".

"In that case, let us go together, Sesshoseki."

As the monk finished speaking, the blade shattered inch by inch amidst violent tremors, then coalesced into a crystalline red stone, as if one could see something struggling and wailing inside.

The monk waved his hand, and the hilt of the sword floated in front of Muramasa Taki.

He then enveloped the red stone within it, and his body, composed of white light, seemed to boil, slowly dissipating like steam.

Taki took the hilt of the sword. There was no trace of bloodlust left on it; instead, it was incredibly pure, carrying an aura of compassion and empathy.

"Master, may I know your Dharma name?"

She looked up, asking with a hint of suspicion in her mind.

“Since you already know, why ask further about the sinner’s Dharma name, Nichiren? He is a sinner who presumptuously tries to become the new Jizo, overestimating his own abilities.”

Before Taki could ask any more questions, Nichiren's white light phantom became increasingly illusory, and within seconds, it vanished without a trace along with the Sessho-seki.

Taki opened his mouth, then silently looked down at the hilt of the sword in his hand.

She still has many unanswered questions.

Who was the person who brought the demon sword to the Third Muramasa? Was the Fourth Muramasa's subsequent rampage also related to him?

The Sesshōseki is the legendary Nine-Tailed Tamamo-no-Mae, who should be the killing aspect of the demon sword. But since Nichiren can take the Sesshōseki and destroy the demon sword after being awakened, why doesn't Nichiren appear in the game?

Boom boom——

Before she could think it through, with the disappearance of the demon sword, the dilapidated castle tower could no longer hold on and became shaky, with building materials constantly turning into pools of blood and falling from the top.

"Masaru, can you escape by yourself?" Nobita asked quickly.

"Okay, you can go first, don't worry about me." With the protective spirit jade on her body, and this magical sword hilt that seems to possess special power, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

"Okay! If you have time, you can check out the player lobby. I'll be going now."

Nobita breathed a sigh of relief, used the save point, and disappeared in wisps of light.

Takii rallied her spirits, dodging the collapsing blood and sliding down the wreckage, eventually landing safely on the ground.

The blood mist had completely dissipated, and helicopters approached again, dropping rappells as troops were redeployed.

The castle tower completely collapsed and was then slowly swallowed up by the black and red swamp on the ground, disappearing from sight.

In just a few seconds, even the dark red swamp that had swallowed up the castle tower returned to its original state, leaving no trace.

"Ms. Muramasa!"

The newly arrived unit was led by Leon.

"We saw the demonic mist appear, but it destroyed all our equipment that came near. It didn't harm you, did it?"

Leon asked tentatively.

Takii shook his head: "Yaowu only asked for some payment for his services."

This remark gave Leon some food for thought.

At least in his mind, the possibility of cooperating with the demonic mist had greatly increased.

However, considering their image, if they were to actually choose to cooperate with the Demon Mist, they couldn't do it openly.

"Ms. Muramasa, has that cursed sword been destroyed?"

Leon glanced at the mechanical wreckage scattered around him. The official threat level of the Demon Blade had been raised to the highest level, one level higher than the Vermilion Skeleton, and on the same level as the mysterious white-masked figure—a being capable of single-handedly destroying a nation.

It was so serious that even America was hesitant to investigate it.

However, not daring to do something doesn't mean not daring to do it.

“It has been destroyed, and only this blade remains, but I cannot give it to you.”

"Of course, this belongs to Miss Muramasa and is the only suitable custodian of her property. We have always respected the sanctity of personal property."

Leon is lying through his teeth.

They have always respected only two kinds of personal property as sacred and inviolable: those they despise and those they cannot afford to offend.

Thank you to "Naked Earthworm" for the 500-coin donation.

Chapter 165: Rebuilding the Underworld

[Platinum Reward - Yellow Springs Pavilion (Damaged) has been sent to the Soul Gathering Umbrella space. Please check your account.]

This is the first delayed reward that Shin Higashiyama has encountered.

It is still damaged.

He looked out the window, somewhat speechless. Although he could barely see what was happening on the battlefield from his position, and there hadn't even been any fire since the bombing stopped.

However, he could also tell from the perspectives of other players that the Demon Blade had already been dealt with.

He suspected that the so-called damaged Yomi-no-kaku was the castle tower that was almost completely destroyed in the end.

When it was swallowed by the sea of ​​black and red blood, the building was basically reduced to ruins.

Is it really appropriate to use this directly as a platinum reward?

All the trophies in the game "Demon Blade" are unlocked when you achieve the perfect ending with Muramasa Taki.

The bronze reward is a ninja set that includes clothing that increases agility and stealth abilities, as well as various ninja weapons.

The silver reward is a basic skill of the Iga-style ninjutsu called "Five Paths to Self-Awakening Technique".

Both rewards are rather useless, but that's only true for him right now.

If these two rewards were placed in the store or used as player rewards, they would be quite attractive to other players.

Some players simply lack this ability.

The gold reward was the Killing Stone, which arrived without delay. However, since the large stone needed to absorb Yin energy and souls, he put it into the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

He wouldn't be surprised if a nine-tailed fox suddenly appeared out of this thing.

If things continue like this, the Soul-Gathering Umbrella space will probably turn into a zoo.

"Brother! Brother! It's huge! Suddenly a huge building appeared out of there!"

Ueda Yasushi hurriedly led Higan out and pointed at the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

"Fizz!"

Higan nodded beside him, and Ueda's hand followed suit, pointing at the umbrella.

"Yes, don't worry, I'll go with you."

To see what special function the Yellow Springs Pavilion had, Shinya Higashiyama floated out of his spirit body and followed them into the Soul-Gathering Umbrella.

Inside the umbrella.

A hazy red mist lingered, and the crimson river was slightly turbulent. On both sides of the river, a continuous expanse of spider lilies grew. At what seemed to be the end of the river, a dilapidated castle tower stood, with a plaque hanging on it.

[Pavilion of the Underworld]

This place is starting to feel more and more like the underworld.