Ryoma and his associates found themselves on the road once more. Broken katana in hand, the samurai had mainly sulked from the time they left the temple. Yuki tried to lighten the mood along their journey to little avail. Himiko took Ryoma by the hand and urged him to smile to which he complied yet this ultimately did little to alleviate his dour mood. In his mind, nothing could distract him from reliving his brief duel with that damned monk.

“Curse that Tetsuo.” Ryoma muttered under his breath though loudly enough so that his companions could hear his disgruntled statement. Himiko sighed and said, “Listen, Ryoma, you need to let the fight between you two go.” Her words seemingly fell on deaf ears, yet she persisted. She then said, “Look at the positive aspect of the outcome; none of us were hurt.”

“Yeah,” Yuki chimed in, “Tetsuo wasn’t keen on harming anyone, at least. He even let me off the hook!” Himiko smiled at the oni’s interjection and said, “Yuki’s right. You walked away with your life, Ryoma. Let us celebrate that in spite of the outcome.” Ryoma seemed to ignore that sentiment as well, so Himiko grabbed the samurai by the arm and abruptly yelled, “Ryoma, please listen to us!”

Ryoma finally turned his attention to Himiko, startled by the sudden outburst, and his cheeks quickly flushed with a red tinge. He turned away from her just as suddenly and said, “I’m sorry, Himiko. And you, too, Yuki. I shouldn’t simply pout about the encounter.” He raised the ruined katana and continued, “Yet, there’s no denying my soul has shattered in the same fashion as my blade.” His frown intensified.

“And that’s why we’re headed in the direction Tetsuo pointed us in.” Himiko said. Ryoma knew that she was right and reflected on the events following the battle. Tetsuo, along with offering the trio tea, had also disclosed some quite pertinent information.

“West of this temple,” Tetsuo had said, “you’ll find a well-renowned blacksmith if you travel for roughly a day. I can vouch for his capabilities, of course. I’m sure he’ll be able to reforge that katana of yours. It’ll surely be worthy of the emperor’s lapdog.” Then he chuckled to himself, unable to contain his own mirth. Ryoma, though still bearing some ire for the monk, thanked him for the information. He even accepted a cup of tea which he found to be exceptional in taste.

Back in the present, the trio continued down their path until noticing smoke on the horizon. “Do you think that’s the forge billowing?” Yuki asked. Ryoma squinted to examine the black cloud further and said, “I don’t believe so. We haven’t traveled far enough as per Tetsuo’s direction to have arrived at the blacksmith’s locale. Plus, I highly doubt a forge would produce a smog so thick. This seems to be a different source entirely.”

Venturing further over the apex of a nearby hill, a grisly sight met the troop; the smoke, as it turned out, originated from a village. Or rather, the cinders of a nearly decimated village. Very few structures still stood, the rest collapsed upon themselves in ash. “By the gods!” Himiko exclaimed. Yuki gulped and said, “This is truly a terrible occurrence. Do you believe this is the work of an oni?”

Ryoma quickly said, “Whatever the case, there’s a possibility of survivors. If that’s true, then we need to assist them immediately!” With that declaration, the samurai dashed forward, down the hill and toward the smoldering village. Himiko and Yuki looked to one another, nodded in unison, and rushed together to try and catch their warrior companion.

Before long, Ryoma reached the vicinity of the village and lamented its sorry state. “Why couldn’t I have arrived earlier?” He asked to no one in particular. Himiko and Yuki arrived shortly thereafter. The shrine maiden gasped and said, “It’s even worse than we thought.” Of roughly two dozen buildings, three homes were still standing; two run-of-the-mill cottages and what looked to be the headman’s estate.

Laughter erupted from one of the cottages. It wasn’t a common laugh but rather a demented sort of horrid howl. “What could that be?” Yuki asked, cowering behind Himiko. Then, the cottage roof burst into flames and a villager came scrambling out of the front. She saw the trio standing there, but before she could cry for help, a naginata – a type of spear – flew through the opening behind her and skewered her in the back.

Ryoma and crew gasped together as the villager crumpled to the ground and the heinous laughter continued. Next out of the home walked an incredibly tall and lean figure clad in pitch-black armor and helmet adorned with three horns. He howled once more into the darkened sky.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Who are you?” Ryoma asked. “Are you responsible for this calamity?” The armored man snickered and exclaimed, “Why, of course, it was me! Who else would be so mercilessly cruel?” Ryoma’s mouth dropped, stunned by the chilling honesty. Nevertheless, the stranger continued, “And to answer your first question, call me Koichi Hanamura. Or, if you’d prefer, you could address me as Koichi the Wild One.” He roared in laughter once again.

“More like crazy Koichi.” Himiko said bluntly. Koichi laughed again and said, “Maybe so. I like your moxie, young lady.” Then, he raised his hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. A whinny came back in response from beyond the village. Soon thereafter, a behemoth of a horse galloped into view. Koichi went to the body of the slain villager, retrieved his naginata, and started making his way toward the animal.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Ryoma yelled. Koichi glanced over his shoulder and, in retort, asked, “Isn’t it obvious? I’ve had my fun here. She was the last member of the village. Now, it’s time to move on to my next victims.” Himiko grimaced at such a malicious answer and blurted out, “Hold on a moment. If you solely seek bloodshed, why not slaughter us as well?”

Koichi, this time, turned fully around and pointed at Himiko. “Behind you.” He said. “I can spot a demon in your midst. If you’re traveling with one of the oni overtaking our land, then surely you can appreciate the art of sewing chaos.” He smiled and added, “That sense of comradery has humored me, so I’ll allow you to live.”

Ryoma couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The audacity of Koichi to ‘allow them to live’ was bad enough, but the fact that he intended to commit more acts of violence was beyond the pale. However, as he clutched his broken katana, the samurai realized that he had no method of combating such wicked ideology. Unfortunately, he was powerless to stop the monster.

Himiko, however, didn’t hesitate to raise her gohei in opposition to the horned warrior. She said, “I cannot abide that, Koichi. If you intend to continue down this dark path, then I shall personally purge you from this world!” Ryoma raised his hand to grab her, but she eluded his grasp and raced on toward her target. Yuki gulped, a sentiment Ryoma very much reciprocated.

Koichi smiled and said, “Very well, then. Die, fearless maiden!” He swung his naginata through the air and clashed with Himiko’s gohei. Despite the relative sturdiness of her weapon, the maiden herself lacked the strength to withstand the blow. She was flung through the air, but luckily, her closeness to Koichi’s arm meant that she avoided the blade.

Looming over her, Koichi raised the naginata into the air and said, “You won’t survive the second attack, young lady.” Himiko closed her eyes to wait for the inevitable. Koichi grinned widely and chopped down. Then, a thick sheet of ice rushed forth between the two and caught the weapon, stopping it dead in its tracks.

“What on earth?” Koichi asked. He looked over and saw Yuki with his hands on the ground and connected to the ice. “I see.” Koichi said. “You can control an element, kappa. How impressive!” Yuki detached from the sheet and raced over to Himiko. Koichi let go of the naginata and said, “However, you can’t presume to stop my might.” Then, he lifted his leg as high as the armor would allot, and threw an axe kick down with full force, shattering the sheet of ice separating the three.

“Oh, no.” Yuki said. He fell backward from fear, water sloshing from his head. Himiko also shirked back, crawling in reverse away from Koichi. The monster spat at them and said, “This was fun albeit fleeting. I’m afraid, though, that it’s time for you to die.” All the duo on the ground could do was cower in fear for their very lives.

“Stop!” Ryoma yelled. Koichi looked over to the samurai, the widest grin upon his countenance, and asked, “Are you volunteering to die first?” Then he chuckled and continued, “I suppose I could get a good scream from the maiden if I were to murder you first. I bet I could even get her to piss herself from fear whilst watching, knowing she’s next!”

Ryoma held up his broken katana which elicited uproarious laughter from Koichi. “You intend to fight me with that?!” The monster asked. He bent over, unable to contain himself as Ryoma looked down in a bout of faltering confidence. He desperately desired to protect his friends yet lacked the means to do so. He knew that to challenge Koichi now was to accept death.

And yet, Ryoma moved forward. Koichi looked over from his laughing fit and noticed the slow approach of the samurai. His mirth subsided and was replaced with befuddlement. “You’re serious.” He muttered as Ryoma continued stepping toward him. “Alright, then,” Koichi said, “I’ll kill you if that’s what you want.” He pointed his naginata toward Ryoma’s worthless weapon and prepared to cleave his opponent. Ryoma yelled and rushed forward with as much gusto as his could muster.

Then, a pair of nunchakus whirred past Ryoma’s head and one end planted itself firmly into Koichi’s helmet, directly into the temple left of the center horn. Koichi grunted and fell backward. The samurai gasped and looked behind himself. There stood Tetsuo. The monk smiled and said, “I figured you could use some help, samurai.”