Genji Killer (Second Half)

A bridge.

A bridge, hm?

How strange. It has been quite some time since I began staring at this bridge Kagekiyo does not recognize.

I have tarried long enough.

Come, Kagekiyo/Yoshitsune. Come, great tsuchigumo Kugamimi-no-Mikasa.

You have been waiting patiently. Now, we resume our extermination.

...Halt.

No ordinary person would be carrying a sword across a bridge at this hour of the night.

...I cannot let you pass.

If you wish to get by me...you will need to hand over your sword first!

... ...

...What an odd thing to say to me. What do you think you're doing, Genji?

I am Kagekiyo. Nothing you have to say will make any difference.

That so?

I was goin' for my best Benkei impression, but I don't know how well I did. What do you think, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune?

Heh. Heh.

I am Kagekiyo, bringer of death to all Genji.

You know nothing. Especially of Benkei.

Now that you have thrown your lot in with the Genji, your life is forfeit.

I commend your bravery, foolish though it may be, for even breathing in my presence, but it won't be long now before you lose the strength in your limbs, and then your life.

We'll see about that.

Still, you're right about one thing, honored descendant. I don't know much of anything.

I wanna ask, UshiwakamaruNo, Overseer Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, warrior from the future we created.

See, I heard all about you on the way here from the mountain.

I heard about how you lived your life...and about how you lost it.

People end up tellin' your story for years after your death.

"Overseer Yoshitsune" is like one and the same as sayin' "an underdog."

I know I'd never forget about a warrior who accomplished incredible feats only to meet with a cruel and tragic end.

The more I heard about you, the more things added up.

You were someone real special. That much is damn certain.

But...

There was also somethin' about your story that just didn't make sense to me!

That's why I wanted to ask you, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, about it directly!

So, tell me, Yoshitsune. Ushiwaka. Our descendant from tomorrow who already died.

Why did you

Silence!!!

I am Kagekiyo. My corpse's True Name is of no significance!

Death comes. Great tsuchigumo Kugamimi-no-Mikasa!

It seems Kagekiyo is no longer willing to talk, Lord Kintoki! Master and I will back you up as best we can!

Hmm. I was wondering what this Genji poison stuff would be like...

Ahaaa, I see. So that's how it works. All right, brat and Boss, let's get started!

？！

？！

Hell yeah! Genji, advance! Let's see what you've got, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune!

Guuuh! My head's pounding! I'm all dizzy!

Speed, strength... They got it all and then some! As if dealin' with one alone wasn't hard enough...

If we're fightin' both at the same time like that, we'll be dead in no time! Right, Shuten!?

Ahahahahahaha! This is so much fun! You're spry for such an old spider, aren't you!

Heeere spider, spider, this way. Just follow...

...the sound...

...of clapping...

A demonic wine tsunami! Well done!

I never knew Shuten-Douji was so skilled at warfare! Not only is she leading the tsuchigumo away from Lord Kintoki...

...she's also neutralizing the Genji poison in the air by sending out wave after wave of demonic wine!

(Demonic wine...)

(I had no idea Shuten-Douji used alcohol as a source of power when she was still alive, even if it does differ from her Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm.)

(It must be a secret technique of hers the legends never mentioned. Perhaps she learned it in China, since so little is known about her time there?)

Oh my, somebody's angry. Maybe it's time you took a little break.

Don't you think, grandpa?

I've heard about you, you know. Great tsuchigumo Kugamimi-no-Mikasa, the big old monster that used to live on Mt. Ooe...

Of course, I also heard you were killed a long, looong time before we got there.

Goodness, these Heroic Spirit things are so strange. Why, it's like the dead have come back to life.

But, you see...

That mountain is aaall mine now. So it's time you went back to the hell you came from.

Oooh, was it something I said? You're so scary all of a sudden.

I should warn you... When I get scared, I start tearing things apart. Hope you don't mind.

...!

Shuten tore the massive enemy to pieces! Its magical energy signal is fading rapidly!

Master!

？！

That takes care of the third general god! Though I must say, I am still in awe of your technique, Shuten-Douji.

It was so fast, even my sensor couldn't follow along, but it looked like you unleashed an ultra high-speed attack in tandem with a huge wave from your demonic wine barrage.

Did I? I'm not entirely sure what I did, either. I just felt like tearing it to shreds.

Though there are a few things I am sure of now.

Hey, brat! I figured out the trick behind that Genji poison!

That old tsuchigumo was giving off a miasma mixed in with some kind of spell. Very strange.

Anyway, you Genji warriors won't have to worry about getting paralyzed just from breathing anymore.

Go nuts, brat.

Awesome! Thanks!

Now I can finally fight you without anything gettin' in the way, honored descendant! NoUshiwakamaru!

If you wish to cross this bridge...you will need to cross blades with me first!

I am the depraved monk sworn to collect a thousand swords!

My name...is Musashibou Benkei!

!

You still persist with this game?

I cannot let you cross Gojou bridge.

Stop it.

I see you carry a most excellent blade indeed!

Stop it.

Very well then! I, Benkei, have decided yours shall be my thousandth blade! Come, child, draw your sword!

Stop it, Benkei!

Their rapid magical energy increase has resulted in a Spirit Origin Ascension! Be careful, everyone!

I... I...!

I am...Yoshitsune...! I am...Kagekiyo... No, no, no... No!

I am Overseer Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune!

This corpse once belonged to Shana-ohto Ushiwaka!

Do not dare pretend to be Benkei! What you know of him!?

I ...!

I fought, and fought, and fought, and fought...

And after a lifetime of fighting, my reward was fire and blades!

My brother was oblivious to my true feelings! He ignored every word I spoke to him.

I will never forget how he wronged me. Even if my soul shatters into a thousand pieces, I will never forget this grudge I bear.

My feelings were betrayedthe path I walked abruptly ended! No light awaits me where I go now... Any future I once had is gone now!

Curse you...

Curse you, Yoritomo... Curse you, Japan...

Curse you, Genjiii! How dare a lowly grunt like you pretend to be Benkei!?

Now feel my wrath!

Bring it!

I've been waitin' to see what you've got! I don't have anythin' to say to this Kagekiyo person!

You're the only one I wanna talk to, Yoshitsune!

Man, you're strong!

But I'm not done yet! I'm still standin', honored descendant!

Mmm, all that blood you're losing looks reeeally delicious. Does this mean you're done pretending to be Benkei?

Anyway...

You sure got carried away, didn't you?

Fufu, you do realize that samurai there's filled with Genji poison from head to toe, right, brat?

You might not have to worry about the air you breathe now that Kugamimi-no-Mikasa's gone...

But if you keep letting the samurai poke holes in you like that...

...you won't live much longer, you know.

I'm not gonna die. Besides, I'm Benkei now.

And Benkei never stopped standin', even after takin' a hundred arrows!

So yeah, I ain't gonna die, Shuten.

Know why? 'Cause I still haven't gotten to ask a single question.

Hey, honored descendant! Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune!

What could you have to say to me, Genji?

No, wait. That's not right. I have nothing to say to you, Genji.

Now...offer up your head.

I want is my brother's head. That is all I, Yoshitsune, truly want. Only Yoritomo's head.

But if I cannot have his head, you will offer yours in its place.

In your veins flows the blood Yoritomo will one day inherit.

So offer your head to me.

If you refuse...then I'll kill you myself.

I will annihilate every last one of the Seiwa Genji's ancestors.

？！

？！

...What?

Okay, okay, don't get too close now.

Those spells you're casting on Kintoki are great and all...

...but if you get too close to them, it'll be your head that goes rolling.

My head?

My head, huh.

...

Hey, descendant! No, Overseer Yoshitsune! You pick up that head fixation from the warriors out east!?

Fine then! I, Equerry Sakata Kintoki, will risk my own head to ask you this!

Oho.

Aha, that got your attention. You really do want my head pretty bad, don't you?

All right, if you beat me, my head's yours to cut off. But first, you're gonna answer my question.

'Cause there's somethin' I gotta ask you, no matter what.

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune. Ushiwakamaru.

Our descendant from tomorrow who already died. Let me ask you this one more time.

Why did you fight?

...?

Why were you able to kill? Why were you able to steal?

It couldn't just have been about survival. Not for you, anyway.

No, you fought, and fought, and fought, right up till you met a tragic end. You fought so hard you became a hero a thousand years from now in Fujimaru's world.

You must've had a reason for that.

What drove a hero like you to fight so hard?

Hero...?

That's right. You were a hero.

That's why I gotta ask...

What drove you to kill a hundred, hell, a thousand enemy soldiers? What was it all ultimately for?

You became a hero on the battlefield. So I just gotta know.

Why did you fight?

... ...

...

...Why? You want to know why?

You say...I became a hero?

(Master, may I say something?)

(Something about Saikyou Taira-no-Kagekiyo has changed over the course of this questioning.)

(They have become something entirely different from hatred personified.)

(I think their true personality has surfaced, even if only temporarily.)

(And it has done so despite the curse embedded in their corpse...)

(We saw the same thing with Lord Tawara Touta and Lady Suzuka Gozen, as well as during the Shimousa incident!)

(Though they may now be corpses tormented by a curse...)

(...they still retain a fragment of their pride as Heroic Spirits, as heroes who made their mark on human history!)

I can't believe you, Sakata Kintoki.

You possess strength well beyond ordinary people...

...yet you still remain resolutely on their side.

And despite all that, you still don't know why I fought? Hehe.

You truly are something else, Kintarou of Mt. Ashigara.

...That's the second time somebody's called me that.

Why do I fight? A ridiculous question.

I fight for the same reason anyone fights.

We fight with all our heart and soul to make the ideals we hold dear a reality.

That is what defines us as Genji warriors.

!

Ideals, huh? So that's your answer?

Got it!

So, a battle between warriors is a battle between ideals!

In that case, you ain't got nearly enough to beat me as you are now!

Heh. Nonsense!

You who possess power. You who thirst, yearn, and struggle to make your wishes reality.

If your desires are true, then join battle and kill as you must.

If you dream of seeing what lies beyond tomorrow, use the power you possess to make your way through me!

You better believe I will! If I can't, my head's all yours!

This is the bloodstained battlefield of Limbo, where the losing Heroic Spirit's soul shall be consumed upon defeat! The Imperial Deathmatch Stage!

My corpse's Cursed Name is Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune! My soul's Cursed Name is Saikyou Taira-no-Kagekiyo!

My rage and hatred will cut you down in your tracks!

Hear me, O frightful gods, and laugh! Hear me, O glittering sun, and shine!

Now come, and show me the extent of your power! Show me what you will do to see your tomorrow!

All right, my descendant, you asked for it.

Hraaaaaaaaah!

Hah!

Heh.

(It is hard to believe, but...)

(Even as they're both locked in a furious battle to the death, neither giving an inch...)

(They almost seem to be...)

(...enjoying themselves...)

？！

You're right. They do look like they're having fun.

Fufu, I thought it was just the other day, but it looks like it's been longer than I thought.

It's almost like Baby Blues is back to his old bratty self.

Yeah, this is pretty much exactly...

...what he was like back then.

He'd throw himself at his opponents with all his might, never considering that his own life would end one day.

Hrah!

When he gets like this, I don't think there's any chance he'd stop while he's still breathing.

...!

(There!)

(It may not be by much, but Lord Kintoki still managed to overpower Kagekiyo! This is our chance, Master!)

I'm not stoppin' here!

Boss!

？！

？！

？！

This ends now!

Releasing Noble Phantasm. Fleeting World, Fleeting Might!

Hraaaaaah!

...Heh.

...Hehe.

Hehe, hehehehe. I don't know if I've ever seen such a reckless, headstrong warrior before.

Well fought, honored ancestor. However...

Though I did make use of Kugamimi-no-Mikasa's miasma to spread it, the Genji poison always came from me. I was its source.

I am an Avenger. My sole purpose is to bring death to all Genji.

Every strike of my blade, every exhalation of my breath... Even my very gaze is meant for killing Genji.

You must have known that after crossing blades with me, and yet...

...you never attempted to change the way you fight.

Even I can't help but be surprised at that.

I see now how selfless you have been...how fiercely you devoted yourself to our battle.

I could expect no less from one of the original pillars of our Genji clan. Well done. Truly.

So...

I do not know how much meaning my words will hold for you, but...

...Kintoki. Lord Sakata Kintoki, of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings.

If, by chance...

...you should survive this deathmatch...

...then continue on your current path.

Indeed, you have been walking your own path for some time...

...and now, you are beginning not to walk, but to run.

Even if you must tear through a corpse consumed by vengeance, as you have done here...

...all you need do is keep running with all your heart and soul, until you have reached the end.

Know that you are on the right path, and keep moving forward.

Do that...and I have no doubt you will accomplish many things.

I have no doubt you will triumph over many hardships.

In fact, for what little it may be worth...I would go so far as to guarantee it.

...There. I've said what I had to say. All I ask now is that you do not forget it!

... (Gasp!)

Hm? Hmm? What the...?

The last thing I remember, I'd just fired off a big blast of lightning...

And I thought for sure I was done for...

Huh?

Oh. Hey, Boss.

...Gotcha.

？！

Indeed, I have confirmed that both their Spirit Origin and Spirit Core have disappeared.

Though of course, thanks to Lord Seimei's talisman, we should not have to worry about Saikyou Taira-no-Kagekiyo's soul being absorbed by the Naraka Mandala.

That's great. Couldn't have hoped for more.

So, uh, by the way.

Now that that Genji poison's made its way through my system, I don't expect I'll be around much longer, so...

...I'm sorry.

I'd recite a poem before I go, but I never was much good at book learnin'.

Would you mind recitin' one in my stead, Fujimaru?

？！

C'mon, d-don't be like that!

That ain't golden at all!

We all fought Yoshitsune together, with every bit of strength we had, didn't we!?

So can't you at least send me off with

？！

But

Idiot.

You're not going to die.

Eh?

It's true. Your vital signs are all stable, Lord Kintoki.

You have lost a great deal of blood, and you did have some fractures and ruptured organs...

...but those injuries seem to have already healed on their own. Perhaps it is because you are the Child of Sekiryu.

Hm?

So, I'm not gonna die?

？！

？！

... ...

Of course you're not. You didn't even notice what was happening, did you?

All that samurai's animosity for the Genji...

...disappeared while you two were talking things out.

As for the blood you lost, you'll get it all back once you've had a decent meal, no?

... ...

...Gotcha. So their grudge was already gone, huh. That's

...On second thought, never mind.

All right, Boss! Shuten! Danzo! Let's head back to the Genji house!

We've still got four general gods left, so we gotta stay on our guard!