The Cursed Game

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"It's been three days now. Has there been any word from Futakuchi-onna?" The Oni Daimao asks a messenger.

"No my Lord."

"Sigh, I must consider her lost along with Kuchisake-onna but this changes nothing. The Tokugawa's reckoning has come! Assemble the army!" He turns to a black cat with red eyes and two tails. "Nekomata!"

The Nekomata runs to a nearby graveyard and then its red eyes start glowing. A second later the ground shakes and corpses begin to rise up, each having glowing red eyes.

The Nekomata shapeshifts into a woman with red eyes. "We await your command!"

"To Edo!"

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Three days had passed and I was now at full strength. This was it, the final level. I go to my menu. I had my Muramasa katana, Tanto and Yumi with regular, fire and armor piecing clover arrows, 25 rounds. My only hope is collecting more arrows from the battlefield. I also have three herbs and two antivenoms.

Kentaro had his Masamune katana, Wakizashi and Tanegashima along with three herbs and two antivenoms. We just had to get through this last Level and then we'll be home free. If the level proved too difficult, we could exit the level and start again. We had time.

"I wish Hide, Akira and Daisuke were with us," he says.

I had a grim look on face. When this was over, I was going to need replacements for the Five Leaf Clover Team. I hope we'll be back in time for Esports.

We head out the inn; I wouldn't miss it. We reach the 8thLeveltoriigate and then like always for the last time, the red and black swirling portal appears and we both look at each other. "Do you think maybe....never mind," Kentaro says.

We both enter it.

A few minutes later we were both on horseback, in Tokugawa's army of 600,000. The Oni Daimao thought he could take Edo by surprise and overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate but it's thanks to Futakuchi-onna the double agent that we achieved surprise.

MISSION OBJECTIVE:Slay the Oni Daimao.

A wave of fire arrows went in first and then cannon fire. Afterwards the command was given and we charge down a hill into the battered enemy encampment.

Ninjas appear and the battle begins. Kentaro cuts two down. I cut down one and then I'm hit by a poisoned arrow. 95. I switch to my Yumi and fire an arrow and then a second one. The ninja goes down.

"Damn Kōga traitors!" A samurai commander screams.

94, 93, 92, 91, 90. I go to my menu and use an antivenom. I cut down another ninja and acquire another smoke bomb. More ninja appear and I throw the smoke bomb. The ninjas were stunned and I cut them down. The Ninjas of Iga show up and battle the Kōga.

"Go! Go! Go!" The commander barks.

Kentaro cuts down two more ninjas before following behind me.

We ride and then I get shot by a bullet and my health is reduced to 80, damn! Kentaro gets in front of me and blocks the second shot, charges and cuts down the two-enemy samurai. Two more appear and he takes them out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

More enemy ninja and samurai appear and we charge at them.

I switch to my Yumi and take down a ninja and samurai. Kentaro dismounts and switches to duel wielding. Two samurai archers appear and shoot at but I block and dodge. I dismount, do a roll and cut one down and kick the second one in the crotch before cutting him down.

An enemy samurai appears with a bomb which blows some ninjas and samurai away.

"Thunder Crash bombs!" The commander screams.

We see several samurai with bombs appear and I switch to fire arrows and fire which blows one away. I fire another which blow two of them away. I continue firing and once ten were blown away, more ninja appear. Kentaro goes to handle them while I handle the Thunder Crash Bombers. I switch to normal arrows as regular enemy samurai charge at me but when they get close I switch back to Muramasa. Another enemy archer appears but I dodge and take him down. I collect his arrows and was fully charged again. I use an herb which restores my health to 90 and then I use another. I was now at full health and I collect two herbs and antivenom that the dead enemies dropped.

After Kentaro defeats the last ninja more enemy samurai appear with rifles, fire arrows and Thunder Crash Bombs. "I got this!" Kentaro assures.Masamune unleashes Ice Slasher!All of the enemy samurai were frozen.

"Holy shit!" I exclaim.

"Like that?"

"Yeah, why couldn't Yuki give me anything!?"

"What do you think?"

I frown and we move on. We hear screaming and see our samuraiNamakabeing torn apart by a creature. It had the face of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger and a snake for a tail. "What the fuck is that!?"

"It's a Nue!" Kentaro switches to his Tanegashima and fires a well place shot in the eye. The Nue roars in pain and begins chasing after us.

Other samurai appear and fire at it. The roars and starts striking with its tail. I get behind it and fire a fire arrow. The turns towards me and I the fire arrow straight into its mouth which kills the snake.

Kentaro fires again and the Nue goes down. "Ha, right in the mouth!"

"Good, move on!" The commander barks.

"That wasn't too bad," I say.

"Surely that wasn't the only one," Kentaro replies.

8

As we continue storming though the enemy encampment, we see dead samurai being gnawed upon by what looks like people but then they turn to us with red glowing eyes. "Oh shit!" I fire an arrow straight into the forehead of one of them.

They charge at us and Kentaro decapitates one and proceeds to kick another. I don't know why I should be surprised but I am. I activateBerserk Modeand cut down many undead.

When the thirty seconds end, I quickly retreat back to friendly lines and switch to my Yumi again and let them have it.

Masamune unleashes Wind Slasher! 200 kills!The battle was going well, but that was a moment of confusion, the Oni Daimao was reorganizing his forces and was preparing to outflank us from all sides. If things went bad, we knew what we had to do.

Six undead surround me but I do a twirl which decapitates all of them.Excellent!

Masamune unleashes Wind Slasher! 1000 kills!

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"You won't stop me Tokugawa!" His white Oni mask changes to the color black and causes an eclipse.

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We continue hacking and slashing our way through the encampment but then we realize that the sun was gone, day had become night. We hear a high pitch ringing followed by "gachi gachi" and suddenly our commander is grabbed and devoured by a gigantic skeleton with green glowing eyes.

"It's a Gashadokuro, run!" Kentaro exclaims.

I switch to my Yumi and fire three fire arrows but they are ineffective. The Gashadokuro kicks and crushes many. We could do nothing to help our NPCNamaka.

Canon fire erupts but they too, like my arrows are ineffective. Kentaro turns to face it.Masamune unleashes Wind Slasher!The Gashadokuro is sent flying but lands on its bony feet and resumes crushing and devouring the Tokugawa samurai.

We were now being routed!

"Fall back! Fall back!" A Iga ninja barks.

More Nue appear and I fire an arrow into its eye and fire another one into its mouth leaving it dead.

We mount our horses and speed away. As we were making our way back behind friendly lines, the impact of a thrown horse rider throws me off my horse. My health is reduce to 70. I get up and unsheathe Muramasa for the undead that caught up to me. I cut down many and then a nude woman appears and transforms into a monstrous black cat. She charges at me and we clash.

As I swing, the cat catches my blade and rips it from my hands. I was stunned but then scratched back into reality. My health was 65. It pounces on me but before it could complete it's death pounce, I quickly went to my menu and select my Tanto. The cat Yōkai had landed on my Tanto. I toss it off and begin stabbing it to death. The undead that were approaching suddenly drop.

I breath a sigh of relief but then I scream in pain. I had been shot by a bullet and my health was 55. I am shot again and again. 35, shit! Another shot rings out but I run before it could find me. More enemy samurai close in so I run in the opposite direction but soon I run out of running room. The riflemen close in. I was about to go to the menu to quit the level but a flying creature with a red face flies in and cuts down several samurai. It was a Tengu, the Yōkai that Kentaro told me about.

More fly in and cut down the enemy samurai. "Come!" A Tengu says. I nod and climb on him.

8

We land on a peak where a large encampment was at. There were a great many Yōkai and I gulp. "Relax, we're not here for you, whore." I grit my teeth in anger but he ignores me and I grudgingly follow behind him. I was really getting sick and tired of following instead of leading!

We stop at a huge tent and came out of it was a strange old man with a gourd shaped head. "Greetings, whore, it's been awhile."

"We've met before?"

"I am Nuarihyon, The Supreme Commander."

"Oh you're the one I was in negotiations with on the 5thLevel. It was ruined by my friends; I am sorry and to be honest I barely remember any of it."

"Never mind it, we're here to stop the Oni Daimao but I need your help."

"You do?" Yes leave it all to me, Oda Yumiko, the leader of the Five Leaf Clover Team!

"I took possession of the Dragon King Scroll but cannot I summon the creature because the words are completely gone. See it's an empty scroll. You must have opened it and read it."

"Yes, I did and it said something about it being added to my Muramasa but I lost it on the battlefield," I answer sadly.

"Not to worry, it's right here." A Tengu brings it forward. "With the power of this sword you can summon the Dragon King."

"Alright I like the sound of that!" I take Muramasa.Would like to summon the Dragon King? Yes or No?I select yes. A white light suddenly appears and where it landed I couldn't see. A few minutes pass but I didn't see anything. "Well where is the Dragon King?"

"I do not know but we will have to go in as well. Launch the assault."

Your health is fully restored.I hop onboard the Tengu and we make our way back to the battlefield.

"Woo-hoo!" We land and begin cutting through the enemy samurai of the Oni Daimo. I see a bird with a humanlike face called Onmoraki breathing fire on the samurai. To my right was a Yōkai covered in black fur called Otoroshi tearing through the enemy ranks. To my left was female Yōkai called Ouni. At the rate we were going, we would meet up with the Tokugawa samurai. I just hope Kentaro is still alive.

I cut down two ninjas and start panting. This battle would go on until the Oni Daimo is found and slain.

"Gashadokuro remains unchallenged!" A talking dog called Inugami points.

I spot the Tengu I flew in with and run to him. "Give me a ride to Gashadokuro!"

He ignores me and cuts down a samurai. "Didn't you hear me!?"

"Sure I did but I didn't hear the magic word."

"Please give me a ride to Gashadokuro," I sigh.

"Sure thing, whore."

I hear laughter coming from the blue glowing skinned woman Ao Andon. "Alright, Aosagibi squads 1, 2 and 3, with me, we're going to fight Gashadokuro."

I look and see ghostly blue glowing birds lining up.

"Can we stop Gashadokuro?" Inugami asks.

"We have to, we're not trying hard enough! Let's go!" I say.

8

As we get close, Ao Andon gives the command that should have been mine. "Fire!" The Aosagibi shoot blue fire balls out their mouths. Gashadokuro becomes aware and swings at us. We take evasive maneuvers. A rain of fire arrows appear. One Aosagibi is hit with two arrows and crashes to its death. "Ame-onna, we need you!"

A few seconds later it starts raining. I smile because not only would there be no fire arrows but the Tanegashima wouldn't work either.

"Incoming!" There was a rain of ordinary arrows. The Tengu start blocking as many possible. "Ahhhh!" The Tengu carrying Inugami gets shot down. Damn it! The Aosagibi return fire and make their way towards Gashadokuro. "Hit him with everything you got!"

They fire their rounds but it only annoys the Gashadokuro. He swings his hand but we dodge but unfortunately not all were able to dodge in time. The rain suddenly stops.

"Ame-onna, what are you doing, we need the rain!"

"It's not me, something is interfering with my powers."

Ao Andon ponders this. "Could it be?"

"Look out!" I scream. A figure dressed in white flying through the sky unleashes a gust of wind which hits Ame-onna and her Tengu. The figure looks at me. He had a yellow Oni mask. He flies pass me.

"Shoot him down! Shoot him down!" Ao Andon barks. "You'll pay for Ame-onna's death!"

The Aosagibi fire at him but then his Oni mask turns red and the fireballs stop in midair and he fires them back. We dodge but in doing so, we didn't notice Gashadokuro hand until it was too late. The ones who survived including myself were once again accosted by arrows.

"We can't stop Gashadokuro with the Oni Daimao flying around."

"Wait, that was him!?"

"Could you not tell by the samurai armor and Oni mask?"

"SHIT!"

"We can't do anymore good from the air unfortunately. Pull back everyone, pull back."

"But what about Gashadokuro?"

"Our focus needs to be on the Oni Daimao."

I nod in agreement. We land in the middle of the battlefield and as we make our way, Ao Andon stops. "What's going on?"

"Appossha! I see you!"

"Ah Ao Andon, you blue bitch, come here to die?"

"Ha, you come here to die." She turns me. "Go on, this is my fight."

"Ok." I wasn't going to beg her to come with me and some shit. I only met her like a few minutes ago.

The two Tengu and I make our way and then suddenly I leap out of the way and the Tengu are stepped on by Gashadokuro. That was too close!

I am suddenly slashed from behind and then suffer another slash in the front. 80 I block the next attack. It was a red skinned Yōkai. It trips me and kicks Muramasa away. It was about to stab me but a gunshot rings out and it falls to ground. I look up and see Kentaro running towards me. "Yumiko, are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"I knew you were still alive but good thing I got here just in time because that Amanojaku nearly killed you."

"Ha, I think not. Still got quite a bit of health left."

We hear screaming and see more samuraiNakamabeing crushed by Gashadokuro. "Damn it!" He switches to his Masamune.Masamune unleashes Ice Slasher!The Gashadokuro's feet was stuck. "Alright just few more!" The Gashadokuro breaks the ice and some of the shards come our way but we dive.

We recover but the Gashadokuro turns towards us. "Shit!" We run but I trip over the Amanojaku corpse.

"Yumiko!"

I was about to go to the menu to escape but red fire hits the Gashadokuro, knocking it down. We hear a roar. "Alright, it's about time!"

"Yumiko?"

"The Dragon King is here!" I had a huge smile on my face; it was better than I could possibly imagine. "Gojira!!!!"

"Um that's not Gojira. That's a Honengyo. It's looks like Gojira but the Honengyo predates the 1954 Gojira by 100 years."

"So it's Gojira's ancestor or him before radiation?"

"It's just a coincidence."

"A spiritual predecessor would be more precise."

"Well whatever," he rolls his eyes.

"Get him oh great Dragon King Honengyo! Show this naysayer why your successor will become the King of the Monsters!"

"Oh for fuck's sake!"

I was watch as Honengyo tail whips Gashadokuro. He breaths red fire on him but Gashadokuro punches him. Gashadokuro stands up and kicks Honengyo. He punches him several times. Honengyo bites into the right boney arm but Gashadokuro shakes him off.

"Yumiko, we need to go, we got a battle to win here."

"In a minute, I wanna watch this. I wish I could record this."

Kentaro grabs my arm but I shove him off. "The Oni Daimao can wait! I sacrificed to get that scroll and I will not let it go to waste; I summoned him here so I will see this through to the end!!"

Honengyo flips Gashadokuro and unleashes more red fire. He starts stomping on the Gashadokuro's skull. He about to stomp again but the Gashadokuro grabs his foot and pushes him down. Gashadokuro gets up and approaches Honengyo who opens his eyes and unleashes more red fire but Gashadokuro dodges. Gashadokuro kicks Honengyo, picks him up and throws him.

Honengyo gets up but Gashadokuro punches him again. He headbutts Honengyo and throws him down again. He kicks him in the side. Honengyo tries to get up Gashadokuro slaps him and starts punching him in the face.

"He's getting pummeled out there!"

"Is Gashadokuro invincible?!" Kentaro questions.

"On no, he has a weakness," a samurai answers, coming to join us.

"How do we expose it?"

"I'll handle it, I use to be a monk." We watch as the samurai runs to the skeleton and produces two Shinto charms. The Gashadokuro starts wailing in agony. "Go for its ribs, the vengeful Yūrei are housed in there!" The samurai screams.

The Honengyo shoots its red fire which knocks the Gashadokuro down and he starts ripping the ribcage open with his teeth. A second later Honengyo breaths red fire inside Gashadokuro and it disintegrates.

"Alright yes!" I cheer. "Now let's go kill that son of a bitch!"

We make our way through the battlefield cutting down the enemy. I find more herbs restore my health to 100 The tide was turning in our favor.

There was an explosion and several Tokugawa samurai are sent flying. We see a man in white samurai armor wearing a red Oni mask. "Yeah that's him. That's the outfit he was wearing when I encountered him." Kentaro gives me a surprising look.

"Indeed the woman is right," the Oni Daimao says. "You Tokugawa samurai particular you Clovers have interfered in my affairs for the last time."

"Before we get started, I wish to know you're identity."

"My identity is of no consequence, but you should that I am a loyalist of the Toyotomi Clan, the rightful rulering clan of Japan. Just look at my insignia, it's not that different from the Toyotomi insignia."

We were both flabbergasted.

During Japan's Warring States Era, (Sengoku Period) there were three men who would become known as the "Three Unifiers" of Japan. The first was Oda Nobunaga but he was betrayed at Honnō-ji Temple and committedseppuku. The second was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, when he died due to either old age or illness, his son and heir Toyotomi Hideyori should have been the next ruler of Japan but he was a five-year-old boy so before Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, he appointed five regents to rule on behalf of his son and out of the five, Tokugawa Ieyasu was the strongest and seized power for himself. He effectively took control of Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara thus becoming the third and the final destruction of the Toyotomi Clan came at the Siege of Osaka.

"Yes, after the lost of Osaka, I went into hiding, swearing revenge. I learned sorcery and have returned!"

Name: Oni Daimao.

Health: 8000

Kentaro charges at him and two start clashing. I get behind and switch to fire arrows. I fire three of them. He screams in agony and his health is reduce is to 7,880. Kentaro gives him four good slashes. 7,760. He swings Masamune again but the Oni Daimao blocks the blade and kicks him. I fire three more arrows but my fire arrows stop midair and turns towards me. SHIT!

The arrows come at me and no matter where I went they followed. I stop in front an enemy and duck his sword swing and gets he shot by my arrows. I look and turn to see two Tangu go after the Oni Daimao. The Oni mask turns green and he shoots rocks at one and then his Oni mask turns blue and he blast the other with water.