Haru stood frozen for a few seconds, staring at the empty camp, his gaze sweeping the area one last time as if to make sure he hadn't missed anything. But there was no doubt about it—there was no one left… A heavy, oppressive sense of foreboding settled over him. Without wasting any more time, he clenched his teeth and ordered a retreat to Mount Hiei, convinced that there was still something left to save.
But when they arrived near the Enryaku-ji complex, all hope crumbled.
The sky was blackened, thick with smoke, and a rain of ash fell slowly upon the mountain, like the remnants of a world already consumed. Where peaceful pavilions and temples once stood, rooted in nature, there was now nothing but an ocean of flames. The fire had spread with uncontrollable violence, devouring every structure, every tree, every stone marked by time. The buildings collapsed one after another with dull cracks, sending showers of sparks into the air already saturated with heat.
This was not a simple fire; it was total destruction.
The great prayer halls, once open to the silence of the mountains, were now nothing more than silhouettes distorted by the flames. The stone paths vanished beneath the rubble, the lanterns burst under the heat, and even the forest itself seemed to scream as it burned. Nothing had been spared. Nothing had been left behind.
Haru stood motionless, unable to look away.
The most terrifying thing was not the fire, but rather the silence. No screams, no cries for help, no visible flight. As if everything had been swept away in an instant, leaving those who were there no chance at all.
A heavy, unbearable stench then filled the air, a mixture of burning wood and something far darker. Something that left no room for doubt.
This scene was a massacre. And behind it, a chilling realization gradually took hold in Haru's mind.
I hadn't simply gained the upper hand; I had chosen to crush all opposition, without restraint.
I stood motionless before the flames, watching their advance with an almost unreal calm. The crackling of the fire filled the air, drowning out everything else, as if this chaos had already been accepted by the world itself. Deep down, nothing about this scene truly surprised me.
And just as I expected… Haru was not long in coming.
I sensed his presence even before I saw him, then his voice cut through the ash-laden air.
"What have you done…?"
I slowly turned my head toward him. His gaze was filled with anger, but also with confusion.
"You just killed innocent people," he snapped, his jaw clenched.
I stared at him for a few seconds without answering, letting the silence hang heavy between us, then replied calmly:
"No."
A single word.
Cold.
"You're wrong."
He frowned, ready to retort, but I continued before he had the chance.
"It was a mission."
His eyes wavered slightly.
"I received clear instructions," I continued. "And those monks… "
I glanced toward the ruins still ablaze.
"Those you trusted… were going to betray us eventually."
The fire continued to roar around us.
"I simply acted accordingly."
I thought that would be enough, that this explanation would end the argument. But as I watched Haru, I understood immediately.
It hadn't worked.
"You're lying."
His words came out without hesitation. A brief silence fell, heavier than any before.
Then he added, more slowly:
"Someone from my group… spoke to you, didn't they?"
His gaze hardened.
"Who told you the truth? "
I didn't look away.
Faced with his question, I paused for a second, just long enough to let doubt set in… then I answered, without trying to sugarcoat anything.
"It wasn't a member of your group."
I raised my hand slightly, pointing behind him.
"It's him."
Haru instinctively turned his head.
Shun.
The boy stood there, motionless, his gaze fixed, as if he had already accepted the weight of what he had just done. There was neither pride nor visible regret on his face. Just a kind of silent determination.
Haru was speechless for a moment.
The surprise was obvious.
Perhaps even a form of denial.
"Him…?"
His voice had cracked without him realizing it.
I continued calmly:
"Yes. He's the one who came up with this idea. "
I glanced at the flames that continued to ravage the complex.
Haru lowered his eyes slightly, as if something inside him had just given way. Then he slowly raised his head toward me, his gaze heavy with a newfound weariness, quite different from the anger he had displayed before.
"I see…"
A sigh escaped him.
"You must be proud."
His tone wasn't aggressive.
He was… drained.
"Your system works a charm."
He paused, briefly observing Shun before turning back to me.
"Even a child is willing to reject peace to prove his worth. "
I let a brief silence settle after his words, my gaze still fixed on the flames that continued to consume what remained of Mount Hiei. Then I turned to Haru, my expression unchanged.
"You're wrong," I replied calmly.
He didn't look away.
"Shun really did receive a quest," I continued. "Enryaku-ji Temple was going to attack us eventually. It wasn't a possibility… it was a certainty."
I paused, letting my words sink in.
"If we hadn't done anything… we would be the ones who died. "
The crackling of the fire accompanied the end of my sentence.
Haru clenched his teeth slightly, but didn't back down.
"You could have subdued them," he retorted. "Forced them to submit to you."
I let out a soft sigh.
"And leave room for betrayal? No."
My gaze hardened imperceptibly.
"As long as they existed, the risk existed."
A silence hung between us, heavier than any before. Then I continued, in a colder tone:
"Now that Mount Hiei is no more, there is no refuge."
I swept my gaze over the ruins.
"Not for my clan. Not for the others."
The realization was brutal.
Irrevocable.
"Everyone is exposed to war."
Haru stood motionless for a few seconds, as if still searching for a flaw in what I had just said. Then he looked up at me, and this time, there was no doubt in his gaze.
Only certainty.
"You've been lying from the start. You never wanted to resolve this mystery peacefully."
The fire continued to burn behind us.
And for the first time, I couldn't think of a reply right away.
[ Your vulnerability to danger has increased!
You are feared by the other clans. ]
As silence settled in after Haru's words, a familiar presence broke the tension. Saé approached me, her gaze filled with a concern she no longer even tried to hide. She watched the flames for a moment, then turned back to me, as if she were still trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Are you sure about what you're doing?" she finally asked.
Her question was simple, but it carried the full weight of what had just happened. And deep down, she was right to doubt me. From the outside, it looked as though I was drifting further and further away from my original goal.
I remained calm.
"I'm still looking for a way to solve this riddle," I replied.
She furrowed her brow slightly.
"And so far, I haven't killed anyone."
Her eyes widened slightly, unable to hide her surprise.
"How is that possible?"
I turned my head slightly toward her, then toward the flames in the distance.
"Because this riddle doesn't concern everyone," I explained. "It's limited to three clans. Ishikawa's. The Hōjō clan. And ours."
I paused, letting the reasoning sink in.
"Everything else is just variables. Elements put in place to push us forward. To complete quests."
I crossed my arms.
"To pit us against each other."
Saé remained silent.
"Those monks… those groups…" I continued. "They're just NPCs. Their role is to guide us. To create situations. "
A brief silence.
"And later, to force us into war with each other."
I turned my attention back to her.
"But for now, that's not the case."
I took a shallow breath.
"I'm allied with Ishikawa."
Her expression changed.
"After the battle against Imagawa, we formed an alliance, and I'll need him… to solve this mystery."
At that very moment, I was still far from imagining what Ishikawa was going through on his end. While I was devising strategies, convinced I had the upper hand, he was facing a very different, far more brutal reality.
Ishikawa's clan was surrounded.
Facing them, Takeda Shingen's soldiers deployed with relentless precision, advancing like an unstoppable tide. Every movement was calculated, every position exploited. This was no conventional clash, but a constant, suffocating pressure that offered no respite.
"How much longer are we going to have to survive?" asked one of the members of his group, his voice marked by fatigue.
The silence that followed spoke volumes.
Ishikawa reopened the notification window they had received.
[ Main Quest: Takeda Shingen's Military Campaign
Role: Tokugawa Clan
✱Background:
Takeda Shingen, ruler of Kai Province, seeks to expand eastward to control the routes to central Japan.
Since your position is strategically vulnerable, Takeda Shingen has decided to put relentless pressure on your clan.
✱Main Objective:
Survive Takeda Shingen's army, which appears every day at 1:00 PM. This quest will end in 3 days
✱Failure:
Death. ]
Their eyes met.
One of them clenched his teeth before murmuring, as if to himself:
"We received this quest two days ago."
Another slowly raised his head.
"That means…"
The realization hit.
"Today is the last day."
Ishikawa looked for a moment at the weary faces surrounding him. Fear was there, visible, rooted in each of them. But behind that fear still lingered a fragile will to hold on.
"We've already lost many men," he finally declared, his voice deep, marked by the weight of the losses. "So for them and for all those who have fallen…"
He gripped his katana lightly.
"We must survive this final ordeal."
His words had the effect of an anchor. Not a promise. Not an illusion. Just a necessity.
Then, without further delay, the clash resumed.
Takeda Shingen's forces advanced once more, relentless, surging forward as they did every day at the fateful hour. Their discipline was overwhelming, their pressure constant. But this time, Ishikawa and his men did not retreat.
They charged.
The battle that ensued was of rare violence. Bodies collided, screams mingled with the clang of metal, and every clash seemed capable of deciding the fate of all. Nothing was under control. Nothing was certain.
And yet.
In the midst of this chaos, Ishikawa held his ground.
His movements were precise, his gaze focused. He advanced, struck, dodged, as if carried by something greater than himself. Around him, his men followed, keeping pace, refusing to yield despite their exhaustion.
The dance of the katanas gave the battle an almost unreal quality.
Each exchange became a deadly choreography. The blades traced arcs through the air, clashed in fleeting sparks, then vanished in fluid, unpredictable movements. It was a dance… but a dance where every misstep meant death.
The outcome remained uncertain.
Even though, little by little,
an advantage seemed to be emerging on Ishikawa's side.
The clanging of blades eventually faded, gradually replaced by a heavy, almost unreal silence. Takeda's last soldiers retreated, then vanished as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving behind a battlefield marked by exhaustion, sweat… and blood.
Then, without warning, a new window appeared before them.
[ Main Quest: Takeda Shingen's Military Campaign
✓ Completed ✓
✱ Objective Accomplished:
You survived Takeda Shingen's army for 3 days
✱ Consequence:
Survival ]
No one spoke immediately.
Victory had just been announced, but there was nothing triumphant about it.
Some fell to their knees, unable to hold on any longer, their bodies giving way under the accumulated exhaustion. Others let out a long sigh, as if their very breath had been suspended during those three days.
Ishikawa, however, remained standing.
His gaze was fixed, tense, lost somewhere between relief and a much heavier burden. Around him, the survivors were slowly coming to their senses, but those who were missing would not return.
He hadn't managed to save them all.
"Why do you look like that?" a voice behind him asked.
Ishikawa didn't turn around.
"If they died, it's because they were weak. "
The words came out without hesitation.
"And anyway, if it hadn't been today, they would have died some other time."
A tense silence followed.
Ishikawa narrowed his eyes slightly, then replied in a restrained voice:
"We should have done things differently."
The man frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Ishikawa took a slow breath.
"We should have let the weak hide."
A brief silence.
Then the reply came, bluntly.
"And let the strong die for them?"
Ishikawa stood motionless.
"I refuse to die for the weak," the other man concluded, without mincing words.
The wind swept slowly across the battlefield.
Just as some were catching their breath, convinced they had finally reached the end of their ordeal, a new cold glow appeared before their eyes. Like a cruel reminder that in this world… no victory was ever final.
A notification.
Again.
[ Main Quest: The Demon of Kai
Role: Tokugawa Clan
✱ Background:
Following the death of Takeda Shingen, his son Takeda Katsuyori has taken his place. More violent and cold-hearted, he seeks to weaken you by taking control of the strategic routes between Mikawa and Shinano.
✱ Main Objective:
Protect Nagashino Castle and survive Takeda Katsuyori's army until one of your clan members falls.
✱ Failure:
Death. ]