Year of the Demon

Then an even brighter thought alighted in Shichio’s mind: what if the fat man does betray me? He’s samurai, after all; it’s hardly beyond him to kill himself to prove a point. If Mio means to die on the boy’s sword, at least I’m free of him.

The boy’s sword. Shichio’s eyes had been drawn to it from the moment he stepped out of the palanquin. Apart from his demon mask, it was the finest piece of craftsmanship he’d ever seen. It was rumored to be an Inazuma blade—not an easy rumor to believe of some backwater bumpkin’s sword, but one look dismissed all doubts. This was truly a thing of beauty.

And the mask showed a stronger affinity for this sword than any other. He’d had no choice but to leave the mask in the palanquin, because for the first time he could hardly bear to touch it—or rather, touching it inspired a craving so powerful that Shichio actually feared he might lose control of his body. So long as he held the mask, he needed that sword. The thought of such a masterpiece being used in battle was anathema to him. What if it were nicked? What if it were stained with blood?

On the other hand, what if it gutted the fat man?

Shichio restrained a grin. Yes, he thought; if Okuma wins, Mio will be out of my life forever. All I’ll have to do is find another way to kill the monk. And if the duel goes the other way, I’m free of the Okuma brat and the monk is mine. No matter who loses this fight, victory belongs to me—as will that Inazuma sword, as soon as I can figure out how.

He watched on happily as the brat made one last plea for Hashiba to do the right thing. Then came the fat man’s pretensions of grandeur, which were enough to make Shichio giddy; since the boy was unarmored, Mio summoned attendants to remove his armor as well. For a lummox his size it was a three-man job. When they’d finished, Mio and Okuma took their positions in the courtyard, their shadows short and dark under the high noon sun. Mio drew his massive blade, and a tall, gray-haired, shabby-looking man presented Okuma with his sword.

Once again Shichio was struck by the beauty of it. The weapon was nearly as long as the boy was tall, and much too large for him to wield. Were it any other blade, it would have gleamed in the sun, but the Inazuma steel seemed to glow with its own glorious light. Shichio had never been so thankful not to have his mask. With it, he might well have run onto the battlefield to take the sword for his own.

Okuma’s steps had become short, shuffling movements under the weight of the sword, and for the first time Shichio noticed the brat must have injured his leg somehow. He limped off the right foot, and though Shichio was no master, he knew enough to understand that the right leg was all-important in swordsmanship. It was the root leg, the primary source of balance, power, and movement. And Okuma’s was lame.

So Mio will win this one, he thought. I’ll have to rid myself of him some other way. But at least I’ll have the pleasure of watching this Okuma brat die, and once he’s dead I’ll claim that big, beautiful sword of his.

Shichio settled himself next to Hashiba on the veranda overlooking the courtyard. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

14

Sweat ran down into Daigoro’s eyes and he could not afford to wipe it away. Glorious Victory Unsought was far too heavy for him to remove a hand from her grip. His right hand was weak enough already; it was all he could do just to steady the tip of his blade.

It was hot, damnably hot, and though Daigoro’s throat was dry he was sure it wasn’t from the heat. Mio was a giant. His sword was nearly as long as Daigoro’s and his arms were considerably longer. Daigoro’s first tactic had always been to rely on Glorious Victory’s greater reach, but that would not save him today.

They circled each other and the sun beat down on them like a hammer. More than a hundred people looked on. Daigoro had never dueled in front of so many before. They made him nervous. His sweating, aching hands tightened their grip on his weapon.

He knew he did not want to fight this man, and he knew of Glorious Victory’s power to see him through whenever he wanted not to fight, but this time he was not so sure. This was a duel he could have avoided. He could have overruled Shichio’s twisting words with one stroke of the sword. If he’d had the courage to plunge his wakizashi into his belly, he could have ended all the arguments. And yet here he was, squaring off against a living mountain.

Their blades met. Mio thrust at his throat. Daigoro shoved the thrust aside and chopped down at the wrists. Mio batted Glorious Victory aside, his parry so powerful that it almost sent Daigoro spinning.

Daigoro pulled Glorious Victory back to center and managed to fend off Mio’s next attack. He stumbled but caught himself before he fell.

Daigoro had never faced so powerful a fighter. Yet Mio had more than size in his favor: he was far more experienced. In any other match his age might have counted against him, but the advantages of youth were strength and speed, and because of his leg Daigoro had neither. His brother Ichiro might have made short work of this giant. Katsushima too; he constantly surprised Daigoro with his quickness. But Daigoro had always relied on pacing a fight slowly, taking the measure of his opponent, allowing his adversary to grow frustrated and impatient.

Mio showed no signs of impatience. He advanced, not out of frustration but from sheer dominance. Daigoro moved in, exactly the opposite of what the smaller fighter should do, hoping to catch the big man off his guard. Mio gave him a shove, sword against sword, and Daigoro felt his feet leave the ground.

Horses didn’t kick that hard. Daigoro couldn’t say how far he flew before landing. He crunched into the gravel, rolled to his feet, and Mio was already on top of him. He showed Daigoro exactly how long his reach was, cutting Daigoro’s sleeve while a thrust from Glorious Victory fell well short of Mio’s throat. Only sheer luck had spared Daigoro’s arm.

Mio pressed the attack. Daigoro dived, rolled, came up behind him. Mio continued his charge, taking himself out of Daigoro’s reach. Daigoro had no counterattack, but at least he had a moment’s respite.

The fingers ached in Daigoro’s right hand. His lips and mouth were as dry as hot sand. His heart pounded in his ears like a taiko drum, so loud and so fast that he could hear nothing else. The cold, serene, paralyzing fear of seppuku was long gone. Now it was a burning panic that gripped him, a need to escape this titan and his titanic sword. Swordsmen the size of Mio usually fought demons or tengu; they were the warriors of myth, not reality. Daigoro had no desire to be killed by a walking nightmare.

General Mio turned on him and advanced again. Daigoro saw just one hope of victory. Mio was fat enough that he could not see his feet. Men that big usually had poor balance. If Daigoro could make him fall, Mio could not capitalize on his superior strength and speed.

Glorious Victory Unsought was made for mounted combat. It was long enough to cut down foot soldiers from the saddle, long enough to unseat a cavalryman, long enough for the horse-cutting technique Daigoro tried next. Against the legs of a charging warhorse, only the strongest steel was of any use. Mio would be no different.

Mio charged. Daigoro stepped aside, dropped low, and cut for the ankles.

Mio’s sword sank to parry, just as Daigoro thought it would.

Parried or not, Glorious Victory was heavy enough to trip him, just as it was heavy enough to fell a horse. But Mio jumped over instead.

He should have fallen. But Mio had the balance of a dancer—no, of a rikishi, a sumo wrestler, for sumo required not balance but balance with unthinkable power. Mio landed on one foot, whirled on Daigoro, stomped down hard. Daigoro shrank away. Mio chopped down with terrifying force, a blow that could behead an ox.

Desperately, hopelessly, knowing the fight was over, Daigoro raised his weapon to parry.

Glorious Victory Unsought cut Mio’s sword neatly in two.

Against anyone else the fight would have been over. Daigoro was in striking range and Mio’s katana was useless. But Mio had fought under Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He’d faced a thousand men in battle before Daigoro was old enough to hold a sword. He threw the butchered