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The Battle at the Oni Tower
Ozaki looked out across the plague-torn wasteland before him with grim resolve. "The army will buy you as much time
you need, Keiken. Though, I wish you'd join us in the assault instead of sneaking into the tower yourself."
Keiken smiled, though Ozaki knew it was a fake smile. "If I was to be with the army as we marched on the Tower,
the Oni forces would crush us all. But, if I can make my way to the top of the Tower, then I could fight the Oni Lord one
on one. I have a much better chance killing one Oni than all of us have of killing thousands," Keiken said, and paused.
"Besides, I won't be alone, I will have Kaiten watching my back from the shadows, as well as Rei's unit accompanying
me. You worry like an old woman, I'll be fine."
"As you wish, my lord. I will act as general in your place and lead the army to meet the Oni army. Though many
will die, perhaps all, we will die with honor with the corpses of our enemies all around us," said Ozaki, with a less
than sure tone. Ozaki turned on his horse and trotted to the head of the army.
He looked at the army, numbering just over ten thousand. A small number for an entire army, but they were elite Koga
samurai, all of them. The bulk of the army consisted of samurai on foot, with cavalry on both flanks and in the front. In
every group of foot soldiers, there were a couple shugenja to act as support. Behind the samurai, there were the Tsuruchi
archers, the only non-Koga on the field. In the far back were the rest of the shugenja, acting either as artillery support,
or as medics.
Ozaki then turned to their enemy. Before the massive tower, there was a black horde of the foulest creatures known to
man. There were many Oni, and even a small army of Tsuno had joined them. The skies above were filled with black-winged
demons, and the ground itself seemed to be alive in certain places. But the worst of all were the undead, which had once
been humans, some of them the samurai knew. The Lost were the worst undead, once being samurai. They had retained the intelligence
and skill of the samurai, while not caring one bit about honor. They were the ones that made Ozaki tremble, and they were
what he desired to kill most of all.
Ozaki turned back to the army, and to them he looked like a beacon of courage, in his shining golden armor. His sword
seemed to contain the light of the sun; it shined so bright. He sighed inwardly, and addressed the soldiers in as commanding
a voice as he could manage. "You all see the enemy before you, and you are most likely afraid of them. That is understandable,
as most of you have never looked into the eyes of a monster as you fought them. You are used to other humans, who feel just
as you do in battle, and follow the same code of honor as you do. But these things, these abominable creatures follow no
honor and will show you no mercy. Do not despair! You are samurai, and you are Koga! You will fight as one, and you will
fight to the death. There will be no failure this day, and there will be no retreat unless the Tower itself collapses,"
he said, thinking that the Tower would never collapse, then continued. "We are to buy Keiken time so that he can kill
their Lord. Without a leader to control them, they will turn on each other. Their lack of discipline and animosity towards
each other will be their downfall," he finished and drew his sword above his head.
The field was completely silent, as the entire army held their breath waiting for the word to charge. Ozaki again spoke,
this time with his back to the army, facing the Tower. "Koga, fight with honor! If you die, join your ancestors proudly
having served your clan with your life! Charge!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he slashed the air with his sword.
The army surged forward, with a loud "Banzai" and Ozaki at the front. The air was filled with their shouts,
and the ground shook under them. The Oni forces advanced slowly, and the Koga first met the shambling undead. The front
cavalry charged right into them, completely decimating the front lines of the horde. To the left, the cavalry struggled with
the Tsuno. The cavalry sergeant charged straight towards the apparent leader, and just as the Tsuno decapitated both rider
and horse, it fell forward with a cry of pain. A ninja stood on top of the corpse, and from within the ranks of the Oni,
many others suddenly fell to the ground dead. The Koga ninja had infiltrated the ranks before the battle, and now caused
mass confusion among the creatures by slaying every leader they could.
Ozaki, being at the head of the army, rushed right through the front ranks of undead towards the Lost. Those who got
in his way, he quickly vanquished, and seeing the leader of the Lost, he challenged him to single combat. "You,"
he said, pointing at the mounted Lost, whose armor bore the mon of the Kurou and whose katana was jet black with small stars
shining within the blade. "If you are indeed the leader of these dishonorable beasts, fight me alone!" The undead
samurai waved his soldiers to the side, and dismounted. "I am, or was Kurou Jikkyo, and I accept your challenge,"
he said with a hiss. Ozaki dismounted as well, and they both stood in a ring of Lost, facing each other with katanas drawn.
Ozaki struck first, lunging forward with his katana level with his eye. Jikkyo slapped his sword to the side, and brought
his sword in a circle and slashed upward across the chest. Ozaki jumped back in time to not be disemboweled, but was still
cut deeply across his chest. The Lost captain pressed the attack, and sword rang on sword as Ozaki parried every one of his
attacks. Ozaki jumped a few feet back, and sheathed his sword. Confused, Jikkyo again rushed at him with sword raised for
a killing blow. Blue flames surrounded Ozaki, as he called on the power of the Void, and he drew his sword in a deadly iaijutsu
attack. The flames converged on his blade, as it swung in a large arc. Jikkyo's sword dropped to the ground, followed by
his body, bisected at the waist.
"Anybody else wish to face me?" he asked as he flicked the blood off of his sword. The ring of Lost rushed
at him at once, attempting to overtake him with sheer numbers. Cursing himself for forgetting that the Lost do not follow
the code of Bushido, Ozaki fought desperately against his many attackers. He cut down man after man, but more always replace
them. Tired and breathless, he called upon the Void once more. Angry red flames encircled him, and he felt his strength
return to him. A couple Lost attempted to attack through the flames, but the flames killed them instantly. The flames disappeared,
and Ozaki fought with a renewed vigor. The Lost scored many cuts on him, but none were deep or fatal. He kept fighting,
and scores of Lost fell before his blade. His mind was clouded by rage, and as he lifted his sword to kill the last one,
the cavalry broke through the undead rabble and surrounded him in a protective circle.
"Ozaki, are you all right?" he heard from a samurai near him. His mind cleared, and he looked around. He had
single-handedly defeated over one hundred of the Lost.
"I'm fine," he said as he mounted his horse, which was standing patiently nearby, completely unharmed. The
troops were in awe of this mighty warrior, and were glad he was their leader.
From atop his large horse, Ozaki could now see above his own troops and looked at the battle. To the left, the cavalry
had thinned to a fourth its original number, but they fought on against the aerial demons. To the right, that cavalry unit
had been all but wiped out by large spider-like Oni with large blades at the ends of their legs. In the center, where he
was, the cavalry still kept most of their men, but the samurai on foot had passed them and fought on ahead of them. Behind,
the Tsuruchi archers had split up and were moving towards both flanks. The shugenja remained in the back, calling upon their
powerful magic to decimate whole units of enemies, or to bring soldiers back from the brink of death. They had even lifted
a unit of samurai into the air, who were now battling the vast majority of the small air-born demons.
"Yasamura, you and your cavalry unit will stay with me. Our right flank needs help, and we are the only ones able
to help," commanded Ozaki after surveying the battlefield.
"Yes sir. Cavalry, form up on Ozaki!" he shouted, and the ring of horsemen broke into a column with Ozaki and
Yasamura at the head. They led them to the beleaguered samurai on the right flank, and rush in at the spider Oni. They fought
furiously, but Yasamura's troops outnumbered them, and they broke under the cavalry charge. The Oni fled, but the cavalry
did not give chase. Instead they formed up, and used what was left of the flanking soldiers to fill their gaps.
"Good job, men. But don't slack now; the battle is hardly won. The Oni still outnumber us, and we still need to
give Keiken time to kill the Oni Lord!" said Ozaki. He led the cavalry column towards the side of a square of more undead.
But before they were even halfway there, the ground broke in several places and small mounds formed, and eyes and mouths appeared
on the mounds. Great arms of stone rose out of ground beside the mounds.
"Toichi no Kansen!" Yasamura cried. "Spread out and attack with jade!" The soldiers sheathed their
swords, and grabbed their long spears with jade heads. They did as ordered; they spread out and attack in small waves. The
samurai that had no jade made a circle around Ozaki, who did not have a jade weapon either.
The cavalry used their horses' speed to outmaneuver the Kansen, but still many were slain by the creatures' larges, stone
fists. Just as they killed nearly half of the mounds, they heard an ear-splitting shriek from behind the tower. A massive
hydra with twelve heads exited its hiding place and charged towards the samurai on foot who now fought right below the Tower.
"Curse that Oni Lord! Just as we think we may have a chance at victory, he crushes our hope with that thing! We
have no hope of killing that, we need to retreat!" Yasamura pleaded with Ozaki.
"No, I will personally defeat the hydra. I will not let Keiken down, we will give him the time he needs!" he
replied. "All samurai brave enough, follow me!"
About a dozen soldiers turned and followed Ozaki straight at the creature. Yasamura shook his head. "The fool,
he can't reach it before it reaches the samurai and kills the bulk of our army. He is throwing his life away, but I respect
his courage," he said to nobody in particular. He glanced behind and saw a group of archers approaching. "My troops,
follow me, leave the hills for the Tsuruchi." As he said that, he rode ahead and the soldiers formed up behind him.
By now, there was only about thirty samurai left in his once massive cavalry unit.
Ozaki raced towards the hydra, quickly outpacing the smaller, slower horses of the other samurai with him. He knew he
couldn't make it before the hydra reached the main bulk of his army, but he had to get there as soon as he could. He was
nearly three-quarters of the way there, when the hydra waded into the samurai on foot. With each head breathing gouts of
fire, and its thick legs crushing all underneath, it was killing scores of samurai by the second. Panic washed over the soldiers,
and they fled before the frightful monster.
"Don't run! Stand and fight!" Ozaki shouted at them. Many samurai turned and saw Ozaki, in his bloody golden
armor, riding alone towards the hydra, and stopped running away. But a few ignored his commands, and those were quickly picked
off by the flying demons above.
Sheathing his sword and nocking an arrow in his bow, Ozaki fired at the hydra as he approached. He hit one of its heads
in the eye, but most of his arrows bounced uselessly off the hydra's thick hide. The hydra turned its attention to him, and
snapped its jaws at him. His horse weaved in and out, dodging three of the heads, but the fourth grabbed it in its jaws.
Ozaki fell from his horse, dropping his bow, and drew his sword. He heard the crunch of bones being crushed, and saw the
hydra drop the dead, mangled horse just feet from him.
"That was one of the finest horses on Ithidor, you will pay for that!" Ozaki shouted and lunged towards the
beast. The hydra tried to bite him, but he decapitated three of the heads in one slash. It reared back, and breathed fire
with its remaining nine heads. Ozaki called on the last ounce of Void power left in him to shield him, and a shining white
barrier appeared around him, stopping the fire from burning him. When the flames cleared, the hydra saw Ozaki untouched,
running at full speed towards it. It tried to breath fire at him again, but a volley of spears stopped it. Yasamura's cavalry
had joined the fight.
"I thought you'd need a hand with this thing, so I came to help you out," Yasamura said as he rode up next to
him.
"Thank you my friend. Now, charge with me! We will fell this beast together!" he replied, and he and Yasamura
charged the hydra. The cavalry was busy fighting off the monsters all around them, so they were alone.
The hydra attacked them viciously, but they dodged or parried every attack. Yasamura was the first to reach the hydra's
body, as he was still on horseback. He hacked at the base of one of the heads, and severed it. From the stumps of the three
heads Ozaki had sliced, six more tried to sprout. Yasamura hacked them to pieces before they got the chance. The remaining
eight heads all focused on Yasamura, and attacked in unison.
"Look out!" Ozaki shouted, but it was too late. One head caught the horse, while the others all bit at Yasamura.
He tried to fend off the attacks, but there were too many heads, and one chomped his sword arm right off. Another bit at
his head, and Yasamura was no more. All the remained as it hit the ground was a bloody mass of flesh and broken bones that
hardly resembled a man.
Ozaki, filled with a burning rage, roared and leapt at the hydra. He grabbed one of the heads with his free hand, and
swung on top of it. He slid down the long neck to the hydra's back, slashing at the neck as he went. Standing firm on the
thrashing hydra's back, he hacked at the necks until there were no more heads left. The hydra fell to the ground, with Ozaki
still furiously attacking it.
When his head finally cleared, Ozaki looked at the dead hydra, then at himself. He was covered with blood and gore.
He heard the Koga troops cry out as they saw the Oni Lord atop the Tower. He looked up, and finally saw the leader of this
unholy army. It was a large humanoid creature, with the head of a dragon, feathered black wings, and was wearing shining
silver armor. In its hand was a sword that seemed to be made entirely out of light, now tainted and black. He saw it turn
from the battle and give out a shriek.
"Keiken is up there! He is alive!" he cried in joy as he saw Keiken approach the Oni Lord. He looked regal
and mighty, in his light blue kimono trimmed with white. His hair was dyed completely white, and he wore a circlet of silver.
For armor, he only wore a breastplate that blinded all who looked directly at it, and kote. On his back was his massive no-dachi
that struck fear into the hearts of all his enemies, and filled his allies with joy. Atop the Tower, Ozaki saw Rei and Kaiten,
as well as a few of the men who were with them as they entered the Tower. The entire battle below froze, as every eye was
upon Keiken and the Oni Lord.
"Who are you, that you challenge me? No man can defeat the great Oni Lord, you are a fool to think that you can!"
they heard the Oni Lord say in his deep, booming voice.
"I am Keiken, Daimyo of the Koga Clan, and I am the bringer of your death! No longer will you torture the land and
murder those who live here," Keiken replied in a soft voice that carried over the entire battlefield.
"We shall see, puny human!" With that, his sword grew larger and he settled into a battle stance. Keiken dropped
into his unique iaijutsu stance and gripped his sword. He let out a mighty kiai shout, and blue flames flared up around him,
with dragons of blue fire dancing within. It seemed that the entire world stood still, and in the blink of an eye it was
over. Keiken brought his no-dachi down in an overhead swing as the flaming dragons entered the sword. The Oni Lord brought
his straight sword in a horizontal slash, but Keiken's no-dachi was faster. It came down on the Oni's head, and sliced him
cleanly in half, from head to groin. The Oni Lord's sword, still moving from momentum, sliced right into Keiken's chest,
and cauterized the wound as it cut. The Oni burst into black flames as Keiken fell to the ground; both were dead. Suddenly,
with no will to hold it together, the magical Tower collapsed in on itself. As the Tower collapsed, Ozaki saw Kaiten grab
Keiken's corpse and sword, and jump from the Tower. Rei and the others fell as well, and Ozaki thought them dead.
Ozaki and the handful of men that were left of his cavalry unit rushed to the rubble as Ozaki gave the order to retreat.
They found Kaiten over his brother's corpse, and the rest of the group all alive, except one samurai who died under the rubble.
Ozaki ordered the troops to carry them to safety, and the entire Koga army retreated.
The creatures under the Oni Lord's control suddenly turned on each other, letting the Koga retreat easily.
When they were all a safe distance from the Tower, Ozaki again addressed the army. "We are victorious this day,
but it cost us all dearly. Our leader Keiken gave his life to defeat the Oni Lord, and Kaiten is now our clan daimyo. Yasamura,
our cavalry general fell as well, in a desperate attack on the hydra. We leave the field of battle a broken but victorious
army, and we must now rebuild. This threat is over, but we must now continue the battle with the Kurou family. But for now,
let's all just rest a while. The rebuilding will come later, as well as the grieving for the dead," he said and turned
away to where they had laid Keiken.
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