Chapter 701 - 701: Hesitation Means Defeat

The setting is still the same familiar field of white reeds.

Genichiro Ashina had died, and Ashina was under full invasion.

The gate guard, General Jinsuke, the Ashina soldiers using Serpent Country's sake to block enemies, the fire bull wreaking havoc on the battlefield, and the Tengu and the Shadow Clan.

Most of them had been defeated by the 'Wolf', who was called the Sword Saint.

In a desperate last stand, Genichiro Ashina would do anything to protect Ashina.

The Ashina Style samurai below the castle keep, when he went to face the invasion again, had already used the Red Concoction Pearl and turned into a red-eyed warrior.

But even with all his might, he couldn't resist the powerful enemy.

At this moment, Genichiro Ashina had only one path left: to borrow the power of the Dragon's Heritage.

When the Wolf arrived, Kuro was already severely wounded.

"It's been a while... Ninja."

"Look, another Mortal Blade."

Genichiro, holding the Mortal Blade, spoke to the Wolf.

This was his last hope to save Ashina, to obtain Kuro's Dragon's Heritage using the Mortal Blade.

Hearing Genichiro's words, Zack wasn't particularly surprised.

This was because he had already gathered a lot of information from the previous game's story.

There were two Mortal Blades; one was called "Opening the Gate," a blade for a sacrificial ritual.

The other was called "Tears of Reverence," a blade for the ritual of obtaining the Divine Dragon's Tears.

And according to the notes of Juro and Tomoe, Juro and Tomoe had not obtained "Tears of Reverence" back then; they had likely only obtained "Opening the Gate."

As for the beautiful sorceress seen before heading to the Divine Dragon's abode, many players thought she was Tomoe.

This was because, judging by the remains, Tomoe might not have died back then, and the conversations with Emma also confirmed this.

Coupled with what Isshin once said about Tomoe being a woman who fascinated him, it led many to subconsciously assume this.

However, Zack had a different opinion. At first, he thought so too, but later, he explored further and found that when he approached and spoke to her, a prompt appeared, indicating that she was merely a "sleeping sorceress."

The word "sleeping" could imply death or literal sleep, but Zack felt it was literal.

Because he believed this sorceress was very likely the true empress of the Divine Realm, and the only one in the game to achieve immortality.

The price for achieving immortality was to forever guard the Divine Dragon's domain.

A prototype could be referenced from Empress Kōgyoku of the Asuka period, who acted as a witch to pray for rain, corresponding to the divine right politics where the empress held both secular and religious power.

This would also align with the lack of a ruling figure in the Divine Realm.

Of course, this was just his small speculation, as there were many other uncertain aspects in the game that made him feel that way.

This was also the greatest characteristic of Soulslike games: the open-ended plot and worldview, making players feel that every possibility exists, and there is no completely accurate answer.

However, these were likely issues for the "Sekiro scholars" to discuss. Zack currently had no interest in exploring them.

Because at this very moment, his gaze was completely locked onto his formidable opponent, Genichiro Ashina.

He was immediately facing the third phase of Ashina Genichiro.

Although on the castle keep before, the third phase of Genichiro was easy with the lightning attack that was practically a freebie.

But he had to admit that the attack speed of the third phase of Genichiro was indeed much faster.

Moreover, there was no "danger" alert for the horizontal sweeps, and if one was not careful, it was easy to suddenly die.

And in the reeds, Zack discovered that Genichiro had also learned new moves.

A double slash, accompanied by a ring-like energy, directly took half his health if he wasn't quick enough to react.

However, fortunately, his other attacks were basically no different from the Genichiro he had encountered at the castle keep before.

"It's a shame, but I'm just not the same person I used to be!"

Looking at his long health bar, and then at Genichiro, who only had one bar of health left, Zack showed a confident smile.

The same scene, the same character.

But what was different was the growth in personal skill.

Parrying, deflecting, and countering.

Two minutes later, using three gourds, Zack successfully filled Genichiro's posture gauge.

"Die!" Zack shouted.

In the game, the Wolf and Genichiro passed each other, blood dripping from their bodies. However, Genichiro paid no mind, only gazing into the distance at the burning Ashina, his face filled with desolation.

"...In the end, I am still powerless."

"But... the Dragon's Heritage can let this country survive."

Looking at the black lotus Mortal Blade in his hand, Genichiro slowly raised his sword.

"Thus... the long night of Ashina will dawn."

He placed the Mortal Blade on his shoulder, strained with both hands, and the blade cut open his neck, blood spraying from the wound.

Then, a withered hand emerged from the wound and firmly grasped the Mortal Blade in Genichiro's hand.

"This is my poor grandson's last wish... I must pull Ashina back from the underworld."

The Mortal Blade: one for "Tears of Reverence" to obtain the Divine Dragon's tears, and one for "Opening the Gate" to offer the Dragon's Heritage and one's life to recall the deceased from the underworld.

Isshin Ashina, covered in blood, emerged from Genichiro's body.

"Therefore... Wolf, I must kill you."

"Now, Wolf!"

The once famous Sword Saint, Isshin Ashina, had returned from the underworld.

Looking at the Sword Saint before him, Zack was a little excited.

The final boss battles in Soulslike games, no matter which installment, are always exhilarating.

The moonlit battle with Father Gascoigne in Bloodborne, the grand battles with the Lords of Cinder in Dark Souls, and the battle with Lord Gwyn were all incredibly thrilling.

And in "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," the final opponent was the once famous Isshin Ashina from the War of Succession.

Even when he was incredibly weak, he could still deter the Interior Ministry. It was only after his death that they dared to launch a full-scale invasion, showing how powerful Isshin Ashina was.

Now he could finally face this legendary Sword Saint.

He knew it would be difficult, but Zack had never expected it to be this difficult.

Unlike the previous Genichiro Ashina, the Sword Saint Isshin Ashina before him was undoubtedly the most powerful BOSS he had ever fought.

He felt that the only one who could contend with him might be the Orphan of Kos from Bloodborne.

In the first phase, the Sword Saint's movements were already incredibly swift. When he created distance, he would instantly close it with a burst of speed.

And his moves were polished like the wind and swift as a rainbow.

Each move was simple and refined, without any wasted motion. If you dared to greedily strike one more time, you would definitely be cut down.

Moreover, compared to Genichiro before him, Isshin Ashina had many small, deceptive movements. After two consecutive slashes, he would sometimes quickly follow up with a thrust.

When creating distance, he had the supreme Ashina Style technique, the Ashina Cross. The speed of its execution was even faster than the red-eyed warrior at the castle keep, and it could quickly close the distance, making it impossible to defend against.

During normal combat, though there were still clangs of metal, he spent about seventy percent of the time defending, and his gourds were almost empty.

"This is way too strong!"

In the reeds, Zack controlled the Wolf to constantly dodge, while Isshin Ashina pursued him like a phantom.

Before he could even finish speaking, a flash of light appeared.

The reeds scattered as the blade attacked.

In the game, the Wolf fell to the ground.

[Death!]

Zack, who had already died once, looked at the red characters with a headache.

"Hesitation means defeat!"

At the same time, as if to remind him, Isshin Ashina looked at the Wolf's corpse on the ground, lightly swung his blade, and turned towards the burning Ashina Castle.

(End of chapter)

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