Yukimura and Sora caught up with Takeda at a lake hidden in the forest, and he wasn't the only one.
Date's and Kenshin's troops were also there. They had retreated together to this place without hostility
.They were too depressed to care.
Hundreds were injured and Sora did her best to help the doctors with the wounded.
By evening, the hazy, orange glows of campfires dotted along the lake's shore. At one of them, Sora was
sitting with Date, Yukimura, Kojuro and others around the warm fire. Sora was relieved to see Date and
Kojuro alive, but was saddened to hear by how many men they lost. Everyone stared at the crackling
flames in silence, no one was in the mood for talking.
Sora was trying to think her next move, but the graphic images of death kept reappearing in her mind.
Date got tired of the silence.
"Well," he said as he got up " We should get going. Sitting around here won't change a thing."
"What?" exclaimed Yukimura "You're leaving now! So many have died today! We should rest and pay
our respects to the dead."
Date replied "The dead would want us to avenge them and kill Oda! I'm going out to try again. Kojuro!"
Yukimura quickly leaped to his feet and ran in front of Date to block his way.
"Your men are weak at the moment! You can't just push them like cattle!"
Date grabbed Yukimura's collar and growled in his face "Watch it, Young Cub of Kai! You know nothing
about my men. I have lost just as many as you did but I won't stay here to be hunted like deer! "
He shoved Yukimura away in disgust.
Sora and Kojuro rose from their seats as well, and Sora ran to the aggressive boys to put herself
between them. She glanced back and forth at them with a pleading but angry stare.
You two calm down! She wished she could say, So much has already been fought for and lost! The real
enemy is out there!
She couldn't blame them though. They're both angry with themselves, restless and easily tempered.
Everyone is feeling that way.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed across the fire and appeared as Sasuke who kneeled before Yukimura.
"Young master." He said " My scouts have just seen Oda and his army heading to their city, 80 miles
from here. Lord Takeda said we will rest here for tonight then ride to the city with Lord Kenshin and
Date tomorrow. "
As everyone listened to the ninja's report, the tense air between them diminished.
Date shrugged " Sounds good, I guess. Sora, you should stay here with the wounded."
Yukimura nodded" I agree with Lord One-eyed Dragon. It's too dangerous for you. You'll be much safer
here."
Sora crossed her arms and scowled at the men .
Excuse me! She fumed. And I don't get any say in this!
" Hey, don't give us that look. It's for your own good." Said Date
Kojuro joined in " You'll get in the way, Lady Sora. We don't want you to get harmed."
Sora sighed and sat back down beside the fire with an outraged glower, knowing it'll be useless to argue
with them. Everyone seemed relieved.
Yukimura said " Farewell, Lady Sora. And don't worry, we'll all come back alive!"
Date murmured softly so that only Sora could hear " Wait for me here, Sora. We'll go back to Oshu
together. I promise."
After gazing into Sora's silver eyes for awhile, Date tore away and followed the others to prepare for
battle. Sora propped her chin against her knees as she watched her friends disappear into the shadows.
A flash back of her fight with Oda's wife popped into Sora's mind. She remembered the incredible
speed and strength she had, and wondered where that sudden power came from . She wished she
remembered so she could fight along with Date and the others, and not wait there for them like a wife
praying for her husband to come home . She had seen plenty of those in her village and did not wish to
be one of them.
" You want to fight too, don't you?" said Sasuke who was still kneeling beside the fire. Sora jumped at
his voice, having forgotten about him entirely.
Sasuke had watched Sora ponder and smiled when he knew what she was thinking.
" Master Yukimura and Lord Date have underestimated you." He continued " You're not like other girls,
Sora."
Sora snorted, I know, and then an idea dawned. She stared at Sasuke who was wearing that sly smile.
He winked " There's a horse conveniently alone and tied up at the edge of the camp. It's a fast one and
it doesn't tire easily."
Sora smiled at the cunning ninja.
" And me," he said " I never saw you. I was out scouting in the east while you went to the west."
Sora spurred her horse to go faster as it galloped through the woods in the middle of the night, the
bright crescent moon her only light through the darkness. The city where the Devil king occupied was
her destination and she had to hurry before dawn came. She had to get there before the battle starts.
Sora knew everyone meant well, but she wasn't weak, she can also fight. She wants to protect them,
everyone in this country. She had seen the destruction and sorrow Oda had caused, he even killed his
own sister's husband. She cannot stand to see more injustices befalling her home. She wants to stop
this.
Sora didn't know if Oichi was alive. She would just have to see.
The city of the Devil King, was much more like a fortress with Oda's castle towering the world, those
black clouds swirling around the tower.
Sora gazed at the city from behind a bush in a forest close to the high walls, hiding from the sentries
surveying the ground from on top of the walls.
She watched the soldiers go back and forth with their spears when a hand grasped her shoulder.
Sora froze and was surprised one of the guards snuck up on her.
" Crufix, what are you doing here!" whispered a female voice.
Sora turned to see a beautiful woman with blonde hair and golden eyes. She wore a skimpy, black suit
and black finger gloves. Sora recognized the woman as one of Kenshin's ninjas, Kasuga.
Kasuga scolded " You should be back at camp!"
Sora shook her head, I'm not going back.
Kasuga sighed " Look, I know you want to help but this is suicide! You can't just waltz up to the gates
and present yourself."
Sora smiled at Kasuga's sarcasm.
Kasuga 's stern expression turned into disbelief. " Oh no. " she exclaimed " You are going to do that!
No, I will not allow it! Leave it to me, I'm a trained professional! "
Sora grasped Kasuga's arm and looked into her eyes with a pleading look. Please , don't go.
Kasuga's strict expression softened and sighed
"Alright, I'll let you go on your own. But promise me you won't get killed! My Lord Kenshin would be
very upset if I let the Crufix die!"
Sora smiled at Kasuga's obvious concern for her.
She nodded her thanks and then stood to head towards the fortress. As she walked closer to the giant
gates, the tower loomed over her , laughing at her small size. The guards noticed her and cried out
" Halt! Who goes there!"
Sora stopped just a few feet away from the gates and raised her hands up in surrender. She bowed her
head in submission and waited. It wasn't long until the gates creaked open. A team of guards rushed
out from the gates to seize her by the arms. She didn't resist, she stood calmly as the soldiers inspected
her.
One of them looked at her neck and exclaimed
" Captain! I think this girl is the Crufix! She has that mark. It exactly like the one from the temple's
scrolls."
" Take her to Lord Nobunaga!" barked their captain.
They cuffed Sora in thick irons and lead her into the city.
Mean while, Kasuga hurried back to camp at the invisible speed of a ninja.
They needed to hear about this.
Oda, the Devil king, loomed in his giant throne made out of human skulls. He took big gulps of sake from
his cup which was also a skull sliced in half. The Devil was lean but had powerful muscles underneath his
white armor that elaborated into sharp spikes. His gauntlets had sharpened claws on each finger . His
white sword touched the ground from his hip.
He stared at the world below him with an amused smirk, pleased that everything was falling into place.
His wife, Lady Nobunaga, stood at his side while holding a pitcher of sake. His sister was also present,
but chained to the wall with uneaten food before her. She refused to eat since the day her husband
died.
Oda had sent his vassal, Akechi, the white haired freak over to kill a noble who refuses to bow to him.
This was actually a trap set up by Oda for Akechi to die. Oda knew what he was up to and happily
disposed him.
His wife said
" My Lord husband, the guards say they have captured what they think is the Crufix. Do you wish to
inspect it yourself?"
Oda took another gulp and boomed in a menacing voice
" Bring it in."
Lady Nobunaga clapped her hands. At once, the door slid open and two guards came in with a girl
wrapped in chains. They shoved her inside and then tripped her to kneel before the Devil king.
Oda stared at her with an unreadable face.
Lady Nobunaga smirked and said " Leave us." The guards bowed and left the room.
Oda's wife said with that evil smile " She's the one alright. You should've seen her when we fought, the
little bitch."
Oichi looked at the Crufix with a worried look.
Oda growled" Look at me, girl."
Sora lifted her head to stare at the Devil king in the eye. Her glare was dark and immersed in hatred.
Oda suddenly bursted out laughing . Lady Nobunaga and Oichi were still as they listened to him thunder
in laughter.
" This girl!" he laughed " is the Crufix! HAHAGH. This weak, little girl has the power to destroy me!"
Sora watched him laugh with the same glare.
Oda stopped laughing, but a smile was on his lips.
" Tell me, so called Crufix, did you surrender so you can save your pitiful friends? To beg for their lives to
be spared? " sneered the Devil king.
Sora shook her head.
" No?" chuckled Oda." Then why? Have you come to beg for your own life? Have you become afraid of
death?"
Sora shook her head again.
" Husband." Snarled Lady Nobunaga" This girl is ticking me off. Let's kill her now…"
Oda raised a hand to silence her.
" So why are you here?" he continued '' To kill me?"
Sora nodded.
" Why you little..!" screeched Lady Nobunaga " I'm going to blow your brains out!"
Her two pistols flew to her hands from her sleeves and pointed them at Sora's head. Oda's wife
fingered the trigger when everyone heard
" Oichi won't let you hurt her!"
A shadow in the shape of giant hand flew from a dark corner and grabbed one of the guns to tilt it
toward Lady Nobunaga's chin. The dark hand pulled the trigger to make it crack. A spray of blood
bursted from Lady Nobunaga's head. She fell to the floor in a heap with a pool of blood soaking her
dress.
Sora watched in shock as not one but many shadow like hands fly around Oichi as she walked in front of
Sora. She face Oda with a sad expression and said in a sobbing, cracked voice
"Oichi, wants brother to stop this. This suffering. Oichi doesn't want anymore to die."
Oda had watched the whole event with calm, amusing stare. He didn't seem troubled that his wife just
got shot in the head.
He said " Oichi should know her place. You are my sister, nothing more, nothing less. I have no care for
this world, I want to see its destruction. I' am the Devil king! I'm the master of hell! I will not bow to
anyone! Not to you, to her, or the whole damn world!"
Oda snapped his gun out from his side and shot Oichi in the heart. Oichi gasped at the pain and the
shadows around her vanished. Sora watched in horror as Oichi fell to the ground. She landed on the
wood with a loud crash.
Sora slowly crawled over to Oichi. She gazed down on Oichi's paling skin and could see her lips moving.
She was trying to say to something. Sora lowered her ear to listen to her rasp
"Nagamasa-dono…I'm sorry, I failed you…Oichi loves you…"
Oichi's breathing stopped and her eyes went still. Sora couldn't sense any life in her.
Oda chuckled " So, she was planning to assonate me. She was as foolish as you, thinking she could kill
the Devil king."
Sora's body started to shake. Her hands trembled at her sides. It was not sorrow, it was fury. Sora
straightened her back and turned her head to Oda. His grin disappeared.
Her eyes were glowing, bright in gold. She slowly stood up, unhindered by the heavy chains and faced
Oda with a dark scowl. Oda felt this wasn't the same girl he saw on the ground a few minutes ago.
It was a god.
Oda stood up from his throne, his red cape flowing from his back, and clutched the pommel of his
sword.
" You are the Crufix!" he laughed in madness" I can now see the power flowing in you like blood! Your
anger, it produces power!"
Sora held her glare that would shake an army of soldiers to their knees .
You killed your own sister. You didn't flinch when your wife died. And you have killed many in painful
and undignified ways! You are a monster! And I'm here to kill you!
The chains suddenly glowed and snapped in half by an invisible force. As the bits of chain fell to Sora's
boots, Oda could feel a much greater wave of power coming from the girl, as if the chains
were harnessing that power.
" You wish to fight me, Crufix?" growled Oda with a grin.
As if to answer him, Sora charged at Oda in a blur of golden light. They both went through the wall ,
spiraling out of the tower as Sora pounded her fist into the Devil king's chest and crashed on one of the
tile roofs. She stood on top of him in a crater of smashed tiles when she heard him laugh, his red eyes
ablaze" Let us fight, Crufix, for supremacy! The winner takes the world!"
Oda kicked Sora in the gut and sent her up to another roof. She landed on her face, but with no serious
injuries unlike a human who would've died from that. She tasted blood in her mouth and spat some out
in annoyance.
Oda was suddenly above her with his white sword in his clawed hand, swinging the blade at Sora's head
with a gleeful grin.
Two spears and six swords blocked Oda's blade from slashing Sora's flesh. Oda growled at the
new comers who interrupted his fun.
Standing on each side of Sora in full armor, was Date and Yukimura. They strained as they used all their
might to hold their weapons against Oda's sword, pushing him back from Sora.
" Sora! Are you alright!" exclaimed Yukimura with worry.
" Sora…" growled Date while baring his teeth angrily like a wild beast." You're getting an ass-whooping
when we get home! Sneaking off behind our backs, fighting Oda by yourself…YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"
Oda pushed the two warriors back and kicked each one with a powerful force. They flew in different
directions and crashed into the roof.
" Do not disturb my duel with the Crufix!" yelled Oda as he swung his sword again at Sora. She leaped
into the air to dodge the blade and dove back down to implant her foot in his face. She swung her leg
hard to bury his head into the tiles and then leaped up to another roof.
As she watched Oda regain his feet without showing any weariness, she heard a unison of " Sora!" from
behind. Date and Yukimura ran to her side.
The instant they see her golden eyes and her dark face, they froze to gaze at this strange Sora they have
never seen before. They knew she wasn't human in the first place, but they treated her like one anyway.
Now before them, was a being beyond their imagination. A being that is neither dead nor alive.
"Sora," gasped Yukimura in awe " What are you?"
Date had snapped out of it."Sora! Let's fight this bastard together!"
Sora nodded and reached her hands to Date's and Yukimura's heart. When she touched them, the
glowing symbols appeared like before.
Two golden spots formed on Sora's shoulder blades, and a liquid of dark gold flowed out of them. The
liquid moved and stretched as it grew bigger and shaped into two, beautiful wings that shimmered like
something between water and fire. Sora's eyes brightened with a new intensity. Her long braid floated
around her, giving her the ghostly appearance of an angel.
Date and Yukimura, who were gaping at her mystic form, felt Sora lightly push them back behind her.
They have protected her, now she wants to repay them.
Date and Yukimura understood and neither protested. She smiled faintly but turned deadly serious as
she spread her wings that crackled like lightning and flew at Oda.
Oda was ready for her and thrust her blade at her, but she moved to the side quickly and whacked him
with her powerful wings. His chest armor was torn to pieces from the wing's contact and a huge wound
was cut on his side. Oda grinned at his blood and laughed as he charged the emotionless Sora.
She continued attacking him by swirling her sharp wings at him as Oda countered by jabbing and
slashing at her wings .
The two warriors watched Sora and the Devil king go at it. She made elaborate movements with her wings,
spinning in midair to perform a rapid attack on her enemy.
Date watched Sora's techniques and noticed some of them were very familiar. He saw another that was
exactly like his War Dance maneuver. Date realized Sora was using both his and Yukimura's fighting
styles.
Her wings were both the dragon claws and the tiger spears. Spiritually, Date and Yukimura were fighting
with Sora.
Oda and Sora flew to the top of the tower as they continued battering each other with all the power
they could muster. Oda's guns were useless against Sora who easily dodged his shots or blocked them
with her wings. Oda flew back from Sora and balanced on the tower's pinnacle to point his sword at
Sora ,hovering above him.
Oda laughed insanely, his grin bigger than his face " This is the end Crufix! You have failed! You will die
and I'll continue to rule this world! Now watch as I send you down to my kingdom, Hell!"
Shadows came to Oda's call and surrounded their master and danced on his blade, getting ready for the
final blow. The shadows were enormous, and they were many in a too great number. They laughed at
Sora and her two small wings, grinning in hysterical pleasure.
Sora stared down at this monster without fear, the full moon behind her silhouetting her body and her
wings in dark blue.
She was ready too. She was waiting for Oda to release his powerful attack. It was the perfect opening.
Sora's wings began to glow brighter, and kept going to blind Date and Yukimura's eyes in its sheer, white
light.
Oda roared along with his shadow minions and fired his inferno of darkness at Sora.
Sora , her figure obscured in the bright sun, dove straight at the shadows. Date cried out her name as
the sun contacted with the darkness.
The shadows were torn to pieces as the light swam through like a knife on paper. The beasts screamed
in agony from the sharp teeth of the light, making its way to their king. Oda was paralyzed by the
torturing light, watching it come at him with actual fear in his eyes.
Oda screamed in fury as Sora's face appeared from the light and was engulfed in it.
A huge ball of light exploded from the tower's tip. Everyone below in the fortress, Takeda, Kenshin,
Kojuro, Choskabe, Mori and even Oda's soldiers stopped their battle and watched the spectacle in
silence.
The light slowly faded away, and darkened into night.
