Ch. 44: Duel of Fate
Dozens of Black Army soldiers frantically positioned themselves behind the corners of buildings and debris as the sound of charging horses could be heard in the distance. All of them reloaded their rifles and pistols before aiming at the saber-wielding Japanese horsemen.
"General, we've fortified the outer perimeter of the base with about half of our forces." reported a Black Army Colonel.
"Good. Use everything against the enemy. We can't allow them to infiltrate and scatter our forces." Jo replied. "Anyway I'm going to lead our other remaining forces and see if we can break into what we believe to be the Command HQ."
"Good luck sir!" said the Colonel as he saluted. Jo immediately saluted back before heading back towards the Command HQ. The Colonel then proceeded to make sure everyone was in position.
All the soldiers now were concentrating on the wave of Japanese horsemen coming straight towards them. Some of the soldiers even shivered a little out of fear.
Moravec and Rozhkov over saw their respective forces as they prepared for the upcoming attack.
"FIRE!" Moravec and Rozhkov both commanded at the top of their lungs.
Every soldier immediately started firing round after round at the attacking Japanese. A half dozen of horsemen immediately fell dead upon being directly hit. However the attacking wave continued its push forward.
"D-D-D-D-D-D!" rung through the air as some of the Black Army soldiers manning abandoned machine guns started spraying bullets.
More horsemen were killed as a result of the machine gun, but it did very little to halt the charge.
"PREPARE FOR CLOSE COMBAT!" Rozhkov yelled.
All the Black Army soldiers in the immediate front stopped shooting and quickly checked if their bayonets were tightly screwed on their rifles. They then positioned themselves so that the bayonets pointed forward.
Suddenly the Japanese horsemen were close enough that you could hear their battle cry in the air. The Japanese cavalry was immediately attacked by the front-most soldiers. Some of the soldiers shot the horsemen at close range while others use their rifles to block the sabers being swung at them. Most soldiers were brutally sliced by the Japanese horsemen, that quickly swooped their sabers at the necks of any unfortunate soldier they encountered.
The second line of soldiers proceeded to continue shooting down more Japanese horsemen that managed to penetrate the first line of defense. Within seconds even they found themselves being cut down.
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" Moravec yelled. Rozhkov proceeded to issue to same command. The soldiers immediately relocated further into the perimeter of the base.
More horsemen, followed by Jorogumo Battalion foot soldiers, charged into the base. The foot soldiers aimed their rifles forwards and proceeded to fire at any Black Army soldier they could see.
A Black Army soldier quickly retaliated by throwing a grenade into a small group of horsemen and soldiers. The grenade went off, instantly killing anyone near it. Japanese soldiers that managed to get close enough tried to bayonet some Black Army soldiers to death. This ultimately resulted in many soldiers on both sides using their rifles as either clubs or something to defend themselves.
Various bloodied bodies and horses started to cover the ground as the battle became more chaotic and less organized. Soldiers on both sides continued shooting, punching, and stabbing one another without any hesitation. Tōdō and Daisuke, riding on horseback, approached the perimeter of the base as more Japanese soldiers passed by them.
"I have never seen so much carnage at once Marshal. All these fighting soldiers are acting so medieval." said Daisuke.
Tōdō then got off his horse and pulled out his ornate katana. He then slowly started to walk forwards.
"Marshal, where are you going!?" asked Daisuke.
"Colonel I want you to use your battalion to deal with the situation here. I will head towards the center of the base and meet up with our remaining defending forces." replied Tōdō.
"Are your sure Marshal? I think it would be wise to take some protection with you..." suggested Daisuke.
"I'll be fine Colonel. I am the Shinigami after all." said Tōdō.
Both men then saluted one another before parting ways. Daisuke commanded the Jorogumo Battalion to deal with the Black Army's outer forces while Tōdō headed towards the Command HQ, where he planned to take command and repel the Black Army's inner forces.
Tōdō, armed with his steel katana, took down every soldier that got in his way. A Black Army soldier attempting to bayonet him from the side was immediately killed when Tōdō dodged the bayonet, positioned himself behind the soldier, and impaled him in the back.
"Enemy approaching dead ahead!" yelled a nearby Black Army soldier. Tōdō turned his head and saw several soldiers armed with rifles ready to shoot at him.
"FIRE!" yelled one of the soldiers. With his katana still impaled in the Black Army soldiers' corpse, Tōdō used all his strength to position the katana in front of him so the impaled corpse would block all the bullets.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!" was heard repeatedly as multiple shots were made. However the impaled corpse took all the bullets meant for Tōdō. When the Black Army soldiers had to reload another magazine, Tōdō quickly used this short window of opportunity to yank the bloodied katana out and charge at the line of Black Army soldiers ahead.
Within a blink of an eye, Tōdō lived up to his reputation by slashing the throat of one of the soldiers. A second soldier tried tackling him, but Tōdō elbowed him in the face, punched him in the stomach, knocked him down, and stabbed his heart. A third soldier, slightly panicking, pulled out a pistol and tried to shoot. However, Tōdō angled his katana so the soldier was blinded by a bright light for a second.
Before the soldier could see clearly, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. After feeling another shock of pain, the soldier realized he couldn't feel his arm anymore. It became clear what happened when the soldier saw his bloodied arm, with the hand still gripping the pistol, on the ground below him. The soldier tried gripping the wound with his other hand in order to stop the bleeding before trying to flee.
The Shinigami, however, delivered what he did best by charging at him and swinging his katana at his neck. The wounded soldiers fell down dead immediately. Surrounded by more bloodied corpses, the Shinigami continued heading towards the Command HQ.
Behind the hills North of the base, Dietrich oversaw the redeployment of Black Army artillery, communications, trucks, and equipment from their original position in the East. While some soldiers were setting up artillery guns or taking care of casualties, Dietrich was in the back of the radio truck reviewing several maps.
"Sir, Corporal Yun has stated the 11th Artillery Squad is positioned and ready to go." reported a Black Army Captain.
"Thank you Captain." replied Dietrich as he drew another "x" on the map he was looking at. He then went to the radio and turned some knobs, resulting in the radio giving off static.
"Zero can you hear me? Once again Zero are you there?" Dietrich said into the microphone.
"Dietrich is that you?" asked Zero on the radio.
"Yes. Just wanted to tell you that almost half of our fully functioning artillery units are positioned." answered Dietrich.
"What about the rest of the battle?" Zero asked.
"From what intel I have been given, the Japanese tanks and armored cars have practically been scattered by our forces, making them easy picking for our mobile artillery trucks and anti-tank rifles. As for Tōdō and his forces, they have managed to punch some holes in our forces within the base, but it seems to be a fairly even fight so far." reported Dietrich.
"How about Jo, Rozhkov, and Moravec? What's their progress?" asked Zero.
"Currently unaware of that sir. The intercepting Japanese forces have made direct communications between us and our offensive forces almost impossible." reported Dietrich.
"I see, then I order you return to what you were doing and stick with the original plan. Also continue alerting me of any sudden changes below." ordered Zero.
"I shall do so." replied Dietrich.
Upon ending his conversation with Dietrich, Zero resumed maneuvering the Shinkirō around the remaining Japanese planes in the sky.
"Jo, I have managed to even out the playing field in the sky. All that is left is the battle on the ground. The result of this battle are in your hands now." Zero thought.
The Command HQ at the center of the base was surrounded various machine guns and soldiers. The sound of machine gun fire echoed through the air as the streams of bullets were shot at any Black Army soldier. Japanese soldiers hiding behind makeshift barricades and debris aimed their rifles and shot anything that moved.
Conversely, the Black Army soldiers hid behind buildings and debris so they could aim their rifles at the Japanese soldiers. One gunshot after another could be heard as both sides tried to decimate the other.
Ducked behind several boxes, Jo along with several other senior officers, were planning their next moves.
"It seems like this building is very valuable to them. Has to be the Command HQ!" Jo yelled as the sound of a bullet ricocheting echoed nearby.
"Those machine guns are our biggest problem. We need to get rid of them if we want to penetrate their lines!" yelled one of the officers.
"Is that possible as of this moment?!" asked Jo.
"Given enough time, we should be able to disable enough of them so that we can at least punch through!" answered the officer as another bullet ricocheted nearby.
"However, I calculate our losses will be moderately high!" responded a second officer.
"Well this battle has to be ended as soon as possible!" replied Jo. "But there as to be a more efficient pathway around the main machine guns!"
"We're not sure General. We've been so focused with this assault that we haven't had the time to come up with an alternate route!" said a third officer.
"Then it seems I have no choice!" said Jo. "I want you to keep the offensive up. I will in the meantime scout for a pathway around the enemy's defenses."
"Are you sure about that General?! I can easily send out a squad of my best men to..." said the second officer.
"Those men are going to be needed here to maintain the assault and prevent the Japanese from reversing the tables on us." said Jo.
The three officers looked at one another before looking back at Jo.
"General, we hereby obey your orders." said one of the officers.
The three officers then proceeded to salute Jo. In response, Jo saluted back before getting up and scouting around the base for a safer alternative route.
Armed with his saber and pistol, Jo carefully passed through several narrow alleyways filled with either dead soldiers or debris. As he was scouting, he could feel the heat coming from a nearby burning building. The heat was so intense that Jo had to keep his distance from it. He then heard a giant "BOOOM!" in the air above him.
Looking straight up above, Jo could see a smoking biplane falling out of the sky. Jo instantly threw himself to the ground as the burning biplane crashed into a nearby storehouse. A loud explosion immediately followed the crash. Once it was safe to get up, Jo brushed off some of the dust and debris from the recently destroyed storehouse.
Jo covertly ran down several more pathways until he reached a what appeared to be the partially complete radio tower. The metal lattice tower was approximately 2/3 complete and was completely surrounded by wooden scaffolding. Jo then noticed that some boxes labeled "RIVETS" and "TOOLS" were being held up by various rope pulleys. Next to the tower was a large crane that apparently was holding what appeared to be several beams of steel high in the air. The Rising Sun flag could also be seen waving from a tall flagpole nearby.
"Must've interrupted the construction when we attacked." thought Jo as he continued to scan the area.
He continued walking and turned at the corner of the structure. It was then Jo came upon a sight of pure carnage. A dozen dead Black Army soldiers could be seen strewn all over the ground. Each soldier was laying in a pool of their own blood as a result of having a limb cut off, their throat slit, impaled, or shot at.
"H-H-Help!" muttered a gargled voice.
Jo immediately turned his head and saw a Black Army Lieutenant sitting on the ground and laying against the wall of one of the many storage facilities. The Lieutenant was gripping his blood-drenched abdomen with all the strength he could muster.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll go get a medic right away." said Jo as he approached the wounded Lieutenant.
"G-g-general...he's here...'he's here...get out of here..." muttered the Lieutenant.
"What? Who's here? Please tell me what exactly happened." asked Jo.
"It was...it was...the Sh-Sh-Shinigami..." muttered the Lieutenant before he gave out his last breath and fell over dead.
"No way. One man shed this much blood in a matter of seconds?" thought Jo as he tried to comprehend what he just heard.
"Hands up in the air! Move and you die instantly!" yelled a voice coming from behind Jo. He immediately raised his hands in the air, turned around, and saw Tōdō standing in the distance aiming his pistol at him. His uniform was also partially covered in blood stains.
"So this bloodbath right here is you're doing!" Jo yelled back as he raise his arms high in the air. "You truly bring death wherever you go!"
"And right now I am bringing death to you and the rest of the Black Army!" responded Tōdō. "Out of all the people in the Black Army, you and Zero are the only people I truly wanted to take down myself."
"I guess you want to finish what we started at that mountain base last year." Jo replied.
"But I intend to finish you off here, Oni of Chōsen." said Tōdō as he prepared to squeeze the trigger of his pistol.
Suddenly Tōdō for a fraction of a second lost his focus when the sound of something exploding nearby echoed. Taking advantage of this opening, Jo quickly took out his pistol and proceeded to fire a few shots. Tōdō instinctively regained his composure and in a blink of an eye dropped to the ground to avoid being shot. He then aimed his pistol and proceeded to fire a few shots back. Jo immediately jumped behind some nearby boxes.
"He as of now has the upper hand. Wouldn't be best to confront him directly. Got to keep moving..." Jo thought to himself as he tried to run from Tōdō.
When Jo ran back into the open, Tōdō fired several more rounds. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the nearby building walls and wooden boxes could be heard as Jo kept running. Still running, Jo looked back and fired several shots. Tōdō quickly dodged the bullets and continued chasing after Jo.
Noticing several large steel bars near the scaffolding stacked on top of one another, Jo leapt over the stack. Tōdō fired his pistol once more. As Jo's body was about to disappear behind the steel bars, the bullet managed to hit him in the hip.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Jo yelled as his body hit the ground. He leaned against the pile of steel and realized he was just shot. Noticing the wound wasn't fully life threatening, Jo to the best of his ability swallowed the pain and tried concentrating on the situation at hand.
Raising his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of the unrelenting Shinigami coming towards him with his pistol aimed forward. Jo immediately ducked when sparks from a ricocheting bullet were seen directly in front of him.
"Just admit it, you've lost!" Tōdō yelled as he got closer. "You might be able to keep fighting, but it's only a matter of time until the pain saps you of all the strength you have."
"He's right. This wound is going to be more of a hindrance as more time passes. Got to finish this now. But how?" Jo thought. It was then he noticed a large wooden box hanging from a hoist connected to the scaffolding. Seeing how Tōdō was just about to walk under it, Jo came up with a plan.
"Have you finally accepted defeat Oni?! Because if you do, I might have some pity on you and decide to spare you!" Tōdō yelled as he continued to approach Jo's hiding spot.
Tōdō then saw a black officer's cap being thrown high up into the air. Out of instinct, he then fired several shots at the cap.
With Tōdō falling for the diversion, Jo ran out from his hiding spot, quickly aimed his pistol at the rope holding the box, and fired several rounds. Though only some of the bullets managed to hit the rope, the ones that did managed to weaken the rope enough so that it effectively snapped. Tōdō looked up and realized what was about to happen.
The large wooden box crashed on Tōdō directly, pinning him face down on the ground. Jo then aimed his pistol at Tōdō so that he could finish him off. However, when he pulled the trigger, he realized he was out of bullets due to using his last rounds to sever the rope holding up the box.
"Of all the times to run out." Jo thought to then pulled out his saber and ran towards Tōdō's seemingly unconscious body so he could end the fight.
"You...you...you really THAT would incapacitate me!" Tōdō yelled.
Jo immediately stopped where he was and saw the bruised and slightly bleeding Tōdō using all his strength to push the large box off and get back up on his two feet.
"No way! That impact should've caused enough injuries to knock you out, let alone prevent you from standing!" Jo yelled with shock.
"Have you forgotten Oni? I am no mere fighter. I AM THE SHINIGAMI OF THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN!" Tōdō yelled as he drew out his katana and lunged forward towards Jo.
"CLANG!" suddenly echoed as Jo blocked Tōdō's katana with his saber. Jo used all the strength in his arms to break the stalemate and swing at Tōdō. Tōdō quickly bent backwards, causing the Jo's saber to simply only give him a small cut on the chin. Tōdō then in rapid succession started swinging his katana at Jo from various directions. Jo therefore ducked, hopped to the side, or leapt backwards in order to avoid be sharp, metal blade.
"He's swinging irrationally. There's no doubt he's trying to prevent me from predicting his next moves." thought Jo.
As a result of being unable to determine Tōdō's next move, Jo resorted to simply countering each blow with his saber or by trying to keep his distance from Tōdō and his katana.
"CLINK! CLANK! CLINK! CLANK!" could be heard as each one parried the other's move. As they kept swinging and blocking, both Jo and Tōdō slowly moved closer to the wooden scaffolding. Distracted, Jo suddenly felt his back hit part of the scaffolding. Realizing he couldn't keep his distance from Tōdō, Jo had to lurch his head left and right in order to avoid having his head impaled.
"This is bad. He's got me cornered and with my injury, I can't keep this dodging up forever. I am in no condition to fully face him on." thought Jo. He then suddenly felt a rise in pain coming from the injury on his hip. Because the pain distracted him, Tōdō used the opportunity to tried to lunge his katana at Jo. Swallowing most of the pain once more, Jo raised his saber at the last minute in order to block the katana once more.
Jo then could see that Tōdō was grinding his teeth with all his might in order to break the stalemate they were currently in. Because he couldn't swallow all the pain, Jo's strength slowly decreased, resulting in Tōdō's katana slowly pushing the saber closer to his neck.
Realizing that there was a rope behind him tied to winch. The rope was apparently tied to another hoist above, this one holding up a platform full of large pieces of solid wood. With his and Tōdō's blades crept closer and closer to his neck, Jo knew he needed to act immediately. He kicked Tōdō in the leg, causing him to be pushed back slightly and partially loose his balance. Jo then quickly lunged his saber forward. His saber dug into Tōdō's left shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
Jo immediately grabbed onto the rope connected to the winch. He then swung his saber so he could cut the rope, resulting in the platform full of wood to come crashing down. With nothing to anchor the platform and the wood, Jo suddenly felt himself being launched into the air as the rope he was holding pulled him up.
Tōdō, covering his bloodied shoulder, looked up with frustration and anger as he saw Jo being pulled upwards towards the top floor of the scaffolding.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME THIS TIME!" Tōdō screamed as he ignored his injury, let the arm connected to his bad shoulder lay lifeless next to him, and wielded his katana in the hand of his other arm.
While Tōdō looked for a way to climb the scaffolding, Jo held the rope with all this strength as his whole body dangled above the ground. He wiggled his feet around until he could feel something solid. Once his foot touched part of the scaffolding, he pushed himself back with all his weight. Due to pushing himself backward, Jo found himself swinging back and forth.
"Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it..." thought Jo as he swung towards the scaffolding. "NOW!"
Before his body would start to swing backwards once more, Jo let go of the rope and fell onto the wooden boards acting as a floor. Jo immediately got himself back up, which was painful due to his injury.
Upon examining his current environment, Jo realized he was high enough to have a full 360 degree view of the base along with the area around it. He could see thick smoke rising from several burning buildings located all around the base.
He also saw the incomplete metal radio tower protruding from the space the scaffolding surrounded. Approaching the metal structure, Jo saw several cables securing the scaffolding to the unfinished tower, presumably in order to prevent any potential wobbling.
"Man, if this thing was fully completed, the Japanese field of surveillance would be expanded ten fold at least. Got to figure out a way to destroy this thing for good. However this injury is a more pressing matter at the moment." Jo thought to himself as he gripped his injured hip.
"YEEEAAARRGH!" yelled a random voice nearby. Jo turned his head towards the direction he heard the sound come from. Approaching the end of the scaffolding platform, Jo saw Tōdō, ready with his katana, running up the arm of the crane holding the steel beams.
"Damn it. Never thought he would be daring enough to climb on top the crane." thought Jo as he saw Tōdō running and lunging his blade forward.
Once Tōdō reached the end of the crane arm, he leapt high into the air and across the gap separating the crane arm from the scaffolding.
Seeing how Tōdō had his sharp katana raised high in the air, Jo took out his saber and blocked Tōdō's katana, resulting in their blades to cross once more.
Tōdō immediately withdrew his katana back before suddenly lunging it a second time. Jo used his saber once more to parry the attempted lunge. Like before, Jo and Tōdō kept lunging and parrying as they slowly moved around the unfinished tower. As both blades were swinging all over the place, some of the cables securing the scaffolding to the tower were severed. The wooden floor of the scaffolding immediately started to wobble slightly.
The wobbling caused Jo to slightly slip up, giving Tōdō the perfect chance for a direct attack. He swung his katana sidewise in hope of dealing a blow. Jo ducked once more, causing Tōdō's katana to hit part of the radio tower, resulting in some sparks being produced.
Tōdō then noticed that the blade of his katana showed a minuscule crack in it due to all the blows being blocked by Jo's saber and by hitting the metal of the tower.
"WHAT?! HOW CAN THIS BLADE BE CRACKING?! IT WAS PERSONALLY GIVEN TO ME AND BLESSED BY HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY!" Tōdō bellowed to himself. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS DESECRATION WITH YOUR LIFE ONI!"
Tōdō rapidly started swinging his now slightly damaged katana. He was swinging it so fast that his strikes were blurred.
Jo tried to the best of his ability to keep up with Tōdō. However, Tōdō's speed, enhanced by his rage, made blocking each blow much more difficult. Jo felt sharp pain as the katana made superficial cuts to his uniform and skin. His uniform started to show small stains of blood due to all the small cuts he had just received.
Nearby a Japanese Gekka was hovering in circles in search for enemy aircraft. As the Gekka began to pass over several burning buildings, the pilot started to find it hard to breathe and see due to the thick, black smoke rising up from below. Within seconds the pilot fell unconscious due to the smoke, resulting in the aircraft to loose control and altitude.
Like a meteor, the Gekka fell from the sky and slammed itself into the base of the incomplete radio tower. A large explosion occurred within seconds as a result of the collision.
Tōdō, about to swing his katana once more, suddenly lost his balance when the scaffolding and the unfinished radio tower it was secured to started to shake violently due to the crash.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Tōdō yelled upon falling to the ground.
Suddenly the sounds of cables snapping and wood cracking started to fill the air as the damaged tower started to slowly lean in one direction. Since parts of the tower's foundation was destroyed in the explosion, the unfinished radio tower lost its balance and slowly started to fall over.
Realizing the support beams of the wooden scaffolding he was standing on were slowly cracking, Jo ran towards the tower and gripped onto the one of the tower's many steel girders. Tōdō, despite having a severely injured arm, managed to climb onto one of the other steel girders just before the wooden floor he was just standing on broke apart and collapsed.
A loud creaking sound followed by a loud "BOOOM!" could be heard as the unfinished tower continued to fall over and crash into a nearby storage facility. A thick, blinding cloud of dust filled the air once the tower collided with the building.
As the large dust cloud caused by the crash started to settle, Jo, still clinging onto the tower's steel girders, looked straight down and saw he was about 1-2 stories above the ground. He quickly got himself up and balanced his feet on a steel girder forming part of the lattice framework. Looking around, Jo saw the metal tower, now partially bent and twisted in certain parts, resting almost vertically on the destroyed rooftop of a nearby storage building.
"URRGH! This bullet wound is just getting worst by the second. Hopefully the crash dealt the finishing blow." Jo said to himself as he gripped his wound.
"I am afraid you are wrong!" Tōdō yelled.
As the rest of the dust started to settle, Jo could see a bruised, partially blood-covered Tōdō standing up and balancing himself on another steel girder forming the tower's lattice framework. Due to his shoulder injury, Tōdō continued to wield his katana in the hand of his other arm.
"IF ANY OF US IS GOING TO DIE AND GO TO HELL NOW, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE ME!" he yelled as he raised his katana high and dashed across the narrow steel girder.
Jo quickly raised his saber and blocked Tōdō's attempted blow. Using all the strength he could muster, Jo pushed back Tōdō, causing him to nearly loose his balance. Jo then proceeded to rush towards Tōdō and swung his saber all over. Tōdō, carefully walking backwards, kept dodging or countering each attack. Both men continued to tip toe carefully across the length of tower as they exchanged blow after blow. The sound of metal blades colliding with each other at full force was the only thing one could hear as the two fought one another.
"WHY...WON'T...YOU...DIE!" Tōdō yelled as he attempted to slash Jo with his katana. Jo quickly hopped backward in order to avoid being hit. However, he suddenly felt he was about to loose his balance. Looking behind, Jo had just realized that the steel girder he and Tōdō were standing on had been partially twisted and snapped, resulting in a gap in the girder.
"End of the line terrorist!" Tōdō yelled as he slowly approached Jo. "You have no where else to run to! Your only choices now are either being shredded by my blade or jumping down to your death!"
Jo then felt a surge of pain once more in his hip due to the gunshot wound he had suffered before. He used his free hand to grip the wound and gritted his teeth in order to swallow the pain.
"I've fought to my bodily limit. Hell, I probably fought beyond my bodily limit. Almost out of strength and yet he still persists." thought Jo as he panted repeatedly. "With nowhere to run to along with my body reaching its breaking point, my death is almost insured."
Quickly glancing downward once more, Jo could see a stray cable twisted tightly around the twisted metal girders of the fallen lattice tower. An idea immediately sparked inside Jo's head.
"Shinigami! Listen to my words!" Jo yelled. Tōdō, still aiming his katana at Jo, stopped his advance across the girder. "I am a member of the Black Army! I am a defender of justice! I fight for the people who are too weak to fight for themselves! Though my body and life are vulnerable, the core values that I fight for cannot be killed! Those are the words of Zero himself, the Man who Makes Miracles! The man who will crush the tyranny and injustice that you fight for!"
Tōdō, now more enraged than ever, gripped his katana tightly and started to snort out his nose like a bull ready to charge at a matador.
"You actually believe in those values?! You believe Zero will make a miracle for you?! WELL LET'S SEE WHAT MIRACLE HE CAN PULL OUT THIS TIME!" Tōdō bellowed as he made a made dash for Jo. "I AM A WARRIOR OF THE GREATER JAPANESE EMPIRE! I DEFEND HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS! THOSE ARE THE THINGS I FIGHT FOR, AND I DON'T NEED PETTY MIRACLES TO ACHIEVE VICTORY!"
Jo then prepared himself as Tōdō, with his katana raised high in the air, charged towards him. When Tōdō got close enough, he then with all his strength tried to swing his katana at Jo's neck, hoping the blow would decapitate the infamous "Oni of Chōsen" once and for all. With the blade only a few inches away from the flesh of his neck, Jo at the last minute used his saber to counter the blow with all the strength he could muster. As the two blades collided with one another, the small cracks in Tōdō's katana started to spread to the point that the blade broke into two pieces.
"No...no...no...he managed to overpower my divine blade?!" a shocked Tōdō thought to himself as he saw the upper half of the blade snap off from the rest of the katana.
With Tōdō shocked and distracted, Jo immediately took advantage of the situation and wrapped his arms around him. With his body embraced around Tōdō, Jo then used his foot to push him and Tōdō off the edge of the steel girder they were standing on. As his and Tōdō's bodies free fell downwards past various mangled knots of cables and metal, Jo immediately grabbed the wire he had seen earlier with both hands. He suddenly found himself not falling but instead hanging in midair high above the ground.
Despite saving himself from falling to his death, Tōdō also managed to save himself at the last minute by partially breaking free from Jo's grasp and clinging onto his right leg.
"LIKE I SAID BEFORE, IF I GO TO HELL, I'LL DRAG YOU WITH ME!" Tōdō grumbled as he gripped onto Jo's leg with all his might.
While Jo maintained his grip on the wire, the wire itself couldn't support the weight of both men any longer and therefore snapped. Jo gripped onto the wire while Tōdō clung to him as both them found themselves swinging across like a pendulum. Tōdō eventually lost his grip on Jo's leg due to the centrifugal forces and was thrown into the air. As gravity took over, Tōdō's body fell perfectly on top of the large Japanese flag pole Jo saw earlier. The force of the landing caused the flag pole to impale Tōdō's back and abdomen. His impaled body then slowly slid downward, leaving a trail of blood down the pole itself.
Jo, still swinging in the air, waited until the he stopped swinging. Once he was still and saw what happened to Tōdō, he then gave himself a sigh of relief. With pain from his wound no more agonizing than ever, Jo lost his grip on the wire and fell down to the ground below. Though the fall was partially high, the wire had reduced the distance between him and the ground, therefore making the impact of the fall not lethal. However he heard a small cracking noise upon landing on his right upper arm.
"UURRRRGGGGHHHH! Man that hurts!" grumbled Jo as he slowly got himself back up and clung onto his right upper arm. "Must've fractured my arm from the fall."
Several loud muffled coughs echoed in the air, prompting the injured, bruised, and partially bleeding Jo to slowly approach the source of the sound. He then realized the coughing sound was coming from Tōdō, who despite being impaled and laying in a small pool of his own blood, was still somewhat alive. Jo could see the flag along with the pole it hung on was drenched in crimson red blood. He could also see the pole protruding from Tōdō's stomach, causing blood to seep from his abdominal region.
"Well...look who came to see me." said Tōdō as he laid on the ground almost motionless. He then started to heavily cough up blood due to his internal injuries. "I don't understand how...but it seems...the Shinigami...is the only one going...to the underworld."
"Perhaps there you can review the amount of pain and suffering that you caused throughout your life. Maybe you can realize the so called "prosperity" that you fight for is nothing but a delusion. With you gone, the evil, unjust system you fight for will be weakened." replied Jo.
Tōdō then started to chuckle to himself as more blood and life leaked from his body.
"Did I say something comical?" Jo asked sarcastically.
"You think...I'm evil? You think...my death will weaken the Empire?" replied a weary Tōdō. "Ha! You don't even know the true player behind this whole game!"
"What the hell are you exactly talking about?!" asked Jo.
"People like me and you are simply pawns in his game. Expendable and exploitable. You think I'm bad and important? I simply defend His Imperial Highness along with the welfare of this Empire. My loss will only dent the growth of Japan. He, on the other hand, is a different story. I am nothing compared to him, for the reasons he fights for are more complex and sinister than mine!" Tōdō replied.
"What? Explain yourself! Who is this dangerous person?!" Jo yelled.
"Who is he? He's a master manipulator and strategist. He was the one who figured out Zero's plan of attack after the independence movement. He's the one who's been promoting the use of state of the art weapons while maintaing a guise of peace. And this is only the opening of his masterpiece." Tōdō said as he continued to periodically cough up blood.
"GIVE ME A NAME DAMN IT! WHAT'S THE NAME OF THE GUY BEHIND ALL THIS!" Jo yelled. Tōdō, due to loosing lots of blood, started to breath even slower and became less responsive. "TELL ME NOW!"
Tōdō then slowly pronounced the name of the man pulling the strings of the Empire. Once he said the fourth syllable of the man's name, his last breath escaped from his lungs and all the remaining life in his body drained out. The Shinigami was officially dead.
"No way. Him?" Jo mumbled to himself with shock. He then slowly limped away from Tōdō's impaled corpse in order to relay the information.
Daisuke and his Jorogumo Battalion continued their fierce fight with the Black Army soldiers within the base. However, even the well-trained Jorogumo Battalion had a hard time fighting back the determined Black Army soldiers. To make matters worst, the artillery units on the Northern hills were positioned and ready to fire. As in accordance to intel received from some of the planes scouting the skies above, the artillery guns aimed towards the Command HQ in hope of eliminating the remaining enemy defenses.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" echoed through the air as the artillery guns fired their shells into the heavy defenses surrounding the Command HQ. The shells exploded upon impact, resulting in many machine gunners and Japanese soldiers to be blown apart. Some of the shells event blew small holes in the brick walls of the Command HQ.
With the defenses heavily weakened by all the artillery fire, the Black Army soldiers not fighting the Jorogumo Battalion now had the strength to infiltrate the Command HQ. A plane above, now seeing that the surrounding defenses below were nearly destroyed, radioed the artillery to cease firing.
With the path now clear, hordes of Black Army soldiers stormed the partially damaged Command HQ. Any soldier they encountered in and around the building that did not surrender was immediately shot or bayoneted.
"You six secure the bottom floor! Check every nook and cranny for the enemy!" Rozhkov yelled as he along with several other soldiers entered the Command HQ. "The rest of you come with me!"
While the six soldiers checked the first floor, Rozhkov led his group of soldiers upstairs and down a long hallway. The soldiers accompanying him bashed opened doors they passed in order to make sure they were empty. Once they were checked, Rozhkov led his men to he staircase at the end of the hallway.
As he approached the stairs, he heard several gunshots along with people talking coming from above. Rozhkov stepped back before pulling out his pistol. After instructing his men what to do next, Rozhkov ran towards the stairs and saw a Japanese soldier about to aim his rifle at him. Rozhkov however was quicker and managed to shoot first at the Japanese soldier. The Black Army soldiers, gripping their rifles tightly, ran upstairs only to find several Japanese soldiers hiding behind debris and overturned furniture.
The Japanese and Black Army soldiers started to shoot numerous bullets at one another, resulting in casualties on both sides. Suddenly Rozhkov could be seen running preparing to throw something.
"TAKE COVER NOW!" he yelled as he threw what was revealed to be an active grenade. Once Rozhkov and the Black Army soldiers ducked, a loud deafening explosion filled the hallway as the remaining Japanese soldiers were eliminated. "MOVE!"
Rozhkov and his men then bypassed the remains of the dead Japanese soldiers littering the floor and proceeded to check all the rooms. Using all of his weight and repeated hits, Rozhkov managed to knock down a locked a door that led to an office. The office was a complete mess with bookshelves fallen over and papers strewn all over the floor.
He then continued to inspect the office. It was then he noticed sitting on the chair behind a large wooden desk was a bearded Japanese commander. Upon further inspection, Rozhkov realized that the man was gripping a katana lodged into his stomach. A small pool of dried blood could be seen on the floor and on the chair.
"Sir what happened here?" asked a Black Army soldier.
"Poor bastard took his own life. Must've realized he had lost and wasn't able to have himself surrender." explained Rozhkov.
"I wonder who he is?" asked the soldier.
"By my guess, along with his uniform and the fact this is probably his office, I would have to say this is the Head Commander of this facility." answered Rozhkov.
"General! We've done a final sweep of this floor and we have found no more enemy forces in this building." reported another soldier.
"Good! Do you have the flag banner?" asked Rozhkov.
"Yes sir!" responded the soldier.
"Raise the flag on top of this building where everyone can see the Command HQ is in Black Army hands." ordered Rozhkov.
The soldier then saluted Rozhkov before leaving to find a perfect spot to hang the flag.
The remnants of the Jorogumo Battalion continued fighting despite their rapid losses. The prolonged fighting along with no way of communicating with the outside world, Colonel Daisuke knew that his chances of success were rapidly decreasing as the seconds went by.
As he continued commanding his remaining forces, a nearby Japanese soldiers pointed his finger at the Command HQ in the distance.
"LOOK ON THE ROOF!" yelled the soldier.
Daisuke and his other sub-commanders looked at the roof of the Command HQ. He could see a faint figure approaching the flag pole on the roof of the building. Suddenly the Rising Sun flag started to be lowered until it was within reach. The figure replaced the Rising Sun flag with a black flag. Once it was secured, he raised the new flag so it would wave in the air for all to see. The Black Army flag, a silver bird-like sigil pierced by a sword on a solid black background, officially waved proudly for everyone in the base to see it.
"No way. If that flag was raised, then that means the Command HQ is theirs. But Tōdō told me he was heading there to secure it. He would have never let it fall to the enemy if his life depended on it. Does this mean they managed to take out the Shinigami? No that just can't be possible." thought a confused and shocked Daisuke.
"Colonel! Colonel! What are your orders?!" asked a nearby Japanese lieutenant.
Daisuke thought to himself and assumed the worst case scenario, Tōdō's defeat, had actually occurred. With the rapid rate of loss along with the fact that the Black Army soldiers previously preoccupied with the Command HQ will be redirected towards his men, Daisuke made up his mind and gave out his order.
"We're surrendering! This battle is clearly not in our favor anymore." said Daisuke.
"Colonel, with all due respects but are you insane?!" asked a now bewildered lieutenant. "This is Zero and the Black Army we are talking about here. The man who has humiliated and become a nuisance for this Empire. We should fight on till the last man and..."
"Enough!" yelled Daisuke. "I don't want to surrender either, but if we fight here until we die, our deaths I will assure will be in vain. With the Command HQ in the hands of the enemy and the fact that no word has come from Tōdō for some time, we must assume the Shinigami is either dead or incapacitated."
"The Shinigami being defeated? Is that even possible?" asked another bewildered soldier.
"I don't know, but according to my assessment, Zero has won and secured the key points for victory. I refuse to watch my men being killed for something that obviously cannot be won. Hopefully by surrendering, we can scavenge whatever leftover resources and manpower we have and save them for another day." explained Daisuke. "Now, order all Jorogumo Battalion forces to ceasefire and to surrender to the Black Army."
Despite heavily disagreeing, the loyal Japanese sub-commanders told their respective forces and battalions that all fighting is to stop and cooperate with the Black Army. All the soldiers of the Jorogumo Battalion, unwilling to disobey their head commander, agreed to surrender, resulting in much of the fighting to stop. The other remaining Japanese soldiers on the base not associated with the Jorogumo Battalion immediately surrendered once they realized everyone else was surrendering.
Victory was practically now in the hands of the Black Army, which was symbolized in the Black Army flag flying majestically high in the air.
Author's Notes: I apologize greatly for the long delay in writing this chapter. I also appreciate everyone who was patient enough to wait. I've been traveling along with being busy with other things lately. This chapter, besides being long, was also one of the most difficult due to the focus on the duel between Jo and Tōdō. Hopefully future chapters won't nearly be as difficult.
So the battle is practically won. Tōdō has been killed. The Command HQ has been seized. The Jorogumo Battalion, realizing anymore fighting would achieve nothing, has decided to surrender. All that remains is for Zero's final response to all this.
We also see a dying Tōdō giving the name of the master manipulator, the one who even outsmarted Zero, to Jo along with a warning that their next potentially target will be much more difficult and dangerous to work with.