With the battle of Sekigahara looming and the armies of East and West preparing to converge, the group has set out on a personal mission: to rescue Torii Mototada from his fate at Fushimi Castle…
July 1600, Fushimi Castle, Yamashiro Province…
The group had arrived at Fushimi Castle, only to find it burning as it was attacked by Yokai and soldiers.
"Looks like the attack has already begun." Jiro said.
"This is insane." Ragna said.
"Yeah, but those were the times. Live by the sword, die by the sword. That's like, the number 1 rule in war." David said.
"Doesn't look like there's any clear way to get past the armies. No choice. We're going to have to fight our way through if we wanna save Mototada in time." Mukuro said.
"Good, I'm in the mood for a good scrap." Balthus said.
"All right. Just remember, kill the Yokai, leave the soldiers not dead." Sunset said, equipping her hand cannon.
"You say not to kill them, then pull out the hand cannon?" Emo asked.
"It won't kill them." Sunset said. "Just weaken them a bit." she said, sliding in Suspicioni's medal as she fired a ball into a crowd of human soldiers.
"The Shady Tribe are known for being mischievous and maybe even devious. Notorious tricksters. Being from this tribe myself, I know it quite well. Their inspiritings and powers just bring down your power and spirit. Which is why this cannon will not only allow you to bring down their power and spirits…but also sow some much needed discord."
"Hey…were you always there?"
"I was about to say the same."
"This war is so fake."
The soldiers that were hit kept arguing about their fellow soldiers and the war as they tried to isolate themselves.
"Ha…knew I would love this thing the most." Sunset chuckled.
"What do you know? Suspicioni can be a force for good." ZS remarked, before noticing a shine from the side. "Hey, watch it!" he warned, shoving Sunset from the back as a bullet came whizzing by, narrowly missing them.
Turning towards the source, the group saw a group of men wearing bird masks with red eyes, pointing guns at them.
"Uh…I don't suppose you're one of those "soldiers of fortune" groups we can bribe into changing sides?" Eddy asked, being answered with a shot he ducked under. "Right, that's a no then!"
"It's Magoichi's Saika Mercenaries." Sachiko said.
"The Saika Mercenaries…of all times…" Sunset said. "He must be here to assassinate our target."
"So what do we do then?" Bow asked.
"We're gonna have to take down Magoichi if we want them off our backs." Sunset said.
"Well then…let's do this." Cap-P stated.
The Saika Mercenaries were knocked aside by Ed (with bowling pin noises sounding out…for some reason), as the group raced to the burning castle. "To the rescue!"
The group soon reached one of the upper levels as they saw a figure with their back turned to them with the symbol of a crow with three feet on the back of their vest, surrounded by the bodies of soldiers before turning to the group, this was Saika Magoichi.
"You're an unlucky bunch." Saika said as a spirit resembling the symbol on his back appeared perched on his shoulder before flapping its wings and floating into the air.
"Yatagarasu." Kagane recognized.
"I don't hate any of you, but I need you all to die." Saika said as Yatagarasu's wings formed behind him as he took to the air.
Leader of the Saika Mercenaries - Saika Magoichi
Weaknesses: Lightning, Earth
Resistances: Fire, Wind, Poison, Paralysis
(Cue: Mononofu I - Nioh)
Magoichi fought well against the group, unleashing wind blasts, bullets and explosives all from the air. When he touched down on the ground, he pulled out a sword, slashing at the group with experienced swordplay.
"Okay, this might be a bit tougher than I thought." Sunset said as she tried to take some shots using the Eerie musket.
"Shiki, bring him down to earth." Ace said.
"Got it. Gravity Center!" Shiki called, activating his Ether Gear and exerting an immense amount of force on Magoichi by boosting his gravity, pulling him to the ground.
"Now to deal with that sword of his!" Alkal said as he stomped towards the mercenary leader, meeting his sword with a barrage of punches that caused the sword to shatter.
The mercenary leader managed to jump away from the group, bringing his rifle out, finding himself face to face with Sunset, along with her own rifle. "One shot left."
"You feel lucky? Go ahead and take…your…shot." Sunset said, switching to a pair of kusarigama.
"The Slippery Tribe are in most cases, made of snakes, fish, anything that can wriggle and squirm. Those bodies of theres however to come with the advantage of making it hard to land a solid hit on them. So holding this…"
Magoichi took the shot as Sunset quickly dodged as she landed the finishing blow.
"Makes me a master of evasion!" she declared.
(End Song)
Magoichi was left on his knees before he looked up at Sunset and smirked. "Not bad."
The girl looked up to see the Saika Mercenaries surrounding them, before Magoichi stood back up. "Farewell." he said, before he and his troop disappeared.
"Upstairs, hurry!" Connie said as the group raced up, seeing Torii battling a group of Eastern soldiers.
As one of the soldiers lunged at the general, they were cut down by William. As the group raced to defeat the other soldiers, Sunset and Torii were left back-to-back, blades at the ready.
"Why did you come, Taiyo?!" Torii demanded.
"We came to save you! We can get you out of here!" Sunset said.
"What are you talking about?!" Torii declared as the two separated and took out more soldiers. "If this castle falls, so will I. I am ready to die."
(Cue: Sorrow - Nioh)
"Don't say it like that! Ieyasu still needs you!" Sunset said. "I… I don't want to sacrifice one half so I can save the other!"
"Come on, there's still time! What are you waiting for?!" William shouted.
"Take the escape route out of here!" Torii ordered them as he faced down a horde of yokai and Eastern soldiers. "You aren't coming to hell with me today, sparrows…they are!"
"But Torii, I..!" Sunset started, with tears starting to form.
"Taiyo! You are not wasting my life to save your friends!" Torii interrupted. "Go! Kill the foreign mage! He is your burden, not Lord Ieyasu's!" he said, as the old general's Guardian Spirit emerged from him, transforming from a small sparrow into a phoenix as it flew into Sunset…
I knew the last night I spent at Fushimi Castle would by my final farewell to my lord. Since my youth I fought by his side against many a canny foe: the Imagawa, the Takeda… That is enough to take with me. I shall observe and watch over my lord's peace from the other side…
Sunset stopped reaching out for Torii, his phoenix Suzaku perched on her shoulder, as she wiped her tears away. "...You will be honored many times over, Lord Mototada."
"That's it. You understand now. My time is over. It is time for a new era to be born!" Torii said. "Go, young sparrows! Help my lord at Sekigahara, make what happened here have meaning!"
With that, Torii Mototada charged the horde of enemies before him as the group raced out of the burning castle.
"I'm honestly glad we got to see Lord Modotada's final moments." Hope said after they escaped, watching the castle's flames in the distance. "We got to see him go down the way he wanted."
"We came here wanting to save him. But he knew better than any of us that his time was up." Sunset said.
"You doing alright?" Mark asked.
"...It's okay. This is how he wanted it to end." Sunset said. "He died honorably."
"Well, this should give the Western Army an advantage at the next battle." Bardock said. "Speaking of which…it's time."
"Yeah…off to Sekigahara." David said.
"The time has come it seems." Miriam said.
Sunset was quiet as they marched off.
"So that covers all the weapons and the basics of techniques…so is that it?" Sunset asked.
"Not quite. There is another thing to teach you…Domain Expansion." Zazel said.
"Oh boy, I've been looking forward to this." Trevor said, rubbing his hands together. "Now, me personally being a 2nd grade, I can't do this myself, but I can tell you about it. Domain Expansion is…pretty much the pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery. In basic terms, it's pretty much taking what makes you…you, and bringing it out as a barrier. Once it's activated, anyone inside of it can't escape it. Can't block any attacks either."
"Given the power you've obtained, you should be able to perform it. In fact, your range should encompass perhaps a whole town, maybe more. As such, I'll be teaching you a special one. One that makes use of all your friends. However, I want you to wait until a major battle to try this out." Zazel said. "Cause this one, it can be taxing."
"Well…looks like I'll be getting to try it out sooner than I thought." Sunset said to herself.
The battle of Sekigahara looms on the horizon, and Ieyasu and Mitsunari are set to clash. Kelly believes he holds all the cards, however… he's about to realize that Sunset is no longer the same girl he was able to break…