The battle at Sekigahara had been raging for hours. The clash of swords, the thundering charge of cavalry, the screams of warriors—it all filled the air in a chaotic symphony of war. The Western Forces were pushing forward, but the Eastern Forces seemed unshakable. A line of soldiers fought with determination, but it was clear the day would not be decided by mere men alone.
At least, not until she arrived.
From the mist, a figure emerged, nearly invisible at first, her black wings folding back as she stepped into the battlefield. Her silhouette was tall and imposing, but it wasn't until she broke into a sprint that the true weight of her presence could be felt.
Saki Kurokoma moved with the grace of a predator, her heavy boots pounding against the earth as she advanced. She had the build of a beast, her legs far stronger than any human's, and her every step shook the ground like an aftershock. Her eyes—fiery red, piercing—scanned the battlefield with an idle curiosity, as if she were looking for the best way to have fun rather than victory.
No one noticed her at first. The soldiers were too engrossed in the battle. It wasn't until a sudden gust of wind kicked up, followed by a loud, bone-crushing roar, that the soldiers' heads snapped around in shock.
"What in the hell—?" one soldier muttered as he watched her stride toward the frontlines, her powerful legs sending dust flying into the air.
The first casualty of Saki Kurokoma's arrival was a samurai charging at her with a yari, intending to slam the spear end down on her head as the durable bamboo staff part twisted and bent under his tight grip. But before he could bring it down, Saki's gaze shifted upward with a fierce grin, and she ducked just as the spear whistled above her.
In an instant, her legs exploded into motion.
With a powerful, almost predatory leap, Saki shot upward, catching the spear's shaft mid-air with one hand and yanking it out of the samurai's grip. As she landed with the fluid grace of a predator, her muscles tensed, and she spun the spear like a staff, the sharp point slicing through the air with ease. In one swift motion, she slammed the weapon's end into the samurai's gut with a force that made the earth tremble beneath her feet.
The blow was brutal. There was an audible crack as the lacquered armor shattered like brittle wood, splintering into jagged shards. The samurai's breath was driven from his lungs with a sickening sound, and he was launched backward as if a heavy stone had struck him. His body flew through the air, armor crumpling in on itself, the once proud steel now bent and broken. He crashed into the dirt with a wet thud, the remnants of his armor scattering across the ground as he fell motionless.
Saki watched the spectacle with an amused grin, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck. "Not bad, but you're still too soft for me." She wiped her hands together, dismissing the fight as though it had been little more than a warm-up.
Another samurai, his face a mask of determination, charged at Saki, his feet kicking up the blood-drenched earth as he aimed to knock her off balance. His eyes locked on the vulnerability he believed he had spotted—her legs, slightly bent as she prepared to meet his assault. With a sudden roar, he slammed into her, his shoulder driving into her midsection in an attempt to throw her down, leveraging his weight to twist and throw her to the ground.
But Saki didn't move.
The samurai's eyes widened in shock as his body collided with her like a wave crashing against an immovable cliff. Her powerful legs remained firmly planted, her feet digging into the soft, bloody earth as though rooted there by ancient stone. He gritted his teeth, straining to use the momentum of the impact to bring her down, his arms wrapping around her torso in a desperate attempt to force her into the dirt.
But nothing. She didn't budge an inch.
With a contemptuous grunt, Saki's eyes glinted, and in one swift, almost bored motion, she grabbed his arm mid-twist. With a brutal snap of her wrist, she yanked him upward, spinning his body off balance. The world seemed to tilt for a moment as she used his own force against him, lifting him from the ground as though he were nothing more than a rag doll.
He twisted helplessly in mid-flight, his armor clanging and scraping, before he collided with a group of ashigaru who were charging toward her. The impact was devastating.
The samurai smashed into them like a battering ram, sending the unsuspecting ashigaru flying in all directions. One man's helmet flew off, spinning into the air as the entire group crumpled beneath the sudden onslaught. Bodies tangled and rolled across the blood-slicked earth, their cries of pain echoing as they were knocked senseless by the collision.
Saki stood calmly at the center of the wreckage, watching with amusement as the samurai and ashigaru groaned and struggled to rise. "You lot really think you can stop me?" she mused aloud, her voice a mix of mockery and indifference, as she wiped the dirt from her boots.
The Eastern army began to stir uneasily, whispers and murmurs spreading like wildfire through the ranks. Soldiers paused mid-battle, glancing nervously at the strange figure wreaking havoc before them. Panic started to take root in their hearts as they realized—this was no ordinary warrior. Something unnatural had entered the fray.
A samurai, his face pale with fear, hissed to his comrades, "What is that... thing?" His voice trembled as he tightened his grip on his katana, but the sight of Saki's raw strength shook him to his core.
Nearby, an ashigaru cursed under his breath. "I saw her… she ripped a man apart with nothing but her hands! That's no human! No samurai could do that!"
They were all rattled, but they had no time to process the terror before another of their own, another particularly brave samurai, rushed at Saki. His eyes gleamed with confidence as he gripped his spear and charged in with the full weight of his armor, attempting to slam his shoulder into her for an attempted jujutsu-style throw, believing the force of his weight and the protection of his armor would subdue her.
But Saki's smile turned sharp and predatory. With a blur of motion, she sidestepped the charging samurai, her hand lashing out like a viper to seize his arm. Before he could react, her grip tightened with bone-crushing force, the sickening sound of cracking metal and splintering wood echoing through the chaos.
With a sudden, brutal yank, Saki tore him from his balance, her other hand gripping the lacquered breastplate of his armor. The samurai's body wrenched backward with a metallic screech as the armor buckled under her monstrous strength. Rivets snapped, plates shattered, and the protective shell that had once defined him as a warrior came apart in her grasp, ripped free in jagged shards that clattered to the ground like broken pottery.
The battlefield stilled for a moment, all eyes turning toward her. Gasps of horror rippled through the ranks of the Eastern army. A stunned ashigaru dropped his yari, his voice trembling as he whispered, "She… she tore his armor… with her bare hands!"
"That's impossible!" a nearby samurai stammered, clutching his katana tightly, his knuckles white. "No one—no thing—could do that!"
Saki held the fractured pieces of armor aloft for all to see, letting them fall to the bloodstained dirt one by one with a deliberate, mocking slowness. Her smirk widened as her piercing red eyes scanned the crowd of stunned onlookers, daring them to act. "You call that protection?" she taunted. "Pathetic."
The exposed samurai trembled in her iron grip, his face pale with fear as he struggled in vain. Before he could muster a word, Saki's hand shifted, and with a dismissive grunt, she hurled him into the ground with enough force to shake the earth beneath her feet. His body hit with a sickening crack, lifeless and crumpled, as blood pooled beneath him.
The ashigaru and samurai nearby recoiled, many stumbling backward, their faces drained of color. One ashigaru dropped to his knees, muttering, "She's not human… She's a demon… A monster!"
"She tore through his armor like it was paper," another samurai hissed, his voice filled with disbelief. "What are we fighting? How are we supposed to win against that?"
The fear spread like wildfire, their courage eroding with every second they watched her. Some soldiers began to hesitate, their weapons faltering in their hands, while others stepped back entirely, their survival instincts overriding their honor.
Saki's grin only widened as she surveyed the trembling soldiers around her. "What's the matter?" she called out mockingly. "Weren't you all so eager to fight a moment ago?" She planted her foot on the broken remains of the samurai's armor, pressing it into the dirt as if to drive home the message. "Come on, then! Show me what you've got—or run. Makes no difference to me."