The Beginning of Shadows
What is it that humans fear more than anything else? Is it loss, the loss of money, darkness, losing everything? No. It is death.
In a rural village,
"The sky was cloudy, and the village was filled with the blood of its inhabitants, for everyone had been killed."
The bodies were scattered everywhere; it seemed as though a massacre had occurred. There were thieves, and it turned out that these thieves had attacked the village and spilled the blood of everyone there.
"A person was sitting on one of the bodies. His body was thin, and hunger was apparent on his features."
He looked at the bodies with disgust. "Why is this village so poor, that its inhabitants look strange?" One of the thieves, who had raised a sword from one of the villagers' bodies, replied: "In the end, it's a village outside the empire, and it's always vulnerable to attacks by them."
The thief thought to himself, and fear and worry appeared on his face as he looked at the bodies. It seemed really strange; everything in this village felt odd. The inhabitants seemed to have no connection to any human; it was as if they were ghosts.
"How long are you going to keep chattering?" A figure with a strong build appeared, with brown hair and black eyes, clearly the leader of the thieves who attacked the village. He looked up at the sky and said: "Well, the night has fallen, we'll camp here. We don't know if they will attack us."
"Do you really believe in that myth, or are you afraid of the samurai?" one of the thieves mocked the leader of the bandits.
"If you're so sure, why don't you watch over us? If you die, they are here, and if you don't die, I'll believe you." The bandit leader, his face showing anger because his subordinate mocked him, replied:
"Alright, I accept your challenge, but if I'm right, you have to accept my request."
"And what's your request?" The thief replied. "That I challenge you to a duel."
"Alright, I accept your challenge." The bandit leader said. The thief smiled and said: "I hope you're right and that you don't back out." And he left.
After night fell, the thief felt both happy and scared. His feelings were mixed. He could die at any moment. He whispered to himself, "Is what he said true? Am I not afraid of the samurai? No, it seems like he's lying."
Suddenly, a sound of rapid movement was heard. The thief thought, "It seems that, due to my lack of sleep, I'm imagining things." The sound grew louder, and he saw a shadow. Fear appeared on his face. "It seems I wasn't imagining it," he said, his voice trembling. His body couldn't move out of fear as he saw a shadow of a person wearing a ronin hat.
"I must... I must be careful... they..." The head was cut in half, and it fell to the ground.
A figure entered the bandit leader's camp. The figure appeared to be scared. "You have to leave now!" He screamed in fear.
The leader left, panting. He saw that the darkness had engulfed the village. He pulled out his weapon. One of the thieves tried to move forward, but the darkness swallowed him, and a body fell to the ground. The sight shocked all the thieves, fear evident on their faces.
After a moment, all of them were cut down, leaving only the bandit leader, stunned. The darkness moved toward him. It was beginning to feel like a horror story. He tried to defend himself, shouting in fear: "Who are you? Show yourself. Are you one of them, or are you a samurai? If you're one of them, just answer."
The bandit leader was sliced in half.
The figure held his head. It was a samurai with long silver hair and red eyes, wearing a ronin hat and clothes that looked ordinary. He smiled as he spoke, "I am death." It was Akayama. He smiled and released the head, noticing that the village began to disappear like a mirage, as if it had never existed.
"Truly, it seems that this was no ordinary village, and that explains why I came here. So, this village is cursed. Their deaths were inevitable, whether by my hand or the yōkai."
Akayama said:
"In this world, there are creatures that resemble humans, and the other half does not resemble humans at all. They are the yōkai, creatures born from the gathering of many souls, becoming a terror manifested in this world. Some killed humans, while others were peaceful. But their existence caused harm to this world, for the world was balanced between humans and monsters. When the yōkai arrived, a war broke out between them, a war that led to the destruction of many kingdoms and empires, a war that changed history. It did not end with the victory of anyone, and only three empires survived, while the others became curses under the control of yōkai and spirits."
Thus, the samurai were born. Akayama smiled and said in a terrifying voice: "And I was created to kill all the samurai, yōkai, and monsters."
Akayama thought to himself:
"This world is so strange. Humans thought that the rulers were with them, but they were wrong. The truth is that the rulers were the ones who caused this. This world is devoid of life, and I must end it."