Chapter 144: Naoe's 'Gekkō' and Method of Escape
"Kill me."
When Naoe Kanetsugu spoke those two words, her tone was unnervingly calm.
She had been bound to this pillar for seven full days. Aside from a few fleeting moments each day where she was allowed to shift her weight, she had been utterly immobile. Yet, her eyes had remained clear from beginning to end. There was no despair in them, nor the dejection of a warrior abandoned by her lord. It was more like a well-considered, logical request.
Hikaru sat cross-legged on the floor, the last vestiges of Yao Qi receding back into his body. He didn't respond immediately. The pale, handsome planes of his face were cast in the gentle morning light, and his mutated Crimson Demon Eyes lowered slightly.
"Why?" he asked simply.
"I am an enemy general." Naoe Kanetsugu seemed to grit her teeth, the words tasting like ash. "Since my Lord has already withdrawn her troops, I am a general of a defeated army, a captive from a broken campaign. To remain here is nothing but humiliation. It would be better to grant me a swift end."
Simply 'withdrawn', Hikaru noted.
In the minds of 'mortals'like Naoe, Uesugi Kenshin had not been slain, nor had any so-called succession occurred. She had merely been forced to'kneel' by an overwhelming power in Kaede Village, after which she had safely led her army away.
This was a discrepancy Hikaru had discovered only recently.
Except for himself and Kikyo, who still remembered the divine upheaval of Bishamonten's succession, everyone else—including the young shrine maidens Momiji and Botan back in the village—had no memory of the goddess's nirvana. They only recalled a disadvantageous retreat, a tactical withdrawal after being humbled by an unstoppable force.
, the Uesugi Kenshin that Naoe and the others described was fundamentally different from the one Hikaru had 'forced to death'.
He couldn't recall if the original Noragami had a setting where a god's succession could completely rewrite a mortal's impression of the previous incarnation. But the succession of Bishamonten, and by extension Uesugi Kenshin, seemed to have done exactly that. It had altered the memories of every mortal who knew of her.
This was the true, terrifying power of gods and buddhas.
'Fortunately,'he thought, a cold certainty settling within him,'I am unaffected.'
Fortunately, he still remembered... the previous Uesugi Kenshin was dead. The one ruling Echigo now was the second generation.
"I suppose so." Hikaru nodded slowly. "According to the customs of the Sengoku, a defeated general should indeed be put to the sword."
His hand closed around the hilt of the blade at his waist, and he rose to his feet with a fluid grace.
Instead of fear, a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of joy appeared in Naoe Kanetsugu's eyes. The girl's fair, slender neck tilted up slightly as she closed her eyes, a perfect picture of a warrior offering her head for execution.
The blade, however, did not fall.
Hikaru walked right up to her, then crouched down, leveling his gaze with hers. Those crimson eyes, etched with faint purple patterns, narrowed into an expression of amused, predatory teasing.
He spoke again, his voice a low murmur. "You want to die so you can go back, don't you?"
Naoe Kanetsugu's eyes snapped open, her pupils dilating in shock. In an extremely rare display, her composure shattered, revealing the raw panic of someone whose deepest secret had been laid bare.
"What are you talking about..."
"Uesugi Kenshin, the avatar of Bishamonten, the God of War who prattles on about 'Righteousness'." Hikaru spoke as if to himself, his words sharp and deliberate. "How could a Daimyo who would risk her own life for the sake of 'Righteousness', who values her reputation and her nation's faith above all else, simply abandon her most trusted general without a second thought?"
From the perspective of a divine avatar, it was completely illogical.
"Unless—" Hikaru's lips curled into a predatory grin. "Unless, in her eyes, you were never 'lost' at all."
The blood drained from Naoe Kanetsugu's face, leaving it a frozen mask.
Hikaru continued, his voice relentless. "Although you don't have the power of a Regalia, you are the core that directs the Echigo army when Uesugi Kenshin is absent—the army's second heart. In that battle, you were the 'brain' commanding all the Regalia."
"Since Uesugi Kenshin can grant names to create Regalia, she could naturally leave an insurance policy on you." He leaned closer. "I'm guessing that as long as you die here, your soul, or perhaps just your consciousness, will immediately return to Echigo and be resurrected in some pre-arranged vessel or altar."
Hikaru straightened up, patting her cheek with a light, dismissive motion.
"Did I guess right, Lord General Naoe?"
These were thoughts that had been coalescing in his mind for days. He had wondered how a chief strategist like Naoe could be used so callously as bait. Beyond her desperate, era-defying tactical brilliance, there had to be another layer of insurance. Even if gods were indifferent to human hearts, one who flew the banner of 'Righteousness' could not so blatantly sacrifice her most loyal subordinate.
Adding in Naoe's stoic, almost eager behavior over the past seven days... while his theory might not be perfect, Hikaru was confident it was at least eighty or ninety percent accurate.
And as his words fell, Naoe Kanetsugu's expression completely stagnated.
She had been seen through.
Utterly and completely seen through.
That demon had not only unraveled her Lord's 'leapfrogging' strategy but had even deduced the secret application of divine power that was meant to be her final escape.
"Therefore," Hikaru announced, standing up and brushing the dust from his hands, "I will not kill you."
"Not only will I not kill you, but I'm going to keep you well-fed. Momiji! Botan!"
"Present!" Two little shrine maidens poked their heads out from the doorway, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
"Feed this Lady Naoe a bit more; don't let her get thin. There's no need to untie the ropes, either. Just keep her bound like this. We'll discuss her release when her Lord personally comes to ransom her."
"You—you devil!" Naoe Kanetsugu finally broke. She thrashed against the pillar, struggling desperately as if to fray the ropes through sheer will, her eyes blazing with frustrated rage. Humiliation had curdled into pure fury.
If she didn't die, she would be trapped here forever, forced to watch Echigo's fortunes plummet while she was powerless to help. For a mind like hers, it was a fate far more agonizing than death.
Hikaru ignored her shouting and turned toward the door. As the chief administrator of Echigo, letting Naoe return would only accelerate the province's recovery from its wartime losses. While he was confident the new Uesugi Kenshin wouldn't—and couldn't—be his enemy, some necessary precautions were still in order.
Detaining Naoe Kanetsugu was one of them.
Just then, Momiji spoke again, her expression a little strange. "Um... Lord Hikaru, another guest has arrived outside."
"The new Uesugi Kenshin fought her way back already? That was fast." Hikaru was surprised, but a flicker of intuition told him something was wrong. He couldn't feel the approach of Uesugi Kenshin's divine power.
Logically, only seven days had passed. The new Kenshin was surely still stabilizing the rear of Echigo and couldn't possibly return so quickly. Besides, the woman had the 'lock' he'd left in her soul. She'd be forced to her knees the moment she saw him, so how would she dare to come?
As expected, Momiji shook her head. "It's a woman dressed very... very magnificently. She says she is the master of this land."
The master of this land?
Hikaru raised an eyebrow, instantly knowing who it was. At that moment, Kikyo also walked out from the inner room. She had just finished her morning purification, bathed, and changed into a clean shrine maiden's uniform. Her damp black hair was draped over her shoulders, carrying a faint, fresh fragrance.
"Let her in," Kikyo said indifferently, having clearly already sensed the visitor's aura.
"Hojo Ujiyasu," Hikaru uttered the name.
That was the nominal lord of Musashi Province, the 'Lion of Sagami' who had been played for a fool by Uesugi Kenshin. Uesugi had only just left, and she had arrived right on her heels. Her timing was quite precise.
Hikaru re-manifested the Crimson Oni Mask from condensed ghostly qi, but he didn't put it on, merely holding it in his hand as he walked to the entrance of the main hall.
Below the steps stood a woman.
Her jet-black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. A deep purple kimono, embroidered with the complex three-scale pattern of the Hojo clan, was wrapped tightly around her graceful, voluptuous figure. With her rounded hips and long legs, she exuded the unmasked, potent charm of a mature woman.
It was just a pity, Hikaru noted internally, that she was too flat. Not big enough.
She held a folding fan painted with gold lacquer, her gaze sweeping over the shrine's torii gate with a clear expression of disdain. Hearing footsteps, she looked up.
Those sharp purple eyes swept past Kikyo first, finally settling on Hikaru.
She snapped her folding fan shut, a seemingly familiar smile curling the corners of her lips.
"We meet again, the one who forced back the Uesugi... Kishin Hikaru."
On the other side of the hall, Naoe Kanetsugu, still tied to the pillar, had given up struggling. She merely opened one of her closed eyes just a crack.
Hojo Ujiyasu? Here? Is that woman here to recruit the monster before me?
Naoe thought it highly likely, though she couldn't be certain.
However, there was one thing she could be certain of—she, tied to this pillar, was about to be ignored once again.
Damn... monster... the petite strategist gritted her teeth, but she was truly helpless. Hikaru would neither kill her nor release her. She couldn't go anywhere.
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