[1] Kenshi

• 二 Two 二 •

All of the brigands backed up, only for each of them to be attacked by more of the living dead that hopped from out of the long grass covering the sides of the path, the corpse attacking the leader swiftly decapitating him as it flew over.

After each brigand had been taken care of, all five undead got up and looked towards Yohei. His eyes simply narrowed as he neared his hand to the handle of his katana, ready to draw at any moment.

Suddenly, the five dropped on all fours, as they crawled towards Yohei at a high speed. Each of them deviated from their original path and jumped a bit to the side before pouncing at Yohei from different angles in which he'd swiftly dodge the first two. The ronin then dodged the third with a spin to the side, pulling out his blade mid-spin and using that momentum to deal a devestating slice to the last two which would simultaneously jump to him, immediately cutting them in half as both halves of their bodies was crash to the ground around Yohei.

Yohei quickly turned around, hearing the sound of feet kicking off the ground as one of the corpses jumped at his back, Yohei having turned around quick enough to have the yokai's neck slam into his left forearm, stopping it from getting closer to him. It was too close for comfort, its jaw violently opening and closely, the impact of its teeth making a louder noise than a human's would.

With his katana in his right hand, Yohei brought it up and slammed the butt of the handle onto his attacker's head, the weak bones of the creature causing its top skull to break into bits revealing a rotting brain which oozed a dark black liquid, presumably the monster's blood. Finishing it off, Yohei pulled his sword back and drove it straight into the corpse's mouth as the blade forced the jaw open even wider while it exited out the back of the head.

Using his honed senses which he developed over his life of near constant fighting, Yohei picked up on one of the corpses coming up behind him. In response, he quickly pushed the dead yokai off his sword, immediately taking a step back befote turning around and slashing at the creature behind him, the top half of its torso sliding off the rest of the body as both crashed to the ground.

With four of the five down, the black blood covered ronin looked over to the last one, seeing that its arms and legs were severed resulting in stubs. Out of these stubs stuck out long rusty blades which dug into the ground as the final corpse stayed on its fours.

"C'mon, buddy. Don't got all day." Yohei taunted at the creature, his katana casually held at his side with only his right hand.

The final shitai lowered itself closer to the ground as it ever so slowly moved back, hissing at Yohei with its raspy voice. The body language it displayed was all too predictable for Yohei as he completely foresaw the attack that the creature would make, the yokai pouncing at Yohei.

Yohei did not move, rather his eyes narrowing as they tracked the corpse in the air. With this, he twisted his wrist, the sharp part of the blade facing forward as he violently slashed upwards with his right arm, slicing open the belly of the shitai as it flew over him.

Yohei held his sword up high just for a second, afterwards bringing it down swiftly to shake off the black blood before sliding the katana back into its sheathe.

Looking back, Yohei confirmed the death of the final shitai before turning back around and walking forward through the scattered corpses of both man and yokai.

As Yohei walked by one of the brigand's corpses, he realized the man was alive. Upon closer inspection, it was the first brigand to be attacked. The skin from his face had been completely torn off, leaving nothing but his blood painted skull and bulging eyeballs due to a lack of eyelids. Blood had stained the dirt beneath his head as his body repeatedly twitched on the spot as Yohei looked down at him.

"You lived through all of that, huh?" Said the ronin, the brigand's eyes rolling back and staring straight into Yohei's own. The brigand opened its jaw with a click as he raised his handless right arm and shakily pointed it at the katana handle peaking out from behind Yohei's shoulder.

"Kill... me." The mangled and faceless brigand would plead with a raspy voice. "Kill... me." He repeated.

Yohei nodded. "You tried to rob me, but even I'm not as petty to let you sit here like this." His eyes, although narrow and lifeless, gave off a soft look mostly attributed to their strikingly blue color. It was the look of eyes that seen far too much, enough to the point of no longer caring, but still held even the slightest amount of sorrow.

After completing the no longer suffering brigand's request, Yohei stood up and looked to the gates of Edo. He could see the poor situation of the town just by examining the area visible through the gate.

Yohei looked down at the faceless brigand one more time before looking back through the entrance. "Second time in a row someone's asked me to kill them." The ronin sarcastically remarked, beginning his walk to the entrance. "Let's hope I can maybe strike up a conversation here, or at least get a pillow to rest my head on."

Little did the ronin know however, that the conversation he would strike up within the collapsing town would change his life forever.