Chapter 242: Majin Okita Souji
Before this strange samurai world was generated, within a gray and unknown space where time seemed to have stopped, a mass of black mud was writhing. The mud enveloped a Holy Grail, being transported into another universe.
Carrying the Holy Grail, the ominous black silt traversed different Lostbelts, eventually finding the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Oda Nobunaga. It hoped to establish a contract, offering nearly immortal regenerative abilities and a universal wishing machine. The only condition was to kill one man.
The complete Oda Nobunaga of that time—the black-haired, red-eyed girl—didn't even listen before she directly blasted the black mud and the Holy Grail away.
The black mud, along with the Holy Grail that had been sent flying, fell into a strange space. Because it had been struck, the magical energy within overflowed, spiraling toward unstable points and forming a massive vortex, causing an anomaly. It pulled many Servants and people from an era in a certain world where samurai roamed into a dream-like state, overlapping them to form this peculiar world.
Until one day, Maou Nobunaga, who had been trapped within, suddenly separated from "Nobu." Yet, even the more dominant and overbearing Maou Nobunaga never considered accepting the black mud Holy Grail.
However, through the calculations of the black mud and the foresight of its hidden master, it was predicted that Emiya Shirou would appear in this world. And the Servant in this world most likely to kill Emiya Shirou was Oda Nobunaga.
Thus, a massive amount of black mud erupted from the Grail, sweeping over and covering the black-haired, red-eyed girl, attempting to forcibly reconstruct her into a blackened Heroic Spirit.
But Oda Nobunaga was the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven—an existence that disregarded and destroyed rules, denied gods and Buddhas, and would burn down a temple on a whim.
Her life's creed was simply to live as she pleased during the brief fifty years of a human life, pursuing her dreams freely and living out her own brilliance.
So, even if an enlightened Buddha appeared before her, if she could not defeat him, she would still never yield. Naturally, she would not be swayed by some black mud, nor would she allow herself to be bound by any power.
The black-haired, red-eyed girl struggled out of the curse of the black mud, releasing it from her body and stuffing it back into the Holy Grail. The only change was that she seemed to have become the only Servant in this world who could still use a Noble Phantasm.
Relying on this power, Maou Nobunaga lived a self-indulgent life in this world.
It was supposed to be like that, until she met the man named "Shirou"—the man the black mud was willing to travel across multiple worlds just to kill. Naturally, she was curious and wanted to see him for herself.
Of course, even if only to spite the black mud, she wouldn't kill him. She permitted her subordinates to offend and challenge her, and she acknowledged powerful enemies, but she would never accept being insulted. If the black mud that tried to manipulate her mind were a living thing, she would undoubtedly have sentenced it to death and executed it immediately.
She just hadn't expected that this meeting would cause some issues. The man was a high-quality male who scored an eighty on looks alone, and combined with his character and talent, he was a rarity in this world. However, his personality was troublesome, almost like a rare creature.
At first, if it were as a partner, Nobunaga would have refused. But as a collection piece, he was quite excellent.
Unexpectedly, he was like a treasure chest with his valuables hidden inside, always providing surprises. The more she interacted with him, the more she grew to like him.
"I'm lacking a part? I clearly rejected all that black mud; how could I still be influenced by it? If I were acting according to the will of the black mud, I should hate Shirou, yet right now, I undeniably feel love!" Maou Nobunaga shook her head, waving her open hands to deny the claim.
"That's so blunt—! Ugh! But I won't hand Master over to you!" Young Yukino's face turned beet-red as she glared at Maou Nobunaga.
Souji, standing nearby, waved her hands repeatedly.
"No, no. This Okita thinks that sometimes love can be even more dangerous than hate. Especially when targeted by a dangerous person. Even if Shirou arrives, if Komachi finds out about this, will she feel worried or angry?"
Nobu was also quite surprised, resting her chin on her hand as she sighed.
"I didn't expect so many things to happen during the few days I was gone... To think he could charm my other self. Perhaps Shirou actually has the capacity to be the person of the realm. He looks so gentle and harmless; does he have some soul-bewitching monster living inside him?"
Then, Nobu locked her gaze on Maou Nobunaga.
"But! Bad Nobu, what you lack is the empathy to understand other people's true thoughts. That is an indispensable ability for ruling the world and balancing the lords.
"If you were the normal version of yourself, though you'd cause a massive scene, you would still have feelings for your kin and friends. You wouldn't be this headstrong."
"Regarding subordinates, you would encourage them to learn and develop their talents. But rewards aren't something forced upon them; you'd let them choose and strive for it themselves.
"As for someone you truly like, you don't care about their feelings; you only satisfy your own, wanting them to act according to your ideas.
"You... you've already placed yourself outside the world, looking down upon it from a higher position. Hey, Bad Nobu, do you still find a world like this interesting?" Nobu asked.
"Nnu..." Hearing Nobu's words, Maou Nobunaga clutched her chest, a look of doubt crossing her face. But she quickly dismissed these suspicions and shouted angrily, "No! I don't understand at all! I can't understand what you're saying! I am the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven; shouldn't everything just be done according to my ideas?"
Nobu revealed a brilliant smile and said to her other self, "Is that so! In that case... there's nothing for it but a duel! Bad Nobu, I challenge you! Bad Nobu! Let's leave this world together!"
"Hahaha, how interesting! In your current state, you think you can defeat me? You, who are lazy by nature, cannot beat me, who possesses greater ambition." Maou Nobunaga crossed her arms. Thousands of matchlocks appeared behind her, floating in the air with their muzzles aimed at Nobu. She tilted her head and asked with a cruel grin.
Nobu charged forward instantly, her gun pointing at Maou Nobunaga at the same time.
"Places I hate, I'll burn to the ground. Places I like, I'll never let them be destroyed! To kill just one person, only a single matchlock is needed!"
"You certainly talk big! In that case, there's no choice! Three Thousand Worlds—!!!" Thousands of streaks of fire erupted from behind Maou Nobunaga. Tiny points of light gathered together, eventually forming a blinding, intense radiance.
When killing one person, the difference between thousands of guns and one gun is actually quite small.
At the same time she was targeted by the concentrated fire, the matchlock raised in Nobu's hand aimed at Maou Nobunaga's chest, and she pulled the trigger.
Maou Nobunaga looked on in disbelief at the hole appearing in her heart area. One could see straight through to the back; the internal organs that had been struck were gone.
And Nobu, who had accomplished this, was swallowed in the next instant by the beams of light from the thousands of matchlocks, disappearing and leaving this world.
"Nobu!" Souji shouted loudly.
"Miss Nobu!" Yukino cried out in grief.
"Quite a move! As expected of me!" Maou Nobunaga suddenly laughed out loud, completely disregarding the intense pain in her body. Blood sprayed wildly as she shook with laughter. With Nobu's disappearance, the Holy Grail that had been inside Nobu returned to Maou Nobunaga's hand.
Mud composed of black magical energy overflowed from the Grail, crawling out as if to fill Maou Nobunaga's wound.
"Go back! I don't need such help!" With a wave of her hand, Maou Nobunaga suppressed the surging black mud.
"Wuhahaha!!! This time, I have lost. But, Okita! This Holy Grail I modified is not such a simple thing! Right! You shall complete my final mission!" Maou Nobunaga locked her gaze on the swordswoman.
"Ugh!" Souji also sensed the ominous aura emitting from the Holy Grail and asked warily: "Bad Nobu! What exactly are you trying to do? What is this Holy Grail..."
Maou Nobunaga shook the golden cup in her hand.
"This? Want to know? This Holy Grail isn't anything good. It wanted to control me from the start.
But I am Oda Nobunaga, the person of the realm. I can indulge the challenges of subordinates, but I cannot tolerate an insult. How could this mere black mud sway my will?
If I wanted to stay here, I could use this Holy Grail now to repair my heart. But if I did that, I wouldn't be 'me' anymore. In that case, even if I could stay with Shirou, I probably wouldn't be very happy," Maou Nobunaga muttered to herself as she looked at the defiled universal wishing machine.
"Never mind! This is the final product I used to modify the bandits. Okita Souji! You shall become a Demon God! Carry the game I promised Shirou to its very end! Slaughter all the villagers here and turn this village into a wasteland of eternal scorched earth!" Before leaving this world, Maou Nobunaga raised the Holy Grail and threw it at Souji.
The black mud overflowing from the Holy Grail poured out like a waterfall, drenching the girl like a living thing.
"It's over for me too, eh. In the end, I didn't get what I wanted. He... he would surely have come even if it meant his death. Dammit... I really was influenced by this black mud Holy Grail after all...
"Otherwise, why would I be so obsessed with that man? Now that I have to leave, I'm actually a bit reluctant." The black-haired, red-eyed girl turned her body as if searching for the man's figure. Sadly, she couldn't see him in the end, and she collapsed to the ground.
"It's fine... next time, next time I will go find you." The black-haired, red-eyed girl fell into a pool of blood and closed her eyes, a smile touching her lips. Her splayed black hair looked like a blooming Manjushage (red spider lily).
"Waaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!" Souji let out a scream of intense pain. Black lightning flashed, and in her place appeared a tan-skinned woman with long white hair. She wore a red and black battle dress and held a strangely styled black great katana.
—Majin Souji manifests!
Her class was Alter Ego, an "Other Self" of a Heroic Spirit—an existence like another facet of the original's self in a mirror. It could also be another possibility the Heroic Spirit achieved in life.
Due to the forced conversion by the Holy Grail, the girl's spiritual core and personality were twisted, making her like another person copied from a mirror. Furthermore, under the constraints of the Holy Grail, her mind was affected, and she would execute Maou Nobunaga's final command to the end.
The white-haired girl's expression was cold, truly resembling a legendary Demon God, ready to slaughter everything before her eyes. A demonic bandit running past was decapitated by a single stroke of her blade; the people around couldn't even see how she had swung her sword.
There were only several flashes in an instant, and then the bandit's head and body were turned to dust.
This was an existence that shouldn't have appeared in this world. Even the villagers and farm women without any combat ability could clearly sense the invisible pressure emitting from her, discerning that this woman was even more powerful than the previous Maou Nobunaga.
The nameless great katana in her hand flashed with black light—a pure black light that somehow gave off a dazzling and sacred feeling. Crimson flames ignited around the blade.
The girl frowned, looking deeply sorrowful, yet her hands were out of control. She raised the black katana. The red light in the center of the blade, which usually glowed when she was in a good mood, was now completely dim.
Young Yukino seemed to sense something. She ran forward, spreading her arms to stand in her way.
"Move!" the white-haired, tan-skinned woman said coldly to the girl.
"I won't! I won't let you hurt the villagers inside!" Young Yukino looked at the woman before her with sorrow, realizing that this woman, who shared Sister Okita's face, had forgotten the memories between them.
Right now, all Yukino could see in Souji's eyes was killing intent. Clearly, if she continued to block the way, she would truly be killed by the other's sword.
The small girl's body trembled, but she maintained her posture with arms spread before the door, not retreating a single step.
Souji Alter scanned the girl, a complex look appearing in her eyes. The hand gripping the sword turned slightly, and then she swung instantly!
A flash of black light erupted. The long sword swung past the girl, unleashing the flames of Purgatory directly at the house where the elderly, weak, women, and children were gathered.
"No!" Young Yukino spread her arms and rushed forward to block the flaming sword qi flying toward the house, intending to use her body to shield the people inside from the blast.
"Hah!!!" A purple, eerie sword aura shot forward. A lean man wearing a cloak arrived just in time, standing in front of the girl.
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