Reincarnated as the Chosen One in My All-Time Favorite Fantasy Novel: VII - Dark Lord No More

While they rode their pegasi to Kagamitochi, Kenichi noticed that Ash looked a little down. He sidled up next to the hunter and rode by his side for a while before speaking.

“You're sad about your sword, aren't you?” he said.

Ash looked up at him. “Was it written upon my visage?” he said. “Yes, it is a shame to lose such an ancestral arm, though I understand the sacrifice.”

Kenichi opened up a map. On it he had made several annotations of his own. He pointed at a green X in the mountains. “When this is all done, we'll take a journey here. We'll bring Kofi at least, but the more, the better. Kofi knows the legend, but everyone else can help battle the creatures that lurk in the depths of the caves. At the heart of the cave in this mountain, you'll find the Eternal Blade of Tenrai. In the book, it was this sword that was swapped for the Mirror Sword, but since I was in a hurry, I thought that any great enough sword would do. Turns out I was right. I'll have to share that when... or if... I ever get back home.”

Ash looked at the green X on the page, then he looked up at Kenichi. With glistening eyes, he pulled the hero into a tight embrace. “I thank you, Ken, from the bottom of my heart.” Then he released him, his face belying his underlying excitement. “With the Eternal Blade, I shall be able to present it to Kamiael to prove my worth to wed his daughter.”

Kenichi nodded. “Though I think he might be willing to do it if you defeat Kagamikurai,” he said.

Ash shook his head. “Nay. It has been your wit, your cunning, and your blade that has done much of the defeat around here. When we have defeated the Dark Lord, we shall journey as brothers, and fetch the Eternal Blade.”

“Deal,” said Kenichi. They rode on for a while in silence. Kenichi saw Marumi off on her own, looking out across the landscape as they rode. He trotted his pegasus up beside her. “I haven't forgotten about you,” he said.

“Oh?” she said.

Still with the map open, he held it out to her. She took it. “Do you see the area I circled in red?”

“Yes,” she said after scanning the map with her eyes.

“I have it on good authority that there is a large deposit of gold ore there. If you can claim the land, then set up a mining operation, you could stand to be the richest person in all the land.”

She looked at the map again, her green eyes tracing a path. “Is this your way of repaying me for burning down my inn?”

“Sort of,” he said, smiling, blushing. “I also thought it would be a fun adventure we could have together.”

His pegasus whinnied.

“Hm,” said Marumi. “That's so nice of you. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This land isn't mine, and there's no mine yet, so the gold here is not worth anything.” She leaned back and looked at the sky, the white clouds drifting past on a field of blue. “Besides,” she said. “I don't think I want to be the richest person in the land. There's something about that that feels weird to me.” She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air. “I just want to rebuild the inn. That would bring balance to my life.”

“Kenichi,” said Momiji from up ahead. “What is your plan for defeating the five remaining Kugonin?”

Kenichi grinned. “Easy,” he said. “Each one has a weakness, just like the others. I'll just exploit that, and we'll be through them in no time. In fact, let's do it as a montage!”

“Montage?” Momiji said, his moustache tangling.

Sankishi was weak against water, so, leveraging Marumi's bucket, which still had a head-shaped dent in the side, helped them quickly defeat him.

Nikishi could not see his own reflection, so using the Dark Mirror Shard, they were able to trap him inside. Kenichi wasn't sure if that counted as a defeat, but when he accidentally dropped the mirror shard and it broke into dust, he stopped wondering.

Shikishi was weak against kindness.

“I have never before seen a person embrace a Kugonin like a dear friend,” said Ash.

“It was nothing,” said Kenichi.

“Are you bleeding?” Marumi said.

“I think he stabbed me a little,” said Kenichi, dabbing at the wound on his side. “But we beat him.”

“The Kugonin use cursed blades. None but Kamiael know the cure for the poisons infused into their wicked edges!” said Momiji.

Kenichi winced with the pain from the stab wound. “We just need to treat it with akaza flowers,” he said. “That'll clear it up in no time.” Then, the color drained from his face and he fell from his pegasus.

Ash foraged for the flower. Marumi cooked it into a mush over a fire. Then, while Momiji did his best to dress the wounds with the poultice, they all waited for him to recover.

After an agonizing hour, the color returned to his face. He fluttered his eyes open. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I didn't mean to be a bother.”

“It's no bother,” said Koffi. “We're glad you're still with us.”

"How are you feeling?" Korrael asked.

"Fit as a fiddle," Kenichi said.

“Ken,” said Ash. “What of the remaining two Kugonin: Ichikishi and Kyukishi?”

Kenichi coughed, then sat up with a wince. “Ichikishi, when he was a young boy, had his mother go to each and every People of the Light and People of the Dark and swear an oath that none of them would harm her son. They all swore the oath, and as such, Ichikishi is immune to all harm brought by any Person of the Light or Person of the Dark.”

“So, he is undefeatable,” said Ash.

Kenichi held up his hand, pointing a finger gun at the hunter. “You forgot Chekhov's gun,” he said. “Pow,” he said with a wink.

“Insolent fools! Don't you know that none of the People can defeat me?” Ichikishi stood tall and mighty upon a jagged stone outside Kagamikurai's stone fortress.

Then a rabbit appeared on his shoulder. “Your mother never asked us to swear any oath!” said Tharnwald, raising his club high. A rabbit army swarmed Ichikishi and surrounded him like a fur coat, easily defeating him.

“And what of Kyukishi?” said Tivareth.

“He was destined to outlive all the others,” Kenichi said as they stood outside the gate to the stone fortress.

From the parapet, they heard an agonized wail, then the ninth and final Kugonin fell to his demise. They stepped around his remains and into the fortress, the armies of the People of Light battling the People of Dark in the distance behind them.

A river of lava flowed through the center of the fortress, and across a stone bridge sat Kagamikurai upon his throne. He wore jagged metal armor that made him look like a terrifying beast, and a spiked crown to let everybody know that he was the king here. He looked at the group entering his throne room.

“What is the meaning of this?” he said. He rose and started to stomp across the bridge, his black cape billowing in the volcanic heat.

“Time's up, Kagamikurai!” said Kenichi. He tossed a bundle of fabric at the Dark Lord. He caught it and tore the fabric from it.

“The Mirror Sword?” he said. “Why would you give this to me? Don't you know that it increases my power tenfold?” He seemed to grow larger as he spoke, the blade infusing him with energy. “With this weapon, I regain my godlike powers.” He leveled the sword at Kenichi. “I would thank you before I killed you if I did not believe you to be a fool.”

“I'm not as foolish as you think,” Kenichi said. “Haven't you heard of industrial safety standards?”

“Huh?” said the Dark Lord.

In the moment of confusion, Kenichi spun around the tip of the Mirror Sword. He pulled Drowsysword free from its scabbard and sliced at Kagamikurai's midsection. The Dark Lord pivoted to parry the blow, but in the instant he did that, he was off-balance. Kenichi took the opportunity to drive his shoulder into the Dark Lord, sending him over the stone bridge and into the pool of magma.

He turned to face the others. “What did I say?” he said. “Seven chapters?”

Something grabbed his ankle and pulled him back. A gauntleted fist had reached out from the magma and was gripping his foot. He started to fall backwards into the lava.

“Kenichi!” said Marumi. She ran toward him, reaching her hand out to his. Their fingers brushed, and in the moment, it felt as if a bolt of electricity had shot between them.

Then, everything froze. Kenichi saw Marumi, her wide green eyes, her blue gemstone earrings, her face, the same face as the Marumi he knew (and secretly loved) back home. He knew that if she grabbed his hand, she would be pulled down into the magma as well.

He looked her in the eyes and gave his best smile before he pulled his hand away, pushing her back with the other. She fell back onto the stone bridge, safely in the middle. Kenichi fell backwards into the molten stone, and as his body struck the hot substance, he saw, peering over the edge of the stone bridge, a cat with two large purple eyes.