The sword is the greatest weapon in all the world

“There are only five seats so…”

He looked at the group and immediately handed the keys to Em.

“Which is why, haaa, I’ll be trailing behind using my hooks”

He tried to smile a bit, but no one reacted. Perhaps scheduling their assault at five in the morning was a poor choice. It would take a while to make it up the mountain, and he wanted to make sure they had plenty of sun to fight Muramasa. He wasn’t ready to face a god in daylight, let alone at night.

The group piled into the car. Jesse ended up sitting between the twins, looking as lively as ever. Isaac watched them drive away, now wishing that he had volunteered Jesse to go on foot. He probably would have agreed, considering he had the agreeableness of a wet sock.

Isaac shot a hook into a nearby tree and began making his way along the road. As he swung himself tree-to-tree, he tried to think of something happier.

Christmas, that was it. He loved Christmas. It was a shame no one else appreciated his deep, honest, affection for the December holiday. He was filled with a sudden desire to start playing “O Holy Night” at full volume. 

Maybe Christmas wasn't a good thing to think about. 

The sky had begun to darken. Isaac turned on his intercom.

“Em, what’s up? It’s still morning, right?”

“Yeah. It looks like the god is causing that”

“Okay, thanks”

In addition to the sky, he noticed that the air was beginning to warm up. There was a distinct lack of wildlife as well.

The car stopped. Isaac dropped onto the ground and retracted his grappling hooks. Em stumbled out of the car and slammed the door.

“It stopped. The whole thing went dead, all at once”

She rubbed her arms.

“Cold?”

“Not really”

“I told them I was going to try and fix the car. We’ve really got two options: Continue on foot, or retreat on foot”

Isaac sucked in his breath.

“So we’re kinda screwed either way, huh”

He heard a car door open. It was Jesse.

“The car won’t go any further. Muramasa knows we’re here”

The sky was almost pitch black now, except for a faint red glow coming from the east. It reminded him of a sunrise.

“Me and Em will stay with the newbies and Jack. Jesse, go ahead and try your best. If you die, let us know, okay?”

Neither laughed.

Jesse closed his eyes and focused for a second. Then, ever so slowly, he moved his arm in a circular motion, before holding it high above his head. A faint black line appeared near his fingertip. The line began to grow thicker and longer, until it reached his knees. He carefully pinched the other end of the line with his free hand.

“Stand back”

A loud cracking sound broke the silence. Isaac and Em instinctively looked around for its source. When they turned their eyes back to Jesse, he was holding a long, thin, white sword in his hand.

“How did you do that?” Isaac asked, leaning forward to inspect the weapon.

“That’s not for you to know”

Em grabbed Isaac’s arm before he could try and touch the sword.

“Focus on the task at hand”

Isaac walked over to the car and knocked on the window. Fuyu rolled it down.

“Hey, our god is messing with stuff. Stay in the car. Me and Em are going to be outside keeping watch. We’re kind of putting it all on Jesse for now”

Etsuko groaned. “Boring ass trip”

“You should be grateful you’re not dead” Jack said weakly.

When Isaac returned to where Em was, Jesse had already left.

***

Jesse sprinted towards the source of the red light. The closer he got, the more bizarre his surroundings became. Trees were twisted in unnatural ways, dead animals marred and scattered on the ground.

A faint hum could be heard. He increased his pace. A loud noise caused him to jerk his head upward. Looming over him, cloaked in blood red, was the moon. Jesse didn’t know how or why the moon was where it was, but he found his heart racing.

He entered a clearing in the woods. Muramasa was waiting for him.

***

Meanwhile, in a clothing store, Masaki Ito fell out of a changing room mirror. The lively chatter of the shoppers was interrupted by a loud wail.

Ito burst out of the changing room and fell to his knees. He stared at his shaking hands and continued to let out a piercing scream. It was primal, like that of an animal in great pain. A clerk slowly approached him and placed his hand on Ito’s shoulder.

“Sir, w-what’s the matter?”

Suddenly, he pulled his hand away and yelped. He found he now had thin scratches all across his palm.

Ito pointed at the clerk.
“You, call the police, right now. Do it quickly, oh god, oh god-”

He began to sob, burying his face in his hands, then screaming, then clawing at his face, then screaming and wailing, over and over ad nauseum-

He was now surrounded by a pool of blood. Everyone had quietly left, and now the only noise that could be heard was his whimpering and the sound of tearing flesh. One would assume that there would be a moment of respite for Ito, but there was none.

When the police arrived they found him in another fit of wailing. His shaggy blond hair was now well matted with blood.

The captain strode forward and stopped in front of him. He towered over Ito like a strict schoolteacher.

“What’s going on here, sir?”

Ito turned to face the officer. His face was nothing more than a ragged mess of fleshy pulp, slowly twisting itself in an attempt to return to its original state. His left eye hung loosely out of the socket. There were strangely shaped pieces of glass jutting out in several places, almost as if they had come from within.

“You need to let me see the prime minister”

The officer stood his ground.

“Sir, you need medical assistance”

“I need to see the prime minister, right now”

***

Muramasa stood perfectly still, waiting for Jesse to speak.

Jesse looked upon the rival god’s form with disgust. It was hunched over, with a long torso and arms to match. The only clothing it wore was a simple pair of burlap trousers. Thick grey skin barely covered its frame.

The face lacked human features outside of eight eyes arranged in a circle. Two long horns jutted out of its forehead. It held a large, weighty katana in its hand.

“You’re fucking with my life, Mur, and all because you want to feel like a goddamn samurai”

Jesse spit towards Muramasa.

“That’s what humans do when they hate someone, Mur”

Muramasa slumped his shoulders a bit.

“It’s not Mura, Junior. Junior is what Americans call their children”

Jesse jumped forward and swung his sword at Muramasa’s knees. It narrowly dodged the attack by making a few quick steps backwards. It regained its balance and readied its sword. 

"I've waited a while for this, Jesse"