*ROOOOOOAR*

Breaths soft and calm...

Feet planted firmly on the ground...

Hand gripped tight on the hilt of my sword...

Readying myself for battle with the mighty beast that towered over me and hungered for battle.

*ROOOOOOOAR*

Claws bared, the ferocious beast of the woods swiped at me in an attempt to strike me down with only a single blow.

While an average villager or novice warrior would panic and have their life come to a swift and bloody end, for a samurai with decades of experience, such an attack was mere child's play, as all I had to do was duck while the bear slashed at me with a horizontal strike.

Though confused for a brief second, the beast quickly followed with a vertical slash, though once again it was an ineffective attack since all it took was for me to step aside to avoid an otherwise devastating blow.

Bears make for quite an interesting opponent. Though their attacks are deadly if they can make contact and are considered fast by many with unrefined reflexes, they are in fact quite slow when it comes to their strikes and can be easily avoided if you make sure to stay calm and pay attention.

Not only does their massive size greatly hinder their speed, but it also creates what is their most damning setback, which is that once you are able to dodge their attacks, it leaves them open for a devastating counterattack since they easily stagger and have to regain their footing to prepare for another strike.

*ROOOOOOOOOAR*

A fact that is not an exception when it comes to this bear as it attempted to strike with another horizontal attack, giving me plenty of time to role under the bear's attack and pull out my sword from it's sheath and slash the beast's face.

*ROOOWWWWARRRRGGGH*

The bear stammered back and fell on all four of its paws once more, growling at me as blood dripped from the cut I carved just above its eye.

I could have cut it's eye clean off, but leaving my opponent with such a handicap could have neglected me a chance of a real challenge that I've been hunting for years now.

*Grrrrrrrrrr....ROAR*

Seems tonight wasn't the one to give me that challenge I've been craving, for once the beast had glared at me with its blooded expression, it quickly turned around and ran back into the forest, unwilling to finish the fight it had started.

I could do nothing more than let off a disheartened sigh as I relaxed my body and re-sheathed my sword before taking a gaze at the wondrous full moon above.

It was pointless to be mad at the beast for choosing to escape our duel; unlike man, it can't comprehend the importance of honor, so it wasn't worth it to chase the beast down and punish it for ambushing me.

Not only that, but I had an important task that had to be completed, and wasting such precious time chasing after a simple creature could create a serious problem.

Taking only a few seconds to appreciate the glow of the rare full moon along with the feel of the cool breeze flowing in the air that the cheery petals couldn't help but dance along with, I take a calming breath while whistling to summon my horse, who quickly came running to my side.

"My trusty Sora, were you injured during that encounter?" Giving my steed a good pat, I inspect his body for any battle damage from being pushed aside by that bear; thankfully, he came out of it without even a single scratch to his body. "Good, Sora, you protected not only yourself but me as well, and you didn't even lose any of our supplies."

I can always rely on my Sora to never let me down and protect me from harm's way, entrusting him with my life more than some of my own fellow men at times, despite being completely different species who can't even communicate with mere speech alone.

Wish I could have such deep trust with everyone of my fellow men as I did with Sora, but I guess that's just one of life's many cruel jokes. But as long as I had Sora by my side, that's all that matters.

Rewarding Sora with a carrot and a couple of pats, I climb onto his back and head forth to our destination to complete our task at hand.

Honoring the family I was tasked to strike down

-

Weaving and galloping between the trees of the forest at full speed, as well as jumping over any of the logs that got in the way—with only the light of the moon to guide us, we had finally reached our destination.

A breath-taking wide open patch of land hidden deep within the forest that was not only a challenge to find but to get to in the first place, making it the perfect spot to get away from the world and meditate, along with being an excellent spot to bury away any important secrets.

The area itself was a decently sized oval area surrounded by a sea of white ajisai flowers with a large sakura tree resting atop a small hill that over looked a decent-sized lake where the pink and white petals from the flowers and tree danced atop the water together in great harmony.

It was the perfect piece of land I had discovered long ago as a child—the home away from home that always provides me with a great sense of calm along with great peace when I just need to get away from the world for a little while.

Taking the environment all in with a deep breath, I guide myself and Sora over to the sakura tree, hopping off from my noble steed and giving him another pat before taking off his saddle along with the rest of our equipment and supplies to give him a well-deserved rest.

With my equipment laid out carefully on the ground, my attention is now set on the bodies of the family whose souls have now long passed into the afterlife that lay lifeless on the back end of Sora.

I wrapped each member of this small family in a white sheet to hide their corpses from any possible onlookers, along with protecting the bodies from the elements during the long journey here.

One by one, I carefully lifted each body off Sora, starting with the young boy, then the mother, and finally the father, laying each of them down under the sakura tree while whipping a sweat off my brow once that task was done.

There was no time to take a rest, though, the longer I left the bodies out, the more they would start to decay. I wanted to give them the respect they deserved by returning them to the earth, looking as close as possible to how they were when they still held a pulse.

Taking my shovel, I picked out a nice spot for the family I hadn't already used before and began the process of digging up three graves side by side for each member. My first gift to them after taking their lives was to make sure they could be by each other's sides for the rest of eternity.

While I continued to dig, I reflected on my encounter with this family and how each of them demonstrated a true noble warrior spirit that is a vastly rare sight among the people I'm asked to eliminate on the emperor's orders.

I'm unsure as to the reasons why the emperor orders me to strike down these people, nor do I dare doubt or question them.

My duty to the emperor is to serve his wishes without question, one that I'm truly proud to carry out to not only serve the empire but to also prove my worth and continue to hone my skills as a samurai by striking down anyone our great leader declares undesirable for our community.

During my youth and early days serving the emperor as a recently appointed top general, it was admittedly quite a surprise to hear that he had tasked me with cutting down one of our own in the village, an older gentleman, who lived in a hut in the middle of nowhere.

While a part of me foolishly struggled to come to terms with such an order along with doubting our noble leader, another found the idea quite exhilarating to cross swords with the man and battle him till one of us drew our last breath.

At the end of the day, it didn't matter what my personal feelings were; I was a trusted general to the emperor, so it was my duty to carry out my appointed task and take the journey without complaint.

Doubt still filled my soul once I arrived at the older man's front door, still questioning if striking down an elderly man was morally okay even on the Emperor's orders.

Everything quickly changed the moment the older man, who still got around well despite his age, answered the door, only to quickly slam it in my face the moment he saw me.

Not wanting to give him a chance to escape, I slashed the door right down the middle to weaken it, then proceeded to kick it down and rush over to the man and put my sword to his throat just before he could escape through his back window.

I informed the man of my status as a general and that I was ordered by the Emperor to eliminate him, warning that he would suffer a slow and painful death if he decided to foolishly escape, only for the worthless coward to fall to his knees and begin begging me to spare his life, calming outlandish lies that our great Emperor is corrupted and selling out our own people to the enemy for huge profits and to keep his power.

Such insolence towards our great leader deserved not only the harshest of punishments but also to have his family name shamed and disgraced among our people for all eternity. It would have been my moral duty to end this sniveling worm's life in a slow and gruesome fashion for betraying both our great leader and our great country.

Unlike him, I had a merciful heart and decided to give him the chance to fight for his life. Taking note of a sword he had hanging in his den, I assumed he had combat experience and demanded that he take the weapon and promised that if he could strike me down in a noble duel then he'd earn his freedom, also promising that if he was defeated then he's death would be swift and that I'd make sure his family name would be honored across the generations.

The older man agreed and stood to his feet to retrieve his sword, giving me hope for a fierce battle that would challenge my abilities, only to have my good will spat on when the man quickly grabbed a bag of flour on his shelf I didn't pay any mind to and threw it in my face, temporarily blinding me, and tried to take advantage of my moment of daze to try and strike me down.

Praise to the holy spirits for watching over me that night, for my vision returned in the nick of time and I was able to dodge his attack that could have surely ended my life, allowing me to get behind the man and plunge my sword deep into his back and out of his chest.

His gargled a horrified scream as blood seeped both from his back and out of his mouth, frantically grabbing at my sword, trying to push it out in his desperation.

Seeing such a filthy traitor to our country and way off life in such agony filled me with such an indescribable amount of pleasure, made all the more satisfying when he turned his head to face me and could see the full extent of his suffering written across his face as he fought in a futile effort to keep himself alive.

I wasn't going to let him pass in peace though; he had his chance to redeem himself through battle, and he squandered it, so I was going to make sure he suffered, starting by leaving him in the middle of the room with the sword still stuck inside him, picking up the rest of the reaming flour and shoving it deep into his eyes.

The man screamed in sweet agony and attempted to wipe the flour out of his eyes to try and mitigate the pain. I wasn't going to allow this coward and traitor to ease his punishment, quickly grabbed his hands and snapped each finger one by one before breaking both his arms and continuing to shove more flour into his eyes until they became completely red.

Once all the flour were used up, I left him to rile in that pain for a good five minutes till his movements began to slow down and the life he once had in him began to fade. Before he could take that final breath, I grabbed the hilt of my sword and ripped it out of him, which caused a gush of blood to pour out of the man, inflicting one last moment of agonizing pain on the coward, who let out one last tortured scream before finally passing on, his bloodshot eyes still left wide open.

Watching over the corpse of this pathetic worm laying in its own blood taught me to never lose faith in my Emperor, no matter how cruel his orders may seem, and to never let my guard down towards any of my targets.

Spitting on this scum of the earth as my final act to sully his name, I cleaned the blood off my sword, wrapped the body in the man's own blanket, took his body to the ocean, and dumped it into the sea to leave as a meal for any of the sea creatures who happen across it.

A fitting resting place for a pitiful man, one who would have plenty of company over the years since he wasn't the only coward who I had disposed off in the vast sea.

Only a rare few held that warrior's spirit and faced me in a noble duel to the death. Despite their wrongdoings against our great leader, such honor-bonded warriors deserve a chance at redemption in their next life after falling to my sword.

May those noble souls truly reflect on their actions and find peace in their next life

-

After reflecting on my first ever assignment, I finished burying both the young son and mother, leaving only the father, who not only fought till his last breath to protect his family but also taught both his wife and son the ways of a warrior spirit despite one being a mere woman and the child seeming no more than eight years old.

The fact they didn't run away after I struck the father down in an admittedly challenging duel, the wife took her husband's blade and challenged me to a duel herself and even held her own for a while, though she clearly lacked the skills her husband had possessed and easily stabbed her in the heart to provide a quick and mostly painless death.

With them defeated, there was only the son left to strike down. Even if he had attempted to run away, I would have still provided a quick and painless death considering he was nothing more than a mere child who didn't know any better.

Much to my surprise, the child didn't run, no instead, with tears ruining down his cheeks over the loss of his parents, the boy ran to his father's sword and lifted it from his mother's now lifeless hand, his eyes locked onto mine with pure, unbridled hatred behind them as he did his best to hold up his weapon for battle.

Witnessing such sheer determination behind the kids eyes caused me to suffer a brief lapse of judgement, so much so that I considered letting the kid go because he held such strong convictions that many way older than he servery lacked.

Quickly, I got to my senses and held my sword high, ready to fight this kid like all the rest. He may only be a child, but the orders from the Emperor were absolute, and the whole family had to be taken out...Not just the father.

While the kid showed great spirit, his experience was severely lacking, as his first move was to charge at me with an easily telegraphed overhead swing, leaving him completely open for me to easily stab him right through the heart, rewarding him with a quick death just like his mother and father had faced, watching him collapse right on top of his mother's corpse.

Never before did I feel so empty after a battle. I knew it had to be done, but unlike the many battles before my heart sank after watching over the family laying motionless on the floor in a pool of their own blood, their eyes still bulged open as if their spirits still fought and clung to this world despite long drawing their last breath.

Cleaning my sword and placing it back in my sheath, I approach the bodies and kneel down to them, closing their eyes so they can look at peace, before wrapping them up in a white cloth to get them ready to be taken to their final resting place.

With the father now buried, this honorable family could now rest together in peace, their spirits forever surrounded by a gorgeous plot of land hidden away from the sins of the outside world.

Lighting a stick of incense, I get on my knees and pray in silence for their souls to reach the afterlife in peace and be forgiven for the wrongs they have rot to our dear leader.

Such peace is what an honorable family deserves.

...

"Praying for the people you slaughtered in cold blood, huh? Now that is quite an amusing sight to behold."

-

Just before I could finish up my prayer, a voice that sounded like a fuse between a man and a woman, mixed with what I could only describe as a demotic being, created this indiscernible tone that no mere human could naturally reproduce.

A voice that I'm all too familiar with after hearing countless legends from those who survived such an encounter with this unnatural creature.

"So...The legends were true about you." Bowing to the graves of the departed family, I calmly got to my feet, my back still turned towards the creature as I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword. "The yokai that is terrorizing our land by challenging unsuspecting souls to a game of chance..." I peer over my shoulder to finally get a good look at this creature.

"The Debirukoin."

Just as the tales foretold, the creature wore a completely black kimono; the sash around it's waist was grey; its sleeves were oversized and completely covered it's hands; this also applied to the bottom of the kimono as it reached all the way to the ground and covered its feet.

The creature's head and face were also covered by an additional black hood; those who managed to peek into it claimed they witnessed nothing but pure darkness inside, with not even an outline of a face to be seen.

Truly an unholy beast if it couldn't even form a vessel for itself to walk this earth.

An unnatural chuckle left the creature as it managed to flip its forsaken coin despite having its hands completely covered by the sleeves. "It seems I'm quite well known in these parts; it looks like you already heard all about me and my little game."

Couldn't help but smile and face away from the yokai once more. "Oh yes...I know all about your little game." I gaze up to the moonlit sky, watching as the pedals dance with the wind around us. "You flip that coin, and if it's tails, you spare your victim's life...It's thanks to those brave souls sharing their encounters with you that we managed to learn about your presence in the first place.

My sight slowly draws towards Sora, curious over how calm he is acting with this unholy creature in his presence. I expected him to be terrified and run off to safety by now, but instead he kept eating the grass by his hooves without a care in the world.

Could Sora not see or even sense the creature? Clearly, this yokai had hidden powers to be wary of.

"If it lands on heads, though, well...I've never heard a soul claim to have seen the coin land on it. Though I can guess the fate of those poor souls."

Another unnatural laugh left the creature, one that would strike fear into any sensible person. "Since we'll be playing my little game together, then it could be your lucky night to find out what happens if the coin lands on heads...Well, your unlucky night, to be more precise."

Yet another laugh left this sick Yoki. Playing with people's souls like they are nothing more than toys for it's childish game made me sick to my stomach. I made sure to grip my sword tighter and ready myself to strike the moment I heard the creature flip its coin into the air.

Tails: I shall let you finish up here and leave you to continue fighting your never-ending war.

Heads: Your days of looking for the perfect opponent will come to an early e-

"SILENCE!"

Just as the coin reached its maximum height, I rapidly swung around and sliced the coin clean in half, both pieces flying into the grass.

I then set my sword against the creature's chest, staring it down as it just stood there without displaying a hint of fear as it stared at the tip of my sword. "I care not for your silly games!" The moment I'd heard legends of a creature who would challenge us mere mortals to a game for our souls, I had prayed to my ancestors for this night to come where I'd face the Yoki in battle.

While putting an end to this creature's torture will benefit the whole island, I must confess that my motives for wanting to duel it are for pure selfish reasons.

"I don't know what you are, beast, but for harboring the souls of the innocent and spreading fear across our fair land, I challenge you to a duel to the death," for my desire was to fight this Yokai is to see if it could finally provide me the challenge I've been craving for most of my life.

"...That was my favorite coin." The creature dares to insult me by completely ignoring my demand and instead focusing on a mere coin.

Such disrespect cannot go unpunished, bringing my sword up to its neck to serve as a warning. "Enough of these games! Find yourself a weapon and face me! If you don't, I'll banish you from this world with a single strike!"

The Debirukoin glanced up at me, admittedly leaving me a little shaken once I saw that there really was nothing but pure darkness within its hood. "Hate to disappoint you, my friend, but I'm not one for fighting, so I'm going to have to decline partaking in your duel." In an act of utter disrespect, the creature turns its back on me as it starts spouting more nonsense. "Lady Fate has already decided your fate the moment you cut my coin in two, but if you decide to try and strike me down now, well..."

You'll only speed up the inevitable

Without having the courage to even look at me, the creature began walking away, heading into the surrounding forest as if it thought it was going to get away without consequence.

Such dishonor is something I'm not going to let slide! With my sword gripped tight, I slash at the creature, a clean vertical slice that would send the creature's head flying...Only that wasn't the outcome.

To my shock, the Yokai had completely dodged my attack, bending down at the exact last second to avoid my attack. Not another soul has ever managed to avoid my stealth strike until now...

This creature was truly not one to be underestimated.

Not long after my attempt to take it down with a single blow, the Debirukoin stood up straight once more, turning around to face me with its empty expression. "I warned you not to try and confront me...Ah, well, it looks like you truly have put your fate in your own hands now."

I didn't have a single clue what the creature was going about; in fact with how it constantly spoke in riddles along with its condescending tone had only enraged me further, having enough of it speaking down to me!

"Shut up!" Without hesitation, I began rapidly swinging my sword at the disgusting Yokai in every possible direction.

Vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and even in rapid cross-like motions to take this freak of nature down, yet no matter how many times I swung my sword, it not only dodged every single swing with minimum effort, but the creature refused to fight back, which only further fueled my rage and began attacking with greater intensity.

"Fight me like a man, you coward!" Even with my slices becoming faster, delaying some of my swings to try and fake out the creature, and even attempting to outright kick over the Yokai, I just couldn't land a single blow, no matter what, with it continuing to dodge every attack.

After about half an hour of attempting to take this creature down, I was now left with heavy breaths, arms trembling and sore, barley able to keep standing as my energy had been completely depleted.

Usually I could keep this up for hours, but after striking down that family and taking on that bear not too long ago, it has left me utterly exhausted...Even so, I wasn't going to stop until either this creature fell by my hands or my body shuts down and forces me to pass out.

"Well, this has been a fun and interesting little encounter, but I'm afraid it's about time I take my leave."

This creature really believes I would just allow it to leave? "Oh no you don't, you disgusting Yokai!" gripping my sword as tight as I could, my soul ignited enough energy within me to deliver one last strike that I knew the creature would not be able to avoid!

I leap high into the air, holding my sword high above my head before bringing it down to deliver a powerful vertical slice that would cut the Yokai right down the middle.

The creature just stood there watching me the whole time, not even making an attempt to dodge out of the way, finally leaving itself open for an attack it couldn't possibly avoid!

With a joyous smile, I was finally going to kill the Debirukoin and become the great hero of this land!...Only for my smile to quickly fade into a confused frown once my sword made first contact with the top of its head.

In fact, my sword didn't make contact at all, for before the final blow was struck, the Yokai vanished before my very eyes, leaving me crashing face first onto the ground and sending my sword sliding all the way into the pound.

Laying on the ground, exhausted and humiliated that I allowed that disgusting Yokai to toy with me and get away, I decided to lay here for a while and regain my strength so that I could hop back onto Sora and ride back home together, vowing to never tell a soul about this disgraceful encounter.

Only such a plan didn't come to pass.

*ROOOOOAR*

A familiar beastly roar filled the air; the intensity was enough to spark enough energy inside me to quickly pull myself up and witness the horrific sight before me.

It was undeniably the same bear from before, baring the same cut I had made in its eye... Standing only inches away from me on all fours, slowly approaching as it let out aggressive huffs and growls with each passing step, glaring at me with pure, unbridled rage behind those eyes.

This creature did not find me again out of survival or hunger; no, it was clear it was after something I once believed only humans had the capacity to understand...

Revenge

There was no time to run, for my energy had been completely drained to the point where I couldn't even get back to my feet. Not only that, but the bear had gotten onto its hind legs now, which left me no time to escape even if I did retain some of my energy.

No, the only option that could possibly save my life was to plunge my sword into the creature's heart and make sure its massive body didn't crush me in the process. Only for such hopes to be dashed once I tried to reach for my sword and was reminded that it had fallen into the water far from my position.

Once that had dawned on me, it was already too late to try and think of a new plan, for the bear had lifted its claw high into the air and swung it at me.

In that moment, it was as if the world around me had come to a complete crawl. I watched as the beast's razor-sharp claws slowly made their way towards me. Even my full set of armor wasn't going to protect me from this bear's unhinged rampage...

The only option that I had now was to close my eyes and hold my head high.

And accept my fate.

-