Dead Game

Roko stumbled back as he was left with only half of his weapon. Kyousei tossed aside his half of the former staff and readied his sword. Roko looked down at the part of the staff that he had and scowled.

"I guess this was bound to happen. It's less durable isn't it?" Roko tossed aside the useless staff, "Now that it's come to this..."

Roko's hand trailed over the sword at his hip. Despite depriving him of his main weapon, Kyousei was well aware of the sword that remained at Roko's side. It was the one he had left when he regained Evergreen after all. And it wasn't like Roko had intended to win this fight without using it but…

"No...not yet." Roko growled as he stayed his hand over his sword, "He's not even winded."

Roko thought about it for a second...and untied the sword from his hip, tossing aside the strap and wielding the handle with the blade sheathed.

"Just a little more." Roko said to himself, "I just need to hold on for a little more."

Roko swung the sheathed sword at Kyousei, meeting his attack head on and holding the undead general back. If Kyousei had any suspicions for Roko's rather unconventional use of his sword, it didn't show on a face that could no longer express emotions. Roko scowled as he considered his options. It wasn't that he never thought he'd have to use his sword, but finding out about his staff's unexpected properties had kinda made him forget about his old plan. Whenever or not he could beat Kyousei with this accidental windfall was still up in the air but if he acted swiftly and managed to outplay his opponent, he might have been able to squeak out a win. It was a small chance but it wasn't outside of his abilities. It's just unfortunate that his opponent was someone like Kyousei. Now he had to fall back on his original plan which included exhausting a zombie and who knows if he could do that with something that wasn't alive and ran on unknown, unworldly magical power. If nothing else, Roko had to find some sort of opening to trap the general. Opening up the defenses of a military defensive master. That might be why Roko hoped so heavily on the staff plan.

Roko and Kyousei pushed each other away as they both watched each other for the next move.

"No helping it now." Roko growled, "No choice but to risk everything on it!"

Roko charged and swung the sheathed sword around to the side again, keeping one hand on the sheath to keep it from slipping off. Kyousei blocked his attack with Evergreen effortlessly. Roko swung the handle of the sword forward, pivoting behind the blade as he grabbed the tip of the sheathed blade and swung the handle of the sword into Kyousei's body. The guard knocked into the side of the zombie, crumpling this body to the side but seeming to do little damage. Roko swung the sword back around, grabbing the handle of the sword again and jabbing at Kyousei's body. Evergreen swung around and parried the jab to the side, knocking Roko's attack away and opening up the chance for a counterattack. Kyousei swung his sword down at Roko again but Roko simply retreated out of his range, settling into a phase of watching each other again.

Roko released a short breath of relief. That first scrimmage ended well with Roko landing one good hit on Kyousei but the amount of damage to information he gave up on his strategy was pretty abysmal. There was no way Roko could continue landing small hits like this over and over and hope to win. Against an unnatural and skilled opponent like Kyousei, Roko needed to bet his entire body and life to open up a chance for victory. Which was not uncommon for Roko but at the same time, if Roko stuck his neck out too far, he could see his head flying off his body before he knew it.

Roko gulped. Dying didn't scare him. But failing did. Dying and leaving his opponent free to do whatever they want, in this case to go after Kaguya, Roko knew he couldn't let that happen. And that's why he was still playing cautiously. Dying wasn't the issue. Dying too soon was. But at the same time, stalling was useless and only increased Kyousei's chances of winning. Roko took a deep breath.

"If it's too cold for you outside, then you'll just have to burn your emotions brighter."

Roko readied himself one last time and then charged.

Raising his sword up, Roko made the same attack as before, a downward swing which was met with a block by Kyousei's sword. And once again, Roko pivoted his sword handle around the sword but this time, Kyousei knew what was going to happen. The general moved to press forward, taking advantage of his sword that was now behind Roko's weapon to make an attack before Roko could. But this time, instead of grabbing the sheath and hitting with the handle, Roko spun the handle of his sword up and grabbed onto the handle again. With his sword directly above Kyousei, Roko slammed his sword down, smashing the guard of his sword against the side of Evergreen, pushing the blade down and away from his body. With Kyousei's attack drastically off course and much less lethal, Roko pulled his fist back and smashed it into the general's face. The general stumbled back, more shocked than he was damaged. Roko took advantage of his confusion to press on with his assault, swinging his sword around from behind Evergreen to in front of the weapon so Roko could swing wildly upward and send the weapon up, forcing Kyousei's arm higher as well. Roko kept his sword below Kyousei's, keeping the weapon from swinging back down as he punched Kyousei in the stomach. Kyousei heaved a dry cough from Roko's attack who was not quite done, as he swung the end of his sword's handle to crack against Kyousei's head. And crack it did as the zombie's skin literally began to open up from the force of his blow. Kyousei scowled as he desperately tried to retreat to reorient himself but Roko swung his sheathed sword, knocking into the side of Kyousei's jaw with the tip. Roko reached out to grab Kyousei's hair and pull him back closer. Roko was about to crack the zombie's head against his knee until he realize Evergreen had not retreated, now pressed firmly against his chest.

Kyousei slashed, a rather low powered attack from an awkward angle but it was still enough that Roko would have suffered a debilitating wound if he didn't have his leather armor. Managing to force a standstill, Kyousei gripped the side of his head where he was struck. The cracks had spread a bit but the damage seemed to have stopped. No blood leaked out from the inhuman wound and nothing but blackness could be seen through the thin layer of skin. Kyousei himself seemed a little perturbed by the damage he's taken, the barest hint of emotion breaking through his stoic exterior. While it was clear that Roko's assault was working, the stalemate was giving Kyousei enough time to recover and adjust which Roko could not allow. So before Roko could even think of another approach or plan of attack, his body was already leaping into action, running towards the general.

Kyousei saw Roko coming and swung his sword, trying to keep Roko back. Roko swung his leg up and blocked the sword the thick soles of his boot. After catching the blade, Roko shifted his foot over the sword and stomped down, not quite able to snap the sword but grounding the tip as Kyousei struggled to keep hold of his sword. Roko kicked the back of the sword aside as he stepped forward and kicked Kyousei in the chest. Knocking the general back a few steps, Roko stepped in to swing his sheathed sword at the zombie's head, right where he had managed to crack his skin before. Kyousei's head swung to the side, narrowing dodging Roko's swing as Kyousei brought his free arm up and locked Roko's arm with his own, catching the inner crook of Roko's arm with his own. Kyousei grabbed onto Roko's shoulder, stopping him from retreating as Evergreen slid in between the two of them and slashing into Roko's armor almost exactly at the same place he had slashed before. Roko felt his body get cut. A proper attack from a famed sword like Evergreen proved too strong for the armor to hold out as it was cut open. A sharp pain alerted Roko to the wound on his stomach. It was enough to start drawing blood but it was too shallow to effect his movements. Roko dropped his sword and grabbed onto Kyousei's shoulder.

"You want to grapple? I'll play that game."

Roko smashed his knee into Kyousei's stomach, doubling the zombie over. Roko pulled Kyousei, forcing his entire body to stumble around as he turned them around completely. Roko's knee come up and smashed into Kyousei's face, opening up some cracks in his face and forcing the general's grip off Roko's shoulder. Roko grabbed Kyousei by the hair, forcing his head up as he punched the zombie in the face with enough force to send him stumbling back. Roko swung his fist again, knocking Kyousei's head back and forth as he desperately pummeled the undead's head over and over. Roko moved to punch Kyousei again until he felt a sharp, searing pain in his side. On the side of his lower torso, Evergreen had jabbed itself deep into Roko's body. Roko stumbled back in shock as the wound began to bleed profusely. It wasn't an immediately lethal wound but it was deep. Roko fell to his knees as he felt the strength leaving his body along with his blood. Covering the wound the best he could with his hand, he reached out with his other hand to grab his sword once again. Taking a deep steadying breaths, he stood back up, pointing his sheathed sword at Kyousei and glaring defiantly. Kyousei stared back at him, his face cracked all over from his assault with flakes of skin starting to crumple off of him. One side of his head was completely broken open, revealing a dark void underneath. Kyousei's expression remained stoic but there was a fire burning behind his eyes. Out of rage or excitement, Roko couldn't tell.

Roko took one small step forward before he forced his body into a charge. The two combatant raised their swords and they came down at the same time. The two swords stopped as they were pressed against the other's chest. Evergreen was poised across Roko's shoulder and Roko's was against Kyousei. However, Roko's sword was sheathed. Roko moved his other hand from his wound to over Kyousei's sword, too weak to stop it from moving or try to pull it away. But enough to stop it from the unlikely event of retreating.

"If you're thinking of stopping on me, I'm going to lose respect for you." Roko sneered, "Not that any of this matters to you, does it?"

Kyousei stared at Roko, unable to speak or emote. But the zombie closed his eyes and slashed, cutting deep into Roko's shoulder and across his chest. Blood seeped out of Roko's wounds but thanks to the armor, it was shallow enough to be non-lethal. Aside from Roko's shoulder which was cut much deeper than the rest of his body. Roko stumbled back a few steps, falling to his knees again as he struggled to remain conscious. In a corner of of mind, Roko could hear Kyousei approach him. Looking up at soldier's damaged face, Roko found the strength to form a smug smile at him. Kyousei just stared at him, a hint of pity flickering in his eyes. But none the less, Kyousei brought Evergreen up and stabbed at Roko.

Now!

Roko's hand grabbed onto his sword's handle and at last, he drew his sword. And with his other hand, he thrust the empty scabbard forward, forcing Kyousei's sword into it. Kyousei stumbled back, surprised by this strange maneuver. He quickly grabbed onto the scabbard and threw it away but the damage was done and Evergreen was starting to rust over.

"Ridiculous isn't it?" Roko chuckled as he stood back up, "But I didn't have any other idea on how else to rust your sword. Nothing other than dry ice."

Kyousei took a step back as Roko grinned almost manically that his trap worked, "Evergreen is a regenerative sword. It's practically living. So there should be no reason that it would rust over. So I had to do some field research on Kaifu sap but all I found out was that it doesn't last long outside the tree. That wasn't much to go on so I had to think. What conditions made it rust? What was preventing it from rusting to begin with? Of course that would be the living aspect, the sap. The sap died so the blade rusted. That explains why you needed to use necromancy to revive the blade. But why did it die? Why wouldn't the blade die through normal use? I can't believe that Daichi would allow his mentor's sword to rust. So what did he do prevent the sword from dying? What precautions failed?"

Roko took a step forward, making Kyousei back away.

"Evergreen was placed over the fireplace in Daichi's house. In a normal home, the fireplace would be used during cold days, warming the home. Placing the sword above the fireplace, while a good centerpiece, also meant the sword was close to the heat, regulating the temperature around it. But when Daichi died, there was nobody left to light the fireplace and therefore, the sword was left to freeze in the cold. The scabbard might've saved it from deteriorating but after five years of neglect, the sap could not stay alive and died, causing the sword to rust. Therefore the sap's weakness...is extreme temperatures."

Roko took a deep breath and sighed.

"The question then became how do I induce extreme temperatures to your sword in the middle of battle? How could I even get to temperatures that extreme? I found some dry ice but how was I going to expose it to your sword without causing suspicion? And as you can see, I chose to hide it in the scabbard."

Roko pointed his own sword at Kyousei, "Unlike your sword, mine doesn't die in extreme cold."

Roko swung his sword back and Kyousei quickly brought his own sword up to block his attack. But when the swords collided, Roko's sword shattered Evergreen into multiple pieces, scattering the once great sword onto the ground. Kyousei looked down at his useless sword handle and closed his eyes. He looked back at Roko with emotionless eyes but this time, a hint of a smile could be vaguely seen across his lips.

"It's a shame you can't talk. I could ask you some questions about the afterlife, if there is one. More importantly, will you even remember this little reborn stint of yours? What would you even think of it if you did? If it was me, I would just think of this as just a fever dream. So just go black to sleep."

With one final slash, Roko beheaded Kyousei.

Roko watched as Kyousei's head dropped to the ground and his body crumpled along with it. The relief from the end of the battle almost knocked Roko over as his tension left him. Though he managed to remain standing he was starting to feel woozy from the loss of blood. His shoulder wound meant that he would have trouble helping Kaguya with her own battles, though Roko didn't believe she would ask for them anyway. The most he could do now was clean up some of the remaining zombies. And he probably wasn't even in the condition to do that.

"Whoa…he actually beat Kyousei."

Roko turned around as he finally checked on Kaguya's situation. The amount of zombies had only thinned a little as more zombies seemed to spawn from the ground. That said, Mikado was handling them with ease, neither hurt nor tired from fending off the horde. He was steadily keeping zombies from reaching Kaguya who had her own share of zombies to deal with along with the bodies of her departed family swarming around her. Takeko was standing away from them, the grimoire floating in front of her but she was looking at Roko with a deeply impressed shock.

"Your friend's something else, Kagu. Really."

"Isn't he?" Kaguya grinned as she a zombie's arm around to their back before slitting their throat, "Roko's a fully fledged warrior. He's stronger than he looks isn't he, Take?"

"Apparently so. He even broke Evergreen."

"Just how much of my fight were you watching?" Roko frowned.

"Oh only a bit." Kaguya replied, "There was some moments where we stopped fighting completely to watch."

"Please take your fight seriously!" Roko snapped.

"I was watching the whole time." Takeko said, "Couldn't miss seeing the legendary Silver Snow General in action. But I didn't expect to see you holding your own. Where did Kagu find someone like you?"

"In a forest." Kaguya grinned, "Though he's come a long way since then, haven't you Roko? Fighting someone like Kyousei doesn't even phase him anymore, Take."

"All these injuries beg to differ!" Roko snapped again, "Goddammit, why did I take my fight so seriously if you guys weren't?!"

"Hey, Mikado and I have been fighting for our lives. I've had to fight my own family here."

"Sure doesn't sound like it."

"Well that's Take's fault. Ask Take."

"Don't call me by my nickname." Takeko coughed, "We're not friends."

"You're the one who started calling me Kagu first, you know."

"No, I didn't!" Takeko cried, "Anyway, if we're done here, then it's time to clean things up here!"

Takeko waved her arms and the zombies began to swarm around the duo more aggressively. Roko took a step forward, trying to stagger his way towards Kaguya as his sword dragged limply across the ground in his hands.

"Don't force yourself, Roko." Kaguya called as she sliced the head off a zombie, "Your battle is over. Just leave the rest to us."

"You're up against an unlimited supply of zombies." Roko frowned, "There's no way you two can handle it by yourself."

"Just give me a moment." Kaguya smiled, "I just have to say my final goodbyes to my family before I go after Take."

"Add the -ko after that, damn you." Takeko scowled.

"Take a break." Kaguya said, "You've earned it. With all your injuries you would be more of a liability than you are a help."

"I resent that remark." Roko muttered, "Well. Take your chances. If anything gets out of hand, I'll stumble over to help. That is if Take doesn't kill me while you're busy."

"Don't you go shortening my name too." Takeko scowled, "And for what it's worth, my only gripe is with Kaguya. If you stay over there and be quiet, I'll let you go after I'm done."

"Can I have that book when you're done with it then?"

Takeko snorted and turned back to controlling the zombies.

"I'll take that as a no then."

Kaguya slashed down one last zombie before turning to face her family. Her brother, sister and father were stumbling around her, not quite hurting her but not leaving her alone either, forcing her to dance around them until she was free to confront them.

"Finally." Kaguya sighed, "We have some time alone to ourselves."

Kaguya's family staggered up to her, their arms outstretched to try to grab or scratch her. Kaguya held out her own arms and hugged the rotting body of her brother.

"Brother. Yoru. You were always a bit scary. Always so serious and rarely played with me. Always following our parents and staying in your room. It was a rare opportunity to see you and even rarer to talk to you. You were there with our parents were attacked. It must've pained you to see our father and mother fight so desperately to save you when you couldn't do the same."

Kaguya's brother moaned and shuddered, as if some part of Kaguya's words were coming through to him. He clawed outward, unable to bend his arms to grab onto his sister. His mouth hung open as he turned his head towards Kaguya, his jaws aimed directly at her neck. But before he could bite, Kaguya's hand came up and lightly grabbed onto his jaw.

"I wished we understood each other more."

Kaguya ripped her brother's jaw out of his skull with her bare hands, the zombie stumbling backwards in shock. Kaguya dropped the jaw she was holding onto the ground and stepped back up to her brother, sliding Calcify underneath his neck.

"I wish we had the chance to talk more."

Kaguya slashed, slicing off his head and letting it drop to the ground behind him. Kaguya stared mournfully at the dead body of her brother until her sister stumbled forward behind her, moving quickly to try and overwhelm her. Kaguya turned around and grabbed onto the zombie's outstretched hands, spinning each other around as if they were playing together.

"Amano." Kaguya smiled, "You were like a third parent for me. I followed you around when we were young and you kept an eye on me when I was getting older. Honestly, it was distressing sometimes, having three authority figures keeping track of me. Especially when you yourself was trying to figure out adulthood yourself."

Her sister moaned sadly as Kaguya continued to spin her around before lunging forward to try and bite Kaguya. Kaguya's knife was faster as she shoved Calcify up through her sister's jaw and into her skull.

"I'll be fine by myself now." Kaguya whispered, "Please rest."

The last zombie, her father, stood close by, not moving beyond spasms and twitches as his dead body struggled to keep himself up.

"Father." Kaguya curtsied, "King Houmuri. Mother is well. I found her body being used for nefarious purposes but I suppose you might already know about that."

Her father stumbled forward and lunged at her, swinging his arms to no avail as Kaguya dodged him easily, "It was hard but I've made the decision to burn her body as well. As will my siblings and your body be once we return home. I hope that will put you at peace."

Her father kept lunging at Kaguya who continued to dodge him with ease. Kaguya met the next lunge head on and grabbed her father by the neck holding his decrepit body up in the air with one arm.

"I've killed...so many people." Kaguya's eyes began to tear up a little, "I wonder if you all will scold me once I cross over as well. Will you still welcome me after all the blood on my hands? Until that time comes, I can only continue forward. Not for your sake nor mine. Not for our country's sake nor for her people. For Mikado's sake. For the friends I've made. I'll tell you about them soon. Okay?"

Kaguya closed her eyes and kicked her father's body, ripping his head off the rest of his body. Kaguya stood there among the bodies of her former family. She dropped the head of her father and sniffed, once. Wiping her moist eyes, she turned her attention back to Takeko who floated there, watching.

"Now then." Kaguya stepped forward and placed a hand on Mikado's shoulder, "Sorry for taking so long. We can end it now."

Roko blinked as he watched everything unfold before him, "That's one hell of a princess..."