Chapter 87
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: The Result of a Vain Delusion
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―Splurt.
Blood pooled at Akechi Mitsuhide's feet. At the same time, she, Itsuki, and the Hirate family samurai had no choice but to seriously question whether the scene before them was truly real.
And in that moment, a samurai standing nearby muttered in disbelief under his breath.
"...Just the two of them... a hundred men."
It was exactly as the samurai said.
Of course, they hadn't just stood by idly either. As warriors gripping their swords, they had cut down plenty, and in those fleeting moments, some had lost their lives. But unlike them—who were busy blocking and taking wounds—Baek Il-yeong and Shibata Katsuie had slashed through their enemies like absolute madmen.
And the result of that was right there before their eyes.
Plain as day, impossible to deny.
"Haa... haa..."
Of course, Shibata Katsuie and Baek Il-yeong weren't catching their breath easily either. But considering that, with the samurai Baek Il-yeong had personally stabbed to death just moments ago, there were no living enemies left in the entire hall—and they bore not a single noteworthy wound—their figures could only be described as monstrous.
At that moment, Baek Il-yeong, who had already straightened his waist, flashed sharp eyes and curled his lips into a sinister smile as he spoke.
"It's you."
Though it was a clear question, there was no rise or fall in his tone.
Just a calm voice, as if simply confirming the situation, and everyone's gazes turned to the middle-aged man standing beyond the hall.
At Baek Il-yeong's demeanor, the middle-aged man—no, Hayashi—couldn't help but respond without thinking.
"...You... so the nickname 'Yaksha' isn't just empty rumor after all."
As if snapping back to his senses at Baek Il-yeong's words, he spat those out. But the Hirate family samurai—not to mention Hayashi's own retainers—could all sense it.
That he was trembling right now.
And naturally, Hayashi himself was well aware of it.
―Grip.
His face darkened with thick humiliation as he clenched his fist tight. It was true that he had felt fear himself, but he clearly hated that he had shown it to Baek Il-yeong of all people.
A loach from Joseon.
The sight of such a man stirring up chaos in Owari was utterly distasteful.
At the same time, a sense of crisis welled up.
He couldn't let the momentum shift to that bastard any further.
Thus, Hayashi flashed his eyes and bellowed at the troops he had dragged in.
"He's tired! Kill him!"
He had originally intended to capture him alive, but as a samurai and warrior himself, his instincts screamed otherwise. He couldn't let that man live now. He could become a major threat in the future.
"B-but..."
"...Ahh."
Yet most of them couldn't move easily.
No, perhaps it was only natural.
Not everyone who held a sword had experienced real battle. Especially since Hayashi had refused to deploy even to Murakitori before, most of his warriors had never truly fought. The few elites who had—at least those who had battled alongside the previous lord Oda Nobuhide—had long since become guests who never returned at Baek Il-yeong's hands.
"L-Lord..."
Did Hayashi's warriors not know this?
They all already knew. Even if Baek Il-yeong was exhausted, charging at him now would mean at least half of them getting injured or killed.
―Hiss.
As they faced him—eyes gleaming fiercely, silently glaring at them—a single truth flashed through their minds.
The most fearsome beast of all was none other than a wounded one.
But that lasted only a moment.
"If you won't come..."
Baek Il-yeong muttered lowly in a voice thick with pity and languor. At the same time, he slowly stepped forward, adding,
"...then I'll have to come to you."
Only then did Hayashi snap to his senses and bellow once more.
"Kill him!"
"...Eeeek!"
Belatedly, the samurai thought the same.
If they had to face him anyway, better to at least try. Soon, the group of samurai standing by Hayashi's side charged forward all at once.
At the same time, Shibata Katsuie, standing behind Baek Il-yeong, whispered lowly.
"I'll take the seven coming from the right. My lord."
"Then the nine on the left are mine."
For the Yaksha and Oni who had already tasted blood, no further words were needed. They kicked off the ground and plunged straight into the oncoming samurai.
"Hup!"
Shibata Katsuie's swordsmanship was rough yet heavy in itself. Dodging a strike aimed at her throat, she drove her elbow straight into the opponent's solar plexus.
"Gahk!"
As the most infamous vital point, the samurai who took the direct hit to his solar plexus naturally spat out a cough and dropped his sword. Shibata Katsuie grabbed his throat and used him as a shield on her side.
"Gaaahk!"
"W-what the?!"
A spear thrusting toward her side pierced straight into the samurai's left back, stabbing his heart. Blood sprayed, and Shibata Katsuie glanced indifferently at the samurai who had died in an instant before swinging her sword again.
And at that moment.
"M-monster."
The samurai facing Baek Il-yeong, who were getting cut down without doing a thing, were no different. Even if he was tired, so what?
―Ptooey.
Baek Il-yeong spat out the blood pooled in his mouth.
Then, in a voice thick with languor, he said,
"I'm starting to get the picture."
"What?"
At Baek Il-yeong's sudden words, the samurai stared at him as if wondering what nonsense this was, but Baek Il-yeong merely looked at Hayashi Michikatsu with an "as expected" gaze.
"Bewilderment, self-reproach, anger... and then doubt."
At first, bewilderment. Then agonizing over whether his judgment was wrong, leading to anger. But as he madly cut them down, doubt eventually welled up at some point.
'Would Nobuyuki handle things this sloppily?'
Indeed, everything from one to ten was sloppy. Just think about it.
Nobuyuki was the symbol of their faction—aside from Dota Gozen—and wielded real power herself.
If she had decided to kill Baek Il-yeong, she wouldn't have sent "mere" samurai. She'd have torched the whole place instead.
And positioned matchlock gunners and samurai on the escape routes to slaughter them all.
This was just a passing thought amid battle—would clever Nobuyuki fail to consider it and opt for such a sloppy night raid?
'It didn't add up.'
But he had focused on cutting down the enemies charging at him. Right up to the moment his sword-gripping palms nearly tore, stabbing and slashing foes, until he felled the last samurai.
"...W-what is..."
A flustered middle-aged man's voice echoed from not far away. Lifting his head to look, Baek Il-yeong soon recalled him.
Hayashi Michikatsu.
The retainer who, alongside Shibata Katsuie, had backed Nobuyuki and swiftly surrendered after the defeat at Ino. A general who would later shine at Okehazama as well—he was someone Baek Il-yeong remembered.
And here he was, flustered.
With no sign of Nobuyuki or Dota Gozen following behind.
A somehow passive ambush.
Enemies weaker than expected.
And Nobuyuki, who never showed herself to the end, with such a sloppy setup.
Having surveyed it all, Baek Il-yeong and Shibata Katsuie locked eyes almost simultaneously and reached the same conclusion.
"Looks like..."
"Yes, Hayashi's solo act."
At their words, Hayashi's eyebrows twitched for a moment.
Whether he hadn't expected them to catch on so quickly, or was flustered by their calm conversation in front of enemies still, who could say.
But one thing was certain.
They weren't calm at all. They were utterly furious. They just weren't showing it.
―Gulp.
Sometimes, composure terrifies the enemy more.
Especially when those facing the foe are warriors hailed as legendary generals.
Thus, those lucky enough not to have died by Shibata Katsuie or Baek Il-yeong's blades hesitated backward, shooting glances at Hayashi behind them.
Please, save us.
But the problem was that Hayashi had to capture Baek Il-yeong. He had already detained Nobuyuki and Dota Gozen to pull this off. Retreating without results would send his standing straight to rock bottom.
Thus, he was about to shout something at the samurai who hadn't moved yet.
Yes. He was about to shout.
―Step.
"Hayashi Michikatsu."
If not for the familiar voice from behind... and...
"L-Lord."
...the trembling voices of his retainers as they turned around.
Baek Il-yeong lowered his sword.
Then, gazing at the Oda Nobuyuki forces surrounding not him, but Hayashi Michikatsu, he muttered lowly.
"Good thing."
Truly fortunate—Oda Nobuyuki hadn't betrayed his expectations, after all. Thanks to that, Baek Il-yeong had avoided a tragedy.
'Nobuyuki.'
He wouldn't have to cut down the girl he'd grown a bit fond of.
Baek Il-yeong slid Onimaru Kunitsuna into its sheath, then hid his trembling hand in his bosom, lest anyone see.
Of course, he didn't know.
"... ."
That Shibata Katsuie beside him and Akechi Mitsuhide behind had both seen it.
The two women exchanged glances.
And soon, the same thought crossed their minds.
'Why are his hands...?'
It was the first time they had glimpsed Baek Il-yeong's weakness.