“What the hell was that?”
Ichimaru blinked, incredulous, as Kumari returned the weapon to his waist. The palisade was weak, that much was sure, but he didn’t imagine it would come down that easily.
“I thought you said that sword didn’t do anything special!”
“It doesn’t. It’s the scabbard.” He tapped it, smiling. “It was made from one of my grandfather’s claws, and it’s said to hold the strength of ten foot stomps from him. Its name is… Daikumade.”
“Huh. ‘Great Bear’s Claw’? Suits it.”
Ichimaru looked back to the bandits’ camp, where the dust started to settle down, revealing the enemies that, under their leader’s shouts, were assuming battle formations. At the opposite side, Oda was already organizing the troops, too.
“What a lousy place to be at the beginning of a fight”, the dog demon pointed, seeing themselves at the center of the battlefield. “Now what?”
“Now?” Kumari grinned. “Plan B”.
Ichimaru faced him, confused for a moment, but smiled shortly after.
“My pleasure!”
And, without hesitating, he walked toward the enemy. His determination made the mercenaries slow down, frightened by the demon that gave them such torment in the woods. Despite the commander’s protests, the line stopped when he pulled the blue-hilted sword from the waist. But, for general surprise, he stuck it into the ground and stopped.
“Cowards! Advance!”, the leader shouted, almost dragging each one of them toward Kumari’s army, until one of them pointed at Ichimaru, babbling:
“De-Demon!”
He looked that way too, and then up. Growling and wriggling, Ichimaru assumed his true form, just as in the legends that were told about his grandfather. The young demon honored the blood he brought in his veins, revealing himself as the gigantic dog that brought terror to the armies that faced him. His red eyes went through the enemy lines, acid dropping from his mouth and burning the grass under him.
Only one big and loud howl was necessary. There was no way to stand up against that, the bandits soon concluded. Half of their weapons remained on the ground when the line finally broke. The once disciplined mercenaries ran away like scared children, much for the despair of their leader. He saw himself alone against the mighty demon, his spear looking no more than a toothpick to Ichimaru. Frustrated, he threw it at him, but the huge teeth crunched it with no effort. It didn’t take long until he was retreating too.
“They’re all yours, Oda!”, Kumari shouted when the samurai passed by him on his horse, leading the men to the fight. Even the usually serene samurai had been taken by the thrill of the rest of the soldiers, flooded with confidence for having such a powerful ally by their side. As they passed by Ichimaru, chasing the scattered enemy, he returned to his human form, laughing.
“Okay, it’s my turn to admit it, Kumari! Nice plan! In only two moves, we crushed their advantage!” He turned back after watching the beginning of the pursuit, and saw that the noble was already leaving the battlefield. “Where are you going?”
“Home. My work here is done.”
Ichimaru smiled. He retrieved his sword from the ground and ran to catch up with the bear demon. The relief for seeing his lands finally free of yet another problem was visible in his face.
“It’s a long walk to the castle. Want some company?”
“Sure.” Kumari smiled at him. “Do you know what really makes me happy? Knowing that, this time, nothing is going to bother me on my way back.”
“Oh, you bet...” Ichimaru agreed as they took the road to the north. Having left the confrontation with the bandits behind, the landscape seemed peaceful ahead of them. “Hey, Kumari!”
“What?”
“Are we there yet?”
“Don’t start it, Ichimaru.”
“Okay…”
