Full Metal Daemon Muramasa – Tyrant

Part 2

Note: This project is a fairly old work of mine, written and translated back in 2012, when I was still just starting out as a fan translator — as such, it’s not exactly the highest quality work I’ve ever put out, to say the least. I would’ve deleted it long ago, but since people still seem to be interested in it, I decided to keep it, but felt the need to give this quick warning beforehand.

Apologies that this part is slightly shorter, but I wanted to end it with the new opening, so we can sort of “start fresh” with Part 3.

Back to Muramasa’s route, Part 1

Kageaki is back in his cell, contemplating stuff. Although he still has the residence he got from Chief, he feels more at ease in his cell.

He finally concludes that the fundamental difference between him and Hikaru is their relationship with their respective Tsurugi. He recalls his conversation with Yagenta back in Chapter 2, who warned Kageaki that he should remember that Muramasa might be a tool used on the battlefield, but she also has a soul. Kageaki dismissed him back then, but now, he’s having second thoughts.

Death upon both the wicked and the just – the counterbalance of good and evil. I viewed it as nothing but a curse born out of malicious intent. However, the reality was exactly the opposite. I never desired to learn the truth. The fact that my hand was forced by an evil curse gave me some sort of comfort – it made me believe that my sins, and Hikaru’s as well, were all due to wicked sorcery. I realized that up until now, I never fully understood Muramasa. She took all of the sins of her bloodline upon herself, determined to compensate for their crimes with her own life.  We fought side by side without truly knowing each other – human and Tsurugi, but not in union, not as a full-fledged Musha. For the relationship of master and Tsurugi must begin with mutual acceptance.

Muramasa then returns to his cell, having spent most of the day searching around the city for traces of Ginseigou. Kageaki notices some dirt and mud stains on her steel and decides to clean it off.

Kageaki: Muramasa. Come over here.

Mu: O-okay…

He takes a nearby cloth and begins wiping off the mud.

Mu: …………….

……………

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……………

Muramasa: Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah–!!

Kageaki: …what?

Muramasa: Wh-wh-wh-where do you think you’re touching?!

Kageaki: Your body. (is what he says, but in the text, it’s written with the kanji of “armor”)

Muramasa: Fiend! Letcher! Pervert!!

Muramasa: G-get your hands off me~!!

Kageaki: Calm down.

Muramasa: If you go any further, n-n-no one will take me as a bride anymore…! S-so don’t you dare touch my belly again! No! Just no! Someone, save me…!!

A guard comes in.

Guard: Prisoner, what’s all this ruckus about?

Guard: Um… why are you standing there like that?

Kageaki: It’s merely a sort of creative roleplay activity.

Guard: For what purpose?

Kageaki: Engaging in sexual intercourse with a man-sized spider.

Guard: Um…. s-sorry for the intrusion…

Kageaki: ………

Guard: ………

Guard: Um….

Kageaki: Yes?

Guard: Listen… if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me.

Kageaki: Thank you.

Then guard then leaves, and Muramasa disables her invisiblity.

Muramasa: So you *were* planning to do something n-n-naughty!

Kageaki: I wasn’t serious. It was simply the first explanation that came to my mind. I actually just wanted to wipe off the dirt from your armor.

Muramasa: A-ah… I see… But, this was the first time you’ve ever done something like this!

Kageaki: That is true. However… I changed my mind about certain things.

Muramasa: How come?

Kageaki: Leaving things as they were wouldn’t be befitting of a Musha. In our current state, we cannot defeat Ginseigou. That is an undeniable fact.

Muramasa: Probably, yeah…

Kageaki: Soul and steel as one.

The phrase meant minimizing the gap between when the Musha gives an order to the Tsurugi and when the Tsurugi carries out that order.

Kageaki: At present, we are inferior in combat to the Ginseigou. Until we iron out our failings, we cannot hope to defeat her.

Muramasa: Ah, I’ve already given it some serious thought! Upgrading my control systems, constantly doing maintenance on my-

Kageaki: This isn’t something you can accomplish on your own. You’ll have to simply think of yourself as a tool, and leave the rest to me.

Muramasa: No way. It’s you who should let me do as I please.

…….

Muramasa: See, this conversation will always have the same outcome.

Kageaki: I know. Which is the reason I’m going to give in.

Muramasa: Wha…?

I lowered my head and bowed in front of the Tsurugi.

Kageaki: I’ve finally understood why you can’t entrust this battle to anyone else. Therefore, I will never again ask you to suppress yourself and become a mere tool to be used. I acknowledge your desire, but in return, I would like you to acknowledge mine as well. I cannot possibly entrust this mission to someone else, either. I have to stop Hikaru.

We had to recognize the fact that neither of us were willing the share our sins with anyone else. I fought for my own goals, bearing my own responsibilities, while she did the same. However, by mutually accepting this fact, we could come to respect each other.

Muramasa: There isn’t any point to this, though.

Kageaki: There is. In fact, it is essential for us to be able to fight as one – as comrades.

Muramasa: Isn’t that what we’ve been doing all this time…?

Kageaki: No. We fought side by side, but not truly as one. We never truly accepted each other. I don’t care how you feel about me, Muramasa. If you wish to view me as a pair of limbs that is only here to make use of you, so be it. However, acknowledge the fact that I, too, have a will of my own, and a responsibility that I cannot possibly entrust to anyone else!

Muramasa: But, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?

Kageaki: Because I saw it.

Muramasa: ……?

Kageaki: Fragments of your own past blended into Aoe’s illusion that conjured up my life from two years ago.

Muramasa: ……..!!

Kageaki: Therefore, I understood everything – the reason you have to fight, and how you became what you are now, and that the law that binds Muramasa is not a curse at all.

Muramasa: I can’t do this.

Kageaki: Muramasa…!

Muramasa: I cannot accept your terms.

Kageaki: But…!

Muramasa: Don’t get me wrong. I understand that the principle of “soul and steel as one” is indeed necessary for us to emerge victorious against her. Which is why I will say the same thing I’ve been saying up until now – seal your emotions away and submit yourself to me.

Muramasa: You see, your hopes and desires have nothing at all to do with this.

Kageaki: What…?

Muramasa: I wish it hadn’t come to this. But having heard your words just now, it seems like you leave me no choice.

Kageaki: ………?

Muramasa: If you’ve seen my past, you should know all about this. I, too, have the power to influence the minds of men.

“Mental Contamination.”

Kageaki: Stop it! Didn’t the Emperor forbid you from using that ability?!

“Bend your will to mine. I command you.”

Kageaki: Something… something is devouring me from within…! No matter how hard I try, I cannot fight against it…!

“Seal away your feelings. I have no use for them.”

“So…”

“I will erase them all…”

Kageaki: I… I…

Kageaki: I am still me. Minato Kageaki. But… how come I can remember that? I should’ve yielded to her corruption…

Muramasa: What…? How come…?

Kageaki: Muramasa, what happened?

Muramasa: Whatever! I don’t need you anymore!

Kageaki: Where are you going?!

Muramasa: Somewhere else! It doesn’t matter where! I’m going to look for another master!

Kageaki: What did you just say…?!

Muramasa: Farewell.

With those words, the crimson spider left, as if she had never existed in the first place.

I have to follow her. If I don’t, I will regret it for the rest of my life. But… how am I supposed to do that in my current condition? I am still within my cell, and having the Chief begin the procedures for my release will take time – a few hours at the very least. Will I be able to make it in time…?

We cut to Muramasa’s perspective, who’s out in the city, jumping from roof to roof, too pissed off to care about being seen in broad daylight.

He was ready to accept me. I acknowledge you, he said. And yet… I couldn’t return that favor!

He saw my past, and in return, I saw his. I knew of his everyday life, and how he lived a quiet life in a tiny village. How everything he held dear was taken from him by my mother.

If only I had never existed… If only I hadn’t done such a foolish thing all those centuries ago, he could’ve lived out his life in peace…!

I knew that, and yet…!

I should have destroyed mother when I had the chance. To hell with familial bonds! To hell with the dignity of the blacksmith! That is what I should have done. But I couldn’t, and thus the being known as the Ginseigou was born. Because of my foolishness, countless lives were lost.

“Death upon the wicked and the just” – if only I hadn’t inherited that accursed mantra, his suffering could’ve been lessened.

I was created for the sole purpose of stopping my mother. I had no need for such a curse! And yet, I inherited it all the same…

Still, I did not fully reject it. I wanted to inherit it. I simply didn’t wish for my grandfather’s work -the answer he had finally found at long last- to dissolve into obscurity. His desire to rid the world of the hypocrisy of war and create a better tomorrow – I wanted to preserve those feelings.

I was naive.

For that reason, I cannot possibly acknowledge him now, for that would mean involving him in all of this.

This is my battle, and mine alone. A disaster that I invited. A sin that only I can bear.

Muramasa: I don’t need anyone else. I can do this alone!

She then decides that she can do this alone. She transforms into her Musha self without the aid of Kageaki and flies off towards Hikaru, whose presence she feels nearby.

Hikaru: Ah, Kageaki! You came on such short notice. The thing is, as soon as I woke this morning, I so desperately wanted to meet you – oh dear, look at me, talking like a lovestruck maiden! In any case, I am grateful that you-

Hikaru: Wait a second. Who the hell are you?

Muramasa: Oh, did I happen to decieve you?

Hikaru: Don’t flatter yourself. Your outward appearance might be the same, but the sound you make is different, the fragrance you give off is different, the very way you carry yourself is different!

Muramasa: ………..

Hikaru: So, what is your purpose here? Why did you leave Kageaki behind?

Muramasa: I have no obligation to answer you.

Hikaru: My god! Could it be… that he’s down with a cold?! In that case, let us go and nurse him back to health immediately!

Muramasa 2: Wait a second, Midou! That armor is empty!

Hikaru: Oh? Really? Explain yourself – why have you come here? If all you wanted was to deliver a message, you could’ve come as a spider…

Muramasa: Isn’t it obvious? I came here to fight you.

Hikaru: To fight me? Do you honestly think you could be my opponent, looking like that?

Muramasa: You sure are full of yourself.

Hikaru: Look who’s talking.

M2 then suggests that she could take care of M3 on her own. Hikaru allows it. M2 then transforms back into her human self.

M3: Human transformation?!

M3: The sheer physical strength of a Musha of steel far surpasses that of a mere person. I can easily defeat you.

M2: Is that so? In your current state, you are nothing but an empty shell. A Tsurugi without her master amounts to nothing. Compared to you, my appearance is far more suited for combat!

No matter how hard M3 tries, she cannot hit M2, who moves with ninja-like speed and skill. M2 quickly defeats her.

M2: Pathetic. You bring shame to Father’s name!

M3: I don’t want to hear that from you! If I’m pathetic, then what does that make *you*?!

M2: Do you happen to have some sort of problem with me?

M3: Of course I do! You’re spreading chaos across the land, just like back then!

M2: Oh? I was under the impression that a Tsurugi should obey her master in everything. If you have a question, aim it at the girl over there.

M3: That’s not what I meant! Why did you choose her as your master in the first place?! Have you learned nothing from grandfather’s mistakes? If a person with a weak will uses Muramasa, the law of “the conterbalance of good and evil” will drive her insane! You knew about that danger, and yet, picked a person like her as your master!

M2: I see. It seems like you’ve misunderstood a thing or two here.

M3: What…?!

M2: Firstly – my master is not insane. Well, let me rephrase that. She might be insane – but if that is the case, she has been like that from the beginning. I accepted her like that, and made the contract.

M3: But… why?!

M2: My daughter. Have you taken the time to study the history of Yamato since you awakened?

M3: ………?

M2: I could hardly believe it myself. The peaceful era that we Muramasa managed to bring about after the end of the bloody Nanbokuchou period didn’t even last a century.

M3: You mean… the Warring States period?

M2: That is how it is called, I believe. A few decades after our age, yet another bloodbath occurred, even greater in magnitude than the Nanbokuchou massacre. What do you make of that?

M3: ……..

M2: It wasn’t enough! It simply wasn’t! The bloodshed we caused, the lives we took, it was all insufficient! War will always end in the deaths of both evil and good! There is no place for “justice” on the battlefield! The fundamental truth that we, the Muramasa bloodline, is destined to expose has been forgotten once again! In a period that lasted longer than our Nanbokuchou, people reveled in violence and relentlessly shed the blood of their fellow men!

M3: M-mother… but going as far as becoming the Ginseigou is just too much! Killing every living being everywhere you go is crossing the line!

M2: Not at all. Humans are beyond help. They learned nothing from the tragedy of Nanbokuchou. If the human race as a whole ceases to exist, conflict itself will vanish as well. Father’s wish would be granted!

M3: ………

M2: What? You’re going to say that I’ve lost my mind…?

M3: But… you have!

M2: Hmpf. You are blind to the truth. Blind to the way of this world. Blind to how people feel, blind to even your own feelings. You come here without your master and bark accusations at me? How could you stoop so low? To think I gave birth to such a useless daughter… The likes of you deserve to be melted down and molded into a statue for all I care! You are trash. Nothing more.

M3: Shut up…!!

Her attack is innefective, and M2 is about to finish her, when Hikaru interrupts them. A few seconds later, Kageaki appears.

Hikaru: Kageaki…

M2: Midou!

Hikaru: It’s fine – we’re done for today. Now that I’ve looked upon his face, I’m satisfied.

Hikaru: Kageaki! There’s one thing I have to tell you. I shall head towards the Hachimangu Shrine. You see, I have something rather interesting in mind… and I want to show my true power to Father!

Kageaki: Your… father?

Hikaru: I’ll be waiting, Kageaki!

And then she flies off. Kageaki turns to Muramasa, visibly in terrible shape.

Kageaki: Muramasa…

Muramasa: Don’t come near me. Just… go away. Please.

Kageaki: You want me to leave you be?

Muramasa: Yes.

Kageaki: Never.

Muramasa: I’m not your Tsurugi anymore.

Kageaki: I need you.

Muramasa: If you still wish to stop Mother, do it with another Tsurugi.

Kageaki: I cannot defeat her without you.

Muramasa: Any other Tsurugi would fit you better… Anyone but me…

Kageaki: ……..

Muramasa: Can’t you tell how pathetic I am just by looking at me…? I am not powerful enough. I won’t even obey my own master. I can’t even think straight! I would even challenge an opponent who far outmatches me! And to add insult to injury, anyone who uses me has to be chained down by a horrible curse! How utterly useless can I get?! There’s no way anyone would want me…

Kageaki: Muramasa…

Muramasa: Look for another Tsurugi. Do it and leave me here to rot.

The damaged Tsurugi in front of me was shaking, letting out a sound that resembled that of a tiny bell.

Was she… crying?

Kageaki: Another… Tsurugi…

Muramasa: Go already…!

Far more emotional than your usual Tsurugi, often arrogant, sometimes selfish, at times going against my orders, grumbling and making life difficult for me. To the point that she would even use her powers against me.

That is Muramasa.

My very own Tsurugi.

Kageaki: It has to be you.

Muramasa: But why…?!

Kageaki: Ever since we first met, we lived through countless battles together, and you saved my life every single time. I couldn’t have accomplished anything on my own. And I will need your help to continue this fight.

Muramasa: Have you forgotten already? I’ve made you murder countless people. Starting with your mother. Just how many people do you think I’ve made you kill? Haven’t you had enough? Isn’t it unbearable?! So go ahead and abandon me already! None of this would’ve happened if it wasn’t for me! I’m sure there’s another Tsurugi out there who can help you defeat her.

Kageaki: No such Tsurugi exists. For the one I need is you, and only you.

Muramasa: Why…?!

Kageaki: Hmm. “Death upon both good and evil”, huh? I know that as long as I fight alongside you, people who do not deserve to die will inevitably perish.

Muramasa: Yes.

Kageaki: I killed my own mother. And Nitta Yuuhi. Funa and Fuki as well. They did not deserve to die. But what about the others? Suzukawa Ryoubu? Nagasaka Ukyou? Fuuma Koutarou? Ouji Suguru? George Gargett? Are those murders deserving of forgiveness? No. They aren’t.

Kageaki: To me, those men were evil. However, from another viewpoint, that might not have been the case. I have finally understood what your mantra truly means.

Kageaki: Muramasa… you have been right all along. There is no glory to be found in murder.

Kageaki: Every single act of taking another’s life is evil. Without exceptions.

Muramasa: Midou…

Kageaki: Muramasa. The one who taught me all that… was you. Two years ago, if I had made a contract with any other Tsurugi, I might have come to think of myself as a hero.

Kageaki: But, Muramasa… I do not believe in justice. And that is something I never wish to forget. Which is why I need you to be at my side. Without you, I’d become a “hero” who would make a clear distinction between evil and good, people who deserve death and people who do not. I would come to believe that I have the right to decide something like that.

Kageaki: I have accepted the truth you represent – the counterbalance of good and evil. I have accepted… you. Will you not accept me in return?

Muramasa: Are you… truly… fine with me as a companion?

Kageaki: No one else is more fit for me than you.

Muramasa: But, Midou… I am the one responsible for everything Mother did…

Kageaki: …which means you must fight her alone? Is that what you’re thinking? I understand. I was once the same. No, I probably still have such thoughts. But I’ve come to realize that we are too weak by ourselves. We need each other! We have to become one soul, one steel in order to emerge victorious!

I bit into my right thumb, making the blood come gushing out. I stretched out my arm towards the Tsurugi, who responded to my hand by timidly lifting one of her legs in my direction. My blood came trickling down the steel, dying her in its crimson color.

So basically, through this “ritual” of sorts, the the two finally become one – the true union of master and Tsurugi known as the Musha.

And then we get a brand new opening. Well, not really brand new, but it contains new elements:

watch?v=VK626YzMBac

Continue to Muramasa’s route, Part 3