MOON SAGA novel book discussion (Part Three, Ch 5-6)
5
Sitting on the bow of the vast sailing ship, Noritsune gazed at the ocean spreading out in front of him. The gentle spring breeze brushed his cheek, along with the smell of salt water. Noritsune closed his eyes as if he were savoring it.
“How nice the ocean is. It brings the winds from all directions. The breeze today is quite refreshing… Is it not, Yoshitsune?”
Noritsune spoke with his eyes closed. Behind him, Yoshitsune stood.
“Those words don’t suit you. All you smell of now is blood…”
“Hahaha! Don’t say that, Yoshitsune. You are not so different from me. You killed your dear friend with your own hands,” Noritsune said, rising to his feet and grinning as he slowly turned to face Yoshitsune.
“I’m not like you! I… wanted to help Yoshinaka. But I couldn’t save him. So to make up for Yoshinaka and all my friends who have died, I’ve decided to create a world without conflict.”
“… This again.”
Noritsune always felt an inexpressible irritation around Yoshitsune. He was seized by a strong impulse to make this Mononofu, whose values differed from his in every way possible, submit to his power.
“Don’t speak of such hypocrisy! You can’t even accept your own power, so what have you been able to achieve? Who were you able to protect? Because of your weakness, many people became embroiled in this war, and died cursing you! In the end, you’re just a beast starving for blood. Every time you refuse to acknowledge that, and start talking about idealistic things, it makes me want to vomit.”
Yoshitsune tried to control the turmoil in his mind. Were the things Noritsune was saying a battle tactic? Or was this what he really believed? There was also the possibility that En was making him say it. No matter which it is, I can’t let him disturb my mind, or I’ll lose myself.
“...If that were to be true, then the world doesn’t need demons like us starving for blood, right?”
“Oh, very good! You finally feel like fighting me? How exciting. But there’s one thing you’re wrong about. I’m not a demon. I came from Hell to destroy the demon… I am Enma!” 1
“So En really has been summoned. Why? He should have perished with Kage.”
“What’s that? I don’t know anything about it. I have been chosen. Because I was stronger than anyone else, I was worthy of receiving a special power. Power is everything you need to finish battles in this world, Yoshitsune… I’m different to weak people like you. Let me teach you!”
As he said those words, Noritsune vanished from the bow of the ship. In the time it took Yoshitsune to notice, Noritsune was right before his eyes, slashing at him with his blades. Like Yoshitsune, Noritsune wielded two daggers. But his speed completely exceeded Yoshitsune’s. Yoshitsune was just barely blocking his blades. They continued to exchange blows. Already, their blades were moving too fast to be seen, and only the sound of them clashing over and over rang out. Yoshitsune’s face showed that he was desperately focused on the battle, but Noritsune was gleeful.
“Ahahahaha! What’s this? Isn’t my power overwhelming!”
He pulled back, and in the blink of an eye, landed a vicious spinning kick to Yoshitsune’s abdomen. Yoshitsune groaned and stumbled backwards.
“How is it? This is the power of the chosen one.”
“You’re out of your mind...”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But weren’t you the one they called the Genji’s demon? Fight more seriously! You’re making a fool of me for putting so much effort in. Let’s go!”
Noritsune’s attacks resumed. Now that En was possessing the man once known as the Heike’s strongest, his power was a threat that exceeded even the supernatural powers of the Mononofu. And while Yoshitsune was fighting a defensive battle, he also possessed an unfathomable power. Despite that, he was quickly beginning to show signs of fatigue.
Noritsune suddenly stopped, and hand on hip, looked at Yoshitsune with a bemused expression.
“You know, Yoshitsune, you’re not making this interesting for me at all...”
“Shut up...”
“What’s with that attitude? If you’ve got time to be so stubborn, then use your power and turn into a demon! The one I want to fight is the demon within you!”
“I’m not a demon!”
“… Ridiculous. It’s just as Brother said. If you don’t lose someone important to you, the demon won’t come out? Well then, I’ll just have to draw it out.”
Noritsune walked over to the main mast of the ship, and cut the ropes that were tied there. A figure emerged from the shadow of the thick mast. It was Hiyori.
“Hiyori!? Why… But I left you in Kyoto!?”
Noritsune returned carrying Hiyori, who had her hands tied behind her back. She gazed at Yoshitsune with eyes filled with a mixture of terror, and relief at seeing Yoshitsune again.
“It’s quite admirable. I don’t know when she realized, but I caught her sneaking on to Yashima to steal the power I’d received.”
“Stop it… Hiyori has nothing to do with this!”
Noritsune screwed up his face at the pain in his head. After leaving Yashima, he had been freed from his headaches for a while, but the moment he had touched Hiyori, that power had been shaken.
“Owww… Ahh, it hurts… ‘She’s got nothing to do with this, ’ do you really expect that to work? I don’t show mercy, even to women. Oh, and I just remembered. I heard that you were in love with that female warrior, Tomoe, who was killed in the Battle of Mizushima? This is a good chance for me to tell you something. As a matter of fact, I’m the one who killed her.”
“… What… did you say?”
Yoshitsune’s heart began to race, and he felt his body becoming hot with rage.
“I actually intended to kill Yoshinaka, but he escaped. She was right there nearby, and she made a really good target for my arrow. When I aimed at her, I hit her with a perfect shot and knocked her off her horse, AHAHAHA!”
Tomoe’s smiling face rose up in Yoshitsune’s mind, and a fierce murderous desire rose up inside him. Sensing that, Noritsune looked pleased. His headache was rapidly worsening, but he was smiling even with his face contorted from the pain splitting his head. His smile was the definition of madness.
“Muahaha! Alright, Yoshitsune, hate me enough to kill. Hate me, and turn into the demon. Come on out! Come out and play, demon inside Yoshitsune!!!”
Then he put his blade against Hiyori’s throat in front of Yoshitsune’s eyes. In that instant, Hiyori, who had lost her voice, shouted. It was a last message to Yoshitsune that she staked her life on.
“Yoshitsune… protect everyone!”
“STOOOOOOOOOPPPPP!!!”
Listening to Yoshitsune’s scream, Noritsune slit Hiyori’s throat. Blood poured from her mouth and down her slender throat. In the blink of an eye, her silver hair was stained blood red.
“Ahaha. How pretty. Even though she’s a Mononoke, her blood is as red as the rest of us.”
With an expression of rapture, he kissed Hiyori, then casually threw her body overboard into the sea.
At this nightmarish scene, the last restraint inside Yoshitsune snapped.
Yoshitsune’s second scream echoed across the surroundings. It was no longer a voice, but a tremendous quaking of the earth itself that shook Noritsune.
Noritsune couldn’t restrain his excitement.
“I waited for this… I did all of this so I could meet you.”
The demon Yoshitsune quietly glared at Noritsune.
DO YOU WISH TO DIE ?
“I have no intention of dying. Just killing you and gaining an even greater power!”
The moment he said that, Noritsune slashed at Yoshitsune. Yoshitsune swiftly took his daggers in each hand, and with the greatest of ease blocked his attacks and struck back. The next instant, blood flowed from Noritsune’s arm and leg, and he staggered off balance.
“Hahaha! Not bad, Demon Yoshitsune! That’s what I wanted to see.”
Noritsune had lost his sense of self, and Demon Yoshitsune tilted his head at the sight.
YOU HAVE A FAMILIAR SCENT, COULD IT BE THAT EN STILL PERSISTS? THAT MEANS THAT YOU… YOUR HEART HAS BEEN COMPLETELY CONSUMED BY EN?
“Shut up! My heart has not been consumed! I gained this power because I was chosen!”
Noritsune grasped his blade with his uninjured arm, and came at Yoshitsune again. This time, he matched Yoshitsune for speed. He skillfully kept his distance from Yoshitsune’s blades, and they fought on, evenly matched.
I’ve got him. Sure of that, Noritsune thrust his blade forward. But Yoshitsune vanished from in front of his eyes, and at the same time, he felt a hand grab his head from behind, and a mighty kick to his back sent him flying. Staggering, Noritsune tried to turn around.
But before he could, both of Yoshitsune’s blades tore through his flesh.
“Gaaaaaaah!”
Noritsune fell to his knees, vomiting copious amounts of blood. He caught the blood pouring from his mouth in his hands, staring at it, and then turned to glare at Yoshitsune with bulging eyes.
OHOHOHO… AS EXPECTED OF A DEMON! YOU INTEND TO ENJOY THIS FIGHT UNTIL THIS CORPSE ROTS AWAY… HM?
With an ominous smile, he returned his eerie gaze to Yoshitsune. Though he was covered from head to toe in bloody wounds, he showed no sign of being in pain.
Yoshitsune tilted his head again and spoke coldly.
SO YOU HAVE FINALLY SHOWN YOURSELF… EN. YOUR STENCH PERMEATES THIS PLACE…
His soul completely taken over by En, Noritsune approached Yoshitsune step by step, grinning.
I RETURNED FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL… TO KILL YOU, DID I NOT? WHETHER IT IS KAGE… OR YOU… I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DISRESPECT ME! THIS TIME I WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE.
En spoke as if he had known the demon within Yoshitsune for a long time. He took the body that should have been Noritsune’s, and began to float in the air.
HM...
Yoshitsune was unmoved, and slowly floated into the air to follow him. Noritsune’s face spasmed, and he continued to grin eerily, the expressions on their faces were complete opposites.
FOR OUR BATTLE… THIS WORLD IS NOT QUITE SUITED… ALLOW ME TO GUIDE YOU TO THE GATES OF HELL… HA!
As En spoke, dark clouds began to swirl around them, and the color drained from the blue sky and sea. A grimy blackness overtook the surrounding area, and the sailing ship was swallowed by darkness. In the blink of an eye, the world became pitch black, and the two of them floated in the darkness. On the ground far below, countless blue flames writhed fiercely like a hydra. Every now and then, something like lightning flashed toward them. The strange scene completely lacked gravity, and could not possibly have existed in reality.
HERE… I HAVE THE ADVANTAGE… OHOHOHO
En twisted his body and flew at Yoshitsune. His arm that had been immobilized until that point now moved freely. Furthermore, his joints could now bend backwards in an instant. Even despite the fact that Noritsune was known as the Heike’s Strongest, those movements were clearly unnatural.
HUOH!
En let out an eerie shout, and attacked over and over. Yoshitsune blocked Noritsune’s blade within a hair’s breadth as it sped towards his throat. Noritsune jeered and ran his wet tongue across Yoshitsune’s face. Yoshitsune’s expression did not change at all, and he immediately twisted his body and unleashed a spinning back kick, but Noritsune bent backwards and leapt out of the way.
OHOHOHO… SLOW. MEANINGLESS…
An obscene smile was on Noritsune’s face, and drool ran from his mouth. He folded both arms tightly in front of his chest, curled his body and let out a moan.
GHHH!
The flashes of lightning suddenly sped towards Noritsune as if in answer to his cry. It was as though a cable connected to a high voltage current had shorted out, sending its power to Noritsune.
HOW FUN THIS IS
Laughing, En vanished from Yoshitsune’s field of vision. At that instant, a blade sliced through his back. When Yoshitsune turned, En had already vanished, and appeared behind him again, this time landing two great slashes.
YOU…
Yoshitsune groaned in a low voice. Noritsune increased the speed of his attacks even further. Attacked from behind over and over again, Yoshitsune’s arms hung by his side uselessly. That instant, Noritsune reappeared in front of Yoshitsune’s eyes, and thrust his blades into Yoshitsune’s shoulders.
GOT YOU
En’s ominous roar echoed through the void. His blades pierced through Yoshitsune’s shoulders down into his heart. Yoshitsune looked at the blades piercing his chest, and collapsed to his knees as they were pulled out, falling towards the depths of Hell where the blue flames swirled.
A thunderclap echoed as if to announce the victory, and the flashes of lightning lit up Noritsune’s grin of satisfaction over and over again.
I SHALL CLOSE THE GATES OF HELL… IF I DO NOT SOON RETURN TO THE OTHER WORLD, I TOO WILL BE SUCKED IN…
En whispered with satisfaction. He closed his eyes and concentrated in order to return to the earthly realm. Then, from the depths where Yoshitsune had fallen, there was a distant sound that shook the air.
HM…?
En slowly lowered his gaze, and saw a light coming straight at him from the darkness.
WHAT? IS THAT-
Before he could finish speaking, a fierce blow struck Noritsune’s head, and he was knocked backward with a dull sound. When he looked up in surprise, Yoshitsune was floating in front of him. His red eyes had changed to gold, and red light was emanating from his body as if he were wearing a cloak of flames.
LET’S FINISH THIS...
Yoshitsune turned the daggers he held in each hand to point upward. In a panic, En reached out his arms to stop him.
WAIT, WAIT! DO NOT BE SO HASTY! SHALL WE PLAY A LITTLE MO-
Yoshitsune did not wait for him to finish speaking, but circled behind him and cut his Achilles tendon in the blink of an eye. It was Yoshitsune’s turn to toy with En. With a booming sound that shook the air, he appeared and disappeared, slicing up Noritsune’s body. His movements were so blindingly fast they left afterimages, as if an army of Yoshitsunes were surrounding Noritsune. There was nothing En could do, and he groaned.
UUUHH, NOT... AGAIN…
Kkssshh…
There was the sound of bones grating.
GA...AHH…
Two daggers protruded from Noritsune’s back. They looked like bones remaining from wings that had been torn off.
Yoshitsune held Noritsune’s suddenly limp body in his arms, and disappeared into a point of light in the darkness.
6
The distortion of space that had been created from the clash between the demon and En still enveloped Yoshitsune and Noritsune. However, both the demon and En had vanished, and the darkness that had blotted out the sky until just a moment before was clearly shrinking in on itself. The gigantic flames that could be seen far away in the depths of the darkness were roaring, and threatening to swallow the two of them up as they floated in the air.
Yoshitsune was struggling desperately to resist that power. He was holding on tightly to the unconscious Noritsune’s arm, but his face was contorted with agony and effort.
Noritsune’s face and body was covered with wounds, and he merely swayed back and forth as he floated in the darkness. It was certain that if Yoshitsune let go of his hand, he would immediately fall and be swallowed up by the flames.
Yoshitsune cried out to Noritsune over and over again.
“Hey…! Nori… Noritsune! Wake up!!!”
In a daze, and somewhat irritated by the noise, Noritsune opened his eyes. Yoshitsune’s face was relieved for a moment, but then returned to a stern expression.
“Nori, wake up! You’ll fall into the flames!”
“Enough… Let go of my hand. I’m tired...”
“What are you saying! Hold on!!! Nori!!!”
It’s just like my dream.
Noritsune remembered. But he immediately realized that their positions were the opposite. And it wasn’t just that. The bright red magma had become blue flames, and the darkness was above him, rather than below.
I see…
Noritsune somehow approved. It wasn’t something he could explain in words, rather it was a feeling. But somewhere in his heart, he was relieved by this ending.
At some point in time, his body had stopped listening to him. He had been constantly seeking help for his never-ending headache and terror, but his voice never reached anyone. Dennai and Brother weren’t looking at me, they were looking at Yoshitsune. No… maybe I was the one turning my back on them.
“...I was always… jealous of you…”
Taking painful breaths, Noritsune gave a weak smile.
“I’ll listen to whatever you have to say about that later! For now, concentrate on getting out of here!!!”
“… No, listen to me… Yoshitsune… My prophetic dreams… have never been wrong before… In the dream I had, you were the one falling… But in reality, it’s the opposite.”
“Then we can have a rematch whenever you like. If you’re frustrated that you lost, then live!”
Yoshitsune’s arm that was holding on to Noritsune was trembling. A vast, invisible force was drawing Noritsune toward the flames, and it took all his strength to resist.
“No, that’s not it… It’s too late now… but I realized… Fate… you can change fate with your own will… I always… hated my power… It felt like the future was set… and you couldn’t change it...”
Noritsune had begun to cry before even he realized it. It was strange, as he did not feel sad, but it was not a bad feeling either.
“At this point in time… I’ve lost… To you… and to myself...”
As Noritsune whispered that, he looked towards his own feet. The dancing flames were stretching up toward his feet like hands reaching out for him. But he felt no heat, nor fear of them. What went through his mind was, When I go to the next world, I have to apologize to Brother and Tsugunobu and everyone. But I doubt they’ll forgive me.
“Noritsune, I’m begging you, don’t give up! Hold on!!!”
Great tears were overflowing from Yoshitsune’s eyes. Noritsune stared at him with a look of surprise, then suddenly smiled at him. It was the first time he had smiled at him as a friend.
“Yoshitsune… I would have liked to meet you… a little differently...”
“Hey, what are you saying…? Nori, stop it!”
“Thank you...” Noritsune said, and shook his arm free of Yoshitsune’s. With a beautiful smile on his face, he was pulled into the flames.
Yoshitsune was unable to make a sound, and just stared at him wide-eyed. The flames leapt up from the darkness, and spread out like wings as they swallowed Noritsune, then shrank away. The darkness vanished like a dream, and around Yoshitsune there was nothing but the beautiful sky and sea.
“NORITSUNE-!!!”
Yoshitsune broke down in tears as he screamed, and then lapsed into unconsciousness.
The setting sun colored the foggy sky a watery red.
On the boats floating here and there on the sea, the Genji soldiers that Yoshitsune led were raising cries of victory. Their voices echoed into the heavens.
In this way, the battle between the Genji and the Heike concluded at Dan-no-Ura.
Yoshitsune, who had collapsed on the sailing ship, was saved by Saburō and the others, and returned to Kyoto by boat. When Yoshitsune regained consciousness, twenty days had passed since the battle.
Kagetoki and Noriyori, who arrived at Hikishima too late, were astounded that the battle was already over. However, they took advantage of Yoshitsune’s unconscious state, and wrote in their report to Yoritomo that they too had triumphed in the battle.
As for Noritsune’s body, no matter how much they searched the ship, or the sea and islands nearby, they could not find it. He had vanished along with Hiyori, who was also said to have been thrown into the ocean. When Yoshitsune was informed of this in his mansion by Saburō, he merely said, “I see...” with a hint of loneliness, and nothing more.
Like Yoshitsune, the pain of losing so many friends weighed heavily on Benkei, Saburō and the others’ hearts. But they had no choice but to go on living. That was the mission of the survivors, and they all struggled in their sorrow to accept it.
It had been eleven months since the younger generations of the Genji and Heike had met and reached out to each other, a fleeting tale. That was secretly engraved in their hearts as a precious memory.
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1Enma is the ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead in Japanese mythology. En’s name is written with the first character of “Enma”.