[Famous Sword – Denkomaru], Activate!
The silver blade flared gold. With the blessing of its origin, Shirō Muramasa's mind seemed to fuse completely with Denkomaru. A foreign, alien principle of the sword poured into him like a flood.
As Denkomaru's true wielder, Shirō couldn't "read" its past memories. But he grasped its principle—the internal chip carried the complete sum of sword knowledge and theory from the Doraemon world, past and present.
For Denkomaru, anything beyond swordsmanship was irrelevant. Its single purpose was to secure victory for its master.
It was precisely that absolute purity—untainted by the distractions of a living being—that made this toy-like weapon paradoxically better suited for the realm of [Infinity] than Muramasa himself. And in doing so, it had reached the [Void]—the state Miyamoto Musashi had dreamed of her entire life.
One becomes zero.Zero becomes infinite.
With no space, there is no enemy.With no limits, there is no defeat.
The entire universe—contained in a single cut.
Muramasa's origin resonated with Denkomaru almost unbelievably. At that moment, Shirō was no longer the fighter—he was the observer. His body merely supplied magical energy; the sword took control, dueling Musashi from a vantage point outside himself.
Denkomaru's sensors tracked every micro-movement of Musashi's body. Its super-chip calculated possible battle outcomes at speeds no human—or supercomputer—could match, threading the single path to victory from among countless futures.
Muramasa's mana refined Denkomaru even further, engraving its principles deeper, giving its edge a magical weight.
In a way, Denkomaru mirrored Musashi's [Sky Eye]—a technique that sought the one winning thread from an endless future.
But while Musashi's Sky Eye was confined by her own skill and human limitations, Denkomaru could simulate hundreds of millions of possibilities per second. The difference between them was greater than that between a world champion and an unshackled AI.
Shirō's voice was almost casual:
"Musashi, humans have limits. The more you master the sword, the more you see the flaws of being human."
Musashi raised her twin blades.
"You're not asking for mercy, are you? That would be unworthy of a swordsman's pride."
"No. I'm saying—times have changed."
Shirō's stance stayed firm. The magical energy swirling around him stilled, and with it, his aura vanished.
Musashi's eyes widened. He hadn't moved, yet his presence deepened—vast, unfathomable, like the sea. One careless strike would mean instant disaster.
This is it…! she thought. The aura of one who has reached Infinity!
But the realization cut her deeper than any blade—this wasn't merely Infinity. This was Zero—the perfect state she herself had failed to attain.
She opened her Sky Eyes. Blue irises bloomed into rainbow light, tearing through space-time, revealing countless possible futures.
She struck first—Niten Ichi-ryū at its absolute peak—only for her opponent to instantly spot the flaw.
Three moves later—right arm severed. Death.
She discarded that path, refined her form—
Ten moves later—defeat. Death.
Another path—three moves—pierced heart. Death.
Over and over. Severed legs. Severed arms. Pierced chest. Death, death, death.
A chill washed over her, as though she'd stepped into an ice cavern.
The Sky Eye showed her infinite variations, yet in every one, Shirō's blade felled her. She had not reached the Void. She could not surpass Infinity.
"It can't be…! The gap can't be this wide!"
She gripped her blades tighter. She could overpower him with raw Servant might. But that would betray her pride—to end her greatest duel with brute force, not the sword, would blaspheme her art forever.
And she knew—she'd already bent the rules once. Do it again, and her Master might use a Command Spell. One would be enough to end her instantly.
The Sky Eye's curse was clear now—seeing every possible defeat eroded her will to fight. She was being slain by her own gift.
Shirō stepped forward. No killing intent. No obvious power. Just a single step that crushed her breath.
"What are you looking at?"
"The path to kill you."
Another step.
"If you cling too tightly to those eyes, you'll never reach the Void… and you'll never beat Infinity."
She forced a smirk.
"Reckless, teaching your enemy mid-duel. Not that I mind."
A third step.
"The more you see, the more you think. The Sky Eye narrows the infinite into one. It's a tool, not a choice. And you—lack the will to turn one into zero."
His words landed like hammer strikes, planting seeds of doubt, clouding her vision.
She realized then—she was already in his cage. The duel's agreed rules had spared her life, but stolen the resolve she needed to strike to kill.
Before killing her body, he had killed her heart.
Without effort, Shirō raised Denkomaru to her neck.
"Therefore… you lose."
Musashi said nothing. She had lost before her decisive strike—yet felt no bitterness.
She accepted her defeat completely.
(Shirō probably knew he was just firing off "mouth cannon" lines straight out of martial arts pulp—but with Denkomaru in hand, they were also his honest evaluation of her. And besides… what kind of swordmaster wouldn't use every tool at their disposal?)
Only two swordsmen had reached Infinity: Sengo Muramasa.Only two had reached the Void before death: Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō.
In the fifth battle, Sasaki's strength had been a pale shadow—likely because he was not of Saber rank.