Dagoku managed to duck just as he heard another slash, which was aimed at his head this time. He did not know what to do, as he was surrounded by the dark from all sides, so he was unable to make out anything in front of him. Dagoku took out his flashlight and tried to turn it on, however it did not work at all.
Since he had no more options left, Dagoku decided at that moment to trust his instincts and charge forward. It seemed to work, as he was able to predict when the attacks would come and dodge them. However it was still not entirely reliable, as he kept getting slashed all across his body. It was as if the second he dodged one, another slash was waiting for him. Thankfully, it did not hit any vital points in his body, so he was still able to charge forward right towards the threat.
Suddenly, his leg got caught on something, and Dagoku's face smashed straight onto the hard, concrete floor. As Dagoku laid there on the floor, feeling pain all across his body, he wondered what on earth made him trip. Before he could find out though, he rolled to the side and heard the unmistakable sound of something slashing at the place where he was. He heard something splatter, and then felt a warm liquid splash all over him. Dagoku realized quickly that the mysterious liquid was blood, as he could smell the heavy scent of metal all over his face. Or was it his own blood? Dagoku had no way of knowing at this point.
It has felt like hours since he started to rush forward. Dagoku was extremely tired and bloody, and he felt as if each step was sucking the life out of him. Dagoku didn't know when he was going to exit this place, as this corridor seemed to be basically endless.
Suddenly, Dagoku didn't feel as if the attacks were coming anymore. He thought his senses had finally been destroyed by the incoming attacks, however when he decided to take a gamble and stood still, he realized that the attacks had really ended. Dagoku collapsed to the ground, exhausted, as he was injured and out of breath from running for too long.
After catching his breath, he noticed that he was now in an dimmly lit open space. He looked around, trying to make sense of the situation. From what he could see, he was still in a concrete room, however he did not see any exit anywhere. Other than the corridor he just came through, this entire place was boxed up.
Dagoku decided that he was going to try and look for clues, as he was pretty sure that he did not come all the way here just to become trapped. Just as he was about to stand up, Dagoku saw something move from the corner of his eye. He quickly took out his katana and got into a fighting stance, however the mysterious entity just stood there. Dagoku did not know if the entity over there was a threat or not, however judging from the amount of things that we're trying to kill him, he concluded that this one would be no different.
"Who are you?" Dagoku called out to the figure. The figure did not respond.
As Dagoku was about to go on the offensive, the entity suddenly smiled, showing a bright, wide set of sharp teeth.
"Yep, that's an enemy alright," Dagoku said to himself.
Dagoku rushed forward, his katana in his hands, and slashed at the figure. Unfortunately, the figure seemed to dodge at the last second and Dagoku's attack failed. He took another slash at the entity, however the figure kept dodging all his attacks. It then suddenly materialized a sword out of nowhere and attacked Dagoku. He was able to block the attacks, however Dagoku noticed how heavy the slashes felt. It was as if it was not a sword that was being slashed, but instead a boulder being smashed onto his katana.
Dagoku managed to back off, and the entity finally came out of the shadows, and Dagoku was able to make out how the figure looked like. It had a pitch black suit of armour, with a black cape that was ragged and covered its whole body, and its head was just like a normal human's. However, the face had no eyes, but an unusually large and extremely bright smile, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth.
Dagoku tried to attack again, which seemed to amuse this creature more, and it effortlessly was able to parry it and kicked Dagoku, knocking him off balanced. It slashed at Dagoku with its sword, and Dagoku finally realized the reason why the blade felt so heavy. The entity held a massive katana, to which Dagoku guessed was about five meters long, and the width was at least a foot. It was more like a hunk of metal than a katana at that point, and Dagoku wondered how the creature was even able to swing it with one hand.
Dagoku managed to dodge the incoming strike and backed off to catch his breath, however the entity charged forward and started to relentlessly attack, forming him to defend. It was not letting Dagoku catch his breath, and he knew that of this kept up any longer, he would surely collapse.
As the two traded clashes, Dagoku suddenly punched the entity in the face, however it seemed to do nothing to it. Instead it punched Dagoku back, causing him to smash into the wall. Dagoku was spitting blood now, as he was still injured from the corridor attacks. He suddenly noticed that the figure disappeared, forcing him to look around frantically to see where it would attack from.
The entity suddenly appeared in front of him, and Dagoku was able to duck before it slashed its sword at the wall, causing a massive mark to be left. Dagoku knew that it would be impossible for him to defeat this monster, so he tried to stall for time to make up a plan.
However, just as he was about to stall, the figure disappeared again, and Dagoku again looked around frantically. He felt as if it was behind him, and when he looked back, he could see the blade coming down, aimed at his head. Dagoku was able to parry it, however just before he could counterattack, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
Dagoku looked down and saw a sword sticking out of him. He turned behind and saw the same figure with the blade that stabbed him from behind. Dagoku then looked forward to see the same figure with the massive blade in its hand.
Before Dagoku could make sense of the situation, the figure from behind took its sword out from him and sliced him in the back.
As Dagoku collapsed, he realized that the figure must have had some sort of cloning ability. As his vision began to glow darker, he wondered how Emiko would survive without him, and then thought that he should not have come down here in the first place.
As he was about to fade into darkness, he started to hear a voice in his head, calling out to him.
"You will carry my curse."