Chapter 232: I Like You, And Everyone Else Too
A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the damp stone walls of the cave.
Shingen leaned casually against the jagged rock face opposite them, the cold metal of her iron fan resting lightly across her knees. Her deep crimson eyes, sharp and predatory, swept over Yoshimoto's trembling form before finally locking onto the other woman's face, noting the faint, lingering flush of embarrassment painting her cheeks.
"Coward."
A single word, crisp and utterly merciless.
Yoshimoto's complexion instantly drained of its rosy hue, shifting into a sickly, indignant pale. Her hands clenched into fists. "What did you just say—"
"I said you are a coward."
Shingen tilted her head, her tone dripping with a lazy, unshakable confidence. As she shifted her weight, the collar of her loose plain kimono slipped down half an inch. The movement revealed a stretch of honey-colored skin, half-hidden in the cavern's shadows and half-exposed to the flickering light. The heavy fabric pressed against the full curve of her chest, creating a deep horizontal crease that trembled slightly with every breath she took.
She remained entirely uninhibited, exuding a wild, heroic aura that made her appear completely indifferent to the opinions of anyone she deemed beneath her.
"I know exactly what you are," Shingen continued, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. "You require at least forty armed guards just to step outside your own gates. You only find the courage to stand up and shout when a blade is already swinging toward your neck. And your very first reaction upon being sucked into this wretched mountain was to cower behind the white elephant."
She let out a soft, derisive sneer. "The dignified ruler of three provinces. The supposed number one archer of the Tokaido region. You are so utterly terrified of death, yet you still have the audacity to claim you aren't weak?"
Yoshimoto gritted her teeth, her chest heaving with exasperation. "That is called being cautious!"
"The only difference between caution and cowardice lies in the outcome," Shingen retorted smoothly. "If you win, history calls it caution. If you lose, it is simply being afraid to die."
Dismissing the flustered daimyo entirely, Shingen shifted her gaze. Her crimson eyes slid past Yoshimoto and locked onto Hikaru, who sat quietly against the cavern wall. A spark of wild, uncontrollable interest flared to life within her predatory gaze.
"Kobe Hikaru."
She let the syllables roll off her tongue, tasting the name. Then, she pushed herself off the stone wall and stood up.
Standing at five-foot-seven, she towered over Yoshimoto by more than half a head. Her tall, straight, and athletic figure commanded absolute attention within the narrow, claustrophobic confines of the cave.
Under normal circumstances, marching into Mino Province would have required her to wear full battle armor over her garments. But after being swallowed by the chaotic depths of Mount Hakurei, she had discarded the heavy plating. Now, she wore only an inner plain kimono, loosely secured at her waist by a simple sash. The thin fabric clung to her, clearly outlining the taut, athletic curve of her slender waist. She was a striking contradiction of full, curvaceous femininity and the hardened, lethal muscle of a veteran warlord.
Closing the distance with long, purposeful strides, Shingen walked straight up to the Oni Samurai. Without a second thought, she shoved Yoshimoto aside, clearing her path.
Then, she crouched down right in front of him.
She rested one knee against the cold dirt, keeping her other leg propped up for balance, and leaned in close. She positioned herself at almost the exact same intimate distance Yoshimoto had occupied mere moments ago.
Yet, the suffocating pressure she exuded was entirely different. Where Yoshimoto had been driven by pure, flustered impulse, Shingen was calculated, deliberate, and entirely premeditated.
Strands of her long, deep crimson hair cascaded over her shoulder, pooling in the space between them. As she leaned forward, the loose collar of her kimono surrendered completely to gravity. The plain fabric draped downward, brushing against the arm Hikaru had resting casually on his knee, leaving only a whisper-thin layer of cloth between his skin and hers.
Fine beads of sweat dotted her honey-colored collarbone, shimmering faintly in the dim, ambient light of the cavern.
She stared down at him, her face hovering inches away.
Her deep crimson eyes locked onto his glowing Crimson Demon Eyes. They shared the exact same hue of blood red, yet the light burning within them was vastly different. One held the ferocity of a conquering tiger, the other the cold, abyssal calm of an undead demon.
"The Takeda Clan can offer you ten times more than the Imagawa ever could," she murmured. Her voice was pitched low, vibrating with a beast-like, unshakeable arrogance. "The towering mountains of Kai Province. The vast, sweeping plains of Shinano. And the prize my clan is determined to seize next: the heavily fortified, impenetrable hilly lands of northern Mino. Three entire provinces, connected as one unbroken empire."
A dark amusement danced in her eyes. "What can that coward Yoshimoto possibly give you? A quaint little shrine? The title of guardian deity over two measly provinces? Please. That title was practically handed to you by that idiot woman from the Hojo Clan anyway."
She leaned in a fraction closer, her breath warm against his skin.
"But what I can offer you is not merely a plot of land. I will not restrict you to playing the role of a so-called guardian deity. I can give you half of the entire world I conquer!"
To Shingen, it made absolutely no difference whether the being sitting before her was a demon, a god, or a wandering ghost. All that mattered was that he possessed the overwhelming strength and sheer ruthlessness required to stand at her side. He wielded devastating martial power, backed by a terrifyingly sharp strategic mind.
His brilliant tactical maneuver targeting Uesugi Kenshin—a masterstroke she had only read about in scattered intelligence reports—still left her in absolute awe to this day. Hikaru was the only existence she had ever encountered in this war-torn era who was truly worthy of her lowering her pride to make such an offer.
Having laid her ambitions bare, Shingen did not break eye contact.
Her heavy palm remained firmly planted on his shoulder, her fingers gripping the fabric of his clothes. Her warm breath fanned across his cheek, carrying the distinct, intoxicating heat of her body.
Shoved unceremoniously to the side, Yoshimoto watched the exchange unfold, her face twisting into a mask of pure, green-tinged outrage.
This shameless woman...
Across the cave, Nobuna found herself entirely unable to sit still. She had already failed in her own attempts to recruit the Oni Samurai, but watching someone else make a move ignited a fierce, burning possessiveness in her chest. A tactical genius of his caliber was a weapon that could shift the balance of the entire Sengoku period. If she could not have him, she absolutely refused to let anyone else take him.
Especially not Shingen. The Tiger of Kai was infinitely more dangerous than Yoshimoto. She was a terrifying, flawless commander with no glaring weaknesses, a monster on par with the Dragon of Echigo. Nobuna would much rather see Hikaru stand behind the relatively manageable Imagawa clan than watch him join forces with the Takeda.
If those two monsters united, the Oda clan would have absolutely zero chance of survival.
Unable to bear it a second longer, the blonde warlord shot to her feet. Nobuna crossed the rocky floor in two quick strides and forcefully wedged herself directly into the narrow gap between Shingen and Hikaru.
"Wait, wait, hold on a second! Why are you two the only ones fighting over him?!" she demanded, her golden vertical pupils burning fiercely like two miniature suns in the gloom.
"I have bargaining chips too, you know!" She planted her hands on her hips, jutting her chin out proudly. "I possess the immortality of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. I am the only ruler in this entire Sengoku era who physically cannot die! Cooperating with me guarantees absolute security. You would never have to worry about your primary backer suddenly dropping dead on the battlefield one day!"
She slapped a hand against her chest to emphasize her point, the forceful impact causing the fabric of her kimono to sway heavily. "Yoshimoto will eventually grow old and die. Shingen will grow old and die. Only I—"
"You already used that pitch last time," Hikaru interrupted, his deadpan voice finally cutting through the chaotic bickering to reassert his presence in the room.
His glowing Crimson Demon Eyes swept slowly across the three figures crowding his personal space.
The situation was absurd. These women were all powerful daimyo, ruthless heads of military clans commanding tens of thousands of soldiers across multiple provinces. Yet, stripped of their armies and trapped in a cave, they were bickering like street merchants. With all this aggressive posturing, did they mistake him for a piece of prime meat on display in a butcher's window?
He let out a quiet breath.
"Since I have already chosen the Imagawa clan, my allegiance remains with the Imagawa," he stated.
His tone was simple, flat, and entirely direct, leaving absolutely zero room for negotiation. He had no interest in playing duplicitous political games to string along all three factions, nor did he have any practical need to do so.
A contract was a contract. He knew exactly what he wanted, and he would secure it on his own terms.
Shingen slowly withdrew her hand from his shoulder. Her deep crimson eyes blinked once, registering the firm rejection. She did not look angry, but the predatory amusement had vanished from her lips.
Nobuna opened her mouth to argue, but finding no opening in his ironclad resolve, she snapped it shut. The fiery desperation in her golden eyes dimmed into a sulky pout.
Yoshimoto, still sitting on the dirt, stared at him in utter disbelief.
She honestly hadn't expected him to remain so steadfast. He was a terrifyingly powerful, anomalous monster, and she had fully braced herself for a brutal bidding war. After all, the vast territories and military might Shingen brought to the table objectively dwarfed her own resources.
Sharing the conquered world with a demonic entity... she didn't actually mind the concept. In the darkest, quietest corners of her mind, she even wondered if she secretly craved that exact scenario. But she simply hadn't prepared herself for the reality of it yet.
Breaking the silence, Shingen tilted her head, genuine curiosity bleeding into her voice. "Why?"
"I have already invested far too much time and effort into her. The sunk costs are simply too high to abandon now," Hikaru replied in a perfectly calm, pragmatic tone.
It was the absolute, unvarnished truth.
From the very beginning—borrowing a blade to slaughter the Thunder Beast, formally signing the spiritual contract with the Imagawa bloodline, deploying the Hyakki Yagyo to defend Suruga, organizing a massive naval fleet to raid Echigo, and finally accepting the heavy burden of Taigen Sessai's deathbed entrustment. The sheer volume of resources and strategic planning he had poured into the Imagawa faction vastly outweighed his interactions with the rest of the world combined.
The accumulated sunk cost was astronomical. Switching allegiances now would mean throwing all that groundwork into the fire and starting completely from scratch.
, a proper transaction required equal footing. He desired a cooperative partner, not a master who viewed him as a glorified vassal. And he certainly had no intention of 'marrying into' the Takeda clan just to secure a power base.
The Oni Samurai cast a sideways glance at the red-haired warlord, his glowing eyes easily piercing through the layers of her grand political ambitions.
Shingen noticed his scrutiny but remained entirely dismissive. She didn't care in the slightest that he had seen through her underlying motives. "You are rejecting half the world just because of some accumulated effort?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow.
"There is one other reason," Hikaru stated flatly.
He slowly turned his head, fixing his gaze directly on Yoshimoto.
Yoshimoto's entire body went rigid. Her breath hitched, a wave of deep anxiety washing over her under the weight of his intense, glowing stare. Despite her grand titles, she really wasn't a very brave person at heart.
"Because, compared to you," he said, his voice steady and devoid of hesitation, "I like her more."
She was a beautiful girl with flowing black hair. It was a simple, obvious truth of his aesthetic preferences. How could anyone fail to understand something so basic?
Yoshimoto sat frozen, her mind short-circuiting as the blunt confession echoed off the cave walls.
And then, the reaction hit her.
A violent, furious crimson flush erupted from the base of her neck. The heat surged upward in a split second, scalding her jaw, painting her cheeks, and setting her earlobes ablaze. She looked exactly like a forgotten pot of water left on a roaring fire, violently boiling over.
"L-Like...?" she squeaked.
Her voice cracked, pitching up into an unrecognizable octave. The confident, dignified young ruler of three provinces had completely vanished, replaced by a flustered, trembling mess.
Shingen watched the absurd display unfold, her jaw tightening slightly. She raised her iron fan and slapped it hard against her open palm.
"...Is that truly it?"
The brave, battle-hardened Tiger of Kai, a master of logistics, terrain, and psychological warfare, had completely and utterly failed to factor in something as trivial as personal romantic preference into her grand strategy.
Yoshimoto slapped both hands over her burning face, curling in on herself in mortified silence.
Standing off to the side, Nobuna's mouth twitched violently. Her face contorted into a bizarre grimace, caught somewhere between furious jealousy and utter, baffled speechlessness.
Near the cave entrance, Masakage and Katsuie exchanged a long, deeply uncomfortable look. Toshiie, huddled safely in the darkest corner of the cavern, let her large eyes dart excitedly between the trio. "How incredibly romantic," she whispered loudly, only to instantly shrink back into the shadows when Nobuna shot her a glare so venomous it could melt stone.
It was at this precise, delicate moment that Hikaru decided to open his mouth again, adding in an unhurried, entirely matter-of-fact tone.
"Although she is still not as good as Kikyo, it is indeed the truth."
Yoshimoto froze.
Slowly, agonizingly, she lowered her hands from her face. The embarrassment had evaporated, instantly replaced by a dark, murderous aura. Her bright eyes glared daggers at the undead samurai, her flushed features screaming a single, unified message: That extra comment was entirely unnecessary.
She began to grind her teeth together, producing a faint, grating sound.
...That damn shrine maiden.
Deciding she had seen enough of this farce, Shingen straightened up. She casually brushed the cave dust from her knees and smoothly tucked her heavy iron fan back into her waist sash.
Her crimson eyes drifted away from Hikaru, settling coldly on Yoshimoto, who was still sitting on the dirt floor, practically emitting visible steam from her sheer indignation.
Shingen stared at her rival for a long, heavy moment. Then, she let out a low, dismissive hum, as if suddenly finding the entire situation terribly uninteresting. Without another word, she turned her back on them and strode toward the cave entrance.
"Let us go, Masakage," she ordered, her voice echoing off the stone.
"My Lord, are we—"
"We are climbing the mountain. My belongings are still up there."
Just as she reached the threshold of the cavern, Shingen paused. She cast one final, piercing glance over her shoulder, locking eyes with Hikaru.
"As for you... One day, you will realize that the Takeda Clan is far more worthy of your power than the Imagawa. And so am I."
With that final declaration, she stepped out into the biting cold. Her long crimson hair flickered like a dying ember in the swirling white mist, and a second later, her tall figure vanished completely among the eerie forest of stone Buddha statues.
The legendary Tiger of Kai was no ordinary woman. She would never weep over rejection or throw a tantrum like some delicate, sheltered noble girl. If she desired something in this world, she relied on overwhelming force to fight for it, crush her obstacles, and seize it with her own two hands.
She would simply carve a path through the blood and ash to prove she was infinitely more worthy than anyone else.
The cave fell into a tense silence once more.
Nobuna let out a heavy sigh and stood up, aggressively brushing the loose gravel and dust from her fine kimono. Her slit-like golden pupils swept across the damp cavern walls before she clicked her tongue in deep irritation.
"We are leaving too, Katsuie, Toshiie," she snapped, pivoting on her heel and marching toward the exit.
Katsuie blinked, hurrying to catch up. "My Lord, where exactly are we going?"
"To find my things," Nobuna growled, her hands clenching into fists.
The Heavenly Eye Peacock and the Hyōbi-shin.
Even though the sacred artifacts had been snatched from her grasp, she was the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. As long as she had a single breath left in her lungs, she would never let her property go unavenged.
As they moved to leave, Katsuie paused near the entrance. The usually boisterous and aggressive Hime-musha cast a long, lingering glance back at Hikaru. For reasons known only to herself, she gave the undead samurai a firm, inexplicable nod, her eyes shining with deep admiration.
At that exact moment, a translucent blue panel materialized in Hikaru's vision, lines of text scrolling across the interface.
[Shibata Katsuie: Favorability +4. Current Favorability: 50]
[Favorability Stage Change: Loyalty (Trust)]
[Note: The target highly recognizes your 'loyalty,' believing you to be an individual who honors promises and is deeply worth following. If she did not already possess a sworn lord, she would willingly choose to serve under your banner.]
During their previous encounter at Kiyosu Castle, Katsuie's favorability had already steadily climbed from thirty-one to over forty.
And over the course of this grueling half-day—from the chaotic battle in the forest of Buddha statues to the tense standoff within this very cave—she had watched with her own eyes as this terrifying yokai drew his blade to slaughter a guardian spirit just to save her lord. Then, amidst a high-stakes, three-way bidding war between the most powerful women in the land, she watched him ruthlessly reject temptation, choosing to stand by the camp he had originally sworn to protect without a single second of hesitation.
He hadn't made his choice based on maximizing his political or material benefits.
He had chosen Yoshimoto simply because he had already invested his effort into her, and because—absurdly enough—he liked her.
A bloodthirsty, undead yokai, whose ultimate deciding factor in a war for the continent was genuine personal affection.
It was a ridiculous, almost childish rationale. But Katsuie was exactly the type of fiercely loyal warrior who would be deeply moved by such pure absurdity.
Because, at her core, she was exactly the same. Her unwavering devotion to Nobuna had never been about securing wealth, land, or benefits. She followed the blonde warlord because she recognized her as a kindred spirit.
And looking at the Oni Samurai now, Katsuie clearly saw the shadow of her own kind reflecting back at her.
That was precisely why her favorability had spiked. It had finally breached the threshold of fifty.
Back when it hovered in the thirties, Katsuie would only trust Hikaru so long as it didn't conflict with her absolute loyalty to Nobuna. But at this moment, if forced to choose between a direct order from her lord and a request from Hikaru... the fiercely loyal Hime-musha would actually hesitate. She might even find her blade leaning toward the undead samurai.
[Unlocked Second Talent: Incantation (The 'Curse'and'Art' exclusive to sacred treasures)]
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