The Fall of Daigo
Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series
Toriumi Jinzō
Part 4 - Demon Dragon
Hōichi told Hyakkimaru about Daigo Kagemitsu’s plans to revolt as they traveled. It was clear to Hōichi that Kagemitsu was relying on his connection to the Hall of Hell demons to grant him victory. Taking over the fortress and Kaga Province would bring him one step closer to conquering the world.
News of the revolt was already spreading, so an army from the Judicial Office would likely arrive to crush the revolt before too long. Hyakkimaru could use the cover provided by the Judicial Office’s army to sneak into Nomitadani Fortress again. He had to get the demons to show themselves in front of Daigo Kagemitsu if he was going to get the answers he wanted.
Hyakkimaru and Hōichi arrived in Eguri Valley a little before sunrise.
“Aniki! You made it!” Dororo waved, then invited Hyakkimaru and Hōichi to Ochika’s hut.
Dororo was impressed that Hyakkimaru had managed to meet his mother and get away. Ochika sat near Dororo with tears shining in her eyes as she listened to what had happened.
“I can easily imagine how happy Nui no Kata was to see you,” Ochika said, wiping her tears away. She still hadn’t told Dororo her secret, so she felt the pain of Hyakkimaru’s long separation from his own mother all the more acutely.
Hyakkimaru’s gaze shifted to Dororo. He didn’t know that Ochika was Dororo’s mother, but he did think that they seemed very much like a mother and child. He smiled. “Looks like you found your mother too, Dororo.”
“Huh?” Dororo asked. He blushed, but he was smiling, too. “Uh, well, I guess...”
Ochika laughed brightly. Some of the men camped in the valley came to check in on Ochika, so she introduced Hyakkimaru and Hōichi to them. Since Ochika trusted them, the rest of the camp welcomed Hyakkimaru and Hōichi with open arms.
Hōichi told Ochika and the bandits what he’d observed inside Nomitadani Fortress. Dororo started drawing a map of the fortress’ interior layout. Ochika was surprised that Dororo could render such an accurate map from Hōichi’s descriptions.
Ochika also had the opportunity to examine one of Hyakkimaru’s prosthetic arms up close.
“Taifu Jukai made them,” Dororo said proudly. “He’s the best doctor in the whole world.”
“Are you certain he’s human?” Ochika asked. “He seems more like a Buddha or Bodhisattva to me.”
Human or Bodhisattva, there was no trace of Jukai anywhere to be found. Ochika sent out bandits and messengers to find him, but there wasn’t even a rumor of him anywhere.
Hōichi was worried, but they had no time to wait for Jukai. Hyakkimaru’s plan to draw out the Hall of Hell demons had a time limit. When the army from the Judicial Office arrived at the fortress, Hyakkimaru would have to sneak in with them or lose his chance. Both Hōichi and Hyakkimaru hoped to get some news of Jukai before they had to leave Eguri Valley for the fortress.
Hyakkimaru and Ochika’s bandits got along well from the start. The bandits made their living attacking corrupt samurai like Daigo Kagemitsu, so they saw Hyakkimaru as something like a kindred spirit.
Ochika’s lieutenant, Saruyoshi, ran around camp like a whirlwind making preparations. The bandits obeyed his orders swiftly and efficiently. The bandits’ primary weapons were short bows that could be fired from horseback. All their horses were young and fast runners, making it easier to harry an army several times their size without taking casualties.
Hōichi reviewed and approved of Ochika’s and Saruyoshi’s battle plans. One potential problem was constantly on his mind: what would happen if the Hall of Hell demons showed themselves?
“Hall of Hell demons?” Saruyoshi asked. “What’s that, some other bandit gang?”
“Demons means demons,” Dororo said. “They’re yōkai and monsters. Stuff like that.”
“Can monsters be bandits?” Saruyoshi was clearly out of his depth. He was used to fighting samurai and opposing armies, but he’d never seen a demon before.
“The Hall of Hell demons are like the boss of all the yōkai,” Dororo explained. “Let’s hope they don’t show up, but if they do, well...you’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em.”
Saruyoshi gave Dororo a confused nod.
Hōichi leaned forward over Dororo’s map and said, “We’re set to attack the day after tomorrow, at sunset. Hyakkimaru, you’re going to need to get the front gate open.”
“Right,” Hyakkimaru said.
“The enemy will be surprised. They’ll swarm out onto the road and try to surround you. It’s Ochika’s job to find a way through the line.”
Ochika nodded confidently, setting her shoulders. “Saruyoshi, we’ll be engaging from the front. It’s dangerous, but we’ll be able to attack them from behind after we’ve found a way through.”
Saruyoshi rubbed his forehead. This was different from Ochika’s usual strategies.
“You’re the distraction,” Hōichi said to Saruyoshi. “You’ll keep them busy while Hyakkimaru and I get inside.”
“Mr. Monk, will the Hall of Hell demons really show up?” Dororo asked. He sounded worried.
“I’m sure they will,” Hōichi said. “Though likely not as themselves. They’ll manipulate people and yōkai on the battlefield. I expect them to try and stop us.”
Saruyoshi laughed. “Well, we’ll just have to stop them with arrows, won’t we?”
“No,” Hōichi said flatly. “The Hall of Hell demons are dangerous opponents. So are yōkai. The moment they appear, run. You won’t have much time.” Hōichi didn’t want the bandits to risk themselves foolishly in a battle against the demons.
Saruyoshi frowned, then shrugged. He still didn’t really understand all this business about the Hall of Hell demons.
Hyakkimaru remained silent, but he was listening. He had to mentally prepare himself to face both the Hall of Hell demons and Daigo Kagemitsu at the same time. It was possible that the Hall of Hell demons wouldn’t appear--they hadn’t so far--but Hyakkimaru couldn’t count on that. Hōichi was sure that they would come out of hiding now, and he was rarely ever wrong about anything.
Ochika verified the particulars of the plan with Hōichi, since mistakes were deadly in battle. Dororo taught Saruyoshi how to file sharp bamboo ends to use in making darts for his blowgun. Saruyoshi wanted to make a similar weapon because it would he easy to use against enemy cavalry. One dart could spook a horse badly enough to throw its rider. Dororo had used darts to scare the horse of Asakura Mitsuhisa when they’d first met.
“Have you ever shot another horse from horseback, though?” Saruyoshi asked. “I’m interested to see what you can do.”
“Pfft, no way I’ll lose to you with darts.” Dororo had been practicing with the weapon for much longer, after all. “Can monkeys even ride horses?”1
Dororo’s speech register was exceedingly rude. The only ones in camp who knew that Dororo was biologically a girl were Hyakkimaru, Hōichi, and Ochika, so no one reprimanded Dororo much over manners.
While Dororo was an expert at using darts, he was unfamiliar with horseback archery, which was Saruyoshi’s specialty. Records of horseback archery in Japan were scarce until around 1096. The Shiba Clan in Ezichen was responsible for popularizing and spreading it. Horseback archery was invented in a time of peace and was used for religious and ceremonial festivals as entertainment long before it was used in warfare.
Ochika relayed the plan to all the bandits and set aside stores of food and weapons for the coming battle. She gave commands to the stablehands to rest the horses and take special care of them for the next few days.
The attack they were preparing for wasn’t just another raid. They weren’t riding into battle so much as declaring war on a samurai house. They might have to fight demons. Ochika steeled herself, expecting casualties. She prayed every day for the safe return of her army, Dororo, Hyakkimaru and Hōichi.
The night before the attack, Ochika opened a barrel of sake and shared it among Saruyoshi the bandits. She also had a feast prepared. This might be the last good meal that she and the bandits would ever have.
***
Although it was only the beginning of spring, the night was sticky and hot. Thick clouds gathered in the sky, threatening rain. Crows cawed loudly in the darkness.
Daigo Kagemitsu sat in his private study, awaiting news. He was alone, so his usual confident mask had slipped off, revealing the doubt and anxiety he felt.
Did the boy I put in the river really survive? How could he, with a body like that? No one would ever think that was possible. But he has fake arms and legs made of wood and metal...Could a doctor do that? Impossible.
Tahōmaru had told Kagemitsu that the man claiming to be his oldest son wanted him dead. Why? For abandoning him, even though any other parent would have done the same?
Kagemitsu opened the shutters on the window of his study and looked outside. The stone wall in the courtyard flashed white with sudden illumination.
“Huh?” Kagemitsu looked at the wall and noticed thick mist spreading out from it. It was almost like the mist was emanating from the wall.
“That’s funny...” Kagemitsu went out into the courtyard to examine this strange phenomenon.
The mist swirled into a spiral as he approached. In the very center of the spiral, the face of a demon popped out of the mist.
Kagemitsu froze, stunned. He hadn’t seen the face of this demon for nineteen years.
The demon chuckled. “It’s been a while, Kagemitsu. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten us.”
Kagemitsu hadn’t forgotten the demons, but he also never expected to see them here. The only time he’d ever seen them before, he was at the Unryū Temple Complex near the capital. He stood there, frozen in terror.
“Don’t worry,” the demon said. “No one here can see me except you.” It was the same demon Kagemitsu had spoken to almost two decades before--the one that had insisted on taking forty-eight parts of his firstborn son’s body.
“Uh...” Kagemitsu took a step forward. “Why are you here now? Is there something you needed from me?”
The demon remained silent.
“I upheld my end of the bargain, but it seems that I have another enemy to deal with now.” He sighed.
The demon fixed his cold, sharp eyes on Kagemitsu. “The boy you threw away in the river is alive. You knew that already, before you put him in the basin.”
Kagemitsu flinched. “What? What do you mean? I...”
“We did try to take care of it,” the demon said matter-of-factly. “No one likes complications. But the god of Iwakura Shrine on Mount Hyōtankuzure interfered.”
Kagemitsu smiled cynically. “I thought you demons had many powers and capabilities. Was one minor Buddhist god really a match for you?”
The demon chuckled nastily. “Don’t dig your own grave just yet. We demons are powerful, but we also have our fair share of enemies. And haven’t we kept our promise to you so far?”
The mist swirling around the demon’s head took on a reddish tinge. The demon seemed angry. “Do not underestimate us, Kagemitsu. Don’t forget who made you the master of this fortress.”
Kagemitsu blinked, speechless. He hadn’t known that the demons had a hand in his appointment here. In April 1468, the Western Army led by Hatakeyama Yoshinari engaged the Eastern Army’s forced led by Togashi Masachika at the border between Ezichen and Kaga Province. Kagemitsu’s army also participated in the battle. The Togashi Clan won the encounter, but Kagemitsu’s forces suffered heavy losses. Resting on the knife edge between victory and defeat, Kagemitsu decided that he would have to defect to the stronger side in this war if he was going to survive.
And he probably shouldn’t have survived. When he was surrounded during the battle with no chance of escape, lightning suddenly struck down his enemies. The sudden storm was bizarre and unexpected. The lightning strikes took out many of his own men as well--only Kagemitsu was miraculously saved.
“You know that we interfered in your battle. You may not have realized that there were several candidates who would have been made master of his fortress over you, based on their years of experience. We took care of them during the battle as well.”
Kagemitsu was shocked. He understood that the demons must have saved his life during the battle, but now he felt like he’d climbed over a pile of corpses to attain his long hoped-for position of master of his own castle. He liked to believe that at least some of his rise in the world was based on his own merits, but the demon had just put him in his place.
“Your rebellion will fail,” the demon said. “An opposing army is already on its way. It will destroy you utterly.”
“The fortress is impregnable. It won’t fall,” Kagemitsu said.
“In addition to the army from your clan lord, Yamagō Takafuji has three thousand five hundred cavalry riders, all marching here from the direction of Ezichen.”
Kagemitsu went pale. He knew the strength of the Judicial Office’s army was something like fifteen hundred mounted archers. He could repel that force without too much trouble, but not a force that was more than double the size. Worse, the fortress would be flanked to either side and attacked by both armies at once. This was a terrible situation to be in.
But the demon was aware of the threat. It seemed that the demons received news faster than messengers could travel.
“And that’s not all,” the demon said. “Hyakkimaru can use psychokinesis, and he desires your head. He will return, seeking restitution for his long abandonment.”
Kagemitsu didn’t know what he should be more afraid of: the advancing armies, or Hyakkimaru. He had to rely on the demons to save him here, as they clearly had in the past...but it was possible that his sacrifice of Hyakkimaru’s limbs might not be enough this time.
“Is there any way to win?” Kagemitsu asked. “Do you know?” His voice sounded faint in his own ears.
“You have an advantage as long as you hold this fortress. Topple Togashi Masachika’s army and seize control of the province. That is the fastest way for you to begin your conquest of the world.”
“It might not be possible to hold the fortress with both armies advancing on it in a pincer attack,” Kagemitsu said.
“Now is not the time to hesitate,” the demon said. “The world is already in your hands.”
The demon’s words restored some part of Kagemitsu’s courage. If he could destroy Masachika’s army here, the Eastern Army would be dealt a heavy blow--one that would be difficult to recover from. The Western Army might welcome him with open arms after securing such a victory.
The demon laughed its strange, cavernous laugh. Its face disappeared from the mist in front of Kagemitsu.
Three days before, the armies of Togashi Masachika and Yamagō Takafuji had set out to put down the rebellion at Nomitadani Fortress. On the night Kagemitsu was visited by the demon, Ōgawara and the house servant vanished from the fortress city. No one noticed them leaving and it was some days before anyone realized they were gone.
Translator's Note:
Saruyoshi’s name contains the kanji character for “monkey,” saru
(猿).↩
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