On the way, Kido and Hyougo told me how the Mugen Koshito-ryu escaped to this continent.

　In the past, the Mugen Koshito-ryu had gained a reputation as a belligerent group that challenged other schools to fight each other.
　The name of the Mugen Koshito-ryu was greatly enhanced when they defeated a master of the Rigen Itto-ryu style, which was famous for its wise use of riai. The complete defeat of Rigen Itto-ryu, which had been called one of the five major styles in the east, was a huge shock to the people of the time.
　After that, Mugen Koto-ryu defeated other schools one after the other, and its reputation grew to the point where it was called "Other Style Collapse".
　In addition to the Rigen Itto-ryu, there were other fighting styles in the five major schools of the East, such as the Shinshin-ryu, Chukuba-ryu and Gagyutu-Sang-ryu, but the most famous of them was the Hatcheryu.
　Everyone waited eagerly to see the battle between the strongest of the Hagensemi-ryu and the Mugen Itto-ryu, which had defeated even the Chukuma-ryu.
　However, at some point in time, the Mugen Koshito-ryu suddenly disappeared from history.

Thereafter, there are no records of battles held in the name of the Mugen Kesutouryu that can be attributed to the Mugen Kesutouryu. That's as far as I know. It is said that he had already killed some of the high ranking apprentices of the Hagensen School at some point, so he was not timid. How did that happen to make him disappear from the public stage?

　That's it, Kido recounts.

　One day, the Mugen Koshi Sword School received a secret order from the Lord of the Land through a messenger.
　At the time, in the East, apart from the frontal school, whose purpose was to hone their swordsmanship, there were other schools that plotted to bring down the country. At the same time, in the east, the Fai Ma-ryu and other underworldly schools were gaining momentum.
　The secret orders were to have that backdoor school crushed.
　The Mugen Koshito School is a fighting group that pursues strength.
　Those of the Mugen Yue-tou-ryu felt that they couldn't expect much from the Blade-Semi-ryu as an enemy once they had cut up some of the high ranking brothers of the Blade-Semi-ryu.
　Accepting the secret order, Mugen Koshito-Ryu spent all its time fighting against the other schools.

　After five years had passed, all of the allegedly dangerous underworld schools had been wiped out.
　The Fai Ma-ryu, which had been the greatest danger, had been almost completely destroyed.
　However, since the sweeping of the Mugen Etou School's back school was kept a secret from the public, the topic of the Mugen Etou School during this time had been limited to eyewitness accounts that were not very accurate. At first, some people had whispered that he had gone into hiding for fear of the Bladed Cicada Style.
　Nevertheless, it could be said that it had been a fulfilling five years for the Mugen Koshito School. Many of the people from the Ura School that they had dealt with were more skilled than the front school. They were skilled in the art of "killing" rather than "winning", and so Mugen Koshuto-ryu members could fully appreciate cutting and fighting as if on the battlefield.
　It could be said that the Mugen Koshito-ryu had the opportunity to hone their skills in a very real battlefield environment by taking on this backstage work.
　And now that the Mugen Koshito School has destroyed the other schools, the Mugen Koshito School is ready to resume its competition with the boiling Hagane Cicada School, which is now booming with the appearance of the Children of the Heavenly Blade, where a new generation of talented people have gathered.
　However, a great tragedy struck the Mugen Etouryu.

　Within the past five years, the former Lord of the country had fallen ill, and now a new Lord of the country was sitting at the top.
　This new Lord had decided to bury the Muhen Kesutau-ryu in the dark.
　The reason was because he was afraid of the Mugen Kesutouryu.
　As a crumbler of other schools, they had mastered the ability to carry out the collapse of the country through the battle with the underworld school. It was not necessary to deal with all the people in the country in order to crumble the country. Just keep assassinating the people who would be unable to maintain control if they were lacking, until the person they wanted took their place.
　Of course, Mugen Yue-toryu had no intention of destroying the country.
　However, the new lord's paranoid delusions of victimhood knew no bounds, and he was finally ordered to strike down Mugen Kesutouryu.
　The charge was treason.
　They were charged with the crime of attempting to kill the new Lord of Japan, a crime that had no basis in fact.
　Left in the position of being pursued, Mugen Koto-Ryu fled to the west, cutting down his pursuers, who were constantly attacking him. Some people thought that they should cut as many as they could and resist here to the end. However, with the words of the master, 'To die outnumbered is a boring way to die,' the Mugen Eternal Sword School members decided to flee across the ocean to the western continent of Midzuberia, brushing away their pursuers.

'In all ages, the dark lord takes the light away from the shining one,'

　Hibigami spat that out.

''Haha. That's just the luck of the times we were born in, you know.

　There was no resentment. Kido's tone was refreshing.
　Next, Hyougo told the story of how the Mugen Kesutouryu had become a legend whose existence was not certain.

　First, the new lord of the country moved to erase the existence of the Mugen Kesutouryu from the records as well.
　The entire country was determined to ignore its existence.
　During the five years that Mugen Kesuto-ryu was busy working behind the scenes, many people were so caught up in their daily lives that they forgot about the school's existence. It was also because the buzzing glamour of the Children of Heavenly Blades that appeared in the Bladed Cicada School had stolen their attention.
　Of course, in swordsmen's circles, no one had forgotten their existence.
　However, some swordsmen, especially those who had been defeated by the Mugen Koshito-ryu, saw this as an opportunity and tried to ignore the existence of the Mugen Koshito-ryu.
　They saw this as an opportunity to erase the stigma of defeat and tried to forget the existence of Mugen Koshin-ryu.
　The Mugen Koshin-ryu became a legendary style among some swordsmen.
　When he was later dramatized as a villain in a play, he was popular despite his villainous role. The irony is that the performers of Mugen Koto-ryu in this much talked about theatrical play were the members of the Children of Heavenly Blade.
　By the time this play became the talk of the town, the lord of the country who had planned to destroy the style had died prematurely, and there was no longer a tendency to want to put a lid on the name of the style.
　Nevertheless, the faction that wants to eliminate the Mugen-etsuto-ryu is still active, and it is said that they are still pursuing the school, as if the grudge of the founder of the school still lingers in this world.

''The latter part of the story was told by a merchant from the East who happened to meet a merchant from the East Country when he went to the city to buy something. It's been eight years since we left the East, and naturally, that country seems to be on the move as well.
Well, even if my pursuers are not released, I have no intention of returning to the East.
I'm going to ask you some questions.
What is it, Mister Hibigami?
What was that man Amano's name, the Eight-Pointed Scroll, that he called himself?
''Oh, that's like a title given to the eight swordsmen who have the most outstanding skills in the Mugen Koshi Sword School. In fact, it was the loyal vassal of the Lord of the Land who tried to take care of us, who created the source of that name. This loyal retainer had written the names and faces of eight swordsmen on a picture scroll and handed them to his pursuers as people to be especially careful about. The names and faces of the eight swordsmen on the picture scrolls were collectively known as the Eight Swords Scrolls. When we heard our pursuers calling us that, we thought, "Hey, this guy looks good. We liked it so much that we started calling ourselves that.
Okay. Now, one more thing.
"Hey.
Will we ever leave our hiding place?　If we have people as good as Amano, we can raise a mercenary band or sell ourselves to some king.
It's the Master's policy.
"Hmm.
"On our way to this continent, my former teacher became ill and died on the ship. His teacher at that time became my current teacher.
What is this current Master's policy?
Enough is enough.
Enough.
'We will fight those who attack us, but we will no longer seek enemies from ourselves. This is the current policy of the Master Teacher. We, too, are satisfied with that.
I don't know. How can a group of belligerent manslayers remain so meek and uncontested in the land?
''After slaying so many people.......we killed a little too many people too. No, we didn't think anything of it when we were dealing with powerful people such as one of the five major schools or the back school?　Among the pursuers there were many who were weak. Even the earlier thief I cut him down because he attacked me, but he was too small to be called an enemy.

　They also have compassion for the people they fight.
　Those who do not have the spirit to oppress the weak.
　They are a pure fighting group that only seeks the strong.

Kaka, it's not easy. You don't have to think about every little thing when you're fighting someone stronger than you, but when you're fighting someone much weaker, you're going to have to think about some trivial things.
I guess. That's probably why Amano was so happy.

　Kido snaps his sword at his waist with a chuckle.

'I can understand why it would be unbearable.

　After thirty minutes of walking along the mountain path, we came to a narrow path between steep cliffs.
　The path was hidden by tall vegetation.
　It would be difficult to find the path unless we split off to the far side.

'It's just ahead.'

　We followed Kidd to a narrow path.
　At the end of the road, an open basin came into view.
　A hamlet, I should call it.
　It was dotted with houses, and the fields and rice fields extended from where the houses stood.
　In the center of the village, there is a large, eastern-style mansion.

　We descended the hill and came to the front of the road that extended to the central mansion.
　Kido pointed to the mansion.

'Everyone would be training in the dojo over there at this time. I'm sure the moderate training has warmed up your body, and if Lord Hibigami survives, I'm sure you'll be in good shape.

　The words "If you survived," said it all.

　With his arms folded, Hibigami said.

'Thank you for leading the way,'

　Kido and Hyougo glare at each other.

"I'm in charge, aren't I?
Speak up, you fool. Kidd, you left your sword, which is too long to hide. You're going to f*ck this man without that sword?
Gulp.
'And just in case, we should have someone to tell everyone the good news this time. We can't just throw Amano's body out here, either.
Kaaah, all right!　Give it up!　Leopard, I'm giving it to you this time!
Thank you, Kiddo.
''Oh, I should have forced myself to bring that sword if this was going to happen!

　Achaa, said Kido, putting his hand to his forehead.
　Kido reluctantly lifted Amano up and accepted Hyougo's package.

'If you die, in the next life.
Oh, in the next life.
Good days. My days in this village aren't bad either.
Agreed. Win, leopard.
Oh...

　Hyougo turns the front of his body towards Hibigami and holds his sword.

''That's what I'm going to do.''

　Hibigami also uncrossed his arms and grabbed the hilt of his sword.
　Zekel's holy sword was discarded in the process. From Kido, the

"I'm sure Hibigami-dono can do it better this way, right?

　The reason for this is because they acquired Amano's sword from him.
　The name of the sword is "Yakudou, Rakutei Zanka".
　They said that their Mugen Chōtōryū does not use demon swords.

　When Kido's back was small, Hibigami silently cut the carp mouth.
　Hyougo's limbs moved lazily.

'Eight sword emaki is one [Mushijin] hyougo--come on,'

　Hyougo's stance was different from Amano's.
　In a word, the stance that seems to be shrinking small.
　The soft body and its twists make it look that small?

"If it comes to an opponent like Hibigami-dono I'll go for it from the start with a desperate kill.

　Zuzu, Hyougo takes a step forward with his stance.

''Muhen, Koshito--''

　Hyougo meditated with one eye.



''【Mimicry, molestation slash】''



　A technical name.

　A declaration of a must-attack.

　Hyougo moves.

　A blow released from a stance like the moment the chrysalis had molted.
　The trajectory of a half-arc that ran through the space on the side with instantaneous speed.
　A wound runs across the edge of Hibigami's ear.
　Hibigami, on the other hand, swung the blade he had pulled out in the manner of an iaido battle into a horizontal cleave.
　A powerful sword.
　This blow - did Hyougo realize that if he avoided it, he would die?

　He discarded his right arm and used it as a shield.

　As soon as the blade dived into that right arm, Hyougo tightened the blade with his muscles.
　While Hyougo held Hibigami's sword in restraint, he instantly switched his left sword to the opposite hand.



''Mimicry, de-skinning--Returned blade, hapiraki.''



　A tyrannical random blade that threw away his arm and released, reminiscent of an insect flapping its wings right after hatching.

　Hibigami put all his strength into his arm and pulled the blade out of Hyougo's arm.

　He played and dealt with the vicious turbulent blade that attacked him at super close range.

　A stiff sword strike, released with an uncanny expression while sprinkling blood from his arm.

　The Hyougo who is unleashing that sword strike

　He laughed.

''Mugen Yuefu.......totally--''

　In the same instant, Hibigami switched his sword to the opposite hand and slashed at Hyougo.


''--It's entertaining.


　Hibigami's eyes were blazingly bright.



　The deadly battle between Mugen Yuefu and the [Broken God] had begun again, here and now.