Matazaemon Kato, suppressed by the terrifying murderous intent radiating from his lord, could only hand over the key like a frog paralyzed under the gaze of a serpent.

  Murashige Araki’s clouded eyes pierced both of them with cold silence.

  "You... what are you whispering into Kanbe'e’s ear? Get out of here!"

  Fuji’s body jolted violently.

  After looking up at Araki, who glowered down with the face of a demon, she turned to Kanbe, seeking salvation. But the sheer force of Araki’s roar sent her stumbling out of the earthen cell.

  Kanbe'e no longer had the strength to hold her back, yet he desperately thrust his right hand—thin as a withered branch—through the gaps in the iron bars.

  "Fu... Fuji..."

  Trembling with terror, Fuji reached back as if pulled by an invisible thread.

  "Lord Kanbe'e!"

  Kanbe'e’s dirt-stained, cracked fingertips, and Fuji’s white, translucent ones...

  On the cold boundary of the iron bars, their pulses sought to merge through their touch.

  A few more millimeters... and then... they touched.

  It was an embrace beyond words, exchanged at the brink of death.

  Kanbe'e engraved the faint trembling and warmth of her fingertips into his soul—a sensation he would never forget for the rest of his life.

  But Murashige tore it away. That sacred moment...

  "Do you intend to love Kanbe'e with that 'Love of Deus' as well?!"

  In that instant, Araki unsheathed his sword and cut through her fragile body in a single stroke.

  The world stopped.

  Fuji let out a harrowing

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  scream and collapsed on the spot.

  Blood erupted, instantly turning the ground into a crimson sea.

  In Kanbe’s vision, Fuji’s body collapsed in slow motion.

  "Fu... Fuji... Fuji... Fuji... FUJIIIIIIII!"

  As his cry faded along with his consciousness, Fuji gazed at Kanbe'e.

  "Lord... Kanbe'e... I wanted... to go... to... Himeji..."

  To Fuji, who died with a faint smile, Kanbe'e reached out from behind the bars with every ounce of life he had left. The iron bars pressed violently into his face.

  Hearing his daughter’s scream, Matazaemon Kato rushed to the scene. Seeing the sight before him, his knees hit the ground.

  "Fu... Fuji!"

  His only daughter, whom he had held in these arms fourteen years ago and showered with unconditional love, had just been slaughtered by his lord.

  Prostrate, Kato crawled toward Fuji’s remains. He pulled her cooling upper body into his arms and shook her desperately, trying to make her open her eyes.

  "Hey! Fuji! Fuji! Fuji... Open your eyes! I beg of you! Please, open them quickly... Fuji..."

  Without a hint of remorse, Araki spat demonic words at Matazaemon.

  "Matazaemon... your daughter was doing unnecessary things for Kanbe'e. Thus, I have executed her with my own hand. Do not forget—if you take me as an enemy and try to help Kanbe'e, not only this girl, but your son Tamamatsu will also be executed!"

  With that, he flicked Fuji’s blood from his blade, sheathed it, and left the dungeon.

  "Ah... ah... AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

  What escaped Matazaemon’s throat was a wordless, beast-like howl of agony.

  Caught between loyalty to his lord and love for his daughter, his heart had been ruthlessly cleaved in two. He buried his face in his daughter’s chest, trying to wipe the overflowing blood with his own clothes, but the red would not stop, drowning out his despair.

  Silence descended.

  Left behind, Kanbe'e stared blankly through the iron bars.

  Even his tears had dried up.

  In the corner of his vision, the unmoving Fuji and the trembling back of Kato, whose soul seemed to have departed, flickered alternately.

  Never had Kanbe'e cursed his own powerlessness so much.

  (Why... why do only those who kill survive, while those who try to protect must fall in their own blood?)

  The selfless love Fuji offered... The bright future of a fourteen-year-old girl was severed.

  (Fuji... forgive me. If you had never appeared before me, you would still be alive...)

  The "Winter Wisteria" that lit the darkness had withered.

  In its place, a cold flame of hatred began to incinerate Kanbe'e’s very core.

  (I will not forgive... No God... no Buddha... exists here anymore. Murashige... Kodera... Nobunaga... As long as I, Kanbe'e, draw breath... I will drag you all to the bottom of hell...)

  In this maddened, turbulent world, a fragile shield like mercy or love could protect nothing.

  To end this absurdity, he had to become an "overwhelming power" that transcended absurdity itself.

  (I shall become the 'monster' that changes this world...)

  From that day on, the light of humanity vanished from Kanbe'e’s eyes.

  In its place dwelt a dark, deep void—a shadow that sought to swallow the entire realm...

  And the resolve of the "Deadliest Strategist," sharpened to a cold, lethal edge.

  Following this tragedy, Kanbe'e thought only of escaping this dungeon.

  He had burdened his life with a massive "Karma." He knew he had to equip his decaying body with the cunning necessary to turn this world upside down.

  Produced and written by a Japanese author, rooted in authentic Japanese history. Translated with the assistance of Gemini (AI).