The Sword of Kaigen

Everyone runs outside to see an enormous tornado rising from the sea and heading toward the fishing village at the base of the mountain. As they watch, the tornado sweeps across the village, destroying it. Setsuko, whose family lives in the village, screams. Takashi orders the women and children back inside the house. He tells Chul-hee to reach the newly installed info-com towers to call for help and orders Takeru and Mamoru to help him fight.

Misaki tries to keep her son with her, but Mamoru reminds her that this is what he has trained for. Before the men leave, Misaki explains the technique behind the tornado, telling Takeru that multiple people will be controlling it. She also warns Mamoru to pay attention to the color of the Ranganese uniforms. Yellow uniforms are for normal foot soldiers, and black uniforms are for elite fighters. If he sees a black uniform, he should run.

Mamoru follows his father and uncle to the edges of Takayubi. There, they find other men preparing for the attack. Takashi takes command, ordering some men to protect a gate on the other side of the village. Takashi, Takeru, Mamoru, Yukino Dai, and several other men line up to protect the main path to the village. Mamoru realizes that protecting this line requires at least 50 men, and they only have 12. As the tornado approaches, Mamoru shakes with fear, and Yukino encourages him to stay calm. 

The first wave of soldiers arrives with the tornado. The men throw ice spears into the crowd and the wind. Though they kill many soldiers, the tornado does not stop. Takeru recalls that the tornado is controlled from within. He senses the locations of the men behind the wind, tracking the feel of their nyama. Then, he shoots ice spears straight from the ground and up into the center of the tornado, killing the three fonyakalu within. The tornado collapses. He warns that he can sense another wave rushing up the mountain. The men are vastly outnumbered, but Takashi orders them to hold firm.

The Ranganese attack again. Takashi smiles with excitement, and Takeru is at his back. The brothers fight in perfect harmony, and Yukino fights with calm efficiency. When several soldiers attack Mamoru, he freezes. He is about to be killed when Takashi comes to his rescue, disdainfully telling him to stay out of the way if he cannot fight. Ashamed, Mamoru stands by Yukino. Eventually, they defeat the second wave, leaving a sea of blood and dead bodies at their feet.

However, after a brief pause, a third wave begins. These soldiers wear black, not yellow. Almost feral with excitement, Takashi orders Takeru to prepare their special attack. They combine their powers—Takashi’s brute force and Takeru’s precision—to form an enormous ice dragon that swipes out to kill the first line of elite forces. Even these elite fighters falter with terror at the sight of the god-like dragon, but eventually, one powerful fonyaka destroys the ice dragon. Mamoru calls him the Dragon Killer.

Then, an elite fonyaka attacks Mamoru, and Yukino saves him. Mamoru watches in horror as the soldier kills Yukino, throwing him back against a rock. Enraged, Mamoru attacks and kills him, using skills he learned from his mother. He rushes to Yukino’s side, but his teacher is already dead.

Misaki orders Setsuko to hide in the cellar with the children as she runs to retrieve her sword. Setsuko is shocked to see the black zilazen glass sword. Despite her fear, Misaki smiles and speaks the sword’s name: Siradenyaa, or Shadow’s Daughter. She recalls when Koli gave it to her. She tried to refuse it as too valuable a gift for a woman who was destined to be a housewife, but Koli laughed and told her, “A competent god would never make a housewife with your skill and hunger. You might look like a decorative flower, but you’re more sword than anything else” (285). He argued that fighting is her purpose, just as a blade’s purpose is to cut. Now, Misaki will use her sword to defend her family. Setsuko and Hiroshi want to stay and help, but she does not want them to see her. They hide, and Misaki stands guard just as four Ranganese in yellow burst through the doors.

Out on the mountain, Takashi, Takeru, and Mamoru are the only surviving warriors, but they have fought off the entire wave of elite attackers. Mamoru asks what happened to the Dragon Killer. Takeru could not kill him, but he did hit him with a massive ice attack that threw him down the mountain. Then a villager warns that the Ranganese have breached their defenses and overrun the village. Takashi orders Takeru back to the Matsuda estate to protect Setsuko and the others. He and Mamoru will remain to hold the line. Takeru objects, asking his brother to send Mamoru back instead, but Takashi refuses and orders Takeru to go. Unable to argue, Takeru silently leaves.

Another wave of soldiers attacks. Having lost Yukino, Mamoru finds new strength and resolve. Takashi fights like a beast but eventually staggers, mortally wounded. In the distance, they hear screaming from the numu village. Takashi orders Mamoru to go help the Kotetsus. Mamoru leaves, knowing that he has left his uncle to die.

The Ranganese soldiers pause in the doorway, watching Misaki. She looks like a timid housewife, holding her sword behind her in the shadows. She pretends to be afraid, and the soldiers advance. One man gets too close, and Misaki uses ice claws to grip his throat and tear out his windpipe. It is the first time she has killed someone. She is surprised by how easy it is and how little remorse she feels. The other three soldiers attack, and she fights them all, running through the corridors and using her stealth and small size to her advantage. She defeats them all, though she is wounded. She calls herself a monster, believing that a woman and mother should not be able to kill so easily and feel no guilt. Then two more soldiers wearing black appear.

Meanwhile, Mamoru runs to the numu village, which is burning. He finds Katashi standing by his collapsed house. Katashi says his son Atsushi is caught beneath the building, but the rest of his family is dead. Mamoru promises to rescue Atsushi and urges Katashi to run and hide because he cannot protect them both. As Katashi flees, Mamoru saves Atsushi. In the distance, Mamoru feels a massive tremor and sees an enormous explosion of ice signifying the release of energy from Takashi’s death. It forms a writhing sculpture of icy branches and lifts enemy soldiers into the air. Those who survive this explosion turn and rush toward Mamoru. Mamoru lifts his sword, prepared to kill.

Misaki knows that she cannot defeat the two elite fonyakalu, but she has no choice but to fight. She attacks using every skill and trick she can muster, knocking one fonyaka unconscious. The second attacks her using a special technique called the Soul Pull to suck the air from her lungs, suffocating her. Misaki fights back and finally cuts the soldier’s throat, but even as the soldier dies, Misaki fears that she has lost, and everything goes black.

In the numu village, Mamoru kills five soldiers quickly. Then he sees a man in black approach and recognizes him as the Dragon Killer. He orders Atsushi to run and stands to defend the man’s retreat. He fights, calling upon every ounce of skill and strength he possesses, but the Dragon Killer disarms him. Weaponless, Mamoru continues fighting with ice attacks. Suddenly, the Dragon Killer picks up Mamoru’s own sword and slices through his torso. Mamoru watches the blood pour from his body and realizes that he is dying.