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While an army of Tachibana Somo was engaging in a spectacular retreat, Yanagawa Castle used Katsumo Hot Island as its general, and this one also had a fierce siege.
The walls are narrowly stretched and pot-island soldiers manage to climb, but there Tachibana soldiers bathe in hot water and stones and drop them.
Of course, even the major gates had repeated sabotage attacks by attackers, but the defenders also responded with defeats and artillery.
From the side, they were such as the Tachibana Army, which continues to prevent the attack of the Great Army, the Hot Island Army, by the way.
That is, when there were fewer Tachibana soldiers, their equilibrium collapsed at once, and tensions continued to tread on thin ice as the Pan-island army slipped into the two circles.
But in the meantime, the castle was once again broken in two.
Yubu Ushin, one of the four kings of Tachibana,
"It's a crisis between you and Chiyo. Don't hit the rescue here!
If it is claimed that, at the time of the increase in the number of recommendations of the superior elder,
"No, my lord did not leave the castle no matter what, but he made an offer to protect me.
Until His Highness comes to the gate, we must consolidate the protection of the castle!
claimed.
While there is no reason to delay judgment beyond this, the elders in the castle lack cohesion.
... and there, one man appeared in armor, dragging his leg.
It's...
He was Kono Makoto, who was so badly injured that he could not have walked.
"You lords... aren't you ashamed..."
Your complexion should never be good and you should be tough to stand on.
In the unlikely event that the wound spread, he still couldn't overlook the situation in the castle.
"Now in Niumaru, a soldier is desperately fighting to protect the castle.
Your Highness has fought to protect Chiyo.
Yet who the hell are you fighting!?
Can't you lords fight for what your lords should protect!?
"That's what we need to protect..."
"That would be Tachibana's pride!
There are no cowards in Tachibana!
One lord, the one who has no temper to defend one castle, does not deserve to deceive a bunch of tachibanas!!
That said, Zhenxiao tried to follow the scene.
"Wait! Where do you think you're going with that body?
To the words Zhenxi said, in a trembling voice.
"If no one's going, I'll have to go...
Have you decided to help my lord...
More than that, I can watch my fingers cross from the top of the castle as my lord is driven... "
So far Zhenxi said, the only confidence that stood to his right said with his shoulder.
"You don't have to say any more. But now it is the Lord Himself who should protect.
I'll take care of it. "
There the increase time stands to Zhenxiao's left and says.
"That made a mistake.
The castle will defend itself, even if it perishes.
But I ask you, Lord Shinnon. "
Thus did the castle show cohesion by persuasion that put the life of one man at stake.
But this judgment is also about reducing the number of soldiers defending the castle. In this way, Yanagawa Castle will also suffer the same predicament as our Lord.
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- No matter how distressed you get, don't give up!
- You can't beat Tachibana! That's it if you think you're losing! Until the end, how can we win if we don't think we can win!
Yes, my adoptive father in my heart, Tachibanado Snow, scolds me.
I'm not allowed to give up.
Whenever one or another and one of his companions fell, it was his wife on his back, the Qian Chiyo, who supported Zongmao's heart, which was about to frustrate him, and the words of the road snow.
Since he was adopted by Tachibana and succeeded to his name,
"Can I really be a part of Tachibana..."
There is no day when I did not ask myself that.
He has managed to live his days so far with extreme intimidation in his heart that he is about to be crushed.
And now, even in such a desperate state of affairs, it didn't seem like he cared somewhere about whether his chest was like meeting the expectations of road snow that was not already in the world.
... and that was then.
"... let go..."
And I heard a fine voice coming from my back...
"Chiyo, it's okay, you don't have to worry about anything"
And Zongmao replied with a gentle voice.
"I... don't want to be a part of Zongmao's foot."
"It's a foot job! I have Chiyo on my back, so I can move on without giving up hope."
However, Zongmao knew best that it was not the common "Chiyo" such as such rest.
"Don't say it! Zongmao!! If anything should cause the Lord, the Lord, to die, I shall be the rebel of Tachibana!
If you abandon me and are alone in the Lord, you will also be able to run through this place!
"There's no way you can leave Chiyo!!
Until then, Zongmao's voice color changes, which was gentle.
And even in the course of such a couple's conversation, the moment and the state of war changed, and the enemy was finally approaching Somo's present day.
Zongmao turned where he had supported Chiyo with both hands until now, into one on his left, and on his right was the shape of his father, Takahashi Shoji, when he pulled out the prep long light, he set it up against the enemy.
On the other hand, Chiyo woke up completely and told him.
"Zongmao... I am not the only one your Lord leaves behind.
Everything that binds your Lord... "
"Hey... what are you... saying...?
"I took away all the 'fakes' that I had captured in Miyagi, ready to die.
And...
For the first time in my life, my Lord gave me 'happiness'.
So I want you to take away everything that binds you to the Lord, too, and live as the Lord wills. "
"Everything that binds me...
What the hell are you telling me to get rid of!?
Before hearing the inquiry, Chiyo quickly removes his right hand from Zongmao's shoulder and takes it around his hips.
And...
I pulled a short knife out of his hand.
"What binds Zongmao...
You know that best. "
"I don't know! I dunno!!
It was a way of denying, as if you were aware of it.
Already before them, enemies are attacking.
Zongmao continued to shake it off with his right hand knife.
Then, Chiyo shook the short knife in his hand about twice.
Oodsari...
She was making herself, chopping a string, and falling off Zongmao's back...
"Chiyo!!
Zongmao's desperate voice is coming around.
But...
"Now Zongmao is free. Live, live and dream freely."
And when you leak it without even looking at your face...
Chiyo ran out.
He pulled out the "Thunder Cut", the shape of Father's Road snow, and ran out in the opposite direction to Willow River Castle.
To protect Zongmao's back...
"Chiyo!!!!
But the voice doesn't reach her.
Zongmao was dealing with three Hot Island soldiers in front of him at the same time, and his body was unable to react immediately.
But only those eyes kept holding on to her back.
Something like 'yarn', connecting with Zongmao stretched out of his back, felt something fade away, and at the same time, little by little, Zongmao's heart felt lighter.
Then, as Chiyo ran, several Tachibana soldiers ran in parallel beside her, and with her, stormed into the enemy formation.
"Tachibana Chiyo!! Lord, to protect Somo Tachibana's back!
Push!!
Along with her name when it thundered, it became difficult to capture her buried among the enemies.
Zongmao exhaled only one big breath when he shot the three people he was dealing with.
He has now gained freedom in his body and mind.
He feels rather disgusted with himself, feeling like everything is lighter and yet winged.
That was because the name 'Tachibana' seemed more evidence than anything that had been a heavy shackle to me.
While in the midst of a desperate battlefield, his scenery changes from outside to inside.
It was as if the passage of time, which had hardly moved, had stopped altogether, that he fell to the other side of the silence.
………
……
I see that sight all the time. It was completely different from that.
Until now, its landscape has always been as harsh as the midwinter earth, with cold winds.
And there was always someone in the middle of it, like a king of lights, who was seated.
Tachibana Road Snow
He, dubbed Thunder God, was still dead, in Zongmao, and his appearance, he was watching him strictly.
He has a heavy gaze and is about to be crushed at any moment.
But on the other hand, he always thought that it was like destiny that Zongmao had to be in order to remain Zongmao, and even his gratitude boiled down.
As a sign of this, he has received every praise, and even now that his master has been converted, this is how he is held in the country.
But now...
The road snow had disappeared...
That's not all.
The view changed in the middle of winter, and there was a white space for nothing.
That seemed like after removing 'Tachibana' from him, greatly confusing him.
And there was a boy standing there, smiling.
Zongmao saw the boy.
The boy stares at him too.
Should we miss it like we've been in touch a long time ago, or should we say fresh like we've never tasted before...
A strange feeling cannot contain the feeling from its gaze.
We exchanged our sights for a while, and then the boy said...
- How do you feel when you're free?
"Freedom... is this the feeling of freedom...
Everything is light… but you never feel good. "
- Ha ha... that sounds like a serious Zongmao answer. Let's give Zongmao just one piece of advice.
"What?
- Freedom involves responsibility.
"Responsibility…"
- It's not all "Tachibana" from now on, "Somo" will continue to capture the Lord.
Your Lord always fled to 'Tachibana' when you had to decide something for yourself, didn't he?
But from now on, there's no escape.
At all times, Zongmao himself has to clear his way.
And as a result, this view will change.
It's up to the Lord to make this view heaven and hell.
"Hmm..."
- You don't seem to have a good idea yet, but Zongmao shouldn't have time for this anymore.
Your Lord is pressing for a quick choice.
Yanagawa Castle, where you can see smoke, and Chiyo, who made a decisive assault...
That's it, the boy takes a breath.
Zongmao couldn't say anything.
- Which one does Somo Tachibana protect?
Suddenly poked, he can't instantly organize his mind into what can be called the ultimate choice.
The boy continued, as if to see through his feelings like that.
- Can Zongmao throw something away to protect something?
It's not easy to be proud of Tachibana.
A lot of people are going to live and die with one choice of Zongmao.
Until now, the Lord has kept Hidden the presence of "Tachibana" to protect Himself.
But I don't have that anymore.
All the winds make that body cold.
All the rain wets itself.
That is also the price your Lord has earned for his freedom.
Come on, go!
And the great wings of the LORD are for the sake of freedom.
It is no longer acceptable to stay.
"But... I... what..."
Still unable to hide his strays, the boy told him with a smile.
- Of course I'm confused.
Scary is inevitable.
Right... just one last thing for the Lord, let's give him some advice.
To the boy's words, Zongmao stares at the boy with a strawy eye.
- When Zongmao has spent so far, what he has felt, what he has worn… all of them must be the flesh of the Lord.
So your lord is sure.
For there is no mistake in the flesh of the LORD.
I mean, say what you want to say...
Confident and proud, push ahead.
The way your Lord chooses is always right.
That is evidenced by the time your Lord has spent so far.
So far, the boy disappeared.
And Zongmao himself was able to catch something after the scene in such a sunny mood that it was completely taken away.
What was at the end of despair...
It was the way to look for new hope…
………
……
Yanagawa Castle was now in a predicament.
After Zongmao led a thousand soldiers out of the castle, nine thousand remained in the castle.
And now five thousand of them, led by Yubu and Yushin, departed the castle.
Of course, it was to help Somo Tachibana, the master.
And with the remaining four thousand soldiers, we had to protect the castle from about twenty thousand soldiers who aggressively attacked it, and we stood on the front line even during the increase in the number of superior elders' nomano, giving the soldiers detailed instructions, and Gui Hiroshi, who is in the castle, was also desperately admonished to manipulate the soldiers and prevent the invasion of the enemy.
It should not be in a very protective state, but at the time of the increase in the number of recommendations, there was a will.
"This is where we all return, starting with our lord!
I will defend you at all costs!!
The fact that he was a superior elder but could not put the whole house together, and that his opinions never got through again in this important phase, was a great responsibility to him.
And that was enough to make him determined that "this job is his last service".
You can't end that service with failure.
This was another battle between the determination to protect Tachibana's house and the pride of a man named Tachibana Masahiro.
………
……
Tachibana Chiyo, on the other hand, had slashed deep into the enemy line along with several foot soldiers who ran to her.
Sometimes she may have been a woman, but more than that, the unusual killings she brings soothe the feet of Hot Island soldiers.
Those who pointed their spear tips at her nevertheless became the 'thundercut' rust in her hand.
Until earlier, that heart, happily soaked and warmed by Somo's back, had sharp cold air and sharpened her senses, as if it had been put on in the ice.
But the tumultuous time since yesterday had completely eroded her strength and life, and the limits of the flesh itself were so imminent soon.
"Whoa whoa!!
If her body screams, she growls from within her belly.
Then the blood in your body, which flows slowly, starts to make noise again.
In such a state of extremes, she still felt happy.
Because now she is' real 'and feels full of her body the dignity of protecting what she loves.
Having become lighter, would he have returned to the castle by now...
If he goes back to the castle, he must be able to protect him.
In that way, with some sort of hope, she was now waving her sword diligently.
………
……
And, uh...
Somo Tachibana moved out.
It is also a sign that, in this abyss of despair, he has found hope to uphold.
Neither before him nor behind him, there is nothing to bind him to anymore.
What was there was a big wing that sparked him free.
A new battle of Tachibana Somo began here.