KATANAGATARI 3

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The ensuing showdown at Lake Fuyo would by necessity take on a different form than all the others thus far on the Sword Hunt─as different as the various opponents were, two things were constant: all Shichika had to do was take them down, without harming the swords.

This time, however, the opponent and the sword were one and the same.

There was no way he could take his enemy down without harming the sword, yet harming the sword was intrinsic to taking down the enemy.

While Togame and Shichika had originally ventured to Lake Fuyo to investigate the workshop of the legendary swordsmith Kiki Shikizaki, lest we forget: Togame had been tasked with rounding up the Twelve Possessed.

As such, damaging Skytron was not an option.

Things were troublesome enough for Shichika already, faced with a four-armed, four-legged enemy whose body functioned nothing like that of a human being─(not to mention the fact his feints had zero effect on her)─but these rules of battle made it impossible for him to bare the blades of his hands or his feet.

What scheme could get them through this?

A few days passed before they left the inn behind and returned to Lake Fuyo.

The sky was full of clouds, as if it might rain any second.

The same day that one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Ninja Clan played the part of a pushover the way it should be played─

■　■

Come to think of it.

Not counting the battle on Haphazard Island against Komori Maniwa, which was more like being ambushed, all the fights thus far on the Sword Hunt, with the exception of the first, against Ginkaku Uneri, had been to some extent, to varying degrees, civilized1 affairs.

Meisai Tsuruga at Triad Shrine.

Hakuhei Sabi on Ganryu Island.

Kanara Azekura by Dakuon Harbor.

Konayuki Itezora atop Mt. Odori.

Nanami Yasuri within Gokenji Temple.

All five of these battles, without exception, had a referee.

Who gave the signal to begin─Fight!

These were formal duels in their own way, and fitting for an age of peace and order (although in most cases the referee was Togame, Shichika’s boss, which gave him what may be called a gross advantage)─but this time would be different.

As a robot, Skytron had no will.

The fight would not have no formal start or end.

If anything─the battle would begin the second Shichika entered Skytron’s range of fire.

Shichika leapt at Skytron from Form Seven, the Kakitsubata─and into the Kyotoryu’s front kick, the Bara.

By the way, that whole issue about not finding a proper footing was resolved by switching his straw sandals for a pair of geta. This painfully obvious solution coming courtesy of not Shichika, of course, but Togame the Schemer.

The heaps of rubbish were as prone to crumbling and unreliable as ever─but at least wearing the geta he could stop worrying about impaling his foot on a scrap of metal.

As much as he would have enjoyed doffing his arm guards and fighting barefoot, as long as they were at Lake Fuyo, Shichika would have to compromise, like in the snows of Mt. Odori.

“Kyotoryu─Yuri!”

The Bara had been blocked by Skytron’s four arms.

Unfazed, Shichika unleashed his backspin spinning kick, the Yuri─but this too was blocked by the arms.

“HUMAN DETECTED”

Skytron said.

Or, more accurately─pronounced.

“EXTERMINATE NOW”

“…nkk!”

Indeed─amazing blocking skills.

Just like Togame said.

“Exterminate me? I’d like to see you try─” yelled Shichika, “once you’re torn to smithereens!”

This time around, the catchphrase Togame had assigned him felt all wrong.

For one thing, how could he tear a machine to pieces?

“Alright…Kyotoryu─Sagigusa!”2

Another kick move─only this time his foot rained down from above, aiming to slash across3 the robot’s body. Yet Skytron blocked this too, using its arms.

The advantage of having four arms.

Each could focus on a smaller range─allowing for increased efficiency.

Of course, the same went for its legs.

In fact, its extra legs provided an even greater advantage than the arms─using one leg for defense, it kept the other three rooted in the earth.

No one could ever be that stable.

“Kyotoryu Combo─from Zakuro to Ayame!”4

As soon as he landed, Shichika planted his feet and launched into a rapidfire display of hand techniques─after trying linked attacks like this against his sister at Gokenji Temple, the moves flowed with smooth precision.

Skytron blocked with ease, until the Ayame─at which point Shichika finally discerned an opening among the arms.

A space through which─he may have hit its torso.

“…Hup!”

Nevertheless─he gritted his teeth and reeled in the Ayame. This sent him staggering, whereupon he came dangerously close to falling on his face─but somehow Shichika regained his footing.

Easy now─easy now.

He took a deep breath, filling his lungs.

Prior to his fight with Skytron.

Togame the Schemer had given Shichika a couple of precautions.

Above all─he was to only use strike moves.

Shichika could get behind this. He’d said so himself─there was no way he could use a throw move on a four-armed, four-legged robot, and grappling moves would fare even worse. If he got Skytron in a deadlock,5 he was going to be the dead one.

This is not to say, however, that strike moves would get the job done. As indicated moments earlier, Skytron blocked every strike, rebuffing Shichika so consistently it made his own head spin.6 In his fight against Kanara Azekura, he had confronted the unparalleled armor class of Zokuto the Armor, but its defensive properties were just a matter of materials─

“Interesting.”

At a safe distance away, well out of Skytron’s range of fire.

Togame the Schemer muttered to herself─watching Shichika fight.

“I’d say that’s a good sign─after all, we must not harm the swords. Let Skytron do its thing and protect itself on its own─”

Togame had given Shichika one more precaution.

So long as he stuck to the strike moves, he could wallop Skytron to his heart’s content.

Except─he must not hit its head or torso.

Meaning─he had to let Skytron block every single move he made.

Using its four arms─and four legs!

“Hmm.”

Shichika brought his furious7 attack to a halt and moved away from Skytron.

Yeah─not a bad idea.

They were on the right track.

“Togame sure knows how to think─though I can’t harm the katana, she comes up with the idea of forcing Skytron to defend itself… That allows me to attack it without pulling all my punches─she has some devilish ideas, taking advantage of a doll that can’t think for itself.”

“Hello!” Togame yelled to him across the field. “I can hear you.”

He must have been talking to himself quite loudly.

Not like it really mattered─he could talk to himself all he wanted, and Skytron’s robot brain would never understand him.

Which also meant diplomacy was off the table.

“Crap, I almost hit it in the torso with the Ayame─”

Strikes to the head and torso─were off limits.

Which meant he was unable to use Fatal Orchid Four, Ryuryoku Kako, despite it involving a strike move.

Here is how Togame had explained it.

Because Skytron was a robot.

Extremities like arms and legs─were mere appendages.8

Parts that were replaceable.

The mechanisms that allowed Skytron its Skytronic activity were housed exclusively inside its head and torso, while the arms and legs remained apart, operating as directed─an inhuman advantage known only to robots.

A human being who injures an arm or leg cannot simply sub out the damaged part for a replacement arm or leg─but a robot can.

Whereby.

Its arms and legs─were fair game.

They were replaceable.

They were removable.

Which made the situation─salvageable.

The Sword Hunt for the Twelve Possessed of Kiki Shikizaki─staying on track!

“Still, though─my feints not working is such a pain. At this point, it’s second nature.9 Even though I know it isn’t helping, they come out of me at those moments.”

These idle moments were dangerous indeed.

But perhaps it was fine.

Because the goal was to have Skytron block his attacks.

“COUNTERSTRIKE NOW”

Suddenly.

Skytron strayed from its strict pattern of defense─and made a run on Shichika.

“ROBOSLAY10─TORNADO”

Swinging four swords simultaneously─from four different directions.

While these four swords were not the work of Kiki Shikizaki─which made them replaceable appendages as well─the Kyotoryu was without any moves for taking on a four-armed foe barehanded, not to mention destroying four swords at once.

All Shichika could do was dodge the attack.

“ROBOSLAY─WHIRLWIND”

All four swords swung at once─but Shichika dodged this, too.

“ROBOSLAY─VERNAL BLAST”11

This time it leaned back, raising its front legs together for a dropkick─although since dropkicks involve jumping, and Skytron’s robotic mechanisms meant it didn’t have to jump, the term sounds contradictory─

Shichika leapt into the air to dodge this jump-free dropkick.

Just then.

“ROBOSLAY─BLUSTER”12

As it pronounced these words─a pointy13 sword shot like a tongue out of the same mouth.

“Wh-Whoaaa!”

Using Skytron’s legs for a springboard, Shichika shifted position in midair and got away. His hands touched down first, followed acrobatically by his feet.

The sword slipped back inside of Skytron’s body─much to Shichika’s amazement. He had never dreamt of such a trick.

A blade flying from the robot’s mouth─was not part of the plan.

But.

“Almost everything else has gone exactly as predicted─right?”

This time he wasn’t talking to himself, but checking with Togame.

“Why wouldn’t it,” she said, yet the Schemer was also sticking her chest out with evident pride. “While I may not be as observant as your sister…I’ve got a decent set of eyes. From the way something is built on the outside, I can envision how it’s going to move, or what moves it is capable of making.”

Except if it’s a person, Togame admitted in a little voice.

“Machines are simple, that way. They move exactly how you think they’ll move.”

The picture Togame drew Shichika back at the inn─had been a diagram of Skytron.

Demonstrating with a figure.

How Skytron made its movements.

How far its arms could bend. How far it could raise its legs. How its head could spin 180 degrees, but probably not its torso. How far its mouth could open. How far its swords would reach─illustrating him all of the things that she could tell from its exterior.

Showing─her artsy side.

She had not been observing Skytron on the move for three days straight for fun.

For Togame, who could draw a map with ease, albeit cutting a few corners─schematizing14 Skytron was a cinch.

Of course, all sorts of things could not be gleaned from mere appearances─concealed within the body, the gadgetry of “ROBOSLAY─BLUSTER” fell beyond her scope. In any case, even if she were clued in on this surprise, she herself could never have evaded it.

It was through her katana, Shichika Yasuri, that her “set of eyes” truly came alive.

“I had hoped the drawing cleared things up for you, but I guess you needed a few days to digest it… That’s fine, though.”

This was about─form.

Much as questions of form, or lack thereof, had figured prominently up against Konayuki Itezora─here, too, they posed the central obstacle to victory. For although the Kyotoryu lacked forms for handling a four-armed, four-legged adversary, to Skytron, having four arms and four legs was only natural, its very form. What could be more annoying?

While far less difficult, and not really a fair comparison, to use a simple metaphor, it was sort of like a right-handed person fighting a left-handed person. Quite disorienting.

The gap between the known and the unknown─

And since Skytron was a robot, the difference exceeded that gap.

Yet.

Togame the Schemer had turned this all around.

Thought of a way to turn it all around.

For a fighter15 such as Shichika to dispose of feinting altogether was frustrating indeed─but on the flipside, they knew that Skytron would never feint at them.

Robots don’t try to make you jump or catch you by surprise.

Of course, things were not necessarily so simple, since Skytron was capable of some complex moves─but even these were simply commands16 built into it.

Therefore─as long as he understood them as such, Shichika and Skytron were on equal footing, at least in that regard.

If Skytron never feinted.

They could begin to anticipate─its form.

Once they did, the rest was up to Shichika. It had taken them some time─but it was worth all the time it took.

Because he was holding his own against Skytron, an inhuman robot sword!