Game’s Dogma

Drako Yau sat in the room, his brows furrowed. Idyllic Poet was curious as she asked, ‘Boss, why the long face? Our plan’s perfect. We have an eighty per cent chance of succeeding if everything goes according to plan.’

‘You’re just partly correct.’ Drako Yau shook his head. ‘Our plan isn’t the issue. The problem is how we can successfully implement it.’

Drako Yau recalled Oda Nobunaga’s atmosphere during their dialogue.

‘Everyone treads their own paths. Paths, it can mean choices, decisions, or being loyal to one’s ideals and beliefs. This is…’

‘This is called “way of the heart”.’ The old geezer sat on a branch while swinging his legs that had wrinkling skin. He then tossed an eaten apple at Drako Yau.

The young man frowned, knocked the fruit away with his wooden spear, and asked, ‘Way of the heart?’

The old geezer nodded. ‘Way of the heart is crucial in cultivating. Of course, it’s not limited to cultivating and martial arts. Every successful person stays true to their own ways.

‘Like those who worship a god, they hold a firm belief that they are serving their god, which is why they do not seek any reward despite all the hard work. Imagine if one day, they suddenly think, “Does god exist or not?”

‘The moment the thought sprouted in their minds, their hearts waver. They can no longer carry on with what they have been doing because they no longer believe in god’s existence.

‘People who commit great sins also bear a firm and resolute way of the heart. Those are extreme cases though.’

The old geezer yawned and lay casually onto the branch. He was perfectly balanced, without any signs of falling from the branch.

‘Evildoers also believe what they do is right. If one day, they suddenly succumb to their conscience, they’ll be eroded by their own sins and might even go mad. That is the way of the heart.’

‘Many years ago, I once saw someone cultivate to a critical threshold. He suddenly looked at me in confusion and asked, “Is the path I tread the right one?”’ The old geezer’s light-hearted expression turned stern as he gazed at Drako Yau. ‘The moment he finished his sentence, he shattered into pieces before turning into ash. The cause of his death was the power within him.

‘Because his way of the heart wasn’t pure. He doubted his own strength. His own power backlashed against him, and he died without even retaliating.

‘This is why every successful person or master has a resolute way of the heart, though it’s not without drawbacks. They’re all stubborn people. Once they’re fixated on something, nothing can change their minds.’

The old geezer suddenly returned to his usual playful style and pointed at himself.

‘I’m also that sort of person. So do another set of a thousand thrusts.’

Drako Yau’s wails resounded throughout the mountains as he thrusted his spear…

‘Oda Nobunaga gives me the impression of someone who has a resolute way of the heart. For someone like him, I’m not sure if he’ll escape. At least, to him, escaping is cowardly.’

Everyone couldn’t come up with a response and went silent. What Drako Yau said was very reasonable. Oda Nobunaga had also said it himself: How many trials and disasters have I, Oda Nobunaga, gone through in my life? If I flee and fear whenever there is danger, how can I unite and reign over the lands?

Drako Yau made a rare sigh and said, ‘We can only play it by ear now.’

At that moment, they heard noises—shouts… and whistling arrows.

Drako Yau put on his mask calmly. ‘Follow the plan. Greenstone and Sasaki, follow me. Poet, Danting, clear the way out. Strider, you’re the key to this operation. Act quickly. If you can’t make it in time, let us know immediately and Dan will help you out.’

The five nodded.

‘Move out!’

The six rushed out of their room and saw that everything was in flames. More flaming arrows were flying their way towards Honno-ji like shooting stars. The crackling noise of fire, clash of metals, and shouts of soldiers together formed a brutal symphony.

In the centre of Honno-ji, the temple door was wide open. Oda Nobunaga furrowed his brows as he came out through the door and asked, ‘What’s the situation?’

Mori Ranmaru had a terrible look as he reported, ‘Lord Nobunaga, it appears that Akechi Mitsuhide has rebelled! That traitor!’

Oda Nobunaga, though his heart sank, didn’t seem to be too surprised.

‘Now is not the time to investigate. Members of the Oda clan, raise your weapons and follow me to battle!’

Noticing Oda Nobunaga’s presence, the hundred youth guards were inspired as they looked at him with almost fanatic eyes. To them, Oda Nobunaga was their god!

Even so, how could a mere hundred guards defend against the ten thousand men and cavalry Akechi Mitsuhide brought?

Akechi Mitsuhide led his soldiers on his horse and slowly walked towards Oda Nobunaga. His horse plodded slowly, as if it wasn’t on the battlefield; it felt more like a king patrolling his territory.

Only several thousand soldiers followed him because the majority of his men were guarding the exits. He had risked everything with this battle—if Oda Nobunaga survived, he’d certainly die. There was no way he could let Oda Nobunaga out alive.

Oda Nobunaga glared at the slowly approaching Akechi Mitsuhide with steady eyes. As Akechi Mitsuhide was on horseback, he was physically taller than Oda Nobunaga, but Oda Nobunaga’s glare was no short of looking down at him from above.

At that moment, Drako Yau, Greenstone, and Sasaki had rushed over. Drako Yau was the first to shout, ‘Lord Nobunaga, please retreat immediately. We have found the way out!’

Lady Noh and Mori Ranmaru’s eyes both brightened up.

‘Really?’

Oda Nobunaga, however, laughed like a maniac. The nearby flames all reflexively flicked towards the opposite direction.

‘There can only be an Oda Nobunaga who dies in battle, not one who flees from danger! Mask, bring with you my woman and Ranmaru. This favour, I shall repay you in my next life!’

‘Did you really think you all could escape?’

Akechi Mitsuhide’s voice could be heard. It was eerily gentle, but in a different way to Oda Nobunaga’s voice. It had a feeling of gentleness and closeness to it, one that didn’t belong on a flaming battlefield and made others shudder.

Oda Nobunaga snickered and said, ‘Mitsuhide, I have treated you well. I gave you an important position the moment you joined the Oda clan and stationed you at key cities such as Kameyama of Tanba. Even when the Katsuie and Hideyoshi clans objected to it, I ignored them.’

With calm eyes, he glared at Akechi Mitsuhide. ‘I, Oda Nobunaga, do not fear death. All I need is a reason.’

The shadow behind him suddenly expanded, as if a devil had descended. He had the face of an angry Buddha as he shouted,

‘Why!

‘Rebel!

‘Against!

‘Me!’

The warriors behind Akechi Mitsuhide all tightened their grips on their swords as their hands trembled. The ferocity of Oda Nobunaga’s shout made them all shudder, and some of them even subconsciously wanted to kneel in subservience.

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