The Jikan forces lined up their archers, but Rai was ready for them. Before they could even fire a single arrow, the Hunter was already upon them. As he struck one archer and cleaved him half with his sickle and chain, the curved blade emitted bolts of lightning that electrocuted the rest of the archers standing in the line, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes. The leader then ordered his men to surround Rai and attack him from all directions. In response to this, the lightning warrior swung his weapon around creating a hurricane of electricity and gore.

"W-What are you?" the leader panicked.

"One who will send you to your maker," Rai growled menacingly.

Feeling desperate, the leader ordered his men to stop trying to breach the walls and instead target Rai with the battering ram. But even with the giant weapon turned on him, Rai remained unfazed. He struck the battering ram with his weapon, making the chain coil around it like a snake. He then used its magic to make the siege weapon to explode, taking out a large chunk of the Jikan's forces with it. Terrified, many soldiers threw their weapons and started running for their lives. But they couldn't escape the lightning Hunter's wrath. Rai slaughtered them one by one until only the leader was left. Seeing all his companions defeated, the leader charged at him, trying to stab him with his sword. But Rai caught him by the wrist and disarmed him. He then kicked the leader on the gut to force him on his knees, leaving him at his mercy.

Forgive me my love. I am but a prisoner of this wicked clan. 

Looking away, Rai twisted the man's neck to put him out of his misery. It was over. He has foiled the Jikan's plan.

By the time the rest of the Hibiki forces caught up to him, he has already single-handedly stopped the siege on the south gate. The soldiers erupted in cheers, but Rai couldn't blame them. To them he was a hero; after all he saved the day. Rai, however was oblivious to it all. It was as if everything fell on deaf ears. No matter how many lives he was able to protect in the Hibiki Clan, he just felt so empty. And he knew exactly why. Truth be told, he didn't save everyone.

He couldn't save himself.

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Meanwhile, Tatsuya and Mizuchi were still engaged in their fierce duel. At one point their horses got caught in the crossfire, forcing them to fight on foot. Tatsuya quickly turned his weapon into dual swords to give himself an edge, but Mizuchi responded by transforming his to a double-sided polearm once more. They went for about fifty bouts before they resorted once more to magic. Tatsuya hurled multiple fireballs at his opponent, but Mizuchi simply created walls of ice to shield himself. Mizuchi then counterattacked by animating a skulk of foxes made purely of ice, but Tatsuya responded by summoning his own foxes, made purely of fire.

Most of the onlookers watched them in awe, but the armorer Nitsuke was getting anxious. What more, Rai warned him that this was simply a diversion. They have to find a way to end this quickly so that they could send him reinforcements. Nitsuke turned to the other officers,

"This can't go on any further," Nitsuke told his fellow soldiers. "Hold your position. I'm going to go get some help."

"From whom?" an officer asked.

"Lady Himei," Nitsuke said riding off. "She'll know what to do."

"I sure hope-" the officer said but Nitsuke was already gone. It was as if he just vanished into thin air.

The officer scratched his head in confusion. But he knew Nitsuke was right.

Shapeshifters. You know they always have something up their sleeve. 

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Unbeknownst to the two warriors, their fight was also being observed by the Yako himself of Clan Jikan. The other officers were getting worried that Mizuchi couldn't put this enemy Hunter away, but the Yako seemed unbothered. Even though Mizuchi was only meant to be a diversion, the clan wasn't expecting him to buy them this much time. One officer couldn't take it anymore.

"What shall we do with Mizuchi?" an officer asked

"Leave him," the Yako answered. "He already sealed his fate anyway."

"But what about the siege?" the officer protested.

"Deal with it yourselves," the Yako scoffed. "I'm leaving."

"Don't tell me you're just going to abandon us!" another officer protested. "Wait until the daimyo finds out..."

"I would watch my tongue if I were you," the Yako threatened. "You see the daimyo couldn't care less if this siege was successful or not."

"I... I don't understand," the first officer replied. "Why would the daimyo-"

"You see this was simply to feel out the enemy, to test their strength," the Yako replied with a sinister smile. "From what I can see, it's not even worth our time."

"Are we going to just leave Mizuchi though?" the second officer asked. "You know he's only fighting for us because we have HER hostage."

"He's a fool who believes a convenient lie," the Yako chuckled. "We never captured her. I was simply shapeshifting to trick him. And besides..."

He turned around and mounted a horse. He prepared to ride back to the Jikan capital.

"...pawns can be easily discarded."

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"Give it up Mizuchi," Tatsuya said panting. "You're out of strength."

"I could the same thing about you," Mizuchi smirked. "What do you say we wrap this up?"

"This is the end!" Tatsuya growled as he charged at his opponent with his sword.

Mizuchi met him head on and blocked the attack with his weapon. The two went for another fifty bouts. At one point, they both disarmed themselves. Without even hesitating, the two exchanged blows in a good old fashioned fist fight. They both knocked each other down, but even that didn't stop them. Crawling their way towards their respective weapons, they quickly snatched it and got up on their feet as if nothing happened. They went for a few more bouts when something seemed to have caught Mizuchi's attention. Someone was passing through the Hibiki lines, him in a state of utter disbelief. Tatsuya started gaining the upper hand. Mizuchi shook his head.

"No... It can't be," Mizuchi muttered. "It can't be her."

"What has gotten into you?" Tatsuya asked, realizing that his opponent was starting to lose focus.

"After all that time... you've been alive all along?" Mizuchi continued, seemingly talking to himself. "Why didn't you meet up with me?"

"What the heck is going on?" Tatsuya asked, now confused.

Mizuchi however didn't answer. His eyes were busy gazing at someone standing among the Hibiki troops. Tatsuya turned his head to see what all of this was about. There, he saw it. Mizuchi's eyes were fixed at a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair. She was about his age and resembled the warrior, but her features were gentler compared to Mizuchi's more hardened appearance. Tatsuya found it ironic that an ice wielder like Mizuchi is the one who is frozen in place. Mizuchi reached out one hand to the figure in the distance, his expression full of longing.

Sister? Is that you? 

Can you blame Mizuchi? The person he was seeking for so long was standing right there. He wanted to think that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but it seemed so real. With Mizuchi distracted, Tatsuya started gaining the upper hand. Mizuchi was forced to be on the defensive, and he was beginning to be careless. He was leaving himself open for a surprise attack. Seeing this, his sister's doppelganger snatched a bow from a nearby soldier and fired an arrow at him. This struck Mizuchi in his left eye, sending him off his horse and crashing to the ground in agonizing pain.

"Mizuchi! Noooooo!" Tatsuya cried.