Chapter Seventy-Two: A Day in Muramasa (End)

Staring at the man before her, whose appearance was identical to her own, Luo Hanya felt a wave of emotion. This was Muramasa—or more accurately, Kimura Masa. “Kimura, do you also wish to ask the same questions as before?” she mused.

Kimura Masa remained silent for nearly a full minute before heaving a long sigh. “More precisely, I’m here to be reborn.”

“A moment of recklessness led you to this predicament. Please, Kimura, be more cautious in the future,” Luo Hanya said, her gaze complicated as she looked upon the man who, pale and weary, seemed to have aged more than a decade. “Even demons pay the price for their deeds,” she added with a note of regret.

Kimura Masa forced a faint smile, his lips twitching. “A price has indeed been paid, but what can truly be salvaged from all this?”

“You’re right. It’s time to end it all.” Luo Hanya gently patted his shoulder, her tone full of sorrow.

Kimura Masa seemed lost in memory. He stood there, dazed, his eyes closing in apparent agony.

“What about your questions, Kimura?” Luo Hanya asked, puzzled by his silence.

“Everyone harbors a madman in their heart, longing to break free and act without restraint. Reality breeds and suppresses him. Sometimes, when you become that madman, perhaps you become your truest self,” Kimura Masa interrupted before Luo Hanya could finish, speaking in cryptic riddles. “We are cut from the same cloth, or else you would not be here. I have already paid a high enough price.”

“We are the same?” Luo Hanya was taken aback, shaking her head in contemplation. “No... that can’t be.”

“Why not? We are the same. Otherwise, why would you come? Why would you return to save me?” Kimura Masa pressed on, a strange smile twisting his face.

Luo Hanya frowned, uncertainty stirring in her heart as she studied Kimura Masa’s deranged expression. “Could he be telling the truth? Are we truly alike? Is this ‘madman’ within the heart real? Why don’t I feel anything? And why does he keep speaking in riddles? Isn’t he supposed to carry some greater purpose?”

Kimura Masa’s gaze grew intense, as if he could see right through her thoughts. A hint of longing shone on his face. “Shall I help you set him free?”

“What?” Luo Hanya was startled, stumbling several steps back in alarm. “Who… who are you, really?”

“I am Kimura Masa, as you already know,” he replied, his eyes blazing with a wild, fervent fire—both manic and exultant.

“No, you’re the madman within Kimura Masa! Yamamoto is merely one facet of Kimura’s personality! No wonder, no wonder!” Luo Hanya stared at him with heightened vigilance, her heart pounding.

“What are you saying? I am Kimura Masa,” he retorted, advancing with deliberate steps, his eyes glinting as he licked his lips, much like a soul-devouring demon beholding a sumptuous feast.

“Yes, rebirth… it must be him, the madman!” Luo Hanya glared resolutely at the approaching Kimura Masa, unafraid. “You’ll never succeed. I’d rather end myself than let you have your way!”

“You still think you can take your own life at this point? It’s far too late for that. Resign yourself and stay here for me.” Kimura Masa burst into wild laughter, his manner utterly unhinged. “Come, my companion!”

A sudden chill crept over Luo Hanya as she watched Kimura Masa’s crazed demeanor. In the next instant, she realized with horror that, apart from her eyes, her entire body was paralyzed. She struggled to blink, but all that remained in her heart was a bitter resignation. “So, after all my caution, I’ve still ended up trapped here. Is this truly the Corridor of Death?”

She recalled everything that had transpired within this script. “Yamamoto was indeed the embodiment of evil, but he was merely Kimura’s ordinary darkness. He’s nothing compared to this repressed madman. Perhaps everything Yamamoto ever did was orchestrated by this hidden lunatic.”

“I should have seen it—the conflicts with Yamamoto were all subtle hints.”

“What a pity. So, this truly is a nightmare-level script, full of hidden dangers.”

Regret flooded her as she felt her mind grow heavy and her strength fade. “So tired… why am I so tired? I can’t hold on anymore.” She tried to force her eyes open, but her eyelids felt as heavy as mountains.

Meanwhile, Kimura Masa danced with excitement before Luo Hanya’s slumped figure. “Ha! In the end, you’ll stay here in endless darkness for me. Kimura Masa, you can’t escape! I’ve returned!” He paid no heed to Luo Hanya, who was slowly opening her eyes.

“Shut up, you wretch! Be silent!” The figure before him was no longer the Luo Hanya of before. Disdainfully, he looked at the madman, his face full of impatience. “Wretch! Was it you who awakened me?”

“What? We’re the same, and it was I who awakened you. How can you speak like that?” Kimura Masa looked displeased. “If not for me, who knows how much longer you’d have been trapped in your own body? Now you only need to cast off the original consciousness to be free. Or do you wish to remain in that lightless abyss forever?”

At this, the new “Luo Hanya” seemed to have heard a cruel joke. A cold smile played on his lips. “Do you know who you’re talking to? You think we’re the same? Wretch! A lowly heart demon born from a weakling’s mind dares call me its kindred? Laughable.”

“What are you talking about? What heart demon?” Kimura Masa stared, confused.

“You’ll understand soon enough,” the new “Luo Hanya” replied with pity, blowing gently toward Kimura Masa as if dismissing an insignificant insect. In the next instant, nearly invisible flames erupted over Kimura Masa’s body, crackling as they consumed him.

Kimura Masa’s mouth opened in despair, his eyes filled with disbelief. Before a single sound could escape his throat, the formless fire devoured him utterly in that deathly place, leaving no trace behind.

“Tch, what an eyesore. Creatures like that are best annihilated,” the new “Luo Hanya” remarked, surveying the surroundings with a smile, utterly indifferent to what he had just done, as if he’d squashed a bug unworthy of notice.

“The Corridor of Death—a familiar place indeed.”

Current task completed. Main quest completed.