Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 80: Road to the Underworld (4)

Dragon Raja 3

Chisei covered his eyes with his hands, imagining himself as a moth born in the dark, fluttering aimlessly without direction or purpose, always moving towards what he thought was ahead, without ever reaching an edge or knowing whether any other moths even existed in the world… A chilling sensation crept over his body, and once again, Akira’s words echoed in his ears: “A moth that has never seen light, upon encountering fire, will throw itself in. It doesn’t matter if it burns others, or itself, or even the entire world. It simply craves that light—this is a moth’s hunger for light.” Chisei had read Akira’s novel; it was simple and naive in terms of grammar and vocabulary, giving a completely different impression from this sentence. At that moment, it was as if a spirit from the underworld possessed Akira, borrowing his voice to say those eerie yet maddened words.

It wasn’t Akira’s own thought—Chisei was convinced of that. He had a strange feeling that the words were deliberately spoken to Akira, and Akira was intended to pass them on to him right before dying. In other words, Akira’s death had been calculated long ago; he was an abandoned experiment as well as a messenger, traveling to distant Hokkaido on a fated journey to his grave. That carriage was both his execution ground and the stage prepared by someone behind the scenes. The ending to this tragedy had already been written—Akira would die, and before death, he would deliver that carefully planned last message… Chisei felt a chill down his spine!

He vaguely guessed who that person might be—someone whose name he had buried deep in his memories, refusing to recall. He instinctively tightened his grip on the sword hilt and stood up abruptly, his entire body tense like a leopard about to pounce on prey.

But there was no enemy, nothing out of the ordinary. Only the sounds of the torrential rain and wind outside the glass door. Lightning flickered across the clouds, casting Chisei’s shadow on the ground.

Chisei stood silently for a long time before sheathing his sword, throwing on his black haori, and turning to leave the room. The entire clan awaited him; this meeting would decide the family’s future. Perhaps a new era was dawning for Japan’s underworld, and he couldn’t allow himself to dwell on meaningless thoughts any longer.

A samurai must not think too much; hesitation comes with too many thoughts, and a samurai’s mission is to cut—cut away everything that defies the “Way.”

“Hadouken! Hadouken!” Ryu leaped twice, landing his Shoryuken. Chun-Li failed to dodge, losing a significant portion of her health bar.

Crow and Yasha returned to the main hall as a white projection screen was lowered in front of the divine and ghostly murals. The entire family elite held their breath, looking solemn as they watched the “Street Fighter IV” battle displayed on the big screen.

In front of the screen were eight small tables, each holding a long sword decorated with golden family crests. The crests represented the eight clans: Tachibana’s sixteen-petal chrysanthemum, Gen’s gentian, Uesugi’s bamboo and sparrow, Inuyama’s red demon, Fūma’s spider, Ryoma’s horsehead, Sakurai’s phoenix, and Miyamoto’s demon. All the clan leaders were supposed to attend this family gathering, but at that moment, the seat in front of Gen’s table was still empty. All the family heads maintained silence, knowing that this was their family’s shrine, a place where their ancestors’ spirits wandered, and any loud yelling would be a form of disrespect.

Only the Uesugi clan leader was frantically pressing a game controller, her fighting spirit soaring in “Street Fighter IV”… Chun-Li leaped into the air, mid-kick aiming at Ryu’s head. Ryu rolled to dodge and launched a powerful Hadouken. Chun-Li jumped again, landing a light stomp followed by a heavy kick… The Uesugi clan leader was, surprisingly, a “Street Fighter” expert. Her control of Chun-Li was precise, combining offense and defense seamlessly. However, the player using Ryu was also highly skilled, especially in timing the Shoryuken perfectly. Chun-Li had the advantage in aerial moves, constantly jumping, but Shoryuken was the nemesis of almost all aerial moves, with each “Shoryuken!” from Ryu taking a significant chunk out of Chun-Li’s health bar.

It was an online battle, and the player controlling Ryu could be anywhere in Japan. If he knew his match was being watched by hundreds of yakuza elites like a movie, one wonders if his hands would start trembling.

The Uesugi clan leader turned out to be a very young girl. Though she covered her face with a black veil and wore a man’s black ceremonial haori, the wide kimono couldn’t hide her figure. The delicate curves clearly belonged to a young girl. At first, she had sat there obediently, more like a student waiting for a teacher to arrive than a dignified clan leader. Due to Gen’s absence delaying the meeting, she quickly pulled a game controller from her kimono, and the hall’s projection equipment activated. The Uesugi leader quickly selected her character, and in just ten seconds, before others could realize what was happening, “FIGHT!” echoed through the hall—the battle had begun.

Describing her actions as “blatant disregard” wasn’t quite right. A better term might be “completely unmindful.” To her, it seemed that since they were waiting, she might as well use the time to play a game. The setting and respect for ancestors didn’t seem to matter at all.

“Erii! Erii!” Masamune, sitting far from her, couldn’t get up to stop her, so he called out softly. However, his voice was drowned in the sound of punches and kicks, while the Uesugi clan leader kept her full focus on the game, her eyes glued to the screen.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward. This was an important gathering of the yakuza’s main family, attended by the heads of the three major clans and five minor clans, held in a shrine dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors, with an extremely solemn and serious atmosphere. Everyone was trying their best to act appropriately for the occasion, kneeling on their heels, hands on their knees, back straight. At this moment, nobody dared to stand up or move around casually. Even Masamune couldn’t openly lecture the girl, as she was also a clan leader.

“The young master has finished his patrol and is changing clothes. He will be here shortly.” Crow and Yasha bowed, then swiftly returned to their positions, tightening their kimono sleeves as they ran to avoid creating a breeze. None of the attendees looked at them; everyone kept their eyes straight ahead, like samurai in the Sengoku era awaiting their lord’s orders, ready to draw their swords and ride to battle.

In fact, no one knew the purpose of this family gathering. The family hadn’t held such a grand meeting in decades, and many of those present were usually scattered around different cities, guarding the family’s territories. Even the annual New Year celebration didn’t see half as many people attend. A gathering of this scale could unsettle the entire yakuza, as it might mean that Yamata no Orochi was planning to reorganize Japan’s underworld or perhaps completely eliminate a certain gang.

Yet they were currently watching an online “Street Fighter IV” battle… Did this mean the family was planning to enter the gaming industry? Or had CAPCOM, the developer of “Street Fighter IV,” offended the family, prompting plans to erase it?

“Two hundred thousand yen, I bet on Erii-sama to win,” Crow whispered.

“Tough one. Her health is already half of Ryu’s, and his positioning is on point,” Yasha also whispered, barely moving his lips.

“Erii-sama’s power gauge is full, and Ryu has used his gauge. If she can push him to the corner, heavy kick followed by EX Lightning Legs, ending with Kikosho, she might score a KO.”

“Deal. But I don’t think Ryu will let her corner him. In my opinion, she should stick with light kick followed by medium punch into Hyakuretsu Kyaku, slowly chipping away at Ryu’s health. But while doing that, his power gauge will fill again, and another Metsu Hadouken will be coming, which Erii-sama won’t be able to dodge.”