Interlude 3

Twenty-three years ago, at the Imperial Palace.

"Azra of House Kojima of the Shibafu Clan. Who would have guessed?" a slightly muffled voice said. He struggled to speak through the mask worn by guards of the Inner Circle. He obviously was not used to wearing the mask. "I do not remember you from our roster," he continued.

"And I do not whether you remember me or not. I am the Last Hand. It would be good for you to know what that is," Azra replied in a serious tone with a slightly angered countenance. He immediately moved his right hand to his katana and slowly bent his legs as if getting ready to make a swift attack.

"You're the Last Hand?! I thought…" the masked figure started to say something but decided not to say anything else. The sound of intense battle went on around them and they didn't seem to mind. The masked figure remained motionless as he analyzed the situation and Azra. "The situation is under control! Why would is the Last Hand here?!" he finally exclaimed in mild frustration after a brief contemplation.

There is a slight flicker of disappointment in Azra's eyes. There is always only one Last Hand, an agent of the Omono-Ryu's will in the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi. If these assassins thought that the Last Hand was sent to oversee their work, that would only mean that the mastermind of the assassination is the most powerful leader of the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi—Matsumura Handen, the Omono-Ryu.

It was the kingdom where he was born into and was taught to always be loyal to. Fortunately, he was also taught to be loyal to the Celestial Emperor. It was the sworn duty of their clan to protect the Omono-Ryu of Zeiken-Shi and the Celestial Emperor from forces that the regular army cannot handle effectively. Like assassinations. And as Azra grew into his own person, he became loyal to the Celestial Emperor as he was to the Omono-Ryu of the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi.

The Celestial Dragon Kel-Bastor ordained the Amejisotugo Clan to rule over the Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi. This is the reason why they have the loyalty of the people for centuries. However, the Celestial Dragon Paragon has ordained the Imperial Clan to oversee the Five Kingdoms. The Celestial Emperor never sought to rule over the Five Kingdoms. They would rather let the five Dragon Clans rule over each of the Five Kingdoms. The Imperial Clan preferred to oversee keeping the peace between the Five Kingdoms. They made sure that none of them would abuse their unique advantages over the other kingdoms. If Zeiken-Shi wanted to assassinate the Celestial Emperor, this would only mean one thing. Zeiken-Shi's Omono-Ryu wants to declare war over the other four kingdoms. The Kingdom of Zeiken-Shi has a military advantage over the other four kingdoms. Declaring war over the other four kingdoms will allow it to gain control over the resources that Zeiken-Shi doesn't have.

Azra felt angry. He has never been in a war, but the War of the Fallen Clans in 455 DR was vividly recorded in many books. They were books that Azra has read many times. He read them many times because he had a childhood dream of finding the lost journals of the Last Ryusuke Master. It was said to have been lost during the War of the Fallen Clans. Local legends tell the story that this journal contains the original notes of Master Ryusuke Hanashima, the Amejisotugo Clan Master who invented martial arts. Azra wanted to find the journal and create his own martial arts style based on the original work of Master Ryusuke Hanashima.

When he remembered how much he admired House Ryusuke, he wondered if the Zeiken-Shi Dragon Grandmaster—Ryusuke Ikeyashi—knew about the assassination plot. He had always considered House Ryusuke as a very honorable house that he couldn't imagine a member of House Ryusuke to be involved in any plan to hurt the Celestial Emperor. Then suddenly, at that very moment, Azra had a realization based on the subtle clues before him.

"Take off that ridiculous mask Commander Miramoto. You're not fooling anyone with it," Azra declared to the masked figure. He tightened his grip on his katana as he watched the movement of the masked figure's hands.

The figure slowly removed his mask without saying anything. He wondered how Azra was able to identify his identity behind the mask. "How did you know it was me? Even if the Omono-Ryu told you that I was here, we're all wearing the same mask and uniform," Miramoto asked as he dropped the metallic mask to the floor.

"It's fairly simple really," Azra replied without changing his stance. "Your reaction when I declared that I was the Last Hand told me that you were in charge of this attack. Your voice sounded too young to be the venerable Ryusuke Ikeyashi. Additionally, I have seen him argue with the Omono-Ryu at least twice regarding the placement of troops near the northern border. He argued that it could be misinterpreted and ruin the peace between the Five Kingdoms. The Dragon Grandmaster would never agree to a mission to assassinate the Celestial Emperor. Now, if the Dragon Grandmaster wouldn't agree to the Omono-Ryu's plan to kill the Celestial Emperor, the second option to lead this traitorous rabble would be you, the Dragon Commander," Azra explained as his face slowly tensed and twisted into a clear image of revulsion and anger.

"You're partially correct," Miramoto replied. "The Dragon Grandmaster agreed to this plan and even led these forces to kill the Celestial Emperor," he added with an evil grin.

"What? No!" Azra exclaimed.

"It is true. Because as of this morning, I am the new Dragon Grandmaster. Ryusuke Ikeyashi has been banished from Zeiken-Shi," he said with a brief laugh. "And based on your reaction, you were not sent here by the Omono-Ryu. I was right, you're no longer the Last Hand."

"I left that title when I swore to be the Imperial Escort and Bodyguard to the Celestial Emperor. The two privileged positions cannot be claimed by the same person," Azra replied. He started to circle Miramoto's position. His left hand slowly moved to grab his wakizashi.

"I knew it! I remember my brother getting awarded that position," Miramoto replied. He slowly assumed the Dragon Battle Stance and started to circle Azra.

"You're wrong. Your brother is not the Last Hand. Well, not anymore. I had to kill him to get the information about this betrayal," Azra confessed.

"What?! You bastard! This is not betrayal! I am a loyal subject to the Zeiken-Shi Omono-Ryu! I am doing this for the glory of the kingdom!" Miramoto exclaimed.

"You deluded fool! You would drag the kingdom into a war against the other four kingdoms! There is no progress in war!" Azra said as he rushed to the attack.

Miramoto had the advantage of experience. Azra had the advantage of skill. The loud crash of the two fighters reverberated inside the chamber and the other combatants felt the intensity of their clash.

Azra quickly became a close friend of the Celestial Emperor because the emperor saw him as the son that he never had. He would ask the Celestial Emperor about the sculptures and paintings in the Celestial Palace and the Celestial Emperor would patiently tell him every detail about them. Even though the Celestial Emperor can have a wife and children, Celestial Emperor Naoryu Iramiko never married and focused on his duty of maintaining the peace in the Five Kingdoms. Azra, being the youngest ever Imperial Escort and Bodyguard, quickly became beloved to Iramiko. Their conversations about sculptures and paintings soon became conversations about martial arts techniques. The Imperial Clan was the first clan that had all of its members trained in martial arts. Ryusuke Hanashima himself trained them when he became the first Imperial Captain Commander of the Imperial Guards. And Azra was able to learn some of the Imperial Martial Arts from the Celestial Emperor himself.

"There will be progress once we've conquered all the Five Kingdoms!" Miramoto exclaimed. He made a quick pirouette to avoid Azra's powerful initial attack and immediately made a series of counterattacks that forced Azra to a defensive position. Azra had no choice but to keep moving back to avoid Miramoto's attacks. However, he knew that he cannot move too much or risk tripping over the dead bodies on the floor. His techniques rely on speed and maneuverability, he would be at a great disadvantage if he cannot move freely because of the dead bodies on the floor. Azra thought of a risky maneuver to stop Miramoto's barrage of powerful attacks and get the upper hand.

Azra flipped his wakizashi to a reversed position and calculated Miramoto's next attack. When Miramoto's next attack came, Azra moved forward to meet it. He twisted his body sideways to avoid Miramoto's deadly blade. He then flicked his torso forward and slammed the butt of his wakizashi into Miramoto's face, effectively breaking the bridge of his nose.

Miramoto stepped back in pain from Azra's attack, and Azra took advantage of Miramoto's momentary disorientation and moved to attack. Blood flowed freely from Miramoto's nose but his experience in combat allowed him to match Azra's speed at once and deflected his twin sword attacks. Despite successfully deflecting Azra's initial attacks, Miramoto looked worried. He noticed that Azra's movements are becoming faster the longer they fought. He contemplated using his internal energy to slow Azra down and defeat him once and for all. He knew that he needed to use a large amount of energy to slow Azra down because of his natural strength of will. However, Miramoto knew that if he used too much energy, he would end up knocking out the members of his group inside the chamber. On the other hand, if he doesn't slow Azra down, he risked getting overwhelmed by his attacks. Azra's attacks may not be as devastating as his attacks, but the cuts that he makes would result in a serious injury once he cuts an opponent enough times. Miramoto knew that it wouldn't take long before Azra could penetrate his defenses and get the upper hand. He needs to use his internal energy. It was the one advantage that he has against Azra because he is still too young to have sufficient experience against the use of internal energy by an opponent.

Miramoto braced himself for a moment as he continued to defend against Azra's rain of swords. He took one sudden step to the back with his right foot and took a deep breath. A blink of an eye later, Miramoto released the full force of his internal energy in the hope to stun Azra. The unseen force spread inside the entire chamber and the sound of fighting immediately stopped. The sound of weapons dropping to the marble floor one by one filled the room. It was soon followed by the sound of bodies collapsing to the floor. Everyone in the room who was fighting against each other was rendered unconscious by the power of Miramoto's projected energy.

"It is fortunate that the Celestial Emperor himself trained me to withstand attacks like that. Imagine getting bombarded by the full force of Imperial Energy every morning. It was…well…fun," Azra said after the last fighter fell to the floor. Miramoto stared at him in disbelief.

"That's impossible!" he exclaimed.

"You may be the Dragon Grandmaster now, but you did not achieve that through the skill of arms. I remember you getting defeated twice when you challenged Ryusuke Ikeyashi for the honor of being the Dragon Grandmaster. I may not be his student, but I studied his technique very closely and mixed it with the secret techniques of House Kojima!" Azra declared as he prepared to use his secret technique on Miramoto.