Hunt the Executioner (Sojiro)

As you push open the large stone coffin, the lid surprisingly moves with ease, offering little resistance. As the lid slides off, the key becomes dislodged from its surface and clanks to the floor, right at the base of the coffin. Inside the stone structure is a dusty figure wrapped in white cloth. The smell of decay and death enter the room as you lay eyes on a very large masculine figure. The cloth as tears and cuts in it, like something tried to slash through them.

You then turn your attention to the metal box. You tinker with it for a few minutes, trying to pry it open, but nothing seems to work. Hitting it, kicking it, even using a ninja tool to pry it open all prove to be unsuccessful. The metal box seems incredibly hard to open. You set the first box next to this one, realizing that there is no way to open either of these boxes.

You approach the center door back in the main pit, You piece the key fragments together, and slot them into the door. A thin click echos out in the pit as the door slowly creaks open. You step through, only to be greeted by the red glow you have grown accustomed to seeing. You step into a large square room, 20 meters by 20 meters. Directly across from you, on the other side of the room, is a very large iron door with bolts and iron brackets lining its edges. It the center of the room is yet another statue, however this time the statue is not of a man, but instead of a woman. The statue depicts the woman standing at attention with a stone version of the infamous Executioner blade. At the base of the statue a bundle of very old, rotten and decrepit flowers can be found resting on a plague. You slowly step into the room, approaching the statue and reading what is written on the plaque.

"Approach the shrine of the demon who cleaved a nation, rendered thousands and brought death upon this land. Speak its name and behold they who truly conquered a demon. Come face to face with evil and claim its heart."

The name "Vivian Stern" leaves your lips, as the room instantly begins to get cold, a chill sweeping through your body. The red glowing room starts to fill up with a cool mist, water vapor seeping out of the floor and walls. The whole room becomes a white misty color, illuminated by the red glow, giving the area a very demonic and ominous feel. That is when you see it, emerging from within the statue appears to be a ghost, a spiritual image of a woman. She gently hovers forth, a ghostly version of the Executioner blade in her hands.

Then out of no where, her calm, loving face turns into a very demonic one, distorting and twisting, as a loud shriek echos out through the stone room. The mist begins to swirl around you and you suddenly begin to lose your breath, as if you can no longer breath. The mist feels smothering, as if it is choking you, as the demonic spirit of Vivian rears back her ghostly blade and takes a giant sweeping lunge at you with the blade.

You shout at the ghostly woman, trying to speak some sense into the undead spirit, hoping something you said would strike a nerve, however it only seemed to make things worse. At the mention of her husband, the specter shrieked even louder. She would cry out her husbands name, the cry sending even more shivers down your spine. You raise your blade in the attempt to stave off her attack, quickly placing your weapon in the path of the ghost sword.

Your heart sinks however as the white spectral sword passes right through your sword, then right through you. You feel a cold icy sensation grip at your chest as a flood of pain engulfs your body. It feels as if lightning has coursed through your head as your vision goes blurry, then fades. However you do not fade to black, and instead your vision fills with an illusion of some sort. You see two individuals standing next to each other, a man and woman on a cliff about to get married. The man stands in a handsome black robe while the woman wears a beautiful white dress. They kiss each other as you snap back to reality, watching the spirit move right through you. You whirl around to see that the woman is now on the other side of you, between your body and the door you entered through.

You shout once more, trying to figure out anyway to quell this demon. You move forward, trying to grab a hold of the specter, only to feel your arms go right through her, another icy sensation coursing through your body, and another vision blacking your sight.

You watch as the man Mohamuro walks off into the distance, equipped with ninja gear and weapons. Vivian sits on a wooden porch with her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face. Then the scene flashes, you see fire and destruction as Mohamuro is pierced through the gut by an enemy, left to die on the battle field. Once more the scene jumps as you now watch a funeral take place, the mans body in a wooden coffin being lowered into the ground, Vivian sobbing in the rain as she watches her husband being buried.

You snap back to reality to see the woman screaming once more, she raises her blade above her head and attempts to bring it down directly on top of your head.

You watch as the sword comes crashing down on you, cutting right through you. your body fills with the chilling sensation once more as pain courses through your body again. This time however blood begins to pour from your head, as an actual wound opens up across the surface of your face. Then your vision goes dark once more, the breath being taken from your lungs as you feel like death itself.

Your vision is replaced once more with another scene. This time you see Vivian standing among a burning pile of rubble, dead bodies around her, the Executioner blade in hand. Blood soaks her clothing as she watches the village before her burn to the ground. The illusion jumps to a a rainy day, storm clouds overhead as Vivian peers down into a massive hole. All around her people work to construct some kind of building. She stands over a stone coffin, grasping a locket as she raises the sword, thrusting it into her heart.

You snap back to realty now, blood pouring down your body as you feel dizzy and weak. The demonic ghost woman continues to screech, as she begins to whirl around the room, circling the man.

[Basic Healing/A-Rank]
[Cherry Blossom Impact]

125 - 45 = 80 CP
186 - 5 = 181 SP

Blood now soaking your body, out of desperation you turn around and bum rush the statue, delivering a massive strike to the statue. Your fist collides with it as the statue blows apart. Debris flies across the room as you see something glint and gleem. The ghost shrieks one final time and cries out as she disperses, fading away, taking the mist with her. The room returns to normal as you glance at the broken statue. Sticking up from a cavity is a large rusty key.

You grab the key and head to the massive door at the back of the room. Placing the key into the rusty key hole, you hear a click as the door pushes open. Behind the door is a steep inclined tunnel that pushes up towards the surface. red gems line the tunnel walls, guiding you upwards to your final destination.

After several moments of climbing, you level out and enter a small circular room. This room has no door or windows and is completely bare. You scan the room, using what little light is left and notice that in the dead center of the room is the Executioner Blade. The sword stick upright, the handle of the weapon buried in the stone floor, the massive blade sticking up, pointing to the ceiling. Silence falls over you as you take a deep breath and approach the sword. Written on the floor, in a circular design around the blade is one final inscription.

The Demon must always have a heart