Chapter 482: Ascending the Mountain

"Thirty miles!?"

Nigo Haruhisa stood up abruptly.

"How is it that only thirty miles remain!"

"Before sunset, Yamanaka-kun said there were still two hundred miles! Could his reconnaissance have been wrong? Where is he now? How far is he from here? Tell him to return quickly!"

This daimyo of the Izumo region had been caught off guard by the news from his subordinate, and he could no longer maintain his composure.

But the scout, drenched in blood and with his head bowed low, answered with hesitation.

"Thirty miles..."

"Hmm?"

Nigo Haruhisa was stunned.

In his bewildered gaze, the scout said in a hoarse voice.

"Lord Yamanaka Shikanosuke is thirty miles from here."

"That person... has been galloping toward this direction for the past two hours, destroying countless outposts and stockades along the way. Wherever there was firelight or the sound of human voices, he swept through them all."

"And Lord Yamanaka Shikanosuke... is being held in his hand."

"Whether he is alive or dead is unknown."

Nigo Haruhisa threw himself back into his seat.

He rubbed his brow with great force, as if trying to rub away the gloom in his heart, but it had little effect.

"Yamanaka Shikanosuke has been defeated."

"The Izumo Grand Shrine, Shintoism, they have also been defeated."

"In half a night, killing from two hundred miles away to thirty miles... is that man truly a reincarnation of a Heavenly Demon?"

He raised his head and scanned his surroundings.

In the mountain forest behind, the towering eaves of the Izumo Grand Shrine's main hall were faintly visible. Soldiers standing like a dense forest extended from both sides of the stone steps, stretching all the way to the edge of his vision.

The territory controlled by Nigo Haruhisa was much larger than that of Matsuura Takanobu, so naturally, his soldiers were more numerous and elite. Just those he had hastily mobilized were enough to flatten Hirado City.

Nigo Haruhisa felt a sense of security from the gazes of his subordinates. He hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth to order them to prepare for battle.

But before he could speak, he was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Fifteen miles! Fifteen miles!"

The scout, soaked in blood, crawled up the stone steps, practically falling before Nigo Haruhisa.

"My Lord! Fifteen miles left!"

"That person is fifteen miles from here!"

Nigo Haruhisa clenched his fists, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it. He forcibly suppressed his emotions and was about to wave his fan to have the scout taken away.

"Five miles!"

"My Lord, five miles!"

Before he could make a sound, another cry filled with terror came from not far away.

Nigo Haruhisa's palm froze in mid-air.

The fan dropped to the ground with a soft *clack*.

He had no heart to pick it up, nor time to maintain his dignity before his subordinates. He roared out in a rage.

"Prepare for battle!!!"

Swords and spears rang out as weapons were drawn like a forest, surging like a tide in Nigo Haruhisa's eyes. Caltrops, chevaux-de-frise, and even boiling oil were gathered toward the stone steps, as if they were about to fight a battle of life and death.

No... not "as if."

It was a battle of life and death.

The enemy was one person.

Nigo Haruhisa gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, gritted his teeth, and stared fixedly at the end of the road ahead.

"Three miles! My Lord, three miles left!"

"He has reached the foot of the mountain!"

"The front line has been broken!"

"The army formation at the foot of the mountain has been broken!"

"The opponent has started climbing the mountain!"

The dutiful scouts brought the news to Nigo Haruhisa's ears with all their might. This scene, which should have been tragic, felt somewhat ridiculous due to its sheer intensity.

Too fast.

From the first scout reporting thirty miles to now, not even the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed. And from three miles on, the scouts' reports were almost back-to-back, even overlapping by the end.

This meant the opponent had shortened the distance to the absolute limit.