Chapter 94 Dream Catcher

Chapter 94 Dream Catcher

After walking for fifteen minutes, they encountered the first team of time-traveling troops.

The Time Travel Army is not quite the same as what Chijianmu had expected. The enemy army looks very villain-like, with skeletons, will-o'-the-wisp, skulls, and wild beasts, probably a mixture of these elements. Besides that, they were clearly not sane.

The enemy's dagger is in the shape of a twisted snake-like skeleton, holding a dagger in its mouth, and making rustling sounds as it crawls. The wakizashi is in the shape of a spider with a human head, or one with one half of its body bound and the lower half with spider legs. Compared to the short sword wakizashi, the katana has a more complete body.

The enemy katana looks like a ronin, wearing a conical hat and with a naked upper body. The arms were wrapped with snake bones, and the feet had decayed into skeletons. There was no nose and one eye under the bamboo hat, and no trace of rationality could be seen in the remaining eye.

Compared to the modern Honmaru swords, the Time Travel Army's clothing is completely old-fashioned, and completely ancient. Although the enemy swords were twisted in similar ways, the details were different.

The swordsmen in Honmaru did not sweep him directly, but gave him some time to observe before officially strangling him. The sword flashed, and the Time Travel Army began to collapse. Their bodies melted and turned into mud on the ground. After a while, the mud also disappeared without a trace.

The enemy sword seemed to have no sense of pain, and tried to attack the Honmaru sword like a moth to a flame. Qian Jianmu drew his sword and cut off an arm. After touching it with his hand, he determined that the spiritual power inside these time-traversing troops was pitifully little.

How do they act with so little spiritual power and without normal bodies?

Chigenmaku frowned, and the fingers that were stroking the arm touched their swords before the stump melted.

——There is spiritual power within the sword.

He had some understanding that this war was actually a battle between swords. It is not difficult to conclude that the Time Travel Army is essentially a group of swords.

When he looked up, the swords that had finished fighting were quietly waiting for him to investigate. Even the most noisy Tsurumaru Kuninaga remained silent.

A new problem arises.

Who is trying to change history, the historical revisionists or the sword?

It is known that the actions of the Time Travel Army come fundamentally from the spiritual power inside the swords. Of course, the swords themselves also have spiritual power. The reason why the Honmaru swords cannot support it is because they also have to bear part of the spiritual power needs of other awakened distractions. If they do not divide themselves, they will be able to produce and sell their own products without relying on the outside world.

These enemy swords seemed to be in a self-circulating stage, and they were completely unaware of the movement of external spiritual power. Moreover, these swords have no consciousness, simple thinking, and no sense of pain.

...Isn't this very similar to the state of "time"?

"Time" was instilled with the concept of "normal life", so he studied hard to be a human being. The state of these enemy swords seemed to be instilled with [Change History].

Why would there be an attack reaction to the Honmaru swords?

The group continued walking for more than ten minutes before they encountered the next wave of time-traveling troops. This wave was stronger. The swordsmen looked at each other, still leaving him a brief but sufficient time to observe.

Can killing be equated with plunder?

A flash of inspiration came to mind, Qian Jianmu drew his knife and cut his arm. At the moment when the blood flowed out, all the time-traversing troops suddenly stopped moving, staring in his direction with rustling eyes. The original trend of attacking the sword also slowed down, and the sword turned its direction, focusing on attacking him.

That’s right, the Time Travel Army is plundering spiritual power from the sword man.

The second wave of time-traveling troops was still strangling at a rapid speed. Qian Jianmu stood there and pondered for a moment, then chose to move on.

As they watched the third wave of time-traveling troops staggering towards them numbly, the sky suddenly became gloomy and they could vaguely see flashes of lightning. Under the blue halo, a bunch of black and blue swords suddenly appeared. I saw them easily clear out the enemy troops with their swords, and turned to look in their direction.

"Inspection is not against the order! Be alert!"

The men with swords and sabers quickly changed their formation, waiting for the battle with solemn expressions.

It’s not against the rules, Qianjianmu knows this group. If the battle between the Sword Men and the Time Travel Army is a battle between two factions, then the Procurator-General is the last line of defense to protect history, and only appears in one-sided scenes. They are powerful but rare, and have the same aggressive intentions towards the Sword Men and the Time Travelers.

Moreover, compared to the Time Travel Army, which is also a sword but has a distorted shape, Jian Feiwei's body is more complete and more like... a Honmaru sword.

The Inspector General would allocate soldiers who were capable of clearing everything according to the strongest combat power of the team. In this battle, the swordsmen had wasted some of their physical strength. Qian Jianmu picked up a sword of the Inspector General and, as expected, he also felt spiritual power in their swords.

However, the attacks of the Jianfeiweishi are not for plundering but for killing. They do not crave for spiritual power but simply for clearing out the individual sword. They are not even for the purpose of protecting history, but seem to be only for maintaining the balance of power between the Time Travel Army and the Swords. When Qian Jianmu used the same trick again, Jian Feiwei completely ignored his blood full of spiritual power, and even ignored him completely after determining that he was not a sword.

...The attackers, defenders, and neutral police are all touken tsukumogami. Those who protect history, change history, and maintain balance are also touken tsukumogami.

What kind of joke is this world playing?

In just a moment, the sword man finished the battle. He tried to launch a sneak attack with a short sword, but was cut off by the katana. The upper body, separated from the lower body, slid to the feet of Sengenmaku. He lowered his head and watched the sword that was used by Jianfeiwei flash and then peel off the black and blue shell, revealing a short sword carrier that had not been awakened.

The eyes of the one who was behind the other fell on the short sword and said:

"It was dropped by the non-violent envoy. This is a drug research."

A huge question mark fell on Qianjianmaku's head. Ichigo Ichijin seemed to laugh and said helplessly:

"The Time Traveling Army will also drop some swords..."

Qian Jianmu opened his mouth. Even though he had some guesses, when he really faced this scene, he still couldn't help feeling shocked.

Those speculations that had been shelved due to lack of evidence were connected together, and the swords that had cleared the battlefield returned to his side. Qian Jianmu forced himself to calm down and analyzed in a low voice:

"Let's put aside the issue of the swords falling. It is known that the spiritual power shortage occurred after the great victory. However, the reality is that the weaker the Time Travel Army becomes, the more serious the spiritual power shortage in the main palace becomes, and the more obvious the phenomenon of swords parading at night becomes..."

A word came to his mind and he whispered:

“Balance of light and dark.”

Light and darkness depend on each other; where there is justice there is evil. There is no purely beautiful world. Behind the perfect utopia is a brewing terrifying darkness that matches the beauty.

This rule can be applied to any existing world, where ups and downs, fortune and misfortune are interdependent. In this world, when the Time Travel Army representing evil disappeared, the darkness in this world began to decrease. In order to force a balance, the light side began to transform into the dark side.

Absolute 'justice' is not allowed to exist.

For every inch of happiness you gain, there will inevitably be a foot of monster following it. *

The so-called Night Haunter is a sword that is evolving backwards in time.

Solving this problem is very simple. As long as we allow some swords to be completely time-traveled and militarized, the dilemma of lack of spiritual power may be greatly reduced. Even the best solution is to give up the daggers, because daggers are the most numerous, but the demand for spiritual power is not small.

Qianjianmu raised his head and looked at the several katana swords around him. The katana swordsmen lowered their eyes and said nothing.

They know.

No communication is needed to distinguish. Although they are not human, they are not stupid. After fighting the Time Travel Army for so long, I am the one who knows the enemy best. The ghostly swords' numb behavior, blurred faces, and even twisted bodies all indicated some kind of change. And all the changes came from that great victory and the massive deaths of the Time Traveling Army.

The katana in the team is either the oldest or the most skilled in the Honmaru, or he has many tantags to take care of. They fall into sleep the latest and know much more than the other knives. Yet they could not speak, not a single word. One even has to endure the earth-shaking confusion and bewilderment, with a lot of doubts that have nowhere to vent.

It cannot be known by companions, and it cannot be known by the government of time. They didn't want to sacrifice their companions voluntarily, didn't want those young men to sacrifice voluntarily, and didn't want to draw swords against their twisted companions in the future.

Then, after discovering this ridiculous conservation, they began to question everything.

What on earth are they fighting against?

Is he an enemy, or a former companion? Could those fallen swords that I normally never paid any attention to be enemies that absorbed enough spiritual energy to regain their status as companions?

At this moment, will the blood they shed trigger a chain reaction of cause and effect, thus leading them to fall step by step into an endless cycle of eternal death and rebirth?

This is a war that is destined to have no results. The tug-of-war between the Sword Men and the Time Travel Army has lasted from the beginning to now, and it is foreseeable that it will continue forever.

What is more despairing than death is endless fighting and a future without hope.

They still keep coming.

Is it enough to just charge forward?

Charge, charge, charge, protect history, destroy the Time Travel Army, meet the Shinsengumi, jump to other points in time, bleed or sacrifice, and then continue to fight.

Edo needs protection, and the Warring States period needs protection. The history of Japan was read over and over again, and the Shinsengumi died one by one at the hands of the enemy. Who will be the next owner? Where is the next battlefield? There is no need to think about anything, just enjoy the normal time in Honmaru, just like a brave warrior facing the devil, roar with all your might, pick up the sword and rush forward.

With a common enemy and a common goal, it doesn't matter how many times you die. For justice, for the greater good, always move forward. Just like the definition of a sword, charge, charge, die on the battlefield, and stop time at the moment of shattering!

But……

But the war will never end.

The ignorant spirits tried their best, while the swords that understood everything could only feel the passionate and unquestioning emotions, and their nerves were shocked by the repeated deaths and the meaningless and fearless sacrifices.

It's meaningless.

Those lovely and responsible Shinsengumi don’t know how long they will have to fight before they can go home, and their deaths are meaningless.

The swords without memories fight with hope, and the pain of the swords is meaningless.

Their fighting and killing are meaningless, their victory and defeat are meaningless, their pain is meaningless, their happiness and joy are meaningless...

——Existence is meaningless.

A sword that can only attack is harmed by its own attack. How can they use the blades to protect their companions, and how can they use the blades to break this unsolvable fate?

They can’t fight anymore, they can’t fight anymore. How can we let them continue to fight without any burden?

When the time comes when I can no longer fight, when I have to stop, it's okay to run away, right?

Life is short, isn't it enough to just focus on the present?

So, so, let's just stay in Honmaru with everyone else.

The younger swordsmen still know nothing, this reality is too cruel. They have to carry the burden so that their unsuspecting companions can sleep a little longer while they dream.

They changed their tone tacitly and swallowed the world's problems mixed with glass shards, pretending that all the difficulties in this world can be solved by fighting. If they encountered a problem that they could not solve, there was nothing they could do about it, and they would just break into pieces.

Then, there was a chance to start over.

The butterfly hit the spider web and spread its soft abdomen to a nest of dying leeches.

Is it really possible to be liberated? Can we really start over?

The uneasiness spread, transmitted in every eye contact. When we get together to drink tea, the tea we drink is more irritating to the throat than bad wine.

Malice grows silently, like cold tentacles crawling all over the body.

"Since you said you can be relied on, it's okay to leave everything to you, right?"

"Now that things have come to this, why don't you just let us stay here?"

"Don't go to the battlefield, don't die. Don't worry about the past or the future, war or peace. Let's all live happily together, okay?"

Before the next collapse, indulge in this kind of life a little more. Soak in the warm water of warmth and happiness until you rack your brains and still have no solution, and finally fall into a deep sleep.

The one who extends a hand first should take responsibility, right?

The old swords who knew everything swallowed the flesh and blood in big mouthfuls. Even though they sensed that the loss of spiritual power would only grow greater in the future, they pretended nothing had happened and influenced the directions of their unsuspecting companions, and continued to live as usual.

They didn't do anything bad, they just didn't do anything.

Until one day, the infected guy said.

"Take me out of the battle?"

"……OK."

This guy Tsurumaru Kuninaga is so annoying.

It's the same no matter where you are, you can't hurt the swords, and you can't hurt the Shinsengumi.

He is obviously a lively person, but he only knows how to escape and is too indecisive.

While they were still asleep, I proposed a solution in advance. If no one talks about it, then we can just pretend it doesn't exist, right?

Before Tsurumaru woke up, Mikazuki Munechika, the guy who stayed until the end and knew everything clearly, did not mention anything about [how to go out].

Whispering in the shadows, in the dark room, the old swordsmen who knew each other well divided up the list of people to go into battle.

So we remained silent all the way.

Then there was dead silence.

"Master...what are we fighting against?"

Looking up, the blue-haired young man lowered his eyes and smiled as always. The golden tassels draped softly in her hair. It was clearly a normal smile, but at this moment, it seemed inexplicably stiff and weird.

"In that case, it's okay for me to continue to rely on you, right?"

The Yaoyan in his hand felt cold to the touch. The swords surrounding him in a guard formation were clearly a protective gesture, but they formed an invisible encirclement, like a carefully woven spider web, locking the owner in the center.

The butterfly in the center just silently cast a look without any negative emotion, pure and clean, as if it didn't feel the slightest bit of crisis, just watching calmly and quietly.

Mikazuki Munechika suddenly thought that the expressions in the eyes of his master and his friends were exactly the same.

They all have a kind of certainty that seems to support their entire bodies. This kind of confidence is hidden in daily behavior and style. No matter how unreliable it is, there is always strength and stability in its bones.

How can one achieve one's goals in front of a superior who is beyond one's control?

The knuckles loosened, and the beautifully crafted sword fell to the ground in an instant.

At the same time, the other five swords also fell one after another, and the swords made contact with the ground, making crisp "clang clang" sounds.

——Showing weakness is enough.

"…Master…can you tell us?"

In their eyes, this irreconcilably distorted world cannot be changed, and from the very beginning they had no expectations of 'solving' the problem.

The sword tsukumogami only have one life in their long lifetime, so they can neither die peacefully nor live hard. If they could be like an ordinary Honmaru, whether they were waiting for the end of the world in their sweet daily lives, or they were destroyed together in a battle with swords, it would be a lucky and regret-free ending for them.

Stay.

If you can't give up, stay and perish together.

If I could have such an ending...

**

"Once you are tainted by human nature, you can never wash it clean."

At dusk in the castle tower that day, the leader casually made a prophecy:

"Being born as a human is the most unfortunate thing in the world. The terrifying thing about human nature is that it can be distorted and destroyed beyond imagination under extreme circumstances. ... In this regard, being an unconscious object may be a lucky thing, right?"

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