Eiji did his best to push back the skeleton, but it proved to be difficult. Tanking all of his deadly cuts and explosive strikes, the skeleton was too much for a Hero-Stone User like him. They fought for a long while, well, sort of, it looked more like an annoying fly pestering him.
After a while of constant slashes, Eiji was gradually becoming more and more exhausted by the second. He sheathed his sword and stopped his attacks. The skeleton continued its journey to the castle in the center, and Eiji could do nothing but watch. Seeing an unstoppable force attacking Edo, reminded him of Jisei. An unstoppable object determined to destroy his city, quite the parallel, he thought. He sighed defeatedly, ashamed that he was about to let another bastard almost destroy his beloved city once again. But even with his intense feelings, he slumped his shoulders, his old age catching up to him.
He was sitting on the skeleton's clavicle, his legs dangling around. He needed a rest, as shown by his ragged breathing and gasps for air. The thudding of the skeleton's march shakes the whole ground. Eiji didn't want to admit it, but he was thinking of giving up.
Each step the skeleton makes just makes him feel more and more defeated.
...
In the midst of all his feelings and desire to rest, he remembered something.
Maybe... Every single child he ever saw in the city wanted to play and get scolded by their parents one more day, every single mother wanted to feed and love their children one more day, and every single father wanted to go home and bring their family dinner one more day, every single grandparent that wanted to spoil their grandkids one more day, every single animal that wanted to live one more day, are all in this city.
"No..." He muttered.
He stood up and looked at the large city below him. The city housed people who have their own stories, their futures, their dreams, and every single thing that these people have.
Once more, the fire that burned in his heart earlier rekindled again.
What inspired him to tighten his grip on his katana once again wasn't the fact that this was simply something he had to do, but rather what he wanted to do.
...
He already lived his whole life fighting and leading his own country to victory over countless battles before.
He was a slave who was lucky enough to find a Stone, not a child loved.
In his childhood, not once has he ever kicked a ball in his life, not once has he ever tasted the porridge made with love by a mother, not once has he ever felt the hug of a father from a whole day of work, not once has he ever felt the thrill of hiding candies from his grandparents.
In his adulthood, not once has he ever felt his heart skip a bit by a person, not once has he ever felt the adrenaline of a night out gone wrong, not once has he ever felt the tightness of a partner's hands, not once has he ever felt the warmth of making love, not once did he felt the joy of holding his newborn child in his arms.
In his life as an old man, not once has he ever felt the calming boredom of living the rest of his days with a partner, not once has he ever felt the funny sight of a grandchild begging him to buy him candy, not once has ever felt the wrinkly hands of his partner in his hands.
...
"So what? So what if my life was terrible? So what if I haven't lived my life to the fullest?"
"..."
Though no one could hear him, standing at the skeleton's clavicle, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"SO WHAT?! I AM EIJI YAMAMOTO, JAPAN'S TRAITOR, AND I AM EDO'S GUARDIAN!"
His heart was throbbing once again, the excitement for blood he once had in his youth of war, surfaced once again.
He stared at the skeleton's skull and screamed, "I AM YOUR EXECUTIONER, YOU BASTARD!"
He put up a stance once again, raising the tip of his sword, aiming at the skeleton's hollow eye sockets.
"Get ready, bastard."
...
In the midst of his constant slashes against the skeleton, it did not seem to be bothered whatsoever. He gasped for air, his old age catching up to him once again. He needed to find something, something that could end it once and for all, something quick so he wouldn't faint and leave Edo defenseless...
"Wait, this bastard has to have a weakness or something." He thought to himself, looking at every nook and cranny of the skeleton. He looked down at its feet, legs, hips, ribs, everywhere.
"Ahh, shit, I can't think of anything at all..."
He was about to give up on the idea of killing the monster and just settled for repeatedly slashing and bashing around his body to hopefully slow him down, even just for a bit so all the people could evacuate....
He stared at the glowing red balls inside the skeleton's eye sockets.
But then, he thought of something, "Its eyes... I gotta try that."
...
He raised his katana, holding it like a javelin, aiming at the red glowing ball. He hesitated a bit, though quickly, he shook his head, remembering why he was fighting so hard in the first place.
...
He closed his eyes.
"Focus... Focus, old man..."
He opened his eyes, his brows furrowed and his pupils burning with fear and determination.
"Please, Gods above, lend me your luck once more and let me save Edo."
In the blink of an eye, he threw his katana. The sound of the sonic boom traveled far, as the blade approached its target.
*BOOM*
An explosion occurred inside the skeleton's eye sockets, and the jaw of the skeleton opened widely, making a cracking sound as it opened. It was soon followed by a scream of thousands of tortured souls, the scream that made everyone, even the rebels stop fighting. The scream was, to put it simply, a stuff of nightmares.
The skeleton continued screaming for a few seconds, paralyzing everyone, everyone in the city but... Eiji.
Seeing the effect of his attack, he smirked proudly and muttered,
"I got you now, bastard."
He summoned his sword again, his hand holding the glowing outline of a katana, and morphed back into its physical form.
With that, he finally knew its weakness.
...
Traitor of Japan, Saviour of Edo.
Eiji Yamamoto.