Randy Mootooveran
World building
September 24, 2017

Alternate take of 

From the year 1333 onward, Japan was a splintered, chaotic mess. All of the land was divided between warring states: Takeda, Uesugi, and Hojo claiming dominion in the East and Ouchi Mori, and Hosokawa ruling the West. All were glad to fight one another for territory and resources. One day, a kingdom rose in the East. Out of the Dragon's Triangle came a legion of warriors who called themselves the Lougai. At first glance, they seemed like any other samurai warriors, but their true terror became known as they shed their human skin and took on the forms of beasts. Lizards that had sprouted wings and breathed flame and wild beasts twice as tall as the average man and five times as wide. An all matter of dark creatures poured forth from cracks in the earth their warriors created, slaughtering all who opposed them. 

There was one man in Hosokawa, one of the few samurai who reframed from sailing to the cursed island where these beasts came from. The beasts had already taken their state, prompting the exploits of Odo Namzangu to journey to the island where these creatures dwelled. While halfway there, he came across the spirit of an eagle. The eagle led Odo to the ruins of a lost empire that ruled during the 3rd century, whose warriors were regarded as legends. If a time of crisis were to ever fall upon the mainland, then the blade of the deceased general of the guard would be taken up against the enemy. The katana was said to be 12 feet long, a blade that shone even in the dim tunnels beneath the mountain that cut the very wind of a storm. Odo sailed out, katana in hand, towards the fleet of ships now ready to consume all the lands they could find from their small island. In one fell swoop, he swept he blade across the hulls of each warship, sinking whatever pieces remained to the bottom of the sea.

 Once on the shore, he made his way to the palace atop the mountain, coming across the largest of the dire breathing creatures. Odo's cuts were useless as the dragon incinerated the land around him. the blade was snapped in half under its enormous foot, but before the dragon could finish him off, Odo left the metal of the blade with his bare hands and jumped out of the way as the dragon swallowed it whole. A gag, a sputter, a lake of blood pouring from its open mouth, the dragon collapsed dead on the palace steps. Odo managed to retrieve the very tip of the blade, attaching it to one of the dragons talons as he made for the heart of the evil.

The one behind this evil was a towering figure, wreathed in shadow and flame on his very skin. The two took up their swords and began to clash in the wake of a roaring typhoon. Each swing of Odos sword collapsed the mountains surrounding them as the demon king's was enough to tear open the earth, destroying the very foundations of the island they battled upon. Odo knew, even with the might of this weapon, this creature would not face defeat. He made one final dash, lightning catching the tip of his blade. With the last of his strength. Odo pierced the demon's chest the same moment it skewered him as well. All at once, the creatures began to flee back into the crevices  back into the depths from whence they came. As the remains of the island became swallowed by the sea, the spirit that guided Odo to his ultimate fate closed its tallons around his lifeless body and ascended to the heavens above. As for his blade, the spirit set it deep below the surface of the water. Forever it shall remain, both a monument to Odo's triumph and the last remnant of the ancient world.