Jack called to his Sword unit and mustered them to defend the centre. Everyone’s spirits had been lifted by Saburo’s miraculous survival and all the farmers fought with renewed vigour. But a hole had been cut in the moat’s central defences and the bandits now clambered through.

Jack with his Sword unit intercepted them. The fighting was brutal and the farmers’ sword skill no match for the bandits’ battle-hardened experience. A farmer on Jack’s left crumpled under the tremendous blows from one attacker. Jack ran to his aid but was too late to save him. The bandit, as big and ferocious as a bear, went to skewer another poor farmer on the blade of his nodachi.

‘No!’ cried Jack, jumping between them, both his katana and wakizashi drawn.

‘Your head’s mine, gaijin,’ growled the bandit as he swung his massive sword at Jack’s neck.

Jack blocked the attack with his own short sword, his arm jarring under the force. At the same time, he thrust his katana at the man’s stomach. But the bandit’s armour proved too thick and the tip of his blade deflected harmlessly to one side.

Laughing at Jack’s failure to cause little more than a scratch, the bandit kicked him in the chest. Jack went sprawling in the snow. The bandit then lumbered forward to slice him head to foot. Without a second to lose, Jack flipped to his feet and cross-blocked the attack with both his swords.

Realizing any thrust to the bandit’s protected torso was pointless, Jack cut to the head with his katana instead. The bandit instinctively raised his sword arm to block it and that’s when he exposed the weak point in his armour. With devastating accuracy, Jack drove the tip of his wakizashi between the joint in its metal plates. The bandit grunted in pain as the blade plunged deep into his flesh.

With his sword arm now out of action, the bandit knew he stood little chance against Jack’s Two Heavens technique and rapidly retreated to the safety of the plain. To Jack’s surprise, the other bandits followed close on his tail. The women of the village – having seen the Sword unit in trouble – had rushed forward and were hurling rock after rock at the invaders. The ferocious bombardment drove them backwards, allowing for replacement thorn bushes to be dragged quickly over to plug the gap in their defences.

Glancing along the moat, Jack was relieved to see that Hayato was also repelling his attackers and Saburo’s unit had succeeded in sending the remainder of Akuma’s forces back across the moat.

The tide of battle had turned. They’d survived, but only by the skin of their teeth.

50 Assassination

50

ASSASSINATION

‘How many did we lose?’ asked Jack, having summoned the young samurai and Miyuki together in the village square.