Sekiro Dungeon Clear Verification

There was no avoiding it.

Lu Xiu simply vented all the resentment she had built up from grinding cyber screws onto those poor enemies.

The enemies in the tutorial stage suffered horribly.

Minions! Kill!

Yamauchi Shigenori! Kill!

First encounter with Genichiro Ashina! Kill!

After emerging from the ruins of the dilapidated temple, Lu Xiu accelerated once more and headed straight down the main route without even a second of hesitation.

She grappled, climbed, and sneaked along the familiar route—no, it could no longer be called sneaking. It was just going through the motions.

Whoosh.

The grappling hook shot through the air and caught a dead branch by the cliff with perfect precision. Lu Xiu soared up like an arrow released from its bow.

Land, roll, run.

She knew this terrain even better than her own bedroom.

Not a single minion escaped her blade along the way. Even the chickens got two slashes each.

The entire process flowed as smoothly as water, without a single unnecessary movement.

Treading through the blood-soaked ground, Lu Xiu grappled and climbed onward, moving over the rooftops like a ghost. Soon, she spotted Samurai General Naomori Kawarada.

Lu Xiu jumped straight down from the roof, letting her body plummet.

Naomori Kawarada noticed the falling figure overhead and abruptly turned around, his hand just closing around the hilt of his sword as he began to draw it.

But before the blade was even out—

Lu Xiu had already rushed before him and slashed him three times with Kusabimaru.

Clang! Clang!

Crisp metallic clashes rang out.

In less than thirty seconds, Naomori Kawarada exploded right where he stood.

Splat—

[Deathblow]

Lu Xiu pulled out her blood-dripping blade, flicked it clean with a sharp, efficient motion, then swung her Shinobi Prosthetic. The grappling hook flew out.

She leaped onto the rooftop again and continued forward.

The castle town.

A spear-wielding samurai rode out on horseback, shouting as he charged, "I am Gyoubu Oniwa!"

Lu Xiu charged directly at him, spinning as she slashed at the horse's leg.

The towering horse reared up with a long neigh.

Gyoubu Oniwa gripped the reins and sat firmly atop the rearing horse, continuously brandishing the lance in his hand.

Lu Xiu kept adjusting her position, staying precisely beside the horse's rear as she repeatedly swung her blade.

Finally.

The horse's forelegs came down, and it began to gallop forward.

Gyoubu Oniwa spun his lance forcefully and began steering his horse in circles around Lu Xiu.

Then, he suddenly charged straight at her.

Clang—

Lu Xiu's arm jolted violently. Though she had lowered her center of gravity as much as possible, the impact still pushed her backward, her feet carving two straight trails across the ground.

The next second.

Without even looking up, she shifted half a step to the side in advance and fiercely swung her blade upward.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Gyoubu Oniwa's lance swept, chopped, and spun like a gale.

But every strike was blocked.

Seemingly realizing that he could not do anything to Lu Xiu this way, he opened the distance again before charging at her on horseback.

Lu Xiu used a Dodge Step and evaded him directly.

Then, the blade flashed again.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes.

The warhorse's steps began to falter, and its neighs grew increasingly frantic.

Gyoubu Oniwa yanked the reins hard, forcibly turning the horse around as his lance swept sideways in an attempt to drive her back.

Lu Xiu slid along the lance shaft to evade, and her blade pressed forward again.

Gyoubu Oniwa's Posture Bar began rising rapidly. Just as he pulled the reins tight and prepared to charge again—

The warhorse's forelegs had barely left the ground.

Lu Xiu slashed again.

Crack.

His Posture Bar broke, and a red dot appeared.

Lu Xiu stepped forward, crouched, and jumped.

Her body shot upward along the path of the horse's raised forelegs, her blade thrusting from below.

Splat—

Her sword pierced through a gap in Gyoubu Oniwa's chest armor.

[Deathblow]

Lu Xiu landed, sheathed her blade, and flicked off the blood.

Then she began working on his second health bar.

At the top floor of the Heavenly Watchtower, the lookout tower.

"Nicely done, shinobi of the Divine Heir."

"Don't you intend to change masters?"

"You call that absurd?"

"As long as Ashina can be protected..."

Genichiro Ashina removed his armor and burst into the third phase.

The sky suddenly darkened.

Dark clouds churned.

Thunder rumbled.

Genichiro Ashina slowly straightened. He stroked the blade crackling with arcs of electricity, then suddenly leaped into the air, thrusting straight at her with his sword point.

Lu Xiu turned aside half a beat early, leaning her body backward and raising one leg high. Her foot stomped down hard on the blade.

Mikiri Counter!

Genichiro Ashina immediately drew back his sword.

Clang!

Sparks from a perfect block burst between them.

Genichiro Ashina swung again with a backhand slash.

Clang clang clang—

In an instant, the two exchanged several fierce blows.

Fading sparks drifted past Lu Xiu's eyes.

Every one of Genichiro Ashina's attacks was deflected. He suddenly stepped back, leaped high, and drew his massive bow to its limit. Yellow lightning crawled along the bow, gathering into an arrow forged from lightning as it howled toward Lu Xiu.

Lu Xiu remained expressionless. She lowered her body and kicked off the ground in a Dodge Step.

The lightning arrow struck down past her shoulder, exploding into a blinding burst of white light.

Not long after!

Deathblow!

Next.

Lu Xiu accelerated again. Her blade flashed like rain, her footwork moved like the wind, from Ashina Depths to Sunken Valley, from Mibu Village to Fountainhead Palace.

She slammed equally into every enemy that stood in her way.

Corrupted Monk, kill! Guardian Ape, kill! True Corrupted Monk, kill! Great Shinobi Owl, kill! Folding Screen Monkeys, kill! Demon of Hatred, kill!

Fight, fight, fight!

Kill, kill, kill!

As long as it was a monster that could be killed in the Dragon's Return ending... not one was spared!!!

The scenes continuously shifted.

Lu Xiu continuously traded blades with different enemies.

Blades collided and sparks flew. Light flared and faded in Lu Xiu's pupils, and every scattering spark reflected the lifeless expression on her face.

By the time Lu Xiu came back to herself... she was already standing amid the reeds.

The evening breeze blew through, making the reeds rise and fall like waves. White reed plumes rolled beneath the moonlight.

Genichiro Ashina stood amid the reeds, holding the dark Mortal Blade known as "Open Gate."

How many times had she faced him now?

It seemed to be the third time.

She hated him!

After finishing the cutscene, Lu Xiu charged straight in.

Although Genichiro Ashina began in the third phase this time, he was not the protagonist.

Very soon.

The Deathblow succeeded.

Genichiro Ashina became a loser once again. Unwilling to accept defeat, he drew his blade and slit his own throat, using his life to drag back someone who had already died from the underworld.

Splat—

The pitch-black Open Gate sliced through Genichiro Ashina's neck. Warm blood splattered across the silver-white reeds, the crimson droplets horrifyingly vivid beneath the moonlight.

Genichiro Ashina's body swayed on the verge of collapse. His bloodshot eyes held a final madness and resolve as the stubborn man let out his final echo, murmuring, "In the end... I was still powerless..."

His voice was as faint as a sigh. Blood dripped down the blade, gathering into beads upon the reed leaves before sliding along their veins into the soil.

As his final murmur spent the last of his strength, the air across the entire Reed Marsh seemed to be sucked away in that instant, plunging into deathly silence.

Then, a pressure that made one's soul tremble erupted from his ruined shell.

A hand reached out.

That hand emerged from the wound in Genichiro's neck, its fingers spread wide, its joints thick, its skin covered in calluses and scars.

It was a hand that had held a sword for an entire lifetime.

That hand took over for its grandson and slowly gripped the hilt of Open Gate.

The blade began to tremble.

"This is my pitiful grandson's... final wish."

The voice came from Genichiro's shell.

With every word, the voice seemed to grow a little younger.

Genichiro's body began to distort. His spine arched, his shoulders spread, and his chest expanded, as though something inside his shell had awakened, swollen, and broken free from its cocoon.

Soon, a foot stepped out through the wound and landed on the reeds, bending them beneath it.

An ominous mist of blood exploded around Genichiro.

The Sword Saint at the height of his power—Isshin Ashina—had finally descended fully and irresistibly upon this Reed Marsh.

The moonlight washed over the figure that had broken free from flesh and blood.

He was a man at the peak of martial prowess, draped in a broad old-fashioned robe, his chest bare and his sturdy torso half exposed, as though forged from steel and iron. An ancient black samurai helmet rested upon his head.

"I must pull Ashina back from the underworld."

He slowly raised his head, the long sword in his hand hanging naturally at his side, its tip angled toward the ground. "So, Wolf... I will kill you."

A dark sky! Blazing battle intent!

A battlefield where night and Ember intertwined!

...The Sword Saint who had crawled back from the underworld!

Cool!

Anyone who saw this scene would probably remember it deeply.

But all that was left was how cool it looked...

Lu Xiu remained expressionless as she raised Kusabimaru and charged forward.

Clang!!!

The reeds swayed in the wind as two figures darted and crossed through them, drawing close and pulling apart. Crisp, lingering clashes of steel rang out one after another, echoing through the entire Reed Marsh.

In the first phase, Isshin Ashina's sword was extremely fast, but to Lu Xiu, it was merely fast.

In the second phase, Isshin Ashina held the Cross Spear in his left hand and Open Gate in his right. This man who had crawled out of the underworld, returned in his prime, spent his life absorbing experience from countless deadly battles, repeating those battles day after day, and greedily learning every kind of lethal technique, resembled a demon of the battlefield. His storm-like assault seemed ready to tear apart the entire battlefield!

But Lu Xiu was no longer a rookie.

When Isshin thrust, she used Mikiri Counter. When Isshin leaped and slashed, she circled behind him to attack. When Isshin turned and began a combo, she deflected.

Lu Xiu constantly moved around this demon of the battlefield without taking any damage at all.

The final phase.

Thunder descended from the sky. Isshin Ashina stood amid the reeds, like The Deity.

But in the end, he was not The Deity, merely a remnant soul returned from the underworld.

Even wrapped in lightning, he was still flesh and blood.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Every time Lu Xiu raised her sword, it was precise to the extreme. Every superfluous variation had been stripped away, leaving only the most direct dismantling and counterattack.

The reeds bent beneath the pressure of the air, then sprang back up.

Wind, thunder, and clashing steel intertwined, only to gradually be drowned out by a single rhythm.

Fast.

Faster.

Isshin Ashina grew faster and faster.

Yet Lu Xiu caught or evaded every one of his attacks.

Isshin Ashina erupted once more. With a stomp, he flattened the entire field of reeds.

He lunged forward. Thunder exploded, then he dropped his stance and slashed from left to right with Open Gate in his right hand!

Lu Xiu stepped forward, adjusting her footing slightly as she swung her blade.

Clang—

The blades collided, sparks bursting between them like a shower of shooting stars.

Isshin Ashina's Posture Bar shattered, and a red point on his chest suddenly lit up in the night.

Lu Xiu did not pause for even an instant. She leaned forward and stepped in.

Her blade thrust forward.

Squelch—

[Deathblow].

After a brief struggle.

Isshin Ashina knelt amid the reeds. He did not rise again, only suddenly letting out an angry roar.

The Sword Saint had been defeated. True to the spirit of bushido, he sought only death.

The grief of his grandson's death, the sorrow of becoming immortal, the anguish of Ashina's fall—the tangled emotions within him all vanished completely with that deep roar.

The reeds by the river continued swaying in the wind.

Lu Xiu slowly drew the red Mortal Blade from her back. Its blade was long and elegant, yet wreathed in a faint dark-red aura.

She swung it.

Immortal Severance!

"Well... done... Sekiro."

Isshin Ashina left behind his final words and slowly fell to the ground.

"Farewell."

Lu Xiu delivered the line, flicked her wrist, and shook the blood from her blade in one crisp, clean motion.

Then the story sequence started.

The Divine Child of Rejuvenation carried the Dragon's Heritage, while Wolf set out westward to return the Dragon's Heritage.

Lu Xiu stood there numbly, watching the cutscene and pondering certain philosophical questions.

For example... what exactly did people live for?

Mostly because she was genuinely numb by now.

She somewhat regretted testing the dungeon once before validating it today... It was basically like playing Sekiro twice.

She was exhausted.

Until.

The system prompt sounded.

[Dear Architect! You have cleared the dungeon you constructed. Congratulations!]

[The system is generating your clear evaluation—]

[Evaluation:...]

"?"

Lu Xiu waited and waited. When no text appeared, she finally snapped out of her numb state.

What did that mean?!

Where was the evaluation?!

What was with giving her an ellipsis?!

Perhaps noticing her bewilderment, the system finally gave its evaluation about ten seconds later.

[Evaluation: Although the dungeon's theme is Loser's Obsession, you had never lost.

Whether they were Ashina Arts masters who had spent their entire lives studying swordsmanship and poured their life's work into every swing, the giant ape deep within Sunken Valley that was revered as a land god, or Genichiro Ashina, who had tried to save his nation's fate with Kuro's Dragon's Heritage when Ashina was at the end of its rope—none of these beings, who should have posed obstacles, caused you any real trouble.

Even Sword Saint Isshin Ashina's peak swordsmanship looked like a clumsy apprentice waving a wooden stick before you.

And throughout it all, you displayed impatience countless times.

Whether enemies preached, spoke of their convictions, or proclaimed their power, you had no interest in any of it.

You only wanted to cut them down.

Even when Genichiro Ashina said, "As long as I can protect this Ashina," then rose again at the moment when he should have met his end after being defeated by you, his all-or-nothing obsession and nearly twisted persistence were nothing more than a nuisance in your eyes.

You only kept urging Genichiro Ashina to hurry up and rip his clothes off so you could finish harvesting him sooner.

What should have been a deeply tragic scene became an outright farce.

Before you, Genichiro Ashina was like a male model selling his body.

God... godlike gameplay.

No matter the attack, if it could be Deflected, you Deflected it.

No matter how the enemy thrust, if you could stomp on it, you stomped on it.

You were as precise as a killing machine that never made mistakes.

With the most primitive clash of steel, you carried out a thorough martial purge across this scorched land.

A tribute to the legendary Blacksmith!

Judging by your performance, you belonged in the blood-soaked Shura ending, not the Dragon's Return ending that sought redemption.

Because you did not care about saving anyone, nor did you care about continuation, much less what your enemies thought or wanted.

You only wanted to kill them!

What... arrogance! What purity!]

[Evaluation Summary:]

[Temper blade and will in endless battles to the death.]

[Every fall was not an end. Every death was strength gathered.]

[Obsession might be for protection, revenge, unwillingness, survival... or simply because one could not win.]

[It was this obsession that made losers struggle back up from death time and again, refusing to fall.]

[...Anyone who didn't know better would think this was describing Genichiro Ashina after being beaten into a corner.]

After a brief pause.

A new prompt appeared.

[Dungeon Completion: 100%]

[Overall Clear Evaluation: SSS (Dragon's Return)]

[Please view the relevant rewards on the settlement screen]

[Automatic transmission in 60 seconds]

Lu Xiu looked at the system prompts. After a moment of silence, she tilted her head. "Is this system being sarcastic...?"