Fear the Giant Monster

The commander-in-chief, who had lost both his legs and ears, was brought before the Emperor.

Inside the imperial hall, the deaf commander-in-chief spoke in strange, babbling sounds:

"The Big Monster said he has come. He'll be here soon. He'll eat everyone in Kyoto!!"

The civil and military officials in the hall fell into panic. Ten thousand armored warriors and thirty thousand auxiliary troops—those had been Kyoto's finest forces!

Yet even those troops had been unable to resist the Demon Army. Who else could save them?

The Emperor was both frightened and furious. Pointing at the legless commander-in-chief seated on a tatami mat, he roared:

"You useless fool! As agreed before the expedition, if you failed, you were to commit suicide to atone for your crimes!!

Commit suicide immediately!"

The commander-in-chief had lost his hearing. His ears had become two bloody holes.

But one look at the Emperor's furious expression told him that he was being ordered to commit seppuku. Clearly unwilling to die, he babbled:

"I can't hear you. I can't hear anything?"

The Emperor was so enraged that he pulled the short sword from a warrior's waist and tossed it in front of him.

"You can't hear, huh? Then can you understand this?"

He gestured across his own stomach.

"Seppuku. Die, die. You understand?"

The commander-in-chief played dumb.

"I don't understand. Is the Emperor asking whether I'm full? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I'm not full. Please reward me with some food."

Furious, the Emperor ordered the nearby warriors to pin him down, help him commit seppuku, then behead him. His head was hung outside the imperial hall.

But killing the man did not solve the problem. What were they supposed to do about the Demon Army?

Just as the officials were at a complete loss, a warrior rushed in from outside