Biography:
Mitsurugi was born the 4th son of a farmer in Bizen, Japan;
but after many years of seeing his home ravaged by war, he
decided to become a samurai. Taking advantage of his parents'
death at his 14th year, he took a sword and the name of Mitsurugi,
which most loosely means "calm but deadly man wielding a
divine sword". He went to train under the powerful warlord
of the Murakami clan.
Mitsurugi was a powerful force on the battlefield, and
rumors of him spread like wildfire, heralding him as the
warrior that could mow down foes like fields of wheat,
and he was noted by Kenshin Uesugi and Nobunaga Oda as
a great warrior. He received numerous military commendations
and eventually reached the rank of officer in the Japanese
armed forces. But all along, his only true desire was a
worthy opponent.
After leaving the Murakami clan, Mitsurugi continued to
fight in every war in Japan as a hired mercenary. It was
during this time that he had learned of a new weapon that
was said to be changing the way wars would be fought:
the Rifle. He originally dismissed this weapon as a novelty,
but he soon learned that it was capable of obliterating
the Takeda cavalry. He sensed that the arrival of the
rifle in common warfare would put him out of business.
He decided that the only way to combat with this was
to find a stronger weapon: the rumored Soul Edge.
Unfortunately, Mitsurugi was unable to find any trace
of the legendary "Hero's Sword" on his quest and began
taking tasks that were largely meaningless to him in
order to pass the time. One of these involved guarding
a nearby Japanese castle for the night; and another
of which involved aiding the Spanish Marquis Andre's
force in laying siege on Sir Stefan's Ostrheinsburg
Castle. In his frustration of finding no signs of
Soul Edge, he returned home and challenged a man wielding
the rifle Tanegashima to a duel, trying to prove
that he didn't need the Soul Edge to beat the rifle.
But he suffered an embarrassing defeat in front of
his lord, forcing him to depart in shame on a second
quest to perfect his swordsmanship so that he might
eventually defeat the rifle. It was during this quest
that he learned of the Azure Knight, Nightmare, who
terrorized Europe with a sword deemed invincible.
Nightmare's trail eventually disappeared, but Mitsurugi
was unwilling to give up.
Four years later, Mitsurugi stumbled upon the trail of
Soul Edge while vising a castle in Xiwei (present-day Xi'an),
where a mysterious dying man, after being saved by him from
a gang of assassins, handed him a shard of the cursed blade.
Although skeptical at first, Mitsurugi accepted the gift.
Soon afterwards, an incident occurred in which a servant of
the Emperor of Ming marched to the castle, demanding the
"Hero's Sword," and was slain when he refused to leave without
it; Mitsurugi sensed that war was coming, but Soul Edge
meant nothing to him. He had crossed countless battlefields,
defeating every conceivable enemy, even those with rifles.
What had once been his greatest enemy was none of his concern,
as it no longer proved to be a threat. His only concern was
with finding an opponent stronger than himself.
It was at this time that he was suddenly attacked by unknown
forces, but he fought off all of his attackers quite easily.
They were after the fragment the man from Xiwei had given to
him; and judging by their outfits, they appeared to be ninja,
with a sword technique he found strangely familiar. They
reminded him of Taki, who had interfered every time he had
drawn close to the Soul Edge. His thoughts drifted, wondering
what was happening in Japan at that time, and whether or not
he could receive a final showdown with Taki. He decided to
return to his homeland.
By this time, the Sengoku period had ended, and the powerful
feudal lord, Oda Nobunaga, was dead. The leaders of the states
were now faced with the decision of whether or not to align with
his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Murakami clan in particular,
with whom Mitsurugi stayed upon his return, refused to join with
mainland Japan, choosing instead to protect their existence as
fierce pirates and rulers of the sea. But their resistance
caught the attention of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and a final stand
was about to ensue.
Since Mitsurugi could find no trace of Taki, he decided to aid
the Murakami in the battle. A nighttime raid commenced. The ships
clustered together and rode the tide in to charge the enemy
fleet - the traditional secret strategy of the Murakami. The
battle began, and Mitsurugi stormed enemy ships like a hurricane.
This combined with the Murakami's naval prowess allowed for swift
victory, and Mitsurugi was decorated for his service, gaining
an invitation to meet with the Murakami commander. The commander
engaged him in long conversation, mentioning rumors of a warrior
clad in azure armor appearing from the west and boasting the
strength of a god. Mitsurugi looked up in surprise, realizing
that this must be Nightmare, whom he had lost track of before.
Mitsurugi bade farewell to the Murakami and ran to a nearby port,
giving all of his reward money to a boatman, demanding that he be
taken west. He needed neither money nor fame, only the satisfaction
of a fierce battle in which his very soul would clash against his
opponent's; and that battle, he concluded, would be found in Nightmare.
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