Tamba (Level 14)

A Demon horde appears in Tamba and heads for Mitsuhide's base at Yakami Castle. Aoi and Inugami go with Hideyoshi Hashiba to fight them.

## Level Introduction

With the Takeda Clan destroyed, Nobunaga Oda has finally conquered all of eastern Japan. He readies his forces for the forthcoming battles with the Mori Clan, who currently wield power in the central region of the country. All the while, Nobunaga keeps an eye on the inevitable western campaign. However, his camp is visited by a mysterious priestess who voices her suspicions about the daimyo’s recent activities…

## Walkthrough

**First task:** Wipe out the Demons in the village!

This task is closely linked to the second task, which will need to be completed first. Once the second task is complete, kill off the remaining Demons in the village to progress.

**Second task:** Work with allies to smash the Blood Crystals!

Three blood crystals will be present in the village. With the lead function turned on, clear the central blood crystal of Demons and then start building multiple fire pillars, life pillars and bow pillars where appropriate. These Demons are fast to kill your troops so make sure the crystals are taken down quickly. Repeat the process on the remaining two crystals. As you are taking down the third crystal, the third task will start.

**Third task:** Wipe out Demons approaching from the slopes!

The best way to tackle this is to build a defence of life and bow pillars amongst your troops, then take Inugami into the middle of the oncoming Demons as a distraction and kill off as many as you can, as quickly as you can. Once you wipe out this wave, blood crystals will appear on the slopes and you'll be faced with a massive torrent of Demons. As soon as this happens, lead your troops to the southern edge of the map, Hideyoshi's army should then arrive.

**Fourth task:** Work with allies to smash the Blood Crystals!

Keeping south, gather Hideyoshi's men under your lead command. Once you have your army gathered, work your way west along the southern edge of the map. Stay at the head of your men and plant bow pillars as you go. You are aiming to reach the southern blood crystal. If you kept to the southern edge of the map you will have avoided the attention of most of the Demon army. When you reach the blood crystal, use a combination of bow, life, and fire pillars to defend your troops. Once it falls, you will be faced with a massive Demon group between you and the next blood crystal. And you're going straight through it. To do this effectively, stay at the head of your troops and gradually make a straight line towards the north blood crystal. As you do this, plant multiple bow pillars. This will both protect your troops and give Inugami more spirit energy, making it easier to keep the Demons at bay. Gradually work your way to the blood crystal in this way and take it down. There should still be a large horde of Demons undisturbed in the village at this point. When the second blood crystal is destroyed, a Giant Demon, along with a swarm of lesser Demons and more blood crystals will appear to the west. At this point, lead your army west towards the Giant Demon. Have Inugami take out the Giant Demon and then have your men take out the central blood crystal, defend them as best as possible. (If you're going for God rank, take out the two other blood crystals before this.)

**Fifth task:** Wipe out Demons on the road and defend the gate!

Cancel the lead function and have Inugami alone head for the eastern swarm of Demons. Concentrate on taking out all the Centisoldier Demons who appear gold on the mini-map. Do not let them attack the gate indicated by the green arrow. A Giant Demon will appear as you clear the Demons but defending the gate takes priority. Once all the Centisoldiers are defeated, the level will end.

## Plot

At the Oda camp, Aoi confronts Nobunaga, asking him directly whether he is controlling the Demons to achieve his goals. When asked whether Aoi truly suspects this, she answers that although Nobunaga is the one causing the most turmoil and unrest in the land, there is nothing akin to the aura of evil around him. Nobunaga responds that the presence of the Demons has indeed been favourable to his campaigns, and questions what reason he would need to try and control them himself. They are interrupted by Hideyoshi, who reports that Demons have been sighted in Mitsuhide’s lands.

Aoi and Inugami go to fight the Demons that have begun attacking a village which a group of Tamba infantry is struggling to defend, close to Yakami Castle. Working together, they destroy the blood crystals and remaining Demons within the village, but are set upon by more Demons appearing from the surrounding mountain slopes.
With the aid of Hideyoshi’s men, the group set to destroying more blood crystals hidden amongst the mountain terrain. During the battle, the Demons begin to head towards the castle. Aoi realises that losing the road to the castle would leave it open to attack, and so Inugami rushes to defend the gates. Against a seemingly unstoppable demonic onslaught, the gates are successfully defended are the Demons begin to retreat.
After the battle, Nobunaga privately questions Mitsuhide about the presence of Demons in his lands. Mitsuhide feigns ignorance, but Nobunaga sees past this, cautioning Mitsuhide against using Demons in the conquest against the Mori Clan. Mitsuhide states that his actions are solely for the purpose of aiding Nobunaga’s ambitions, and that he can use the Demons to quell the unrest in the land. To his dismay, Nobunaga questions how Demons could ever hope to quell chaos, and is unwilling to forgive Mitsuhide for his transgressions, insisting that he forfeit Tamba, to which he reluctantly agrees.

Later, the Oda camp lies in flames. Nobunaga, realising his betrayal by Mitsuhide’s hands, chooses to take his own life as a mortal man. Mitsuhide, flanked by an army of demonic soldiers, rebukes Nobunaga’s choice to cling to human mortality, vowing to bring an end to the chaos himself.

## True History

In 1582, Nobunaga invited his ally, Ieyasu Tokugawa to tour the Kansai region in celebration of the demise of the Takeda Clan. Around this time, Nobunaga received a request for reinforcements from Hideyoshi Hashiba, whose forces were stuck besieging the Mōri-controlled Takamatsu castle. Nobunaga parted ways with Ieyasu, who went on to tour the rest of Kansai while Nobunaga himself made preparations to aid Hashiba in the frontline. He ordered Mitsuhide Akechi also to go to Hideyoshi's aid, and travelled to Honnō temple, his usual resting place when he stopped by in Kyoto. The only people he had around him were court officials, merchants, upper-class artists, and dozens of servants.

Upon receiving the order, Mitsuhide returned to Sakamoto Castle and moved to his base in Tamba Province. Around this time, he made clear his intentions to rebel. Mitsuhide saw an opportunity to act, when not only was Nobunaga resting in Honnō temple and unprepared for an attack, but all the other major daimyo and the bulk of Nobunaga's army were occupied in other parts of the country.

Mitsuhide led his army toward Kyoto, claiming that Nobunaga wanted to show a procession. It was not the first time that Nobunaga had demonstrated his troops in Kyoto, so this excuse was not doubted. Finally, when getting near to Honnō temple, Mitsuhide gave his men the order to attack.

Before dawn, the Akechi army had the temple surrounded in a coup. Nobunaga and his bodyguards resisted, but they realized it was futile against the overwhelming numbers of Akechi troops. Nobunaga committed suicide, reportedly his last words were, "Ran, don't let them come in..." (Referring to his young page, Ranmaru Mori who set the temple on fire as Nobunaga requested so that no one would be able to get his head). Ranmaru then followed suit.

Mitsuhide's reasons for the coup are a mystery that has been a source of controversy and speculation. Although there have been several theories, the most common ones maintain that Mitsuhide bore a personal grudge, acted out of fear, had the ambition to take over Japan, was simply acting to protect the imperial court (whose authority was not respected by Nobunaga), or was trying to remove the iconoclastic revolutionary. Many think it was a combination of at least some of the above assumed reasons.