Chapter 704: Sekiro's Multiple Endings (Please subscribe for monthly passes)

After more than an hour of grueling practice, Zhang Yi had entered the Sword Saint's third phase multiple times.

His moves were essentially completely mastered.

And just as he had thought before, the Sword Saint using Tomoe's Lightning in the third phase was practically a free win.

He looked formidable, but when he jumped up to use Tomoe's Lightning, Zhang Yi only needed to use a Lightning Reversal, and then follow up with a Mortal Blade to instantly deplete a significant portion of the Sword Saint's Posture Bar and health bar. It could only be said that Tomoe's Lightning's reputation as a "free win" was well-deserved.

However, while the Sword Saint using Tomoe's Lightning was a pushover, the Sword Saint wielding the Mortal Blade in one hand and a Halberd in the other was still like a demon of the battlefield, causing Zhang Yi to die multiple times.

But now, it was different.

Raising the Kusabimaru in his hand, he slashed towards the Sword Saint.

In the instant they clashed, "Clang!"

The familiar sound of clashing steel echoed, but this time, the Sword Saint's figure became precarious under the blade clash. Simultaneously, a red dot appeared on the Sword Saint's body.

After the sword clash, he turned and moved swiftly behind Isshin. The Kusabimaru in his hand sliced across Isshin's waist, and blood bloomed.

The Halberd in his hand fell, and Isshin knelt weakly amidst the reed thicket.

The surrounding lightning still raged, but Isshin Ashina no longer had a shred of regret.

Unlike most final BOSSes in games, Isshin Ashina was definitely the BOSS that left the deepest impression on Zhang Yi.

In some games, the final BOSS is simply the villain.

But in Zhang Yi's view, he at least felt that Isshin Ashina was absolutely not a villain, but merely stood on the opposing side due to their different positions.

Moreover, while Isshin Ashina pursued strength, he never held back, even teaching the essence of the Ashina style to Wolf.

Isshin, on the verge of death, gathered his last strength to compose himself into a kneeling position.

The thunder continued to rumble, and the reeds swayed in the wind as before.

The sorrow of his grandson Genichiro Ashina's death, the sadness of rejecting immortality yet becoming immortal himself, the anguish of Ashina's impending fall... countless inner entanglements vanished with a loud roar.

Isshin Ashina, true to his name, spent his entire life wholeheartedly pursuing faster, higher, and stronger realms. His life was a legend, and now, as it was about to end, he felt not the slightest reluctance.

"'Do it!'"

Isshin Ashina closed his eyes, on the verge of death, and said resolutely.

Listening to Isshin Ashina's words and looking at the execution point before him, Zhang Yi took a deep breath and chose to trigger it.

He drew the Mortal Blade from its sheath, and a crimson light materialized into a smoke-like substance, coiling around it.

He swung the blade for the final blow, and blood spurted from Isshin's body.

"'Well... done... Sekiro... Farewell...'"

Watching Isshin Ashina's body dissolve into specks of light, Zhang Yi took a deep breath, feeling a mix of wistfulness and excitement.

From being massacred by Isshin at the beginning to now defeating him with his own skill, the exhilarating feeling this brought could only be understood by players who had personally experienced Souls-like games.

But now, he was about to usher in the game's first playthrough ending.

At the same time, Zhang Yi was also a little curious about what kind of ending Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice would have.

Souls-like games generally have multiple endings tied to game exploration, which wasn't unusual.

Just like with Dark Souls and Bloodborne back then, without looking at a guide, who could directly achieve the Great One or Lord of Hollows ending on their first playthrough?

Most of the time, players would end up with either the Link the Fire or End of Fire endings.

And in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Zhang Yi also felt there were many things he hadn't fully collected.

For example, after defeating the four Folding Screen Monkeys, was the Effeminate Divine Child (who gave rice and held the Mortal Blade) useless for anything else? You know, her marker point was an important location.

And after defeating the Chained Ogre, was the Great Serpent encountered along the way, looking so enormous, just a minor roadblock, like the Fathead fish beneath Fountainhead Palace?

It could be said that even though he had cleared the game on the first playthrough, there were still many points he hadn't quite figured out.

As Zhang Yi sighed with emotion, Wolf in the game hurried to the gravely wounded Kuro.

"'Where... are you... Wolf...'"

The gravely wounded Kuro called out to Wolf.

From his severed wound, the immortal Power of the Dragon's Heritage, symbolizing life as fleeting as cherry blossoms, was dissipating.

Simultaneously, two prompts appeared before Zhang Yi.

[Give him the Divine Dragon's Tear]

[Give him the Divine Dragon's Tear and the Everblossom]

"A choice between two. It should symbolize two different endings. Reasonably speaking, eating two things must be better than eating one," Zhang Yi said, looking at the two options, and decisively chose the second one.

"'I am right beside you.'"

Approaching Kuro, Wolf in the game took out the Divine Dragon's Tear and the Everblossom from his bosom.

Looking at the unconscious Kuro, Wolf, kneeling on the ground, drew the Mortal Blade from behind him.

"'I will put an end to... the last of immortality.'"

He gripped the hilt with both hands and placed the Mortal Blade on his shoulder.

"'Please, live as a human.'"

With a powerful swing, countless cherry blossoms scattered.

A headless corpse slumped to the ground.

A brief black screen, and then the next scene appeared.

In the reed thicket at dusk, Kusabimaru was placed before a grave.

Emma and Kuro, wearing a conical hat, paid their respects before the grave.

"'Are you leaving?'"

"'Yes... I, too, must strive to live and then die as a human, just as my shinobi once did for me... And I am indebted to Miss Emma for your care.'"

He... committed suicide!?

Watching the final credits list.

Zhang Yi was frozen in place.

But thinking back to the previous plot, it seemed to have been foreshadowed all along!

Tomoe and Takeru had both sought a way to sever immortality.

This ending was Wolf's suicide, so the other ending, where only the Divine Dragon's Tear was consumed, most likely involved Kuro committing suicide to sever immortality.

Although he hadn't played the other endings or looked at any guides.

Yet, combining it with the previous plot and his intuition, he had already guessed it.

But the key point was, neither of these endings could really be called satisfying for players, could they?

After all, damn it, either Kuro or Wolf had to die.

At the same time, considering the exploration and collection elements of Souls-like games, and Chen Xu's promise on the official Weibo account before the game's release that the ending of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice would satisfy players.

This "satisfaction" couldn't possibly be another tragic ending, could it?

Although Zhang Yi felt that if he could, Mr. Chen would definitely not be stingy with his tragic plotlines.

Moreover, Mr. Chen often did things that made players misunderstand, but that was usually when the stance was ambiguous.

For example, if everyone hadn't been tormented before, and then Mr. Chen released a seemingly exhilarating Hack-and-Slash game, players would ask: "Is this really a Hack-and-Slash game?"

Then Mr. Chen would say that some players could indeed play it like a Hack-and-Slash game.

But this time, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was clearly not like that.

There must be a hidden ending in the game!

After finishing the game, Zhang Yi, seeing the option to either stay on the first playthrough or enter the second, temporarily chose to stay on the first, because he still had the Demon of Hatred left to fight.

Instead of fighting it immediately, Zhang Yi chose to open the community forum to check for information related to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Currently, the official forum for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was still dominated by strategy guides and casual discussions.

The strategy guides primarily discussed how to defeat BOSSes and how to navigate the paths, which was the main theme of discussion for Souls-like games.

As for the casual discussion threads, they uniformly revolved around whether Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice had the possibility of a perfect ending.

Although many players knew that, as a Souls-like game, there might not be a truly perfect ending.

Just like in Bloodborne, where one eventually transformed into a Great One.

But many players still held onto some hope.

It was at this moment that a post caught Zhang Yi's attention.

(End of Chapter) <>