Written by Cygnus2012

Hints

• The Muramasa will not drain your life beyond one.
• Take many health potions on this mission!
• Entrances into other areas are marked by red squares on the map.

Walkthrough
Layout A, Difficulty: Normal
Enemies: 27 (+11 in cemetery fight)
Max Score: 1045

In terms of getting through the mission as quickly as possible without being seen, this mission is probably the toughest. It’s definitely not one where you can easily just scale the rooftops to victory. No, here you are more or less thrown into a maze where, for the most part, there is only one way out. You encounter new enemies and, on top of that, your life is being drained all thanks to that so-called legendary Muramasa sword you must use. If you are quick, which in this case you’ll need to be, this mission will be easier on you. Until now, you could kill enemies and hide at your own leisure. However now, your life is now on the line…literally.

At the beginning of the mission you are asked whether you would like to repair Izayoi using the metal from Shichishito or from spare metal that Ressai has on hand. This decision will effect the outcome of the game. Regardless which choice you make, Ressai will ask you to go ‘fetch’ some metal for him. While Izayoi is being repaired, you are allowed to use Ressai’s family sword, the Muramasa. This sword has the power to drain the life from your enemies and give that life to its wielder. However, to sustain itself, it slowly drains the life out from the user.

Once the game fades from black you immediately see a Manji cultist with its back turned. Waste no time in killing him. To the North you will find an undead archer. You will find a partition wall to the east of Ressai’s house. Crouch and roll alongside it until you’re right in front of the enemy. He will not have seen you. Dispose of it and move on. Upon entering the tunnel you will find there is a sudden drop in the passageway. Upon closer inspection you will find an undead swordsman below. Either drop on
him, moonsault in front of him, or strafe off the edge so you land next to him, and gut him accordingly. From here the passage divides. Straight ahead you’ll find a grenade and a dead end. To the left, you can continue on. As you head left, back into the right-hand wall and you can spy an undead archer. At this time, his back should be to you, so you can quickly run and stealth kill him. If, for whatever reason, you didn’t make it in time and he starts walking toward you, HIDE! This enemy will not stop as he reaches the corner. He will keep moving all the way to the end of the corridor. Take his head and move on. As you reach the end of the passage you can see a hut with a box on the ground, pick it up, it contains the steel Ressai wants. As soon as you leave the tunnel, a cut-scene ensues where the undead are reanimated. Prepare for a fight.

This battle consists of Manji demons, undead swordsman, and undead archers. The biggest threat are the demons with their fire breath. They are also the easiest to kill because they have no means to defend. Second would be the swordsman and finally the archers. Use the terrain to your advantage. Try and put either the hut or the well entrance in front of the enemy. This way, the entire mob cannot attack you at once. If you have strength potions, they work well here. Although this is a difficult battle, try
and use your potions sparingly. Also when battling, archers tend to keep their distance and hit from afar, so try and put other enemies such as swordsmen between you and the archers. The fire from the Manji demons will not hurt the swordsman, but the arrows will. A good strategy to get enemies alone is to use the well entrance effectively. If you position yourself on one side and you have an enemy swordsman running after you, he will jump up and over the well. This is your chance to crouch and slash him into the well. If you can get both swordsman in there, killing the others is a breeze. Just remember that the enemy does respawn 2-3 times a piece, so be ready for them. When the battle is finished head down the well to continue.

Back into the wall ahead you find two enemies, an archer (far) and a swordsman (near). Coming between them is a large trench. The archer has a bad habit of waiting in that corner for long periods of time. When you see the swordsman fall down into the trench and the archer begins to move to the right, make haste, jumping over the trench and killing the archer first. Remember that archers, whether dead or alive, have better eyesight than the majority of the enemies. Next simply drop down onto the swordsman and move on.

Next we come to a courtyard. From the exit, to our direct right is a sword-man, in the middle of the field is a Manji demon, and in the upper-right corner is an archer. First, watch for the swordsman to walk closer and closer into the corner. When he finally decides to turn around, make your move. At this point the demon will be alerted. To counteract this, either run back into the corridor from whence you came or simply duck. Next, move to the lower-left corner of the room and watch the demon. He likes to
move close to that left wall, so when he heads that direction, crawl closer to him. Remember to use the trees as a cover. Once you have killed it, all that remains is the archer. However, his placement is very far off. You can simply just leave him be or kill him. The choice is yours. When finished, the entrance to the next tunnel is to the upper-left.

Upon entering the passageway, hug the right-hand wall to reveal an undead archer. Kill it and move on. There’s a trench in front of you. Drop down and use your grappling hook to get to the next level but DO NOT HOIST YOURSELF UP! Use your first-person view to reveal a ghost head floating about. A few people have complained on how to stealth kill these guys. You do not get an animated stealth kill sequence for them, but their problem was they could not tell the relative position of the head. To avoid this
problem, just watch the head’s shadow and swing accordingly. You should not miss then.

When you enter the next clearing you will immediately notice an archer at 12:00. Wait until his back is turned then take to the high ground to the right. Keep watching the archer; that is your next target, but be watchful to the Manji demon to the right of your target. Be mindful of the ground you walk on. The hands of the dead tend to grab at you if you remain stationary. This will not inflict damage, however ii will make you and easy target for your enemies. Keep to the perimeter ropes and, at the dead
end, jump and hang on the high ground watching the next archer turn its back. Kill and move on.
From this position, look to the Western wall to find a high picket fence. Grapple up that fence and continue.

Enter yet another tunnel and follow it down until it ends at a ‘T’. Going right results in a dead end, so go left but IMMEDIATELY hug the left-hand side wall. You will see a Manji demon, but do not go after it just yet. From this position there is a break in the passageway you cannot see. An undead swordsman is waiting for you there. When the demon gets close and finally turns its back, go into that hallway and hug the right-hand wall to find the swordsman. Once it turns its back, then kill the demon, the swordsman, then head back onto the path where you killed the demon. Follow this path and it’ll eventually break once more. Straight ahead is a health potion and a dead end. Going right will allow you to continue. When you go right, Back into the right-hand wall to find yet another undead swordsman. Deal with him and continue. Note that the path ahead diverges once again but be on alert. Hug the right-hand wall to find a ghost head around the corner. Destroy it. I don’t mean how you usually do it. I MEAN REALLY GIVE IT TO EM! Now, going right will loop you all the way back to when you killed the Manji demon. Going straight will allow you to continue. Following the path eventually leads to a very large drop into what appears to be blood. Upon further inspection you see that there is a lone swordsman wandering around down there. To get to him without alerting him, jump down and, while in the air, hold down the R1 button so you don’t make a ‘splash’. Now, transition your fingering from R1 to R2 so you can sneak up on him and stealth kill em. The room is shaped like a giant ‘U’, so at about its vertex, look up to find a continuing path. Grapple up! Continue down the hallways, hugging the left wall to find a ghost head. Kill this thing when its close to you. You can see the path breaks and yes, you guessed it, there’s another enemy down that hallway. On top of that, in the hallway where the ghost head is, there’s a cat! So if you ran after the head…well, needless to say, it would know you were coming. Kill the head, hug the right wall, kill the swordsman, then continue down that pathway.

Homestretch! Alright. Keep low and roll toward the stone wall. Hang from the wall and note there’s both a swordsman to your right and an archer right in front of you. He’s there, but those bushes make it tough to see. Don’t make your move until you see that the swordsman has left his post. Go for the archer first, then the swordsman. From there is an elevated pathway. From here, you have two choices.

Choice #1
Decide to go left toward my objective, ‘accidentally running into the ghost head hiding behind one of the many trees in this area, then charging through one last swordsman to finish the level.

or…

Choice #2
Choose to go right by hanging on the stone wall to get the upper-hand on the Manji demon up ahead. Kill that enemy, take the high ground, take out the ghost head with relative ease, then use the low-ground to sneak up on the swordsman and stealth-kill your last enemy to find the exit.

Grand Master Item
Fire Spell

Special Move
Feign Death