The reign of Natsuko Kira was long and terrible. For decades, none would dare stand against the so-called Undying Empress, who never seemed to age. Then, in 1183 T-K, a young daimyo named Toko Mitsuhide took the fight to her.
For the first time, Natsuko saw her empire fray and wither in the face of determined resistance. No one knows to what power she turned, but Ikaiguchi became a wilder place; few ventured out at night, and villages disappeared without trace. Some legends say that she had turned to an evil long buried in the depths, but her mortal allies did just as well: under her reign, outlaws and violent renegades grew more numerous.
It was Toko Mitsuhide who, after exploring the depths of the Kioku Vaults and battling across Ikaiguchi, discovered the location of the Tetsu-Kashiwa and was gifted the seven weapons of the Shin’rei. Giving each one to the leaders of the clans, they faced Natsuko Kira’s armies, and defeated them.
It is thought that the Undying Empress was also defeated, along with the unearthly creatures she had summoned. Yet her corpse remains strangely missing, and several devotees of Kira claim she still lives, even today.