Ringing steel, blades clash –
Edge, flat, point and pommel, hard,
Hammer, beat, and slice.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" they sing,
Ice cold, tempered spark and flash,
Motes of light as rain.

Swift and fierce, a match
Of strength, cunning, wit, and skill:
Sword on sword, a fight.

Life or death, a choice,
By strength of arm decided.
Bitter feud of blood:

Shinigami's feast,
Slaughtered and slain, a banquet:
Dying, dead, alike.

"If we lose, we die,"
This is known by both – grim fact –
Ugly truth of war,

To fight for one's life
Is sorrow and hate, ill-fate,
Final doom of man;

Death degrades us all,
Great and small alike will die,
When their life is spent.

Man and monster duel,
Grudge and wrath unbound through blood,
Black hearts crimson stained.

Fight, Shinigami,
God of Death, Shepherd of Souls,
Shinigami, fight.

Battle is your fate.