Chapter 187: Sword Glint
Chapter 187: Sword Glint
The man approaching was Myojin Rogenzai from the Kagami God Room.
He showed no emotion at the tragic scene in Aobanuma. Yet within this short time, countless people in the research institute had met unexpected, gruesome deaths.
From the first wave, the attackers used an unstoppable offensive.
The main focus of the assault was on using viral infection to create large numbers of inferior breeds.
During the initial attack, the affected personnel transformed into Corpse Hounds. The situation at the research institute gradually spiraled out of control. Dozens of security guards and junior researchers were caught up in it and began charging inward.
The enemies created chaos while breaking through the defenses. Myojin Rogenzai and the others had no choice but to flee.
“No need to worry too much now. Those ‘guys’ won’t catch up for a while. After all, I pressed the emergency button. All the protective doors will close from the inside…”
“Yes, and in the process, you also locked the other people in the institute together with those monsters.”
Myojin Rogenzai shrugged. “Please don’t say that, Mr. Raisu. You must consider that there are many research specimens inside this institute. If those things run wild and release all the specimens, the consequences would be truly unthinkable…”
Both Raisu and Kitano showed a somewhat unfriendly attitude towards this “Director” of the Kagami God Room.
Especially Raisu. He narrowed one eye and asked in a low voice, “Speaking of which, Mr. Myojin, I have a question for you. Did you know someone was planning to attack the Aobanuma Research Institute today?”
“How could I?”
Myojin Rogenzai gave a light laugh. “It’s just that the enemy’s timing for the surprise attack was too coincidental. I didn’t expect them to strike the Kagami God Room while we were transferring the crucial ‘Heart Iron Matrix.’ It makes me wonder if the information was leaked from somewhere.”
“Hmph…”
Raisu just snorted coldly. He was currently speculating.
The enemy seemed to have several objectives. One was naturally to seize the “Heart Iron Matrix,” the source of Cursed Iron and a catalyst for making Exorcism Blades. On the other hand, the Corpse Hounds also intended to kill the current “Tōshō,” Myojin Rogenzai.
Of course, these were just the details he could figure out now. There were still intentions hidden deeper that he couldn’t yet decipher.
“Let’s go! Young man, this place isn’t safe. Before the monsters behind us catch up…”
He patted Fang Jing on the shoulder, signaling him to move with the three of them. Just as his words faded, a dull thump sounded from the ceiling above them. Countless cracks spread out like a spiderweb, then the ceiling shattered and collapsed with a roar, most of it crashing down.
With a crash, large chunks of concrete rained down. From within the exploding dust, a strange creature straightened up.
From the upper body, this monster looked like a normal adult male. But its exposed body seemed covered in a layer of gray human skin, even enveloping its face, like a tight, airtight leather suit. Its lower body had the limbs and torso of a black ram, four hooves stepping on the ground.
No one panicked. They scattered, avoiding the danger from the falling ceiling.
“Among the Corpse Hounds… are there any that look so deformed?”
Fang Jing brushed the dust off his jacket. This one was uglier than any Corpse Hound he had seen before.
“It’s probably a modified individual created by the ‘Oblique Tooth’ faction. There shouldn’t be many of them. But be careful of the triangular saws in its four hands. It seems my researchers got infected with the ‘virus’ and turned into degraded Corpse Hounds after being cut by those things…”
Myojin Rogenzai chuckled darkly, his face showing a researcher’s fanatical expression.
“Alright! ‘Ki no Shou’ Kitano, get ready. If we don’t unleash the ‘Ancestral Brightness Blade’ now, it will be hard to survive later…”
Raisu crouched on one knee on the ground. Then, he smiled wryly, stood up, and resolved to enter the “Blade Demon Transformation” state.
At the same time, he barked at Fang Jing behind him, “Kid, I don’t know where you came from, but protecting Mr. Myojin is up to you.”
“……”
Fang Jing opened his mouth to say something, but quickly, he realized something and tightly closed his mouth.
(As expected, none of these guys can see her?)
He glanced slightly out of the corner of his eye. The golden-haired girl Odette stood to the side, watching the unfolding battle with great interest.
She seemed to notice his gaze and gave him a brilliant smile.
——————————
Too weak!
In the mist, a sword gleam swept past. The Corpse Hound dressed in yamabushi attire had half its body sliced off. Dark red blood bloomed like a red flower, and its remaining remains crumbled like sand.
Clang!
The sweeping chain was also deftly deflected by “Chigamaru.” Just by skillfully using the blade’s rotational force, he could deflect the deadly attacks coming at him.
He flipped backward, dodging the arc drawn by the large sickle’s horizontal slash.
At that moment, another shabby, black straw-cloaked yamabushi with a bamboo hat opened its mouth. A red flame lit up inside and shot out. This guy was trying to spit a mixture of oil and fire at Yagashi.
Whoosh!
Bright red flames ignited a cluster of ferns and shrubs on the ground.
“Watch out!”
Suzuran’s voice rang in his mind. But in fact, no reminder was needed.
Because at that instant, he had already jumped above the flames. With one strike, he cut this Corpse Hound in half from the left shoulder down to the bottom of the left ribs. The evil power inscribed on the demon blade destroyed the regenerative power deep within the cells faster than the Exorcism Blade’s Blade Poison, causing the form to disintegrate like foam.
The final high-ranking Corpse Hound even activated a bomb hidden inside its body. As it lunged forward with all its might, it cleanly chose to self-destruct.
Its entire body released an explosion like a storm of blades. Shrapnel-like Hunting Fang bone fragments flew in all directions. The blast and flames swept the area. Even Yagashi was caught off guard. He was directly blown away, but thanks to the armor covering his entire body after the complete “Blade Demon Transformation,” an explosion of this level was hardly useful at all. At most, it gave him a scare.
Unlike the half-baked Fang Hunters, Chigamaru’s Cursed Power was enough to cover his whole body with iron-hard black scales. Rust-red iron pieces formed an ugly, demon-like armor on his body.
“I’m so sorry! Yagashi, I can’t believe they hid explosives in their stomachs!”
Suzuran seemed very annoyed, but even she couldn’t have noticed that.
“It’s nothing. Anyway, things like explosives alone can’t easily break through the ‘Armor.’ You know, the Blade Demon Transformation tries its best to imitate the Clan’s ‘Curse Entanglement’…”
—Thankfully, they finally dealt with the “Seven Capes” of the Wild Fang faction. Speaking of which… these seven Elder Class monsters were supposed to have been slain by the previous wielder of Chigamaru in the last great war. According to village records, these seven Elder Class monsters plagued the regions of Somo and Awa for over seventy years, running rampant almost unchecked, and were always seen as the seven ‘characters’ in rumors, ghost stories, and anti-monster tales.
(By the way, why have they appeared again after forty years?!)
“Not bad, not bad!”
A dry, raspy voice came from above Yagashi.
“What an unexpected reunion. I never thought I’d have the chance to meet the wielder of the ‘Demon Blade Chigamaru’ in this era.”
Instantly, Yagashi stiffly turned his head. Only then did he see, on a tree not far from him, a vague shadow.
Swish!
The shadow flickered again and landed on the ground.
An obscure, chaotic aura gradually emanated. The figure standing not far away wore a strange mask. It was a bizarre bird-headed mask with a long beak extending from the nose area. His hands had sharp red claws, looking extremely eerie.
“I am ‘Tsukiumi’ of the ‘Oblique Tooth’ faction. If there are any survivors from that village after the battle back then, they should have heard of my name!”
Amidst the hoarse, dry laughter, even Yagashi could feel a piercing hatred.
“Good, this trip wasn’t in vain. I can also settle that old debt.”
——————————
Raisu and his assistant Kitano were both skilled members of the “Twelve Artifacts” among the Fang Hunters.
After both simultaneously entered the Blade Demon Transformation state, their combat power surged rapidly. In a very short time, they defeated the Corpse Hound before them, which had a human upper body and a black ram-like lower body.
Raisu, who bore the title “Monkey Demon,” could liberate his hands. His two arms were completely wrapped in iron-colored scales. Even the hilt of his Exorcism Blade “Idan” fused with the iron scales on his palms, as if the blade grew directly from his arms.
His assistant Kitano wielded the Ancestral Brightness Blade, known as the “Blue Demon Iron.” When attacking, it could release slashes like blue light.
In the dark gray hall, the elegantly decorated benches shattered like paper. The shattered glass from the fallen chandelier littered the floor.
The pillars at the building’s entrance looked as if a giant hammer had struck them, leaving huge dents. Scattered rubble covered the ground.
Thud!
The upper body of the black ram monster—the “human-shaped” part—spurted blood as its neck severed. The next second, its head, trailing a long streak of blood, rolled onto the floor.
“This time, it’s finally over.”
Only after defeating the Black Ram monster did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief. This creature wasn’t very hard to deal with, but it naturally had a high resistance to Blade Poison. One or two strikes weren’t enough to kill it—it required several more attacks to finish it off.
“Brilliant, brilliant!”
Applause sounded from behind them. Myojin Rogenzai praised, “As expected of the successors of ‘Enki’ and ‘Haira’. This monster’s combat power was close to that of an Elder Class Corpse Hound. It’s quite rare to defeat it without a single scratch.”
“Is that so? Honestly… I don’t really think so.”
Two figures walked down from the staircase at the hall.
One was a young man who appeared delicate and handsome, wearing only a pair of trousers. He had light golden hair, with a section dyed colorful, as if painted.
The other was a beautiful woman in a black gauze dress. She followed closely behind the young man, her head lowered, just like a “servant.”
“I’m very, very disappointed. I thought coming here, I would at least encounter some strong members of the Fang Hunter Organization… Unfortunately, from start to finish, my expectations turned out to be empty. You Fang Hunters are unbelievably weak!”
The young man gave a cold laugh and tossed a severed arm forward.
With a clang, Raisu and his assistant Kitano turned pale. The hand was still tightly gripping a broken sword.
“T-This is the Hakutaku Blade!”
The “Hakutaku,” one of the Twelve Artifacts inherited by the Tatsumiya family, was a divine bird that devoured nightmares. Therefore, the tsuba of the Hakutaku Blade was unique, completely different in design from ordinary swords, and even bore the family crest of the divine bird. The two of them recognized it at a glance.
Could it be… Miss Marie?
An ominous thought surfaced.
Simultaneously, the two of them assumed their stances, pointing their blades at the young man.
It had to be said, the moment these two appeared, they both felt that the young man posed the greatest threat.
“Lord Ju, please allow me to handle this.”
Miharai leaned close to the young man’s ear and whispered, “Just two lowly Fang Hunters—there’s no need for you to dirty your hands.”
“Shut up. I don’t need you telling me what to do.”
The young man glared at her, and Miharai helplessly took a step back.
“You, you, and you—all three of you, come at me together!”
He pointed a finger, indicating Raisu, Kitano, and Fang Jing one by one.
“Ultimately, you’re all from the Fang Hunter Organization, enemies of the Phantom Jaw lineage. It’s better to finish you all off at once.”
(Hey, hey! What do we do… Boss, are we really going to die this time?)
(Asking me is useless—let’s just fight with everything we’ve got!)
Raisu and Kitano exchanged glances, their eyes filled with despair. They knew all too well that these two enemies were likely Elder Class Corpse Hounds. The chance of surviving this battle was practically zero.
The young man furrowed his brows and let out a soft sigh.
“I really can’t stand you humans. You’re so weak, yet you live on without any shame. If it were me, I would have ended my life long ago. You’re just too weak—so weak that being alive is a luxury.”
“Excuse me, I have a question I’d like to ask.”
Just then, a voice unexpectedly spoke up. Fang Jing, who had been ignored the whole time, timidly raised his hand.
“…You wouldn’t happen to be that so-called ‘Clan Heir’ of Phantom Jaw, would you?”
He stretched his body, picked up his sword, and strode forward.
“To be honest, you’re a bit weak. I wasn’t entirely sure.”
“Human, what did you just say…?”
The young man narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment that he had misheard.
“I said you’re way too weak. It made me think I had the wrong person.”
Fang Jing continued walking straight ahead, his tone calm. “I killed a Corpse Hound before, and by feel alone, it seemed stronger than you. So I thought the Clan Heir of the Phantom Jaw lineage should be at least several times more powerful than that. But you… you’ve really let me down.”
“Silence!”
Before the Phantom Jaw Clan Heir could react, Miharai could no longer contain herself. She let out a piercing scream.
“Foolish human, how dare you provoke the ‘Clan Heir’? Die!”
Before her words had even faded, the power within her burst forth violently. Moving like a blurry black shadow, she instantly closed in on Fang Jing.
Her mouth opened wide, revealing rows of sharp, saw-like teeth as she aimed for Fang Jing’s entire head, as if intending to swallow it whole.
Swish!
A silver thread-like slash flashed through the air. Half of Miharai’s mouth was sliced off. Her eyes widened in horror as she took a step back.
Another sword gleam—her right wrist fell to the ground.
The next moment, one of her feet was severed.
No!
I’m not dead. This isn’t the Exorcism Blade.
Her thoughts suddenly halted as white sword lights danced wildly in the air, like threads weaving through emptiness. It was an ultra-high-speed sword technique.
Each slash was incredibly fast and skillful. Miharai could barely catch a glimpse of the sword lights.
And since she had already been struck, seeing them was of little use.
With a splatter, Miharai’s body was sliced into pieces, torn apart and scattered into dozens of chunks of flesh.
However, the chunks of flesh automatically squeezed together, reassembling and reforming into a human body.
“Are you stupid? Or are you trying to mock me?”
Miharai completed her regeneration at an astonishing speed. Her eyes turned blood-red as she stared fixedly at Fang Jing.
“Without the Exorcism Blade, you can’t possibly kill me.”
“That’s right. Without the Exorcism Blade, I can’t kill you. After all, the regeneration ability of a Corpse Hound is indeed strong…”
Fang Jing revealed a mysterious smile. “However, it seems you’ve forgotten one thing. Even if you can regenerate, that doesn’t mean you won’t feel pain!”
In the next instant, the ultra-high-speed Nenshin Jikishu Style secret sword “Remnant Dragon Return” struck once again.