The resistance that attacked Higi Village lived up to their name as elites. Sergeants, clad in armor and armed with swords, rapidly scaled the pillars of the watchtowers.
From a distance, they resembled a pack of stealthy leopards poised to strike, performing their final warm-up before pouncing on their prey.
The sounds made by the resistance were undoubtedly faint to ordinary ears, but to Morimasa Kenji, they were as loud as thunder.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
"Creak——"
"Squeak——"
...The sound of palms hitting wooden pillars, fingernails digging into the wood, and the watchtower's own groans of distress, all flooded into Morimasa Kenji's ears at once.
This was definitely not an auditory hallucination; someone was trying to climb the watchtower!
"Okubo! Prepare for battle, someone..."
Just as Morimasa Kenji was about to warn his partner to get ready for a fight, a shadow appeared in his vision.
A ferocious face, ruthless eyes, and blood-stained armor all indicated to Morimasa Kenji that the newcomer was a vicious pirate.
But Higi Village was inland on Yashiori Island, and the surrounding area had long been deserted. What pirate would raid this place?
However, Morimasa Kenji couldn't ponder such things anymore. He only knew that if he didn't act, the gleaming blade would strike Okubo's neck.
No sooner said than done, Morimasa Kenji grabbed a Burning piece of firewood from a nearby brazier and hurled it at the leaping resistance member.
While this might scald Okubo, it was worth it if it could disrupt the resistance member's sword swing.
"So fast!" The resistance member in mid-air felt his vision blur as the spinning, Burning wood flew towards him.
"Bang!"
The resistance member was no pushover. He decisively threw out the pouch at his waist, which happened to deflect the incoming fiery wood.
Immediately after, he swung his sword fiercely at Okubo in front of him, clearly intending to take his life.
"Clang——"
But what he felt in his hand was not the satisfying sensation of a blade cutting through flesh, but a jarring recoil that almost numbed his arm.
Moreover, what scattered was not crimson blood, but glittering shards of a blade.
The confrontation between Morimasa Kenji and the resistance Sergeant happened in the blink of an eye. In Okubo's eyes, he only heard Morimasa Kenji's startled cry, followed by a sharp pain at his neck.
Instinctively, Okubo swung his arm backward, creating a gust of wind that made the torchlight in the watchtower flicker.
"Bang!"
Okubo felt his arm connect with something soft, and then a dark figure was sent flying, even destroying the watchtower's railing.
"This is... an ambush?!"
Okubo's face changed drastically as he looked at the bloodstains on the ground.
He quickly grabbed the iron rod beside him and stood back-to-back with Morimasa Kenji.
"Did you see who it was?"
"Might be pirates... Never mind that for now, are you alright?"
Hearing this, Okubo touched his Burning neck, pulling off a few uneven scales.
"Haha, you always say the things on your body are ugly, but today it really saved you." Morimasa Kenji took a deep breath and joked as he saw the blood-stained scales in Okubo's hand.
Were those pirates just now? Morimasa didn't think so. Would pirates' skills be so superb? Would their weapons be so refined?
One should know that the scales on Okubo's body could not be easily cut by ordinary swords.
Today, Higi Village was likely facing an unprecedentedly powerful enemy.
Looking up at the bronze bell not far away, Morimasa no longer hesitated. He separated from Okubo's uneven but sturdy back and ran towards the ramming log.
Only this large bell could transmit sound throughout the entire village, and only this large bell could make everyone in the village immediately alert.
"Dong——"
But before Morimasa Kenji could make a move, a long and resonant bell chime reached his ears.
Immediately, Higi Village visibly brightened. It was like a sleeping giant, its various organs rapidly reviving.
"It seems the other fellows are more capable than us." Morimasa Kenji chuckled a few times, then not to be outdone, he heavily struck the bronze bell.
"Dong-weng weng weng——"
For a moment, the lingering bell sound echoed around Higi Village, waking everyone within it.
"Boom!"
Perhaps because they failed to deal with Higi Village's watchtowers immediately, the attackers were somewhat enraged.
They no longer concealed their movements and began to use various powerful methods.
The first to be targeted were the watchtowers surrounding Higi Village. Since their movements could no longer be concealed, it was always right to delay the outflow of information as much as possible.
Flames erupted. In the eyes of Okubo and Morimasa Kenji, the watchtowers, the tallest structures in Higi Village, were falling one by one.
The watchtowers that Higi Village had painstakingly built now resembled rotten wood, utterly unable to withstand the strong wind.
"Pirates bring bombs too?" Okubo gasped, seeing the raging flames before his eyes.
Higi Village's houses were all made of wood; if the fire spread, the consequences would be unimaginable!
"Maybe they're not pirates?" Morimasa Kenji cursed under his breath, then urgently said to Okubo, "Okubo, let's get down, the watchtower is a sitting duck now!"
"Understood!"
Okubo didn't hesitate, jumping straight down from the watchtower's observation room.
"Good physique makes a difference." Morimasa shook his head and followed suit, jumping down.
"Boom!"
Shortly after the two had jumped, the watchtower behind them exploded violently.
The swirling fireball spread upwards, quickly turning the entire watchtower into a conspicuous fiery beacon.
"Bang!"
"Thud!"
Okubo and Morimasa Kenji's landing sounds were distinctly different, but both landed safely from the watchtower's height of over ten meters.
Before they could even catch their breath, they saw several figures emerge from the darkness, surrounding them.
Looking at the watchtower engulfed in flames, Morimasa Kenji drew the two swords from his waist and asked with a bitter smile:
"Gentlemen, has Higi Village offended the Shogunate or the Araumi Priestess? Wiping us out completely will harm your karma."
The figures in pirate armor exchanged glances but said nothing.
"The Shogunate and the resistance? Not pirates?"
Okubo ripped off his upper garment, revealing his monstrous body underneath.
Snake scales, crab shells, dragon hide... all sorts of known and unknown biological fragments and tough skins were kneaded together, covering the human named "Okubo."
The thick, scaly skin was uneven and undulating. Perhaps others thought this was due to irregular growth of Okubo's own skin.
But Morimasa Kenji knew it was caused by the bulging, gnarled muscles beneath. Okubo was one of the people most severely infected by the tatarigami in the past, and he used the most 'medicine,' so his changes were naturally the greatest.
"A place where monsters gather, truly living up to its reputation..."
The figures evidently knew about the changes in Higi Village, but seeing this naked display, they couldn't help but retreat a few steps.
"Monsters? Our flesh and blood grew on our own, unlike you, who ate the flesh of others to become these 'human' forms!"
"Okubo, never mind if they're Shogunate or resistance, kill them all and use them as fertilizer for the big tree at the village entrance!"
With that, Morimasa Kenji pushed off with his legs, directly creating two deep pits in the ground.
His strength was not to be underestimated either.
"Understood!"
Okubo nodded, then charged forward, wielding the solid iron rod in his hand, which was as thick as three fingers.
"Don't hold back! The time for sacrifice has come!"
Seeing this, the resistance members were equally unwilling to show weakness.
In a flash, several bright "eyes" appeared in the darkness.
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