"Cough, cough! So strong!"
"How could you not have a Vision!"
Nojima Kazunari slowly propped himself up from the trench. He looked at Washizu, who wore a Hannya mask, as if the legendary demon Hannya had descended upon the world.
Nojima Kazunari retreated a few steps, raising a hand to fumble at his waist. Upon touching the familiar glass bead, his mind instantly stabilized.
It seemed the fake Visions Nathan had acquired were highly similar to real Visions, even perfectly mimicking the fact that a Vision cannot be separated from its owner.
Washizu noticed Nojima Kazunari's small movement and sneered a few times in her heart.
"Pay the price, beast!" Washizu didn't give Nojima Kazunari a chance to use elemental power. She pushed off with her legs, her speed suddenly increasing.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, that was just a sneak attack!" Spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, Nojima Kazunari's entire body was covered in surging purple lightning.
He took a deep breath. At this moment, he could already see Washizu's figure.
Nojima Kazunari wasn't timid; he charged straight forward.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
"Sizzle!"
...Lightning and sparks erupted in the darkness and quickly dissipated. Nojima Kazunari and Washizu's figures seemed to completely vanish into thin air in the night.
Ordinary people couldn't see any figures in the darkness, only relying on the occasional loud thuds echoing through the space to determine that there were still people fighting here.
"Whoosh—" After separating their weapons once again, Nojima Kazunari and Washizu's figures emerged from the darkness.
Washizu's weapon was reduced to the length of a dagger from the intense clashes.
As for Nojima Kazunari, it was due to the immense discomfort radiating from his entire body.
"Ugh..."
Nojima Kazunari's throat convulsed, and a bitter, sour taste instantly filled his mouth.
But seeing the calm face opposite him, he still forcibly suppressed the urge to vomit.
Nojima Kazunari now understood the benefit of wearing a mask. Even if Washizu had any abnormalities, they would be hidden by the mask.
Washizu seemed not to notice Nojima Kazunari's discomfort. She merely shook her arm, then pulled out a crimson talisman from her embrace.
Nojima Kazunari saw the incredibly crude talisman in Washizu's hand and immediately burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, Omi-kami Talisman? In the end, don't you also have to use elemental power?"
Nojima Kazunari laughed wildly. When he saw the Omi-kami Talisman, he understood that Washizu was about to use elemental power.
Without a Vision, without a legacy of Onmyodo, there was only one way to use elemental power: the Omi-kami Talisman, widely circulated among pirates and ronin.
This type of talisman was weak and unstable, only used by those with no other options. Even slightly larger forces wouldn't use such talismans, which could ignite themselves at any moment, to channel elemental power.
"You're overthinking it." Washizu unhurriedly rubbed the talisman onto her nearly shattered sword.
Pyro elemental power gathered on the dagger-length broken blade, quickly heating the blade to a fiery red.
"It's just that I don't want you to die too quickly!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Washizu's figure vanished again. Even Nojima Kazunari, strengthened by elemental power, couldn't see any trace of Washizu.
Just as he was about to increase the flow of elemental power, he suddenly felt an intense pain in both his legs, so severe that he almost fainted on the spot.
"Ah!!!"
Nojima Kazunari's Vision rapidly descended. He instinctively wanted to mobilize his whole body to stand up, but it was useless.
He couldn't feel his lower body anymore.
"Sizzle—"
The sound of sizzling fat and the aroma of roasted meat came one after another, but Nojima Kazunari had no desire to eat.
Because what appeared before him were two human legs, their cross-sections charred black and sizzling.
"Hoo..., hoo..."
"The hemostasis is very good; you won't die for now." Washizu interrupted Nojima Kazunari's intermittent gasps.
She grabbed Nojima Kazunari by his back, lifting his upper body, and walked towards the area with the larger fire... "Damn it! Damn it! I should have known! I should have known!"
In a panic, Dan Oni Roku put back on the Shogunate Army equipment he had originally intended to abandon and rushed towards the place where the flames soared.
At this moment, he was covered in bandages from head to toe, with only his eyes exposed. Coupled with his armor, which was Gray-black from the smoke and fire, he looked like a terracotta warrior crawled out of a tomb.
When Higi Village caught fire, Dan Oni Roku immediately realized that the resistance must have come looking for him.
Having silently eliminated all the guards at the tatarigami sealing sites on Yashiori Island, Dan Oni Roku had no doubt they had the capability to wipe Higi Village off the map.
The scenery before him receded rapidly. Dan Oni Roku was 100% certain that his speed was definitely much faster than before.
Ascending his limits in the heat of battle? Or was it an illusion born of his urgency? Dan Oni Roku shook his head. What was important now was to attract the attention of the resistance, not to dwell on such trivial matters.
The fire grew brighter and brighter, and the burning houses around him became more numerous.
As he ran, Dan Oni Roku suddenly felt a tremor in his heart. He rolled to the side, covering a long distance in a low crouch.
"Bang!"
Several fierce wind blades intertwined, instantly raising a cloud of blood mist.
"Ugh..."
Dan Oni Roku immediately stood up from the ground. He quickly touched his back; the burning pain hadn't dissipated, but Dan Oni Roku's hand didn't detect any wetness.
He looked in surprise at his bandaged hand, which only had the grey-black of dust and smoke, but no crimson bloodstains.
Dan Oni Roku seemed to understand something. He looked at the figure emerging from the flames, his eyes instantly splitting with rage.
He recognized her; this person was one of the resistance who had attacked their outpost before.
"Although the war between the Shogunate and the resistance is Inazuma's greatest sin, for you..."
"This is a war between humans and non-humans, a righteous war!"
With a roar, Dan Oni Roku raised his spear, lowered his center of gravity, and charged fiercely towards the resistance Sergeant.
The Sergeant was initially startled by Dan Oni Roku's swift running speed and retreated repeatedly, but seeing Dan Oni Roku charging in a straight line, without any turning or dodging, she regained her confidence.
A foolish person should pay the price for his foolishness.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Several visible swirling winds cut through the air, leaving dense blade marks on everything in their path.
If Dan Oni Roku didn't dodge, he would surely be sliced into minced meat by the swirling winds.
But Dan Oni Roku didn't dodge. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, tensed all his muscles, and charged directly into the swirling winds.
"Hiss..."
Excruciating pain swept through his entire body, but Dan Oni Roku's steps did not falter in the slightest.
Countless flesh wounds appeared on Dan Oni Roku's body, but they rapidly grew and healed. This cycle supported Dan Oni Roku's progress through the swirling winds.
Opening his eyes, in a sea of red, Dan Oni Roku instantly saw a blurred figure not far away.
She was swaying, she was panicking.
"Die!!!"
His lowered body, carrying a battered spear, suddenly rose. Then, Dan Oni Roku felt resistance in his hand.
Without hesitation, Dan Oni Roku pushed off with his legs, plunging the spearhead fiercely into her.
As the spearhead advanced, the resistance suddenly lightened. Dan Oni Roku, following this momentum, raised his spear high.
"Pffft—"
Warm blood sprayed onto Dan Oni Roku's face. He squinted his eyes and saw that the figure now appeared above her head.
"Thud!" With a flick of his arm, the Sergeant's body, now with a hole through it, tumbled like a broken sack on the ground for several turns before finally coming to a stop.
"Hoo..."
Dan Oni Roku stood his spear upright, panting heavily. Recalling the pain of passing through the swirling winds, he couldn't help but grin.
"I wonder which is more painful, this or seppuku?"
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