The Hand!? Bella knew that organization! They were Daredevil's nemesis. How had The Hand gotten connected to Sekiro?
She continued questioning. "What about this 'Black Sky' they mentioned?"
This time Emma wasn't quite sure either. "...We have legends here about something called Shura. When slaughter reaches its peak, a person's true nature becomes lost, and Shura is born from their body. Perhaps that's what they're referring to."
Bella asked the final and most critical question. "Miss Emma, do you know how to leave this... this..."
She didn't know how to phrase it. How could she explain the relationship between time and space to an ancient Japanese woman?
But Emma clearly wasn't facing this kind of "transmigrator" question for the first time. Her expression turned solemn. "Ashina is surrounded by mist. This phenomenon is strange even to us. As for how to leave here? I'm sorry, I don't know. Perhaps only the gods know the answer."
Bella sighed softly. Even with her strong willpower, she felt shaken. The gods in Sekiro? That would only be the Divine Dragon, wouldn't it?
She could think of two possibilities. One was that the plane had brought all the passengers through time, with two previous time-crossings controlled by The Hand behind the scenes.
The other possibility was that some force had placed Ashina into an independent space outside the river of time. Now this place had reconnected with the time stream. For Emma and the others, they were still in the midst of war, completely unaware that four hundred years had passed in the outside world in a single instant.
Her thoughts churned, but Bella reaffirmed her resolve. Others might not be able to escape, but she definitely could!
Her mental world, honed over two years, blazed with brilliant light. She was very confident.
That confidence affected her bearing. She spoke calmly. "Miss Emma, this is rather forward, but I'd like to see what level your country's swordsmanship has reached. I want to spar with you."
The gentle Emma had an uncharacteristic moment of stunned hesitation.
This was the first time in three years she'd heard such a request.
The first two batches of barbarians who'd arrived in Ashina on iron birds hadn't given her a good impression. The most direct feeling was that these people were extremely rude!
Many men looked at her with undisguised desire in their eyes. Most women looked at her with jealousy.
The few who could communicate normally all spouted things she couldn't understand like "freedom," "democracy," and "rights." What even were those?
There was also someone who looked like a demon who said the relationship between the main Ashina family and the Hirata family was some kind of slavery system. He insisted on liberating the Hirata family, demanding their independence. Wasn't that madness?
In Emma's view, these people were truly useless. Every one of them was slow and stiff in their movements. Some showed signs of addiction to certain substances. They were even a nuisance as cannon fodder. Besides causing more chaos among all parties, they served no purpose.
Bella gave her a very comfortable feeling. This woman was also strong—maintaining consciousness after the crash and managing to crawl out with another person showed her stamina far exceeded that of normal people.
After sitting on the ground and resting for ten minutes, she could recover some fighting ability. By Emma's estimate, this woman was likely a female warrior from the barbarian side.
She didn't pretend she couldn't fight. Those with martial skills and those without could be distinguished at a glance. Lying wasn't in her character.
She thought for several seconds before gently shaking her head. "I'm very sorry, but I won't fight you. I took an oath that my sword only strikes down non-human things."
"Then how about this—we're just sparring. A friendly match between friends, not a life-or-death battle." Bella changed her phrasing.
Emma thought for half a minute, deciding it truly didn't violate her oath, and finally nodded.
"What weapon does Miss Bella prefer?" With a flick of her wrist, she produced a wakizashi. "Will this do?"
Western martial arts emphasized efficiency—every move was designed to kill in one strike. At least that's what Bella had learned from the Golden Apple. Eastern arts, including Japanese swordsmanship, focused more on technique. However, she'd studied the basics and had no problem using a wakizashi.
She treated the wakizashi like a short sword, practicing a few quick moves to familiarize herself with its weight and length.
Emma assumed a defensive stance, signaling Bella to attack first.
Bella opened with her most familiar pirate fencing technique. Both being women, there were no propriety concerns. A lunge and thrust, quick as lightning, aimed straight at the chest.
Her fencing technique was a rarity even to a four-hundred-year-old vampire. Emma had never seen this so-called barbarian swordsmanship either.
But her eyesight was excellent. She cleverly stepped back one pace, avoiding the maximum attack range of the thrust. Then with her right foot forward and left foot back, she lowered her center of gravity and placed her right hand on the sword hilt, adopting an iaijutsu stance.
Bella had practiced Japanese swordsmanship, though only the forms—she hadn't grasped any deeper principles. But she recognized iaijutsu.
She stepped forward quickly, closing the distance again, switching to the German Liechtenauer longsword style. Gripping the wakizashi in a reverse hold like a dagger, she slashed viciously toward Emma's throat.
Emma no longer held back. Her blade shot upward from below in a sharp rising cut. Liechtenauer swordsmanship was balanced between offense and defense. Bella slightly adjusted her wakizashi's angle, and their blades collided.
With a sharp clang, Bella pressed her blade downward. Emma didn't retreat but advanced instead. Rather than slowing, her wakizashi followed the previous momentum as her body surged forward, transitioning into a horizontal slash from left to right.
Seeing she intended to follow with a cross slash, Bella switched to Spanish rapier technique, stabbing sharply at her wrist.
Emma was forced to stop her cross slash. She showed no disappointment, maintaining perfect composure.
She raised her wakizashi vertically, using Bella's force with a skillful deflection to parry the thrust outward. Then with a shuffle step, she darted backward, trying to reopen the fighting distance.
Emma's kimono looked beautiful but wasn't suitable for combat. Yet she faced Bella's fierce attacks with grace and calm.
She was calm as ice—like the sky could fall and she wouldn't flinch.
Shuffle step, dodge, retreat-dodge, deflect! One cycle without finding an opening, then continuing without rush or panic—shuffle step, dodge, retreat-dodge, deflect—another complete cycle.
In combat, Emma was as calm as a machine. When there was an opening, she exploited it. When there wasn't, she defended.
Her blade was like a pool of spring water—quiet, brilliant, and deadly, often striking from unexpected places.
Bella cycled through several sword styles. Emma's defense was watertight. After more than twenty exchanges, Bella was mostly on offense while Emma used various techniques to defend.
Bella continued her slashing attacks, mixing Spanish rapier moves with some French épée techniques. When Emma's strike missed and she reset to a deflecting stance, Bella used a move Emma didn't expect at all—the Katori Shintō-ryū iaijutsu slash!