By some twist of fate, Tuziku and Kutcher found themselves in quite the predicament—completely surrounded by the armed soldiers hunting them.
The second-in-command of Unit 6, Commander Gungī, along with several soldiers, had already caught up to them while their General steadily approached.
His orders were plain and simple…
Eliminate all targets.
General Ishimi contacted Hinomo.
"Hinomo, we've confirmed the Wandering Swordsman is among the duo. I'm not sure about the identity of the other one."
Hinomo replied, "According to our reports, the Casoltins only had one male teen on their crew—the Wandering Swordsman."
"Meaning the other one—"
"Should be the Acid User…" Ishimi interrupted.
"Ishimi, tell your men to proceed with utmost caution…"
"No need… I'll be arriving shortly," Ishimi replied.
Meanwhile, back with Kutcher and Tuziku—
"Kutcher, what are we gonna do?!" Tuziku panicked.
Kutcher narrowed his eyes.
There sure are a lot of them… 5… 8… 12… 16 so far…
Are they here for the crew… or for Tuziku?!
"Calm down, Tuziku… Those three soldiers behind us—I'll attack them and create a path. Then we run!"
"I need you to release a slash toward the soldiers in front of you!" Kutcher said, standing back-to-back with him.
"What?! You know I haven't mastered that yet!" Tuziku replied, his blade trembling in his hand.
"We don't have time! It doesn't matter if you haven't mastered it—as long as it distracts them!"
Kutcher turned, facing the three soldiers behind him, leaving Tuziku to face Commander Gungī and the majority of the force.
Gungī raised his hand.
"All soldiers—take aim…"
Kutcher burst forward.
"Power—Slash!!"
He swung his blade with all his strength.
A blue crescent of energy tore through the air toward the soldiers.
Shling…!
"Look out!!!" one soldier shouted, diving to the ground.
The other two were too late—
They were cleanly severed in half.
Their upper bodies hit the ground—
Their lower halves remained standing for a split second…
Then collapsed.
Thud… Thud…
The slash continued forward, cutting through two trees behind them.
Crack… Thud…
"Tuziku—now!"
"Arghhhh!" Tuziku swung his blade, releasing an unstable stream of acid.
"Look out!" a soldier shouted as they retreated.
But the attack fell short.
The acid scattered uselessly across the ground.
Tuziku gritted his teeth.
Damn it…! I'm still so weak!
"Tuziku, run!!!" Kutcher shouted.
The two bolted—unaware they were running straight toward Hinomo's approaching unit.
Gungī, still crouched from taking cover, realized their plan.
"Damn you brats!!"
"All soldiers, fire! Kill them before they escape!"
Boom! Boom!
Boom… boom!
The duo sprinted through the forest, dodging bullets as the soldiers struggled to regain formation.
Boom! Boom!
"We have to let the crew know what's going on!" Tuziku shouted.
"The hideout is in the opposite direction—we can't reach it with this many soldiers," Kutcher replied, breathing heavily.
"And that guy back there was talking to someone…"
"Just keep running!"
"They're getting away, Commander!" a soldier yelled.
"Damn it…! General Ishimi, this is Gungī!"
"Sir, the targets have escaped and are heading toward General Hinomo!"
"Stay on them—and don't you dare lose them, Gungī!" Ishimi ordered.
Gungī's face tightened with guilt.
"Ishimi, come in!"
"Hinomo," Ishimi called.
Hinomo sighed.
"Yeah, yeah… I really don't get paid enough for this. Fine—I'll handle it from here."
Tuziku panted.
"Are we leaving the others…?!"
"If there are this many soldiers here—and more coming—then they're after all of us, including you!" Kutcher replied.
"I want to warn them… but staying alive comes first. They haven't tried to capture us—not once."
"Their orders are to eliminate us!"
"We need to get out of this forest—"
"Wooooah, lucky me!"
A voice cut through the air.
"You guys came to me personally… thank you!"
"Elite Unit Y—fire."
Boom!
Ting…! He deflected it.
"Look out!" Kutcher deflected the shot aimed at Tuziku.
"The Wandering Swordsman… I've heard the stories. You're as good as they say," Hinomo said calmly.
"Elite Units E, I, D—fire."
Boom! Boom!
Ting! Ting…!
He deflected the first 2 shots.
Then suddenly…
Boom…!
"Arghhhh!" Kutcher cried out, clutching his left shoulder.
"Kutcher!" Tuziku shouted, raising his sword—his arm trembling.
Where are the bullets coming from?!
I don't see anyone besides him!
Damn it… I'm so weak…!
"My 'Elites' are the finest soldiers under my command," Hinomo said.
"They are both my shield… and my sword."
"Tuziku! Get out of here!"
I can't leave him!
Tuziku charged forward, swinging wildly.
"How disappointing…"
Whack!
Hinomo struck him across the face, sending him crashing into a tree.
"You can't even use your ability, can you?" he mocked.
Kutcher lunged from behind in a surprise attack—
Boom…!
"Arghhh!" Kutcher dropped to the ground, clutching his stomach.
"I can't believe you two are considered 'Top Priority' threats…" Hinomo said.
"Come out."
From the surrounding forest—
Over sixty soldiers emerged.
They raised their weapons.
Completely surrounded, Tuziku and Kutcher stood frozen as dozens of barrels pointed at them.
Hinomo turned his back.
"All soldiers… eliminate the targets."
Weapons clicked into place.
At that exact moment—
Sailou dropped from the trees above.
"DANGER—STRIKE!!!"
BOOM…!
A bolt of lightning tore down from the heavens—
Striking the ground with devastating force.
Everything within a twenty-meter radius was obliterated—
And everyone was sent flying.
CHAPTER 19 END