"Damn it, what is this thing? My feet are stuck!"
Rayleigh charged toward the two midguards.
As he ran, he loosened his outer coat, revealing a black vest and the solid muscles beneath.
"Shunkō."
A surging wave of Reiatsu burst outward.
Lightning-like Reiryoku crackled from his body.
His fist, wrapped in Reiatsu, punched through the air itself.
Rayleigh's Shunpo was too fast for the two to react. Both of them took a punch to the chest and were sent flying.
After knocking them away, Rayleigh felt a faint sting on his cheek.
He wiped it with his finger.
There was no blood.
In his Shunkō state, his entire body was wrapped in highly condensed Reiatsu.
The fact that his opponent had managed to counterattack on instinct was already impressive, but it still wasn't enough.
The slash had only left a white mark on his face.
"Now it's your turn."
Rayleigh stepped forward and walked toward the rearguard.
He raised his foot.
In the next instant, he was already right in front of her.
The rearguard, who was actually a healer, was startled, but after bending her knees slightly, she did not retreat.
Instead, she instantly drew the dagger at her waist and stabbed repeatedly toward Rayleigh's temple, ribs, and chest.
To Rayleigh, her speed was far too slow.
He merely lifted his hands lightly and blocked every one of her attacks.
When she spun around and thrust toward his other temple, Rayleigh pierced straight through her wrist with his finger, forcing the dagger from her hand.
Then he swept a kick across her lower body.
She was knocked to the ground immediately.
"Hadō of—"
Hm?
Just as Rayleigh was about to finish off the healer, his vision suddenly swayed.
He felt as if he were about to fall, so he quickly spread his feet apart to steady himself.
'What's going on?'
'Poison?'
No.
There was a fluctuation of Mind.
Rayleigh supported himself with his Zanpakutō and raised his head toward Marius, who stood beside Ares.
At that moment, Marius was holding something and pointing it in this direction.
'That's... a magic item?'
Was that something else they had bought from the great magical nation?
A curse... no, it didn't quite feel like one.
An illusion?
His senses had been disrupted.
Hoo.
Rayleigh shook his head, trying to clear away some of the dizziness, but before he could fully recover, the two vanguards broke free from their restraints.
The ground itself was torn upward by their strength.
The two rushed behind Rayleigh.
One of them smashed a fist into Rayleigh's back, driving him into the ground.
The other leapt high into the air.
Then he dropped like a meteor.
After that, he hammered both fists down at Rayleigh again and again. His storm of punches shook the earth nonstop.
The two midguards had also climbed back to their feet.
Seeing Rayleigh being pounded into the ground beneath those enormous fists, they all believed the battle had ended here.
"That guy is finished."
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Boom! Boom!
After dozens of full-powered blows, the giant finally stopped and stood there, panting heavily.
He had exhausted his strength and attacked with everything he had.
Clack.
Fragments of stone slid off the giant's fist, fell to the ground, and bounced several times.
"Are you done?"
Rayleigh's calm voice suddenly sounded.
The giant was startled.
What?
How was that possible?
He looked down.
There was Rayleigh, lying in the crater that had been smashed into the ground, right in the center of it.
Aside from his clothes being a little dirty, there were no visible injuries on him at all.
His attacks had done nothing!
Rayleigh lay expressionlessly in the sunken ground, his posture relaxed.
Blue patterns flickered across his body from time to time.
Against this kind of opponent, there was no way they could break through the defensive power of a body reinforced by Blut Vene.
"Big guy. Move."
Rayleigh's cold voice rang out.
The giant froze.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, a cold flash of steel swept past.
The giant's shoulder swayed slightly. Then he realized he could no longer feel his left arm!
"Huh?"
"My arm?"
A moment later, blood sprayed.
No.
It would be more accurate to say it gushed out like a fountain.
A massive amount of blood surged from the giant's severed arm, making him let out a miserable scream.
He grabbed the wound with all his strength, clamping down hard to forcibly stop the bleeding.
Because of the intense pain, he dropped to his knees on the spot.
At that exact moment, Rayleigh also stood up from the crater and stood before the giant.
Rayleigh was over one meter eighty.
Originally, he had been much shorter than the giant, but now, he was the one looking down at him.
"..."
The giant seemed to want to say something.
But in the next second, those words were trapped forever in his throat.
Because his head had already separated from his neck.
Rayleigh remained in the posture of having just swung his sword, unmoving, as the giant's head slowly slid from his neck.
Thud!
The huge head fell to the ground, and all the blood stored within it spilled out.
The battlefield fell silent for several seconds.
"You bastard!"
Seeing their comrade killed, the remaining four finally recovered from their shock and roared in fury.
Rayleigh was not afraid of them. He was only wary of the magic item in Marius's hand.
That sensory-disruption tool was troublesome.
Although its performance was nothing special, nowhere near Sakanade's level, being affected by something like that in the middle of battle could be fatal.
He prepared to use Shunpo and kill all of them in one burst of speed before they could react.
But before that could happen...
A huge number of enemies appeared from every direction.
The main road, narrow alleys, sewers, rooftops—figures emerged from everywhere, above and below, flooding the area like a tide.
"Hmph. It's over!"
"Winning through numbers may be disgraceful, but you were reckless enough to charge into the enemy's headquarters. Surely you were already prepared for this."
Rayleigh glanced at the enemies present.
After sensing them, he found more than three thousand Reiraku reactions.
The Crozzo family had also caught up.
The old man widened his eyes and looked toward Rayleigh in the center of the battlefield.
Even surrounded, Rayleigh continued waiting.
He did not use Sakanade's Bankai.
Because with Ares present, he did not want to use Sakanade.
If Sakanade's power could even alter a god's perception, the consequences would be beyond what he could bear.
"Surrender, warrior of Orario!"
"You have nowhere left to run!"
"To make this much trouble in Rakia Kingdom is already impressive, but this is the end!"
Rayleigh sensed the presence drawing closer.
His face remained expressionless and in his heart, he counted silently.
'Five hundred... four hundred fifty.'
'Three hundred... two hundred.'
Suddenly, his eyes opened, light flashing within them.
He raised his hand once again.
Unlike before, when nothing had happened, this time a shadow flew from the far end of the sky, crossing the distance in an instant and landing in Rayleigh's hand.
When the people around him saw it clearly, they realized Rayleigh now held another sword in his grasp.
Holding that sword, Rayleigh's gaze pierced through the enemy formation and landed on the old man.
"You said no weapon can compare to a Crozzo Magic Sword, didn't you? Then open your eyes and watch carefully."
"Let me show you what the strongest sword truly is."
"Bankai...!"
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