Stay away from Conan.

Midway through their struggle, Gao Yuan suddenly withdrew his force, leaving Camus, unable to simultaneously retract his grip, with no choice but to thrust his sword forward, following the blade's trajectory. As a result, Camus's finely crafted katana pierced Gao Yuan's left shoulder.

However, in that instant, Gao Yuan not only did not dodge, but also, with the blade piercing through his own body to the point where he and Camus could directly touch hands and feet, Gao Yuan seemed to feel no pain. He punched Camus in the face and at the same time kicked Camus in the groin.

Such a violent kick, such soul-deep pain, even Camus, a veteran of countless battles, could not withstand such agony. So almost instantly, Camus's completely focused mind collapsed. Then, several hard punches landed on his face, leaving Camus stunned and his mind blank.

Afterwards, as she calmed down a bit, Camus realized what had just happened—

Clearly, he had encountered a madman, a madman who was willing to risk his life!
Moreover, and more importantly, this madman is also a master swordsman...

Superficially speaking, when the opponent failed to disarm him and instead engaged in a struggle with him, it seemed that he had a slight advantage. However, the opponent still used force to shift the direction of his blade, so that the direction his blade ultimately pierced only through the opponent's shoulder. In reality, if it were a sword fight, he would have won. In fact, generally speaking, at this point, when the opponent had given up his weapon first, he would have no chance to retaliate after such an attack.

But of all times, I encountered it myself...

Yes, it seems I've forgotten that in real sword fights, there's always one ultimate question that needs to be addressed—

That is, no matter how skilled you are in swordsmanship, what should you do if your opponent is willing to risk their life?
Normally, since kendo duels have always been competitions aimed at determining a winner, they don't involve life-or-death struggles. Even if, occasionally, for some reason, life-or-death struggles are involved, Camus himself is a master of kendo, so with his superior kendo skills, Camus would never give his opponent the possibility of a life-or-death struggle and would kill them in advance.

And this is precisely the foundation of the deadly swordsmanship that Camus taught Hanada Emi—

However, the premise of such a killing sword style is: one strike to kill; if that is not possible, one must never get entangled in a prolonged fight.

However, the reality Camus faced was that his opponent, who struck first and attacked with lightning speed, had already decided the outcome of the battle the instant they made their move.

This is bound to be a protracted battle.

If you get caught in a prolonged fight, and your sword can hit your opponent, your opponent's sword will most likely hit you as well, and both of you will be within range where you can hurt each other.

So, if such a battle involves life and death, what should the other side do if one side is willing to risk their life?
This is a point that one of Camus's mentors, when he first started learning Kendo, instructed all his students to remember.

Because once the opponent is willing to risk their life, that is, even if the opponent faces your fatal blow, they will not make any response and will launch their own attack on you. In this case, there will be almost no interference between the attack lines of the two sides. Thus, if your swordsmanship level is not several levels higher than the opponent's, both sides will likely suffer potentially fatal damage.

Therefore, this is a problem that must be faced in a life-or-death struggle. After all, normally everyone hopes to defeat the other party while protecting themselves from harm. However, not everyone is "normal." In particular, due to certain circumstances, some people will inevitably disregard their lives. So what should you do if you encounter that "abnormal" one?

This is a problem that is very easy to encounter in times of war; sometimes, this kind of problem will also arise during yakuza battles.

However, Camus's position is quite far removed from these things, especially since even though he identifies himself as a police officer, he has long since moved away from the front lines and mainly works with data.

So, facing this young man, Camus finally realized who he was dealing with. He had thought the other person was a master strategist who planned carefully before acting and was confident that he could match him in strength. But he was wrong, completely wrong.

This seemingly intelligent and clear-headed young man is actually a madman!
He didn't even think about how to deal with the farce at the Twilight Mansion if he died at my hands, yet he dared to fight me to the death without hesitation. Even in the situation just now, which wasn't exactly a dead end, he still chose to fight to the death. If this kind of person isn't crazy, then who is?
At this point, Camus knew he had lost, utterly and completely. The young man, whose left shoulder was still pierced by his own sword, took advantage of Camus's dazed state to pick up the samurai sword that Camus had just thrown to the ground and ruthlessly slashed down twice, severing Camus's thumbs. Without his thumbs, he would lose most of the function of his hands, and Camus knew he was powerless to fight back.

Camus then simply lay down on the ground, looking somewhat melancholy.

"So, are you a substitute or the real person?"

Suddenly, just when Camus seemed to have given up, Gao Yuan in front of him asked a question that surprised Camus greatly.

Upon hearing the question, Camus paused for a moment, then replied helplessly:

"You even know I have a Stand? But... since you're not even sure if I'm a Stand, you're still willing to risk your life?"

"So, it really is the real one..."

In response to Camus's reply, Gao Yuan didn't engage in conversation, simply replying as before. Meanwhile, the katana piercing his left shoulder remained embedded in his body, without any further movement; he merely sighed inwardly.

It seems that, at least so far, I've made the right bet...

Of course, for him, if he loses this gamble, it will simply mean the end of this dream of revisiting the past.

When he doesn't have to worry about the consequences, Gao Yuan can do whatever he wants, as long as he can achieve his goal!
Therefore, in order to deal with Camus, Gao Yuan knew that even with a vast amount of swordsmanship memories in his mind, he would still need to rely on those memories to fight Camus...

Even with Hanada Emi, he could only barely manage to intimidate her by striking first, but against Camus, the physical difference was undeniable. Therefore, in order to deal with Camus, Gao Yuan had no choice but to—

Using what could be described as an excessive dose of banned substances for sports events to forcibly compensate for his lack of physical strength at this moment, and even though it looks like he's being pierced by a samurai sword, the pain is limited for Gao Yuan because of the drugs, so he can endure it...

However, this means I don't have much time left...

Just as he was thinking this, Gao Yuan looked up and saw someone walking towards them from not far away.

Hanada Emi...(End of this chapter)