The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

He then walked to the fence of the watchtower and looked down to examine it carefully.

Mori Masahiro rubbed his eyes, his pupils dilating rapidly, and Okubo, standing next to him, could even see the faint glow in his eyes.

"Did someone come out to use the restroom?" Okubo asked, trying to reassure Mori Kenji when he saw how wary he was.

They had searched the area around Hiki Village thoroughly, and there was almost no one around anymore.

Who would be wandering around the village at night, except for villagers who have urgent business?

"Hopefully I'm overthinking it, but let's cheer up. I can only hear sounds, but I can't see anyone, which is a bit strange."

Mori Kenji looked around and could only hear sounds, but he couldn't see anyone, which made him a little uncertain.

Was he hallucinating again? Or perhaps the person who came out just happened to be in his blind spot?

After all, Mori Kenji's body had also undergone some changes, just like the other villagers. The most obvious change was his powerful hearing, which had affected his daily life.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, he would hear faint sounds in his ears, making it hard for him to tell whether it was tinnitus or something happening in the middle of the night.

In this respect, his hearing had actually weakened somewhat. However, Mori Kenji wasn't too bothered; the price of exorcising the evil spirit was bound to be some.

If the legendary, deadly disease, more terrifying than the plague, could be cured without any effort, he would become suspicious.

Below the watchtower, in the blind spot of the two men, several rebels dressed as pirates lay steadily in the shadows on the ground, barely uttering a sound.

The firelight on the watchtower stopped flickering, and the rebels below began to communicate.

[Who was clumsy just now?! Do they want to experience court-martial?!]

One of the squad leaders made rapid hand gestures as he questioned his teammates behind him.

The village's defenses were only at the level of an ordinary village. The placement of watchtowers, the concealment of traps... all of these were riddled with flaws in the eyes of these elite rebel soldiers.

Yet, this seemingly simple infiltration and assassination mission was almost discovered by the villagers on this rudimentary watchtower.

How could this not enrage the rebel squad leader?

If he weren't on a mission, he would have definitely dragged out that stupid guy behind him and dealt with him on the spot as a warning to others.

Seeing that the crawling figures behind him were not making any moves, the squad leader's anger gradually subsided.

The most urgent task now is to blind the village; everything else can wait.

【Prepare! 】

The squad leader changed from a crawling posture to a half-squatting position, and his palms were slightly raised, making him stand out among the low-lying figures.

[Climb the tower!]

With a change in hand gestures, the half-crouching squad leader, like a nimble cheetah, swiftly and silently climbed the watchtower.

Chapter 414 The Attack in the Dead of Night

2024-01-14

The rebels who attacked Hishiki Village lived up to their reputation as elite troops. Soldiers, clad in armor and armed with swords, swiftly climbed the pillars of the watchtower.

From a distance, they look like cheetahs lurking in the shadows, warming up before biting their prey.

The voices of the rebels would be faint to ordinary people, but to Kenji Mori, they were like thunderclaps.

"Da da da!"

"Squeak-"

"Squeak-"

……

The sounds of hands slapping against wooden pillars, fingernails digging into wood, and the watchtower's own groans of unbearable strain all reached Mori Kenji's ears.

This is definitely not a hallucination; someone is trying to climb the watchtower!

"Okubo! Prepare for battle, someone's..."

Just as Mori Kenji was about to remind his partner to prepare for battle, he saw a shadow appear in his eyes.

The ferocious face, the ruthless eyes, and the bloodstained armor undoubtedly told Mori Takeji that the people who came were a group of vicious pirates.

But Hiki Village is located inland on Hachiyū Island, and there are hardly any people around it anymore. What kind of pirates would dare to raid this place?

But Mori Kenji couldn't care less about that now. He only knew that if he didn't act soon, the gleaming blade would be slashing at Okubo's neck.

No sooner said than done, Mori Kenji grabbed the burning firewood from the brazier beside him and threw it at the leaping rebels.

Although this might burn Okubo, it would be worth it as long as it could disrupt the rebels' sword-wielding movements.

"So fast!" The rebels in the air only felt a blur in their vision before the spinning burning logs flew towards them.

"boom!"

The rebels were no pushovers either. He acted decisively, throwing out his storage bag from his waist, which deflected the incoming firewood.

Immediately, he swung his sword heavily at Okubo in front of him, as if determined to take his life.

"when--"

But what he felt in his hand was not the exhilarating sensation of a sword cutting through flesh, but a shock that nearly numbed his arm.

Moreover, what splattered was not bright red blood, but glittering fragments of the blade.

The confrontation between Mori Kenji and the resistance soldiers happened in the blink of an eye. In Okubo's eyes, he only heard Mori Kenji shout in surprise, and then felt a pain in his neck.

Instinctively, Okubo swung his arm back, the resulting gust of wind causing the firelight in the watchtower to tremble slightly.

"boom!"

Okubo felt his arm touch something soft, and then a black shadow flew out, destroying even the watchtower's railing.

"This is... someone ambushed us?!"

Okubo's expression changed drastically when he saw the bloodstains on the ground.

He quickly grabbed the iron bar beside him and stood back-to-back with Mori Kenji.

"Have you seen who it is?"

"They might be pirates... Let's not worry about that for now, are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, Okubo touched the burning back of his neck and removed a few uneven scales from it.

"Haha, you always say the things on your body are ugly, but today we have to thank it for this." Mori Kenji took a deep breath and teased Oku when he saw the blood-stained scales in his hand.

Was that a pirate? Mori Masashi didn't think pirates could be so skilled or use such sophisticated weapons.

It should be noted that the scales on Okubo's body cannot be easily cut with ordinary swords.

Today, Hikimura has probably encountered an unprecedentedly formidable enemy.

Looking up at the bronze bell not far away, Mori no longer hesitated. He detached himself from Okubo's bumpy but sturdy back and ran towards the direction of the impact.

Only this big bell can transmit sound throughout the entire village, and only this big bell can immediately alert everyone in the village.

"Boom-"

Before Mori Kenji could make a move, a long and resonant bell rang in his ears.

Immediately, Hishimura became visibly brighter. Like a sleeping giant, his various organs were rapidly reviving.

“It seems the rest of us are more capable than we are.” Mori Kenji chuckled a few times, then, not to be outdone, slammed the bronze bell down.

"Buzzing—"

In an instant, the persistent sound of bells echoed around Feimu Village, bringing everyone there back to their senses.

"boom!"

The attackers seemed to be annoyed because they hadn't dealt with the watchtower in Hikimura immediately.

They stopped concealing their whereabouts and began using various powerful methods.

The first to be affected are the watchtowers surrounding Hiki Village. Since they can no longer conceal their movements, it's always better to delay the release of intelligence as much as possible.

Amidst the flashing flames, in the eyes of Okubo and Mori Masatoshi, the watchtowers, the tallest buildings in Hisaki Village, were collapsing one after another.

The watchtower that Hishimura had painstakingly built was now like rotten wood, unable to withstand the strong winds.

"Pirates carry bombs?" Okubo gasped as he saw the raging flames before him.

The houses in Hiki Village are all made of wood, so if the fire spreads, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"Maybe they're not pirates?" Mori Kenji muttered to himself, then urgently said to Okubo, "Okubo, let's go down. The watchtower is a sitting duck!"

"understand!"

Without hesitation, Okubo jumped straight down from the watchtower's observation room.

“Having good physical fitness makes all the difference.” Mori shook his head and jumped down as well.

"Boom!"

Shortly after the two jumped down, a violent explosion occurred in the watchtower behind them.

The sweeping fireballs spread upwards, quickly turning the entire watchtower into a conspicuous fire tower.

"boom!"

"Clap!"

The sounds of Okubo and Mori Masaki landing were quite different, but they both landed safely from the watchtower, which was more than ten meters high.

Before they could even catch their breath, the two saw several figures emerging from the darkness.

Looking at the watchtower engulfed in flames, Mori Kenji drew his twin swords from his waist and asked with a wry smile:

"Everyone, has Hishikimura offended the Shogun or the current Goddess of the Gods? To exterminate them all would be a sin against one's karma."

The group of people dressed in pirate armor exchanged glances but remained silent.

"The Shogunate and the rebels? Aren't they pirates?"

Okubo removed his shirt, revealing a monstrous body beneath.

Snake scales, crab shells, dragon skin... all sorts of known and unknown creatures' scales and hides were kneaded together and covered the human named "Okubo".

His thick, scaly skin was uneven and undulating. Others might assume this was due to Okubo's skin growing irregularly on its own.