I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Just as she was resolutely determined to fight to the death with her pursuers, Tachibana-kun... a person she had never expected before, appeared before her at the most critical moment.

Astonishment, doubt, joy, relief, and some other feelings that were difficult to describe in words rose and lingered in Sanako's heart.

Just then, as she saw Qing Deng take the initiative to attack the enemies, Sanako suddenly snapped out of her strange daze.

"Tachibana-kun!"

Sanako shouted a warning to Aoto.

"Watch out! That guy with the slanted eyes is very strong..."

Sanako's left thigh was injured by the "slanted-eye samurai".

This person's keen sense of seizing opportunities and his sharp swordsmanship left a deep impression on Sanako.

While warning Qingdeng, she dragged her injured leg forward, trying to go and help him.

Although she knew that Qingdeng was very strong and had just won a "1 vs 18" battle not long ago, according to Qingdeng's description to her at the time, he had the advantage of terrain in that battle, fighting in a narrow alley, making it difficult for the enemy to take advantage of their numbers, which was completely different from the current situation.

The battlefield now is a "spacious street," a place where one can fully utilize their numerical advantage.

Worried that Aoto would be no match for the overwhelmingly superior enemy, and also driven by her own pride that "she didn't want to do nothing," Sanako wanted to do everything she could to help Aoto.

Although his left thigh was injured, if he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, he could still help Qing Deng take on a few enemies.

However, before Sanako could finish her warning and before she had taken a half step forward, her voice and her body came to a halt.

All of this was because... the scene that followed in front of him left Sanako so shocked that she could not utter a single word or move her body forward even an inch.

As Qingdeng charged towards the enemy group, his first opponent was naturally the one closest to him.

As Qingdeng charged forward, he raised his sword, "Ghost God," high, taking the upper right stance.

Shifting stances, gathering power in the waist and arms... the movements flowed like water.

Once he reached a position where his blade could strike the enemy, he unleashed the power he had gathered in his waist and arms!

A whooshing sound, like air being sliced ​​apart, reverberated through the atmosphere.

The sword, imbued with the spirit of the demon, slashed down from the upper right to the lower left with such speed that it drew a thin, needle-like line of light from the sharp blade.

The enemy reacted quickly, raising his sword horizontally to block the fierce kasaya slash.

The attack failed... Qing Deng remained unfazed. He used the recoil from the blocked sword to quickly raise Ding Guishen, switching to the upper left stance, and slashed again from a completely different direction than the previous Kesa Slash!

This time, the enemy didn't have time to react... His right hand, which was holding the knife, was severed by Qing Deng's slash from the upper left to the lower right. His entire right arm was cut off cleanly at the elbow, and the right arm, which was separated from his body, fell to the ground with the knife in the same grip.

Despite having his arm severed, the enemy did not utter a sound of pain.

Before he could scream, Qingdeng swiftly delivered a finishing blow, severing his neck horizontally and ending his life.

The light and shadow flickered... Out of the corner of Qing Deng's right eye, he caught a glimpse of a new enemy to his right front side, who was about the same height and build as him. The enemy was slashing at Qing Deng with a slightly weak breath.

Perhaps because Qing Deng had so easily dealt with one of his companions, the man's face was filled with fear, and his sword-wielding movements exuded an aura of "wanting to force Qing Deng back and not let him come over."

On this cloudy night with thick clouds covering the sky, in this darkness, Sanako saw two figures, both holding swords and of similar build and height, merge into one.

Then, in the next instant, one of them fell to the ground with extremely slow movements.

The surviving figure... Qingdeng quickly swung his blade at the ground beside his feet, shaking off the bloodstains on the blade, and then pointed the blade at the next enemy.

Sanako initially thought she was seeing things.

But now, after seeing Qing Deng kill the enemy who was about the same size as him with simple and sharp movements, she was finally convinced that Qing Deng's strength had increased a lot compared to when he fought the Aizu-gun swordsmanship battle last month!

The reason why Sanako was so shocked is not hard to understand—how could she have expected that after the sword tournament, Aoto's swordsmanship talent had evolved from "50 times that of an ordinary person" to "70 times that of an ordinary person"?

How could anyone have known that Qingdeng would acquire a new god-level talent, "Gathering of Gods," in just one month?

At this moment, the two talents in Qingdeng's talent list, "Lone Warrior" and "Gathering Spirit", are shining brightly with golden light as they are being activated!

The last time Sanako witnessed Aoto's battle was at the Aizu-go Sword Tournament last month.

In short, her assessment of Qing Deng's strength was still based on the time of the Aizu-no-Gi swordsmanship competition last month!

Although she had heard from Qing Deng a few days earlier about his remarkable feat of fighting 18 samurai alone in an alley, the impact of "hearing" and "seeing" are completely different.

When she first heard that Qingdeng had won a "1 vs 18" fight, she subconsciously thought that Qingdeng had become stronger... but she never expected that Qingdeng could become so much stronger!

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng flashed to the next enemy.

The enemy hastily raised his knife to attack, the blade arcing as it approached Qingdeng's neck.

For Qing Deng, whose three talents, "Lone Warrior," "Focus," and "Eagle Eye," were all activated, the enemy's slashes were far too slow, as slow as a slow-motion movie recording.

Having seen through the enemy's sword path, Qing Deng tilted his head to dodge the attack, then quickly swung his sword to launch a counterattack.

Pfft!

More and more delicate blood flowers bloomed in the air and blossomed on the ground.

Qing Deng slashed the enemy's right cheek and right neck vertically.

The blade that could subdue ghosts and spirits was like a showerhead... except it sprayed not comforting hot water, but foul-smelling blood.

Qing Deng didn't use any fancy techniques.

He simply aimed the knife at the enemy's right cheek and right neck, making a very ordinary vertical slash.

However, Qing Deng's sword speed was simply too fast.

It was so fast that the enemy didn't even have time to react; Qing Deng's knife had already struck him, and he was still dumbfounded and hadn't even realized what was happening.

Look at his bewildered eyes that are rapidly losing their luster... He probably didn't even realize how he was killed until Qing Deng finally slew him.

Including the burly man who was cut in two by Qingdeng at the beginning, four people have now died at Qingdeng's hands... The "Hanging-Eyed Warrior" was so shocked that his expression was slightly out of control as his companions died one by one at such a fast pace.

"If this continues, this guy will kill everyone...!" The "slanted-eyed samurai" cursed inwardly, then shouted:

"Focus on me! Everyone, gather around me! Don't be alone! Don't fight alone!"

Sticking together, cooperating with each other, and using their numerical advantage to besiege Qingdeng—this is the only way that the "Hanging-Eyed Warrior" can think of to effectively counter Qingdeng in the current environment.

Qing Deng slew his four companions as easily as cutting melons and vegetables... His heroic demeanor terrified many people.

Upon hearing the words of the "Hanging-Eyed Samurai," everyone seemed to have found their pillar of support, gathering around him and no longer daring to act as any "protruding point."

Once everyone had gathered, the "slanted-eye warrior" led and directed the crowd to charge towards Qingdeng in a massive attack!

—There are 8 left…

After quickly scanning the enemy group in front of him and calculating the number of remaining enemies, Qing Deng took a deep breath and moved in an arc to circle around the enemy group to the side.

Even with both "Lone Warrior" and "Gathering Spirit" activated, Qing Deng could not guarantee that he would not be injured while being attacked from both sides.

After rescuing Sanako... he still had to rush to the next battlefield, which was far more severe than the one he was on now.

To ensure he was in good condition, Qing Deng opted for a cautious approach, avoiding being surrounded and attacked, to prevent injury.

Cooperating with each other and fighting the enemy together... This is easy to say, but difficult to do.

Let alone eight people, even with only three or four people, it would take a long time of hard work to reach a level of tacit understanding where they can cooperate with each other without hindering one another.

When they first gathered around the "slanted-eyed samurai," they were still able to maintain a reasonably tight formation.

However, as the horde surged towards Qingdeng, their formation instantly became scattered, like dandelions scattered by the wind.

This gave Qingdeng the opportunity to infiltrate and annihilate them one by one.

To avoid a direct confrontation with the enemy, Qingdeng moved in an arc, constantly changing his body orientation as he approached the enemy's flank. He dodged and weaved among the enemy, preventing them from surrounding him and always keeping himself facing the enemy alone.

While dodging the enemy's attacks, they searched for a suitable opportunity to counterattack...

The enemy's lackluster coordination and their growing impatience due to their inability to land a hit on Qingdeng gave him a chance to counterattack.

Out of the corner of his eye, Qing Deng noticed that one of his enemies was standing alone, separated from his other companions.

The man who was focused on killing Qingdeng probably didn't realize that his current position was quite precarious.

Finally, the moment has arrived... when someone is alone.

The lone man was raising his knife overhead and slashing fiercely. Although the enemy's attack was fierce, Qing Deng, who was prepared, lowered his body a second in advance and gathered strength in his waist.

Immediately afterwards, Qingdeng's footsteps slid, and the ground creaked!

Qing Deng swung his knife and spun around, dodging the man's attack. In the next instant, he slashed the man's side with his knife.

After eliminating another enemy, Qingdeng quickly moved away from his current position to prevent other enemies from taking the opportunity to surround and kill him.

However, at this moment, Qing Deng made a small mistake.

A bad news and a good news came to Qingdeng.

The bad news is that his chosen direction for this move was not ideal, and he failed to escape the enemy's encirclement.

The enemies who had been trying to surround and kill Qingdeng finally got the chance to outnumber them and besiege Qingdeng.

The three enemies closest to Qingdeng swung their knives and slashed at him from three different directions.

The other four men, led by the "Hanging-Eyed Warrior," who were farther away from Qingdeng, rushed towards Qingdeng in a flash.

The good news is that the three enemies who had surrounded Qingdeng were all in front of him, preventing Qingdeng from being attacked from both sides.

Three swords swept towards Qing Deng from three completely different directions: the upper left, the middle, and the lower right.

If someone were less skilled or inexperienced in combat, they would probably be overwhelmed by three swords attacking from different directions.

But Qingdeng remained calm and composed.

This composure and calmness is the result of numerous bloody battles and a wealth of practical experience.

Qing Deng calmly analyzed the situation and realized that he would have a hard time dodging the attacks of the three swords. He then steeled his heart and decided to forcefully take the attack of the three swords.

Qing Deng spread his legs and, with his eyes suddenly becoming focused, slashed at the three knives that were rapidly approaching him with the blade of the Ghost God's Blade.

Qing Deng first used his current extremely strong dynamic vision to see the position and sword path of the three swords. Then, relying on the exceptionally agile brain speed made by the "Gathering Spirit" talent, he quickly determined which of the three swords arrived first and which arrived later.

Then, in the next instant, a flurry of blades flashed—

clang!

clang!

clang!

Three sounds, like the clanging of iron, rang out almost simultaneously.

Qing Deng swiftly swung the Ding Guishen sword three times in quick succession. The blade of the Ding Guishen sword turned into a blurry afterimage. With his superb sword speed, Qing Deng managed to make one sword appear as three.