I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

At that moment, no one noticed that the sky above them had been changing rapidly since the beginning.

The thick clouds that had separated the sky from the earth suddenly shattered and drifted away in all directions, drawn by the wind.

The scattered clouds... made the sky look as if it had been cracked open.

Streaks of silvery moonlight poured out from these "cracks in the sky," twisting into beams of light that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

Then--

"Moo~~"

A loud mooing of a cow rang out from behind Jinno and the others.

……

……

When they were still a short distance from the settlement, Aoto and Sanako could see streaks of orange-yellow firelight in the distance.

The expressions on their faces became particularly solemn under the firelight.

After entering the settlement on the back of the radish, Qingdeng saw the raging fires spreading throughout the settlement and the residents fleeing in panic.

The worst-case scenario has occurred... The anti-foreign forces have launched an attack on the settlement, but the main government forces have not yet arrived.

Of the officials who have arrived at the residence so far... only Qingdeng is present.

Without needing anyone to guide him, Qingdeng silently urges Luobo toward the place with the loudest screams.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Bright's mansion in the distance, and then he saw Jinno and the others gathered outside Bright's mansion, ready to trap him like a turtle in a jar.

That mansion... it must be the mansion of Brett...

Are Elodie and the others... inside that mansion right now...?

Just by looking at the way Shinno and the others surrounded the Bright mansion, Aoto had already guessed what these lunatics wanted to do.

What to do now—this thought suddenly popped into Qingdeng's mind.

However, the idea vanished as soon as it came to mind.

"What to do?"... Is there even a need to think about this kind of question in detail?

In a split second, Qingdeng made up his mind.

Click!

Qing Deng freed his left hand and pressed it below the hilt of the sword "Suppressing Ghosts" on his left waist. He raised his thumb, pressed it against the guard of "Suppressing Ghosts," and opened the hilt.

The drawn blade emitted a long, resonant clang... as if responding to its master's courage and determination!

Despite having mentally prepared herself based on Aoto's prior words, Sanako couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes upon seeing Aoto draw the sheath with one hand.

Is he... really serious?

Driven by this astonishment, Sanako couldn't help but exclaim urgently:

"Tachibana-kun, you..."

"Miss Sanako!"

Qing Deng spoke first, interrupting Sanako.

The swordsman turned around, looked at the beauty behind him, and a faint smile appeared on his slightly upturned lips.

"I'll leave the radish in your care for now!"

After saying that, Qingdeng tossed the reins to Sanako, then leaped off the ox's back. The instant his feet touched the ground, he lowered his center of gravity and charged straight ahead towards the 66 thugs with a motion that resembled flying close to the ground!

……

……

"what happened?"

Shinno turned his head to look at the cow that had just made a mooing sound, and then a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes and on his cheeks.

On the dark street behind them, a lone figure rushed straight toward them.

After a long run-up, the figure leaped into the air, his body drawing a towering parabola in mid-air, and with a jumping slash, he cut down one of his subordinates who was standing on the outermost edge of the crowd!

"Who goes there?!"

"Hey! Enemies are coming!"

"who is it?"

……

The sudden appearance of the unidentified samurai caused the members of the Extermination Group to instinctively back away and create distance between themselves and the man.

At that very moment, a ray of moonlight shone down on the person behind him, outlining his figure. However, because the moonlight was so bright, it shrouded the person's face in relative darkness, making it difficult to see his features clearly.

Then, in the next instant, an incredible scene unfolded.

Jinno's expression suddenly changed, his face filled with shock and astonishment.

The expressions of the others also changed immediately; they all stared wide-eyed, dumbfounded.

The air that had been filled with smugness and joy vanished in an instant, and the space, which had been noisy with bursts of laughter and conversation, became completely silent.

All this changed because the samurai, bathed in moonlight, calmly responded to someone's question, "Who goes there?"

"Natural Flow of Mind and Body"

“Ju Qing Deng”.

After that, it was the white blade held in the right hand that spoke in place of the samurai.

He raised his sword and swung it horizontally forward.

The blade, drawing in the moonlight, severed the enemy and the darkness before it!

*******

*******

Due to a system bug, the terms "widow" and "widow" from the Tenshouin character card inexplicably appeared on the Radish character card yesterday (Leopard died.jpg). This bug has now been fixed.

Yesterday's monthly vote count perfectly reached the target, so the author is keeping his promise and releasing a whopping 13,000 words of new chapters today!

The final climax of this volume has finally arrived. The author intends to maintain the update pace of "1+ words per day" and continue writing until this climax comes to an end.

So, the monthly ticket bounty continues today! The book currently has 1103 monthly tickets. If we can reach 1250 tickets today, we'll continue with a massive 1+ words update tomorrow!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 182 vs. 67! The final battle against the Extermination Group!

It was a long night filled with unexpected events... Qingdeng suddenly felt this way as he jumped off the cow's back.

Originally, they were just searching for the missing Sanako, but through a series of coincidences, they discovered the plot of the Exile Group to destroy the settlement. In just one night, they traveled to most of Edo, first to rescue Sanako, and then riding an ox to the settlement.

And now, he is launching an attack.

He charged alone towards the enemy ranks ahead!

Are you crazy? — If some people witnessed what Qing Deng is doing now, they would definitely think that.

There are at least 60 enemies in front of us.

To attack such a large enemy force all by himself... that's insane.

In fact, Qing Deng also felt that his current behavior was simply absurd and incomprehensible from the perspective of a normal person.

He could have done nothing and completely ignored Jinno and the others who were now surrounding the Bright mansion.

He discovered the plot of the Expeditionary Force to attack the settlement... Qing Deng's contribution to this cause was already great enough.

Moreover, the difference in combat strength between the two sides is indeed too great.

The main force of the government had not yet arrived, and Qing Deng's only comrade was Sanako, who had a leg injury.

Even if Aoto hides in a safe corner now and watches as Shinno and the others kill everyone in the Bright mansion, no one will be able to criticize Aoto afterwards.

However—just now, just as the thought of "what to do" flashed through Qing Deng's mind, Qing Deng still made up his mind without hesitation.

It may be considered incomprehensible.

Let them see it as overestimating their abilities.

He chose to draw his sword.

Without hesitation, and without regret.

It's not because I want to be a hero.

It's not for noble reasons like saving lives, healing the wounded, or punishing evil.

Although he couldn't explain why, Qing Deng felt that if he chose to back down now and hide in a safe place while letting Jinno and the others do whatever they wanted, he would lose something very important.

It's not the kind of "loss" that comes from accidentally losing something or never seeing someone again.

Rather, it's the feeling of "loss" that comes from the sense that a part of your body or a part of your mind might disappear.

……

(...Tachibana-kun, you...are so brave.)

……

Qing Deng suddenly recalled Sanako's praise of him just now.

"Miss Sanako..." A slight smile curved Aoto's lips. "This isn't some kind of 'bravery'."

I'm just following my heart's desires and desires!

……

……

The horizontal slash of the blade severed the carotid artery in the neck of an enemy standing to Qing Deng's right front, unaware that he was within Qing Deng's slashing range.

Because Qing Deng's height was far above the average for adult men of that era, and because the blade of his sword, Ding Guishen, was longer than that of a regular katana, many unskilled fools often died because they "misjudged Qing Deng's attack range."

The instant after slaying the enemy who had made such a basic mistake as "misjudging the distance," Qing Deng slightly raised the blade of Ding Guishen, adjusted the direction of the blade, and then delivered a simple, unadorned horizontal thrust towards a tall man directly in front of him.