I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Although the tall man subconsciously stepped half a step to the side in an attempt to dodge Qing Deng's thrust, his slightly slow reaction speed and agility made it impossible for him to land Qing Deng's lightning-fast attack.

The tall man had barely lifted his foot when his chest was pierced through. A "plop" sound followed, like liquid splattering.

"Damn it! Go to hell!"

A loud, forceful shout came from the left.

At the same time, a sense of approaching presence surged from the right.

Qingdeng quickly looked to his left and right. There was one person on his left and three on his right... They charged at him menacingly, swords drawn, intending to attack Qingdeng head-on.

Enemies are approaching from both the east and west... If we continue to stand here like idiots, we'll be attacked from both sides.

Qing Deng took a deep breath, exerted force in his hand, and forcefully twisted the blade of Ding Guishen inside the enemy whose chest he had pierced, thus breaking apart the muscles that were contracting and clamping the blade of Ding Guishen due to the excruciating pain.

As he withdrew the spirit-stabilizing spell, Qing Deng used his left hand to pull out the wakizashi from the waist of his enemy, who was right in front of him and was barely breathing.

Qing Deng is now in a position where he is holding a katana in his right hand and a wakizashi in his left.

The reason why Qing Deng took the enemy's wakizashi was not because he suddenly had a whim and wanted to try his hand at dual-wielding.

Dual-wielding is a very difficult sword style. Although Qing Deng's left side is just as agile as his right side due to his "left-handed" talent, dual-wielding is not something that can be mastered simply by being agile enough on the left side.

To master the dual-wielding style, both sufficient strength and superb skills are indispensable.

In short, without extensive practice, rashly using dual-wielding will only cause the two swords to interfere with each other, resulting in a decrease in strength rather than an increase.

Why did Qing Deng, who had never used a dual-wielding style before, suddenly wield two swords? Qing Deng gave the answer in the next instant.

As he slid under his feet and swiftly retreated from the enemy he was currently standing on, Qing Deng bumped into an enemy with a large nose.

The big-nosed man hadn't yet entered a tense, battle-ready state and was slow to react. He only came to his senses after Qingdeng bumped into him, but it was too late.

The instant he collided head-on with the big-nosed man, Qing Deng shoved the wakizashi in his left hand into the man's chest, leaving it inside the man's body without retracting it.

When separating from the big-nosed man, to ensure he was completely dead, Qing Deng didn't forget to forcefully twist the wakizashi inside him once more.

To enrich his offensive repertoire—that's why Qing Deng suddenly picked up two swords.

Just then, a loud shout clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"There's only Tachibana Seiden here! The chance to avenge our comrades who died because of this hateful traitor has come! Surround him! Don't let him escape! No matter how good he is, he can't possibly be a match for so many of us!"

It was Kamino's voice.

……

……

After a brief moment of shock, the members of the Extermination Group gradually came to their senses and realized what was happening.

At first, when Qing Deng suddenly appeared, most people, including Jin Ye, thought that government officials had arrived.

The government officials have arrived? How could that be! How could they have arrived so quickly! Has our plan been exposed?

He couldn't help but come up with all sorts of guesses, and his expression suddenly changed.

But when they looked around and found that there were no other officers around or behind Qing Deng, and realized that Qing Deng seemed to be the only one who had come, Jin Ye and the others were initially surprised but then delighted.

How dare this Tachibana Aoto charge at us all by himself? Kamino and the others were shocked.

This Tachibana Aoto actually dared to charge at us all by himself! Kamino and the others were overjoyed.

Out of caution, Shinno also carefully observed his surroundings to check for any traps.

But as he gradually realized that he had been worrying too much and that Tachibana Aoto really was attacking them all by himself, a look of joy that he couldn't hide began to appear on Jinno's face.

Although it's unclear how Aoto discovered so quickly that the settlement was under attack by their anti-foreign group, or what possessed him to dare to confront them alone without any companions... whatever the answer to these questions, in Jinno's eyes, Aoto's current actions are nothing short of courting death.

We haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you damned traitor have come here to die!

A ferocious smile appeared on Jinno's cheeks.

However, amidst his elation, Kamino maintained the composure and analytical ability expected of a leader.

The fact that Qing Deng, a "three-time" officer of the Northern Garrison, has appeared at this time and place means that the Edo Magistrate's Office is very likely aware of the unusual situation at the residence!

In other words, after a short period of time, the Edo Magistrate's Office and the thieves Kai, who are currently cooperating with the Edo Shogunate to suppress the "radical anti-foreign faction," will very likely arrive soon...

This Tachibana Aoto might just have been sent as a vanguard to conduct preliminary reconnaissance of the settlement...

Jinno slowly suppressed the wild joy on his face, his expression turning serious.

If that is indeed the case... then they can no longer stay in their place of residence!

Without hesitation, Kanno shouted at the top of his lungs, "The only one who came was Tachibana Aoto..."

Aoto, who had a blood feud with the anti-foreign group, was one of the targets that Kamino had set for killing.

Since this hateful traitor who was destined to be killed sooner or later has delivered himself to our door tonight... there's no reason not to swallow this incredible gift that's like "manna from heaven"!

Jinye's current plan is quite clear—to kill all the barbarians in Qingdeng and Bright's mansions before the government's main force arrives!

Jinno wasn't too worried about whether he had the ability to complete his plan successfully.

There are 67 of us on our side, including myself! 67 against 1, we can exhaust this traitor to death—Kano confidently asserted.

……

……

Jinno's shouts had a significant effect.

Some people who were still stunned and at a loss because of Qingdeng's sudden appearance regained their composure.

Some people may have had intense fighting spirit and hatred in their eyes because of relatives or friends who were injured or killed by Qingdeng in the past.

The bloody battle between 1 and 67... officially begins now!

An enemy, assuming a high stance, charged from Qingdeng's left with an indomitable spirit, determined to smash Qingdeng's head.

However—he failed to smash Qingdeng's head.

After glancing at the enemy's location, Qing Deng raised his sword horizontally.

clang!

The excessively loud clanging of metal made one wonder if one of the two men's swords had broken.

Upon closer inspection—although the two men's knives were not broken, a small nick appeared at the point where their blades collided.

Since rescuing Sanako tonight, Qing Deng has been wielding the Demon-Slaying Blade to kill enemies... Under the continuous battles, it is only natural that the blade is damaged.

—Then I'll have to send the spirit-fixing device for repair again…

The enemy who was exchanging blows with Qing Deng spread his legs, planted his feet on the ground, and exerted his strength in his waist, attempting to wrestle with Qing Deng.

He was surrounded by seemingly endless enemies. If he stood still and struggled with this guy, he would only expose many weaknesses that would give the other enemies around him an opportunity to exploit.

Clearly understanding the implications, Qing Deng exhaled a breath of turbid air and then suddenly dodged to the left! He flashed to the right side of his enemy, sword and all, extricating himself from the struggle!

The enemy, who had not anticipated Qingdeng's sudden dodge, was unable to stop in time and his body fell forward due to inertia.

At that moment, Qing Deng's strike came.

The two were so close that Qingdeng didn't even need to move his feet; he could easily strike any part of the enemy's body with a simple swing of his sword.

Before he could even readjust his posture and center of gravity, the guy could only watch helplessly as the blade of the "Demon-Slaying Blade" got closer and closer to his head... and the watermelon burst open.

嘣！嗖！

From the right front came the sound of a bowstring snapping and an arrow whistling through the air... Qing Deng looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a rather tall enemy holding a Japanese bow not far away, with the bowstring pointing directly at him, the bowstring still trembling slightly because an arrow had just been released.

Of the 66 men that Jinno brought to the settlement tonight, 10 are archers who are specifically responsible for shooting arrows.

In the assassination attempt several months earlier, which aimed to ambush Anthony and Elodie, their anti-foreign group used about a dozen matchlock guns, which they had bought at great expense from the Rakshasa of the Fa-ju-dō (Buddhist Extermination Party), and which were said to be made in the Mito Domain.

According to the men who escaped from the operation, which ended in a disastrous defeat, these matchlock guns were simply too ineffective. They were inaccurate, had a slow rate of fire, and only when they were used in large numbers could they be sufficiently lethal.

A mere few or a dozen matchlock guns... their greatest purpose was probably just to boost morale.

After carefully listening to his subordinates' feedback and suggestions, Kanna finally realized: muskets are ultimately just fancy tricks! Bows and arrows are much better!

Having gained this insight, Kanna abandoned his musket and decided to devote himself entirely to using the bow and arrow.

—Bows and arrows, huh…?

Qing Deng suddenly recalled the new talent he had copied from that "bearded middle-aged man" a few days ago: master of the bow.

His archery talent is increased 10 times that of ordinary people... This is the second talent that Qing Deng copied after "Sword Prodigy" to "enhance martial arts ability".

While it's generally a good thing to have the new talent copied... this "Bow Master" is still a bit too useless for Qing Deng.

Qing Deng wasn't very interested in archery. In an era where steam engines and ironclad warships had already appeared, he was more interested in traditional American martial arts than archery.

Qing Deng had no idea that the "bearded middle-aged man" who possessed the talent of "master of the bow" was actually the best archer in the Extermination Group.

The 10 samurai chosen by Kamino to be responsible for carrying the bow tonight are the most skilled archers in their anti-foreign group.

However, despite being known as "the most skilled archers," their actual archery skills compared to ordinary people are probably only 60 points and 50 points apart.

Only wealthy families had the resources and money to learn archery, while almost all the members of their anti-barbarian group were lower-middle-class samurai whose living standards were far from ideal.

The poor economic conditions resulted in a terrible educational environment, meaning that almost no one in the anti-foreign group received rigorous archery training from a young age.

Therefore, the archery skills of these 10 enemies who are now wielding bows are far from being excellent.

These people weren't particularly skilled archers to begin with, and the current situation, with "Qingdeng surrounded by many of their companions," made them even more hesitant to act rashly, greatly limiting their ability to perform.

However, an arrow is still an arrow, and its threat level cannot be ignored.

Throughout history, how many heroes have died from cold arrows?

—We need to find a way to get rid of these archers first…

After shifting his gaze and taking in the positions of each archer, Qingdeng dodged the surrounding enemies who were trying to encircle him, while moving closer to the archer who was closest to him!

"Quick! Stop him! We don't need to kill him, just hinder his movements! As long as we can restrict his actions, he's finished!"

In front of Qingdeng, four enemies of roughly the same height stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a human wall. They roared and surged towards Qingdeng like a giant wave.

As if he didn't see the wall of people pressing straight towards him, Qing Deng expressionlessly shook his sword with a forceful shake, sending the blood and grease remaining on his blade flying into the darkness where the moonlight couldn't reach.

Qingdeng slightly raised his gaze, letting his eyes look past the wall of people in front of him and towards the back of the wall.

To be precise—look at the guy who had just shouted, "If we can restrict his movements, he's finished," and instructed his four companions to form this human wall, and who was now hiding behind the human wall.

He was a burly man with very thick eyebrows.