I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The Fire Thieves are currently conducting a full-scale mobilization to oversee the "Red Feather Family Annihilation Case".

Therefore, the government offices, which hold a position comparable to the "headquarters," will be bustling with activity for some time to come!

Every day, a large number of team members from various squads come and go inside and outside this magnificent mansion.

According to my grandson's estimate, nearly half of the entire army is stationed in the government office tonight!

In other words, choosing to attack this place tonight is tantamount to starting a war with half a fire-wielding thief!

From this perspective, these unidentified intruders were indeed unfortunate. But from another angle... they were also very lucky.

Because they don't need to directly confront the most elite troops of the Fire Thieves!

The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions are the four units with the best overall quality in Fire Thieves Mod.

For various reasons, most of the members of these four teams were far away at this time.

Simply put, although there are many soldiers available for my grandson and others to deploy to repel the invaders, they are not elite enough.

"My grandson!" Kurosawa exclaimed urgently, "This is not the time for such witty remarks!"

"Lord Kurosawa, please calm down." My grandson smiled. "There's no need to be so nervous. As long as we make good use of our equipment and numbers, it won't be difficult to repel or even kill the invaders."

After speaking, my grandson turned his head and looked directly at Okubo and Kurosawa behind him.

"Lord Okubo, Lord Kurosawa, please gather arquebuses and bows immediately. With arquebuses and bows, everything will be much easier. Mizushima and I will do our best to hold off the enemy, so please hurry."

"Buy...time?" Kimura Kazuma interjected, frowning. "How do you plan to buy time?"

"Ha~~ Is that even a question?" My grandson shrugged, looking at Kimura with a mocking expression. "The invaders are clearly no pushovers. Ordinary squad members are no match for them, so... it's up to us squad leaders to take action ourselves! Mizushima-kun! Let's go!"

Before he finished speaking, my grandson leaped over the stair railing and landed squarely on the stairwell connecting the second and third floors, blocking Qingdeng's path as he charged forward.

"To think you could even reach this place... you thief, you're quite capable. From now on, I, my grandson Chutaro, will be your opponent!"

……

……

My grandson drew his sword from his waist with great flair.

"My grandson, step back! You're clearly not a fighter, so don't charge ahead!"

Another male voice, very familiar to Qingdeng, came from above.

Immediately afterwards, a tall, burly man descended from the sky and landed steadily beside my grandson.

—My grandson…Mizushima…

Looking at my grandson and Mizushima, who stood like guardian deities on either side of me, Aoto was overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

Despite having prepared himself mentally beforehand, Qing Deng's feelings still became uncontrollably complicated when he actually found himself in this situation of "facing each other with swords."

"Thief, surrender."

As Mizushima spoke, he drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance.

"Otherwise—swords have no eyes!"

Splash splash splash splash...!

At that moment, Qingdeng heard a torrent of footsteps behind him.

"gentlemen."

Sa-heung's breath tickled Aoto's ear. To prevent her identity from being revealed, she deliberately referred to him only as "sir," omitting his real name.

"A large number of enemies are coming from the rear. If we do not break through quickly, we may be in danger of being attacked from both sides."

"...Yes, I understand."

After saying that, Qingdeng suddenly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

—Come to think of it...I've never fought against my grandson-kun or Mizushima-kun before...

With this thought in mind, Qing Deng slowly opened his eyes—a strong fighting spirit leaped out from under his eyelids!

"Hahaha... As expected, it wasn't that easy to persuade them to surrender..."

My grandson chuckled a few times upon seeing this.

"...Thief, although I don't quite understand why you're not using a real knife, let me make this clear: I will absolutely not hold back!"

A chilling glint flashed from the depths of Mizushima's eyes.

"Enough with the nonsense."

Ignoring my grandson's self-deprecating humor and Mizushima's warning, Qing Deng quietly raised his bamboo sword, assumed the Kasumi stance, and then shouted in a disguised voice:

"Bring it on!"

The moment he finished speaking, his body and sword transformed into a flash of afterimages!

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng closed the distance between himself and my grandson and Mizushima in one breath.

The wind howled, and clothes fluttered in the wind!

To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first. Qing Deng decided to take down Mizushima, the strongest and most threatening man to him, first.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng's right arm snapped open like a broken bowstring.

The bamboo sword made a soft "whoosh" sound as it swept horizontally toward where Mizushima was standing.

A brilliant strike.

If Mizushima hadn't dodged in time, he would definitely have been cut down on the spot.

Qing Deng scraped the ground with his toes, intending to launch a further pursuit of Mizushima.

But at that moment, my grandson suddenly took action!

Suddenly, my grandson spread his elbows wide, leaned his upper body, and pounced on Qingdeng like a gust of wind. A silver snake flew out from under his armpits and headed straight for Qingdeng's lower body.

Qingdeng raised an eyebrow as he watched his grandson's blade slash at him.

He could tell at a glance that my grandson's swordsmanship was rather mediocre.

Such skills... are probably only good enough to deal with ordinary people who don't know martial arts.

It seems the rumors are true; my grandson is a pure scholar who is "good at thinking but bad at physical things."

However, while my grandson's individual fighting skills are average, his sense of smell is very keen.

He accurately seized the opportunity when Qing Deng's old strength was exhausted and his new strength was not yet available, and launched an offensive in a timely manner.

However, no matter how sensitive one's sense of smell is, it's all for naught if one doesn't have the physical abilities and skills to maximize that advantage.

Qingdeng merely took half a step back to dodge my grandson's knife.

—Compared to the "Fire-Bearing Dragon", the person we need to be most careful of is indeed the "Fire-Bearing Tiger"!

As Qing Deng pondered this, he refocused his gaze and attention on the Mizushima he had just forced back—buzz—in that instant, Qing Deng's vision was filled with a cold, silvery light!

It's Mizushima's sword!

Mizushima leaped into the air, his sword slashing down at Aoto's crown with the force of a mountain crashing down.

Qing Deng instinctively wanted to raise his sword to defend himself, but he quickly remembered that the weapon he was using was not the real thing, but a bamboo sword.

Using a bamboo sword to block a real knife... will only result in a tragedy where the sword is destroyed and the person dies.

Therefore, Qing Deng had no choice but to change his tactics.

At this point, the advantage of those who have fought many battles and have extremely rich combat experience became apparent.

In the blink of an eye, Qingdeng came up with a countermeasure that could replace "defense" and did not require dodging!

In an instant, consciousness guides the body. The body moves with the mind!

Snapped!

Bang!

The sound of footsteps that seemed to crack the floor and the long thud of a bamboo sword striking flesh rang out almost simultaneously.

Facing the blade that Mizushima was slashing at, Qing Deng neither dodged nor flinched, but instead stepped forward with unstoppable momentum, taking the initiative to meet Mizushima head-on!

A sharp blade, capable of easily breaking bones, grazed past Qing Deng's scalp.

If Qing Deng had slowed down even a little, or if Mizushima had been a little faster with his knife, there would definitely be a small, neatly cut piece of skull on the floor right now.

Such a radical and daring fighting style surprised even Mizushima, who had killed countless villains and fought against all sorts of ruthless people.

But what surprised Mizushima even more was yet to come.

Just as Mizushima swung his sword to attack, a slight "crack" appeared in his otherwise flawless stance.

The flaw here was only fleeting.

But as if he had anticipated and calculated it in advance, Qing Deng managed to step forward before the "gap" closed, squeezing through it and exchanging sleeves with Mizushima!

Just as they were about to pass each other in a flash, Qing Deng's bamboo sword struck Mizushima horizontally in the chest.

Mizushima was completely unprepared for Aoto's unexpected attack... Even if he had anticipated it, it wouldn't have mattered, because his body simply couldn't keep up with Aoto's sword speed!

After passing by Mizushima, Qing Deng stopped, turned around with his sword in hand, and saw a swaying, muscular figure.

Mizushima staggered, as if he might fall at any moment.

Qing Deng loosened the five fingers of his right hand.

He could still feel the solid impact of the bamboo sword striking his opponent's body.

If what Aoto was holding was a real knife, then Mizushima is dead now.

"Mizushima-kun, are you alright?"

My grandson asked quickly.

"Hmm... thankfully... I can still fight..."

Mizushima clutched his chest, his face ashen, and turned to face Aoto again.

If it were more than four months ago, when Qing Deng had just joined the Fire Thief Modified, Mizushima might have been able to fight Qing Deng to a standstill, and might even have posed a considerable threat and trouble to Qing Deng.

But now...

With Qing Deng having acquired new powerful talents such as "Divine Speed ​​+4" and "Elephant Core +1", and old talents such as "Tiger Arm" being fused and evolved, Mizushima is no longer a match for Qing Deng.