I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Drink it! Ahhhhhh!"

"Look at the knife!"

The enemy attacking from both sides simultaneously was commendable in its timing, but its speed was simply too slow.

Qingdeng jumped away faster than them and leaped into the room next door.

Splash splash splash splash...

Following closely behind Qingdeng, the enemies filed in, filling every corner of the room like ink spreading.

The enemy, hidden in the shadows, lunged at Qingdeng with a knife.

The moment he sensed a subtle change in the air around him, Qing Deng instinctively twisted away and took a few quick steps forward.

When he turned around, the enemy, unwilling to give up and ready to deliver another blow, was already upon him.

hum!

hum!

Two white blades flashed and whistled through the air.

Qing Deng deflected the enemy's downward slash with his sword.

Immediately afterward, as Qingdeng passed by the enemy, he suddenly lowered his body and swung his sword to sweep across the enemy's waist.

The sensation of the sharp blade cutting through flesh and internal organs flowed continuously from the hilt of the knife to Qing Deng's palm.

Qingdeng didn't even glance at the enemy whose waist had been cut in half, who was lying on the ground barely breathing, before turning to face the next opponent.

"Avenge my father!"

A burly man wielding a golden club immediately attacked.

Kinseibang: A distinctive weapon of ancient Japan. It does not have a fixed form, but rather refers to club-type weapons that have been enhanced and modified with other materials to increase their attack power.

The gold-plated club in the burly man's hand was very simple, with a large number of iron nails embedded only at the tip, and its shape was somewhat like a mace.

As the saying goes: a month of sticks, a year of knives, a lifetime of guns.

This means that if you practice with a staff, a month or two is generally enough; if you practice with a knife, it takes a year before you can use decent moves and perform some proper offense and defense when slashing someone; and if you practice with a spear, you can continue to learn and improve your moves even if you practice for a lifetime.

The stick fighting technique isn't too complicated. If you learn how to generate power, how to vary your attack distance, how to dodge and block, and how to seize the right moment to attack, that's pretty much it.

However, the fact that stick techniques are easy to learn does not mean that they are weak.

Not only does the club have a far greater attack range than ordinary swords, but it also has neither a handguard nor a blade, neither a tip nor a hilt—meaning that every part of the club can be used as a weapon!

If one masters the technique, the ever-changing trajectories of the staff are far beyond the reach of ordinary swordsmen.

Because he was wary of the destructive power and attack range of the Golden Shattering Cudgel, Qing Deng did not rush in.

He cautiously maneuvered against the burly man while waiting for the best opportunity to counterattack.

At the same time, he skillfully dealt with attacks from other enemies coming from different directions.

"Drink up!"

The burly man swung the golden club in his hand like a whirlwind.

Although the strongman's attacks were fierce, if he couldn't hit his opponent, swinging the golden club wildly was just a pure waste of energy.

Soon after, the strong man ran out of strength, causing his movements to slow down by half a beat.

Like a shark smelling blood, Qingdeng charged forward, his blade slicing the golden staff in two between the strong man's left and right hands.

The thick, long gold-plated club was thus transformed into a short stick that could be held in one hand.

The central gate was wide open; death was imminent.

Qingdeng leaped up and pounced on the burly man, killing him in the blink of an eye.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully Replicating Talent: "The Core of the Elephant"]

[Talent Introduction: Superior core strength compared to ordinary people]

[Ding! Detected that the host already possesses a talent of the same type]

[Ding! Initiating talent fusion]

[Ding! "Elephant Core +1" has begun to merge with "Elephant Core"]

[Please wait, host... Please wait, host...]

[Ding! Talent fusion successful]

[Elephant Core +1 Ability Upgrade - Elephant Core +2]

[“Elephant Core +2” Talent Description: The talent effect is enhanced on top of its original effect. “+9” is the highest level.]

……

Upgraded at the last minute.

Qingdeng immediately felt a warm current enveloping his waist.

After the warm current subsided, he felt that the muscles in his waist and abdomen were firmer and his strength was more abundant.

The burly man's blood was still gushing out, but Qing Deng had already leaped to the next pillar of blood—his body rose up, his movements as light as a swallow, and as he swept over someone's head, that person's skull split in two.

When Qingdeng landed, he happened to land in front of an enemy with a very thick beard.

The bearded man froze.

"Drink, drink! Ahhhhhh!"

The next moment, he mustered his courage and raised his knife, but before the knife in his hand could strike, Qing Deng had already disappeared from his sight.

"Over here."

Qingdeng and the bearded man passed each other.

The moment their sleeves touched, the bearded man collapsed to the ground, spitting out blood. His body twitched a few times before he fell still.

As he ripped open the bearded man's abdomen, Qing Deng casually pulled out the wakizashi from the man's waist.

In a flash, Qing Deng threw the wakizashi, which he hadn't even had time to warm up yet, with great force.

The sharpened wakizashi trailed straight through the air, striking a person in the chest.

Immediately afterwards, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Qing Deng swung his knife and knocked someone who approached him from behind to the ground.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!"

Then, a new adversary appeared.

Two enemies of similar height rushed towards Qingdeng from the left and right.

Qing Deng calmly lowered his waist and center of gravity, assuming the stance of the Xia Duan technique, the tip of his blade pointing at the enemy on his left—

Natural Mind-Body Flow: Ignorance!

Echizen's sword, belonging to Tsuri no Kami Kanetsugu, pierced through the body of the enemy on his left.

Qingdeng's attack was not over yet! He swept the blade to the right, cutting through clothes, flesh, and bones to shreds.

The blade sliced ​​through the enemy's body on the left, then swept directly towards the enemy on the right.

The man reacted quickly, immediately turning to the side and holding his katana in front of his chest.

But his resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot in the face of Qing Deng's slashing attack.

When the two blades clashed, the man immediately felt an immense force, as if Mount Tai were pressing down on him, travel along the blades to his body. His arms instantly lost sensation, and his ribs and internal organs seemed to have been displaced by the shock.

His knife was also severely deformed, with the blade bending significantly inward from the point where the two blades met.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Clutching the katana that had been deflected, he stumbled backward until he crashed into the wall, finally stopping his retreat.

"Oh shit!"

"hateful!"

Two more people rushed toward Qingdeng.

But one of them collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, without uttering a sound.

As for the other person...

In his haste, he saw a black scarf flying high, filling his field of vision.

"Varied……"

Before he could even utter a complete "what," his life was ended by Qing Deng's lightning-fast attack.

……

Qingdeng ran around in the various rooms and corridors.

The roles of offense and defense are constantly shifting.

One figure after another fell.

Blood stained the walls and corridors crimson.

Now that the battle has progressed this far, Aoto has to admit that Kitahara Kōnosuke and the others have a very strong fighting spirit.

Logically speaking, after witnessing Qingdeng's formidable strength and seeing their companions being cut down one by one like vegetables, their morale should have collapsed and they should have been scrambling to escape.

However, as of now, no one on Kitahara Konosuke's side has deserted.

Despite the obvious panic and fear on the faces of many of them, they still fought bravely with their swords drawn, refusing to retreat even in the face of death.

From the very beginning of the battle, Qingdeng had already noticed that all the enemies were covered in dragon and phoenix tattoos.

This means that these people are Yakuza.

As for whether they are all Yakuza of the "Shimizu Clan" like Kitahara Kōnosuke, Aoto doesn't know.

The Yakuza, mere foes, possess such a fierce fighting spirit...

It must be their desire for revenge that drives them.

In order to avenge their so-called father, they completely disregarded their own lives.