Volume 2
Side Story 4
Going and
Coming Together, Competing with Each Other in a Freeze Tag
Translator : PolterGlast
"Chī~i~i,
eri~yaa~a~a~a~!!"
Kaede and Sonomi were
facing off against Kanou and his men.
As soon as the battle
began, it was Kanou's subordinate who fired the first attack.
With a distinctive
yell, he unleashed a thrust using his physical strength, which had been
strengthened through [Aragamioroshi].
The thrust, which was
slightly forceful and curved, still accurately caught Kaede in the center as
she held the naginata.
Kaede looked at the
tip of the blade that was coming at her,
"―Faster!!"
Kaede was not
intimidated by the thrust, and took a smooth step forward with a sharp,
powerful attack.
The huge amount of
spiritual power that was concentrated in the tip of the naginata roared and
carved a trail of Yamabuki (Japanese Kerria) in the air.
Aiming at the flank of
the approaching blade.
Clash.
The blade of the
naginata glided across the tachi blade's surface, scraping each other's
spiritual energy with a grinding sound.
The repulsion caused
by the interference between the spiritual powers shaved the blades' ridges, and
finally the trajectory of the thrust was deflected to the other side.
"Fu~u~!!?
Gu~"
The moment the man's
upper body withstood the force, the naginata's blade slammed into his torso.
The unbearable pain
literally bent the man's body into a crumpled position.
Kaede drew her
spiritual power, not missing a few moments of opening gained from her first
move,
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"―Hangetsu
Narashi!"
―Dun.
An intangible
shockwave hit the man's internal organs and reaped his consciousness without
warning.
"Damn you!!"
From the shadow of the
crumpled man, two person came in pursuit, swinging their blades in a pincer
formation from the left and right,
―Good.
Kaede was honestly
impressed.
There was only one
person standing in front of them, and it was a woman.
Although they wanted
to maintain their honour, they made no pretence and used one of them as a decoy
to block Kaede's view, then used their coordination of pursuit to ensure they
could seize her head while blocking her escape route.
This was a kind of
standard strategy.
―As expected of Ugetsu Clan, the first of the eight
families, the leading warrior clan!!
But that was why it
would be easy to read.
The distance between
them is still far, but the man on the right swings his tachi in a vertical
slash with roaring spiritual power.
It is a basic spirit
technique to attack an opponent from a distance.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"―Engetsu!"
A slash of water
element that was released loomed over her.
Kaede, unfazed by the
impending death, made the tip of her naginata leap from hi-no-kamae stance, as
though she was dancing.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Chuden―
"―Mado
Rogetsu!"
The Yamabuki-coloured
spiritual light traced the path of the naginata in the air and intercepted the
vertical slash head-on.
The water blade
dispersed, leaving behind a distinctive piercing sound and impact. The
spiritual light was scattered,
―The third man dived into Kaede's shadow and delivered
a finishing blow.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Chuden―
"―Yumiharidzuki!"
The slash as if
scooping up from below to above, extended towards Kaede's left shoulder.
Along its trajectory,
the blade of the spirit light carved the void.
―As expected, he's quite skilled. Is he aiming for a
follow-up attack with a series of chuden techniques?
His firm, certain
stance to cut off Kaede's escape route and finish her off is worthy enough of
recognition.
―However, it is not good enough. Perhaps he doesn't
have much experience with naginata users.
The greatest advantage
of naginata is that, unlike tachi, it can maintain its attack without
interruption by rotating its Hosaki (spearheads) and Ishizuki (bottom tip of
the spear).
Kaede's victory was
assured as soon as he tried to compare his consecutive technique speeds using a
tachi against a naginata opponent.
Kaede dodged, and drew
her naginata as if to reel it in.
At that moment, the
naginata rotated and its Ishizuki was launched toward the man's jaw.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Futatsu
Dokuraku!"
Originating from
Ishiuki, a shockwave jolted the man's brain, plunging the second man's
consciousness into darkness.
Still in the same
stance, Kaede swung her naginata while channeling her spiritual power, and
moved forward, shattering the last remaining man's attack.
The man's tachi and
the spearhead of the naginata interlocked sending sparks flying.
"Nu~……,
gu~u"
The moment the blades
met, an involuntary gasp escaped from the man's throat.
With his physique,
which should be superior in terms of height, physical strength and even
experience, he was still unable to push forward any further.
Not only that, but he
was slowly being pushed.
An unusual spirit
light rose up from the girl.
With a high-ranked
spirit as her supporting power, she forcefully overturned the difference in
ability.
Abandoning all other
considerations, she squeezed out her spiritual power to the limit.
Having gone to such
lengths, she finally succeeded in competing with the man's physical strength.
Therefore, the man had
no choice but to acknowledge it.
"...... So
strong."
"Ara~? I thought
you would be reluctant to acknowledge it."
"Since it took
the three of us working together to achieve this, it would be a disgrace not to
acknowledge it. But this is as far as it goes. It's about time Kanou-sama and
Yanagi-dono joined the fray after crushing that woman in the back. Their
strength cannot be compared to ours. She is definitely no match for them."
"Yeah. Of course,
we are aware of that."
Kaede's voice was
tinged with an unintentional tone of mockery.
In the standard
practice of ambush, it is stated that those who block the retreat route are
assigned to those who are not good at frontal combat.
Naturally, the method
of dealing with it is based on this standard, and Kanou and his men make
decisions in accordance with it.
The general outline of
the tactic is to keep the frontal opponents in check with their numbers, strike
the opponents blocking the retreat route with the greatest strength at hand, and
turn the tables and sweep the remaining opponents afterward.
"Therefore, this
is our victory. We understood the standard practice after all."
"What ......, did
you say ............!!"
He understood the
meaning of the words and turned back in shock.
What was reflected in
his field of vision was the flash of brilliant white and silver that Sonomi
unleashed.
――――――――――――――――
Shortly before the
battle came to an end.
As soon as the battle
between Kaede and Kanou's men began, the one known as Yanagi closed the gap
with a gliding gait toward Sonomi.
If things were going
as expected, Yanagi should be the strongest among Kanou's men.
At the very least, his
swordsmanship would undoubtedly be superior.
Based on the spirit
light that he radiated, his spirit rank should be considerably above the middle
rank.
Although Sonomi
possesses a high-ranking spirit and has a good chance of winning, but her
opponent is probably aware of that already.
Since they are both
water technique users, they know each other's moves, and a hard fight is
inevitable.
If Kanou were to join
the fray after being slowed down by Yanagi, Sonomi's defeat would be certain.
"It was you guys
who ambushed us. ―There's no way you're going to call us cowards, right!?"
Kanou's provocation
flew from behind Yanagi.
Hearing his words, a
wry smile appeared at the corner of Sonomi's mouth.
There's no way that's
the case.
To be honest, being
boastful of one's victory simply based on one's numbers is a problem.
Still, perhaps seeing
the wry smile as an opportunity, Yanagi took a big step forward about 5.4
meters in front of Sonomi.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Shoden―
"―Engetsu!"
The spiritual power
blade unleashed toward its target, drawing trails of water vapour.
―Perhaps because it is a basic spirit technique,
Engetsu is a technique that can be used in many different ways, and the habits
of individuals are often most apparent.
The Engetsu that
Yanagi unleashed is one of them.
Although it is not
powerful in terms of its slashing power, it has the characteristic of sending
out a shockwave that repels the opponent when it is fired.
In exchange for being
extremely fragile and therefore unsuitable for use against defiled beasts, it
is quite a powerful technique when used against people.
Both Sonomi and Yanagi
know that the one-second opening created by repelling the opponent is worth a
great deal in a fight against humans.
Therefore, when Sonomi
was forced to intercept this technique, Yanagi was convinced that he had established
a path to victory.
―But,
"Buaa~a~a~a!!"
With a flash of
determination, Sonomi swung her tachi from its lower stance to the upper,
slashing off the Engetsu.
Not even the sound of
the spirit technique being destroyed echoed, let alone the impact that Yanagi
had expected.
Unusually calm, the
Engetsu he unleashed turned into spirit light and fizzled away.
"Wha~!!"
Yanagi's eyes widened
at the sight he saw for the first time.
He was not surprised
that it was intercepted. He was surprised that there was no impact he had
expected.
That meant he could
not even make a second opening.
Continous techniques
are based on the premise that the opponent is suppressed with the first blow,
due to the great power of the initial strike.
Now that that plan has
collapsed, it is obvious that if they go on like this, they will expose their
vulnerable sides to their opponents.
Even so, his body has
already entered the initial phase of releasing the consecutive techniques.
The fact that he did
not have the skill to forcibly interrupt the technique and re-start it was
probably the decisive factor in Yanagi's defeat.
Gioin-style
Spirit Technique, Consecutive Technique―
"―Nejiri kanza-! ......Uggh!"
Sonomi slipped deep
into Yanagi's vulnerable bosom, who was poised for a wide horizontal strike in
order to unleash a consecutive technique, and delivered a single slash that
easily reaped Yanagi's consciousness.
"What the hell
......!!"
Kanou could not hide
his agitation as he saw a mere normal slash, which was neither a spirit
technique nor a sword technique, subdued Yanagi.
Yanagi was undoubtedly
one of the strongest of Kanou's men.
Even Kanou
acknowledged that even though he might not be able to reach the level of a
guardian, Yanagi was talented enough to be allowed to be regarded as the
strongest as a protector possessing a medium-level spirit.
At the very least,
there was no doubt that he was a gem with more than a 90% win rate in
interpersonal fights.
She finished off Yanagi
with a single blow, without even allowing him to put up any resistance.
In this unbelievable
scene, Kanou unconsciously searched for the possibility of escape, even though
he understood that it was impossible.
As expected, it's
impossible.
At the very least,
there would be no option left for Kanou to survive unless he could defeat
Sonomi in front of him.
―Even if he managed to escape, the moment this incident
became public knowledge, Kanou's life as Ugetsu's vassal would come to an end.
Because the number of
vassals who are vying to be next in line for a seat is not enough to fill ten
fingers.
Without a second
thought to the fallen Yanagi, Sonomi closed the distance between them.
"............
D-Don't underestimate me!!"
The distance between
them was about to disappear within a fraction of a second, and he desperately
tried to muster up his fighting spirit, which was on the verge of breaking
down.
He was no longer drunk
and his spiritual power flooded his body.
The distance is
sufficient. In a battle of spirit techniques that was about to unfold, Kanou
was given the first move.
Kanou invoked a spirit
technique that was most natural to him.
Gioin-style Spirit
Technique, Chuden―
"―Seigetsu-no-Kagami!"
Along the trajectory
of the drawn tachi, ripples of spiritual power spread out in multiple layers.
Even if one can handle
a single impact, it is impossible for one to handle two or three overlapping
impacts.
This is a spirit
technique that is excellent both offensively and defensively.
Although it is
difficult to master, Kanou's trump card is a technique that can be used in
various situations.
―However, Kanou did not realize that his opponent had
already expected this. This alone could determine the outcome between victory
and defeat.
As the ripples of
spiritual power approached to intercept her, Sonomi sped forward with her tachi
in a flanking stance.
Although the blade was
imbued with spiritual power, it was a mere slash that could not even be called
a sword technique.
The moment it collided
with the ripples, all the ripples were slashed all at once.
There was no sound of
the ripples being shattered, and they vanished without a trace.
"Damn you! True
Reversal, Dogyou's ......!!"
His spirit technique
is being slashed. This phenomenon finally made Kanou aware of the true identity
of the one he was facing.
The woman's kimono
fluttered and a small family crest sewn into the edge of the kosode peeked out.
―Two fans and a single branch of plum blossoms.
The seventh rank of
the eight families, the Dogyou family.
Among the eight
families, they are the least notable in terms of spiritual power.
They are rarely seen
in public, and although they are the nobility of their domain, they are also
famous for not socializing as a noble family.
However, they have one
famous trait.
The spirits they carry
are always water spirits and always have a yang-energy nature.
In the tai chi
diagram, the water element corresponds to the extremity of yin qi.
However, it is not
only yin qi, there is also a yang qi counterpart as its accompanying element.
And Dogyou is a rare
family that possesses this trait.
The yang qi of the
water element. This means that it is possible to both interfere with and
nullify the techniques of water element techniques under limited conditions.
It was an absolute
advantage over the same water users.
Hence, there are
spirit techniques in the Gioin style that can only be exercised by the Dogyou
family.
Unusual spirit
techniques that can only be used to eliminate users of the same water lineage.
This technique is also
referred to with awe and hatred as a Killing Technique,
Gioin-style Spirit
Technique, Variant――Byakuyadzuki.
Whether it was Yanagi
or Kanou, as long as they failed to notice this, defeat was a certainty.
Sonomi unleashed a
returning strike and hit Kanou's throat with tachi's back-edge, and Kanou's
consciousness sank into darkness as he fainted in agony.
――――――――――――――――
TIPS: About Dogyou
Family.
The seventh of the
eight families, Sonomi is the second daughter of the current head of the
family.
The spiritual power
they possess is the lowest of the eight families. However, they are not to be underestimated,
as the family's bloodline is imbued with yang qi of the water element.
Variant, Byakuyadzuki.
There was a rumor that they were able to rise to the top of the eight families
with this spirit technique alone, but since they would only lose in a fight,
the rumor then stopped.
―After so many years, several countermeasures have been
developed, so in order for them to be absolutely victorious, they must win the
battle on their first encounter with their enemy.
The reason why Sonomi
was appointed as Gioin's personal attendant was as a countermeasure against the
imbalance of power within the nobility, which was about to collapse because
Akira was sought as Gioin's son-in-law, breaking the long-standing custom.
The sad fact is that,
as Gioin's personal attendant, Sonomi is aware of various behind-the-scenes
matters, while the current head of the family is unaware of them.
-----
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