RAW: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n6073cm/33/
TL: MayonaizeShrimp
ED: Karuma
Happy new year, everybody!!!
Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!!
I’ll be roaming around and asking pocket money to my relatives. Hopefully, the traffic won’t be too bad.
Enjoy the chapter~
Jirou ran like a whirlwind through the rain of machine gun bullets. Not long after, the 『Hunter』, who found his machine gun nozzle clogged with a shuriken inside, quickly ditched his weapon and switched to a bazooka, fired it, and caused a huge explosion.
The 『Hunter』 seemed to notice that the other soldiers had fallen, but he paid no mind. He instantly grabbed his blade of light on his waist, the 『Beam Saber』, and swung it towards Jirou.
*CLANG*
The sound between clashing between a light blade and darkness blade spread around the battlefield. It was Jirou, who should have been in the middle of the previous explosion.
Even with a blade about the same size as a dagger, Jirou managed to fight toe-to-toe with the beam saber. If it was a regular dagger, the blade would melt instantly and the wielder would be sliced in half. However, Jirou’s blade is the highest tier a 『Shinobi』 could get, the assassin blade Yami.
It’s the strongest sword that came with an extremely low drop rate from the boss of the spirit world back in the Sengoku Samurai Senki.
The blade has high attack power, prevents any weapon destroying ability, and could ignore defense from non-boss creatures. The weapon was once hailed as balance breaker due to the fact that it is so lightweight that it could be swung without any weight.
That blade is currently crossing with the shining future weapon, beam saber.
「You reacted to that……!」
「You can’t kill me with this degree of strength」
The two exchanged words without expression. But they are pushing each other while putting more force on their blades. It was Jirou who break the stalemate. He had completed his ninjutsu in midst of locking swords.
「Fire Element: Raging Flames!!」
Pillar of flames erupted from where the 『Hunter』 stood and swallowed him whole.
Then suddenly, Jirou quickly jumped back to dodge a bullet that came his way.
He looked towards the sky and found that the 『Hunter』 managed to jump higher than the fire pillar. Not only reading Jirou’s ninjutsu, but completely avoiding it. But considering the strength of the flames, his feet must at least suffered some serious damage?
The 『Hunter』 swung his beam saber in the air, creating a cutting wave which Jirou quickly dodged. Responding to the attack, Jirou gathered his killing intent in his blade of darkness and sent out an attack as well. Those attacks canceled each other out.
「You are one hell of a troublesome fellow to read」
「You are the one that is hard to read. The word “troublesome” is not enough to describe you」
Except the two of them, no one else could perceive the fight between them, all the other soldier could do was stand and watch. The two of them created an unusually quiet place on the battlefield where they could go all out and show all of their strengths.
In their surrounding, their soldiers attack each other, shed blood, and collapsed, but the 『Shinobi Chief』 and the 『Hunter』 were nowhere to be found.
But in reality, both of them were exchanging attacks using blades of light and darkness in extreme speed. Due to their equal strength, they continued tearing each other.
Little by little, both of them were starting to accumulate scratches on their arms, cheeks, waist, and scattered blood around. Each time the blades came in contact, either one of them gets hurt or a loud metallic sound was heard. Slight red traces spread throughout their body.
Finally, the two of them retreated back to safe distance.
Both of them couldn’t hear anything from their surrounding, breathing heavily, blades drawn. The one who broke the silence, the one who moved firstー is the 『Hunter』.
Unlike his previous actions, discarding his defense, the 『Hunter』 turned every enemy in front of him into prey of his blade. His attacks couldn’t be compared to what Jirou had blocked before. His blade was now faster and heavier.
He tried to avoid the attack and counter the 『Hunter』, who had abandoned his defense, but suddenly the beam saber grew longer in front of him and cut his shoulder deeply. He jumped back to avoid the attack but it still managed to damage his body.
The 『Hunter』 didn’t miss the opportunity and raised the output of his beam saber, then attack Jirou before he could regain his momentum and giving him a one-sided beating. But Jirou kept waiting, even at the expense of his life, waiting for the chance to use his final trump card that could reverse the defensive fight.
The 『Hunter』 kept slashing at Jirou, who could barely block his attacks. It’s obvious that Jirou was severely weakened due to blood loss. And finally, Jirou suddenly fell on his knees, either from too much blood or because of his age.
「Don’t…!」
In response to his meek beg, an overhead slash came to Jirou’s direction. But Jirou was waiting for this exact moment. Jirou then lunge forward and gladly receive the blade, causing a huge cut wound on his body.
「What!?」
Even the calm and composed 『Hunter』 couldn’t anticipate the action. When his brain finally recognized what happened, it was too late. The Jirou in front of him was nothing but a clone. After being cut by the 『Hunter』, the wound starting to glow and releasing a huge amount of heat.
「Tch…!!」
The『Hunter』 clicked his tongue and tried to retreat back, but Jirou’s clone combusted and caused a massive explosion.
It was a combination of Jirou’s shinobi skill, 【Clone Creation】 and 【Atomic Requiem】. The former creates an alter ego, while the latter sacrifice his own life to create massive damage to the enemy. In the game, combining these skill is impossible, but in this world, the alter ego has its own body and HP, so he can use the skill to create an explosion at the expense of his clone.
The combination creates a body that restricts the『Hunter』’s attack and prevented him from escaping the Atomic Requiem.
「Haaa… haaa……」
Meanwhile, Jirou was looking at the explosion from a distance away. An Empire soldier noticed him but Jirou quickly kicked his head without even looking. If the soldier dies, he dies. (TL: it directly translates to “if the soldier lives, he’s lucky. if the soldier dies, he’s unlucky”) After the sand clouds dissipated, the 『Hunter』 could be seen on his knees while holding his discharged beam saber.
「To think that you even give that much strength to your clone… Are you even sane?」
「You can’t expect anything less from a shinobi」
Jirou walked without sound towards the 『Hunter』 who was seriously injured and couldn’t move and quickly landed a hit on his neck. The empire soldiers who saw the state of their commander quickly drop their weapons and surrendered. Then Jirou commanded his soldiers to take them to prison and confiscate their enemies’ weapons.
But while doing so, he forgot to keep watch at the 『Hunter』’s fallen body. The only thing left was just a black suit that he wore, everything else melted like a black stain on the ground.
「So he escaped… No way, did he imitate me? But… since when did he have this kind of power… I’ll think about it later. Please ask the Mage squad to tell Masaki-dono via telepathy that the Hunter has retreated. Tell him to open a path right into the enemy headquarter」
「Yes, sir!」
The mage who received the message agreed to tell Masaki via telepathy.
Jirou, who still feel uneasy by the 『Hunter』’s disappearance, ran all the way back to the headquarter.