stonecrandall Page 58
Page 58
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"...I understand. The operation order will be issued immediately. Please keep communication channels open."
As soon as he hung up the phone, Yuecun Ze turned around and ran back.
"Wait, Koshimura-kun!" Nagasaki Motoyo was startled by his sudden action and quickly reached out to grab him, her face full of anxiety and confusion. "What happened? Can you tell me?"
"I think... I've found the little lamp!" Koshimura Sawa replied, "But this hint... probably only I and a few others could understand it..."
After a moment's hesitation, the confusion and worry in Nagasaki Motoyo's eyes were replaced by a resolute gaze.
She released her grip on his wrist, stepped forward, and intertwined her fingers with his.
"I will go with you!"
A gentle evening breeze blows, and under the streetlights, the girl's long hair flutters and scatters, creating a dreamlike scene.
Chapter Sixty-Two: Unrestricted Combat
"Byd, where's the reinforcement you promised? Why haven't they arrived yet?" Koshimura Sawa lowered his voice, parted a gap in the green belt with his hand, and looked at the planetarium's entrance by the dim light of the street lamp.
“The seniors are scattered throughout various areas of Tokyo conducting investigations. Even if they wanted to get here, it wouldn’t be quick,” Nagasaki Motoyo’s somewhat muffled voice came from the side. “And… Koshimura-kun, are you sure this will work?”
"Of course, this is the culmination of the String family's stealth technology."
“But…” Nagasaki Motoyo couldn’t help but tap the cardboard box draped over her that read “Perfectly Ripe Mango”. “It’s just a cardboard box, isn’t it?”
"It's alright. As long as the enemy doesn't have a red exclamation mark above their head, we won't be discovered." Yuecunze pulled the cardboard box with "Ou Mango" written on it down a little further.
【No, I won't even comment on that meme-contamination-like setting, but what's with the name of this cardboard box?】
Just then, the roar of an engine suddenly came from afar.
Koshimura quickly retreated into the bushes, held his breath, and looked in the direction from which the sound came.
A fully loaded heavy semi-trailer truck rolled past the two people on the road and sped off toward the back of the planetarium.
How could a planetarium possibly need such a large vehicle? Is it for transporting equipment?
It wasn't until the truck got closer and closer that Koshimura finally saw it clearly—
At the bottom of the tightly closed carriage door, some black and red liquid seemed to be seeping out.
He suddenly felt as if something was tightly gripping his heart.
"No! There's no time to wait any longer." He nudged Nagasaki Motoyo's cardboard box with his own. "Motoyo."
"Hmm?" Nagasaki Motoyo's voice carried a hint of nervousness.
I have a plan.
------
"Boss, everyone has been counted." The underling respectfully handed over the list with both hands.
"Hmm." The samurai put the cigarette in his mouth, reached out and took the paper, glanced at it casually, and then handed it back to him.
Seeing his younger brother still standing there blankly, he irritably exhaled a puff of smoke: "What are you standing there for? What are you doing?"
"Um... Boss," the underling rubbed his hands together, a fawning smile on his face, "The brothers' been working all day, and someone said they wanted some drinks..."
"Bang!" The samurai kicked him. "What the hell is going on? Still thinking about drinking?"
“Boss, it’s really not the brothers’ fault!” the younger brother said aggrievedly. “Shota’s father died yesterday, and he’s on the verge of a breakdown. We not only have to listen to his wailing, but we also have to be on edge all day long. The pressure is immense.”
"...Sigh." The samurai sighed and waved his hand helplessly. "Go on, go on, a bunch of good-for-nothings!"
The younger brother felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away with a big smile on his face.
"What a mess..." The samurai took a deep drag on his cigarette, the pungent tobacco filling his lungs, the red glow standing out starkly in the darkness.
Just then, he suddenly felt someone pat him on the shoulder.
"Brother, lend me a fire."
"Oh, here you go." The samurai, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was about to pull out the 100th anniversary limited edition Langsen from his pocket when he suddenly leaned back.
The sword blade, crackling with electricity, grazed past my face, slicing off half of the cigarette I was holding, leaving only a half-burnt butt in my mouth.
The samurai quickly stepped back, looked up at the person in front of him, and was stunned for a moment: "Holy crap, how are you still alive?"
"What?" Koshimura flicked the smoldering tobacco off the blade, meeting his gaze. "Are you surprised I'm still alive?"
"...How did you find this place?" His face was so dark it was almost dripping with water. He drew his shamisen from his waist and held it warily in front of him.
"That's a long story."
With a flick of his wrist, Koshimura Sawa's sword flashed with blinding lightning once more.
"Then there's no need to say anything." The samurai spat out his cigarette butt. "Anyway, it's just a matter of whether we die sooner or later."
He suddenly lowered his body, gripped the hilt of the knife tightly with his left hand, and gathered his strength.
An invisible wave of energy began to emanate from him, causing the robes of both of them to flutter wildly.
The next moment, the samurai moved.
Suddenly, he opened his mouth wide and focused his energy in his dantian—
"Shouta, hurry up and shake people——"
"Stop shouting." Koshimura interrupted him, stepping into the shadows in front of the planetarium. "The entrance to the planetarium has been sealed with [Silence] and [Slow] spells... Or do you want to challenge a 20cm thick concrete wall with your voice?"
"?" The samurai's voice abruptly stopped.
The planetarium was soundproofed for the benefit of the audience, and since his main attribute was not strength, he couldn't use a simple and crude solution like breaking down the walls.
If you want to force your way through, you have to actively enter the range of the Silence spell.
Although his primary profession is warrior and his secondary profession is rogue, neither of them relies heavily on spellcasting, his warrior sub-profession is samurai, and his strength is mainly concentrated in one core trait.
Fighting Spirit
[Starting at level 3, your fighting spirit empowers you, making your attacks more precise and lethal. During your turn, you can use a bonus action to give an advantage to any weapon attack you launch that turn. Additionally, using this bonus action grants you 5 temporary health. The amount of temporary health increases as you reach certain warrior levels: 10 at level 10 and 15 at level 15.]
You can use this feature three times, and after a long break, you regain all consumed uses.
This characteristic needs to be released by playing the shamisen.
Once inside the range of the Silence spell, the inability to speak will force even the ongoing [Battle Spirit] to be interrupted.
It's equivalent to voluntarily giving up one's own advantages.
Not to mention the possibility of suffering a bunch of debuffs from the Slow spell.
【Slow Technique】
[Changes in the Third Ring Road]
[Casting Time: 1 action]
[Casting Range: 120 feet]
[Duration: Focused, maximum 1 minute]
[You designate up to six creatures within a 40-foot cubic area of your casting range and distort the flow of time around them. Each target must make a perception saving throw; if the throw fails, the target is affected by the spell until it terminates.]
The affected creature's speed is halved, and its AC and Dexterity saving throws are reduced by -2. It cannot perform a reaction. The creature may perform one action or one bonus action during its turn, but not both. Regardless of any abilities or magical items it possesses, it may only launch one melee or ranged attack during its turn.
If a creature attempts to cast a spell with a cast time of 1, it must roll a d20. If the result is 11 or higher, the spell will not take effect until the creature's next turn, and the creature must then use another action to complete the spell. If it cannot, its spell is wasted.
[The affected creature may make a saving throw for this perception at the end of each of its own turns. If the saving throw is successful, the spell's effect on it is terminated.]
It's basically equivalent to standing at attention and taking a beating.
It's like having an OTK deck that's about to explode, but the opponent's deck is full of terrible hand traps.
You don't know if the opponent has mastered Ash Blossom or Proliferation, but you know you'll feel terrible if you lose the bet.
"Tch." The samurai clicked his tongue in displeasure.
It's all an open conspiracy...
He sheathed his sword and gave a standard challenge salute.
"Takahashi Takuma, Takahashi Itto-ryu, Menkyo Kaiden."
Upon seeing this, Koshimura Sawa returned the gesture with a cupped-hand salute.
"Koshimura Sawa—"
Along with the sound, the sound of guitar strings also rang out.
The samurai was startled and quickly turned around, drawing his sword to block the blade that slashed out from the silver mist.
"You lack martial ethics! You haven't even finished your courtesy!" the warrior roared.
Gold and iron clashed, and sparks flew everywhere.
Using the recoil from the clash of swords, Koshimura gracefully stepped back, landed steadily, and slowly finished the rest of his sentence.
"Chen Hegao, successor of the Unrestricted Fighting Technique."
He twirled his sword.
"What's the point of talking about martial ethics with scum like you?"
"It's numb from being squeezed—" The samurai felt himself getting red-hot, a tic-tac-toe mark appearing on his forehead. "If only I could use my right hand right now—"
Before he could finish speaking, a beam of eerie green light came straight at him.
What followed was a ground-hugging, upward, counter-attacking strike.
The samurai dodged the magic explosion with a quick movement, then moved to the side of Koshimura Sawa and slashed down with his long sword.
[Shield Spell]
The transparent shield held for only a moment before it was covered with spiderweb-like cracks and was forcibly cleaved open.
【Silver Light's Sharp Words】
The samurai felt the sword in his hand suddenly become lighter, causing his strike to deviate from its original direction.
Seriously, is this ever going to end?!
Despite deviating slightly from the original trajectory, the blade still firmly struck Koshimura Sawa's shoulder.
But the expected scene of flying blood and flesh did not appear; instead, a crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.
He saw the corners of Koshimura's mouth suddenly turn up.
"Sorry, I came here with all my buffs up."
Although he couldn't find the Astral Shards in his bag for some reason, Soyo's relentless buffs still made him deeply appreciate just how awesome it is to have a support in the raid.
He quickly spread the five fingers of his left hand, casting the [Cursed Sword Curse] and [Vulnerability Curse] on them, and then raised his hand to swing the sword.
The blow landed on the samurai's left hand, which was already vulnerable due to his inability to control his strength.
{Group⑵beller侕异厁龄拔er Lightning surged, quickly sealing off y/ue/漪-首/发 his body.
If he moves on his own initiative, he will be hit by another thunderbolt.
[Kids, let's stop playing with Uncle Mai, let's play with Old Yang!]
"Damn it..." The samurai, enduring the pain in his left arm, raised his head and said through gritted teeth, "Do you really think you can defeat me with these underhanded tricks?!"
"No, this isn't some kind of unorthodox method," Yuecun Ze quickly corrected. "The first lesson in our Unrestricted Martial Arts course is criminal law. Defensive actions taken against ongoing acts of violence such as assault, murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping, and other serious crimes endangering personal safety, resulting in injury or death to the perpetrator, do not constitute excessive self-defense and do not incur criminal liability..."
"Shut up!" Ignoring the lightning crackling around him, the samurai swung his sword again and charged forward.
As expected, the cursed lightning erupted again, electrifying him and causing his body to stiffen briefly.
However, his anger made him disregard all of that and he only wanted to use his Storm Blade to keep slashing at the naturally evil and overbearing young man in front of him!
"It's almost time!"
Just then, Koshimura Sawa spoke.
"Sister Ba, get him!"
A clear and high-pitched dragon roar suddenly rang out beside me.
Dragon Soars, Unleashing Destruction!