Cross, separate, clash again. The two girls swung their swords so fast it was dazzling.
Their weapons weren't just the wooden swords, but also their fists and legs, coordinating with their blade work to suppress the opponent.
Their different fighting styles maintained a delicate balance. Raiden Mei's moves were wide and powerful, highly spectacular to watch. Kiana countered motion with stillness, possessing a unique aesthetic beauty.
The teacher on the sidelines finally found his voice and tried to intervene: "Um... you two, this is a teaching exercise. Pay attention to safety, don't go overboard... This is just sparring; it doesn't account for much of your final grade..."
But his voice was quickly drowned out by the clatter of clashing wooden swords. The scene left the teacher and students watching from below utterly dumbfounded.
Even standing off the mat, they could clearly hear the whoosh of the blades cutting through the air.
Is this still sparring? Why does it look like they're trying to hack each other to pieces with real swords...?
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Li Wu quietly slipped out of the kendo dojo and headed toward the location Ruslan had sent to his phone.
Soon, he arrived at the base of a residential building outside the school. From under a certain stone bench, he pulled out a heavy box. After entering the code, he found a brand-new handgun inside, thoughtfully equipped with a silencer.
On the roof of a certain residential building.
A man wearing a black hood lay prone on the ground, his eye pressed to the scope. Holding the rifle with both hands, he aimed at Raiden Mei in the kendo dojo, communicating occasionally with the voice in his earpiece.
"Target locked. Ready to engage at any time."
A confirmation came through the earpiece. Just as the man prepared to pull the trigger, he felt a hard object press against the back of his head.
"If you promise me you won't target her again, I can let you leave."
Li Wu held the gun against the back of the mercenary's head and spoke calmly.
If possible, he wanted to resolve this peacefully.
The man's body trembled. He slowly stood up, raising his hands above his head with an "ah, I see" attitude. "The employer guessed right. There really is a traitor. I promise you, so don't shoot..."
Before he even finished speaking, the man suddenly spun around. A heavy punch smashed directly into Li Wu's wrist, followed by a sweeping kick that slammed Li Wu against the wall.
Completely unlike when he threatened Ruslan, the mercenary he faced this time was extremely ruthless.
The entire process happened without a single pause. Li Wu couldn't even react before he found himself pinned with his own gun pressed against his forehead.
Crack!
"Ugh!" Li Wu gritted his teeth against the pain of his broken hand, staring fixedly at the man.
The bones in his hand were shattered, his right hand severely deformed. The handgun had fallen to the ground and been picked up by the man.
However, he had obtained new intelligence. The mastermind behind the crisis already knew there was a traitor, but didn't know exactly who it was.
Now I just need to die and reset to gain the upper hand...
"A high school student?"
The man walked over and lifted Li Wu with one hand, looking him up and down before reaching a conclusion.
"Can high school students get their hands on guns these days? And how did you find me? No one comes to this place..."
Li Wu didn't make a sound. He closed his eyes, seemingly accepting his fate and ceasing to struggle.
Back when he wrote this to grab attention, he had set the enemies' physical capabilities to be incredibly high. Every mercenary bringing a crisis was at the peak of human physical potential.
Strength surpassing Tyson, speed surpassing Bolt.
Without firearms, the chance of winning in hand-to-hand combat was zero percent.
Seeing this, the man was curious, but also found it amusing.
"Still too young. The last thing you should have done was let me stand up. But that doesn't matter. What matters is you're in my hands now. Heh, have you ever been shot at your age?"
"No, but I imagine I will be soon," Li Wu replied.
"You guessed right."
The man pressed the muzzle directly against Li Wu's right shoulder and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The bullet instantly exploded into flesh and blood. The violent shockwave caused the muscles throughout his body to contract chaotically.
"Urgh...!"
Blood quickly soaked through his Chiba Academy uniform. Li Wu's face turned as pale as if it had been plastered with a thick layer of wall putty.
"Nice expression. If you can tell me who told you my sniping position, I'll let you go. If you don't talk, I have other ways to make you open your mouth."
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, would you?" Li Wu forced out a bleak but mocking smile.
"Ha, you're right. I won't let anyone who tried to kill me go. For a high school student, you've got guts."
The man pulled a small knife from his waist and jammed it directly into the bullet hole, slowly twisting the handle with his thumb and forefinger.
The sharp blade carved away at the flesh bit by bit. One second, five seconds, ten seconds...
Li Wu's face turned from purple-blue to completely ashen gray.
"Doesn't this hurt? I don't know why you're protecting Raiden Mei. Watched too many movies? Think you're Batman upholding justice? Or a knight in the shadows protecting the princess? Hahaha... Do you really know what you're protecting?"
"I'm not a good person, and I've killed plenty of innocent, hot-blooded youths like you. But on this matter, I'm actually on the side of justice."
The man smiled, his expression playful. "Raiden Ryoma thought his security measures were perfect, but paper can't wrap fire. A Herrscher vessel capable of destroying the entire city at any moment... No matter the reason, Raiden Mei... she has to die."
"Now that you know the truth, you can die in peace."
The man aimed the gun at Li Wu's forehead and pulled the trigger.
...
...
Blinding sunlight woke Li Wu from his daze. Snapping back to reality, Li Wu found himself back at the moment he had just retrieved the gun at the base of the residential building.
Without hesitation, Li Wu repeated his actions from the previous loop and quickly went upstairs.
Only this time, he didn't hold the gun with his right hand.
Starting from the moment he returned, his right wrist and shoulder felt weak and powerless. Even though there were no wounds, it was hard to control them as freely as his left hand. He could barely manage simple movements.
Go upstairs, shoot, take out the sniper, and return to the kendo dojo without giving the enemy any chance. Finally, send a message to Ruslan asking him to clean up the mess.
The crisis event was temporarily resolved.
But the plot had changed even more than he imagined; many settings appeared that weren't in the comic.
In the comic, at this point in time, no one knew about Raiden Mei being a Herrscher vessel. But judging by the current situation, her identity had long since been exposed, and the crisis was likely to occur ahead of schedule.
"Li Wu! You're finally back!"
Mei scanned the crowd, and upon confirming Li Wu's figure, she practically threw herself at him.
"I looked for you for ages... You didn't reply to my messages either. Where did you go?"
"Bathroom. What about you? Did you win?"
"Uh... Well..." Mei suddenly froze, her eyes darting away.
Shoes weren't allowed in the kendo dojo. Raiden Mei curled her toes, rubbing her left and right feet against each other.
"It was close... really just a tiny bit!"