Chapter 199: Tengu Sweeper
[Trial Begin!]
With the system's prompt echoing in the air, the invisible wall that once separated the two vanished into nothingness.
Playing it safe, Bai Luo activated Shadow Step, fading from sight without a trace.
"Hmm?"
Mikoshi Michinobu, gripping his Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma, initially assumed it was some kind of ninja invisibility technique. But when he tried using his own methods to track Bai Luo down, he found nothing.
Not a single sign.
No footsteps. No breathing.
Even the sounds of a heartbeat or the faintest whiff of scent is completely gone.
"A clever trick."
He'd encountered similar stealth techniques during his time training in the mountain forests—usually small youkai trying to cloak their presence.
But this was different.
This was cleaner, sharper, far more complete than even the illusions conjured by those creatures.
This man's stealth arts were a whole different class.
But…
He had his own way of dealing with this sort of thing.
Lowering his sword to the side, Michinobu took his stance.
Iaido. A single breath.
Then—
A blinding arc of steel exploded outward like a ring, slicing across the entire courtyard.
Even the wooden fence around the edge of the field was sheared clean off.
It was a devastating move, one that could force any stealth user into revealing themselves.
Any—but Bai Luo.
Because unlike other stealth technique, Shadow Step wasn't just invisibility.
Unless he struck first, he wouldn't be revealed.
Even if he was hit, he wouldn't reappear.
"Hmm..."
Michinobu's brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the still-empty courtyard.
Someone else might have cursed out loud by now, but he didn't.
After all, in a battle of life and death, there's no such thing as "cheap tricks."
Victory justifies everything.
He actually found himself admiring Bai Luo's approach.
But… admiration was one thing.
The two of them came from different eras.
Even if fate had brought them together like this—it was no more than a fleeting encounter.
Getting too involved only leads to regrets.
That's why he had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with Bai Luo.
Sword still in hand, Michinobu waited, calm as still water.
Aside from the ruined fencing, there wasn't a hint of movement.
But he knew—Bai Luo would strike.
There was a time limit, after all.
Just as expected, after carefully studying Michinobu's habits, Bai Luo tightened his grip on his dagger.
Ssshhh…
The faint sound of wire sliding echoed through the air.
Michinobu's ears twitched.
A whisper of something slicing through the wind—behind him.
Without hesitation, he spun and slashed, only to cut down a flying dagger.
And that's when Bai Luo appeared—right where Michinobu had originally been facing.
A sneak attack from behind is something that everyone expected.
Bai Luo was no exception.
He loved going for the kidneys.
But there was something he'd learned after fighting certain opponents.
You can't play by the rules.
Some enemies always expected the backstab, their focus was always behind them.
So what do you do?
Create your own opening.
Bai Luo's ploy was classic misdirection, the steel wire trap mimicked an attack from the rear, and the moment Michinobu turned to block it, that's when the real strike came.
It was a tactic that had never failed him.
He'd stabbed so many kidneys this way, it was practically a signature move.
But today, he might've picked the wrong guy.
The dagger went in, but there was no sensation of flesh being pierced.
'So that was it—'
The moment Michinobu struck down the dagger, he realized it had all been a feint.
And so, his blade never stopped moving.
Instead, he swept it behind him—exactly where Bai Luo's true attack came from.
He'd lured Bai Luo into the open.
There was no way he was letting this golden opportunity slip by.
Before Bai Luo could melt back into the shadows, Michinobu turned sharply.
Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma flashed in his hands.
A slash.
An upward sweep.
A heavy downward cut.
A broad horizontal swing.
Each motion flowed into the next, clean and direct—Just like the man himself: bold, unflinching, and entirely without deceit.
Every time he raised his blade, Bai Luo could read where the next strike would land, but knowing and reacting are two very different things.
CLANG—!
"Hei" was an assassin-type class.
Among all of Bai Luo's available classes, it had the weakest performance in direct confrontations.
So when faced with Michinobu's relentless, heavy-handed style, he struggled.
The clash of dagger against Katana sent a jolt up his arms.
He nearly lost his grip on the blade.
If not for the specially grooved dagger he wielded, which caught the katana's edge at the perfect angle, he would've been overwhelmed by the combo and forced to forfeit right then and there.
Bai Luo clenched his right hand tight to keep the katana locked in place.
With his left, he whipped out his second dagger, steel wire trailing from its hilt, and hurled it straight toward Michinobu—who was now within arm's reach.
"Rrrahh!"
With a roar, Michinobu's muscles bulged.
He surged forward with sheer force, pressing down Bai Luo's locked dagger as if crushing him with brute strength alone.
Bai Luo's thrown blade struck the katana as Michinobu pressed it down, changing trajectory mid-air, and just barely grazed the edge of the swordsman's uniform before stabbing into the ground behind him.
Michinobu paid no mind to the tear in his clothing, instead, he poured even more strength into his strike.
The razor edge of Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma was creeping dangerously close to Bai Luo's shoulder—
He intended to cleave him in two.
But Bai Luo didn't panic.
With a calmness that only came from experience, he reached behind him with his left hand and brushed a mechanism.
Shhhk—
Steel wire slid taut.
The dagger embedded behind Michinobu suddenly snapped upward, spinning mid-air and plunged straight into his back.
ZZZZRRRT!!
The impact triggered a critical hit, and the dagger's electric enchantment surged through his body.
Just one second.
That was how long the paralysis would last.
But to Bai Luo, a second was an eternity.
With the pressure lifted, Bai Luo effortlessly parried Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma aside.
He twisted, ducked, rolled, and slipped out of range, only to feel the hairs on his neck stand up the moment he rose to his feet.
He was being targeted.
"Crap."
The sight before him confirmed it:
Michinobu, blade raised high—was preparing to go all out.
"Tengu Sweeper!"
In that instant, dozens of sword flashes erupted like falling stars, each one tracing a different deadly arc toward Bai Luo.
Tengu Sweeper was the ultimate technique Michinobu had forged after battling a tengu girl for thirteen long years.
On the day he was set to become a swordmaster, he'd finally caught the elusive tengu who had always remained just out of reach.
And with this strike, he sliced off her black feathers.
'I can't escape this.'
Bai Luo's eyes sharpened.
The moment he saw the incoming sword light, he knew—
This wasn't just fast.
It was godspeed-level iai technique.
If the system ever classified it as an official skill, it would sit alongside something like Kuzuryūsen (Nine-Head Dragon Flash).
He hadn't expected that a warrior who fought so straightforwardly, so bluntly, so predictably, had such a secret trump card hidden deep within.
But then again, his opponent was Bai Luo.
The man who came with built-in bugs.
. . . . .
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