"Heh… you seem quite pleased with yourself." The boyish or girlish Scaramouche let out a pained sneer. His dirt-streaked, half-hatted, pathetic face still tried to maintain its usual coldness, but his furrowed brow had long since lost its composure and mockery, leaving only the humiliation of having his plan completely trampled.
Muramasa didn't reply, just stared straight at him, raising his blade again. "Hmph, you just dismantled some scrap metal… you've saved me some cleaning work." However, after he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at the ruins at his feet. A certain sense of heartbreak welled up inside him, but he didn't show it, just brought his gaze back to his enemy.
He was the Sixth Harbinger, 'The Balladeer'. He had come to hunt! The destruction of his plan was certainly a disgrace, but that was just a preparatory appetizer. As long as he defeated his target head-on and washed away this humiliation with his defeat, he could still achieve his goal.
"Heh… hehehe…" A suppressed laugh, with the texture of grinding metal, squeezed out from his throat, drowning out the remaining sounds of the burning ruins. He slowly stood up. Though his robes were torn and his half-hat was comically askew, his body still emanated the violent energy of a Harbinger, far surpassing that of a Vision holder. Dark purple lightning wrapped around the puppet's body. The extended energy snaked into thick, thorny vines that whipped the air randomly. The gravel at his feet was instantly turned to dust by the licking arcs of electricity.
"What's this? You're quite angry, aren't you?" Muramasa, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, stepping hard on the Balladeer's straight and brittle nerve, almost making his expression completely collapse.
The laughter stopped abruptly. He threw his hands up. The dark purple Electro energy, like a bursting dam, madly gathered and compressed before him, forming a blindingly bright core of a lightning ball. Seeing the astonishing energy gathering in his hands, Kokomi, in the rear, was shocked. Even at her distance, if the energy in his hands were to lock onto her, she would be completely powerless. Fortunately, his gaze was not on her. The Balladeer's mind was filled with anger at the man's blunt words, and he was determined to make him regret his actions.
"Shut up!"
With his restrained, low roar, the condensed-to-the-extreme lightning ball exploded, turning into thousands of violent spears of lightning! Each spear, carrying an aura of destruction, tore through the air with a deafening shriek, like a net of punishment sent down by a god, instantly covering the large area where Muramasa was. The ground was plowed into deep, blackened trenches. The gravel was shattered even further by the lightning before it could even land. Kokomi's vision was instantly filled with a destructive purple-white.
Muramasa didn't move. He looked at the sky full of lightning, and for some reason, he connected it with the 'judgment' he had seen before, considering their respective strengths. At the same time, the demon blade in his hand hummed slightly, moving his body as it had before—
A harsh clash of metal rang out. The lightning spear, which could pierce steel and vaporize rock, was lightly deflected to the side. The shattered purple electricity splashed like fireworks, turning into fine lightning dust around Muramasa.
"So this is what it feels like…" Muramasa felt the will of the blade, cooperating with it to drive his own body. His feet sank and bent, rooting him to the ground. He burst with a short burst of power, moving within a small space, narrowly avoiding the exploding lightning marks at his feet again and again. The demon blade in his hand became a blurred shadow, each swing perfectly parrying the unavoidable fatal blows.
"No… impossible! You, you ant…!" The Balladeer's cold mask completely shattered, leaving only a twisted disbelief. He had personally witnessed his proud, army-destroying thousand lightning spears being dismantled and deflected, one by one, by his opponent with a single sword, in an almost humiliating way! His attack, filled with all his anger and killing intent, seemed to be just a backdrop for his opponent to verify some idea, a stage for him to test the weight of his weapon.
Muramasa's figure became clear again for a moment in the gap between the exploding lightning. He even had time to look up. His deep eyes pierced through the瀰漫 smoke and electric light, once again accurately locking onto the Balladeer. This time, those eyes were no longer as cold as before. After a gaze that seemed to see through him completely, there was something more in them.
What is that look? The Balladeer also saw the change in his gaze, but for a moment, he couldn't tell what it contained. But the disgust in his heart grew uncontrollably. Just looking at him made him sick, an emotion that had persisted since the first moment he saw him and was still self-propagating.
In his brief moment of shock, Muramasa's body instantly broke through the thunderstorm. The figure that broke through the storm was so fast it was like teleportation. One moment he was in the net of interwoven lightning, the next he was within inches of the Balladeer!
My body… won't move!
He was right there, that smith, that smith with the same identity as his former object of revenge. He was right there. Why wouldn't his body move! The Balladeer's pupils contracted. He forced his momentarily stunned body to move. The suddenly enlarged figure, with its coldness and a... indescribable sense of scrutiny, instantly filled his entire field of vision. In his haste, he no longer had time to condense a large amount of elemental energy. He could only drive the violent lightning wrapped around his body to form physical arm guards and claws, crossing them before him to block, while his body rapidly retreated.
CLANG—!!!
The harsh metallic explosion was so grating it could cut eardrums. The demon blade's restrained sharpness was completely released. Almost all living creatures on the island felt a sensation of being cut. Kokomi, witnessing the smith she had just met possess such strength, felt another thought arise in her heart besides shock. No, it should be said that a thought that should have been forgotten still remained in her mind—
How not to forget? She focused all her attention on it and then acted with determination.
While she was in action, Muramasa on the other side did not stop. The slightly ornate 'Yaegaki' in his hand was swung without any flourish, heavily striking the lightning arm guards that the Balladeer had hastily constructed! The violent purple electricity instantly exploded, but it did not directly cut the man in two. The slash was blocked for the first time, making his expression shift slightly. The arcs of lightning from the armor of lightning splashed wildly, making a teeth-grinding "crackle" sound. Even though the attack did not pierce through, the immense force was still transmitted through the lightning armor, fiercely striking the Balladeer's arms, making him feel as if his sturdy puppet body had been hit by a battering ram. The joints made a sound of being overwhelmed, and his entire body was uncontrollably sent sliding backward by this force, his boots plowing two deep trenches in the blackened ground.
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