"Cough... cough cough...!" Ichitaro, unable to control himself, spat out mouthfuls of fresh blood, glaring in astonishment at Aoto behind him.
It was only a moment... but Ichitaro caught the flash of Aoto drawing his blade out of the corner of his eye.
As Aoto brushed past Ichitaro on his left side, a silver-white blade filled his peripheral vision, sweeping across his waist and slicing through nearly half of his torso.
This massive gash left only half of Ichitaro's flesh and blood to connect his upper and lower body.
Blood gushed out incessantly, and Ichitaro instinctively raised his hand, trying to cover the gash with his palm, but it was all in vain.
After staggering a few steps, Ichitaro's body collapsed heavily to the ground, raising a thin layer of dust.
Aoto slowly released his stance, exhaling deeply, and then performed blood vibration, flicking away the blood remaining on the blade while turning to glance at Ichitaro's corpse at his feet.
