(The night was as dark as ink, and the mountain road was silent, punctuated only by the occasional chirping of insects. Kuchiba Hiro parked the stolen car casually in the shadows by the roadside. From here on, walking would better conceal his tracks and avoid alerting anyone. His target was clear: Yota Yukinoshita's family, the place that would make that man suffer unbearable pain and force him to show himself.
Going directly to the Public Security Department to find Yota Yukinoshita? That would be walking straight into a trap. The Authorities and Transcendent forces were deeply intertwined; who knew what monsters lurked within? He sought revenge, to personally kill his enemy, not to foolishly throw his life away.
Just as he stepped onto the private driveway leading to the villa on the mountaintop, a sharp whooshing sound tore through the silence!
"Whoosh—!"
An ancient-looking arrow accurately embedded itself in the ground less than an inch from his toes, its fletching trembling violently.
Kuchiba Hiro's steps halted, his pupils contracting slightly. His danger premonition hadn't triggered, indicating that this arrow wasn't meant to kill, but... a warning.
He suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze fixed on the mountaintop. Through the sparse trees, he could make out the silhouette of a luxurious villa, but neither his senses nor his vision detected the archer's presence.
"Bodyguard? A Transcendent invited by Yota Yukinoshita?" Kuchiba Hiro instantly understood. The fact that the opponent could give such a precise warning from such a distance and in such darkness meant they were no ordinary foe.
A long-suppressed rage suddenly flared up, almost consuming his reason.
Yota Yukinoshita had a family to protect?!
Then what about him, Kuchiba Hiro? His only family, his father, was killed by that man like an ant! Why could that murderer rest easy, enjoying the warmth of his family and protection from powerful guards? And yet, when he sought revenge, he had to face so many people who blindly jumped out to stop him, not knowing right from wrong or the truth?!
How unjust this world was!
"Heh..." He let out a low, twisted sneer, his body darting out like a leopard, sprinting furiously up the steep mountain path!
Almost the instant he moved, the warning from the mountaintop turned into a real attack!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Arrows, like green meteors, tore through the darkness. They were no longer ordinary arrows; their tips were wreathed in green energy fluctuations, and the moment they touched the ground or trees—
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Violent explosions erupted one after another, fire and shockwaves sweeping outwards, sending shattered rocks and broken wood flying everywhere!
Kuchiba Hiro pushed his speed to the limit, his danger premonition reaching its peak. Trajectories and explosion radii from fractions of a second later constantly flashed in his mind. He weaved through the gaps between explosions like a phantom, sometimes sharply dodging, sometimes rapidly changing direction, and sometimes simply focusing his Hardening ability on his back or arms to endure the residual shockwaves he couldn't completely avoid!
"Bang!" A rock blown away by an explosion smashed into his hardened shoulder, shattering, but he merely swayed slightly, his speed increasing rather than decreasing!
Hatred was the best fuel, pain the source of power. Every arrow shot at him, every explosion attempting to stop him, was like pouring oil on his burning rage!
Braving the continuous barrage of explosive arrows, he charged onto the flat front yard of the mountaintop villa like a rampaging rhinoceros.
"Rumble!!"
He kicked the exquisite European-style wrought iron gate. The immense force twisted the hinges, shattered the lock, and the entire gate crashed inwards with a mournful metallic groan!
Amidst the swirling dust, Kuchiba Hiro stepped into the villa's front yard.
Under the moonlight, a figure stood silently before the main entrance of the villa, as if having waited for a long time.
It was a maiden.
She wore an exquisitely crafted silver-blue skirt armor, as if stepped out of an epic fantasy, with a faint glow shimmering on its surface. Golden hair gently fluttered in the night breeze, and her emerald eyes, like calm lake water, reflected Kuchiba Hiro's furious figure. Her hands rested on a magnificently adorned Knight's Longsword, which exuded a subtle aura of power. Her posture was straight and tall, like an insurmountable guardian statue, or a Wall of Sighs blocking the path of revenge.
Behind the villa's windows, faint lights and shadows flickered, suggesting the residents were fearfully peering at the unwelcome intruder outside.
The Knight Maiden looked at Kuchiba Hiro, who was radiating killing intent like someone returned from hell, and slowly spoke, her voice clear and calm, with an undeniable firmness:
"Retreat, intruder. I am here to guard the peace of this place, and do not wish to needlessly create slaughter."
Needlessly create slaughter?!
These words were like a red-hot iron needle, piercing deeply into Kuchiba Hiro's most sensitive and painful nerves!
To avenge his father, he had struggled to survive, his hands stained with blood, his heart riddled with holes by hatred! Yet this seemingly righteous person in front of him lightly said, "do not wish to needlessly create slaughter"? Did his revenge, in her eyes, count as "needless," an unreasonable act of violence?!
Another one... another person whose eyes were blinded, or who simply didn't care about the truth, only standing on the so-called "protection" to point fingers at him!
Explain? Explain his father's unjust death to these obstructers? Explain Yota Yukinoshita's sins?
To hell with explanations!
Kuchiba Hiro's eyes instantly became bloodshot, all rationality burned away by overwhelming rage, leaving only the most primitive, most violent killing intent!
"Get lost!"
He let out a beastly roar, no longer speaking any nonsense. The ground beneath his feet cracked as his figure transformed into a black lightning bolt, carrying an aura of destruction, charging towards the golden Guardian Knight with a surge of anger and pure killing intent!
The battle erupted instantly!
Facing Kuchiba Hiro's furious charge, the Knight Maiden's eyes narrowed, but she didn't retreat a single step. Just as Kuchiba Hiro rushed to within a few meters of her, the sensor area on the back of his neck flickered with a faint light—
Buzz!
His black trench coat instantly activated, extended, and hardened! Countless tiny units flowed and combined like living things, emitting dense, faint "click" sounds. In the blink of an eye, it covered his entire body, forming a sharp-lined, ferocious black full-body armor! The faceplate dropped, revealing only a pair of blood-red eyes burning with rage.
At the same time, liquid black substance rapidly surged from the armor on his right arm, quickly solidifying and shaping in his hand, transforming into a Tang Hengdao, a long-bladed saber requiring two hands, radiating a chilling, eerie glow!
"Clang—!!!"
Almost the same instant the armor and saber formed, the maiden Knight's Longsword met Kuchiba Hiro's full-power, downward slash with a clear ringing sound!
The deafening clang of metal on metal exploded! Dazzling sparks erupted at the point of collision, illuminating their instantly intertwined figures!
After one strike, neither of them paused!
Kuchiba Hiro's saber strikes were fierce and wide -swinging each blow from his powerful physique accompanied by a tearing shriek through the air, heavy and powerful, attempting to catch his opponent off guard with a wild offensive.
The Knight Maiden, however, was clearly more seasoned. Her footwork was nimble and steady, her sword light like a flowing ribbon, sometimes defending densely like water, cleverly deflecting Kuchiba Hiro's heavy slashes; other times, darting out like a venomous snake, seizing fleeting openings to quickly stab and counterattack.
Both their speeds were astonishingly fast, transforming into one black and one golden afterimage, constantly colliding, separating, and colliding again in the moonlit courtyard! Saber and sword light crisscrossed, with only the continuous clashing of weapons and sparks bursting into the air, revealing the intensity and danger of the battle.
However, the gap in skill quickly became apparent.
After a fierce frontal slash was deflected by the maiden's sidestep, Kuchiba Hiro's guard inevitably exposed a tiny flaw. A sharp glint flashed in the maiden's emerald eyes. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, her sword-wielding right hand was as steady as a rock, but her free left hand, quick as lightning, clenched into a fist. A seemingly simple yet incredibly powerful straight punch, like a cannonball, slammed hard into Kuchiba Hiro's abdomen!
"Boom!"
A dull thud!
Kuchiba Hiro felt an irresistible force, the armor on his abdomen even emitting a faint groan. He was sent flying backward uncontrollably, as if struck by a speeding truck, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground. He slid for a full seven or eight meters before barely regaining his balance, his internal energy churning.
The Knight Maiden remained standing in place, sword in hand, her skirt armor gently fluttering in the night breeze, her breathing steady. She looked at Kuchiba Hiro, whose breathing was slightly ragged, and spoke again, her voice still clear and calm:
"I can feel your anger, but those inside the house are mere mortals. What grievances could they have with you?"
Kuchiba Hiro did not reply. The sharp pain from his abdomen was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing most of Kuchiba Hiro's uncontrolled rage. He panted heavily, his face beneath the faceplate becoming extremely grim.
He had completely lost his reason, stimulated by hatred and her words, only knowing how to blindly charge. He had overlooked the obvious disparity in combat skills and experience between them. This maiden was definitely not an opponent that could be easily defeated by brute force.
"I must calm down... I can't let her lead me by the nose anymore."
He gripped the Tang Hengdao tightly, forcing himself to take deep breaths. His agitated blood gradually calmed, and his rage-scorched mind began to function again, becoming clear and cold.
He no longer roared, but slowly adjusted his breathing and posture, like a lone wolf, injured, re-evaluating its prey. In his eyes, peering through the faceplate at the Knight Maiden, the rage had not extinguished, but had settled into a more dangerous, more focused killing intent.
This battle was far more difficult than he had anticipated. Anger wouldn't solve the problem; it would only lead to a quicker death.
What was needed next was... strategy, and the determination to break through this "wall" at all costs.)
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