As Tuziku and Nēgus continued their battle on the outskirts of the village, Prīōra and Kutcher were having a difficult time against the dozens of men back in the village.
Back in the Hakashi Village...
FWSH! FWSH!
The villagers launched arrows at the duo, who desperately fled as they continued avoiding fatal blows.
"Prīōra! This isn't getting us anywhere!" Kutcher vented as he ran from the men.
"I know, but neither of our abilities is suited for avoiding fatal blows..." she explained as she desperately fled alongside Kutcher.
"YOU WERE TALKING ALL THAT NONSENSE EARLIER! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!" one of the men shouted.
Suddenly, Kutcher came to a halt and faced the villagers.
"I'm not running anymore!"
Prīōra attempted to stop him.
"Kutcher, you can't—"
"All I have to do... is avoid a fatal blow, right?"
He turned toward Prīōra.
For a moment, Prīōra gazed at him in silence.
Then—
"Kutcher, what are you...?"
Kutcher approached the mob.
"IT APPEARS YOU'VE FINALLY DECIDED TO FACE US!" one of the men shouted.
Suddenly, Kutcher placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
He inhaled sharply.
Then—
He drew his blade and turned it around, facing the villagers with the mune of his blade.
As Prīōra witnessed this act of consideration, she couldn't help but smile for a brief moment.
Kutcher...
However—
"WHAT'S THIS?" One of the men approached Kutcher.
"YOU ACTUALLY PLAN ON USING THE BACK OF YOUR BLADE AGAINST US?!" he shouted.
"HE'S UNDERESTIMATING US!" another one shouted.
The men aimed their bows toward Kutcher.
"LET'S SEE WHAT YOU DO AGAINST THIS!"
Dozens of arrows were pointed toward Kutcher.
But suddenly—
FWOO!
Kutcher disappeared.
Then—
BAM! BAM!
BAM! BAM!
One by one, the men collapsed as Kutcher swiftly knocked them unconscious using the back of his blade.
THUD! THUD!
Two more collapsed.
Then another two.
After Kutcher's barrage of attacks had ended, less than half of the approximately one hundred men remained standing.
Kutcher came to a halt and took a deep breath.
"Kutcher, that was amazing!" Prīōra exclaimed.
She clenched her fists.
Kutcher has gotten stronger as well.
I guess that makes sense...
He was also spending time training.
"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ATTACK?!" one of the men stammered.
Kutcher raised his blade once more.
As Prīōra watched helplessly, she thought to herself—
Kutcher's facing all those men by himself!
And even though this is my battle...
I can't do a single thing!
She bit her bottom lip as her frustration grew stronger.
"MEN, LET'S KILL THIS BRAT!" one of the men stepped forward and raised his wind-bow.
Suddenly, all of the men raised their bows toward Kutcher.
As Prīōra watched helplessly, she thought to herself—
Can't I do anything?
The men loaded their arrows.
Kutcher clenched his blade tightly as he prepared to launch a counterattack.
"FIRE!!!"
The men unleashed a terrifying barrage of wind-arrows.
Just as Kutcher attempted to counter—
Prīōra dashed toward the rain of arrows.
"HEAVY—GUST!!"
FWOOOOOSH!!
A powerful gust of wind blew away the rain of wind-arrows.
"Prīōra..." Kutcher's jaw dropped.
"WHAT THE—" the men panicked.
Suddenly—
Prīōra dashed toward the men.
"Hakashi Technique, second form—"
"WIND—STAFF!"
FWOO!
Suddenly, a small gust of air compressed together and formed a staff within her hand.
Prīōra instantly dashed toward the villagers and knocked them unconscious, one by one.
SMACK! SMACK!
"AUGH!!"
One after another, the men collapsed.
Kutcher grinned in excitement.
Then, he charged in to help Prīōra.
BAM! BAM!
Within a few minutes, all of the men had been knocked unconscious.
Without landing a fatal blow, the duo had completely overpowered the entire mob.
Kutcher returned his blade to its scabbard and turned toward Prīōra.
"Prīōra, when did you learn to make a wind-staff?"
She grinned nervously.
"I guess I always knew how to do it," she replied in an uncertain tone.
He grinned at her proudly.
Then—
"Kutcher, let's hurry and get to Tuziku!" she shouted urgently.
"You're right!" Kutcher replied.
The two quickly rushed toward Tuziku's side.
Meanwhile, the duo failed to realize their error.
One of the villagers was conscious and awake.
Among the mob, he was the only one whom the duo had failed to knock unconscious.
The entire time, he had been pretending to be unconscious.
"Geez! Talk about overpowered..." the man mumbled as he got up from the floor.
"After the swordsman knocked me to the floor, I was hoping to get them with a surprise attack while I pretended to be unconscious."
"But seeing how those two easily knocked out all the rest of these guys, I could only consider myself lucky that he didn't realize he failed to get me."
He let out a huge sigh as he gazed at his fellow brethren lying unconscious around him.
"There's no chance that I would've gotten them by surprise..." he mumbled to himself.
"But—don't think that I'll give up that easily!"
He smirked as he began to follow the duo.
Meanwhile, back on the village outskirts with Tuziku and Nēgus...
FWSH! FWSH!
Nēgus fired two wind-arrows toward Tuziku with terrifying speed.
Tuziku weaved to the side, narrowly avoiding the first one. However, the second managed to graze his cheek.
His attacks are becoming faster!
Tuziku smirked.
"What are you smirking about?" Nēgus grinned at him.
"Nothing really!"
Tuziku quickly dashed toward him and launched a punch.
SMACK!
Nēgus caught his fist and stopped the attack.
"Nice try!" he taunted.
However—
BAM!
With his other hand, Tuziku launched a powerful punch toward his face.
Nēgus stumbled backward.
Then, he chuckled.
"Nice one..."
"I'll give you that."
He slowly approached Tuziku, and Tuziku began to slowly walk toward him.
Then—
They both charged toward each other.
Nēgus swung his fist first.
However—
BAM!
Tuziku blocked his punch with one hand.
And with his other, he launched a counter-punch toward Nēgus' lower jaw.
But just before Tuziku's attack could land—
FWSH!
A wind-arrow suddenly pierced Tuziku's leg from behind.
"AHHH!"
Tuziku fell to his knees.
Nēgus burst out laughing.
"It appears you're pretty good at the first form—Tras!"
"In hand-to-hand combat, you clearly have the advantage!"
He stroked his fingers through his silky blonde hair as he gazed up at the sky.
"However..."
"The first form alone isn't enough in combat."
"And I, on the other hand, have developed the Hakashi Technique's second form beyond what any current user has done!" he gloated.
Tuziku remained silent.
"You've met your match," Nēgus continued.
He raised his hand toward the sky.
"Let's finish up this battle!"
As Tuziku raised his head toward the sky, what he saw next left him utterly speechless.
Hundreds of wind-arrows hovered above his head as Nēgus let out a malicious grin.
"This is the end, brat!" Nēgus shouted.
CHAPTER 61 END!