My Gang of Swordsmen

The area on his body where he took a direct hit from Mukiwa’s punch was now swollen and red, his entire arm uncontrollably twitching.

Mukiwa wanted to follow up with another strike to completely knock down the fat man whose arm she had already broken, but a hideously ugly brute lunged at her from the side, forcing her to abandon the idea of ”taking down this fat man” for the moment.

The brute reached out, trying to grab Mukiwa’s shoulder. Just as he was about to grab it, Mukiwa, with extreme agility, deftly twisted her body to dodge his hand.

Another incredibly ugly brute appeared.

This newly appeared brute let out a strange cry as he swung his sword at Mukiwa in an upper stance.

Faced with the descending blade, Mukiwa didn’t dodge.

Instead, she took a deep breath, then raised both hands, a barehanded catch of a naked blade! Her delicate hands accurately caught the rapidly descending, gleaming blade in mid-air!

The brute felt as if his sword was being clamped by some iron pliers, unable to continue the downward slash, and unable to retract the blade.

In the next instant after catching the sword barehanded, Mukiwa, using her left foot as a pivot, lifted her right leg high, her bright red yukata fluttering like a butterfly. With a high kick, her right foot sent waves of bone-cracking sounds as her instep connected expertly with the face.

The soles of Mukiwa’s little feet, clad in hard-soled wooden sandals with red straps, were indeed very hard.

Taking a direct hit to the face with such hard sandal soles... fractures in the nasal bridge and other areas were inevitable.

”Waaaaaaaah!”

Screams came from all directions, closing in on Aoto and Mukiwa — robust Samurai were charging at the pair back-to-back from the east, west, south, and north.

Seeing this, Shinno hurriedly stepped forward to coordinate the attack on Aoto and Mukiwa with the others.

And just when this ”encirclement” was about to be successfully formed, at the last critical moment, the ”encirclement” was suddenly broken — several Samurai forming the ”encirclement” were sent flying backward, landing after a brief flight.

Screams of agony rose and fell... Amidst the chaos, Shinno, his face turning sallow, saw the pair who forcefully broke through the would-be completed ”encirclement” — the man and woman, Aoto and Mukiwa.

They pulled back their slashing and punching limbs, then launched attacks on the remaining enemies.

...

Aoto and Mukiwa, in perfect harmony, coordinated their attacks and defenses.

Their synergy was expected as this was not their first battle fighting side by side.

With the reliable support of Mukiwa, Aoto’s burden eased significantly.

The glint of swords rolled in the moonlight, stirring up clouds of blood mist.

With Mukiwa’s arrival, Aoto felt a boost in morale and a slight relief of physical fatigue. Revitalizing his spirit, he moved relentlessly, flashing his mighty sword!

Aoto clearly felt the surrounding enemies weaken... To be precise, their morale and fighting spirit had clearly dropped significantly.

The impact of Mukiwa’s earlier shout was quite remarkable.

Many were now distractedly glancing toward nearby intersections...

After all, they weren’t fools. If Shinno could deduce from Aoto’s appearance that the government was likely aware of the disturbance in the settlement, others could make the same deduction.

The looming threat of the government troops possibly showing up at any moment prevented them from focusing their efforts on fighting.

Aoto’s displayed formidable strength further exacerbated the decline in their morale.

The fact is, most members of the Anti-foreigner Group had long suffered from a kind of ”fear of Tachibana.” To them, Aoto was practically the God of Slaughter reincarnated.

The ambush on Elodie’s family, the attack on the Foreign Language Research Institute... both actions orchestrated by the Anti-foreigner Group had been thwarted due to Aoto’s valiant efforts.

Countless comrades were either slain by Aoto or suffered casualties indirectly because of him.

Just a few days ago, another batch of comrades was killed by this Tachibana Aoto, with three captured by him personally… (including the bearded middle-aged man, the Master of Archery.)

Some superstitious members even believed Aoto to be the nemesis of the Anti-foreigner Group... Whenever the group planned something, this man would show up to thwart it promptly.

Seeing Aoto once again appear before them and engage in combat reinforced these superstitions.

Even though it was 67 of them against one Aoto, in an endless cycle of attacks, Aoto still had the strength to continue wielding his sword.

Despite suffering multiple wounds, he seemed unfazed, as if unaware of pain.

Even with Mr. Kamino personally stepping into the fray, they couldn’t take down this man...

This man... was terrifyingly tenacious, Aoto fighting covered in blood, seemingly never to fall, stirred greater fear in more and more people.

The morale slightly boosted by Shinno’s personal engagement visibly wilted again.

Shinno, aware of his subordinates’ worsening morale, could not think of a way to resolve the situation...

All he could do was redouble his efforts to intensify the attack on Aoto to the best of his ability.

It was at this moment——

Clatter, clatter, clatter...!

A crescendo of hurried footsteps from the east and west played the most jarring tune in the hearts of Shinno and his men!

A black wave of people flooded out from the street corners on both sides.

Samurai in black attire, cradling matchlock guns, emerged in Shinno and his men’s view.

Jogging into position, lining up — this troop of black-clothed figures carried out the sequence seamlessly.

Click, click, click, click, click...

The crisp sounds of guns being raised overshadowed wind and flame alike.

The black-clad figures, queued in tidy ranks, uniformly raised the matchlock guns cradled tightly in their arms.

The gaping barrels, aimed directly at the now pale-faced, sweat-drenched Shinno and his men.

”It’s the Arson and Theft Magistrate!”

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

*******

*******

The author went to various bookstores the day before yesterday to stock up on new materials and sources, and then slept like a log at home yesterday. Judging from sleep duration, you can tell how exhausted the author was... Slept for nearly 14 hours yesterday.

After resting, the author’s spirits completely revived!

The author also kept his promise from the day before yesterday, with a 10,000-word update today.

The showdown with the Anti-foreigner Group isn’t over yet; after all, Shinno isn’t dead, so the group isn’t vanquished.

Let’s continue the monthly ticket bounty! The current monthly ticket count is 1552; if it reaches 1660 today, the author promises another 10,000+ word update tomorrow.

Asking for monthly tickets! Asking for recommendation votes! (Crying like a baby.jpg)