Chapter 204: Hidden Weapons vs. [Advance]!
Yanagi Ryuko.
This slender, middle-aged man stood less than 160cm tall. Compared to an
ordinary person, he was small; compared to the other four death row convicts, he
was practically a dwarf. His features were plain, bordering on mundane.
However, the aura he radiated was bone-chilling. It was sinister, calculated,
and predatory—like a king cobra tasting the air with its tongue.
The snake finally bared its fangs.
He pulled two sickles from his cart. Each crescent blade was about the length of
a palm, attached to a wooden handle twice that size. Long, heavy cords were
wound around his hands, connecting the two weapons behind his waist.
Yanagi stood with his feet turned outward, slightly wider than his shoulders. He
hooked his fingers through the rings at the ends of the handles, letting the
blades dangle naturally.
He had heavy bags under his eyes, his sockets sunken, and his thin lips were
pressed into a hard line.
"..."
This abnormal, lethal posture made Kazuo Yamashita's teeth chatter
uncontrollably. Cold sweat drenched his back.
"W-Wait... stop..." Kazuo's voice shook. "Are you... are you really going to
kill them?!"
Yanagi tilted his head slightly, looking at Kazuo with genuine confusion. "A man
whose fingertip strength can shred concrete walls... is that not a weapon far
more dangerous than a pair of sickles?"
Kazuo was left speechless.
Yanagi then looked at Lihito and added, "However... possessing a master-grade
weapon without the soul of a warrior to wield it is a profound tragedy."
Whoosh...
Yanagi shifted his grip. He turned the blades inward, crossed his arms toward
his shoulders, and suddenly tossed both sickles into the air. Before they could
fall, his fingers snapped the cords tight. Using the weighted momentum, he began
to spin the weapons in a complex, overlapping pattern.
Zip-zip-zip!
The surrounding dust was kicked up by the wind pressure, the air screaming as
the blades sliced through it. The sickles moved so fast they became a blur,
leaving nothing but lethal trails of silver in the night.
"You bastard..."
Cold sweat prickled Lihito's brow. He cursed under his breath to bolster his
courage. He had fought thugs with knives before, but no matter how arrogant they
were, they were nothing compared to the monster standing before him.
"Fine by me! Come on then! I'm nobody's stepping stone!"
Lihito dropped into a low crouch, his hands spread wide. He locked his eyes on
Yanagi's movements.
If it's a contest of sharpness, I'm not losing! Lihito thought. The moment I see
an opening, I'll use [RAZOR'S EDGE] to slice those cords—or better yet, I'll
snap the blades themselves!
Lihito's dynamic vision went into overdrive, tracking the overlapping arcs of
the sickles, waiting for the first strike.
—Here it comes!
Zip!
Yanagi's right arm swung toward his left shoulder, yanking the cord to flick a
sickle upward in a vertical arc.
But to Lihito's shock, Yanagi wasn't aiming at him. He was aiming at a small
stone on the ground!
Clack!
The stone—no larger than a grape—was struck by the flat of the blade and
launched forward with the velocity of a bullet.
Lihito couldn't dodge in time. The stone slammed directly into his left eye.
THUD!
In an instant, blood sprayed across Lihito's face. He let out a pained grunt,
his eyes instinctively clamping shut from the trauma. Before he could even
register the pain in his eye, a searing agony erupted from his right side.
SHINK!
Yanagi's second sickle swept horizontally. The blade buried itself deep into
Lihito's ribs. With a violent jerk of the cord, Yanagi tore the blade free,
sending a geyser of blood erupting from the wound.
"Gah—?!"
Lihito clutched his eye with one hand and his side with the other, his remaining
eye wide and bloodshot. He knew instantly that these weren't surface wounds. He
frantically tore his shirt to use it as a makeshift bandage, trying to stem the
blood loss.
But with both hands occupied, he was defenseless. Against the swirling steel of
Yanagi's sickles, he was forced back several steps, his counter-attack
completely neutralized.
The next second—
Yanagi's gaze sharpened. "It's over!"
A sickle whistled through the air. But even though he was looking at Lihito, the
trajectory of the strike shifted mid-flight toward Ren Shiroki!
Whoosh!
In that heartbeat, Ren dropped into a deep crouch. The shirt draped over his
shoulders was still suspended in the air, caught and shredded by the passing
blade.
Clack!
Yanagi retracted both sickles, winding the cords back around his hands. He
looked at Ren, who was still in a crouch with one hand on the ground. Despite
the bandages, the youth's reflexes were still sharp enough to evade a blind-side
sneak attack.
"Excellent vision," Yanagi praised with a thin smile.
As Ren stood up, Kazuo Yamashita noticed something terrifying. A fresh crimson
stain was spreading across the bandages on Ren's back. The sudden movement had
reopened his surgery wounds.
T-This is bad... Kazuo thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. Is he
really going to fight to the death with those wounds?! Against a man that
dangerous?!
"Hmph." Yanagi let out a low grunt. "A weapon controlled by a rope or chain
creates tip speeds that exceed the human eye's ability to track. However, every
movement of the tip begins with the hand of the wielder. Therefore, as long as
you watch the wielder, you can predict the orbit of the weapon."
"That is what you were thinking, isn't it?"
Yanagi detached one of the sickles and tossed it aside, leaving only a single
blade on a long cord.
"This will be even faster. Let's play some more."
"..."
Yanagi prepared to launch the single sickle again, but a strange sound echoed
from behind him.
THUMP-THUMP!
It sounded like a heartbeat... but could a heart really beat that loudly?
Suddenly, a raspy, gravelly whisper drifted from the shadows behind Yanagi. It
was a voice saturated with blood and rage.
"You're chirping... it's so damn annoying..."
Yanagi turned. Ohma Tokita, who had been knocked unconscious moments ago, was
standing up. His skin had turned a deep, angry crimson. His veins were bulging
across his entire body like thick, writhing ropes.
THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!
A heavy, rhythmic thrumming—like a war drum—pounded within Ohma's chest.
"Hey, Sickle-man. I've got a question for you..."
Ohma pushed himself off the ground, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Yanagi. He let
out a low, guttural growl. "What the hell did you just say... about the Niko
Style?!"
He had spent his life fighting for his Master's legacy. He would not allow a
single soul to insult it.
STOMP!!
Ohma's foot drove into the ground with enough force to shatter the pavement. He
lunged at Yanagi with explosive speed, unleashing a barrage of heavy punches.
Yanagi raised his forearms to block, but the weight of the blows was staggering.
The impact sent him rolling backward, and he lost his grip on the Kusarigama.
So heavy?!
Yanagi scrambled back to create distance, rubbing his numbed wrists. He looked
up at Ohma. "So... you can use 'that', can you?"
"Oh? So you know about it..." Ohma spat out a blood clot, a demonic grin
spreading across his face. "That's right... I'm using the [Advance]!!"
BOOM!!
Ohma charged again. His speed had tripled, and every strike carried the weight
of a sledgehammer.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yanagi was forced back, appearing to be completely overwhelmed. But just as
Lihito and Kazuo thought the match was decided, the unthinkable happened.
SHINK!
As Ohma threw a right straight, blood suddenly erupted from the inside of his
wrist. Three deep, jagged gashes appeared across his skin as if he had been
swiped by a beast.
"―Ah?!" Lihito gasped, thinking of his own move. Does this midget have [Razor's
Edge] too?
But the truth was different.
In Yanagi's right hand was a concealed weapon fixed to his palm, worn like a
specialized brass knuckle. Three curved blades were welded to the interior,
fitting perfectly between his fingers. He could slash with an open palm or
deliver puncturing wounds with a closed fist.
Yanagi held up his hand. "An ancient concealed weapon from India—the Bagh Nakh.
In your language, the 'Tiger Claw'. Quite a fun toy."
He looked at Ohma. The youth had been forced to deactivate the [Advance], but
not before a massive amount of blood had poured from his wrist. Because of the
[Advance]'s high-pressure circulation, the bleeding was several times more
severe than a normal injury.
"As I thought..." Yanagi whispered. "I have never seen it in person, but I am
familiar with the theory of the [Advance]."
"Forcibly increasing the heart rate to achieve explosive blood circulation,
converting that thermal energy into raw physical output. That is the principle."
"Therefore, the counter is simple. Create a 'Critical Wound'—like the radial
artery—and the very technique you use to become strong will serve to bleed you
dry."
Yanagi toyed with the Tiger Claw, looking at Ohma with a mocking smirk.
"I was right. Your Niko Style is green. It is fragmented and lacks the soul of
the art."
"Based on your form... I assume your Master died quite some time ago, didn't
he?"
(End of Chapter)
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