This was the second time Kaede had heard such words; the first time was naturally from Taeko, although the words themselves were different—for example, Taeko referred to herself as "Breath," while Barbara referred to herself as "Eyes."
When Taeko finished speaking, it wasn't very noticeable, but after Barbara finished, her aura suddenly surged to a whole new level!
"I didn't expect Master to be pushed to this extent." Taeko felt a bit unwilling, feeling ashamed of her performance, having been almost instantly defeated.
Although she was the one who had been ambushed, weren't they all assassins? Was there anything wrong with an ambush?
"Chelsea, can you help Master?" Taeko asked with anxious eyes, looking at Chelsea, who had appeared beside her at some point.
Chelsea gave a bitter smile. "I'd like to, but there's simply no room for me to intervene in this battle. The aura of that standoff isn't something I can approach. Besides, if I go over, I might even hinder Senior Barbara."
"That's true." As Barbara's disciple, Taeko understood just how strong Barbara was. A battle of this caliber was simply not something they could interfere in, but she had absolute confidence in her teacher!
"Ugh, can't you be a little gentler?" Chelsea gritted her teeth and said. Although what Taeko said was the truth, why was it so annoying?
"A secret technique?" Kaede furrowed her brow, watching Barbara's surging aura, but it didn't matter. Now there was only one path: fight!
At this very moment, Kaede discarded all her techniques. After all, all her techniques were prepared for assassination. Since assassination was no longer possible, the utility of these techniques had been infinitely diminished.
It could be said that this was the first formal, direct battle Kaede had faced in this world.
Almost at the same moment, Kaede and Barbara rushed toward each other.
At this time, even though Barbara had no weapons in her hands, Kaede dared not underestimate her anymore; the three scratch marks on her body had already proven to her the price of underestimating her opponent.
But even so, with all her assassination techniques rendered useless, Kaede was still not a pushover that could be easily manipulated.
Although she didn't have many direct battles, it had always been like that in the previous world. While not comparable to this world, Kaede's control over her blade had been constantly strengthening.
The force and direction of every slash could reach the most perfect state in Kaede's mind, and this had already become a habit; it didn't require deliberate attention.
Just like that, Kaede and Barbara exchanged attacks for several rounds, but both of their fighting styles were based on speed. After a few rounds, neither of them had touched the other, as it was mostly probing.
However, Kaede's expression became increasingly grave, while a smile slowly appeared on Barbara's face.
"It seems your close-quarters combat isn't that great, and your attack style is just simple slashing." Barbara narrowed her eyes; she had also discovered the weakness in Kaede's attacks.
Although Kaede's blade work had no weaknesses—in terms of the basics of slashing, even Barbara hadn't seen anyone better than her—having no weaknesses in slashing didn't mean there were no weaknesses overall.
However, what surprised Barbara a little was that her previous claw strike had been highly poisonous, and there was no antidote, yet Kaede didn't feel any effects of the poison. It seemed she had undergone unimaginable anti-poison training.
Thinking this, Barbara prepared for the next strike. The next strike would end it! A fierce light appeared in Barbara's eyes.
Kaede also realized that she was gradually falling into a disadvantage. On the surface, neither of them had gained an advantage, but Kaede felt that her attacks seemed to have been seen through.
Next, she needed to be even more careful; Kaede understood this point.
However, sometimes, understanding wasn't enough to dodge.
Facing Barbara's assault once again, Kaede could only meet it with a slash of her blade.
However, the wrinkles on Barbara's face became even more pronounced. She had been waiting for just such an attack! Her figure flashed repeatedly, and she actually bypassed the blade directly, arriving in front of Kaede.
Such an attack was too purposeful; for her, it was very easy to dodge.
Indeed, Kaede could see others' weaknesses, and her blade would naturally swing toward those spots; this was the reason for what Barbara called being too purposeful.
Looking at Barbara before her, Kaede widened her eyes. This speed left her absolutely no time to react!
A hand passed through Kaede's abdomen without any resistance.
"Ugh..." Kaede spat a mouthful of blood directly onto Barbara's face.
"Hmph! Little trick!" A mocking expression appeared on Barbara's face, and she intended to reach up from below and crush the heart of the little one before her.
However, the next moment, Barbara's expression changed, because madness was already visible in Kaede's eyes. That blade, at some unknown moment, had eerily twisted an angle and was stabbing toward Barbara's heart.
If Barbara didn't stop and dodge, the momentum of that blade would definitely pierce Barbara's heart, and the force wouldn't even stop after piercing Barbara's heart; it would continue into Kaede's own body.
In Barbara's eyes, Kaede's life was already in the bag; there was absolutely no need to sacrifice her own life at this moment.
Naturally, Barbara wanted to dodge Kaede's blade.
But Kaede's blade was faster and fiercer than Barbara had imagined.
Even though Barbara's movements were fast, she was still cut by the blade. (If it were Murasame, it would have been over already...)
Even Barbara hadn't completely dodged it, so one could imagine the ferocity of this strike. Therefore, even Kaede herself couldn't stop this strike.
Thus, the blade naturally pierced through Kaede's body.
But, a smile appeared at the corners of Kaede's mouth. At least she hadn't died, right? And, this battle was already over.
Yes, it was over.
Watching Kaede's smile, Barbara felt something was wrong. Giving up in despair? Barbara felt that Kaede didn't seem like that kind of person.
Suddenly, Barbara felt a sensation coming from her body. Was that poison? And, this effect—Barbara widened her eyes. It was actually the poison she had just used on Kaede! A poison with no antidote, and not just this one type of poison; there was also a poison that made her whole body limp and powerless! The two poisons had mixed together.
"It seems you have lost." Kaede pulled the blade from her body; the blade remained snow-white, without even a trace of blood stained on it.
Obviously, something was very wrong!
Barbara looked at Kaede's blade and the wound on Kaede's body, from which not a drop of blood flowed, and her expression turned ugly.
"Teigu!"
That's right, it was a Teigu. Only a Teigu could achieve this, especially a Teigu that controlled blood. Poison also needed to spread in order to take effect.
However, Kaede , possessing such a Teigu, didn't worry at all about the poison spreading in her body. She could even do something like this: directly concentrate the poison in her blood and then control it to spray onto the blade!
This was also the ability Kaede disliked: controlling blood, mainly controlling her own blood. Even with a blade stuck in her body, it was just pain. As for weakness? It didn't exist. Without the loss of blood, how could there be a feeling of weakness?
Her footsteps remained steady as Kaede walked toward Barbara. She couldn't rest easy until she had taken her head! Barbara's danger level was simply too high!
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