While Ikuse Tobio and Okino Suzuri were engaged in a sword-clashing battle, the other members of the Blade Dog Squad also rushed towards Cheng Ying and Myu with their Sacred Gear partners.
Seeing this, Myu released an invisible psychokinetic force from his brow. Samejima Tsunao and his partner—the Sacred Gear Taowu (Hakusa), a white giant beast over three meters tall resembling a saber-toothed tiger with several sharp tails—were frozen in place by Myu.
"Hmph~~!!" Myu sneered, releasing another burst of psychokinesis that sent Samejima Tsunao and Hakusa flying.
Cheng Ying moved accordingly, vanishing from his spot as an afterimage. He first appeared before the flying Samejima Tsunao and Hakusa, swinging his sword and carving a long wound across their chests.
Then he moved to the others, weaving through the crowd like a ghost with lightning speed. For a fleeting moment, everyone felt as if a white light had flashed before their eyes.
By the time Cheng Ying reappeared before them, they only felt a slight itch on their chests. When everyone looked down, they found a very thin, long sword wound on their chests.
"Ugh...!!" By the time they reacted, blood sprayed from the wounds on their chests.
After a while, they took out phoenix tears and drank them, fully recovering.
"What incredible sword speed!"
"To have such speed with such a large frame!"
"He's like a ghost invisible to the naked eye!"
Everyone was shocked by Cheng Ying's sword speed, as none of them had even felt him strike. In an instant, their wariness of Cheng Ying reached its peak.
Fellow swordsmen Kiba Yuuto, Xenovia, and Irina Shidou knew that fighting a master like Cheng Ying, whose swordsmanship had reached the realm of returning to simplicity, was a near-death experience, but they had no choice but to fight.
They each held their strongest blades—the Holy-Demonic Sword, EX Durandal, and authkrell—tightly in their hands.
"Haah—!!" The three swordsmen gripped their swords and leapt up to slash at Cheng Ying.
The giant sword in Cheng Ying's hand seemed like an extension of his body as he slightly raised it to parry. Seeing their full-power strikes blocked so easily, the three swordsmen refused to back down and continued to press down with force.
Looking at the three people on his blade, Cheng Ying said, "I see. Decent weapons, but that is all."
Having said that, Cheng Ying applied a bit of force to his sword arm, blowing them back, and then grabbed their swords in his hand.
On the other side, the Blade Dog Squad faced off against Myu. Because of Myu's powerful psychokinesis, they couldn't get within half a step of him. Myu himself simply stood in place, looking at the Blade Dog Squad with a sneer.
"earth bewitching star!!" Minagawa Natsume sat atop Qiongqi (Griffin), one of the Four Perils Sacred Gears with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion, soaring through the air before diving rapidly towards Myu.
Watching the approaching Qiongqi, Myu brought his hands together in a claw-like shape and attacked Qiongqi and Minagawa Natsume, wrapping them both in countless cocoon threads.
"Wh-What is this!" Minagawa Natsume's hands and feet, as well as Qiongqi's entire body, were entangled by countless fine threads, attempting to wrap them both into a cocoon.
"You will soon be unable to move or breathe," Myu said, looking at Minagawa Natsume and Qiongqi.
"earth bewitching star..." Minagawa Natsume glared at Myu and shouted. Only their heads remained exposed; their bodies were already tightly wrapped in threads. By the time Minagawa Natsume finished speaking, she was completely encased.
Samejima Tsunao glared with fury and ran towards Myu, shouting, "Take this!! You butterfly bastard!!"
Samejima Tsunao's fists were wrapped in lightning as he attacked Myu, and the sharp tails behind his partner Taowu were also wreathed in lightning as they struck.
"Ugly Eruption!!" Strong green poison erupted from Myu's palms. Although they sensed the danger and dodged, some of the poison still splashed onto them.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!!
A sound like roasting meat came from Samejima Tsunao and Qiongqi's bodies. The poison continuously corroded them, making them break out in a cold sweat as they gritted their teeth to endure.
Nanataki Shiko's expression soured as she watched her companions trapped or injured. She threw out the small monster she was holding—Taotie of the Four Perils Sacred Gears, who wore a Taotie-patterned mask—and shouted:
"Go, Apo!"
"Roar—!!" Taotie let out a long howl and transformed into a demonic beast nearly fifty meters tall. He opened his mouth as if it were an invisible black hole, and a powerful suction force swallowed the surrounding rocks.
As Myu's figure slowly drew closer, he remained calm with his arms crossed. Then, emitting a purple Cosmos, he said:
"Does Taotie eat everything? Then this, can you swallow this!?"
"Fairy Thronging!!" Myu raised his right arm high, and many butterflies with brilliant glowing wings appeared around him, all of which were then sucked into Taotie's mouth.
"Roar...!!" After swallowing the butterflies, Taotie couldn't help but let out a low growl. His body began to wobble and grow weak, reverting to his small monster form and collapsing on the ground, twitching.
"Apo!!" Nanataki Shiko cried out in worry, rushing forward to take Taotie in her arms, then looked at Myu and shouted angrily:
"What exactly were those butterflies!! Why did Apo become like this after eating them!!"
Myu smiled and said, "Those butterflies are called Underworld Fairy Butterflies, special insects found only in the underworld. Even if a god is touched by just a bit of their scales, they will die from the poison."
"What!! Apo just swallowed so many... Underworld Fairy Butterflies..." Nanataki Shiko trembled, her pupils dilating as she saw the white fur in her arms turn a poisonous purple.
The blown-back Kiba Yuuto, Xenovia, and Irina Shidou looked at the giant figure of Cheng Ying with unwilling yet undefeated eyes. Noticing their gaze, Cheng Ying couldn't help but praise them:
"Oh? You still have the will to fight? Then I'll give these back to you."
Having said that, Cheng Ying threw the three swords in his hand like darts into the ground in front of them. The three swordsmen picked up their swords, refusing to give in.
Seeing his companions in danger, Ikuse Tobio quickly broke away from Okino Suzuri to rescue his Blade Dog Squad comrades.
He first cut away the silk on Minagawa Natsume, then used his Sacred Gear's ability to sever the concept of [Poisoning] from Samejima Tsunao, Taowu, and Taotie.
Ikuse Tobio turned to the companions behind him and said, "Vali, you guys go! Leave the earth bewitching star and earth dog star to us, the Blade Dog Squad!!"
Kiba Yuuto, Xenovia, and Irina Shidou also gripped their swords, facing Cheng Ying with full fighting spirit:
"Leave the Xiangjian Dagong to us!! You guys keep moving forward!!"
It was the same result again: the companions stayed behind to hold off the powerful enemies so that the aces, Issei Hyoudou and Vali, could move on.
The others could only helplessly run towards the next hell with tears in their eyes.
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