Chapter 527 - 178: Sazanoko’s Shock! Aoto Grows Even Stronger

Chapter 527: Chapter 178: Sazanoko’s Shock! Aoto Grows Even Stronger

Once he reached the position where his sword could strike the enemy, the force accumulated in his waist and arms suddenly burst forth!

Buzz... The sound of the air being ripped through reverberated in the atmosphere.

Ghost-Slaying slashed down from the upper right to the lower left with such speed that the sharp blade drew a needle-thin streak of light.

This enemy’s reaction was fairly quick, as they swiftly raised their sword horizontally to block the fierce Kasaya Slash.

The attack didn’t succeed... Aoto’s expression remained unchanged. He used the counterforce from the blocked sword to swiftly lift Ghost-Slaying and switch to an upper left stance, slashing again from a completely different direction from the previous Kasaya Slash!

This time, the enemy failed to react... Aoto’s slash from the upper left to the lower right directly severed the right arm holding the sword at the elbow, causing the entire arm, still gripping the sword, to fall to the ground.

Though his arm was cut off, the enemy did not utter a scream.

Because before he could, Aoto struck again at lightning speed, cutting horizontally across his neck, taking his life.

The light flickered... The corner of Aoto’s right eye caught a glimpse of a new enemy of similar height and build on his right front, swinging a sword at Aoto with a slightly insufficient Qi Union.

Probably because Aoto had just effortlessly dealt with a companion beside him, this person’s face was filled with fear, and his sword-swinging motion carried the aura of wanting to repel Aoto, prevent him from approaching.

In this cloudy night sky covered with a thick cloud layer, amidst the darkness, Sazanoko saw two silhouettes holding swords merge into one.

Then, in the next instant, one of them fell slowly to the ground.

The survivor... Aoto quickly shook the blood off his blade at his feet, then pointed his sword at the next enemy.

Sazanoko initially thought her eyes were deceiving her.

But now, after seeing Aoto kill the enemy of similar build to himself with such a clean and swift move, she was finally convinced—Aoto had become significantly stronger compared to the Aizu Marquis Swordsmanship Competition last month!

It’s not difficult to understand why Sazanoko feels such astonishment—how could she have anticipated that Aoto’s swordsmanship talent had evolved from "50 times that of an ordinary person" to "70 times" in just a month after the Swordsmanship Competition?

How could she have known that Aoto would gain a new Divine-level talent, "Gathering Spirit," in this short time?

At this moment, the items "Lone Brave" and "Gathering Spirit" in Aoto’s talent list were both shining brightly as they activated!

The last time Sazanoko had witnessed Aoto’s battle was during the Aizu Marquis Swordsmanship Competition last month.

In short—her perception of Aoto’s power was still stuck in last month’s Swordsmanship Competition!

Even though she heard from Aoto a few days ago about his new record of fighting alone against 18 samurai in an alley, the impact of hearing about it and witnessing it with her own eyes is completely different.

Back then, upon hearing Aoto’s "1vs18" victory, she subconsciously thought he had become stronger again... but never did she expect Aoto to have grown this much stronger!

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Aoto had already flashed to the next enemy.

This enemy hastily raised his sword to attack, swinging an arc toward Aoto’s neck.

For Aoto, who had the talents "Lone Brave," "Gathering Spirit," and "Eagle Eye" all activated, this enemy’s slash was incredibly slow, slow as if it were a movie scene played in slow motion.

Having seen through the enemy’s sword path, Aoto simply tilted his head to avoid the attack, then quickly launched a counterstrike.

Splurt!

Another vivid bloom of blood flowers filled the air, blossoming on the ground.

Aoto slashed vertically across the enemy’s right cheek and neck.

Ghost-Slaying’s blade was like a shower head... but instead of warm comforting water, it sprayed foul-smelling blood.

Aoto used no fancy techniques.

He simply aimed at this enemy’s right cheek and neck, making an ordinary vertical slash.

But Aoto’s sword speed was so incredibly fast.

It was so fast that the enemy had no time to react, so fast that by the time Aoto’s sword hit him, he still hadn’t figured out what was happening.

Seeing his eyes quickly losing their light in confusion... perhaps until the very end, he never understood how he had been cut down by Aoto.

Counting the burly man Aoto first cut into two, four people had fallen by Aoto’s hand... His companions were being eliminated one after another at such speed that the "Hanging Corner Eye Warrior" was stunned, his expression almost losing control.

If this continues, everyone will be killed by this guy...! The "Hanging Corner Eye Warrior" cursed silently and then shouted loudly:

"Everyone gather around me! Don’t be isolated! Don’t fight alone!"

Grouping together, coordinating, and leveraging their numerical advantage to surround and attack Aoto—this was the only effective countermeasure the "Hanging Corner Eye Warrior" could think of in the current situation.