Chapter 51: Trouble

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Trouble

Stepping forward boldly into the dust-covered training ground, Kirito’s appearance instantly drew hundreds of curious and scrutinizing gazes from the surrounding warriors.

He stopped in his tracks, his calm voice echoing through the space: "Does anyone want to step up and challenge me to a match?"

With those words, a samurai radiating a murderous aura stepped out from the crowd. On his face, he wore a fierce Yaksha demon mask, and his entire body was clad in heavy, rugged combat armor.

"I will fight you. A single duel, how about that?"

Kirito nodded slightly, answering calmly: "Alright, then may I ask what your name is?"

The samurai decisively drew the cold, sharp Katana at his hip from its sheath while coldly giving a short reply: "I have no notable name; you can call me whatever you want."

Kirito did not probe further, his slender hand simultaneously resting on the sword hilt, quickly drawing his Katana into a defensive stance.

"Alright, then just call me Oscar." Kirito casually fabricated a fake name to conceal his identity.

In the world of swordsmanship, the most terrifying point of a samurai is their lightning-fast speed combined with unpredictable, ever-changing sword strokes whose trajectories are extremely hard to guess. However, Kirito’s nature was that of a professional Shinobi; supernatural speed and reflexes were inherently his greatest strengths.

The surrounding crowd, seeing an eye-pleasing match coming up, excitedly cheered and closed in to surround them. An elderly man wrapped in coarse cloth shouted the command: "Begin!"

Instantly, both figures darted toward each other as fast as a flash of lightning.

The samurai swung his sword in a fiercely powerful diagonal slash, but just as the blade reached halfway, its trajectory suddenly transformed, pivoting to redirect the slash straight upward toward Kirito’s neck with the intention of finishing him quickly.

Swift as lightning, Kirito tilted his body and stepped back half a step to dodge the perilous sword stroke. Lowering his center of gravity, he kicked out powerfully with a heaven-shattering blow straight at his opponent’s shin, causing the samurai to lose his footing and collapse to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Kirito immediately lunged forward, thrusting the tip of his sword down threateningly. Equally quick-witted, the samurai hurriedly pulled out a short sword tucked at his waist to completely block the attack, then took advantage of the momentum to shove powerfully, sending Kirito stumbling far backward.

Giving his opponent no time to recover, the samurai scrambled to his feet, resuming a relentless barrage of attacks.

The two engaged in continuous combat, the sharp, clashing metallic sounds of "clang clang" ringing out repeatedly, sending sparks flying and driving the outside crowd into an absolute frenzy of excitement.

Even Kirito was secretly astonished, unable to hide his surprise at his opponent’s formidable close-quarters combat prowess: "I didn’t expect this samurai to be this strong and possess such rich practical combat experience."

Cheers began to ring out lively from the crowd: "Hang in there!"

"Knock him down!"

"That polite brat actually seems to know what he’s doing!"

"Kill him, samurai!"

Amidst the intense match, the samurai suddenly spun his body, using the momentum to thrust his sword point straight toward Kirito’s chest.

Kirito vaulted into mid-air to dodge the dangerous blade, simultaneously unleashing a spinning kick aimed straight at his opponent’s chin. Unexpectedly, the samurai reacted extremely quickly, reaching out to grab his ankle mid-air.

He intended to use his strength to swing his arm and hurl Kirito forcefully onto the ground, but Kirito agilely used his other leg to kick straight into his opponent’s tightly gripping wrist. The sudden pain forced him to scream out and loosen his grip on the ankle.

Landing on the ground, Kirito didn’t hesitate, swinging his sword in a powerful slash aimed directly at the samurai’s waist.

Driven into a corner, the samurai used all his might to knock Kirito’s sword off-course while delivering a powerful punch straight to his face. Kirito agilely pulled his head back, the punch sliding past the tip of his nose without connecting.

Instantly, Kirito counterattacked with a tremendously powerful low sweep kick to the leg, causing the samurai to once again crash flat onto the ground. This time, luck no longer smiled upon him as the tip of Kirito’s Katana was coldly placed right against his throat, cutting off all paths to survival.

Kirito panted, pulling his sword back slightly: "I win."

All around, the crowd cheered uproariously, in awe of the young man’s supreme skill.

The samurai lying on the ground slowly removed his demon mask, nodding in admission: "I have lost."

"It is an honor to have such an invigorating match with you."

Kirito nodded slightly in polite greeting and turned to leave the training ground.

"That samurai is indeed very strong. But I still hold superior modern close-quarters combat skills and tactical thinking in my hands, why should I fear those classical moves, haha." Kirito thought inwardly.

Walking for a long time, his hungry stomach began to protest, so Kirito stepped into a crowded roadside eatery, immediately ordering a portion of steaming hot steamed buns and a plate of richly flavored stir-fried beef.

While leisurely enjoying his meal, loud cheers from an army suddenly rang out outside: "All hail Lord Hasin!"

Every single patron inside the eatery instantly stood up, respectfully bowing in greeting. Kirito, though in the middle of eating, politely stood up as well, slightly bowing according to common etiquette.

He was a middle-aged man with a dignified stature, his long, silver-flecked beard exuding the aura of a true commanding general.

Hasin glanced around, speaking in a warm, deep voice:

"Everyone, I am very proud and glad that you all remain resiliently holding your ground to this very day. Tomorrow, when the dawn breaks, we will officially launch the general offensive!"

As soon as the announcement ended, the entire crowd in the eatery enthusiastically shouted in response, their morale burning fiercely in preparation for war.

Sitting back down in his chair, Kirito reached out to stroke his chin, musingly analyzing the battle plan for tomorrow.

According to gathered information, the ancient mausoleum containing the martial arts manuals had four main entrances reserved for the four major clans. However, once stepping deep inside, the terrain structure would complexify into countless intertwined mazes, and accidental encounters between factions were unavoidable. That would be when small-scale, bloody battles broke out.

"Hasin has undoubtedly secretly prepared a team of society’s bottom-feeders or fresh recruits as cannon fodder to pioneer and scout for traps. Let’s just leisurely sit back and watch a good show first."

While deep in calculation, a figure suddenly stepped forward and stopped right at Kirito’s table. Following behind her were two burly men; one wore a large conical hat covering half his face, and the other was bald with a fierce, sun-tanned complexion.

"Hey young man? Are you interested in collaborating with our group?" The girl spoke in a sweet voice yet full of scheme.

Kirito raised his eyes, coldly observing the three strangers all at once before speaking: "State your purpose and conditions."

The girl gently flicked her glossy long hair, smiling charismatically: "I saw your strength just now at the training ground was quite good, and you haven’t joined any alliance yet. Why not join our team, jointly exploring and monopolizing the ancient mausoleum."

Kirito continued stroking his chin, pretending to deliberate and ponder to conceal his internal vigilance.

All around, the gazes of many patrons began glancing toward his table with curiosity. This unusual attention immediately activated Kirito’s survival instincts, making her realize this girl had malicious intentions to use or poison him.

"I refuse." Kirito replied decisively.

The girl persisted in clinging on, wearing a fake smile: "Come on, don’t rush to refuse like that, going together with us will benefit you greatly."

Kirito frowned uncomfortably, intuition whispering that the situation was starting to turn unstable. He decided to stand up abruptly intending to leave, but the moment he lifted his body, a sudden dizzy sensation washed over him, his head spinning heavily.

At this moment, the girl dropped her pretending expression, smirking triumphantly: "Hmph, too late, young man."

Kirito was startled to realize his body was losing control, inwardly gritting his teeth in self-questioning: "This is bad... when on earth did my body get poisoned?!"

He racked his brain deducing the cause, and the most likely possibility could only occur at the exact time the plate of stir-fried beef and steamed buns were served and brought to the table. They had acted in advance to spike the food with poison before serving it, bypassing even the waitstaff without anyone knowing.

"Looks like I was a bit complacent and underestimated your methods." Kirito gritted his teeth tightly, trying to muster internal energy to suppress the spreading toxins.

The girl covered her mouth, giggling with arrogance: "Haha, don’t bother wasting effort resisting. Once you’ve been targeted as prey by our group, no one has ever escaped!"

Kirito darted his eyes around to observe. The surrounding patrons all acted indifferent, not daring to intervene. Clearly, these three individuals before him possessed terrifying power and influence within the city, causing others to hold them in awe and not dare speak up.

"Within the territory of the Hasin clan, you dare openly resort to poisoning to harm others?" Kirito asked coldly. "Or do you think I carry a lot of wealth and want to rob me?"

The louder she heard, the more triumphant the girl became outwardly: "Judging by your dressing style, you’re clearly someone with education and background. We don’t believe you don’t have some fortune!"

Faced with the threat, Kirito unexpectedly let out a cold laugh. He turned around, facing the three malicious individuals head-on.

Instead of seeing a pale face, in agony, or collapsing from severe poisoning as they anticipated, they were horrified to discover that Kirito’s complexion was extremely alert and tranquil to an unusual degree.

That anomaly startled all three of them, their combat instincts erupting as they hurriedly placed their hands on the sword hilts at their hips for defense.

But it was too late!

Kirito seized the moment with transcendent speed, instantly ripping the Katana out of its sheath in the blink of an eye. He swung a lightning-fast horizontal slash, shattering the wooden table in the middle into pieces, while the perilous slashing force struck straight into the girl’s abdomen, sending her body flying backward, crashing hard into the wall before collapsing and coughing up blood.

"The three of you have too many cheap tricks, aren’t you tired of playing yet." Kirito casually uttered a sarcastic remark.

The two men standing behind widened their eyes in horror, utterly panicked as they saw their scheme dismantled in the blink of an eye. Both hurriedly drew their swords intending to desperately lunge forward and counterattack.

Kirito didn’t bother wasting much effort, merely gliding like a ghost to effortlessly dodge all their clumsy sword strikes. With just two neat sword swings, he sliced clean through the weapon-holding wrists of both men, causing them both to clutch their arms and collapse, screaming miserably in a pool of blood.

Finishing off the enemies in mere seconds, Kirito casually used the bloody cloak lapel of the conical-hatted man to wipe away the traces on his sharp blade, then decisively sheathed his sword back.

He sighed desolately, turning to walk away:

"Truly an excessively annoying and boring bunch of trash."