Chapter 18 Ghost Maru Hyakume Tsunezane

After "Yakes" died, the monstrous demonic aura of "Onimaru Hyakume Tsunezane" also disappeared. The eerie human eyes on the blade closed, and this legendary masterpiece of the Twelve Craftsmen returned to its original state.

The fierce aura completely subsided, the sword body was snow-white, and the cloud patterns were dense. It was a pleasing sight amidst the wind and snow.

Suren admired it for a moment before slowly drawing the sword from the corpse.

As the sword was drawn out, the blood droplets on the blade gathered into large beads due to gravity, then flowed down the blade and dripped onto the pure white snow, like scattered red plums. Looking again, not a drop of blood remained on the blade, its cold light shimmering, its sharpness visible to the naked eye.

The moment Suren grasped the hilt, he immediately felt the sword's strangeness. In an instant, demonic energy scattered his reason, and his eyes were filled with endless terrifying images. He saw the most evil thoughts in his heart and the terrifying scenes of endless hell.

With a great weapon in hand, a voice seemed to be tempting him from the bottom of his heart: Kill, kill, kill...

A red light flashed in Suren's eyes, then the [Sun-Eating] totem on his chest warmed slightly, and he regained his clarity.

For ordinary people, demonic energy attacking the heart is definitely a matter of life and death. Even with the strongest will, being near it for a long time would inevitably lead to corruption.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a big problem for Suren. He was no stranger to either manic negative mental energy or the sights of hell.

The Daru tribe's sacred紋totem could perfectly devour those abnormal negative mental energies that were beyond control, so this demon sword didn't pose much of a threat to him.

As if unable to turn its wielder into a "sword slave," Onimaru Hyakume Tsunezane in Suren's hand emitted a light ringing sound.

Suren clenched his fingers, tightly gripping the demon sword that wanted to break free.

To dissipate the demonic pressure, he slashed forward with the sword, and a sharp sword qi cut a furrow of more than ten meters in the snow.

The sound of the sword qi breaking through the air disappeared into the wind. Suren's eyes were misty as he murmured to himself, "So strong..."

The surging sword intent made even a Mechanical Alchemist like him momentarily want to change professions.

It was truly too strong.

The thought flashed and disappeared.

Suren chuckled lightly.

Even holding it in his hand, he sensed its resistance, and his brow furrowed slightly in helplessness.

Suren wasn't afraid of the demon sword's evil nature, but the sword didn't recognize him, a Mechanical Alchemist, as its master.

That feeling of "being separated by professions" also made him not really want to try to control the sword.

Strangely,

As soon as that thought arose, the sword in his hand quieted down.

It was indeed full of spirituality.

Suren pursed his lips and mocked himself, "Heh, as expected, I can't use it."

He always believed that swords were weapons of killing, and what was righteous or evil lay in the heart.

The reason this sword was called "demonic" was because its users tried to wield power beyond their ability to control.

If one didn't have such delusions, it wouldn't act up.

Suren raised one hand, hooked his fingers, and used threads to retrieve the old kasaya from the ancestral hall.

Wrapped in the kasaya, Onimaru Hyakume Tsunezane completely quieted down.

After doing all this, his gaze swept to a house in the distance behind him, and he revealed a meaningful smile as he noticed something.

.......

The person hiding in the house watched Suren draw Onimaru Hyakume Tsunezane, thinking that another soul would be added to its collection.

But after watching for a while, he watched Suren calmly put the sword away and wrap it in a kasaya.

This action really surprised her.

Wouldn't a normal person be instantly driven mad by the demonic energy upon obtaining this sword?

The gaze hidden in the darkness flickered coldly, "Is there actually an expert in the North Sea Fleet who can tame Tsunezane? Is Oleg hiding a trump card?"

Although no one could control this sword for the time being, it was impossible to let an outsider take away this masterpiece of the Twelve Craftsmen.

Thinking this, she walked out.

......

Hearing footsteps behind him, Suren turned around and saw the guide, Matsunaga Hisahide, running over anxiously.

"Oh... Sir, are you alright?"

Seeing that Suren was about to leave, this fellow followed with slightly embarrassed steps.

"What's wrong?"

Suren looked back at this obviously problematic guy with a blank expression and asked. A fleeting moment of teasing flashed in his eyes, and he joked, "Oh, you're still alive?"

Hisahide's expression froze. He thought he hadn't been discovered, and he said awkwardly, "This one was afraid of death and hid, which is how I saved my life. I've made Sir laugh."

Seeing that Suren ignored him and was about to leave the village with the sword, he hurriedly stopped him and said, "Sir, this sword is an offering of the Swordsmith Village. You can't take it away. Otherwise, it will bring you misfortune."

"Oh, is that so?"

Hearing this, Suren chuckled lightly.

He naturally knew that taking this sword away would bring misfortune to ordinary people. The name of the demon sword wasn't for nothing.

And if he hadn't noticed the strangeness of this village, he wouldn't have necessarily taken away the village's treasure.

But now, this sword was just a "tool" used by this guy to kill people.

Those villagers, no, this village had big problems.

Suren narrowed his eyes and said, "What if I insist on taking it away?"

Hearing these strong words, Hisahide's face became very ugly. He said embarrassedly, "This..."

Without revealing his identity, he couldn't keep this famous sword.

But once he did, the North Sea King would have an excuse to directly attack.

After all, the scheme of killing with a borrowed knife could be blamed on the "demon sword."

But once someone was exposed, it would be a man-made event.

The problem would become unsolvable.

For a time, the guide's face was as gloomy as a daisy, but he didn't reveal any flaws on his lips and pleaded, "Oh, Sir, please don't. On the ship before, and just now when we entered the village, those adults didn't listen to my advice, and that's why..."

Suren wasn't interested in continuing to play dumb with this guy. He directly interrupted his babbling and asked with a teasing tone, "Mr. Guide, can you tell me what's going on with this village?"

He knew that if he wanted to take this sword away, the other party would definitely not let it go easily. Instead of being ambushed on the road, it was better to figure things out here.

Hearing this, a hint of panic flashed in Hisahide's eyes, but he still wanted to play dumb. "Ah? This is the Swordsmith Village. Didn't I tell you before..."

"Heh."

Suren interrupted him again with a sneer.

After walking around and preparing, he stopped, and the killing intent on his body suddenly rose.

He stared firmly at Hisahide's face, a cold light flashed, and he said in a deep voice, "I want to say, the people in this Swordsmith Village clearly died a year ago. Why are they still 'alive'?"

This was what he really cared about.

It was even more important than getting this demon sword!

If he didn't figure it out, he felt that his understanding of this world would be covered by a barrier, and it would even be so serious that he would doubt everything he saw!

"..."

Hearing this, Hisahide suddenly stopped. The flattering and smiling face from just now instantly turned cold.

He looked at Suren, no longer pretending, and said coldly, "How did you find out?"

"Want to leave? Do you think you can? You didn't think I was really chatting with you all the way without making any preparations, did you..."

How could Suren not have noticed that this guy was planning to slip away?

But since Suren had chosen to reveal the truth, how could he give this person a chance to escape?

Even as he spoke, he unhesitatingly pulled his fingers, and countless sharp threads had already surrounded Hisahide. In the next instant, they would cut him into countless pieces.

.......

Before entering the village, Suren only suspected that there was a problem with the guide.

After entering the village, he knew that there was a problem with the "demon sword."

But after talking with Koike Koichiro, he realized that there was a problem with the entire village!

Because he had seen Koike Teppei in the geisha house, and he also knew some of the situation of her family during the conversation.

So, talking to Koike Koichiro could quickly gain the other party's trust.

But it was this conversation that caused a big problem!

Suren remembered very clearly that Koike Teppei said that she was sold nine years ago and was now sixteen years old; while her father, Koike Koichiro, said that he sold his daughter eight years ago, and his daughter was now fifteen years old.

There was a difference of a whole year, but the other information was completely consistent!

It was impossible for both of them to remember such an important thing wrong.

Moreover, because they didn't know each other before, neither of them had the motive or meaning to deceive Suren.

Therefore, when Suren heard this "contradiction," he immediately noticed something was wrong.

If he excluded the assumption that one of the parties was lying, then the time difference problem was very big.

Finally, Suren connected all the clues and came to the most reasonable explanation, which was that the people in this "Swordsmith Village" died a year ago!

But the strange thing was that, judging by any of the recognition methods he currently had, these people should be "alive."

But in reality, in the most reasonable logic, they should be dead!

No, to be precise, the villagers of this Swordsmith Village seemed to be frozen a year ago.

Like... a film reel!

They were lifelike under certain specific conditions.

Suren also suspected that he had inadvertently fallen into some special cursed space.

But even after carefully observing everything in the village, the Omniscient Eye didn't see any abnormalities.

In this case, either this cursed space was so large that it exceeded his field of vision.

Or this "Swordsmith Village" existed in a form that he couldn't understand for the time being.

Therefore, he was so eager to know the truth.

.......

Suren suddenly attacked, and the pre-arranged thread control instantly solidified. "Matsunaga Hisahide" couldn't avoid it at all, and the sharp threads instantly cut into the guy's body.

Suren didn't intend to kill him right away. He originally wanted to control him and then see the situation, but he didn't expect that as soon as the thread touched him, Hisahide's body deflated like a punctured balloon, and the skin fell down.

As expected, the original guide had been replaced.

Suren also sighed inwardly that this guy had hidden himself flawlessly, making it impossible to see any abnormalities.

At the same time, a smoke bomb exploded with a "poof" sound, and a black shadow escaped from the thread cage.

"Ninpo: Illusionary Shadow Kill? As expected, it's a ninja... But, how could I let you escape so easily!"

Suren's eyes sharpened, and as soon as he opened the black umbrella, he immediately sensed abnormal fluctuations in the soil in the distance, still fleeing rapidly towards the outside of the village.

"Earth Release?"

Suren narrowed his eyes slightly.

This was the first time he had fought a ninja, and he found this method very amazing.

Although there were similar earth-based術formulas in alchemy, the principle was completely different.

Facing it for the first time, there was no trace to be found.

The ninjutsu of the Yamato Empire was a unique lineage. Although there were many legends about the mysteries of ninjutsu, almost no one had seen a ninja who had truly cultivated to a high level. After all, they were believers of the gods, and some ninjutsu couldn't be explained by common sense at all.

Suren thought of the situation in this village,

Could it be some kind of ninjutsu?

His mind raced, but his actions were not slow at all.

Suren had long heard that ninjas were good at using the environment to hide themselves, but it was almost useless for those with soul perception.

The moment "Hisahide" escaped with Earth Release, Suren raised his hand and launched a cannonball.

With a "boom," the ground cracked, and a figure scurried out.

This guy was wearing a standard ninja outfit, covering his face and revealing only cold eyes.

He didn't know what means he had used before, but he had disguised himself as Hisahide with human skin, and even the feeling of the soul fire had become strange. Now that he had restored his original appearance, he was estimated to be around Tier 4. This was about the same as expected before.

There were still scorched marks on her clothes, so the cannonball hadn't been completely avoided.

Suren wouldn't give his opponent a chance to breathe. The moment he forced her out, he pulled his fingers, and dozens of threads tightened again.

The ninja drew out the short sword on her back, blocked a few threads, and in the next instant, her body suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of black mist, using ninjutsu again.

"The gap in [Illusionary Flash] is about 1.5 seconds. You can't escape with that..."

Suren didn't know enough about ninjutsu. He was just testing.

After a few rounds, he also judged some of the other party's details.

Ninjutsu was tricky, but if he really figured it out, he could find a way to deal with it.

Suren flashed to avoid two shurikens flying like lightning, then teleported a hundred meters and punched the air.

He knew very well that the target was hidden in the air.

Before the ninja could escape, she felt a foot heavily kick her in the stomach.

She immediately realized that there was no point in hiding. The other party had a way to lock her position. She formed a ninjutsu hand seal, and just as her body arched into a shrimp shape, it exploded into a cloud of smoke again.

Suren felt his foot sink and kicked a piece of clothing.

Looking again at the graceful figure in the distance, he was slightly surprised: "Oh... it's actually a female ninja."

It seemed like the Body Replacement Technique in ninjutsu required shedding skin every time?

......

Suren's eyes were devoid of any emotion as he chased after her again.

The female ninja's methods and reactions weren't bad, but if she really fought head-on, she wouldn't be so embarrassed.

But as long as she stayed to fight head-on, Suren could find a chance to kill her!

Unfortunately, this guy's intuition was amazing, and she only focused on escaping, so Suren couldn't do anything to her in a short time.

But her intuition seemed to sense something. When Suren was about to use the Human-Skin Umbrella and Black Scythe, she suddenly took out an ancient pottery pot. As soon as the lid was opened, strands of black gauze swept over her like a blanket.

"Yokai: [Inu Naki]? So that's how the 'Hisahide' skin came to be."

Suren identified this thing and didn't dare to be careless.

This "black sand" was also one of the famous hundreds of yokai of the Yamato Empire.

This was a kind of parasitic demon bird that was smaller than human pores. They would enter the human body in groups and then devour all the tissues under the skin. The parasitized person wouldn't even realize that they were dead and could even act normally... It was very strange.

Almost at the same time, Suren's holy radiance emitted blue cold flames, which instantly condensed into a giant spirit general wearing armor.

As this layer of flame overflowed, it formed a barrier several meters thick, and those approaching black sand demon birds were burned to ashes, unable to get close at all.

Seeing this scene, the female ninja's eyes revealed a confused and shocked expression, and she shouted urgently: "Musashi secret art, are you from Lu Ying?"

At this moment, she was really puzzled. She thought he was from Oleg, but looking at this method... such proficiency in the Musashi secret art, his identity was definitely not simple!

But if he was from Lu Ying, then why would he be lurking in a pirate group?

Moreover, the cold flames of Musashi driven by dark spirit power were slightly different from those used by the Lu Ying royal family. The illusion of the "Fire Musashi" god general on Suren's body looked sinister and evil.

She seemed to recognize something as she looked at it and completely lost any intention of fighting, and said: "Wait, we can talk!"

"Hmph!"

Suren snorted coldly and ignored her.

After witnessing the weirdness of ninjutsu, he didn't dare to stop.

He didn't think that if he gave the other party a chance, he would still have the confidence to take the initiative.

If they were going to talk, he would capture her first and then talk!

Just at this moment, Suren's prepared chessboard light illuminated her.

But this time, the chessboard missed for the first time.

Suren found that the surrounding scenery had changed, and the figure in front of him suddenly softened, like melted asphalt turning into a black shadow. Only a set of clothes was left behind, which was naturally what the female ninja was wearing close to her body.

The chessboard space didn't control the person, but controlled the female ninja's shadow.

"Shadow Woman?"

Suren looked at the black shadow that slipped away and found that this was another yokai.

It had soul fluctuations, clothes, and demonic energy to cover it up. It was impossible to tell the difference between the real and the fake.

Suren immediately released the space, returned to the snow, and looked again. Where was the female ninja's shadow?

He looked thoughtful, picked up the clothes on the ground, and put them away.

.......

The person had run away, and Suren's face was slightly embarrassed.

The female ninja was good at all kinds of ninjutsu escape techniques, so it was really not easy to kill her.

However, his entanglement was fleeting.

Although he didn't get the "truth," fortunately, the demon sword had fallen into his hands, which was already a lot of gain.

He had chased out very far just now. Suren thought about it, found the direction of the village, and quickly ran back.

But when he returned to the mountain pass again, he was once again shocked by the scene in front of him.

The "Swordsmith Village," which was still there not long ago, had now turned into a pile of ruins. Like it had been through a fire, the snow was filled with scorched remains of the houses. There were also corpses everywhere.

Suren stood in the snow, looking at the scene in front of him, his face became more and more serious. His left eye shone brightly and turned frequently, but he didn't see any abnormalities at all.

He naturally judged that these burnt marks were at least a year and a half old.

This was the real "Swordsmith Village."

But what he saw before was real, so what about the Swordsmith Village he saw before?

What about those "living people"?

If Onimaru Hyakume Tsunezane wasn't in his hand and the corpses weren't real to the touch, he would have really thought that tonight's experience was a dream.

Suren walked around the village, harvested some spoils of war, and quickly left the mountain pass after finding no clues that could solve his doubts.

This Swordsmith Village was full of weirdness, and even with the cold wind and heavy snow, he didn't want to spend the night here.

That female ninja was very likely to return, and if she couldn't beat him alone, she could call for reinforcements.

......

Suren walked in the mountains while cleaning up the traces he had left behind.

Now that the vanguard group of the Ninth Fleet was almost wiped out, Suren's original plan to lie low was naturally impossible.

Thinking about it, he dialed the Gambler Widow's communication.

"Sister Chitose, I've encountered some situations..."

He roughly explained the situation before.

Not long after, a response came from the communicator, "That's right, there was a bit of an accident in the plan to assassinate 'Old Man Rune'. I've encountered a little trouble and need your help..."