21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 458: Collapse (Draft was put in the box and forgotten to send, sorry!)
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About one kilometer away from the Tashiro family’s mansion, Jounouchi Hiromi sat bored in a luxurious stretch limousine, with the blue-covered "Crimson Hymn" spread open on her lap. However, she wasn’t reading it because Xiao Lan was lying on the pages.
Standing outside the car, Kyuuzai Ryousen kept his hands tied and stood guard in front of the car door.
"I wonder how it’s going over there," sensing the momentum erupting from the Tashiro family mansion, she turned her gaze in that direction, "It seems the fight has already started."
"Two Sub-Legendary creatures, no wonder the Shadow Guard guy used Legendary strength," while Jounouchi Hiromi could only obscurely sense the momentum of the battle erupting from the Tashiro family, Xiao Lan could precisely perceive what was happening there.
In Xiao Lan’s perception, the Legendary-rank and Sub-Legendary-rank momentum bursting out of the Tashiro family’s mansion could be clearly felt. Although one of the Sub-Legendaries was always restraining their aura and momentum, the fluctuations of powerful life force emanating from the life that had undergone a qualitative change due to being close to Legendary level were so conspicuous to the giant dragon’s senses.
As a Shadow Guard, Maeda Toshiie was able to split his presence into several entities, but the maximum strength of each split wasn’t Sub-Legendary. In fact, a Legendary-rank Shadow Guard should be able to give each of their splits Legendary-level strength. It was just that Maeda Toshiie’s grasp of the Shadow Guard’s abilities wasn’t sufficient, and due to the issues with his own strength, he couldn’t bring out all the abilities of a Shadow Guard.
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Even so, barely two Sub-Legendaries still shouldn’t pose a problem for him, especially after he invested the strength of his main body into this particular split. The gap in strength between Legendary and Sub-Legendary wasn’t something that could be bridged by numbers alone, at least Old Man Tanshiro and Hanzo couldn’t do it as the two Sub-Legendaries.
The three momentums collided several times, with Old Man Tashiro’s momentum exploding once, momentarily reaching the tier of Legendary level, and Hanzo also unleashed all his combat power, joining forces with Old Man Tashiro in hopes of standing against the Legendary-rank Maeda Toshiie they were facing.
But they clearly misjudged Maeda Toshiie’s strength and failed to anticipate that the greatest ability of the Shadow Guard was to split presence.
Xiao Lan clearly felt two Sub-Legendary level momentums separate from the Legendary-rank aura and couldn’t help but smirk.
As the companion mount of Jounouchi Hiromi, it naturally understood the content on "Crimson Hymn" quite well. Regarding the Shadow Guard, Necromancer’s favorite type of Legendary-level Undead Servant, Xiao Lan was clearly aware of a phrase in "Crimson Hymn" to describe them, that is, "Army of One."
Usually a Necromancer would only create one Shadow Guard, but in fact, one Shadow Guard was equivalent to an entire legion. Maeda Toshiie simply hadn’t yet mastered and displayed the full power he was capable of; and he always kept his splits at the Sub-Legendary level, otherwise, he could completely summon an army.
Nevertheless, after several collisions of momentums, a victor was determined.
"Seems like it’s over, let’s head over," Xiao Lan turned its head to look at Jounouchi Hiromi and said to her.
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Jounouchi Hiromi, dressed in a long blue coat, quickly arrived at the Tashiro family’s mansion accompanied by Xiao Lan and Kyuuzai Ryousen. Since the battle had ended, Jounouchi Hiromi and Kyuuzai Ryousen faced no obstructions.
When they reached the scene of the battle, what presented itself to their eyes was a room in complete disarray. Despite appearing intact from the outside, the interior of the house was as if a typhoon had swept through, with the traditional Japanese paper doors being blown out leaving only their frames.
Just as Jounouchi Hiromi was about to reach out and pull, the door promptly collapsed to the ground, resulting in an awkward gesture with her extended hand.
She withdrew her hand and gave an awkward smile, but at that moment, the people in the room were not concerned with her discomfort. Maeda Toshiie needed to restrain the two defeated captives, and as a samurai, he would never mock his own lady.
As for the defeated Old Man Tashiro and Hanzo, what mood would they be in to care about Jounouchi Hiromi’s awkwardness? For Old Man Tashiro, figuring out how to survive was the real issue. A woman fussing over a little embarrassment with her cat was not enough to distract him. What truly mattered to him was the respectful way Kyuuzai Ryousen and Maeda Toshiie treated Jounouchi Hiromi.
"So it seems you are the one in charge? Why didn’t Professor Chen Yu come in person? He only sent a woman?" Giving up the struggle and clutching his ribcage, which had been broken by Maeda Toshiie, Old Man Tashiro spat out the blood in his mouth and asked Jounouchi Hiromi, his tone carrying a hint of mockery and resentment.
Jounouchi Hiromi paid no attention to the loser’s bluster but looked down on Old Man Tashiro with slight contempt and retorted, "What does it matter if it’s a woman? For such trivial matters of the Tashiro family, Mr. Chen Yu doesn’t need to take action personally."
After speaking, Jounouchi Hiromi surveyed the room, which had been devastated, and turned her concerned gaze toward Qingdai, who was prostrate on the ground, asking, "Doctor Qingdai, are you all right?"
"She was caught in the crossfire just now and was badly injured," Maeda Toshiie interjected before Qingdai could struggle to reply. In the battle, she had attempted to assassinate Old Man Tashiro but had been caught in his explosive outburst, receiving a full-blown strike from Sub-Legendary Level force, leaving her now with more breaths out than in.
"Doctor Jounouchi... I beg you... save me..." Qingdai gasped out blood and pleaded weakly to Jounouchi Hiromi, not having anticipated her quest for revenge would cost her her life.
Qingdai did not want to die, and neither did the other soul within her.
Despite harboring deep-seated hatred for Old Man Tashiro, the other soul within Qingdai’s body valued the chance to live again. Who would want to use their hard-won life for revenge? Perhaps, in the past, when no hope seemed in sight, he might have been willing to spend all his energy and pay any price for revenge, but that certainly did not include his life.
He had achieved his vengeance. Old Man Tashiro, who had controlled him and Qingdai, was about to die, and the treasure passed down through the Tashiro family awaited his inheritance. He could soon live the life he had dreamed of. The only problem troubling him was that he had no body of his own and had to share one with Qingdai, but even that was not without hope of resolution, right? How could he die at a time like this? How could he possibly die?
However, Jounouchi Hiromi wasn’t particularly inclined to save him.
