My Gang of Swordsmen-Chapter 113 - 80: The Niō Stands Tall!

The intense pain from his left shoulder stimulated Mogami’s mind.

He roared like a beast, then kicked toward Aoto’s soft abdomen.

Aoto had already landed back on the ground. Seeing Mogami’s swinging whip leg, he immediately abandoned the tachi deeply embedded in Mogami’s left shoulder, which was now extremely difficult to pull out, crossing his arms in an "X" shape to block the leg coming at him.

Mogami’s leg smashed heavily against Aoto’s arms, the enormous force almost making Aoto’s arms lose all sensation.

Unable to resist such immense power, Aoto staggered back several steps, then fell heavily to the ground face-up.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh——!"

Mogami let out a scream as if he were about to vomit his guts out.

The blade of the tachi was deeply embedded in his left shoulder... the pain of it could only be imagined.

The color drained from his cheeks and lips, his body spasmed uncontrollably, and he broke out in cold sweat.

The blood flowing from the wound dyed most of his body a vivid red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He collapsed to the ground, handed the Wind Cut to his left hand, and used his right hand to grasp the hilt of the tachi embedded in his left shoulder, gritting his teeth and enduring the searing pain that nearly made him faint as he pulled the tachi out inch by inch.

Once he pulled out and discarded the tachi, Mogami clenched his left hand forcefully a few times.

Aoto’s strike just now had directly broken the bone in his left shoulder.

He wouldn’t be able to lift his left arm for the time being...

Damn...! Damn...!

Looking at the ghastly wound on his left shoulder, Mogami gnashed his teeth, breathing heavily through his nose and clenched teeth.

Tachibana Aoto... you’re something else...!

Recalling how Aoto had run up his spear and leapt to severely injure his left shoulder, Mogami felt an intense sense of anger.

Given the medical level of Japan in this era, his left shoulder might sustain irreversible damage.

Thinking of this made Mogami’s breathing uncontrollably grow heavier.

However, amid the anger, Mogami also felt a faint... fear.

Could a normal person come up with such a strategy, directly stepping on the enemy’s spear to leap over?

If the enemy had reacted a bit quicker and knocked you off the spear, you’d be dead for sure!

Mogami took several breaths, adjusting his breathing thrown into chaos by the intense pain in his left shoulder.

At just that moment——

"...Ha...hahaha..."

A low chuckle echoed eerily into Mogami’s ears.

With a face unbiddenly painted with astonishment, Mogami raised his gaze to the direction of the chuckling—it was Aoto, who had been kicked away earlier and was still lying on the ground.

...

...

——Ahh...this longspear-wielding guy is really something... I thought I could take him out with that strike just now...

Lying on the ground, Aoto clenched his fists a few times.

The slight numbness in his arms from forcibly blocking Mogami’s whip leg was gradually dissipating.

The surprise attack earlier had failed, not successfully dealing with Mogami.

Yet strangely—Aoto felt no regret or disappointment.

——Is this what they call a "death match where all the muscles and nerves are tense"...

Whether in his past life or in this one, it was Aoto’s first time experiencing such an intense battle that left him gasping for breath.

Fully focused, body tense, not daring to be careless or distracted.

With death so near, any small mistake could lead to irreversible disaster.

Solely focused on how to defeat the opponent in front of him.

Racking his brains to think of ways to break the enemy.

Nervously waiting for the best moment to counterattack.

All these experiences were something Aoto had never gone through before.

At this moment, Aoto only felt deep in his heart...

A strange sense of exhilaration!

Looking back, whether in acing a life-deciding exam or achieving envied success in certain fields, Aoto had never felt such a thrilling sensation, as if his blood was about to boil!

——On second thought...even when I led Saito into the enemy lines earlier, recklessly charging among the enemy ranks, I felt that sensation of my blood about to boil...

——Haha...hahaha...

"...Ha...hahaha..."

Aoto’s heart and lips involuntarily released a low chuckle simultaneously.

He pushed himself up from the snowy ground with his hands.

As he stood up, Aoto casually grabbed a tachi lying beside him. At this moment and place, on this battlefield just after a large-scale bloodbath, the ground was littered with all sorts of scattered swords and blades.

Mogami, still kneeling on the ground, raised his gaze bit by bit as Aoto slowly stood up, ending up looking up at him.

Mogami’s mouth...slowly formed an "O" shape.

On his pale cheeks, the expression of having seen something incredible slowly appeared. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He’s...smiling...?

Although Aoto’s face seemed expressionless at first glance.

But upon closer inspection, one could see—the corners of Aoto’s mouth were slightly raised.

His eyes and the corners of his mouth both held a faint smile.

A trace of maniacal smile...!

Mogami’s body instinctively leaned back slightly, trying to distance himself from Aoto.

He sensed a strange aura emanating from Aoto.

Previously, Mogami often felt the strong presence of some masters, like his spear technique mentor.