Nuh-uh!

　Hyakugan roared hatefully in the mountainous forest with only moonlight.
　They had made the first move.
　He knew that Yuto and the others had invited themselves into this unpopular mountain forest. And, of course, that they were ambushed.
　But that was not the extent of their advantage against the Dark Night's Leopard.
　As the name implies, Hyakugan has the ability to see the situation within a radius of about eight hundred meters from himself. Furthermore, by increasing its concentration, it can recognize targets within that range from front, back, and sides.
　What is remarkable about Hundred Eyes' ability is that it has the intelligence to process this large amount of visual information without confusion, and it has the calmness to analyze the situation.
　This is also the reason why Hyakugan has been given the role of a commander in anti-personnel combat.
　He had already confirmed the location of the target, Marion, right now. He is in the center of an open square in the forest ahead of us. Nearby, Mizuho and the other spirit masters had surrounded Marion as if to protect her, and had built a defensive formation to wait for them.
　That Hyakugan now couldn't hide his impatience and sent out loud instructions to the liaison's thought-sharing abilities at the side.

''Don't spread out, form two groups and lash out from the north and south!　We're coming with you!

　When Hyakugan came to this place, he had assigned three armed operatives to each of the six Dark Night's leopards he had brought with him, and had instructed them to divide into six squads to close in on the plaza where Marion and the others were located in order to encircle it.
　However, two of those units have now been attacked and have not been heard from.
　The cause of driving the elite Dark Night's Leopard into this abominable situation was.......Yuto.

''You little bastard!

　After placing Marion in the center of the plaza, Yuto himself took charge of the raid and waited for the enemy away from the plaza.
　Yuto's movement speed was as fast and erratic as a gale. Also, because he moved without shaking the plants and trees even in the mountains and forests, Hyakugan also knew he was there, but he couldn't direct his companions to the specific location. Because when I instructed him, he was already not there.
　And the two units were silenced by the raiding Yuto.
　The other is a monstrously powerful rock-skinned man who is an excellent melee attacker in the dark night leopard, and a soft-bodied man who looks like he has no joints. Both of them were cut and discarded by Yuto, who suddenly appeared behind him from the dark night, by a platinum sword with a platinum sword posture that reflected the moonlight.

''Hyakugan you know what I mean, right?　There's no such thing as failure, is there?

'Ha!　I understand, sir.

　Hearing the unseen Lorenza's voice that emanated from nowhere, he immediately answered with a nervous tone of voice.
　Hyakugan glanced at the dead bird that was waiting behind him.
　Fearing that the dead bird's hostage was taken away and that he could no longer read how far the dead bird would listen to them, it was avenged that he had even held the dead bird back here.
　However, they were forced to understand that this dead bird was the only one who could hold back that mere D-ranked kid.
　And Hyakugan no longer had the luxury of time to spare.

''Dead bird I'm going to ask you, will you complete your request?

I know ... what you want me to do is to kill the boy, right?

Are you sure?

'Huh you're mistaken. You think the kids they hid behind are the ones that bind me, but they have nothing to do with me. That's their own choice in there. And I've never made a mistake with a request I got.

You want me to believe that?　But then, you were obsessed with the kids. All the favors we asked for were for them, weren't they?

...that's what I was asked to do.

What?　What do you want me to do?

Their mother asked me to do a favor for the once-dead body and heal their wounds. She said she would take care of them until they could live on their own. That's all I did.

....

I've already given you what I deserve for what I've received. I've already given you what I deserve for what I've taken, including the money I've extracted from you. The rest is their problem. How I live, how I die I don't care.

　Hyakugan narrows his eyes and raises his eyebrows as he stares at Cessation, who speaks indifferently and without expression.

(Indeed.........one of the things that made Death Bird's fame rise is that he never once made a mistake in the requests he received...... Perhaps there is something in the nature of the dead bird that makes him an assassin.

All right. Now, you'll deal with that little boy, please.

　Stopwater disappeared into the darkness without answering to Hyakugan.



(Alright!　I was able to cut down on the enemy's strength. (If possible, I'd like to shave some more off!

　As Yuto waited for the enemy, he noticed that the enemy had preserved the water stoppage. He didn't know why, but he imagined that the protection of Shihira and the others here could have had some effect.
　Yuto stopped and threw a stone from inside the mountain forest into the square where Mizuho and the others were. The stone glided through the darkness and fell to the ground a meter in front of Akera.

''It's from you, Yuto!　Utterly, how many times has he surprised me?

　When Yuto drew a circle on the ground and asked Akera to contact him to send an information wind in the direction the stone flew, Akera didn't understand what he was saying for a moment.
　But hidden in the mountains and forests, Yuto would periodically throw stones from different directions, and without missing an inch, he would drop them inside the drawn circle in front of Akera.

''This time it's this way. Yuto-kun!　There are four enemy units left. The commander-in-chief in the distance hasn't moved. Hm?　No, it looks like the enemy is trying to join up and come at us from the north and south!

　Working with his own exploration winds and a spirit user from the Shitenji family who was skilled in earth spirit arts, Akera worked with his own exploration winds and a spirit user from the Shitenji family who was skilled in earth spirit arts to figure out the vibrations on the ground and use the wind to communicate the enemy's position to Yuto.
　Then, from the same direction as before, a stone signifying an understanding fell on the circle in front of Meira.

''........You're very handy, aren't you, Yuto-san?''

'Marion I'm not saying this is dexterity. It's almost like an amazing hidden trick for nothing. I'm really dumbfounded.........by Yuto.

Haha.....

　Without knowing that he was being told that, Yuto starts to move.

(The Yan Stopwater hasn't moved yet........)

　Yuto was sensitive to signs and kills, but if they were deployed over a wide area to extinguish the kill, his accuracy would be somewhat less than what it was. Therefore, the search ability of Meira and the others was very useful.
　The only enemy who could tell where Yuto was right now was Yan Shizui, who still wore his Senki without any intention of hiding it to show off himself.

(He wants to fight me........right? But then, for Yan Shizui, Shihei-san and the others........ (No, there's also the fact that they don't know if the agency is trustworthy to Yan Shizui yet)

　Yujin moved through the darkness and was about to head towards the troops that had joined him on the north side of the square when his expression changed.

(The Yan Stopwater has moved!　It's coming...

　Yuto took out a stone in his jeans pocket that he had marked in advance with a magic marker and threw it to Akira and the others.
　The stone flew up to Akera and the others.

'This stone!　Mizuho-sama, Marion-san, the dead bird is coming!

All right!

Yes!

　Mizuho and Marion tightened their faces and began to concoct their spiritual power in preparation for the enemy's arrival.



''Brother Shihira you're scaring me.

It's okay. You guys get some sleep.

But ... what is this place?

　This was an underground space created by the Shitenji family's earth spirit art. And it was built directly underneath the square where Mizuho and the others were, with its small doorway behind where Akera was.
　In this, Akera and the others were hidden inside, handing a few flashlights and a blanket to lay on the ground to Shihira and the children.

''It's okay...''

Hey, Shihira, how's the water stopping?

I want to see the water stop.

We'll see about stopping the water. Let's just be patient here for now. We're all in this together!

　While saying this, Shihira saw and took in the children's anxiety and worry. It would be impossible for the children not to be anxious in this kind of situation.
　Times like this were similar in their hometown home. Like the night of a storm or when we hear the sound of animals.
　At such times, the mere fact that the water was shut off was enough to reassure the children.
　Because, in some small way, the same thing was true for Shihira.
　Shihira felt frustrated that he hadn't yet become the person who gave the children peace of mind. Then he stroked the head of Yuling (Yulin), the smallest of the children who was huddled up against him and breathing in his sleep.
　At that time........suddenly, everything in this underground space shook with an earth shaking.

''This is it!　It's started....

　The children screamed at the sudden earth shaking and gathered around Shihira's place to huddle together.
　Jade Ling was fortunate enough to still be asleep, unaware of the situation.

''We're all fine!　Don't worry.

　Saying this, Shihira put his hands around the children who had come to be with him and hugged them.

(Stop the water......... Yuto.........stop the water, please!　Let the mind of the water stopper go. (Somehow I know what Stopwater is thinking right now...)



Listen to me, swallow water!　Shihira-san and the others!

"I have no words to speak with you. If you're going to speak, speak with your blade, Du Du Yuto!

Guh!

!

　The stopper cudgel and Yuto's posture collided with each other, knocking down the trees in the area with a tremendous shockwave.
　In the quiet moonlight, Mizuho and the others turned their heads towards the loud sound of impact from a distance and the huge trees being torn down!

'What is that?　Yuto!

Eugene!

'Coming!　Mizuho-sama, Marion-san, focus!

　Meira shouted loudly to alert them.
　Then a figure came into view from the north and south of the square.
　Meira has set up a wind ward to match the size of this square, and she knows exactly the angle of entry.

''Mizuho-sama!　The bastards coming from the south are faster than us. Watch out for that one!　Give us a big shot!　We'll hold the north side ourselves. Marion, you can concentrate on our defense. We don't even know what he is capable of!

　With those words, the entire area was turned into a battlefield.