[Name: Muramasa]
[Strength: 50]
[Constitution: 50]
[Agility: 50]
[Spirit: 50]
[Skills: Wind-Fire-Mountain-Forest Art (Grade A), Muramasa-Style Swordsmanship (Grade A)]
[Bio: A wandering ronin, shunned by other samurai for studying ninjutsu despite being one himself.]
With a buzz, Muramasa swung his blade, sending a flash of light slicing through the air, but when he saw Qin Ming dodge once more, he couldn't help but frown.
As he sheathed his blade with a flick, he suddenly stomped the ground with one leg and let out a low roar—
"Mountain!"
BOOM!
As dust flew into the air, the ground exploded and a dense cloud of smoke and sand rushed forward.
Qin Ming instinctively swung his battle cloak, using it to shield his face from the swirling dust.
While the move blocked the debris, it also gave Muramasa an opening.
In a flash of light, using the sandstorm as cover, Muramasa lunged forward with a powerful thrust.
The cold glint of the blade struck the obscured figure in the dust, piercing straight through.
Landing a direct hit, a look of excitement appeared on Muramasa's face. He was just about to pull his blade back—when he suddenly realized the weapon was firmly stuck!
His expression twisted into shock.
From within the smoke and dust, Qin Ming—his cloak pierced—had his other hand tightly gripping the blade that had struck him. A murderous glint shone in his eyes.
With a flick of his battle cloak, the iron ball attached to it jingled as it swung around at high speed, smashing into Muramasa's armor with a burst of sparks, making him grunt in pain.
Still gripping the weapon tightly, Qin Ming let out a growl and poured strength into one hand, attempting to snap the blade on the spot—crippling Muramasa's combat power then and there.
But as he bent down and tried to break the sword, the katana didn't budge—not even slightly.
Instead, Muramasa, who had just been struck, let out a sudden roar and forcibly yanked his sword back. The razor-sharp edge cut a deep gash into Qin Ming's hand—bone visible through the wound!
Retreating quickly, Muramasa flicked his sword and slowly raised it into a ready stance.
The blood dripping from the blade bizarrely faded and slowly absorbed itself into the sword's body.
Muramasa—not only his codename, but also the name of the cursed blade he wielded!
Looking down at the wound on his hand that stubbornly refused to heal, Qin Ming's expression grew grim.
He looked up and locked eyes with Muramasa, then spoke in a low voice:
"Inhibits regeneration?"
At his words, Muramasa's lips curled into a slow smile, the killing intent in his eyes burning brighter.
"Impressive insight."
"Hmph, impressive trick."
Realizing that the enemy's blade could actually suppress his regeneration, Qin Ming let out a grin. In the next instant, his hand transformed into a blade—and he sliced down hard on his injured palm.
With a crack, and to Muramasa's shock, Qin Ming forcibly severed his own hand.
Activating his skill, the surrounding corpses' blood gathered and twined around Qin Ming's arm, forming a brand new hand right before their eyes.
Flexing his new fingers, Qin Ming grinned viciously.
"Too bad that doesn't work on me!"
At those words, Muramasa raised his blade and gave it a resonant shake, then shouted:
"Then this time—I'll slice your neck!"
Buzz!
Cold light flashing, Muramasa charged at Qin Ming like a madman, blade in hand. Halfway through his charge, smoke erupted from his body, and he instantly vanished into the dust cloud.
By the time he reappeared, he was already behind Qin Ming.Skill: Wind!
Hearing the sound from behind, Qin Ming's expression tightened. He grabbed his battle cloak with one hand and spun around, engaging Muramasa head-on.
This was the first time he used the weapons built into the Sound Nest battle suit in actual combat. Although he had seemed fierce earlier, appearing completely unfazed by Muramasa's cursed blade, it was just an act.
In truth, Muramasa's demonic blade was extremely effective against Qin Ming.
Most of Qin Ming's power lay in defense and regeneration, and Muramasa's blade was designed to counter both.
Facing this natural enemy, Qin Ming didn't dare stubbornly rely on brute force.
Clang, clang, clang—The battle cloak component of the Sound Nest suit clashed wildly against the cursed blade's slashes.
Both fighters unleashed their full strength, making the battle incredibly intense and evenly matched.
Muramasa's ultimate technique was the four-part Wind, Fire, Mountain, and Forest.
Wind brought speed, allowing him to vanish into smoke.
Fire meant explosives, capable of large-scale bombardment.
With Mountain's disruption and Forest's sword energy, his abilities were extremely versatile, with virtually no weaknesses.
Combined with his Grade-A Muramasa-style combat technique, his power far surpassed that of an average boss.
On Qin Ming's side, though his regeneration and defense combo had been neutralized, the Sound Nest suit and Grade-A combat technique were not to be underestimated.
Those two aspects had seemed secondary only because his regen-defense combo had always stolen the spotlight.
Now that it was broken, the other two finally began to show their strength.
He reached out and grabbed—condensing blood into a long blade—and swept it in a slash!
After clashing with the cursed sword several times, and seeing the blood blade about to shatter, Qin Ming simply threw the weapon.
The spinning blood blade disintegrated mid-air into countless shards, which rained down over a wide area ahead.
Muramasa retreated while deflecting, his katana producing afterimages as he blocked all the fragments.
Once the attack was intercepted, he followed up with a sword energy slash, forcing Qin Ming to spin away, dodging by a hair's breadth.
As he landed, Qin Ming gripped his battle cloak and glared forward, his eyes fierce.
Muramasa, having stopped retreating, flicked his katana and met Qin Ming's gaze directly.
They stared each other down in silence for several seconds. Then Qin Ming slowly lowered his head and looked at his battle cloak.
Seeing the countless intersecting cuts slashed across its surface, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Good blade."
Muramasa chuckled softly and once again raised his sword into a stance. "And you, good technique."
His eyes locked on Qin Ming, Muramasa's expression turned playful.
"To face me head-on and survive—aside from Grand Duke Garibaldi, you're the first knight to manage it. I admit, you're strong. But are your soldiers just as strong? They… don't look like they're holding up."
Qin Ming blinked and turned to look around, startled to find that his Pitchfork Knights were actually starting to show signs of collapse.
If it were just fighting a few of the Evil Grand Duke's squads—even elite units—the Pitchfork Knights might still have held their ground.
They had numbers, decent equipment, and faith on their side. Though they were peasant-born, they fought with fearless resolve.
But the problem was—They weren't just facing the Evil Grand Duke's elite legions anymore. King Arthur, seeing that reinforcements had arrived, had decisively sent his own forces in a counterattack.
And most critically—Grand Duke Garibaldi's knight regiment had entered the battlefield as well—and they brought a devastating weapon!
Remember Garibaldi's brother, who forged dark weapons and dark armor using special materials to counter the legendary Sword in the Stone?
That set of dark armor was so heavy it couldn't even be worn.
So Garibaldi ordered his dark sorcerers to modify it—transforming it into something else entirely:
A war machine!A giant puppet driven by dark magic and machinery!
Invulnerable! Indestructible!
Shaped like a knight, towering at over six meters, this behemoth had both arms transformed into flails, and it was rampaging across the battlefield.
Each swing sent Pitchfork Knights flying in all directions!
Against this kind of pure blunt-force assault, the pitchfork-wielding peasants—despite their decent gear—simply couldn't endure it.
(End of Chapter)