Read Novel Full Chapter 476: Asahi’s Stances
Chapter 476: Asahi’s Stances
The sound of horseshoes pounding the snow-covered ground as two horsemen followed a bear rang in the forest path.
They didn’t even go too far when there was no more sight of snow. Instead, the trees opened up to a massive swampland that stretched as far as the eyes could see.
There were interconnecting wooden bridges built just above the swamp, and the houses here were so few he could barely count ten. Each of them was built above the swamp. Ken doubted the occupants were still alive.
He and Asahi spotted the Two Faced Lady running on the swamp.
"She can’t move underground anymore." Ken unsheathed his katana and gave chase. Both he and his summon, Asahi, kicked their horses as they ran on the wooden bridges at great speed.
The large gap that the Two Faced Lady had between them shrank in a matter of seconds. Asahi pulled out his three-meter-long bow, took an arrow from his quiver, and drew it.
The samurai’s eyes tracked the Two Faced Lady as she stumbled through the swamp, then he released the arrow.
In what seemed like an instant, the arrow tore through the chest of the Two Faced Lady. It pulled her feet from the ground, threw her a dozen feet forward, and she landed headfirst in the swamp.
Suddenly, she began to laugh. As she laughed, men in black came out from those houses. Some held katana, some held spears. Almost twenty of them charged toward Asahi and Ken.
Some ran through the swamp, others on the narrow wooden bridges.
"Ken," Asahi said as he dismounted and placed his hand on the hilt of his katana. On the other hand, Ken jumped from the Echo of Asahi’s horse and mounted the real one.
The three-headed black horse neighed loudly, then charged toward the armed men on the left. These ones were on the wooden bridges, and some of them had wooden round shields.
The horse ran with such speed that the wooden bridge shattered the moment its hooves made contact with it. But the horse was fast enough to move beyond that spot.
Two men were able to jump out of the way in time, but the others were rammed through by the horse. Due to the horse’s insane speed, four men tore apart upon impact. Their shields didn’t matter.
It lifted up its forelimbs while neighing loudly. The eyes of all three heads were staring at two men paralyzed with fear at what had happened. Unfortunately for them, the horse crushed their skulls. Ken leaped from the horse, slicing one man into two, then he plunged his katana through the throat of the other.
"Arghhh!!" A loud scream made Ken tilt his head toward the right. There, he saw Asahi under the moonlight, surrounded by a dozen men.
One in their midst struggled to move away from Asahi, but it seemed his femur had been broken. Others lunged for the samurai at the same time.
Asahi evaded the first, sliced off the head of the second, then spun his waist and kicked the first.
Asahi’s foot tore off his head from his neck, and that head slammed into another man’s head. The force broke the third man’s neck, killing him on the spot.
The fourth man only reacted when Asahi’s katana had sliced through his abdomen. His blood trailed the katana, whose blade reflected the soft moonlight.
Asahi spun the katana over his head as he shifted himself from the path of a spear, then he swung down. His slanted slash cut through the man’s shoulder and came out at his hip.
While the fifth man fell apart, Asahi’s katana went back to its sheath.
His eyes lit up, crackling with red lightning. ’Way Of The Red Lightning.’
Lightning sparked in the samurai’s eyes, and he moved, leaving behind an afterimage. He appeared behind the other men and flicked the droplets of blood that managed to stain his blade as seven men, crackling with lightning, staggered.
Some divided into two, a few lost their heads.
Asahi exhaled slowly, then turned to Ken’s direction.
Seeing the young man staring at him, Asahi smiled a bit, brought his legs together, and bowed.
The moment he did that, the Two Faced Lady burst out of the swamp water, daggers in her hands as she swung them down at the samurai’s neck, a part that wasn’t protected by his armour, especially in his current position.
She didn’t see the samurai’s right foot pulling back. The swamp water stirred, then splashed violently as Asahi dragged one foot back, pulling his head away fast enough for the Two Faced Lady to miss.
Asahi’s katana was already drawn. Red lightning crackled on the blade, down to the samurai’s arms as he swung it down so fast the Two Faced Lady felt nothing.
Asahi took a few bold steps and stood before her. She remained in the same spot. Something told her the moment she moved, it would be unpleasant.
There were bolts of lightning waiting to explode within her. They just waited for the slightest movement.
But when flames from Asahi’s katana reflected in her eyes, the Two Faced Lady was about to propel herself back, but lightning bolts ran wild like a switch had just been turned on.
They snaked around her centipede-infested body as she began to split, but then Asahi’s second cut went through her neck.
So her divided body fell before her head followed, but he caught it before it touched the swamp and pierced his burning katana through it.
The head screamed as it was burnt. Centipedes fell from her neck into the swamp until all that remained of her head was a scorched skull.
Asahi then plunged his katana into the water, and red lightning burst out, killing all the centipedes that could be in the swamp.
The samurai went back to the wooden bridge with mud-stained armour. He slowly walked toward Ken, then bowed once more.
"We may return, Lord Ken."
"I have a long way to go," Ken sighed.
Asahi chuckled softly. "You’re a natural talent. Your speed is quite remarkable already, and your discipline amazes me. You will surpass me as soon as you learn how to harness the power of other stances."
Ken scratched his helmet. His eyes flickered as he remembered the pain at the back of his right hip. That would forever make him flawed. One mistake and he would be dead against a seasoned opponent.
"I wish what you say is true, Asahi," Ken muttered.