Volume 4: The Undead Chapter 254: Compassionate Heart
When confronting Ogata for the first time, Ichijun could clearly tell that Ogata did not have much experience fighting against people wielding long weapons.
Whether it was parrying or dodging attacks from long weapons, the methods were all extremely clumsy.
However, as the battle continued, Ichijun felt more and more clearly that Ogata was improving at a very fast speed.
Whether it was the way to block his slashes or the timing to dodge his attacks, Ogata became more and more skilled.
As a result, Ogata was able to get closer to Ichijun more frequently.
From being unable to even get close to Yichun in the beginning, to now being able to frequently rush in front of Yichun and launch several attacks on him that are enough to injure him - this speed of improvement scares Yichun.
A terrible thought suddenly occurred to Yichun: If the fight continued like this, and if Ogata was allowed to get used to fighting someone with a long weapon, and if Ogata was unable to advance, then the situation might slowly turn into Ogata gaining the upper hand...
With this thought occupying his mind, Yichun no longer dared to look down on Ogata. He used all his skills and exchanged offense and defense with Ogata.
After repeated fights, the two gradually moved from a spacious room on the third floor to a narrow corridor outside the room.
In such a narrow corridor, using aggressive moves would be tantamount to seeking death.
Therefore, after stepping into this narrow corridor, Yichun quickly changed his tactics.
Ichijun retracted his large naginata and used it like a spear, launching continuous and non-stop stabbing at Ogata.
Taking a deep breath, Ogata stared closely at Isshun's movements in front of him, and used stepping to dodge Isshun's stabs one by one.
Not only the slashing attack, but Yichun's stabbing attack is also equally powerful.
Ogata didn't dare to be careless, he didn't even dare to blink, and he couldn't help but slow down his breathing.
While dodging every one of Ichijun's stabs, Ogata narrowed his eyes slightly, looking for an opportunity to launch a counterattack.
The location of each of Yichun's stabs is different, some are higher, and some are lower.
At a certain moment, Ogata's eyes suddenly emitted a captivating cold light.
Because - this new stab was launched from a very low position.
In terms of height, it was probably only level with Ogata's waist.
Finally, the opportunity for counterattack came. Ogata raised his right foot without any hesitation and stepped on the handle of the naginata that Ichijun had just stabbed out but had not yet had time to retract.
Ogata did not step directly on the opponent's weapon as he did when he fought against Sarai just now.
Instead, after stepping on Isjun's naginata handle with his right foot, he exerted force with his right foot, used Isjun's naginata handle as a pedal, and jumped towards Isjun in one breath.
Ichijun, who didn't expect Ogata to use his naginata as a springboard to jump over, was horrified and took a hasty step back, trying to avoid Ogata's sudden attack.
laugh!
Although Yichun's reaction was fast enough and he retreated quickly enough.
However, because the distance between the two was not far, Ogata, who leaped towards him, was too fast. Although he had retreated, Ogata's blade still hit him.
There was a "hiss" sound as the sharp blade cut through the flesh.
The blade of Ogata's sword cut a hole in Ichijun's chest.
Unfortunately, because Yichun took a step back in time, only the tip of the knife hit Yichun.
The wound left on Yichun's chest was still too shallow. Although it successfully cut open the flesh on Yichun's chest and a large amount of blood spurted out from the wound on his chest, it did not cause much damage to Yichun.
After taking several steps back and creating enough distance between him and Ogata to make him feel safe, Yichun dared to glance down at his wound that was oozing blood.
Looking at the wound on his chest, Yichun's face instantly turned dark.
Although the wound on his chest was not fatal, it brought a huge impact to Yichun.
Because this means that Ogata can already hurt him...
Thinking of Ogata's terrifying speed of progress, goosebumps began to stand up uncontrollably all over Yichun's body.
"Follow me if you have the guts!"
Knowing that it would be difficult to exert the maximum power of his large naginata in such a narrow corridor, Yichun yelled while pushing open the paper sliding door of the next room and rushed into the next room.
Ogata was not even afraid of Isshun's behavior of forcibly changing the battlefield to one that was favorable to him. He followed Isshun without any hesitation and rushed into the room.
The space of this room is not small, just enough for Yichun to unleash the full power of the large naginata in his hand.
On the other hand, this spacious space is also very helpful for Ogata to dodge.
After taking Ichijun's "Spinning Top" head-on, Ogata deliberately avoided any collision between his sword and Ichijun's large naginata.
With Ogata's intentional protection, the two knives in Ogata's hands, which had long been full of gaps, can still successfully maintain their shape.
As soon as the two rushed into the room, almost all the breakable objects in the room were broken into pieces within a few breaths.
Or maybe Ogata accidentally broke it when he was dodging Ichijun's attack - such as a folding screen placed in the corner of the room.
Or they were directly chopped into pieces by the large naginata that was being swung vigorously in the palm of the hand - such as the small table by the window and the vase on it.
Before they knew it, the battle between the two of them had shifted to the next room.
The room the two were originally in was connected to the room next door, and the two rooms were separated only by a thin paper sliding door.
Be it Ogata or Kazujun, every nerve in their body was tense at this moment.
Even the frequency of each other's breathing and blinking had unconsciously slowed down.
The two of them, who had both given their all, were now staring at each other.
The two of them had the same thought in their minds at this moment - kill the guy in front of them!
However - after breaking through the paper sliding door that separated the two rooms and slipping into the next room, a strange sound that was quite inconsistent with the solemn atmosphere surrounding them suddenly reached their ears.
This strange sound attracted the attention of both Ogata and Kazujun, and the tense aura of both of them was interrupted at the same time.
After the two turned their heads in the direction of the sound, they finally knew what was making the strange noise.
"Child?" Ogata couldn't help but exclaim.
The sound that attracted the attention of Ogata and Kazujun just now was a low sob.
The person making the sobbing sound was a child who was hiding in the corner of the room, wrapping himself tightly in a quilt he had found from somewhere, with only half of his face exposed.
From the half of the child's face sticking out from the quilt, it is not difficult to tell that she is a little girl, about 7 or 8 years old.
When Ogata and Kazujun entered the room, the little girl looked at them with horror.
Although she tried hard to hold it back, she couldn't help but let out a low, fear-filled sob.
Looking at the little girl hiding in the corner of the room, Ogata immediately deduced what had happened.
Perhaps because Yichun suddenly attacked the third floor and caused panic among the villagers hiding on the third floor, the little girl was confused by the sudden panic of the villagers and did not follow the villagers to escape from the third floor in time.
By the time he realized he wanted to leave, A-Machi had already started fighting with Ichi-chun.
The clanging sounds of fighting outside the room scared the little girl so much that she dared not go out, so she simply hid in the room.
Ogata didn't know whether his reasoning was correct, but he felt that even if it was not completely correct, it should not be too far off.
After seeing the little girl, Yichun and Ogata were both surprised at first.
But the look of astonishment only lingered on Yichun's body for a moment.
After a moment, a hideous smile appeared on Yichun's face.
"It's children... I like children the most."
"The feeling of a blade slashing against a child is the best."
"I'm just in a bad mood right now, let me vent my anger!"
After saying that, Yichun swung the big naginata in his hand fiercely and slashed at the little girl!
There was some distance between Yichun and the little girl.
But for Ichijun, who had arms longer than a normal person and was holding a large naginata, this distance was nothing.
With just a swing of his arm, he could easily kill the little girl.
Yichun was not worried that Ogata on the opposite side would attack him while he was attacking the little girl.
He had already estimated the distance between him and Ogata, and the distance between him and the little girl - Ogata would not have enough time.
Even if Ogata attacked him while he was attacking the little girl, he would definitely be able to kill the little girl before Ogata's knife could reach him, and then calmly retract the knife to block Ogata's attack.
The sharp blade cut through the air and headed straight for her head - such a scene would scare an adult to death, let alone a little girl who was only 7 or 8 years old.
The little girl was so frightened that she screamed and pulled the thin blanket around her body tighter.
It was as if this thin blanket was the safest fortress, and as long as you hid inside it you would not encounter any danger.
With Yichun's ability, he only needed half a breath to cut the little girl in half.
However - before half a breath had passed, a loud bang suddenly occurred.
When Ichijun swung his sword at the little girl, Ogata moved almost at the same time.
Ogata was just like Isshun - he also realized that it was useless for him to attack Isshun now. Because of the distance, Isshun would definitely be able to kill the little girl before his knife could reach him, and then continue to fight with him.
Therefore, Ogata's target was not on Ichijun from the beginning to the end.
Ogata's target was in front of the little girl.
After blocking himself between Ichijun and the little girl at the fastest speed he could, Ogata raised the two swords in his hands and rushed towards Ichijun's large naginata.
The loud noise just now was the sound of Ogata using his double swords to reverse the blades and forcibly intercept Issun's large naginata.
Because of Ogata's blocking, Issun's large naginata was successfully blocked.
But at the same time - Ogata also paid the price of forcibly blocking Isshun's slash.
The blade of his wakizashi, which was the most seriously damaged, finally broke into two due to the heavy weight.
However, Ogata showed no expression at all towards the wakizashi in his hand which was unfortunately broken.
Without even frowning, he casually threw aside the wakizashi, which only had the handle and a small part of the blade left.
He looked so calm, as if it was not his own knife that broke, but someone else's.
It seemed as if the broken wakizashi would not hinder his subsequent battle.
After changing to holding the only remaining katana with both hands, Ogata said to the little girl behind him who was looking at him with a complex look of surprise, curiosity and other emotions without turning his head:
"Kid, go out here, turn left and keep going until you see a staircase. Hurry up and follow the stairs to the floor below."
The little girl had not yet recovered from the series of shocks she had just experienced, so after Ogata finished speaking, she still looked dazed and did not take any action.
"Hurry up!" Ogata shouted at the little girl behind him in an impatient tone, "If you don't hurry up and do what I say, I'll chop you up!"
After being threatened so blatantly by Ogata, the little girl finally came to her senses from the shock.
Perhaps frightened by what Ogata had just said, the little girl tightened the quilt around herself, cried, and ran out of the room quickly.
Yichun did not chase the girl.
Instead, he looked at Ogata with a puzzled look.
"You are such a strange person."
"Is that girl your relative? You even let your knife become useless just to save her."
"No," Ogata responded casually, "That girl is not my relative, and I don't even know her."
Hearing Ogata's words, the confusion on Yichun's face became even more intense.
"I think you're getting weirder..."
"You, a fellow with blood on your hands, actually want to save people?"
"You have killed countless people just like me. Have you never experienced the pleasure of killing?"
When he said this, every muscle on Yichun's face tensed up and he grinned.
"When I kill humans... especially the defenseless old, weak, women and children, the feeling of being able to bully the weak is like fine wine, intoxicating me."
"As an executioner who has killed countless people, have you never experienced this kind of pleasure?"
"Shut up." Ogata's tone was neither salty nor bland, "Don't confuse me with you."
"I never thought killing people was a happy thing."
"As you said, my hands are stained with blood."
"I have lost count of how many people I have killed. How many families have been broken up because of me."
"When I chopped that bastard Matsudaira Gennai into pieces, I was endlessly hunted down and killed by others. This became my fate for the rest of my life."
"I am destined to keep killing people in this life, and the blood on my hands will keep increasing."
"but--"
As he said this, Ogata's eyes gradually burst out with a determined look, and there seemed to be flames burning in his pupils.
"Even if killing is my inevitable fate, I will never give up my compassionate heart."
