If Yorii Tsugikuni had looked like a gentle, frail scholar just moments ago, then the instant he took that step forward, he seemed to transform into an ancient fiendish god who could sweep across the world.
These two utterly different, almost extreme transformations flowed as naturally as clouds and water between stillness and motion.
This seemingly effortless, back-to-basics state was Yorii Tsugikuni's true strength.
Faced with Yorii Tsugikuni's sudden change, the faces of the Night Raid members changed sharply. At that moment, it was as though the Death God had fixed its gaze upon them.
Then, with Yorii Tsugikuni's movement, a portion of the snow-white blade was drawn.
In that instant, even the air around them seemed to ripple.
Endless waves of air surged wildly in every direction, causing the seemingly ordinary Nichirin Blade in Yorii Tsugikuni's hand to bloom with its proper might.
"Wait. I think there's been a misunderstanding between us."
"The reason we're hunting Aria is because her family has committed unforgivable crimes."
Watching the seemingly ordinary Yorii Tsugikuni transform in an instant into something like a primordial beast—
The pressure radiating from him was so overwhelming that they could barely lift their heads.
Leone suddenly felt her heart pound with dread.
As a member of Night Raid, someone who walked along the edge of death every day, Leone hurriedly spoke up to stop Yorii Tsugikuni's next move.
"Unforgivable crimes?"
Hearing Leone's explanation, Yorii Tsugikuni hesitated before dispersing his attack.
He was not someone who stubbornly insisted on his own way.
Since they had offered an explanation, he wanted to see whether Aria's family truly had some hidden secret, as Leone claimed.
"Please come with us."
"Once we get there, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni will understand."
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni withdraw his attack, Leone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Brother Yorii, don't believe them! They're all bad people."
"They want to ambush you, Brother Yorii!"
When she saw Yorii Tsugikuni preparing to leave with Leone and the others, Aria, who had been hiding behind him, suddenly changed expression.
Then she began shouting in agitation.
She tightly hugged Yorii Tsugikuni's leg, a flicker of panic passing through her eyes.
Yorii Tsugikuni noticed every bit of Aria's behavior in that brief instant.
"Aria, don't worry."
"Nothing will happen. I'm confident I can handle their ambush."
Seeing Aria's panicked appearance, Yorii Tsugikuni frowned deeply.
Scenes of the time he had spent with Aria's family continuously flashed through his mind.
Yorii Tsugikuni could tell at a glance that Aria was lying.
Thinking of the strange behavior Aria's family had displayed before, Yorii Tsugikuni ignored Aria's pleas.
He looked at Tatsumi beside him, took a deep breath, and said, "Take her with us. Let's go see."
Bang!
The sturdy iron door was smashed open instantly by Leone's punch.
A nauseating stench rushed at them.
As the torches were lit, everything within the secret chamber was revealed before them.
"These are all outsiders captured by Aria's family."
"They lured those outsiders back under the pretense of helping them, then restrained them and tortured them in different ways every day."
Leone pointed at the people hanging upside down in the chamber like slaughtered pigs.
These people had been tortured horribly.
Some had lost their fingers, while others had had their ears cut off.
Some had even had their scalps peeled away.
What lay before them was almost no different from the hell of legend.
"Did you do all this?"
"Demons! Your whole family is made up of demons!"
Looking at the scene before him, Tatsumi's face was filled with disbelief.
He found it difficult to accept that the people he had always protected were actually like this behind the scenes.
"..."
Yorii Tsugikuni looked at the scene before him, the corner of his mouth twitching as he fell silent.
Yorii Tsugikuni could fully imagine the suffering these people had endured. Every corpse bore an expression of agony and unwillingness.
Without question, Yorii Tsugikuni was shocked by what he saw.
Even before his rebirth, during the equally chaotic Warring States period in Fusang, Yorii Tsugikuni had never witnessed such a scene.
Then Yorii Tsugikuni turned his gaze toward Aria, who stood some distance away, already completely at a loss.
Aria's Fierce Will to Survive, Yorii Tsugikuni's Thoughts
"Let's go."
"Take her back to the Security Force."
Yorii Tsugikuni gave Aria a cold look. He had seen humans killed by demons many times before.
But those demons had at least been acting on their hunting instincts. What lay before him now was the slaughter of one's own kind, human ugliness laid bare in all its fullness. It shook him even more deeply.
"Leave her... behind!"
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni preparing to take Aria away, Akame stepped forward and blocked his path.
Although she had once been a member of the Empire, she knew full well how corrupt it was.
In her view, if Aria were taken back to the Imperial Guard, she might not die.
"Brother Yorii!"
"This really has nothing to do with me! I had no idea this place existed!"
"I've never been here! Whenever I tried to get close, Father and Mother would scold me..."
Aria shook her head violently, her eyes filled with innocence and confusion.
It was as though she truly knew nothing about any of this, and it had all been her parents' doing.
Yorii Tsugikuni said nothing in response to Aria's explanation. With Clear World, his powers of observation were extraordinarily sharp.
He could see at once the evasiveness in Aria's eyes. Aria was trying to deceive him with lies.
"I'm sorry."
"I need to take Aria with me."
Yorii Tsugikuni refused Akame's request.
Even after learning the truth, he did not think they could simply kill Aria. This was not because Yorii Tsugikuni believed Aria did not deserve death.
It was simply that many things were not as simple as they appeared.
If the final judgment on Aria's family truly was as Night Raid had described—
Then Aria's family was indeed a family of demons, their hands stained with blood. But did that make Night Raid right?
No. In Yorii Tsugikuni's eyes, this so-called Night Raid was nothing more than a group of outlaws acting beyond the law in the name of justice.
Whether it was Night Raid or Aria's family, both had problems. They carried out murder in the name of justice.
Therefore, he could not allow the Night Raid members to kill Aria on the spot. He wanted to take her back and have her receive the judgment she deserved.
"Let's go. The Empire's lapdogs are here."
Seeing that Yorii Tsugikuni refused to move aside, Akame had wanted to draw her sword directly, but Leone stopped her.
Leone shook her head at Akame. She could already hear the Empire's forces closing in around them.
With Yorii Tsugikuni present, killing Aria would be far too difficult. Leone decisively chose to retreat.
"Hmph!"
Hearing Leone's words, Akame loosened her grip on the Imperial Arm Murasame.
Although she dearly wanted to kill Aria, she could not risk everything.
After all, in her eyes, her companions' lives were more important than the mission.
Night Raid's operations had always been hit-and-run attacks. A battle like this was extremely disadvantageous to them.
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni still standing unmoved, Akame gave Aria a cold snort, her voice exceptionally icy.
Soon, Leone, Akame, and Mine vanished from Yorii Tsugikuni's sight.
Yorii Tsugikuni had wondered many times what kind of organization Night Raid was.
After meeting them today, his impression of Night Raid became more concrete.
Though these people truly seemed to be a group of outlaws, they were not the murderous demons of legend either.
They seemed to have their own principles.
"What happened?"
"Were the Night Raid people here just now?"
Sayo rushed over from the distance with Koro, looking at the four silent people as she asked.
"It's a little complicated."
"The Night Raid people fought Master just now, then left."
Seeing that Yorii Tsugikuni was still deep in thought, Sayo looked at Sayo and explained what had happened.
With Sayo's explanation, Sayo quickly understood the current situation.
"Send her back to the Security Force prison."
"Have some people find carriages and clear away the bodies at the scene."
Looking at Aria cowering in the corner, Sayo walked straight over and slammed her heavily onto the ground.
If she had discovered these things from the start, she might have ordered her Imperial Arm to bite Aria's entire family to pieces.
"Don't worry. That woman will be hanged."
"It's been a long day. Go back and rest."
Sayo walked over to Yorii Tsugikuni, who was still standing there without leaving. In his eyes, she saw something called sympathy.
Although these people's deaths had little to do with Yorii Tsugikuni—
He clearly seemed to blame himself.
I noticed long ago that there was something wrong with their family.
If I had realized the problem sooner, perhaps these people would not have died.
Yorii Tsugikuni shook his head, recalling some of the things that had happened when he first came to know Aria's family.
More than once, he had suspected that something was wrong with Aria's family, but from beginning to end, he had done nothing.
Until now, so many people had died before his eyes.
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