Three dull, teeth-grinding impacts of flesh against flesh.
They rang out heavily, almost at the same time.
Katsura's chest was struck head-on as if by a battering ram.
His entire body arched backward as he flew through the air.
He crashed hard into the outer wall of a building forty meters away.
Bricks shattered, and dust billowed everywhere.
Takasugi's abdomen suffered the same heavy blow, and a pained groan escaped his throat.
His body folded in half as he was hurled backward like a cannonball, smashing through a row of wooden shop doors and vanishing deep into the rubble.
Only Gintoki—
At the very instant Maynard's fist was about to touch his chest.
The three-headed, six-armed Asura wreathed in purple light behind him.
Suddenly let out a roar audible only on the spiritual plane.
The blades in its four hands crossed.
Forcibly blocking Maynard's mountain-splitting, stone-crushing blow.
[Clang—]
The collision between an ethereal weapon and a physical fist.
Actually erupted with a deafening metallic crash.
The shockwave that seemed to materialize from thin air sent Gintoki staggering back several steps.
Fortunately, the deep-blue jewel formed a barrier in time and blocked most of the force.
He ultimately suffered no real injury.
As the dust cleared.
Colonel Maynard slowly withdrew his fist.
Beneath the brim of his hat, his calm, unruffled eyes showed clear surprise.
He looked at his fist, then at the Asura behind Gintoki, one brow lifting slightly as interest stirred within him.
At the same time.
Katsura and Takasugi were still struggling, but they could no longer get back up.
They could only glare furiously and unwillingly in Maynard's direction.
Sunlight filtered through the drifting dust above the scene.
Casting mottled shadows across the highway that had become a field of ruins.
Shattered asphalt, twisted vehicles, cracked chunks