Tiger Among the Sheep

"I knew it!!"

Diao Ao shouted excitedly, taking advantage of Habutae's attention being focused entirely on Duan Mu to quickly retreat backward. "With your character, Big Brother Duan Mu, you'd never abandon us and run away on your own!!"

Diao Ao spoke with absolute certainty, as if he hadn't been the one angrily cursing "bastard" just seconds ago.

Duan Mu shot him a glance. His icy gaze made Diao Ao shudder, and he hurriedly said, "You go ahead, you go ahead... I won't bother you."

"..."

Watching Diao Ao suddenly move away for no apparent reason after meeting his gaze, Duan Mu opened his mouth, then abandoned his original plan to explain things to the customer.

Since a battle was unavoidable, he had to make sure they had a safe way out.

Although Duan Mu didn't think he would lose to a Great Villain's follower with his current strength, there was no harm in being cautious.

After all, this time was different from the last. Shiba Kūkaku wasn't secretly following them.

Before the battle began, they had to ensure they could retreat safely at any time. Diao Ao and the others understood this perfectly, but with the enemy being too powerful, they had no time to worry about their escape route.

Thus, the moment Duan Mu noticed Habutae splitting her forces to cut off their retreat, he immediately used Light-Bending to conceal his figure and silently headed toward the people blocking their escape.

"Kidō!?"

Habutae had lived for nearly six hundred years and had seen members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads use Kidō before. However, the power of those members' spells in her memories was completely incomparable to that of this black-haired young man. They were on entirely different levels.

Very strong!!

Habutae reached a conclusion instantly. She signaled behind her and shouted, "Rally up!!"

At once, her subordinates scattered throughout the town forced back their opponents and gathered toward Habutae's location.

This gave Diao Ao's exhausted subordinates a moment to catch their breath. No one intercepted them. Although a few blood-crazed villains erupted in ferocity, most of them were hacked to death by a flurry of blades after giving chase.

With Duan Mu's appearance, the battlefield that had previously resounded with thunderous cries of slaughter suddenly became strange. Both sides of the clash instinctively began retreating.

Diao Ao, meanwhile, called over several of his stronger subordinates and stationed them on both sides of the town, preventing Habutae from cutting off their escape route again.

"A Soul Reaper isn't doing the killing work that's supposed to be his job. What leisure do you have to meddle in matters between people like us?" Habutae looked at Duan Mu with a mocking tone.

A trace of surprise flashed through Duan Mu's eyes. He had heard something similar from Diao Ao.

For some reason, the later-numbered districts seemed to share a common understanding. In their eyes, "Soul Reaper" and "assassin" seemed to be synonymous.

Duan Mu gave Habutae his trademark smile. Yet beneath the sinister aura that uncontrollably seeped out whenever his killing intent rose, that smile became cold and terrifying.

"I'm not a Soul Reaper. I'm just the owner of a little shop who takes people's money and solves their problems."

Habutae snorted. She refused to believe that after spending decades in West District 80, Rukongai had changed so much that even a shopkeeper could casually use Kidō.

However, she didn't doubt that Duan Mu wasn't a Soul Reaper.

The feeling he gave off was nothing like a Soul Reaper. Instead, he was more like the terrifying Great Villains of West District 80. That familiar aura sent Habutae's wariness soaring.

"Kill!!"

After confirming that he wasn't a Soul Reaper, Habutae waved her hand at the subordinates behind her. More than a hundred people surged toward Duan Mu at once.

Duan Mu no longer wanted to investigate whether these villains' dictionaries contained the word "communication." A flash of killing intent crossed his eyes, and he advanced straight toward the massive crowd.

Habutae didn't move forward this time. Instead, she stood behind her subordinates and carefully observed Duan Mu.

He was very similar to the terrifying Great Villains of West District 80. Rather than sit around and wait for him to attack first, it was better to strike first!

More than a hundred people surrounding one man didn't make Habutae think that victory was in her hands. Instead, she became even more wary. Since he dared to charge over like this, he clearly wasn't only capable of using Kidō that required a long chant.

Just as Habutae was secretly on guard, Duan Mu, who was approaching head-on, suddenly raised his right hand and brought it down, just as he had when releasing that massive fireball.

The distance between the two sides continued to close, and the tension in everyone's hearts tightened further. Faced with Duan Mu's sudden movement, several nervous villains instinctively reacted.

Habutae's expression changed. She wanted to call out and stop them, but it was already too late.

Spiritual Pressure surged from many people, pouring into the blades in their hands. In an instant, azure Spiritual Power filled the sky above the entire battlefield.

"Attack together! Don't let him use that fireball from before!!"

Someone shouted. Weapons brimming with Spiritual Power came crashing toward Duan Mu. The sight of more than a hundred people releasing Spiritual Power was spectacular. The azure radiance gathered together like raging waves, surging straight toward Duan Mu.

This is bad!

Habutae's expression turned solemn. Having spent years in District 80 facing Great Villains who possessed overwhelming individual strength and went on killing sprees whenever they were in a bad mood, people like them—the "weak"—had to cooperate if they wanted to survive.

Her subordinates couldn't be called elite, but they had a tacit understanding with one another and could display formidable strength when working together.

It was as if the opponent had seen through this. His sudden movement just now had been timed perfectly. Not only had it interrupted their buildup, it had also provoked those who couldn't keep their composure into attacking first, throwing the entire group's rhythm into disarray.

This was partly because her subordinates had never fought Soul Reapers and didn't know that Soul Reapers needed to chant when casting Kidō. But the fact that the opponent had immediately thought of this and put it to use showed that the black-haired young man possessed extremely rich combat experience.

It had been an utterly ordinary movement, yet it had produced an extraordinary effect.

The attack is coming!

Sure enough, Duan Mu, who had raised his hand, suddenly vanished. When he reappeared, he was on the flank of the crowd. The people preparing to withstand his Kidō didn't react in time.

The instant he appeared, Duan Mu stepped forward and sent a straight punch at the nearest person.

Boom!

It was a plain punch without any flourish, yet the person struck flew backward. After smashing into several others, his body burst apart completely under the impact.

Beneath the mist of blood,

Duan Mu moved like a ghost, darting and swaying at high speed as he used both fists and feet to kill one person after another on the spot.

The constant deaths of their companions brought immense pressure upon the crowd. No one knew whether they would be the next to die, so they could only attack frantically on instinct, hoping to stop him.

Overwhelming fear completely destroyed their coordination. They fought separately, and their attacks became chaotically disorganized.

"Meridian Severing~"

"Tendon Breaking~"

"Hanging Persimmon~"

"Windmill~"

All kinds of Hakuda techniques poured out like a torrential storm. The scene didn't feel like a battle to the death so much as Duan Mu using the enemies before him to practice and refine his moves.

And that was exactly what was happening.

Although Habutae believed Duan Mu possessed extremely rich combat experience, the truth was that his actual combat experience was pitifully limited. Including this battle, he had only fought twice.

It was only because his previous battle had accustomed him to fighting opponents who used Spiritual Power, combined with the difference in strength, that he possessed such an overwhelming advantage!

A tiger among sheep!

Those four words were undoubtedly the best way to describe the scene before them.