There was only so much he could do in the end: deliver the new Nichirin Blade, and then... wait.
It was an agonizing feeling, as though his heart had been tossed into a furnace to burn over and over. Unbearable!
Shinobu Kocho glanced at him and said softly, "The Kasugai Crow has already sent word. Reinforcements will be here soon. My sister will be all right. Don't worry."
Tetsu no Sosuke nodded slightly, but there was nothing remotely reassured in his eyes.
And Shinobu Kocho shared every bit of his worry.
For a moment, all the two of them could do was stand in silence.
Then, amid that silence, a tremendous crash erupted. The wall to their left shattered in an instant, as though it had been fed into a shredder.
Doma burst through the hole in the wall, drenched in blood. He covered more than ten meters in what felt like a flash, his iron fans whirling deftly in his hands, stirring up a chill that pierced the heart and lungs as he charged straight at Shinobu Kocho.
The attack came without warning. The whole thing might have taken less than a second.
The shock in Shinobu Kocho's eyes seemed frozen in a single instant. Even as the iron fan came slashing down, she stood motionless.
There was no time to react!
Blood surged into his skull like erupting magma. Tetsu no Sosuke, who had already shifted into Breath of the Sun, grabbed Shinobu Kocho and yanked her aside, only to find himself within range of Doma's attack.
Reach for the hammer?
Too late!
Dodge!
At the last possible instant, he jerked his body sideways, but an icy chill still sliced across his left arm.
He hadn't dodged it completely!
But at least he'd avoided a fatal wound!
Yet