“Fuh…!! Ahh!!”
“Aguah!?”
Black Veil took an upwards slash to the chest, and black feathers flew as he groaned in pain.
Being attacked again before fully healing from the previous attack made him feel his consciousness fading, but his obsession with justice made him rouse himself and strike at Ryuuga.
Slaughter the evil before him to show his absolute justice… With that in mind, his fist hit nothing but air.
He swung again, and again, trying desperately to put him down, but it was all evaded.
“Fuh, haa!!”
“Guaaah!?”
Ryuuga was leading Black Veil by the nose, continuing to evade his attacks and executing a sweeping attack while passing by him.
Rather than blood, black feathers flew around again as Black Veil screamed. Raiha, who watched not too far away, had an expression that was half fear on her face as she saw Ryuuga’s overwhelming skill.
(Repeated attacks in the form of wind, an attack in the form of lightning, free form movements in the shape of rain… He is using all the traits of the tempest loong sword style to their fullest. This is the strength he polished…)
Raiha saw Ryuuga fight when gigantes rampaged, but seeing his fighting style up close in more detail made her think his technique was extraordinary.
Normally, learning one of these three styles was enough to be recognized as a powerful swordsman of the tempest loong swordsmanship.
Learning three, and going as far as to extract the strengths of each one to fight with all three combined put Ryuuga truly off the charts.
And the scariest part was that he was not even twenty years old yet.
There were swordsmen like Ryuuga in Yamato, but they were all over twice his age.
People did not call him the strongest swordsman for nothing. There was his current power, but considering his power would continue to grow, that nickname was definitely not an exaggeration, thought Raiha.
At the same time, she thought about why he became that strong, and was assaulted by an indescribable anguish. Meanwhile the cornered Black Veil groaned with humiliation.
“I am justice…! I will put down all evil…!! I can’t lose…!!”
“…Do you really think so? Is there no doubt in those words?”
“Of course… I…!!”
“Then would you let your dead daughter and wife see you as you are now? Would you raise your head high and let your loved ones see the dark path you’re traversing?”
“…!!”
Black Veil heard Ryuuga, and showed hesitation for the first time.
At that moment, he was not Black Veil, the executioner of justice… He showed the emotion of a single man, Garland.
Someone who committed crimes, who judged those who denied his justice as criminals, who ruthlessly continued taking lives, who invited the rampage of people who held up his ideal of justice… Garland thought about himself and the fact that he could never go back after coming this far, and clenched his teeth.
“At this point…!”
Garland, the man who loved his family, not Black Veil, thought back to what he had done, was aware of his crimes, and rejected it.
He did not have a family. If his wife and daughter were alive, he would not be Black veil.
So… Ryuuga’s question was pointless, and even if it was not, it was too late to go back. Just before he went back to the ruthless executioner of justice, Garland yelled as if smacking away those thoughts.
“There’s no going back!! I will continue having my revenge on evil for the family that was taken from me! That’s my justice!!”
“…Yes. I understand very well how you feel. But that’s exactly why I have to cut you down.”
Ryuuga understood the pain of losing family, and the hatred the person in front of him felt over having important people taken from him.
He could sympathize with Black Veil, with Garland.
But that was exactly why… Ryuuga felt as though he was looking at his future, so he could not leave it be.
He clenched his fist, and long before the charging Black Veil closed the distance, he swung his sword up and ran forward.
For a second, Black Veil did not understand what he was doing.
Seeing Ryuuga run towards him made him charge forward even faster to outdo him, but suddenly, he felt his body being raised.
“Wha…!?”
Water sprung from beneath him, pushing his body towards the sky.
He saw water gush out like a geyser, and felt a sense of danger as he understood Ryuuga’s earlier slash was setting this up.
He could not deal with this sudden turn of events that left him defenseless and unable to dodge.
Black Veil gulped as he watched Ryuuga run towards him with his katana held ready… And a blue flash ran before his eyes.
“Ah, ga…!?”
His body raised by the geyser went even higher after being hit.
He certainly felt the sword pass through him, and as he raised his voice due to the pain that gradually came, Ryuuga silently looked up.
He composed his breathing, relaxed his stance, and put his dear sword back in its sheath.
As the clink sound signaled the guard touched the sheath, a straight slash appeared in Black Veil, and the current that pushed him up split in two.
“Gah, fuh…”
Garland was back in his human form, and crumpled from his knees.
He collapsed limply, almost in a seiza pose, as the water that gushed from the ground rained on him.
“…I can’t cut your hatred or your past, but…”
Garland bound the hearts of people and seduced them into a road of revenge, and Ryuuga spoke as the rain melted the anger he felt towards him.
And as he watched the sad avenger who lost in two ways, he whispered while being hit by the rain.
“…I pray that this rain will at least wash away your obsession with that justice.”
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I wonder if Ryuuga’s last statement had a double meaning. For Garland and himself