'Strip her naked and throw her out?'
Hearing this, not only Kin'emon was stunned. Even Amatsuki Toki abruptly raised her head, staring blankly at Kozuki Oden.
"Lord Oden, this goes a bit too far, doesn't it? She is still your...", Kin'emon hesitated.
To have him do such a thing, this didn't seem too appropriate.
"What, are you all refusing to listen to me now?", Kozuki Oden roared, his gaze locked fiercely on Kin'emon and the others.
"As you command," Kin'emon and the rest looked at each other, but seeing Kozuki Oden's determination, they still prepared to carry it out.
As Kin'emon approached Amatsuki Toki, Kozuki Oden glared at her and added, "You are already divorced from me. From today onward, you are no longer of the Kozuki family. I want to see, after I throw you out to be humiliated by the people of Kuri, whether he will still want you."
"Ha," Amatsuki Toki suddenly laughed.
With her hair disheveled, her face stained with blood, she looked as wretched as a wild ghost.
Yet at this moment, she laughed especially freely, "Oden, I hope that when your blade points at him, it will be just as sharp as it is today."
"Lady Toki...", Kin'emon walked up beside her, but his movements still carried hesitation.
"I'll do it myself," Amatsuki Toki gave Kozuki Oden one last look, then slowly placed her hands on her kimono.
She knew what she would face once she left the Kozuki mansion in this way Oden demanded.
Kuri had no shortage of scoundrels. Even if her face was ruined, just her figure alone would be enough for tens of thousands to eagerly "offer their help."
But since this was Oden's way of parting, then so be it.
If it could awaken him, everything would be worth it.
But as her fingers grasped her kimono collar, trying to undo it completely, she realized no matter how much force she used, she could not remove it.
Her expression froze. When she felt the resistance on her hands, and the dampness near her collar, she couldn't help but show a bitter smile.
'Has my act been convincing enough, or am I simply foolish enough that even he felt pity for me?'
'In the end, is it my enemy who granted me the final shred of dignity?'
"What now, not going to do it yourself? You dare go out and be toyed with by others, so what's taking off your clothes in here?", Kozuki Oden's sarcastic voice sounded. In truth, he really didn't care if Amatsuki Toki had been with Rosse.
Matters between men and women were natural enough. He himself was a licentious man. When he went out to sea mixing with those pirates, he had enjoyed his share of pleasures.
Back then, he and Dragon had even shared a room, becoming like-minded companions. [T/N: It's a bad day to have eyes.]
If Amatsuki Toki had come back behaving normally, he definitely wouldn't have said such harsh things.
But since she had betrayed them and disregarded Wano's crisis, then she couldn't blame him for being heartless.
"Coming from your mouth, those words sound especially ugly," Amatsuki Toki laughed lightly, letting go of her collar with ease.
Though his interference differed from what she had imagined, what was about to happen should provoke Oden even more.
That was enough.
To knowingly aid her at such a moment, at least in terms of being a man, that man was not lacking.
"Since you don't want dignity, then I'll help you," Kozuki Oden didn't want to waste more words. Raising Ame-no-Habakiri, he sent several flying slashes at Amatsuki Toki aimed low.
Whoosh!
These flying slashes should have precisely cut apart her clothes.
But just before reaching their mark, they were suddenly shattered apart by an unexpected blade of light that descended from the heavens.
The deep violet slashes burst into glittering fragments, exploding in midair into dazzling streams of light.
"WHO?", Kozuki Oden abruptly raised his head and roared, drawing Enma from his waist.
"CP0, Gion!", A cold voice resounded inside the Kozuki mansion. In her vampire form, Gion appeared before Amatsuki Toki, golden sword Konpira drawn in her hand.
"Bullying your own woman, do you people even count as man?", Gion looked playfully at those in the room, her eyes full of contempt.
The Kozuki mansion to them was basically like a sieve.
Because of the interference from the retainers' and Oden's Observation Haki, ordinary senses couldn't perceive the situation here. But whether for Rosse or for her, there were countless ways to watch this scene.
Everything Amatsuki Toki had just experienced, she had seen with her own eyes.
Honestly, when she had first met Rosse, Gion thought there could be no worse scum in the world.
But after being at his side long enough, she suddenly realized. That by the moral standards of this lot, Rosse was already considered high.
Stripping his own wife and throwing her out on the street, what was Oden even thinking?
Believing whatever he was told, not bothering to ask clearly, jumping straight to disfigurement and abandonment, how stupid could he be.
"Well, well, well. Even like this, you still want to protect her?", Seeing Gion standing before Amatsuki Toki, Kozuki Oden actually gave a laugh of anger, pointing his blade at the disfigured woman.
"Then I have no choice, since someone appreciates her."
Gion chuckled softly, "Alright, Kozuki Oden. Either we fight it out and then I leave with her, or I just take her and go right now. You choose."
"I choose your damn ancestor!", Kozuki Oden cursed furiously, rushing forward with both blades.
What nonsense. Since he had already been exposed, why keep enduring anything?
His heart overflowed with violence, he had no intent to hold back. His Conqueror's Haki directly coated both swords as he slashed at Gion.
"Conqueror's coating, is it...", Gion's gaze tightened. Both hands gripped Konpira as Armament Haki coated the blade like ink-black armor. She met him head-on without the slightest retreat.
Clang!
Two forces nearly touching the pinnacle of the world crashed violently inside the Kozuki mansion. Pink slashes and crimson-violet Conqueror's slashes exploded like a volcanic eruption.
In an instant, the entire courtyard was engulfed by the two raging lights, the aftershocks surging out like a tsunami.
Nearby houses collapsed in response, broken walls sliced smooth as mirrors, as if by an invisible blade.
Around Amatsuki Toki, a sudden water-blue barrier unfolded, blocking the raging blasts.
Kin'emon and the other retainers scrambled away in panic, not daring even to breathe too heavily.
This level of battle was no longer something they could be part of.
After the clash, Gion forcibly suppressed the blood surging in her throat. The tiny wounds on her body healed at a speed visible to the eye.
That strike just now, she had lost.
At present, she was still no match for Oden at his peak.
Even if her odds of winning were slim, burning battle intent still blazed in her eyes.
Kozuki Oden was strong. But that only proved he could become nourishment for her growth.
Without sufficient pressure, how could one break through oneself?
"Fight!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Gion wielded Konpira and charged forward again.
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