First of all, the three rules explicitly stated by the system definitely could not be broken—anyone who's seen a few rules-based horror stories knows this is an iron law. Violating it would surely result in a horrible death. The fact that even these monsters didn't dare to break the rules was a testament to how binding they were.
So, Fumiya Jin's initial idea was to use his superpower, which made even ghosts despise him, to enrage them into attacking him first. He could then invoke "legitimate self-defense" and kill them all. This might have allowed him to bypass the rule about "not actively harming other passengers."
But now, even though they were this furious, they still didn't dare to attack him...
Didn't that just put him in an awkward spot? Attack directly?
That would mean violating an explicit rule, and he'd most likely be killed by some irresistible force.
Then should he back down?
But he had already expended a great deal of mental and physical energy charging his attack, which was now approaching the 2.0 stage. If he stopped now, he wouldn't get that energy back, and it would be extremely difficult to unleash a similar attack later.
He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Is something wrong?" Yuki Suou asked, sensing that something was amiss.
Fumiya Jin was practically face-to-face with the floating clothes but had yet to attack.
Hearing her voice, Fumiya Jin was suddenly struck by an idea.
"I need your skill," Fumiya Jin shouted without turning his head. "Command them to hit me. Quick!"
"Huh?"
Yuki Suou was stunned for a moment—she had never heard such a bizarre request.
But in the next second, her quick mind processed the situation.
"I get it!"
She responded but didn't immediately activate her skill—she was directly behind Fumiya Jin, and her line of sight was blocked by his body, making it difficult to use her ability.
So she took two steps forward, moving to the row behind Fumiya Jin, then shifted to the window seat. Looking at the monsters in front of him, she activated her skill...
"You pieces of trash, give him a punch!" Yuki Suou yelled. Halfway through, she remembered something and quickly added, "But don't hit him too hard!"
The moment this command was issued...
Yuki Suou instantly felt dizzy.
After all, this was her first time using the skill on a group.
"Thud!"
Within a single second, she was already struggling to maintain control.
Bright red blood dripped from her nose...
But she gritted her teeth and held on!
"BAM!"
Something hard and massive slammed into Fumiya Jin's shoulder.
It was as if an invisible, giant bone fist had smashed down, carrying an astonishing amount of force.
Evidently, for these unknown beings who hated Fumiya Jin, the command to punch him wasn't something they resisted in the slightest; in fact, it was what they desperately wanted to do. They executed it with astonishing speed.
"Urk—" Fumiya Jin let out a muffled grunt.
Under normal circumstances, he would have been staggered by this absurdly immense force; at the very least, his body would have visibly trembled.
But at this moment... he was completely unmoved!
Although excruciating pain shot through him and his entire shoulder was going numb, his body didn't sway in the slightest, nor did the hand holding the tachi tremble.
This was...
Super Armor?
Could it be a hidden effect of Iaijutsu?
Wait, isn't this that freakin'... Blue Hyper Armor? Damn!
"Hmph!"
Another punch immediately followed, landing on Fumiya Jin's chest.
Fumiya Jin felt as if his ribcage was about to be caved in.
But his body remained perfectly still.
"I can't hold on!" After nearly two seconds, the girl could no longer bear it. She collapsed onto a seat, nearly fainting, with blood gushing from her nose...
Fumiya Jin had initially considered, for the sake of caution, letting each of the unknown beings touch him before counterattacking to ensure he wasn't breaking any rules.
But now it seemed... that was no longer an option.
Besides, given the force of their attacks, if he took nine punches, he'd probably die on the spot.
So...
He couldn't wait any longer!
"Ding—" The light on the blade bloomed again, no longer a faint glimmer but a bright flash.
Fumiya Jin composed himself and suddenly shouted, "Watch closely, 'This next strike is gonna be cool!'"
[Weapon skill activated.]
The moment he spoke, everyone's gaze was drawn to him.
Even Yuki Suou, gasping for breath on the seat, couldn't help but lift her head to look.
The blade in Fumiya Jin's hand seemed to transform into countless phantoms the instant it was drawn.
The motion was so fast that their eyes couldn't even register it...
"Swish swish swish swish swish..."
Not one or two slashes...
Not ten or twenty...
In a single instant, the blade carved dozens, even hundreds of intersecting lines into the air before him!
Each line appeared impossibly thin, but in reality, each was a razor-sharp edge brimming with immense power, as if it could slice through space itself.
Countless cherry blossoms danced in the air, swirling amidst the hundreds of sharp sword auras, momentarily dazzling everyone.
Fumiya Jin himself was amazed as he watched the technique, reminded of the "Hundred-Rend Slash" from a game in his past life.
But that Hundred-Rend Slash was just an exaggerated name for a move that, in reality, only produced a few slashes.
What was happening now, however, was different... this was a "Hundred-Rend Slash" in the truest sense.
A hundred sword auras erupted in an instant, shredding the seats in front of him, the floating clothes, and even the air itself to pieces!
"Wh... What is this..." The young butler's eyes widened.
The expressionless girl said nothing, simply staring blankly at the chaotic storm of slashes and the man holding the sword...
The image of that moment was deeply seared into her eyes, causing her pupils, usually as still as an ancient well, to tremble faintly.
And Yuki Suou, lying on the seat as the closest spectator, was also dumbfounded by the scene...
This guy...
It's one thing for him to be handsome...
But what's the deal with making his moves so damn cool?!!
This isn't right, is a tachi supposed to be this cool to play with...
So why did I give up the tachi to learn karate back then???
...
[+1][+1][+1][+1]...
A dense stream of notifications echoed in his ears.
Fumiya Jin, however, felt like his body was about to fall apart and nearly collapsed onto the floor.
Fortunately, the self-discipline of a Tachi Player prevented him from doing something so mood-killing and uncool right after showing off.
He managed to support himself and looked down at the scattered items on the ground...
No blood...
No flesh...
No trace of a body.
There were only the shredded fragments of clothing and the shattered pieces of the seats scattered across the floor, creating a scene of utter chaos.
And then there were the tags, lying one by one on the floor, not a single one of them damaged.
It seemed they were protected by some mysterious power.
Fumiya Jin endured the pain, bent down, and picked up the two black plastic tags.
Then he turned and walked back toward Yuki Suou...
______
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