Chapter 533: The Butt of Strength
With a Navigator house sworn to him, Kian had what he'd come for and got ready to head back to Kyoto.
Before leaving, he asked the Three-Eyed Sorcerer, "Is there anything important you think you should report to me?"
The Three-Eyed Sorcerer brought something up.
"A few months ago, our library was raided by ninja. They took several texts handed down from the days of the Imperium, books recording psychic rites.
"Our gatekeeper ninja fought them, and from what he saw, we think they may have been ninja from Kyoto.
"We'd left a psychic mark on the texts, and when we looked with our Warp eyes, we found that the texts are in the Son of Heaven's castle keep..."
With that last piece of information, Kian left Snowflake Mountain, went down to its foot, and headed back the way he'd come.
The old monk walked beside him chattering away, but Kian said nothing. He was busy fitting together everything he'd learned.
They strolled along the country paths and soon reached the border of the Snowflake Domain.
Just then, the old monk's panicked voice stopped Kian short. "My lord! My lord!"
That snapped Kian out of his thoughts. He looked up and suddenly saw four or five bodies lying on the country path ahead.
They wore rough hemp clothing and, from the look of them, were refugees.
They had been cut down with sharp katana. Some had their hands cut off, some had been cut in half at the waist. It was a horrific sight.
The ones responsible were the twenty-odd armoured samurai across the path.
The old monk gripped his naginata nervously and said to Kian:
"They... they're samurai of the Snowflake Domain. They must be guarding the border to catch slaves."
Kian looked past the twenty-odd samurai and saw more than forty refugees tied together with rope, like lambs waiting for the slaughter.
Just as Kian spotted the samurai, the samurai spotted him too.
Their leader was a young samurai in the most splendid armour of the lot, with two huge ox horns on his helmet.
When he saw Kian, his eyes lit up. He pointed at Kian and said to the samurai around him:
"Look how huge that one is! Catch him. We'll take him home and use him as an ox!"
The samurai drew their katana and came swarming at Kian, shouting.
The old monk hurried forward a step and pulled a travel permit out of his robes.
"Please wait, honoured samurai! We're law-abiding folk from Kyoto, and we have travel permits.
"I'm a registered monk of a Kyoto temple. Killing a monk is terribly bad luck!
"Young sir, you're the eldest son of the daimyō of the Snowflake Domain, aren't you? I've debated doctrine with your father, and I even held you when you were little!"
When the horned samurai heard this, he curled his lip.
"A monk? I can't stand you old baldies. Mercy on your lips and benevolence under your boots, that's your kind exactly.
"Perfect timing. I just got myself a new sword, and I'll try its edge on you, old baldy!"
With that, the son of the Snowflake Domain's daimyō actually drew his katana and stepped forward to cut off the old monk's head!
Seeing that it had come to this, and that there was nothing more to say, Kian crooked a finger at the old monk.
The old monk immediately pulled a bow and ten arrows from behind his back.
The next moment, Kian drew the bow to a full moon and loosed arrow after arrow at blinding speed!
The twenty-odd samurai across from him had barely started to charge in and pin Kian down when the stream of arrows knocked them flat.
Kian's shots were fast and accurate, and the samurai weren't wearing face guards. The arrows went straight into their faces and killed ten samurai in an instant!
The horned samurai, the Snowflake daimyō's eldest son, went wide-eyed and quickly ducked behind one of his men.
He roared at Kian, "If the bow is your strength, then what are you without it?"
When Kian heard that, his drawing hand paused. As it happened, the old monk had only brought ten arrows, and they were all gone.
He tossed the bow back to the old monk and took the naginata from his hands.
When the horned samurai saw his taunt had actually worked and Kian had given up the bow, his eyes lit up, and he ordered his men, "Get him!"
His men charged in again, shouting. Kian gripped the naginata's long shaft in both hands, drew a breath to gather his strength, and unleashed a huge sweeping cut!
The naginata's blade swept across the chests of three samurai like a power sword, cutting all three clean in half, armour and all!
The stench of blood filled the air in an instant, and the other samurai froze in terror.
The horned samurai's eyes went wide in disbelief. Was that a strength any human could possess?
He swallowed and went on:
"If the naginata is your strength, then what are you without it?"
Kian glanced at the naginata in his hands. It wasn't a good weapon, and after being used that violently, its edge had already curled.
He stuck the naginata in the ground and crooked a finger at the old monk, who handed over his katana.
A katana wasn't as long as a naginata and didn't look nearly as frightening, so the stunned samurai got back a bit of their nerve.
One samurai stepped up on his own, planted himself in front of Kian, and actually stood at attention and bowed.
"I am a samurai of the house of the Snowflake daimyō. My sword style is the Autumn Frost Water-Cutting school. What school of the sword do you practise, sir?"
Kian chuckled and looked at the little baka.
"Spam-Attack-ryū."
The samurai felt insulted. He shouted "Baka!" and charged at Kian with his katana raised.
Kian raised his katana high and brought it down hard.
The samurai thought, such a simple move! I'll parry it, then come up with a quick rising cut and take your life!
So he raised his sword to block Kian's overhead cut.
Then his sword was cut through. Then his head was cut through. Then his chest was cut through. Then his belly and hips were cut through.
With a ripping sound, the samurai was split clean in two from top to bottom. His armour and body slid apart to either side, and his insides spilled onto the ground.
Everyone was horrified. The horned samurai shouted, as usual:
"If the katana is your strength, then what are you without it?"
Kian glanced at the katana in his hand. After cutting through every bone and every piece of armour in a man's body, it was now bent like a twisted pretzel.
So he tossed it aside, raised his two big meaty fists, and stood his ground.
Two samurai exchanged a look. They weren't bothering with bushidō anymore. They charged at Kian, yelling.
Then, faster than the eye could follow, Kian rushed the two samurai and, before they could even raise their katana, drove a fist into each of their faces!
With two loud bursts, both samurai's heads exploded.
The horned samurai shouted:
"If your fists are your strength, then what are you without them?"
Kian shook the brains off his hands and clasped them behind his back.
The horned samurai ordered the last two samurai beside him:
"Go! Flank him, one left and one right, and cut him down!"
The last two samurai were scared, but their lord had given an order and they didn't dare disobey.
They raised their katana at once and closed in on Kian from left and right, then charged him with a shout.
Kian waited until they were close, then jumped straight up, tucked his legs, and kicked out.
His two legs shot out like springs into the two samurai, and he hung there in midair doing the splits.
The two samurai flew back more than ten metres and died without a sound.
Now only the horned samurai was left. He wanted to run, but he felt he'd never outrun Kian, so he steeled himself and tried his last taunt:
"If your legs are your strength, then what are you without them?"
Kian clicked his tongue.
"Fine, fine. No bow, no blade, no hands, no feet. Happy now?"
The horned samurai nodded.
"Yoshi! Now this is a fair fight! Here I come!"
Kian: "Bring it on!"
The horned samurai bowed to Kian for show, then raised his katana and came at him, all fangs and claws.
Facing a samurai charging at him with his sword up, yelling his head off, Kian calmly turned around and squatted down.
The horned samurai was utterly baffled. Turning around and squatting? What's that supposed to mean?
Whatever. He's so tall it'd be hard to take his head. Since he's squatting now, I'll just cut...
He never finished the thought. The squatting Kian drove off the ground with both legs and launched himself like a cannonball!
All the horned samurai saw was a butt in front of his face, getting bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER!
Then he felt a tremendous force throw his body backward. His breastplate, his breastbone, and everything inside his chest were smashed to pieces!
The horned samurai flew more than twenty metres and slammed into the ground with his chest caved in.
He coughed up blood and bits of his own insides, raised his head, and glared at Kian.
"So... your ASS... was your true power!"
And with that, he died.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you