Chapter 119 - #118 Kurome vs "Mysterious" Teigu wielder 1 (2/2)

”You heard her...Kurome, right? If you will be able to injure me, we will no longer pursue you today.” The armored guy said with a calmer tone as if he was just about to spar with an acquaintance instead of an enemy.

However this caused Kurome only to narrow her eyes since it looked like he was looking down on her.

”Yes but I guess you won't tell me your name, right?” Kurome said while getting into a position to rush at him at any time. She was still trying to get some additional information from them.

”I am sorry, I know this is very rude out of me but I am unable to tell you.” He replied with genuine regret in his voice.

”Then let's get it over with!” Kurome said and bent her knees with her right leg back and left leg forward. She was leaning slightly forward with completely relaxed shoulders while resting her right hand on the handle of her katana.

'Her sister said that she has no chance which usually means that she is weaker than her but her posture is perfect, even better than her sister's...However, posture doesn't make up for speed and strength.' The armored guy wasn't thinking about going all out against someone who looked even younger than the girl he just fought a few minutes ago. However, if the situation required so, he wouldn't hold anything back.

He also got into his defensive position while keeping the shaft of his spear under his right armpit, with the tip of the spear facing the ground behind him while his left arm was stretched out in front of him.

'My biggest chance for a win is in the beginning by surprising him with my speed. He seems to be underestimating me which is good for me. But that doesn't mean I have no chance even after I fail...So be it!' Kurome thought out her first attack and while the atmosphere between those two was getting tense, she stealthily moved her left hand into her pocket while trying to keep eye contact with her enemy, unfortunately, she had no idea if he was looking into her eyes due to his helmet.

He almost got caught up while looking into Kurome's eyes but he still noticed her left hand slowly going into her pocket. But he was still surprised by how she was able to use such creative distraction.

'Now!' Since Kurome was unable to see his eyeballs and where he was looking at, she just imagined herself in front of her and at which moment she would notice her own act. At what moment she would look at her own left hand inside the pocket.

*Whoosh* Kurome kicked off the ground with everything she got and slashed her katana even before she arrived in front of him, aiming at his armpit.

'Wha?!!!' The guy was shocked by her speed and he no longer had time to block her slash with his weapon so he put his left forearm in front of her blade to block it, thinking that her weapon is at the similar level as those others were using.

*Crack*

After their exchange, the armored guy remained standing at his original position without moving a bit while Kurome stood a few meters behind him, both of them were standing to each other with their back first.

Small bits of armor have started falling down from the guy's forearm.

”WHAT?!” Everyone exclaimed when they saw the result with their wide-open eyes.

”Huh?” This completely took him by surprise but there was only a small nick on his skin, there wasn't even any blood. Now was the question if this could be taken as an injury or not.

'Wasn't that Iaido back then? My former martial arts master was well-versed at laido technique. No...forget about that for now...Was that first attempt to distract me just a bait for me to pay even more attention to the second and real distraction? This girl...her sister has said that she has no chance of taking me on alone, was this also just the attempt to make me drop my guard down?' The armored guy thought while he was glancing behind him at Kurome's back with wide-open eyes under his helmet. He tore his eyes away from Kurome just to glance at others but when he saw Kurome's sister expression, he was shocked once again.

'She...She is shocked?! Even her sister didn't know how strong she is? These sisters are truly talented, we must rope them in. Anyway, recruiting comes later, now I should focus on our duel. Her weapon might even be Teigu, it's definitely sharper than their weapons, to be able to cut through defenses of my Incursio. It could have been also caused by laido technique which is very dangerous in itself.' The guy thought with a much calmer mind this time.

'I knew that Akashi was training her and keeping her always by his side so I knew that she is going to be strong but to this extent!' Najenda thought with an opened mouth in surprise.

'...Is this result of her training under Akashi? ...I hope he didn't use any drugs on her!' Akame was also surprised but she also noticed that the armored guy's reaction time was slightly off. She had to admit that Kurome was fast but she still thought that it wasn't enough to make him hesitate like that.

Everyone was surprised how she was able to crack an opening inside his armor and most of them thought that she just caught him off guard but only he himself stared at Kurome in disbelief because of her well thought out strategy.

However that wasn't everything...

'...Wait, how was she able to distract me and predict when to attack without having sight on my eyeballs?!' This fact shocked him the most!