"You really enjoy manipulating everything from behind the scenes, don't you?"
Hinata drew her reforged Seven Luminaries Sword and pointed it at Yuki. "I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense. If you know what's good for you, surrender immediately."
"Surrender..."
By this point, Yuki also knew the situation was irreversible.
Hinata was not a fool.
What he wanted to know now was what Hinata had seen in Great Jura Forest.
"So in the end, you still betrayed humanity?"
"..."
Was there any fundamental difference between joining Rin and betraying humanity?
Hinata knew very well that she had indeed betrayed her former oath.
However, this was unavoidable.
If one had to trace it back, ever since she was defeated by Luminous and became the maintainer of order for Holy Empire of Lubelius, Hinata had already lost her purity.
"Admittedly, for me to say something like 'carelessness' now would be a bit laughable."
"However, that is not a reason for me to let you go."
"Because of your ambition, you almost killed Shizue-sensei and those children."
Not only them, but also the Holy Knights led by Hinata, and Holy Empire of Lubelius behind them.
If not for Rin's magnanimity, everyone mentioned above would have died because of Yuki's provocation.
Hinata could not accept this.
What she found even more unacceptable was that Yuki, despite betraying everyone, could still escape freely to Eastern Empire.
"Boss?"
Seeing Hinata's resolute attitude, Laplace glanced at Yuki. Yuki immediately signaled to the others. "Attack!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the three clowns lunged at Hinata almost simultaneously.
"Hmph!"
Hinata completely disregarded the three of them.
Even her former self could barely withstand the trio's encirclement.
Let alone her current self, who had advanced further.
As for now...
"Boom!!"
Footman took the lead. His speed was extremely fast, and terrifying magicules wrapped around his fist as it smashed toward Hinata's head.
"Good magicules, but the technique is too crude..."
Almost instantly, Hinata saw through all of Footman's attack routes.
"I don't have time to play with small fry like you. Get out of my sight quickly!"
"Swish!"
With that, Hinata's Seven Luminaries Sword sliced through an arc, cutting down at a speed Footman could not react to.
"Pfft~"
"Nani?"
Kagali exclaimed. In her vision, Footman, who had been charging at the very front, had already splattered blood in front of him.
Huh?
This feeling...
On the other side, Hinata did not lower her guard just because she had struck Footman.
On the contrary, Hinata felt a strange sense of incongruity at this moment.
She stared at the wound on Footman's body and felt puzzled.
How strange. Could my sword strike just now only cause such a minor injury?
"Swish!"
Hinata was thinking, but her attack did not stop. She directly slashed toward Footman's neck.
"Be careful!"
Seeing the second sword strike, Laplace quickly pushed Footman away. He pulled a dagger from his sleeve and intended to clash directly with Hinata's Seven Luminaries Sword.
"Hmm?"
Hinata suddenly stopped her sword swing. Instead, she held her sword horizontally in front of her, making a blocking gesture.
"Clang clang clang!!"
The next moment, several impacts landed on the sword. Hinata herself was pushed back a distance by the force.
What is going on?
Hinata lowered Seven Luminaries Sword and looked at the three clowns in front of her with surprise. Her gaze finally rested on Laplace.
"Was it you? The one who used an ability on me just now?"
Hinata's understanding of the members of Moderate Harlequin Alliance was limited.
Originally, she thought these guys were just Yuki's subordinates. No matter how strong they were, they would at most be Special A-Rank.
But after this exchange, putting aside the other two, the strength of this one, Laplace, alone exceeded Hinata's expectations.
Of course, Footman was not bad either.
The magicules these two burst out with at the moment they attacked had reached the level of an ordinary Awakened Demon Lord, which is 1 million EP.
"You've hidden yourselves quite well, Yuki, you rascal."
Hinata stared at the clowns and said in a deep voice, "With such strength, you cannot be nobodies."
"Oh my, oh my..."
Laplace pretended to be innocent. "Hinata san, what are you saying? We are just a group of clowns for entertainment. How could we be as formidable as you say?"
"That attack just now came from you, didn't it?"
Hinata ignored Laplace's disguise. She looked at the dagger in his hand.
"That feeling, was it a firearm?"
A strange feeling.
She clearly saw a dagger, but during the exchange just now, Hinata perceived that the attack method of this dagger was almost identical to the firearms she knew.
Was I seen through?
As expected of the legendary strongest human.
Laplace's smile disappeared.
He realized that he and his companions had underestimated Hinata's strength.
During the brief exchange earlier, if not for Laplace's ability, Footman would likely have been severely injured.
The reason he only suffered such minor injuries was entirely because Laplace had foreseen Hinata's attack.
Yes, foreseen.
Laplace had two Unique Skills, Falsifier and Seer.
Seer allowed him to see future events, similar to Observation Haki's future prediction. It enabled him to prepare in advance and anticipate the enemy.
As for Falsifier, this Unique Skill was somewhat like a low level version of Kyoka Suigetsu.
It could create illusions, causing the opponent to make incorrect judgments.
These judgments included, but were not limited to, sight, touch, taste, and even memory modification.
Just now, Laplace had disguised the firearm from Eastern Empire in his hand as a dagger, intending to use it to ambush Hinata.
But what he did not expect was that Hinata's intuition would be so sharp.
Although she had not seen through his disguise, Hinata's battle instincts immediately made her block, deflecting the three magic-piercing bullets aimed at her eyes and forehead.
"An illusion-type Unique Skill."
"And..."
Hinata recalled their exchange just now and said, "The ability to foresee the future?"
"She saw through Laplace's abilities so quickly," Kagali said in horror. "What a terrifying woman!"
She thought about her former self, who had also been a Demon Lord.
But when facing Leon, Kagali had no power to resist and was defeated by him.
Now, when seeing Hinata, Kagali actually saw Leon's shadow in her.
Without a doubt, the woman in front of her possessed the same combat talent as Leon, far beyond what she and the clowns could compare with.
(To be continued.)