"You're planning to use the thing from earlier, aren't you? Then let me be blunt. It won't work!"
Barbara looked at Noah with open disdain.
After killing that boy earlier, she had studied the secret behind that seemingly ordinary little knife.
It could release invisible slashes.
That had surprised her.
But that was all.
For a top-class master like her, it was nothing more than a weapon with extended reach.
Since she knew it would release invisible slashes, all she had to do was observe the movement of her opponent's wrist and predict his actions.
No matter how powerful those slashes were, they were not enough to trouble her.
Because she could dodge them easily.
From the mark left on the ground, she was certain that this brat calling himself Lamur was only so arrogant because he relied on that tool.
He had no idea what true strength looked like.
Noah's hand paused slightly, as though he was briefly confused.
He unfolded the completed magic and locked onto Barbara.
"You're saying this can't hit you?"
Noah did not know where her confidence came from.
But she really was confident.
Her tone.
Her expression.
She had the pride of someone who seemed to believe there was no one left in the world who could defeat her.
He had to admit, for the briefest instant, that overwhelming confidence actually made him doubt himself a little.
But according to his appraisal…
This old woman's stats, at most, placed her at the level of an elite soldier. Her speed and skill were both excellent, but that was all.
She was not a Teigu user.
Nor did she possess any secret art.
In other words, she was a complete and utter mortal.
Judging purely by ability values, Barbara Oarburgh's strength was close to that of the Four Rakshasa Demons.
In raw stats, the Four Rakshasa Demons were somewhat stronger, especially in total ability, which was quite a bit higher than Barbara's.
However, the gap was not large enough to create an overwhelming difference.
Barbara, on the other hand, was especially outstanding in speed, and her combat skill was more than a little superior to theirs.
In an actual fight, any single member of the Four Rakshasa Demons would probably not be this old woman's opponent, assuming neither side had a Teigu.
Against Gozuki, however, Barbara's odds of victory would be less than twenty percent.
A cursed blade that killed with even the slightest touch was simply too troublesome to guard against.
Two people who might originally have been evenly matched would have their battle lose all suspense the moment one side held Murasame.
"Then try it. Let's see whether you can dodge this… or block it."
Noah calmly extended his palm toward Barbara.
Dense wind blades gathered in the blink of an eye, expanding into a vast wave.
Like a tsunami rising from the ground, the seven meter-tall surge of violent air currents formed before Barbara's eyes.
She stared at the tide of blades, her entire body frozen in shock.
She even forgot to flee.
Her jaw dropped unconsciously, and her grip on her weapon loosened.
What is this?
The wind blades were so densely packed that they distorted the scenery visible to the naked eye.
But in Barbara's vision, what stood before her was clearly a savage, raging dragon baring its fangs and claws, opening its bloody maw to swallow her whole.
She had lived for so many years, yet she had never seen anything like this.
How could this be a power a human possessed?
Could it be… a Teigu?
"Master!"
Unlike Barbara, who had fallen into shock, Taeko was also stunned when she saw the wind blades filling the world before her.
But more than fear, what surged up in her was concern for her instructor.
That concern forced her to cry out.
That shout brought back a shred of Barbara's resolve.
Facing this attack that was almost like a natural disaster, one that filled her with despair, Barbara concentrated her attention to an even deeper level.
Tch!
Barbara bit the tip of her tongue.
The sharp pain helped her regain focus. Her eyes nearly split as she poured every bit of her strength into her flesh and bones.
Her excessive muscle control caused her blood vessels to burst one after another.
She could not die yet!
True, she had killed countless people in her life. She deserved death many times over.
But if she died here, what would happen to Taeko?
Barbara gripped Kiriichimonji tightly as she swung her blade desperately.
Again.
Again.
Again.
She kept swinging—
Until she was cut into eight pieces… eighteen pieces…
Her arms became slices of flesh, her body became chunks of meat, and even her bones were reduced to fragments.
The terrifying storm plowed across the earth.
The ground was torn apart, and row after row of trees collapsed.
Under that level of power, not even Barbara's corpse could be found anymore.
"Damn. I might have overdone it…"
This was different from when he had been teaching the giant dog.
If he showed no restraint at all, this was what happened.
Unlike the crude method of simply manipulating wind, compressing it into blades, and firing it out, this attack had used technique weaving to construct the wind element into a proper spell.
Even a group of Level 3 monsters could be wiped out in one strike.
As for Level 4… it would depend on the type of monster.
But it should still have a fairly strong effect.
The dust gradually dispersed.
Taeko looked at the ruined surroundings, her face terribly pale.
She rushed anxiously toward the center of the destruction, digging through the soil with both hands, her eyes filled with pleading hope.
But after digging for a long time, all she uncovered was despair.
When she saw a severed hand exposed beneath the dirt, she was overjoyed and hurriedly grabbed Barbara's hand with both of her own.
But when she tried to pull her instructor out of the soil, she did not feel anything close to the weight a human should have.
Instead, because she pulled too hard, she fell backward onto the ground.
Taeko stared blankly at what she was holding.
In her hands was only half a palm.
"..."
Taeko's expression turned horrified.
Images flashed endlessly through her mind—her master using that hand to stroke her head, praising her for doing well.
"My Taeko really is a genius."
"You are the most outstanding one."
"To have you inherit what I know… for people like us, that is the greatest happiness."
"No… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Taeko pressed the half-severed hand to her chest and screamed as if her heart were being torn apart.
Noah watched her and did not deal with her for the moment. Instead, he walked over to Akame.
Beside the girl, there was another person who had witnessed everything with both eyes.
Noah lifted Green's head with one hand and met his eyes.
"Mm. I understand."
He spoke to Green, who had only his head left, yet whose eyes were still open.
"Even after death, your eyes are still open this wide. You must have had a lot of regrets. In any case, I've already avenged you. In your next life, remember not to be born in this rotten world again."
He applied a simple preservation measure to Green's head, then wrapped it in cloth.
He did not know where the body had gone, but at the very least, he should bring the head back to Gozuki.
Akame had already passed out.
Her condition was extremely dangerous, but Noah knew she still had two hours and seventeen minutes before death.
The children Gozuki had trained really were abnormal.
Never mind injuries this severe—even just that poison alone would have killed an ordinary person ten times over.
There were still fifty-three minutes before irreversible damage set in.
That was more than enough time for him to take Akame away from the battlefield.
Before that—
"Hello, Taeko."
Noah came to the girl's side and greeted her softly.
Hearing his voice, Taeko's whole body trembled.
Her body was shaking.
But even she did not know why.
Was it anger?
It had to be anger!
Her master had been killed so cruelly. How could she possibly not be angry?
But why?
Why, when she was this angry, could she not move at all?
Was she… afraid?
This feeling was just like before she joined Oarburgh.
Back when she had no power and could only be slaughtered by others.
Back when she had been weak.
And before this man called Lamur, her strength was insignificant.
Even her instructor had been killed so easily, and through such an unbelievable method.
This man was not human.
He was a demon!
Noah lowered his head, brushed aside the girl's bangs, looked at her complexion, and then fell into helpless silence.
Taeko's expression was an absolute mess.
Anger, regret, hatred, grief, fear—all of it was mixed together, almost like something painted by Van Gogh.
After hesitating for two seconds, Noah raised one finger and placed it against the girl's forehead.
"Sorry."
After that soft word, Taeko felt her mind suddenly become blank.
In that instant, she forgot many things.
Grief.
Anger.
She stared blankly at the masked man before her, not knowing how she should react.
Only, she had neither anger nor killing intent.
The two of them were like ordinary passersby brushing past each other on some random day.
It felt completely natural.
"Taeko, hello. I'm Lamur…"
When Noah gave his false name, he met the girl's vacant gaze, and his tone paused.
"I want to know whether among the people with you, there is someone who can use a transformation ability."
A face appeared in Taeko's mind.
She murmured unconsciously, "Chelsea…?"
Noah's eyelids moved slightly.
He continued asking, "Yes, Chelsea. Where is she?"
"Chelsea… she's at the rendezvous point we agreed on. We… I… we…"
Huh?
We?
Me... Taeko, and Chelsea.
Who else?
Vaguely, another elderly face appeared in the girl's mind.
The moment that face appeared, she felt warmth and safety.
"Who is that?"
Taeko held her head in confusion and looked toward the masked man before her as though asking for help.
Noah frowned slightly.
Had he affected her too much?
When emotions were unstable, the soul could actually waver to this degree.
In his faintly blue eyes, he could no longer see the girl's expression.
What he saw instead was the shape of her soul.
So grief could even be reflected in the soul.
Just now, he had manipulated the emotional chemicals inside the girl's body.
The human body was a precise machine, only made of flesh and blood.
Emotions did not come from the heart or the brain alone, but were phenomena guided by emotional chemicals.
For Noah, who possessed Weaver, controlling the production of those chemicals was still somewhat difficult, but manipulating the switches that produced them was easy.
That kind of operation was dangerous.
Even the slightest interference could throw a person into disorder.
Taeko was like that.
Before he had interfered with her soul directly, merely interfering with the switches for those emotional chemicals had caused her to enter a near-collapsed state.
Her entire being had become an empty shell.
Because of that, Noah discovered that emotions were not only controlled by emotional chemicals, but also seemed to be reflected in the soul.
Viewed this way, the switches for emotional chemicals were more like physical switches, while the true system existed within the soul.
The ability to directly manipulate the soul.
His understanding of the soul was still too shallow.
It should not remain limited to simple things such as shape and memory.
Unfortunately, in Orario, he had never heard of any similar ability, so he had no reference.
He could only rely on practice, constantly testing and refining his knowledge.
As the owner of this power, Noah was, for the first time, shaken by the ability itself.
He had to use this power more carefully.
Otherwise, he might stray onto a path from which there was no return.
He felt no regret over killing Barbara Oarburgh.
Against a clear enemy who held killing intent toward him, he would not hold back.
Even if he killed the girl before him next, that would simply be a matter of opposing positions leading to life-or-death conflict.
If he had not discovered this new trait of the soul from the girl named Taeko, he would not have hesitated like this.
After a brief pause, Noah used Weaver to restrain Barbara Oarburgh's soul.
Since he had not decided what to do with it, he temporarily sealed it inside the Forest Dragon's Jewel.
This way, the soul would not disperse immediately.
On the other hand, looking at the girl before him, who had become like an empty shell, Noah placed his hand against her forehead and used Weaver to begin rewriting her memories and perception.
At the same time, he also tampered with Akame's memories nearby.
When Taeko opened her eyes again, the way she looked at Noah had already become very clear.
"Lamur-senpai."
"Hello, Taeko. How do you feel?"
"Mm? In what way do you mean?"
"No, never mind."
Senior was a term Noah had added for himself during the alteration. It seemed to be functioning normally.
"Taeko, can you take me to Chelsea now?"
Taeko nodded.
"Please follow me."
Noah carried Akame on his back and followed Taeko.
The two moved through the forest, and along the way, they did not encounter any new enemies.
He did not deliberately search for the others.
With Suzuka and Sten supporting them, there should not be any major problem over there.
Among the three members of Oarburgh, the last one, Chelsea, was not suited for combat and had not joined the battlefield.
The others were all here.
After he obtained the transformation Teigu, he could regroup with them.