Chapter 19: You Are Now the Chief of the Swordsman Group
The battle in the material world ended.
The girls of Azure Longsword huddled together, Nuo absentmindedly healing them while anxiously scanning their surroundings.
This wasn’t the first time this had happened. As long as the captain was present, they weren’t afraid of even a legion of demigods. However, once the captain disappeared, they were immediately lost, like a flock of sheep without a shepherd.
“Where’s Asker?” Peggy wrung her hands nervously, desperate to rush out and find him.
But she knew that, under the current anomaly, she absolutely couldn’t be separated from her companions, so she forcibly suppressed the urge.
“Right!” Thira suddenly exclaimed. “Everyone, check your codes now!”
Given the chaos of the previous battle, even the captain could disappear “into thin air.” It was possible that other members had been swapped.
So the girls immediately took out their slips of paper and compared them.
…
Nuo and Medea’s seals were oriented differently than everyone else’s.
“Wait a minute!” Nuo said in a panic. “Could my paper have been swapped too?”
The other girls remained silent, drawing their weapons, subtly isolating Nuo and Medea.
“Calm down.” Medea spread her hands, indicating she meant no harm. “Even if the codes are different, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are fake.”
“In the battle just now, even the captain disappeared without a trace. Swapping slips of paper would be child’s play for this anomaly, wouldn’t it?”
“If that’s the case, then you attacking Nuo and me now would be like attacking each other.”
“We can’t rule out that possibility.” Thira said, “But, if the anomaly has the ability to precisely swap the slips of paper without the owner noticing…”
“Then it could have swapped everyone’s slips, and we would all be suspicious of each other, leading to the complete breakdown of our team.”
“However, the fact is that only your two slips are different. The more logical conclusion is that the anomaly doesn’t have the ability to swap slips, it simply hid the captain, Nuo, and Medea. Taking advantage of our panic after discovering the captain’s disappearance, it sent you two imposters to try and blend in.”
Medea was speechless. After a moment of silence, she chuckled:
“Clever girl. I should have swapped you out first.”
With that, she and “Nuo” collapsed to the ground, dead.
The girls watched this eerie scene, a chill running down their spines. Even after seeing through the disguise, their team had still lost three members. This ability to silently swap people…
…was practically insurmountable.
The Free Wind mercenary group across the way had also finished their battle with the zombies. Although they hadn’t heard what the girls were saying, they saw the two replicas suddenly drop dead. Matthews immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said:
“Quick! Everyone, check your identities!”
So the mercenaries quickly took out their slips of toilet paper and began comparing them with each other.
…
What is this supposed to be? A tiger? A cat? A wolf?
The mercenaries couldn’t help but complain about Gretel’s abstract stick figures. However, after comparing them, they could at least tell that it was the same thing.
“No way!” Matthews cried out because the drawing on his slip of paper was so crude that it was impossible to tell what animal it was. The only thing he could confirm was that this crude style did look like Gretel’s drawing.
“Ahem, Gretel’s drawing skills are unstable, it’s normal for him to have occasional lapses.” One of his confidants, drawing on years of experience in navigating awkward situations, quickly took Matthews’ slip and compared it with his own to ease the leader’s embarrassment.
“Look, although it’s hard to tell what it is, you can still see that the patterns on the two slips are exactly the same.”
Matthews breathed a sigh of relief, his expression saying, “Good thing I wasn’t mistaken for a fake.”
The other mercenaries came closer to look. Damn it, where are the patterns on these two slips similar?!
Yours at least looks like an animal, the captain’s drawing is completely unidentifiable, okay? But the drawing style is exactly the same, it must be from the same person.
“Yes, yes, yes, they’re exactly the same,” the mercenaries nodded, lying through their teeth.
The reasoning was simple: if the captain was a fake, they would be on guard from now on, and the risk would be shared.
But if the captain was real, and everyone else had already voiced their agreement, but you didn’t, and you dared to doubt the captain? He might remember you and single you out for punishment later… Wouldn’t that be stupid?
No one wanted to be stupid, so everyone expressed that the captain couldn’t be a fake, he must be real.
Don’t ask, just say their eyesight is bad, they couldn’t tell the difference.
…
Within the fog, the two swordsmen looked around blankly, the countless sonic booms still echoing.
“How long has it been?” Nuremberg asked.
“Seventeen minutes,” Hans replied. “I counted my heartbeats.”
“This is never going to end!” Nuremberg couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted again, “Hey, swordsman over there! Can you please pretend to be defeated? Otherwise, Master, once he gets into the groove, will never give up!”
Another sonic boom, and Asker was sent flying out of the fog, landing in front of them.
“How do I pretend to be defeated?” Asker had just asked when he spun, swinging his sword, Celestial Ninefold Strike – Grazing Shot! Intercepting the incoming attack!
And then, unsurprisingly, he was sent flying again.
What a monster! Both swordsmen exclaimed. They couldn’t even see their master’s movements clearly, yet the other party could accurately parry and respond. He was inhumanly strong.
Of course, he couldn’t be a demigod. A demigod wouldn’t be in such a sorry state. He must be at least level 10, specialized in physical combat, with exceptional talent.
“Don’t block Master’s attacks directly!” Nuremberg shouted. “Pretend you can’t withstand it, drop your weapons, and then surrender!”
Clang Clang. Two weapons flew through the air. Asker landed on the ground and said with a smile:
“I lose. I couldn’t withstand your attack, and my weapons were knocked away.”
The old Sword Saint materialized in front of him and said indifferently:
“You still have weapons on you.”
Asker: …
Of course I still have weapons on me! As a Weapon Master, it would take forever to disarm him completely!
Fortunately, the two swordsmen didn’t just stand there watching but hurriedly came over to mediate.
“Master, you’ve worked hard, please rest for a while.” Nuremberg took out a small folding stool from behind him, placed it on the ground for Richard Tennar to sit on, then eagerly took the old man’s sword, oiled it, wrapped it with thick cloth strips, and poured him a cup of hot tea.
“You…” Hans circled Asker a few times, clicking his tongue. “You didn’t even get injured? Are you a Flesh or Undead Sequence? You must be immortal.”
Richard Tennar sat on the small stool, took the teacup from Nuremberg, took a sip, and said lightly:
“You are quite good. An excellent swordsman.”
“You flatter me,” Asker said.
However, the old man’s next words made the three of them change their expressions.
“From today onwards, young man, you are the chief of our Swordsman Group,” Richard Tennar declared.
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