The Sky Fortress arrived far too suddenly. Just as Linto was searching for Lord Arima, he heard Shinno's broadcast, followed by a destructive beam descending from the sky.
The city of Karin covered a vast area, far larger than Kyoto. To intercept the destructive beam, Linto had no choice but to activate time-stop first, flying at full power for nine-point-nine seconds.
It still wasn't enough. In the last second of time-stop, he poured a massive amount of ripples into his Destroyer Blade and threw it.
Up until now, Linto had been fighting through the exhaustion that followed time-stop. But now, he finally caught his breath.
*Hiss—*
The two-meter-long Destroyer Blade felt weightless in Linto's hand. The ink-black blade left a long, narrow afterimage in the air, and it actually...
Rewound, severing the destructive beam in reverse!
"Power! Increase the power!"
Shinno's smile had vanished at some point. He roared at his subordinate.
"But..."
The adjutant wanted to remind him that the power was already at 150%. Any further increase risked the main cannon exploding.
But before he could voice his concern, Shinno grabbed the adjutant by the throat.
"Obey—my—command!"
Shinno's expression was savage.
"Yes, yes!"
The main cannon's power kept increasing. The destructive beam's color deepened, eventually turning a murky, purplish-black, like the surging negative emotions of an underground space.
But it was no use.
The blade's speed of swing increased in sync.
Linto chopped down again and again, not only repelling the destructive beam's impact but also crushing the resolve of the sky ninja legion soldiers within the Sky Fortress.
Machinery and humans.
The first to break down, to shut off, was surprisingly their proud main cannon!
"Linto, what… what kind of monster is he?!"
One soldier's voice trembled slightly.
On the display, Linto was rapidly approaching. Combined with the night, the black blade, and those utterly cold eyes, he looked like…
A serial killer from a horror movie.
"Clang!!!"
The blade slammed heavily against the Sky Fortress's defensive barrier, the dull impact echoing through the sky. Everyone saw it—
A network of fine cracks appeared on the barrier.
The next second.
*Click.*
Killer Queen activated the detonation, causing the defensive barrier to shatter over a large area.
Unit Two was fully exposed within Linto's attack range.
Shinno stared blankly, unable to comprehend.
He had considered many possibilities.
But he never dreamed that Linto could, without using any evil spirits, without dodging or weaving, with just a blade, hack his way through!
"Is he even human?!"
Countless eyes—the sky legion, the ground civilians, spies from every village, the consortium's subordinates—all fell upon Linto.
Linto ignored the gazes. He only stared at the behemoth before him, contemplating where to start dismantling it. Finally, his eyes landed on the main cannon, billowing smoke.
*Boom—*
The long blade descended fiercely, slicing the Sky Fortress's extended, slender main cannon in two. From the ground's perspective, it looked like the head of the Sky Fortress had been cut off.
This scene was burned into the minds of many.
In a factory, a thin young man's eyes widened, refusing to blink, wanting to engrave what he saw into his memory forever.
He stood up.
"What are you doing?!"
The workshop supervisor yelled, "Sit down! Get back to work! I'll fire you—"
Before he could finish, the thin young man took off his work cap.
He had intended to throw it to the ground to vent his emotions.
But he didn't.
The thin young man gently placed the cap into the workshop supervisor's hand and walked out.
He didn't throw it down not out of fear, nor because he hoped to return.
The thin young man simply felt that he was a human.
And as a human, he deserved the dignity that came with it.
"If you dare step out of this workshop, I'll fire you! You hear me, fired! Never to be rehired!"
The thin young man glanced back at the supervisor, whose face had turned red with anger. "Whatever you say. Fired, never rehired, it doesn't matter… I'm going to exercise my rights and obligations as a human."
His overly calm expression made the supervisor instinctively ask,
"What?"
"To protect my family."
Linto had stopped the main cannon, the most terrifying weapon. Killer Queen, combined with the fighter planes, had shattered much of the cannon fire from the sub-cannons.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Little Momo were also contributing.
But some projectiles still got through.
Dozens of artillery shells fell into the city, igniting it. Cries, fleeing, and calls for help were everywhere.
The thin young man wanted to go home. Even if he died, he wanted to be with his family.
With the first, there was a second.
More and more workers took off their hats, placing them in the supervisor's hand or askew on his head. They rushed out of the factory, heading in the direction of their homes.
It wasn't just this factory. A massive strike was happening in factories all over the city.
Chaos erupted everywhere. Some people tried to take advantage of the situation.
Murder, robbery, some even cornered women to commit indecent acts.
A kunai flew by, piercing the groin of a man who was assaulting someone.
It was Iwamasa Gen Masako, followed by several "Rats."
Their abilities couldn't be used in the aerial battle, so they could only focus on saving people in the city as much as possible.
"Boss, the brothers can't hold on much longer," said City Blind.
Most of the Rats were ordinary people. The continuous running had already exceeded their physical limits.
Iwamasa Gen Masako looked back at the tired group.
"Keep going if you can. Those who can't, find a safe place to rest. We will welcome victory soon."
As soon as the battle in the sky ended, the chaos in the city would naturally subside.
"Victory is coming soon..."
City Blind asked nervously, "Did Linto discover the enemy's weakness? Or do you have inside information?"
In everyone's eyes, the Sky Fortress was an unbreachable stronghold, and there were surely many powerful ninja inside.
The correct course of action would be to find a way to destroy the Sky Fortress's propulsion system, make it crash to the ground, and then everyone would attack it together.
Linto was very strong, but facing the Sky Fortress and the sky ninja legion alone…
This was simply too much…
"As long as it's him, he definitely can."
Iwamasa Gen Masako's tone was certain.
City Blind and the other Rat members exchanged glances, unable to understand her unreasonable, absolute trust.
City Blind didn't understand, but the sky ninja legion did.
*Boom—Boom—Boom—*
The Sky Fortress was shaking unceasingly and violently, as if a giant was repeatedly smashing it with a hammer.
With each strike, the hearts of the sky ninja legion soldiers trembled.
The surveillance feeds were lost.
Radar… was useless, as Linto had already entered Unit Two.
They could only infer Linto's location based on the constantly approaching, increasingly heavy impacts, until…
They were extremely close.
*Boom—*
The steel ceiling above shattered, revealing a dark opening.
The soldiers in the control room looked up one by one.
A face slowly emerged from the opening. After scanning the surroundings, its gaze landed on Shinno, who was on the throne.
Linto said softly:
"I found you."