"That feels like it might have been a bit much."
Amamiya Rin folded his arms across his chest, studying Takaichi as the man lay convulsing on the ground.
In the moment, he hadn't thought it through. In order to unleash the Brahma-Sound Illusion Art at its full potency, he'd had to awaken his own Nature-Light.
The Nature-Light of Buddhist teaching was the luminous manifestation of one's inner mind-nature. When that radiance blazed forth, all worldly afflictions vanished.
Because his mind had been too crystalline, too clear, Amamiya Rin had forgotten in that instant that he ought to have extracted some information first—and had simply handed Takaichi a full tour of the Eighteen Hells.
The effects of the Brahma-Sound Illusion Art arose from the very nature of the one it was cast upon. If that person refused to repent, then even he, the caster, had no way to lift it.
"No matter. The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, the future mind cannot be grasped."
Amamiya Rin gave a slight shake of his head, not dwelling on the slip that had already occurred.
(There, there, darling—leave the rest to me.)
And it was just then that a delighted, soft laugh drifted along the Tomie Network and sounded beside Amamiya Rin's ear.
(That sort of thing doesn't matter in the least. I need only cut my way through.)
Ringing out at the same moment were words brimming with resolve and murderous intent, firm and unwavering.
Amamiya Rin sensed it—two Kawakami Tomie were drawing near.
One of them had already reached the front gate of the mansion.
The taxi came to a stop at the edge of a quiet, secluded road.
Swordmaster Tomie pushed open the door and stepped out, shouldering her bokken, standing in the shadow of a streetlamp as she lifted her gaze toward the sprawling estate.
The mansion sat deep within the district, and it was no small property.
Its exterior was in the classic Japanese style—a roof of dark gray tiles, its lines clean and crisp; pale outer walls, likely some kind of modern faux-stone material; and along the top of the encircling wall, one could make out concealed linear lighting that traced the outline of the courtyard.
At a glance, there were also uniformed security personnel patrolling around the vast residence.
Swordmaster Tomie walked toward the front gate of the mansion, unhurried and unbothered, as though merely out for a stroll.
The guard approaching from the opposite direction saw how naturally she carried herself and was visibly taken aback for a moment.
Is this the kind of place one strolls through?
The thought rose in him almost unconsciously.
But he snapped out of it quickly and hurriedly called out.
"Hey—that's private property ahead. You can't come any closer."
Swordmaster Tomie acted as though she hadn't heard a thing and kept walking toward the gate.
"Stop right there!" The guard raised his voice, drawing his baton at the same time. "Did you hear me?! You are not permitted to approach this area."
The distance between them shrank to about ten meters. The guard was just about to step forward and block her when his movements suddenly froze.
The aura that Swordmaster Tomie had kept restrained this whole time abruptly unfurled!
It was not simply killing intent—it was a domain-like presence, a Force.
In that instant, the air seemed to grow heavy, the light warped and dimmed, and a heart-stopping chill pierced through his clothing straight into the marrow of his bones. The guard felt as if he had blundered into an invisible quagmire, his heart seized by an overwhelming terror.
And then, he saw it.
In his eyes, the black-haired woman who had been advancing at a measured pace with a long blade in hand suddenly moved.
The blade left its scabbard, and what filled his vision was a genuine forged tachi that reflected the cold light of the moon—its blade slender and long, its curve exquisite, a deadly glimmer flowing along the cutting edge.
The gleam of the blade swept across the night, and in the blink of an eye it was upon him, its razor edge slashing past his face.
His field of vision suddenly began to tilt, spinning as it plunged downward.
He saw his own headless body still standing where it had been, blood spurting from the stump of his neck like a fountain.
Then came the darkness, and the last thing he felt before his consciousness sank—nothingness.
"Thud."
The guard's body toppled rigidly to the ground, his eyes wide open, his face frozen in the utmost horror.
There was not a single wound on his neck, but his brain had already accepted the fact of its own beheading, and had temporarily shut down his bodily functions, plunging him into a state of feigned death.
Swordmaster Tomie walked past him without so much as glancing to the side, her stride never pausing for even an instant, heading straight for the front gate of the mansion.
Though the commotion here had not been loud, in the silence of the night and within a well-trained security system, it was already enough to draw attention.
Two guards came rushing over from the direction of the front gate. Seeing their colleague sprawled and unmoving on the ground, along with the woman advancing toward the gate with a tachi in hand, this bizarre scene put them instantly on alert, and they each drew their collapsible batons.
"Don't move! Drop the weapon in your hand!"
One of them issued a warning to Swordmaster Tomie, while the other took out a pager to report the situation to personnel within the security system.
Swordmaster Tomie continued forward all the same, turning a deaf ear to the guards' demands.
Seeing her completely ignore their warnings and keep closing in, the two guards exchanged a glance and hesitated no longer. One of them stepped forward, sweeping his baton in an arc aimed at the wrist of the hand gripping her blade.
Yet, in the very instant the baton was about to make contact, Swordmaster Tomie's gaze also fell upon his face.
"Cut!"
A ghastly flash of the blade blossomed from Swordmaster Tomie's waist. The gleaming long sword, drawn free, was swift as a phantom, shearing straight toward his wrist!
The cold, keen sensation made his hair stand on end, and a phantom pain of severed tendons and shattered bone shot through his wrist. He let out a scream, the baton flying from his grip, and staggered backward clutching his wrist.
And at almost the very same moment, Swordmaster Tomie's gaze flicked toward the other guard.
Accompanied by a bone-deep chill, a coldness crept up the guard's back. In his vision, Swordmaster Tomie's figure flickered like a phantom and was already before him in an instant, the long blade in her hand transforming into a streak of cold, arcing light that swept precisely across his throat! Fresh blood sprayed out before his very eyes.
"Hgkk…"
A strange, air-leaking sound escaped from his throat. He instinctively dropped his baton and clamped both hands desperately over his neck, staggering backward, then toppled straight over onto his back, eyes wide as they stared up at the night sky, as though his throat truly had been slit.
Swordmaster Tomie stepped over the fallen guard's body, pushed open the unlocked side gate, and walked into the grounds.
Beyond the gate was a gravel path leading toward the main house, flanked on both sides by meticulously manicured garden scenery.
In the darkness, the main house was ablaze with light.
Within the courtyard, shadowy figures flitted about. The inner-ring bodyguards, who had received the alarm from the security system, had already swiftly assembled.
Unlike the outer guards in their uniforms, most of these men were in plainclothes, yet every one of them had sharp, formidable eyes and moved with speed.
At a rough glance there were no fewer than twenty. Some held riot shields and riot forks, forming a rudimentary formation; some were equipped with keen-edged tachi; and a few lurked in the shadows or behind the pillars of the corridors, palms resting at their waists.
However, upon seeing Swordmaster Tomie who had broken into the mansion, they did not attack at once, but kept their distance. The one at their head barked in a low voice, "Drop your weapon! Get down on the ground now! Otherwise we will take the necessary measures!"
As he spoke, the eyes of the bodyguards fixed on Swordmaster Tomie were filled with wariness.
Ever since she had entered the bounds of the mansion, Swordmaster Tomie's killing intent and Sword Force had not relented for even a moment. Even styling themselves as elites drawn from the ranks of the police force, these men could feel an intense sense of crisis when facing Swordmaster Tomie head-on.
More than that—a premonition of their own deaths welled up within them!
This premonition of danger made them disregard even Swordmaster Tomie's demonic allure.
Or rather, through her cultivation of the way of the sword, Swordmaster Tomie had already learned to convert that demonic allure, whenever she needed to, into a lethal killing edge.
____
👻🔥+40 ch on Pátreon: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: Rewriting Fate in New Eridu — read it on The_Mikudayo
📚 Forty chapters of advanced reading at Walnut-chan, and it goes straight into keeping the translations on schedule
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