Smelting technology in the steam age was backward, and the quality of forged steel left much to be desired. Combined with a chronic shortage of resources, the defensive capabilities of the Hayajiro being built were far from ideal.
Even Kabane could leave dents of varying sizes on the armored surfaces.
Of course, important areas like the cockpit had plenty of heavy reinforcement, making their defenses naturally far superior to other carriages.
But it was only so good. No matter how much material was piled on, the latch of an iron door still had its limits.
Currently, it stood no chance against a full-force punch from Misono Mika.
As for how this was known, it had naturally been proven through practice.
Ikoma and his companions understood this well, as they were currently working overtime to repair an iron door that had been sent flying and severely deformed by Misono Mika.
Mika clenched her right fist, carefully feeling the reassuring strength within her body. She whispered to Mumei beside her, "Well then, let us fight side-by-side this time. After I break the door, they will likely need about three seconds to react, but to be safe, we need to compress that time to two seconds."
The cleanup work in the other carriages was finished; now, only the mastermind and a few accomplices remained at large.
Since no trace of them had been found elsewhere, there was only one place left for them to hide.
The cockpit!
Furthermore, Yomogawa Ayame had been reluctant to leave the cockpit for a long time, making it clear she was being held hostage.
Mika would not give them a single opportunity to threaten her.
Even letting the opponent utter an extra word of nonsense would be considered a failure on her part.
"Two seconds... is it? That is more than enough to deal with them!"
Mumei took a deep breath to soothe her nerves. Seeing Mika raise her seemingly soft fist, she decisively reached out and pulled the blue restrictive ribbon from her neck, releasing her limitations.
As a Kabaneri—a being between human and Kabane—her physical abilities far surpassed ordinary Kabane once the blue ribbon was removed.
To prevent the enemy from choosing mutual destruction by blowing up the cockpit with explosives, they had to settle everything within two seconds.
The window was tight, but for Mika and Mumei, it was plenty.
After all, expecting those men to react within three seconds and decisively detonate explosives was giving them quite a bit of credit.
They might even hesitate out of a fear of death.
However, to prevent the explosives from being triggered, Mika and Mumei had to avoid using firearms as much as possible.
"3, 2, 1, ready—"
Mika drew a katana to hold in her hand, while her raised right fist smashed down toward the iron door with all her might!
BOOM—!!!
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the entire cockpit shuddered.
The latch bent and snapped, and the lock socket on the door frame was utterly destroyed.
Driven by a massive force, the sturdy steel door slammed violently against the right-hand wall, its thick surface bearing a lifelike fist print.
'Not good!'
Kawakami Shunsuke, who had been about to forcibly strip the clothes from Yomogawa Ayame, felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the explosion. His face paled instantly.
An ominous premonition flooded his mind.
Kawakami immediately shifted strategies. He reached out to pull Ayame into his arms as a hostage, while his other hand reached for the detonator cord on his explosives.
Zheng!
Just as Kawakami moved, the whistle of a blade slicing through air echoed beside him.
"Quick! Everyone, detonate your explosives! Even if we die, we will not make things easy for Misono Mika!!!"
The hair on Kawakami's body stood on end. Just as he tried to scream the order for his confidants to blow themselves up, two arcs of blade light, fast as lightning, sliced through his arms like they were soft cheese.
Splurt—!
Blood erupted from Kawakami's wounds like a fountain as his two arms fell to the floor.
"Aaaaaah—!"
An indescribable agony struck instantly. Kawakami's expression twisted as he collapsed to the ground, screaming shrilly, his body curling up and trembling uncontrollably.
Hiss!
The three henchmen guarding Kurusu and the others felt a chill in their hearts. Seeing Kawakami's miserable fate, they were struck with terror and scrambled to reach for the cords at their waists.
'How is this possible! A steel door that thick was broken just like that?! It didn't even hold for a single second!'
'We're finished! We're dead for sure!!!'
'Don't panic! We... we still have hostages! We can still negotiate with Mi... Lady Mika!'
The moment their hands were about to touch the cords, a petite black shadow darted in from outside, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Swish!
A black kunai was aimed at one of them, piercing his heart in the next instant.
Puchi!
With the dull thud of flesh being punctured, the man, with a kunai lodged in his chest, slumped toward the floor with a look of utter disbelief.
Mumei let go of the kunai, her sharp eyes locking onto the remaining two. She whipped out the two short guns from her waist.
With a click of a mechanism on the guns, two blood-streaked bayonets snapped out.
"Don't... don't come any closer!"
"I'll take you with me!"
Witnessing their companion's end, the remaining two gritted their teeth and prepared to pull their cords, intending to take Mumei and the others with them.
"Too slow..."
Before they could react, Mumei's legs exerted sudden power. As she leaped, she drove both bayonets deep into their hearts.
Accompanied by two crimson flowers blooming in the air, the two men fell to the floor like puppets with their strings cut, devoid of life.
"Phew, that was much easier to handle than I thought."
Mumei landed steadily. she glanced at Mika's back before turning to untie Kurusu and the others.
Once Kurusu broke free from his restraints, he immediately began stripping the explosives from the corpses and ordered the samurai rushing in from outside to throw the bodies overboard.
"Still thinking about those sorts of things even at a time like this... you really are terrible at controlling your desires. You brought this end upon yourself."
After Mika finished speaking, she lost all interest in Kawakami Shunsuke, who was wailing on the floor.
"Ugh... if you have the guts... kill... kill me... you damned witch...!"
Veins bulged on Kawakami's forehead from the pain. Cold sweat poured down his face as he stared at Mika with eyes full of hatred.
His heart was currently filled with regret; if he hadn't been so greedy for power, he wouldn't have ended up like this.
Kawakami now only wished for Mika to kill him, as he did not want to die at the hands of commoners or the disgusting Kabane.
"You are in no position to negotiate with me."
Mika waved over several samurai and instructed, "Give him some basic first aid to stop the bleeding, then send him to reunite with his subordinates. Remember, try to keep him alive until sunset."
"Yes, Lady Mika!"
With that, two samurai reached down, hoisted Kawakami Shunsuke up, and dragged him toward a specific carriage.
"No! You can't do this! Wait... damn it, I'll haunt you even as a ghost, Misono Mika!!!"
Kawakami's eyes widened in terror. Seemingly realizing what he was about to face, his heart was filled with an unknown dread.