Facing Zanku the Beheader, a Teigu user, for the first ti was certainly troubleso—especially because of the sheer power of his Teigu, Spectator, and its “Omnipotent Five Sights” abilities.
But Aka had yet to go all out.
"So these are your Teigu abilities? However... even if you can read my thoughts, it's aningless if your body can't keep up," she said.
After enduring Zanku’s endless chatter, Aka finally made her move.
To be fair, it wasn’t all pointless talk—Zanku had practically explained his own abilities to her.
Aka's speed suddenly surged, far surpassing what it had been before. Even though Zanku could anticipate her thoughts, his body couldn't react in ti to match her rapid movents.
Normally, Zanku relished toying with his opponents—exposing their every thought word for word, driving them into despair, watching them crumble. That was his greatest source of enjoynt in battle.
But against Aka, he didn’t dare act so arrogantly.
Not only was she incredibly fast, but she was also overwhelmingly strong and carried an imnse amount of combat experience.
Forced on the defensive, Zanku was pushed back again and again.
However, Aka had yet to land a hit. If Murasa so much as grazed him, its deadly curse would end the fight in an instant.
Realizing that her current approach wasn’t getting results, Aka montarily halted her pursuit.
Taking advantage of the brief pause, Zanku caught his breath and cheerfully resud his chatter.
"As expected, I can’t underestimate you. After all, you're the infamous ‘Killer Aka’ who wields the ‘Demon Blade Murasa.’ But this is exactly the kind of battle I was hoping for—this is fun, fun~"
However, Aka hadn't stopped just to let him recover—she was preparing a more effective strategy.
Taking a deep breath, she suddenly shifted into a completely different state.
This was the “Mindlessness State.” Now, Zanku would no longer be able to peer into her thoughts.
He imdiately noticed the change.
"You actually entered a state of mindlessness? Impressive!"
Yet, rather than being intimidated by Aka’s power, Zanku only grew more excited.
Because he still had a trump card.
Spectator’s five abilities included Insight, Farsight, Clearsight, and Illusion Sight—but there was one more.
Foresight.
By reading the slightest muscle movents, he could predict his opponent’s next action before it even happened.
"My Teigu also has the ability of Foresight—I can see exactly what you’ll do next! Now, what will you do?"
Switching from Insight to Foresight, Zanku activated his new ability. It seed he could only use one at a ti.
With Foresight in play, the tide of battle shifted.
Zanku quickly gained the upper hand.
He even managed to land a hit on Aka—though it was just a minor graze.
"That sword of yours is seriously unfair. If I had been the one cut just now, I'd be dead," Zanku the Beheader quipped.
"Your Teigu isn't much better," Aka replied coldly.
"By the way, Aka... how do you deal with the voices?"
"What?"
"The voices of the people I've killed. Whenever it's quiet, I can hear them. They curse , telling to hurry up and go to hell. Back when I carried out executions, I heard them every day, but it's getting worse now. Talking helps distract . So, how do you handle it?"
"I... don’t know what you're talking about. I don’t hear anything," Aka said flatly.
Hearing this, Zanku was genuinely shocked. He had assud that soone like Aka, who had taken countless lives, would be the sa as him. He had even considered discussing their shared burden with her.
"How boring. In that case, just die!"
Zanku switched abilities again, activating Illusion Sight. The figure of Zanku in front of Aka’s eyes suddenly transford into Kuro.
Illusion Sight was a deadly ability that made the target see the person most important to them.
Although it could only affect one person at a ti, the illusion it created was flawless.
This was Zanku’s greatest trump card. In his experience, no assassin could bring themselves to kill the person they cherished most.
"Kuro?..."
Seeing her sister appear before her once again, Aka hesitated. Even though she knew sothing was off, she froze.
And unlike before, this ti she couldn't simply steel herself and strike.
Just then, Kuro arrived.
Hearing Aka call her na but seeing her standing dazed in front of a towering man—and noticing that Aka was injured—Kuro imdiately sensed sothing was wrong.
"Hmm? Looks like Aka’s companion has arrived. Delightful, delightful~"
Zanku shalessly greeted Kuro.
Since Aka was caught in the illusion, she couldn’t hear him, nor could she see the real Kuro behind her.
Of course, Zanku himself had no idea that Kuro was actually the person Aka held dearest.
"You are...?" Kuro asked.
"I'm Zanku the Beheader. You must be wondering what's going on," Zanku said, never missing a chance to chat. "Right now, Aka sees the person she cares about most. It must be amusing, don’t you think? Watching her beloved sister kill her? Delightful, delightful~"
Hearing this, Kuro imdiately understood.
So that was it—her sister was trapped in an illusion and mistook Zanku for her.
Her expression darkened.
What angered her wasn’t that Aka had mistaken Zanku for her.
It was that Aka couldn’t bring herself to strike.
Without hesitation, she closed the distance in an instant, appearing right next to Aka.
"Sister, this won't do," Kuro whispered coldly into Aka’s ear. "You should have cut down without hesitation. The sister I love isn’t this soft-hearted."
The sound of Kuro’s voice snapped Aka out of the illusion.
"What?!"
Zanku was stunned.
He never expected that Aka's most cherished person would actually encourage her to kill her without a second thought—like a complete lunatic!
But he reacted quickly, instantly recognizing Kuro as the bigger threat.
Before Aka could act, he decided to take her out first!
Zanku imdiately turned Illusion Sight on Kuro, making himself appear as Aka in her eyes.
He refused to believe this crazy girl would actually attack her beloved sister.
But in this critical mont, he had no ti to waste on words—he lunged straight at Kuro.
Yet Kuro didn’t hesitate for even a second.
She knew exactly where the real Aka was. And if necessary, she was perfectly capable of cutting her down.
With a swift motion, she activated Yatsufusa, summoning all of her corpse puppets except for Death Tagool.
They launched an all-out assault on Zanku from every angle.
Zanku had never encountered Yatsufusa’s abilities before, and for the first ti, he panicked.
Completely unprepared, he was instantly overwheld—his arms severed, his abdon pierced.
Before he could even process what was happening, Kuro was already upon him.
The entire sequence of events, from Kuro snapping Aka out of the illusion to Zanku’s downfall, happened in re monts.
Even Aka, who had just regained her senses, hadn’t had a chance to intervene.
Lying on the ground, fatally wounded, Zanku looked up at the glinting blade of Yatsufusa above him.
But strangely, he felt no fear.
Because, for the first ti in years, the voices had gone silent.
"...Cough... cough..."
He spat out blood, using the last of his strength to mutter, "Delightful, delightful... The voices are gone... Thanks..."
"No need," Kuro replied expressionlessly, not bothering to understand his words.
She simply drove Yatsufusa into him one last ti, turning Zanku into yet another of her corpse puppets.
Watching Zanku rise again under Yatsufusa’s control, Aka felt a strange sense of conflict.
But in the end, she remained silent.
"Sister, the mission's complete. Let's head back," Kuro said cheerfully.
It was as if nothing had happened—despite the fact that she had just killed her “sister” in the illusion.
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