章節 85: Chapter 85
Jake's 'Santa Claus Rescue Operation' was underway.
'It's kinda like Christmas, but I've got shopping carts instead of sleighs. Does this make me Shopping Claus or something?'
Jake's thoughts wandered over to the holiday at the end of the year, and started thinking of whether Nohas had those kinds of holidays.
Those thoughts were interrupted when he turned around to see hundreds of awakeners chasing him, all wearing Japanese clothes and brandishing their katanas at him.
"They see me rolling, they hating!" Jake sang out loudly.
"Are you seriously rapping while they're chasing us?" Liam asked incredulously, driving by Jake's side on the electric scooter.
Singing when you're being chased by hundreds of people.
"What do you mean, you think I should be crying for help or something?" Jake asked back with a calm and confident smile. "Hey Song, what do you think? Are we having fun back there?"
Thanks to the shopping carts attached to the bike, Jake wasn't able to completely elude their pursuers.
"I am now," he replied. "Exciting things happen when you're around. Right, guys?"
The awakeners in the shopping carts all yelled their assent; Song and his lieutenants also found the situation enjoyable, because they essentially had nothing to lose.
With that, they had no fear, and no regrets. The only thing now is enjoying the moment.
"Good to know! Everyone, heads down!" Jake called out, moving his free hand and causing the Blue to trip up and keep any pursuers away.
'Can't quite shake them!'
The awakeners of Musashi found themselves frustrated as well: if the invaders escape Musashi like this, their reputation will take a gigantic hit.
That was why they were tireless in their pursuit.
Even then, Jake wasn't making their pursuit any easier: they could maintain their distance with difficulty, but closing the gap was troublesome due to Jake's Aqua Blade and that weird weapon he had, tripping them up and keeping them from catching up to the makeshift train.
And if they somehow managed to catch up? Liam's bladed-rim straw hat and the Griefen's chains were waiting for them.
These items kept Musashi's awakeners at bay, amplifying their anger and frustration, but they couldn't quite break through.
That was when three awakeners crossed the first line of defense, prompting cheers from the pursuing samurai.
Three of the Seven Swords had made their appearance, burst through the throng of samurai, and was able to ward off the straw hat and chains.
"Houston, we have a problem!" Liam called.
"Nobody ever said running away from a division like this would be easy!" Jake replied. "Getting there is the easy part, getting out is the hard part!"
"So, what do we do?"
"We keep going! The three guys on our tail aren't our biggest concern, it's the mob of samurai behind them!"
Jake saw that if they got tangled up with the three samurai, it would be easy for the rest of the mob to catch up with and overwhelm them.
His idea was to keep the chase going as long as possible, until the more inexperienced awakeners in the mob start dropping out due to a lack of stamina.
"Let's keep going! We'll weed out the cannon fodder, the longer we continue. Floor it, Liam!"
"Gotcha!"
They both gunned the engines of their vehicles, and kept pressing forward, with Musashi's awakeners burning mana and stamina just to keep up.
"They're coming up from behind!"
"Liam!"
A sound of a weapon echoed in the plains.
The problem now is that the three samurai were now caught up to the last cart, and were about to attack the men of Evergreen riding on it.
"Song, take the wheel!" he called, and leaped onto the carts to intercept the attack.
Jake swung the Blue and Liam threw his straw hat at them, only to be deflected.
"Do you think this kind of attack will work on us?"
"Crap!" Liam cried out, but Jake hid the Aqua Blade in the shadow of the Blue – when the Fourth Sword blocked the Blue, the Aqua Blade appeared and blasted him some distance back.
"What the?" was all the swordsman could ask before his guard was broken by a blade of magically-imbued water.
"You think you know what I can do? You have no idea, man! Got my luck and my kicks changed for this fight, moron!" Jake shouted.
'What the hell was that attack?' The Fourth Sword thought. 'If I didn't guard in time, I would have been blown off!'
He didn't mind the aching of his wrists and made to continue attacking, but right after the Aqua Blade, Jake followed up with The Blue.
Jake willed his weapon to explode, and as it smacked against the Fourth Sword's katana, it detonated.
"DAMN IT!" the Fourth Sword said as the strength of the impact threw him off the cart – he had to use his footwork skill to stop from crashing, and rejoin the pursuit later.
"Two critical hits in a row?" Liam asked.
"Yep!" Jake answered cheerfully.
"Don't let your guard down, there's still two of them left, and the third one's going to catch up, soon!"
That was when Takahashi Tsutomu's mentor – the Third Sword – finally made his move.
***
There are seven powerful awakeners below the master of Musashi.
None of them have any particular nicknames or monikers; they are simply given titles. The strongest of the seven is given the title of 'First Sword', all the way until the 'Seventh Sword'.
Their disciples are the ones that handle the day-to-day activities of the division, and only appear during serious situations.
That is why they are able to spend all their time training: their routine is to hunt monsters, study how to fight them properly, spar with others, and meditate.
It is a very austere existence, and since their disciples handle the more mundane activities, their concerns are only how to make the division better at the blade. Politics and administration were never on their list of responsibilities.
This division of labor was how the first iteration of Musashi designed their division, and from then until now, the Seven Swords are the basis for Musashi's power as a division.
In this case, however, three of them were joining the pursuit.
Had all seven of them been at Musashi, the rescue attempt may have ended before it even began.
The attack on their headquarters was the reason for their presence.
"You thought you expected to attack Musashi and leave just like that?" the Third Sword of Musashi asked.
An elderly man born in Nohas, gained a reputation during his prime as a fearsome swordsman, and was content to spend the rest of his life training and meditating.
The Third Sword was on a completely different level of power from the Fourth, causing a gap of both power and experience from the first three to the last four.
Jake had thought that the proverbial other shoe would drop soon, and drop it did in the form of one of Musashi's strongest awakeners joining the pursuit.
"I couldn't understand you! Please speak more slowly!" Jake called, and one of the Evergreen lieutenants in the cart began to laugh despite the peril they were in.
The old man repeated what he said, but thanks to the roar of the engines and Jake's very spotty Japanese, he still couldn't understand.
"He said 'did you expect to attack the Musashi and leave' in Japanese," the lieutenant in the cart answered.
"WHAT?" Jake asked, surprised. "If you knew what he was saying, you should've told me right away! Tell this to him!"
"Go ahead!" the lieutenant asked back, his eyes eagerly anticipating Jake's answer.
"Tell him he's right, I didn't expect it."
"Okay."
The lieutenants in the cart all groaned at how disappointingly lame the answer was.
"Wait, I wasn't done yet!" Jake said. "Tell him that he's right, I didn't expect it: I knew it."
It was so very in character for Jake to just mouth off towards one of Musashi's strongest awakeners.
After the lieutenant relayed the message, the old man chasing them laughed.
He was running, carrying a sword, and he threw his head back and positively guffawed at the statement.
"A brave answer from a brave warrior! Toshihiro was one of our most promising swordsmen, but he carried himself more a brigand than a samurai! Your confidence lights up my spirit, novice," the man said after laughing.
"A novice? Seems you guys are used to people just walking into the gates of your fortress like that, huh?" Jake shot back. 'I'll need to buy more time by bantering with this old man! Chasing a motorcycle and scooter is going to take a toll on them; most of the rank-and-file are already slowing down due to their limits in mana and stamina, but there are a few of them left! Just a little more distance!'
"I see. Maybe this old man can show you young novices a few more tricks," the Third Sword said, striking at the ground with his sword.
The resulting shockwave pulsed through the earth and threw the vehicles off balance.
Everyone on the bike and the cart were still moving, but Jake found himself on the ground and using Cloud Walk to not crash from the momentum.
As soon as he righted himself, though, he turned to see that someone had appeared in front of him in a flash, and there the Third Sword was, ready to strike with his blade.
"Hello," the old man said, swinging down his sword only to hit air as Jake quickly dodged. 'He's been toying with us from the beginning of his pursuit!'
And behind him, Song lost control of the bike, the carts attached to it and its occupants all using what little force they had left to keep the vehicle from crashing completely.
Jake counterattacked as another battle broke out.
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