Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Stanislav Ordyntsev, known in this world as Shiro the Serpent, was taken aback and horrified at how he had ended up in such a life.
Fighting almost one-on-one against a real supreme warmaster. Wasn't that madness?
Supreme warmasters didn't have their fearsome reputation for nothing. To become one required not only strength but also a twisted, unconventional intellect.
Being merely an advanced warmaster, Stas couldn't fathom how he ended up intending to clash with someone like Jirobu Sansa in direct combat.
It must be understood that the warmaster ranking system was quite rough because, in fact, three ranks were clearly insufficient, forcing locals to divide the advanced rank into three unofficial ones.
A person who had just moved from ordinary to advanced was considered a beginner. Those who had long battled and lived by war, through years of arduous toil, attained the rank of mid-advanced, also known as a proficient advanced warmaster.
By and large, this level was where the majority of the world's advanced warmasters stopped. Without lineage or some unique training and talent, it was incredibly difficult for an ordinary person to rise higher.
No one was going to watch as a young warmaster gradually gained strength. Oh no. They would repeatedly be thrown into deadly battles, which would either kill them or, conversely, make them stronger.
The third and final rank was the veteran advanced level. In the eyes of warmasters, this was, in a sense, a bid for the supreme rank. And again, this was where the majority of those who wanted to climb higher stayed.
People at this level had impressive amounts of prana, but if they lacked imagination and unusual techniques, they would never rise higher.
The difference between a proficient advanced and a veteran was very significant.
All of the above explains why the four fighters standing opposite the supreme warmaster had any hope of victory - because one of them could well aspire to the supreme level in the future.
Thanks to his focus on physical enhancement, mastery of the blade, and his own talent, Uramasa Kensei managed to rise in power to a proficient advanced warmaster in an amazingly short amount of time.
Yes, he was weaker in distant combat. But at close range, he was very dangerous.
Slightly to the left of the ronin, Shin Sumada could be seen. The son of the Shadow Stone's captain[1], Naito Sumada. Shin was already far from weak, being at the beginner-advanced level, but during the war, he too, like Kensei, managed to rise to a proficient advanced.
But since he wasn't limited to just the path of the sword, he could be considered much stronger and more versatile overall.
The third and the one with the greatest responsibility in this battle was Jishin Sumada. When Stas first met him, he was a proficient advanced warmaster, but now, after more than three and a half years, he had managed to reach the rank of veteran advanced.
Reaching such an impressive title at twenty-one was an incredible achievement, showing how fate could be unfair.
Jishin had everything warmasters "worshiped." He had vast reserves of prana, a magnificent lineage, robust health, a sharp mind, and excellent killing skills.
In some ways, the prince embodied the bloody ideal of this world.
Ultimately, although the difference between a veteran advanced and a supreme was still impressive, such a talented warmaster like Jishin still had a basis to go up against Jirobu.
And finally, the fourth contender for the killing of the supreme - Shiro the Serpent. A man who was entirely focused on survival.
Almost every one of his techniques embodied the philosophy of stealthy and underhanded attacks. Ordyntsev didn't want to fight fairly; he aimed to kill his enemies with minimal effort.
Thanks to the fact that in this world he was born with brand new prana channels, he had almost approached the level of a proficient advanced warmaster. And thanks to cunning and dangerous techniques, under certain conditions, he could even be considered one.
But would that be enough to kill the elder of the Sansa clan?
Stas was not sure.
In fact, if they had faced Jun Sumada, Stas's mentor, instead of Jirobu, they would likely have been killed very quickly.
The forty-year-old supreme warmaster at the peak of his power was terrifying.
But Jirobu Sansa had several weaknesses that significantly reduced his combat power.
The first and main one - Jirobu was very old. A warmaster's prana develops and grows stronger throughout their life. However, the body is still susceptible to aging and, on the contrary, weakens. It should also be taken into account that the old man had received injuries and wounds many times in his life. Although he was healed, and regeneration did its part, such things never went without consequences.
Thus, an ironic situation arose when overwhelming power was hidden in a decrepit body.
And although Jirobu could create entire lakes of poison, his physical state left much to be desired.
Needless to say, Stas and the others had no intention of competing with him in long-range techniques.
Besides, even in his best years, Jirobu himself focused primarily on long-range combat rather than close-range.
Nevertheless, despite all of the above, the legendary elder still retained his overwhelming experience and skills. Amusingly, the total lifespan of his opponents in this world was only slightly more than that of Jirobu himself.
But the time for talks and reflections had long passed. Here and now, only their blades and techniques spoke for them.
And since the elder didn't want to attack first, the young warmasters did.
"Sword Technique!" Kensei roared with effort, his arms bulging from muscle tension. His face reddened, and his two-handed blade froze behind him, gripped by both hands. "Great Slash!"
Like tearing through space, the two-handed blade described an arc with the threatening whist of a taking-off airplane and sent a glowing blue line toward the calmly standing Sansa.
And the further the sword technique flew, the faster it moved and the more rapidly it expanded, threatening to dissect not only the lone figure but the entire forest edge behind him.
"Bloody Strike! Bloody Strike! Bloody Strike!" Three of Stas's techniques followed, but they were directed to the sides of Kensei's slash, blocking possible directions for retreat.
Shin also fired several inconspicuous but very sharp and fast stone blades. Interestingly, he didn't even announce the name of his technique. The young, ever-smiling man preferred to deliver his blows in complete silence, which is why he focused on refining several effective techniques to the Absolute.
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His stone projectiles were hidden in the blue glow of Kensei's slash. Shin was adept at surprise attacks.
But the old man wasn't about to just go to hell.
A barely noticeable smirk touched his lips as he spread his palms, and tight streams of acid burst out with a pop. Moreover, the liquid also formed from his legs, chest, and back - Jirobu had excellent control over his prana points.
"Acid Sea!" The unleashed high-level technique still required Jirobu to announce it, albeit partially.
The acid stream was so swift and powerful that it instantly formed several waves, tearing through everything in their path, toppling trees and even stones. Worse still, everything covered by the acid immediately began to dissolve, spreading hissing and a greenish smog around.
The height of the waves was not critical; they could be jumped over if desired, but where to land? The acid had already flooded all the land, and there was nowhere to even step.
The supreme warmasters fighting to the side jumped onto the rocks they had grown or simply flew into the air. For the advanced warmasters standing a little further away, it was more difficult. Fortunately, they had more time to prepare.
The Avasaki mockingly rose above the acid, continuing to attack the Sumada below.
If the Sumada were disliked for their unique ability to create impenetrable fortresses and defensive lines, then the Avasaki were notorious for their ability to retreat even from the most hopeless situations.
It's quite difficult to pursue those who can fly.
Thankfully, only the supreme warmasters of their clan possessed such abilities. And even then, not all of them.
"Crap!" Kensei cursed, watching the approaching wall of acid.
"Attention! We have prepared for this. On my command!" Jishin shouted, then narrowed his eyes and thrust his hands into the ground. "Earth Technique! Stone World!"
At that very second, Shin, Shiro, and Kensei, having filled their bodies with prana to the max, charged straight at the approaching wall of poison.
But just when they were a couple of meters away from the collision, the ground, hidden under the green liquid, burst out with a menacing rumble from its captivity and cut through the obstacle with the force of an icebreaker, continuing towards Jirobu, who was preparing the next technique, making him frown and jump back, changing his position.
The acid under his feet hissed and formed a solid crust, which the elder landed on.
However, this was just the beginning of grand changes.
The earth technique released by Jishin was expanding, capturing new areas, and in the next moment, stone columns, walls, and even entire cliffs began to burst forth in front of the young warmasters.
And this process was happening everywhere.
The acid, as if at the wave of a prophet's hand, parted to the sides, releasing hundreds of stone shapes.
Dozens of cracks opening in the ground made bubbling sounds as the acid drained deep underground.
The scale of the tectonic transformations happening around was breathtaking.
But the Acid Sea technique was still working, spreading tens of thousands of gallons of poison around without any signs of stopping.
It was thanks to Jishin's technique that Sansa's opponents could fight him, for there emerged rocks coated in trickling acid upon which they could stand.
Silently activating some technique, Kensei blurred in the air and, appearing near Jirobu, slashed him diagonally, forcing him to hastily release the technique he was preparing toward the nearest opponent. A thin beam of acid drew a line in the earth, as the ronin narrowly managed to dodge.
The next second, where the beam touched the earth, acid soared a dozen meters up from an "underwater explosion" when the compressed liquid lost its restraining factor and rapidly expanded.
The noisily risen acid-earth mixture fell down, causing new waves.
Shin, flickering to the side, created a tornado of strikes with two blades, forcing Jirobu to divert his attention and fend him off with a swing of his heavy axe.
The elder's axe blade was covered with a nasty film, suggesting that it was better not to get hit by it.
But as soon as Jirobu struck at Shin, Kensei swooped in from the other side, wielding the two-handed sword as if it weighed nothing.
Moreover, the waves of poison suddenly parted to the sides, forcing Jirobu to explode the nasty-looking stone snakes crawling up from below with an acid shot. Burning with a very bright violet light, they clearly posed a danger.
Stas, standing a little to the side, hidden from sight and pressing his hands to one of the cliffs, made the summoned snakes descend down the rock underground and then attack Sansa from below.
For this attack, Ordyntsev infused the snakes with so much ether that they glowed almost like Christmas trees.
What else is there to say if the technique even managed to absorb some of the prana invested in its destruction, causing only the first snakes to crumble? And the subsequent ones were able to continue the attack and forced Jirobu to defend himself, crushing them with ultra-fast axe strikes.
But with his actions, Stas made the supreme take notice of him.
Without a second's delay, the earthling dived into the cliff he was standing on, going as deep into the earth as possible, bypassing the swaying poison behind the stone walls.
And judging by the vibration and Earth Sense, it was evidently not for naught, as Jirobu's strike simply "disintegrated" the platform where Stas had previously hidden.
The monstrously fast exchange of blows sent Kensei's sword flying to the side, forcing the wide-eyed ronin to open up.
Jirobu took advantage of his opponent's mistake, bringing down his axe on him, but an emerged stone spike and subsequent attacks with stone techniques allowed Kensei to regain his balance.
Jishin burst into the fight and immediately took on the leading role in pressuring the current head of the Sansa clan, more or less evening the odds. As it turned out, the prince was excellent at covering his katana with prana, so when the toxin-charged axe and the sword collided, real gusts of wind spread.
Any other weapon would have long since exploded from the force of the blows, but, reinforced with the energy of the warmasters, they overcame one durability record after another.
Everyone perfectly understood the situation, so they didn't give Jirobu a second of rest or a chance to break the distance to cast another mind-boggling technique.
Meanwhile, the supreme Sumada and Avasaki were fighting to the side. Considering that the latter could easily fly away, it meant that they were waiting for the outcome of the battle. Just like Jirobu had decided to test who deserved to live, so did the Avasaki envoy test his potential servants.
And they didn't want to risk helping the head of Sansa while the supreme Sumada were attacking them.
But despite all the fury of the attackers and their youth, Jirobu continued to hold on.
Jishin's powerful and swift strikes were blocked or deflected by Sansa's sparing movements.
The elder's face was expressionless as he defended against three fighters circling him at a frenzied pace.
His armor had been pierced in several places and was covered with his own blood. But these were insignificant wounds. After all, he could simply forbid his body to lose the precious fluid. And the attackers also got a couple of non-fatal injuries.
Now and then, earth techniques infused with ether flew out from beneath the acid. It could be anything from several stone spears to a shower of stone shrapnel. Stas focused not so much on speed as infusing a larger volume with ether, because even one shard was enough to absorb some of Sansa's prana.
Where did he learn these techniques if Jun hadn't taught him? It's simple, he got them from one of those dead advanced warmasters who liberated Minoru. The man specialized in earth, so by "sharing" his knowledge, he proved very useful.
And infusing them with ether was much easier than creating something complex, like stone snakes. The main thing was to understand the principle. Therefore, linking the simplest stone techniques with ether turned out to be a fairly simple task.
But even so, Jirobu refused to lose. He resembled a huge bear fending off a couple of dozen vicious hounds trying to tear him to pieces.
The dogs clung to the bear's paws and legs, hung on his skin, and bit through the skin and fur in dozens of places. The great beast was covered in blood from minor wounds but, not thinking of dying, continued to throw off the dogs with heavy blows.
And time went on. There, just a few kilometers away, were the positions of the Sansa, Kiatto, and the samurai troops of Hyugo. And they would surely become interested in what was happening here. Moreover, they were probably already rushing here, and it was just a matter of time before they arrived.
'Where is that damn Kaede?!' Stas mentally cursed, clenching his teeth from the headache. The volumes of prana he was pumping into the techniques were quite large, so his body was not very happy. In addition, the need to control the ether and its volumes also took its toll.
Moreover, the only possibility to see Jirobu was to receive transmissions from Leviathan, because the old warmaster didn't stand on the ground but often quite well rocked on his own bubbling poison.
The situation hung in the balance, then suddenly tilted in one direction - because Jirobu Sansa was not to be underestimated.
Twirling his axe, he managed to push Kensei and Jishin aside with a single swing, while managing to form a technique, which he immediately launched at the bewildered Shin!
The rotating stream of poison, twisting into a complex spiral, hardly slowed down upon meeting the wall that Jishin hastily erected in its path in an attempt to save his friend. The spiral bore through the rock as effortlessly as a drill bit chips away at plasterboard.
Nevertheless, even that moment was enough for Naito's son to somehow dodge the technique, narrowly missing death by mere tens of centimeters.
However, at that moment, Stas was horrified to realize that the supreme's target from the start was not Shin at all, but him!
Jirobu patiently waited for the moment when Shin would be right on the line of fire with the hiding underground Ordyntsev and then immediately delivered a cold-blooded blow.
What kind of monster do you have to be to, in his position, manage to come up with a plan and then implement it, arranging your enemies precisely in the order you need them to be?
[1] Translator's note: In the text, both Io and Naito Sumuda are referred to as "the head of the Shadow Stone." From the context, we understand that Io is likely the leader of the whole spy organization, while Naito was the head of the branch located in Akaru (the city from the first and second volumes), and it's unclear what's his position now. To avoid confusion, I'll keep translating Io as "head/leader," and the people of Naito's level will be "captains."