Chapter 61 Haruto's Quick-Draw Swordsmanship

Although the speed-enhancer lagged behind Dongfang Tian by a few steps, his attack landed on the zombie's head first!

"Bang!" With a muffled thud, the solid copper rod smashed heavily against the head of the defensive zombie!

Yet, the massive zombie suffered not the slightest injury. It raised its head to glare at its attacker, then suddenly delivered a brutal punch! Caught off guard because his full-strength blow failed to shatter the creature's skull, Huang Yi stood frozen for a split second before the gigantic fist slammed directly into his head, sending him flying and tumbling through the air!

When he hit the ground, his vision swam, his head buzzed deafeningly, and fresh blood streamed down from his hair!

"Roar!" The scent of blood drove the zombie into a frenzy. It threw back its head in a roar, and the terrifying creature charged with giant strides toward the fallen Huang Yi! Jiang Yi flicked his black blade, the sharp edge intercepting the zombie's vicious claws with a piercing screech of metal grating against nails.

"Li Huiyu!" The immense strength of the zombie pinned Jiang Yi down, making it impossible for him to rescue Huang Yi. Seeing the surrounding ordinary zombies growing restless and closing in on the prone man, Jiang Yi shouted at the top of his lungs.

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Huiyu's diminutive figure materialized right beside Huang Yi. Glancing down with utter disgust at the bleeding man who looked as though he might vomit, Li Huiyu grabbed him by the neck, hauled him backward, and tossed him directly to Zhu Caijun with the warning, "Take care of your man!" Before the echo of his voice had faded, Li Huiyu had already vanished and reappeared directly behind the giant zombie, his sharp short blade viciously slashing across its neck!

Yet it was like using a dull knife on ox hide; the razor-sharp blade failed to slice through the zombie's neck and even resulted in a rolled edge!

The attacked zombie abandoned Jiang Yi's blade and whipped around to grab Li Huiyu! From out of nowhere, Dongfang Tian materialized, pressed a palm squarely against the zombie's back, and unleashed his energy in a wild surge: "Be sealed!"

"Crack, crack!" Thick-skinned and brawny as it was, the zombie seemed to sense the danger behind it and whipped its head around, but it was already too late. A visible layer of frost rapidly crept all over its body, completely encasing it in a heavy sheath of crystal ice!

Dongfang Tian stepped back, casting a smug look at Li Huiyu, who let out a cold grunt of annoyance and turned away. Jiang Yi lowered his blade with a hint of regret. The ordinary students, who had been watching the spectacle closely, broke out into excited cheers at Dongfang Tian's heroic display...

"Crack!" Suddenly, a sharp fracture echoed as a web of transparent cracks splintered across the ice surface. With an explosive blast, a flurry of ice shards scattered in all directions. Dongfang Tian retreated in panic, but was still grazed on the neck by his own flying ice shrapnel!

Breaking out in a cold sweat upon seeing the zombie breaking free, Dongfang Tian thrust his sword forward in a desperate lunge! The sharp blade radiated biting cold, driving straight into the zombie's throat!

Yet that was the extent of it. Even with Dongfang Tian exerting his full strength, the sword merely pierced the skin of its throat. Aside from a few drops of black blood trickling down the blade, it inflicted no significant damage. However, it thoroughly enraged the creature. With a furious roar, the giant zombie seized the blade of the sword with one hand while its other hand clawed straight toward Dongfang Tian's face!

Dongfang Tian hurriedly tried to pull his sword back, but the weapon remained locked firmly in the creature's grip, refusing to budge no matter how hard he strained. Seeing the lethal claws about to seize him, Dongfang Tian decisively let go of the hilt, narrowly dodging the attack.

Jiang Yi's eyes flashed. He brought his blade down on the back of the zombie's neck. Blood splattered, but the cut sank in a mere centimeter or two. The zombie, still holding the sword, swung its free hand at Jiang Yi, who nimbly sidestepped and evaded it.

Guo Hansue had by then noticed the bizarre resilience of this particular zombie and wanted to lend a hand, but she was stationed some distance away and occupied with protecting the female members of their group, leaving her unable to break away!

Jiang Yi furrowed his brow. Trapped by this thick-skinned monster alongside Dongfang Tian and Li Huiyu, even his own blade couldn't chop through it. Were they really going to have to give up?

Jiang Yi attempted to target its eyes, but the zombie clearly possessed a degree of intelligence and knew how to protect its vital spots. The moment it detected Jiang Yi's intent to strike its weak points, it threw up a hand to shield its face.

"Damn it, does this thing really have no weaknesses?" Dongfang Tian stomped his feet in frustration, watching his sword being swung around carelessly by the zombie. Neither his ice-type abilities nor Li Huiyu's spatial abilities had any effective counter against it!

Not only had they failed to take down the zombie, but he had also lost his sword. How could he not stamp his feet with rage? Suddenly remembering something, his eyes burning red, he roared at the group not far away: "Li Gang, are you still going to just stand there and not help?"

Clutching his abdomen with one hand while desperately waving an iron rod with the other to parry stray zombies, Li Gang shuddered. His instinct was to turn back, but the searing pain radiating from the hand pressed against his stomach made him grit his teeth, forcing him to question once more whether he had truly been in the wrong.

"Li Gang, what are you spacing out for? If we don't finish this thing off, none of us are getting out of here!" Seeing the surrounding horde growing denser due to the delay caused by this single zombie, Zhu Caijun grew anxious as well.

Compared to a precious core, Zhu Caijun valued his own skin far more. Disregarding Li Gang's injuries, he gave him a hard shove forward.

With an ugly expression, Li Gang wanted to refuse, but meeting the gazes of everyone fixed upon him, he gritted his teeth and stepped toward the formidable zombie.

At that exact moment, a slender hand caught him by the shoulder. "Stay back where you are. I'll go!" Li Gang froze, lowering his gaze to look at Shinto, who had stepped out from behind him.

Shinto's aura was steadily rising; slaughtering countless zombies had made his blade sharper than ever.

He had witnessed everything that had transpired. Because Jiang Yi hadn't called upon him, he had initially chosen to stay put. However, seeing Dongfang Tian and Zhu Caijun actively coerce a clearly severely injured Li Gang filled Shinto with quiet rage. The samurai code instilled in him since childhood made it impossible to tolerate watching Li Gang being forced into a suicidal battle against such a bizarre monster. He yanked Li Gang back, strode past him, and walked step by step toward Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi forced the zombie back with a slash, turned to see Shinto, and immediately broke into a smile. "What? Do you have a way?"

Shinto nodded slowly, his right hand gently sliding his white katana back into its scabbard. "Jiang Yi, step back for a moment and let me try!"

Jiang Yi blinked in surprise. This was the first time he had seen Shinto exude such absolute confidence. After a brief hesitation, he stepped back, yielding his position to him.

Dongfang Tian roared angrily, "Jiang Yi, what are you playing at? Aside from Li Gang's physical strength, none of us can kill this thing!"

Shinto shot him a cold glare without uttering a single word. With his left hand gripping the scabbard and his right resting on the hilt, he meticulously adjusted every single muscle in his body, lowering his stance slightly until he resembled a hunting leopard coiled and ready to pounce.

Li Huiyu felt a prickle of wariness as he watched Shinto. The aura emanating from the swordsman at this moment sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.

"One-Blade Style... Shigure Rain!"

Suddenly, Shinto's body moved as if propelled by coiled springs. After two rapid strides, he vaulted over three meters into the air. The white katana flashed out of its scabbard, casting a dazzling, blinding arc as the razor-sharp edge slashed in a clean diagonal from the zombie's left shoulder all the way down to its right flank!

"Puff!" Black blood erupted in a fountain. The defensive zombie let out a miserable, earth-shaking shriek as a gruesome gash stained its clothes crimson across its chest.

Li Huiyu and Dongfang Tian froze simultaneously in utter shock: "Quick-Draw Sword Technique!"

Dongfang Tian was thunderstruck. It had never crossed his mind that the legendary killing art known as the Quick-Draw Technique—rumored to be masterable only by authentic Yamato swordsmen—would actually be wielded by Shinto!

"Roar! Roar!" Severely wounded for the first time, the zombie thrashed about wildly in blind fury. Shinto furrowed his brow, parrying the creature's frantic counterattacks with swift precision. He hadn't expected that even with a full-powered strike, he had only managed to slice open its tough hide.

Still, it was enough!

Recalling how Jiang Yi had questioned him earlier that morning about his abilities, Shinto turned his head with a slight smile and called out, "Jiang Yi, haven't you always been curious about what my power is? Well, you'd better watch closely!"

Recovering from the breathtaking brilliance of that single slash, Jiang Yi grew even more excited at Shinto's words. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, ever since his awakening, he had harbored an insatiable curiosity regarding the powers possessed by others, always eager to fathom their inner mechanics.

Taking a deep breath, Shinto fixed his gaze on the zombie, which had locked onto him and was now charging forward on heavy, lumbering feet. He slowly slid his blade back into its scabbard. At the sight of this action, Dongfang Tian and Li Huiyu locked their eyes onto him unblinkingly.

The legendary Quick-Draw Technique—the ultimate secret art of the Yamato swordsmen, whispered to be accessible only to the contemporary supreme masters of the blade!

Never mistake the Quick-Draw for a simple, instantaneous draw and slash. In truth, its core essence lay in achieving absolute harmony between person and sword at the exact fraction of a second the blade left its housing. Varying angles, distinct pivot points, and specialized cutting mechanics formed the true supreme technique that every swordsman spent a lifetime striving to master.

With the katana fully sheathed, Shinto watched the charging zombie and abruptly closed his eyes, relaxing his body to the absolute limit. In the next instant, he bolted into a frantic sprint, hurtling directly toward the terrifying monster. His right hand hovered lightly over the hilt, sliding the blade out a mere fraction of an inch. When the distance between them closed to less than half a meter, he drew the blade with a blinding flash. A resonant metallic hum rang through the air. Jiang Yi's brow twitched; he couldn't even trace the exact motion of Shinto's draw. In the blink of an eye, Shinto had already glided to a smooth halt, his figure reappearing directly behind the zombie!

And his sword was already cleanly resheathed: "One-Blade Style... Iai! Double Slash!"

"Clang!" With the crisp click of the handguard locking against the scabbard, the zombie behind him let out a final, agonizing shriek. Its entire upper torso burst open from the chest down, a bone-deep fissure splitting wide open from the inside out. Under the stunned gazes of Jiang Yi, Dongfang Tian, and the rest, the towering zombie was sliced cleanly into pieces!

Shinto was ecstatic. Having deployed his ability in actual combat for the first time, the destructive outcome was nothing short of monstrous. Yet he hadn't lost sight of his objective. Seeing the zombie's upper half writhing frantically on the ground, he immediately yelled, "Jiang Yi!"

Roused from his momentary trance, Jiang Yi reacted instantly, darting forward to drive his blade straight into the defensive zombie's eye. As he pulled the black knife back out, the impossible-to-defeat defensive zombie finally began to wither and shrivel away.

Dongfang Tian's face darkened to the color of ink. Shinto's overwhelming prowess far exceeded his worst expectations. Not only did the fellow possess an extraordinary supernatural power, but he also commanded the formidable Quick-Draw technique. With Shinto around, any malicious intentions he harbored toward Jiang Yi were rendered completely unfeasible.

After all, even Dongfang Tian wasn't entirely confident he could defeat Shinto in a direct confrontation, let alone with Jiang Yi standing alongside him with an unfathomable depth of power. Consumed by a vicious desire for vengeance, he clenched his fists so hard his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.