The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 595 Abandoned Son
"Tsk!"

Ryota Miyoshi gripped the hilt of the sword tightly.

"Thankfully... there's no Sword Saint."

"Hold on tight, don't let go."

"Lower your head, hide your head behind mine, and hold me tightly around the neck—don't grab any other part of me, or you might get cut off along with it."

Ryota Miyoshi muttered to himself as he scanned the dozens of figures that had surrounded them.

Their attire was identical—a plain white priest's robe, a crimson dagger without a guard, white socks and wooden clogs, and a pure white mask that blended seamlessly into their faces, exuding a silent and cold aura.

Identity verification is no longer required.

Shintoism.

Ryota Miyoshi crossed his two swords into a cross shape in front of him.

There was no roar, no declaration of war.

The moment Miyoshi Ryota finished speaking to Nanako, several of the nearest priests leaped off the roof and pounced on the two of them.

The way these priests attacked was extremely strange. Although they were holding katanas and wearing sacred priestly robes, their pounce was like that of a ferocious beast pouncing on its prey... no, it was a ferocious beast!
With both hands outstretched, the right hand grips the knife, while the left hand forms a claw, the sharp nails gleaming with a cold, sharp light indistinguishable from the blade.

It reached for Ryota Miyoshi's head!
"Two Heavens One Style - No Thoughts, No Feelings Cut".

Ryota Miyoshi's eyes narrowed, and his aura suddenly calmed down. The "No Thought, No Intention Slash" was not a fixed move, but more like a mental technique from Central Plains martial arts, used to calm the mind and gain the upper hand.

Then came—"The Slash of the Chaotic Blades".

Swish!
The two katanas were suddenly raised, seemingly chaotic, but in fact, they were filled with the cold light of every attack route of the surrounding enemies, and suddenly splashed forward.

Clang, clang, clang!
The priests had already rushed forward, but none of them drew their right-hand swords. Instead, they directly plunged their left claws straight into the blade of light wielded by Miyoshi Ryota.

But it produced the sound of metal clashing!
Like an inflated balloon being squeezed, the sword aura surrounding Miyoshi Ryota, which was three feet in size, was instantly pushed back two feet towards the center.

"Well!"

Ryota Miyoshi groaned, feeling an astonishing force of recoil from the blade, as if it were striking refined iron. Not only did it bounce his blade back, but it also nearly disrupted his stance!

He had no choice but to take a step back and retreat into the house. Through the brief obstruction of the doors and windows, he glanced at the priests.

Blood was dripping from his hands and claws.

They looked as if they had been brutally hacked, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that these priests had simply blocked the blade with their hands, only suffering minor cuts to their skin and flesh, and their sharp fingernails were completely unharmed!
Bang!
The doors and windows were blown to pieces!

The priests smashed down the door and silently pursued Ryota Miyoshi once more, but this time, they raised their swords.

A blade without a guard cleaves down!

Ryota Miyoshi dodged and parried with both swords at the same time!

Clang—Clang!

"hiss!"

Ryota Miyoshi's expression darkened.

With just one strike, he forcefully deflected the sword in his left hand and nearly broke through the sword in his right hand!

This was only one sword strike swung by a priest during the attack; the blades of the other priests were already upon him!
"no!"

Ryota Miyoshi gritted his teeth, knowing he was no match for her, and decided to change tactics, trading blows for blows, and risk his life to send Nanako out to escape.

But suddenly, Nanako, who was lying on his back, raised her hand and blocked a tsuba (a type of dagger) that was slashing towards his face.

“Nanako!”

Ryota Miyoshi was shocked and furious. Nanako knew absolutely no martial arts. He could almost imagine that in the next instant, Nanako's fair and slender arm would be directly cleaved in two!

"do not move!"

Just as he was about to forcefully dodge, he suddenly heard Nanako shout. At the same time, the tsuba (sword without a guard) slashed at Nanako's arm. He hesitated for a moment because of Nanako's shout, and it was too late to stop it.

But the next moment—the blade without a guard stopped.

It stopped right next to Nanako's skin.

Ryota Miyoshi was taken aback, but then he heard Nanako exclaim in delight, "I guessed right!"

"They won't attack me!"

"Use me as a human shield, charge out!"

As she spoke, Nanako suddenly straightened up, opened her arms, wrapped them around Ryota Miyoshi's upper body, and pressed her soft chest tightly against his back.

Ryota Miyoshi had no time to appreciate the alluring touch on his back and rushed forward immediately.

It actually works!
As he charged, the priests swung their weapons at him, but without exception they all stopped in front of Nanako, as if they truly did not want to hurt her.

But is that all?
of course not!

Nanako doesn't know martial arts, so even if she could react to the priests' attacks, her arms wouldn't be able to block them all in time!
clang!
Ryota Miyoshi blocked a slash that was about to sever his Achilles tendon, but before he could catch his breath, several more slashes came toward his heart.

Clang—Pfft!
He had just blocked the blow to his chest, and before he could catch his breath, a sharp pain shot through his calf—a priest had taken advantage of his momentary lapse in attention and severed his calf.

Bleeding.

More priests were rushing towards him from the surrounding rooftops in a beast-like manner.

Ryota Miyoshi turned around again to block a sneak attack, but was stabbed in the left and right sides of his ribs, and pink blood foam instantly spilled from the corners of his mouth.

"Ryota-kun!"

Nanako shouted urgently.

"Hold on tight."

Ryota Miyoshi said in a low voice, brandishing his twin swords and clashing once again with countless unguarded swords, sparks flying everywhere.

“Listen to me, you can’t stop their attack, and I can’t break through their encirclement. This is not a solution.”

“I have already handed over the secret manual of the Two Heavens First Class, and I have no ties to you, but you are different… So you must escape. The secrets you have, your family… You cannot die here.”

The knife in his left hand was deflected again, and the tsuba (hand-held knife) fell down the blade, slicing a long strip of meat off Miyoshi Ryota's forearm.

"Let's change our strategy."

"They won't hurt you, so you clear the way ahead and I'll chase after you."

Ryota Miyoshi shrugged his shoulder, causing Nanako to fall to the ground.

Without the slightest hesitation, Nanako ran at top speed towards the direction with the fewest priests.

Sure enough, the priests seemed to be bound by some kind of "absolutely not to touch Nanako" rule. Not only did they not draw their swords again, but they also stepped back to the sides and reached out to grab Nanako's arms, clearly intending to capture her.

But just as he reached out, Ryota Miyoshi's twin swords arrived.

"Two Heavens, One Style - The Power of Fire and Thunder!"

Clang, clang, clang!

The claws were forcibly cleaved open.

Nanako suddenly heard the sound of liquid splashing on the ground behind her, as well as the muffled groan of Ryota Miyoshi in pain.

She instinctively wanted to turn around and look, but then she heard Ryota Miyoshi roar.

"Don't look back!"

"Run forward!"

"Run out and find my older sister to save me!"

Nanako suddenly understood Ryota Miyoshi's plan.

He couldn't break through if he carried himself on his back.

But he could swat away the claws that were grabbing at him and stop the pursuers—from the very beginning, Ryota Miyoshi had treated himself as a pawn to be discarded.

Nanako wanted to cry again, but she held it back once more.

There's no time to cry... She has no right to cry!
Ryota has made his choice, and he must do what he can—run out, find Shiro Musou, and ask her to save Ryota!
(End of this chapter)