I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“…I understand.” Kinoshita Mai nodded vigorously, then handed the long, narrow cloth bag she was carrying to Kiryu.

As they received the cloth bag from Kinoshita Mai, the old man and the young man made it smoothly to the "main battlefield" located in the southwest corner of the camp.

"...Huh?" Kiryu, who had been calm the whole time, suddenly froze when he arrived at the place where the shouts of battle were coming from.

Kiryu had envisioned various scenarios regarding the situation on the "main battlefield."

He had considered that Anthony and his men, who were outnumbered, might be completely overwhelmed.

He realized that Anthony and the others might be in grave danger.

He even considered the possibility that Anthony and the others might already be dead.

But what he hadn't imagined was... the scene unfolding before his eyes...

Kinoshita Mai was stunned when she saw the battle unfolding before her: "We're... going to win?"

……

……

The defensive line did not retreat further.

They held the defense line as solid as a rock.

These despicable "anti-foreign patriots" in front of them could no longer kill any of them, nor could they break down or suppress their defenses.

This greatly encouraged Komuro and the others, boosting their morale and fighting spirit.

Meanwhile, the morale and fighting spirit of the members of the Expeditionary Force began to plummet.

They mustered their courage and launched an attack on Qing Deng and his men, whom they thought they could kill immediately, but they achieved nothing.

No matter how they attacked, they couldn't break through any part of the defense line.

The phrase "one effort, then decline, then exhaustion" perfectly describes the current state of the Expeditionary Force.

The attack suddenly became ineffective... This inevitably dealt a blow to the morale of the Expeditionary Force.

The reason their anti-barbarian group was able to fight so smoothly just now was entirely due to their only two weapons: morale and numbers.

Their two advantages complement each other.

Now that their momentum has been thwarted, the disadvantage of having too many people has begun to show.

Hey! You stepped on my foot!

"Aaaaah—! You bastard! Your knife cut me!"

"Don't push forward! Don't push forward! Someone has been pushed to the ground! You're going to trample them to death!"

……

Previously, their high morale was enough to barely cover up their organizational weakness of being in disarray.

Now, without their former momentum, their chaos and disorder have been laid bare and are being amplified.

"How could this happen..." Yamada, whose face was turning increasingly pale, looked helplessly at the battle situation before him.

Just now, they clearly had the upper hand and were suppressing these barbarians and scoundrels.

Why did the young man's simple act of standing up, saying a few words, and changing the positions of some people make everyone on the defensive line seem like they had been reborn?

Yamada couldn't understand it.

This was beyond his comprehension.

He has no time to think about these issues right now.

He is now fully focused on how to regroup and restore order to his subordinates.

"Stop pushing forward, everyone! Move back a bit! Don't push forward!"

"Everyone in that direction, please step back for now!"

Yamada shouted at the top of his lungs, struggling to maintain order among his men who were constantly descending into chaos.

Komuro and the others are not blind or deaf.

They had all realized that the situation had reversed!

At this moment, Komuro, his eyes gleaming with excitement, couldn't help but shout excitedly from his chest: We can win! We can win! Victory is on our side!

"Everyone!" Komuro shouted in perfect Osaka dialect, "The enemy is showing signs of weakness! Show the fighting spirit of the men of Kansai! Drive them all back!"

"Whoa who ...

With their fighting spirit soaring, Komuro and his men launched a fierce attack on every enemy in front of them, and for the first time, the previously compressed defensive line was pushed back.

Faced with the fierce attack from Komuro and his men, the demoralized Extermination Group was routed and their chaos intensified.

The person who brought all of this to fruition—Qing Deng—did not show any excitement or agitation at this moment despite the improved battle situation.

His face remained expressionless.

He continued to scan his surroundings with a gaze so calm that no one could detect any extraneous emotion.

—The airflow has increased...

Qingdeng noticed that the invisible, colorless "air currents" flowing across the battlefield were slowly increasing in size and speed.

The gradually expanding "airflow," dancing like a dragon, continuously gathered on Yamada, who was doing his best to maintain order!

Qing Deng stared intently at Yamada, who was at the center of the "airflow," his eyelids drooping slightly.

A sharp glint shone from beneath his slightly lowered eyelids.

"...Saito! Come here!"

"?!" Upon hearing Qing Deng call his name, Saito quickly turned around.

Saito also experienced the same thing that Komuro and the others had just gone through—after hearing Aoto's voice, he felt no rebellious feelings or motivation whatsoever...

Saito wiped the blood off his blade as he ran quickly toward Aoto.

Saito, who has fought fiercely and killed countless people, is now covered in blood, with most of his body splattered with the blood of his enemies.

After Saito came to his side, Aoto raised the sword in his right hand, clamped the blade tightly between his left forearm, and used the haori cloth in the crook of his left forearm to wipe away the bloodstains and fat left on the blade from when he had just killed the bald man.

"Saito, stay close to me."

Qing Deng said calmly.

"We need to break through the formation!"

"Huh?" Saito, who usually had a blank expression, looked confused at this moment.

"Keep up!" Qing Deng pushed off with his back foot and rushed towards the north side of the defensive line like an arrow!

"Huh? Hey!" Startled by Aoto's actions, Saito instinctively shouted out.

But his shouts had no effect whatsoever; he could only futilely chase after Qingdeng's receding figure.

"Tsk...!" Saito smacked his lips loudly, then hurriedly drew his sword and followed Aoto.

Having just broken through the defensive line and plunged into the enemy ranks, Qingdeng immediately unleashed a slash, cutting down an enemy blocking his path.

Accompanied by a mournful cry, blood splattered several feet high, blooming into a vibrant crimson flower in mid-air before crashing down.

Saito had caught up by then, and his positioning was extremely deliberate.

Although Qing Deng has become ambidextrous due to his "left-handed" talent, he still prefers to use his right hand to wield the knife in combat.

Therefore, Qing Deng's unarmed left side was his biggest opening.

Saito stood to Aoto's left, firmly protecting Aoto's biggest opening.

After catching up with Aoto, Saito slashed horizontally, knocking down an enemy who was about to attack Aoto from his left.

—My "lone wolf" has probably reached its limit by now...

Qing Deng thought to himself in a half-joking tone.

Leading a mere twenty-odd men against an enemy force of nearly two hundred... this was a perfect example of defeating a much larger enemy force, fully meeting the conditions for activating the "Lone Wolf" talent.

Taking advantage of the moment, Qingdeng opened his system interface and saw that the "Lone Warrior" in the interface was indeed shining with an unprecedented light.

His heart was pounding as if it were about to burst his chest, and the blood in his veins was flowing rapidly.

He was like he was on steroids, in fantastic condition!

"Saito, stay close to me! Don't fall behind!"

After shouting "Keep up!" to Saito again, Aoto launched an attack on the enemy group ahead.

Komuro and the others, as well as the members of the anti-foreign group led by Yamada, all noticed Aoto suddenly rushing out of the "main camp" and leading Saito alone into the enemy ranks.

"Hey! Tachibana-kun!" Komuro hurriedly called out to Aoto's receding figure, "What are you doing? Come back!"

Komuro and the others were simply astonished, while Yamada was initially surprised but then delighted.

"Good! I was just thinking about how to take you down! And here you are, charging out on your own!" Yamada grinned excitedly.

After realizing that it was Qing Deng's sudden appearance that reversed the course of the battle, Yamada kept thinking about how to get rid of this despicable guy.

If we can eliminate Qingdeng, the "commander" who gives orders to Komuro and the others, it will definitely deal a huge blow to these barbarians and scoundrels!

However, after much deliberation, Yamada couldn't think of any way to threaten Aoto, who was being closely protected by Saito and Komuro behind the defensive line.

Unable to break through the defenses means they won't even get close to Qingdeng.

Did they use their few matchlock guns?

Don't be ridiculous. In the midst of a chaotic melee where both sides are already engaged in close combat, the matchlock gun, with its extremely low accuracy, is practically useless. If you were to use a matchlock gun to snipe Qingdeng, you might end up accidentally injuring a large number of your own men before you even kill Qingdeng, leading to further chaos.

After thinking for a long time, I still couldn't come up with a way to kill Qingdeng, but Qingdeng came out on his own first.

Although he didn't know why Qing Deng suddenly attacked their north, and there weren't any important figures in the north worth Qing Deng killing, he didn't care!

Overjoyed, Yamada hurriedly shouted in a high-pitched voice:

"Quick! Intercept and kill those two!"

In fact, all of Yamada's shouting was unnecessary.

Without his prompting, those who were near Qing and Zhai spontaneously surrounded them, attempting to intercept and kill the two.

A short man wielding a bamboo pistol blocked Qingdeng's path.