I'm doing abstract animation

She couldn't help but swallow and take two steps back.

"What's wrong, Busujima-senpai?"

Yui Yuigahama, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and looked at her in confusion, as did the others.

"Wait a minute... those flowers are highly poisonous..."

She pointed to the flowerbed, her voice trembling slightly.

"Highly...highly poisonous?"

Yui Yuigahama was stunned by her words. The group looked at each other, realizing they hadn't noticed. After all, they were just high school students. They might have some extracurricular knowledge, but it was mostly literature. They had no interest in learning about such a highly poisonous plant unless they had a family tradition of it.

"Really? These flowers look really pretty!"

Somewhat disbelieving, Miura Yumiko reached out and plucked a bright pink flower.

"Don't move, that's an oleander. Don't you know its legends?"

Saeko Busujima rushed forward to stop Yumiko Miura's reckless behavior.

"What rumors?"

After being stopped, Miura Yumiko was not angry, but instead asked curiously.

"...In Hiroshima, which was destroyed by the atomic bomb, after a period of desolation, the first plant to sprout the following year was the oleander. It was rumored that it could absorb harmful gases and 'claim' these toxic components."

Yukino Yukinoshita took a step back without making a sound: "I know about oleanders, but this is the first time I've seen one in real life..."

Yumiko Miura's face froze, and she hurriedly backed away.

The others felt the same way; since the flower was poisonous, it meant that Saeko Busujima was telling the truth.

Damn, that bastard is so cunning!

They actually poisoned him!

P.S.: I need your support, everyone!

A City of Ghosts and Monsters: Chapter Thirty-Four - Shinobu Kocho Almost Committed Suicide

This fight is out of the question!

This was Saeko Busujima's first thought upon arriving on the second floor and seeing the flowerbeds filled with poisonous flowers.

If we're going to fight, we need to find a different venue, otherwise we might just get poisoned and die in the middle of a fight.

"Oh, it seems there are still people who know their stuff..."

With a creak, the door of the small house behind the flowerbed opened, and a woman whose appearance was clearly different from theirs walked out.

Saeko Busujima noticed a knife tucked into the man's waist, which made her shudder.

It seems this is the opponent...

But... why does this voice sound so familiar?

She couldn't help but shift her gaze to Yukino Yukinoshita beside her. Wasn't that the same voice as her?!

"Don't look at me like that..." Yukino Yukinoshita said irritably, "It's not unusual for one or two voices to be the same as yours in countless worlds. Seryu's voice is the same as Gokou's, isn't it?"

That being said, she really wouldn't believe it if it weren't for Yuuki's twisted sense of humor...

Well, Seryu's words could be partly due to Yuuki, but Shinobu really wronged him; he genuinely didn't know that this guy's voice was the same as Yukino Yukinoshita's...

"So, are you going to challenge me again?"

Shinobu Kocho strolled casually through the flowerbed, occasionally fiddling with the vibrant blossoms, completely disregarding them.

"Of course, we've brought in a new team member this time; she's a world-renowned kendo master!"

Yui Yuigahama stood with her hands on her hips, looking smug.

Saeko Busujima: "......"

Hey, hey, hey, you're making me blush with embarrassment!

Upon hearing the words "sword master," Shinobu Kocho remained unmoved. Her love for swordsmanship was only so-so; in her view, any technique was acceptable as long as it could be used to fight. Using a sword was simply a better way to slay demons.

She prefers flowers, plants, and raising fish to swords.

Shinobu clapped her hands, drew her Nichirin Blade, which gleamed coldly, from her waist, and pointed it at Saeko Busujima: "Since that's the case, then come on, master of swordsmanship."

Saeko Busujima: "..."

She first looked at the other person's knife, which was clearly not an ordinary item, then at her own oak knife, and then turned to look at the junior girls behind her who were looking at her expectantly. Suddenly, a mouthful of sarcasm welled up in her heart.

Girls, why didn't you tell me clearly that the kendo competition used real swords?

That knife over there looks incredibly sharp; it could probably cut people down like vegetables. My wooden knife, though made with special techniques, would probably cut through zombies like vegetables if a biohazard were to break out in real life, but it still can't compare to a real knife!

But since things had come to this point, Saeko Busujima, who was now being held hostage, had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

Deep down, I can only hope that my white oak knife, which has been with me for many years, will hold up a few more blows...

The two stood there, and the scene immediately fell silent.

Saeko Busujima gripped her swords with both hands, her face wary as she stared intently at Shinobu Kocho opposite her.

"Oh...it seems you do have some skills after all..."

Although she wasn't particularly interested in kendo, Shinobu Kocho was still a Pillar, so she had some kendo skills. You could tell from her stance alone that Saeko Busujima had very good basic kendo skills.

"...Please enlighten me."

Saeko Busujima dared not relax for a moment, her muscles tense, ready to dodge at the slightest breeze or rain.

That's right, it's all about dodging. She didn't think her wooden sword could withstand many blows from the opponent's real sword. Her only option now was to dodge and counterattack.

"Ah……"

A gentle breeze swept by, accompanied by Shinobu Kocho's soft laughter.

The next second, Saeko Busujima's pupils suddenly shrank.

The blade was already at her feet!

Boom!

What the hell are you flashing for?!

Saeko Busujima was furious. "I knew this otherworldly swordsman was no ordinary person! Is this speed something a normal person should have?!"

Moreover, they not only have incredibly high stats, but they also use real swords. There's simply no way to fight them!

The wooden sword was cleaved open by Shinobu Kocho's horizontal slash, but Saeko Busujima didn't feel sorry for her, or rather, she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself.

Horizontal slash, vertical slash, horizontal slash again, robe slash...

There were absolutely no moves involved; it was like waving a stick around randomly. But even with such simple moves, the increased stats forced Saeko Busujima into a complete rout.

Fortunately, while Shinobu Kocho's stats are powerful, they are far from reaching the inhuman level of Yui Yuigahama and the others, so Saeko Busujima can barely hold on.

"...Yui, didn't you explain things clearly to your senior?"

Although Yukino Yukinoshita had a bad feeling when she saw Saeko Busujima run in carrying a wooden sword, she thought it was a sign of Saeko Busujima's confidence.

Seeing that Saeko Busujima was almost beaten to a pulp, she realized that something must have gone wrong.

As for where the problem lies, there's no need to think about it; it's definitely because of Yui Hihama's narration.

"Huh? No, I told my senior that Xiaoli wanted to train us by forbidding us from awakening or using special moves to fight a swordsman..." Yui Yuigahama said, equally puzzled.

Yukinoshita Yukino: "..."

Although what she said wasn't wrong, her constant prohibitions made anyone think it was just a normal competition, so it made sense that Saeko Busujima brought a wooden sword...

Thinking of this, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but cast a pitying glance at Saeko Busujima, who was being beaten and hiding. Poor Busujima-senpai, she was really screwed over by Yui Yuigahama this time...

Click!

The sound of wood breaking rang out, and Saeko Busujima's expression changed. She immediately rolled backward without any regard for her image, creating distance between herself and Shinobu Kocho.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

She shouted to stop, "The knife's broken, what's the point of the fight?!"

However, Shinobu Kocho sneered and stepped forward to stab her throat again. If it were before, she definitely wouldn't have done it, but because of an unpleasant incident that happened during her match with Yui and the others, she didn't hold back at all.

Besides, they won't actually die anyway. Since they're going to be trained, this is a good opportunity to make them remember the terror of death.

The blade flashed across Saeko Busujima's neck without pause, leaving her expression frozen in terror.

bang...

The headless senior's corpse fell, instantly transforming into a white torrent of data that gradually disappeared.

Yui and the others shuddered. This was too brutal. Although some of them had experienced death, those scenes were nothing compared to this. The way their senior died was too gruesome. Her head was off, and the blood spurting out was terrifying...

"Who's next?"

Shinobu Kocho flicked away the blood that had already disappeared from her blade, squinting at the group in the distance. To be honest, she had no problem with Saeko Busujima, but since she was hanging out with these unscrupulous guys, she was determined not to show any mercy.

The group of people in the distance shook their heads and backed away. At this moment, none of them wanted to provoke her. After all, what they had done before was indeed inhumane. They had almost stripped her clothes off. If Yuuki hadn't appeared in time to stop their immoral behavior, Shinobu Kocho would probably have been so angry that she would have died.

These prohibitions were imposed by Yuuki Risa after that incident. He was also a bit troubled because these guys were improving too fast. Even if Shinobu Kocho went all out, she probably wouldn't be a match for these guys whose standards were getting lower and lower.

What exactly happened? It all started when the group decided to challenge the second level...

In short, the group felt they had trained enough and wanted to challenge the second level. After obtaining Yuki Risa's consent, they went to the second level.

And then... there's not much to say. The five of them rushed at Shinobu Kocho and almost killed her, but because Shinobu Kocho was human, they couldn't bring themselves to do it. And that's where the crucial point comes in.

Actually, this matter is easy to resolve. All we need to do is discuss it with Yuki Risa and say that this level won't be of much training value to them anymore. He will then consider the current situation and let them go, allowing them to face true despair.

However, the group managed to come up with a plan: to make Shinobu Kocho surrender, and then they would go to Yuuki Ri to plead for her life.

While the duplicated character cards do not have the same growth potential as the original character cards in principle, their personalities are perfectly replicated.

Shinobu Kocho was already holding her breath after being inexplicably brought to this world, and now she's been ganged up on and tied up by several people. Her captors even said they would spare her life if she surrendered, which is an utter disgrace to her personality.

Surrender is impossible, I will never surrender in this lifetime!

Since she didn't surrender, it was Yui and the others' turn to get angry. They really couldn't bring themselves to kill her, so they started threatening her. Well, it was Yui who made the threat.

She learned this dirty trick from somewhere and threatened to strip Butterfly naked if she didn't surrender.

And then... then Yuuki rushed in to stop them.

Just kidding, if they actually stripped her clothes off, Shinobu Kocho might just commit suicide on the spot. Not only would we lose a character card for nothing, but those girls would probably be traumatized...

And that's how the ban came about.

Group fights are prohibited, awakening techniques are prohibited, and special moves are prohibited. You can only challenge Shinobu Kocho using normal methods.

This triple ban effectively crippled several people, especially Ruri Gokou and Yukino Yukinoshita. Their card abilities are all special moves with minimal physical enhancement, so this ban rendered them practically useless.

Of the other three, only Komi Shoko has a slight chance of being overwhelmed by the White Dragon's powerful boost; Yui Yuigahama and Yumiko Miura are essentially useless.

While these two have high base stats, they aren't high enough to completely overwhelm Shinobu Kocho. They also lack systematic training in combat techniques, relying entirely on special moves to initiate battles and then applying Seryu's concept of fatal attacks.

If this were to face Shinobu Kocho, who has this technique, she'd probably be completely overwhelmed...

That's why they thought of Saeko Busujima, which led to Yui Yuigahama's plea for help.

P.S.: Wow, so many comments all of a sudden! Thank you all for your support! The next update will be a little later.

A City of Ghosts and Monsters: Chapter Thirty-Five - Bonds Beyond Dimensions

When Saeko Busujima opened her eyes again, the fear on her face had not yet faded.

"I...I'm dead, aren't I?"

Feeling a lingering fear, Saeko Busujima touched her neck, her voice trembling.

The chilling glint of the blade in her memory, the excruciating pain in her neck, and the gradual fading of her consciousness into darkness all served as reminders to her: You are dead.

"Honestly, they should at least explain the basic rules to the newcomers..."

A helpless voice sounded behind her, and Saeko Busujima hurriedly turned around to look.

"Yuki-kun, what exactly is going on?"

The feeling of death is not pleasant, and Saeko Busujima is now somewhat afraid.

Yuki explained the rules of the Tower of Despair and the data machine to her.

"So, you need to kill that woman to move on, right?"