Everyone froze. A few men who were interested in Bella tried to stop her, but by the time they reached out, she'd already left the crowd.
Iwata and Kyujiro felt their authority as "supervisors" had been challenged. They didn't bother with any more "can't hear you" nonsense. Having fought on battlefields for some time, the two had developed a bit of coordination. One swung his spear in a smashing attack while the other thrust forward.
Dealing with two ordinary people, Bella didn't draw her katana, much less pull out a gun.
Watching the direction of the incoming spear thrust, she dodged to the side with ease, evading the spearhead. In the next instant, she grabbed the shaft while simultaneously raising one foot to stomp down on the other spear.
Her hand suddenly exerted force, yanking it toward herself. Caught off guard, Kyujiro lost his grip, and the spear flew from his hands. She caught it in a reverse grip, swung it in a half-circle, and the shaft slammed hard into Iwata beside him.
The force wasn't great, but he'd definitely be sore for a couple days.
Casually tossing the spear aside, as she passed the two men, she spoke in a casual tone: "If you don't understand something about Ashina, you can ask me. Of course, I also can't hear very well. Haha—"
Bella walked toward Hirata Goro. This guy was nowhere near the Sculptor or Wolf's level. Having killed over a dozen people, he was beaming with delight—clear signs that the resentment energy within him was about to explode.
"What's that woman trying to do?"
"No idea. My hand really hurts!"
Kyujiro and Iwata muttered quietly to the side. They didn't think Bella was particularly strong—rather, they assumed their own martial skills were lacking. After all, everyone here was stronger than them, so encountering another person who could defeat them wasn't surprising.
They sneered inwardly.
They'd seen women among the survivors throw themselves at those samurai before, thinking they could skip ahead with some looks. They were contemptuous—this unlucky woman would learn about the ruthlessness of this Japanese realm. The men here were steel-hearted, the kind who didn't spare women a glance!
Bella's actions drew Hirata Goro's attention. He didn't understand English—not a word. Originally standing to the side, he now watched as a woman approached him. His expression turned strange, and his fingers unconsciously moved to his sword hilt.
But Bella's next words stunned him: "You're already close to becoming possessed. Shura is growing inside you. Can't you feel it?"
Her Japanese was standard, with slight differences from Ashina's archaic dialect, but definitely comprehensible.
Kyujiro and Iwata in the distance wore depressed expressions. So she was a woman who could speak Japanese!
It brought tears to their eyes—learning Japanese had been a struggle for them!
The two had put tremendous effort into studying, but their Japanese still remained at a conversational level. That highly praised Lord Matsuzo was much better—at least he could read and write. Given a manual, he could at least practice following the written instructions.
Now Bella, this woman who'd brought her Japanese skills from the real world, made them intensely jealous. Think of all the trouble this would save!
They watched coldly from the sidelines, but what happened next made their jaws drop.
Bella's Japanese surprised Hirata Goro slightly, but only slightly. He was an extremely pure samurai with little curiosity.
Regarding Bella's claim about Shura growing inside him, he was noncommittal.
"I am a samurai! As long as it saves Ashina, I'm willing to do anything. What does an outsider like you know? Back off! Or else?" His right hand hovered over his sword hilt, his threat unmistakable.
"You know about Shura? Are you deliberately seeking slaughter?" Bella deeply disliked this feeling of things spiraling beyond her control. Too many things in this world had changed.
"Back off!" Hirata Goro roared.
Bella appraised him.
This guy represented the average combat level of this world. If he'd appeared earlier, she wouldn't have needed to spar with Emma or Isshin Ashina.
This world's combat capability was higher than Earth's due to the magical energy concentration in the air, but only by a small margin.
If an ordinary person's limit was set at 1, these people's limit would be 1.1 or 1.2. Combined with their rich combat experience, they appeared extraordinarily formidable, but in reality, Earth's top martial artists weren't incapable of defeating them.
Bella crooked her finger, gesturing for him to attack.
"Bastard!" Hirata Goro felt his samurai dignity had been provoked. His eyes turned blood-red as he drew his sword and slashed.
Speed and strength were both decent, but that was about it!
Bella read his attack trajectory, stepped back, and easily dodged the horizontal slash.
Hirata Goro bellowed, gripping his sword with both hands, raising it overhead before slashing down fiercely.
This time, Bella didn't retreat but advanced instead, shifting her footwork to position herself half a meter in front of Hirata Goro.
She was going to disarm him.
Many Japanese kenjutsu schools had "empty-hand sword-taking" techniques. These moves had no fixed patterns, emphasizing adaptability to circumstances.
She didn't do the anime or movie thing of clapping her hands together with a smack to catch the opponent's blade. In actual combat, such techniques were extremely difficult to control and rarely practiced, being far more performance-oriented than practical.
She used a famous empty-hand technique from the Katori Shinto-ryu. Taking advantage of the enemy raising their weapon overhead and exposing their opening, she rapidly closed distance, then struck upward with her palm against the sword hilt, forcing the weapon from their grip.
Bella's speed was fast, her strength great. In Hirata Goro's moment of confusion, the sword flew from his hands. During its descent, she deftly caught it.
Hirata Goro's gaze unconsciously followed his weapon. He didn't notice Bella's right hand suddenly shoot out, slamming hard against his chest.
Thump! Hirata Goro felt as if his body had been pierced through completely—like he'd shed a layer of skin as he was sent flying backward.
Huh? While flying through the air, he saw his own body still standing in place. What was happening?
Then he realized his body had turned pitch black, with flames that seemed capable of burning everything hidden within.
He didn't know what had happened to him, but Bella understood perfectly.
Time was short and the stakes were high. She'd first knocked Hirata Goro's soul out of his body, then seized the opportunity to slay this embryonic Shura manifestation.
She grabbed the scabbard from Hirata Goro's waist, sheathed the sword, then lowered her center of gravity. Right foot forward, left foot back, eyes fixed directly on the ball of flame within Hirata Goro's body—she was now absolutely certain this thing was a demon, merely formless though possessing essence.
As a mage, not studying demons would be thoroughly unprofessional. Greater demons were hard to find in the real world, and even if found, she couldn't defeat them. Lesser demons had little research value. This Shura, in her view, was neither too high nor too low—just right.
She assumed a standard iaijutsu ready stance.
Iaijutsu also varied—different schools had different focal points, with subtle distinctions. What Bella was using now was Ashina-style iaijutsu.