Chapter 292: The Two People He Respected Most
In Teppei's life, there were two people he respected above all others.
One was the Divine Priestess, Sangonomiya Kokomi.
The other was Battousai, Himura Kenshin.
The former was the leader of Watatsumi Island—the one all the Sangonomiya followers revered.
The title Divine Priestess meant to bear the will of the gods with a mortal body, protecting the land in place of a god.
For Watatsumi Island, which lacked the protection of any true deity, Kokomi was their god.
Yet compared to the Divine Priestess, the later-arriving Battousai held an even deeper place in Teppei's heart.
Battousai taught him swordsmanship, changed his destiny.
If Battousai had not refused so firmly, Teppei would have already called him "Sensei."
But now—
The person he admired most… had just killed the other person he admired most.
Battousai flicked the blade in his hand, warm blood spraying across Teppei's face—pulling him out of his shock.
"Battousai-sama— what are you doing?!"
Even now, Teppei still used honorifics.
Which meant—he still held a sliver of hope.
"As you can see—killing the Divine Priestess."
The lower half of Battousai's face, uncovered by the mask, still carried that familiar smile.
But with blood dripping from the blade, that smile now felt chilling.
"But… why?"
Yes—why kill the Divine Priestess?
Weren't they on good terms?
How could he draw his sword against her now, of all times?
Teppei's breathing grew rapid.
His eyes darted back and forth between Kokomi's fallen body and Battousai holding the Reverse Blade Sword.
"If she had obediently played her role as the Divine Priestess, I would've treated it as if nothing happened. I would've continued helping you all act out this little drama of peace."
"But unfortunately… she still clings to some unrealistic fantasies about her authority. She even colluded with subordinates who still harbor old loyalties—attempting to overthrow my rule."
It was a convincing explanation, but filled with absurdities.
Even Kokomi, lying at his feet waiting for death, rolled her eyes.
Colluding with old-loyal subordinates?
Please—if I weren't holding them back, they wouldn't even survive long enough for you to kill them yourself.
Whatever. She was going to die anyway.
These things were no longer her concern.
Sigh.
Side-lying was uncomfortable… might as well lie flat.
"Rule…"
When Battousai said that word, Teppei finally grasped something.
He might be dense when it came to emotions—but when it came to strategy… After surviving the battlefield, he had grown.
What he witnessed after returning to Watatsumi Island, combined with Battousai's words now, allowed him to piece together a rough picture.
"Come to think of it… there's something I never mentioned. I actually have another identity."
Like ink dripping into bright red blood, darkness spread across the scene.
Battousai's form twisted—transforming into a Fatui Harbinger wearing a stark white mask.
The mocking smile carved onto the mask seemed to taunt Teppei.
"I am the Twelfth Harbinger of the Fatui—The Ausbilder. Of course… you may also call me by another name—Bai Luo."
"..."
Teppei's grip on the Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma tightened so hard his knuckles turned pale, the sword hilt creaking under the pressure.
Teppei had seen Battousai's strange disguise techniques before.
But no matter how he tried to calculate it, he never expected that Battousai wasn't the man's real face at all—that the Fatui Harbinger standing before him now… was his true identity.
Clang—
The blade left its sheath.
Teppei swung the Hakuen Michimitsu Amenoma toward Bai Luo.
Bai Luo flicked his wrist casually, sending a dagger attached to a thin steel wire flying toward Teppei.
But Teppei was no longer the same man he once was.
After surviving the bloodshed of the battlefield, he had gained real combat experience.
He sharply detected that the dagger strike had been deliberately weakened.
His blade shifted from offense to defense in an instant, intercepting the attack.
But, a faint crackle of electricity traveled along the steel wire to the dagger.
That deliberately weakened strike unexpectedly triggered a critical hit.
Which then activated the dagger's passive Electric Shock effect.
Paralyzed by the sudden jolt, Teppei lost all strength.
He was thrown backward awkwardly, skidding across the polished floor for a long distance.
"..."
Bai Luo really had been holding back.
The reason the dagger was attached to a steel wire was so that he could relieve the force at the last moment—just in case Teppei failed to block it.
Whether Bai Luo's luck was too good, or Teppei's luck was too terrible… A critical hit that almost never triggered had decided to activate at this exact moment.
Still, Bai Luo was rather satisfied with Teppei's reaction.
At least compared to Sangonomiya Kokomi—who nearly broke down entirely when she learned the full truth—Teppei was still maintaining some degree of rationality.
It wasn't that Kokomi was weaker than Teppei.
They simply lived on different levels, bore different burdens.
Teppei thought primarily on a personal scale.
Kokomi, however, knew exactly how high Battousai's reputation on Watatsumi Island was—and what kind of catastrophic consequences would follow if this truth were revealed.
Sometimes, knowing too much was a curse rather than a blessing.
In any case, Teppei not collapsing completely saved Bai Luo a great deal of trouble.
It seemed Teppei's time on the battlefield had tempered not only his strength… but also his mind.
"Why did you do this?"
The numbness had faded.
Teppei pushed himself up from the floor, his gaze toward Bai Luo filled with complexity.
That strike he made earlier… was merely to confirm the truth.
And now, having confirmed that the man truly was a Fatui Harbinger, the crushing disparity hit so hard that it felt like his chest might cave in.
If he were to cough up a mouthful of blood right now, he wouldn't be surprised.
"Does the Fatui need a reason to do any of this?"
Bai Luo glanced at Sangonomiya Kokomi lying nearby, noticing that she wasn't playing along by closing her eyes.
Instead, she was looking at him with an expression full of grievance.
So he simply moved to stand in front of her, shielding her from view so he wouldn't slip up.
But in Teppei's eyes, this action looked like Bai Luo was preventing him from rescuing the not-yet-dead Divine Priestess.
This only made his breathing grow even more intense.
He understood well that if the Divine Priestess died, the Fatui would become even more unrestrained.
Leaderless, Watatsumi Island would fall completely under their claws, losing its last remnants of peace.
And if the Ausbilder could still disguise himself as the Divine Priestess afterward… That possibility was even more terrifying.
Perhaps that was why he killed her at such a time—to replace her.
If this had happened before Teppei went to war, he would have charged forward immediately, fighting Bai Luo to the death.
But now… he knew the most important thing was to inform everyone on Watatsumi Island.
So he began shifting his gaze subtly toward the hall's entrance.
As long as he could escape, there would still be hope.
Unfortunately, Bai Luo had already predicted everything that might happen.
The moment Teppei looked toward the exit, Sveta entered with a squad of Fatui skirmishers, dragging in a group of shrine maidens bound with rope.
They sealed off the entire hall.
The atmosphere, once they arrived, grew suffocating to the extreme.
Only Sangonomiya Kokomi—behind Bai Luo—wore an expression that changed from grievance… to puzzlement.
Why am I not dead yet?
. . . . .
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