Chapter 117: Cat and Mouse

Gion’s close-quarters assault bore down on Mord with the crushing weight of a mountain. At the same time, it left Mord with no opportunity to concern himself with Sunny’s situation. Merely keeping up with Gion’s offensive required his absolute focus; a single lapse in concentration would mean certain death.

Gion pressed in, her killer moves relentless. Her long blade, imbued with cold, lethal intent, slashed toward Mord’s vitals. A flash of chilling light flickered and vanished. Mord struggled to match her speed, raising his sword to parry.

*Clang!*

Blade met blade, sending sparks flying. The power transmitted from Gion’s sword surged through Mord’s arm into his entire body, aggravating the wound on his abdomen. The sudden, sharp pain caused his breathing to falter for a fleeting moment. Gion did not choose to engage in a test of strength again; as the sparks faded, she retracted her blade and slashed at him once more.

Mord steadied his mind, capturing the trajectory of the lightning-fast strike, and channeled strength into his arm to block the second blow just in time. The heavy impact struck again, feeling like an iron ball rolling across his body. Blood began to seep silently from the corner of his mouth.

Even as the suffocating pressure of life and death made him feel as though the oxygen were thinning, his Observation Haki remained fully engaged. The experiences of his past life served as a silent pillar of support, preventing his psychological defenses from crumbling under such mortal peril. He knew that any hesitation or cowardice would cause the web of his Observation Haki to collapse in an instant. Composure was the prerequisite for survival, but the foundation of his defense remained the Haki techniques he had once honed.

Yet, Gion refused to give him even a moment to breathe. The third lightning-fast strike tore a breach in his defense. The momentum of her rapid-fire assault was set. The fourth strike, the fifth... Mord struggled to cope, retreating repeatedly as he barely parried her fierce onslaught. With each clash of steel, his internal injuries deepened. Within moments, his mouth and chin were stained crimson with blood. Soon, his rhythm was lost.

At this stage, Gion was a mountain he could not conquer. The fact that he had lasted this long was no small feat. Meanwhile, Gion, despite holding the absolute advantage, felt her wariness of Mord growing. When Mord’s faltering rhythm left an opening, Gion struck directly at the flaw.

*Clang!*

Under the heavy blow, Mord, unable to gather the strength to defend, was sent flying. The powerful, vibrating force exacerbated his internal injuries, causing him to cough up thick blood as he flew backward, showering the air with a spray of gore. Even so, the strike did not claim his life.

"How tenacious..."

Gion kicked off the ground, pursuing him. The resilience Mord had displayed in this brief encounter exceeded her expectations. However, the situation was clear: regardless of his innate talent, a few more strikes would bring an end to this lopsided battle.

Elsewhere, Langshu crushed the two flintlock pistols Sunny carried. These were guns Thor had meticulously prepared for her, now reduced to a pile of useless scrap. With her weapons gone and her legs suffering from severe frostbite, Sunny was in no position to support Mord; the threat posed by Langshu was enough to keep her pinned down.

Langshu glanced at Mord, who was being driven toward the abyss by Gion. His expression was solemn, devoid of his usual levity. "Gion has developed the intent to kill Mord."

Sunny gritted her teeth, her mind racing for a viable solution.

"Give it up." Langshu seemed to perceive her thoughts, turning his gaze back to her. Silently, fur began to sprout along his arms, and his fingers transformed into sharp claws. This sudden partial beast-transformation signaled his next move.

"I don't know why Gion wants to kill Mord, but based on what I know of her, she must have a perfectly sufficient reason." Langshu raised his right hand, his dark, razor-sharp claws pointing at Sunny’s forehead. "I have no interest in what that reason might be. I only know that Gion is my superior, and following her lead is what I, as her subordinate, must do."

The beastly claws rose slowly, hovering above Sunny’s head like a guillotine. Watching the deepening despair on her face, Langshu said expressionlessly, "So, from the moment you fired at Gion..."

The raised claws plunged downward toward the crown of her head.

*Thor, Mord, Bailey...* In the face of death, several figures flashed rapidly through the mind of the desperate Sunny.

Just then, a white blur leaped through the air, slamming viciously into Langshu’s side.

*Bam!*

Caught off guard, Langshu was sent flying several meters away. The descending claws left only faint, bloody scratches on Sunny’s brow. She stared blankly at the white figure that had knocked Langshu aside.

"Bailey!"

"Big Sis, I’m here to save you!" Bailey, mid-air, looked toward the incredulous Sunny with a heroic, fearless expression—as if his previous attempt to flee had vanished like mist. The next moment, he landed heavily, face-planting into the dirt. The impressive aerial pounce hardly seemed like a maneuver a body so laden with fat could perform. In reality, he had been thrown by hand.

"Bullseye!" A few dozen meters away, Koala, a student of Fish-Man Karate, snapped her fingers. It was she who had thrown Bailey at Langshu, saving Sunny just in time.

Morley emerged from a bizarrely soft, gaping fissure in the ground, saying with concern, "Koala, you can't do that again. I don't want to see my little cutie getting hurt by your tossing."

"Don't worry, I controlled the force, and Bailey’s thick fat absorbs some of the impact." Koala looked at Morley, who was climbing out of the ground, with a "you can rest assured" expression. She knew Morley cherished small animals, but she had asked for Bailey’s consent before the toss.

"Well, I suppose I'll forgive you this time." Morley grinned, his thick beard twitching.

Back at Sunny’s side, Langshu, having been knocked away, was unharmed. He rose quickly, his cold gaze sweeping over Bailey. "It was you, you little beast."

A flicker of malice crossed Langshu’s eyes as he turned to the figures emerging from the earth. "The Revolutionary Army..." Suddenly, Langshu caught sight of a familiar figure and froze. As his thoughts raced, he lunged at Sunny once more.

Seeing this, Bailey scrambled toward her with his short legs, but his speed was clearly no match for Langshu. Just as Langshu reached her, a figure even taller than him arrived in the nick of time, standing like a wall to shield Sunny.

"Tatamu!" Langshu’s expression grew complex. Knowing Tatamu’s strength was not to be underestimated, he immediately underwent a full beast-transformation without hesitation.

However, a more shocking sight occurred. Tatamu’s body expanded, bursting the bartender’s uniform he wore to reveal a coat of yellow fur. His dull face shifted as well, transforming into the visage of a cat, his feline eyes sharp and intelligent.

In an instant, cat and mouse stood in opposition.