Hiroshi pulled out his shadowy sword, the pain was immense, searing through his body. He gritted his teeth, feeling every agonizing second. Then, he echoed the words he had spoken before: "Let's begin." The power emanating from the shadowy sword was overwhelming. Baalze looked on, proud and smiling.
The pathetic spirit, on the other hand, saw an opportunity. If he could kill Hiroshi, he might earn Baalze's favor. He sneered at Hiroshi, his voice dripping with malice, "You are weak, you bastard."
Baalze observed Hiroshi closely, sensing that something was off. The pathetic spirit noticed it too. Hiroshi's pupils were gone, his eyes now a blank, terrifying void. He stood there, not as the boy he once was, but as a warrior.
Baalze recognized the stance. It was from the Edo period, a time long past. It dawned on Baalze that this was not Hiroshi. His consciousness had vanished, leaving only his body behind. The one standing before them was someone—or something—entirely different.
The atmosphere grew tense, the air thick with an impending sense of doom. The pathetic spirit faltered, realizing the gravity of the situation. Baalze's grin widened, reveling in the chaos that was about to unfold.
As the power of the shadowy sword surged, its dark essence began to overflow, dripping ominously from the blade. In the blink of an eye—no, faster than that, in just 0.1 milliseconds—Hiroshi moved. The pathetic spirit didn't even have time to register the attack. One moment he was sneering, and the next, he was dead.
Baalze hadn't seen the strike. It was as if Hiroshi had transcended the boundaries of time and space. The pathetic spirit lay on the ground, lifeless, his essence dissipating into the air.
For ten seconds, Hiroshi stood still, the shadowy sword dripping with darkness. Then, his body gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. Baalze was stunned, a mixture of awe and amusement playing on his features. He laughed, a chilling, echoing sound that filled the cavern.
"This is truly fascinating," Baalze murmured. "When this sword appears, so does the blood. But not Hiroshi's blood. No, it is the blood of those he has killed. And that blood... is enough to make a sea."
Baalze's laughter grew louder, more unhinged, as he stared at Hiroshi's fallen form. The ground around Hiroshi was soaked in blood, a crimson tide that seemed to have no end. The sight was both horrific and mesmerizing. The blood of countless souls, all victims of the shadowy sword, pooled around him, a testament to the weapon's dreadful history.
The dark power of the sword had tapped into an ancient, malevolent force. Hiroshi's body lay amidst the sea of blood, unconscious and vulnerable. But even in his collapsed state, there was an undeniable aura of power surrounding him, a latent strength waiting to be unleashed.
Baalze could hardly contain his excitement. This was the moment he had been waiting for, the culmination of his dark plans. The spirit that had once tormented Hiroshi was gone, but a far more formidable entity had emerged in its place.
The chapter closed with Baalze's laughter echoing through the cavern, a chilling prelude to the chaos and destruction that lay ahead. The story of Hiroshi and his shadowy sword was just beginning, and the path forward would be drenched in blood and darkness.