My Gang of Swordsmen-Chapter 98 - 77: The King Stands at the Frontline!

The enemy, numbering close to two hundred, launched a fierce attack... Saito had completely no means of focusing on protecting Aoto’s safety amidst this massive chaos.

To concentrate on killing the enemy, Saito sternly instructed Aoto, Anthony, and Elodie to stay at the safest central point of the "Conical" formation, then wielded his sword and joined the "Conical Peak" centered around Oomura.

Anthony and the Osaka Castle Governor had a significant friendship; thus, the Governor couldn’t possibly send only useless drunkards to protect his friend.

Regardless of the friendship between them, Anthony and Elodie’s identities as Frenchmen made the Governor cautious not to send a bunch of trash to escort Anthony to Edo.

Oomura and others sent by the Governor as guards for Anthony were the elite forces of Osaka Prefecture.

Although Oomura appeared chubby, he was actually from a prestigious school: a master of Shindo Mononoke Stream and a recipient of the Shindo Mononoke-ryu Menkyo Kaiden.

Despite his stout figure, his movements were exceptionally agile.

Shindo Mononoke Stream emphasized practicality and overpowering the opponent with momentum and strength in combat.

"Power"—this was the most notable characteristic of Shindo Mononoke Stream.

Oomura swung his sword like a wheel.

Each flash of the blade resulted in an enemy’s demise.

Saito, having joined the "Conical Peak" and also a recipient of No External Stream Menkyo Kaiden, bravely fought the enemy.

"Leroy!" Anthony, whose eyes were bloodshot, suddenly shouted to Leroy, "Did you see Kiryu? Did you see where he is? As long as Kiryu is here, we can win! As long as Kiryu is here, we can win! What’s the matter with such a small number of enemies to Kiryu, that monster! (French)"

After loudly questioning Leroy, Anthony raised his head, scanning around with wide-open eyes, searching for Kiryu. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Leroy: "Kiryu? (French)"

As long as Kiryu is here, we can win?

What use is that old guy, who is at least 90 years old, nearly 30 years older than her master?

Leroy totally didn’t understand what Anthony meant by what he said.

But she quickly responded honestly to Anthony:

"No!" Leroy shook her head vigorously, "Neither Miss nor I saw that Kiryu Kazuma! (French)"

"Tsk! Damn it! Damn it! Where did he go?! (French)"

Cursing wildly in his native language, Anthony handed Elodie to Leroy beside him, instructing her to protect Elodie well, then frantically took out a brand-new, gleaming metallic handgun from his clothes.

The recently developed American Colt revolver: a 0.44-inch M1847 model revolver.

This handgun was what Anthony always carried for self-defense.

Anthony gripped the revolver tightly with both hands, aiming at an enemy not far away who was tall and suitable as a target.

Anthony desperately tried to use this handgun to support Oomura and others.

However... his shooting skills were truly poor.

After firing four bullets, he finally hit the most conspicuous enemy.

Though Anthony’s marksmanship was bad, the pistol in his hand could boost morale for Oomura and others and intimidate the enemy.

Under the valiant fight led by Saito and Oomura, the "Conical" broke through several defense lines on the west side in one go.

However... the advance of the "Conical" stopped here...

The guards sent to escort Anthony and others to Edo were all warriors capable of fighting ten men alone... but now they were virtually disheartened...

The majority of them... no, all of them secretly believed that this escort mission was nothing more than an easy and safe "public-paid tour."

There had never been a precedent of the Anti-foreigner Faction attacking foreigners guarded by numerous samurai; the so-called "Anti-foreigner Warriors" were merely a group of unimportant and ragtag soldiers—this mindset had long been ingrained.

Because they believed this escort mission to be extremely safe, they didn’t prepare mentally, so when facing this unexpected enemy attack, facing the massive number of enemies in front of them, their morale and fighting spirit... could only be described as dismal.

Panic-stricken, they could only exert at most half of their full strength.

Neither Saito nor Oomura, no matter how skilled, only have one head, two hands, two feet, their strength isn’t powerful enough to overcome this significant numerical disadvantage based solely on individual capabilities.

Not long after, under the dense onslaught of the Anti-foreigner Group, Saito and Oomura’s offensive gradually stalled.

Under the fierce attack of the Anti-foreigner Group, the original "Conical" formation gradually compressed into an elliptical shape.

Unable to make breakthroughs in the offense any longer, Saito and Oomura had to shift from attack to defense.

Their defense line... was terrifyingly thin, given their absolute numerical disadvantage.

The inability to break through this dense "blood-red sea," forced to defend instead of attack, further dampened the already low fighting spirit and morale of Oomura and others.

While the Anti-foreigner Group on the other side... their morale and fighting spirit only grew mutually.

They launched more frenzied attacks, compressing Oomura and others’ already thin defense lines.