Price snarled and yanked the bolt out of his side. Spinning it, he hurled it at one of the assassins. The man managed to dodge, but the edge of the bolt still grazed him. He fell to the ground, twitching violently, and then burst into purple flame.
“That’s what I thought.” Price said, shuddering and covering the hole in his armor. “The bolt is poisoned...”
“They’re poisoned!” A voice came from the stairwell.
The other four cultivators looked worn out. Somewhere along the way, they’d been attacked by assassins that had stood no chance against the Dinos siblings.
However, Hadjar didn’t care about the duo from the Predatory Blades clan right now. He was more concerned about Einen’s condition. The islander, who was barely hanging onto Dora’s armored shoulder, looked as if he were about to start heading for his forefathers’ home. His skin was a sickening shade of green and he was panting. Sometimes, he’d lose consciousness for a split second. A murky, greenish liquid flowed from his eyes, ears, and mouth.
“Dora!” Anise shouted.
Once again, she disappeared from one place and reappeared in another, a violent vortex of energy swirling around her. Her sword flashed with such speed that her swings merged into one. She struck three times, but Hadjar only saw one slash.
Afterimages of her sword covered Dora, Einen, and Tom like a steel shroud.
As soon as the four of them had reached the first floor, a hail of crossbow bolts had rained down from the windows.
Anise, despite moving with smooth precision, still blocked the bolts with incredible speed. Most of the bolts she deflected with her Imperial blade flew back toward the assassins.
In thirty seconds, Hadjar and Price had been able to kill about eight assassins (there was no time to do an exact count) combined. In five seconds, Anise had managed to kill twice as many.
Seeing the huge losses his squad had just suffered, the assassins’ leader shouted: “Retreat to the garden!”
The assassins’ Speed Techniques were excellent. Fleeing from the battlefield, leaving behind only a handful of ash, they erupted into black flashes and disappeared. It was as if someone was putting out black candle flames.
The friends rejoiced, but then another hail of crossbow bolts rained down upon them from the windows. Some of them were aimed at Dora, who was being shielded by Anise, and some were cutting them off from the garden.
“How about you stop saying that?” Dora hissed, addressing Tom.
“Why should I?” He responded haughtily. “If you leave that bastard behind, we’ll be out of here in no time.”
Dora’s eyes flashed. There was such a wild and unbridled hatred in her gaze that its fire could’ve burned a man to ash.
“Go away.” Dora’s hiss turned into a growl. “You’re pathetic.”
Dinos jerked back as if she’d slapped him. Pursing his lips, he muttered something that made Dora turn pale and recoil, and then he called out to Anise: “We’re leaving.”
“But-”
“Don’t even say it, Anise,” Tom interrupted his sister in a tone that brooked no argument. “We’re leaving immediately.”
Anise looked at Dora with regret. The elf only smiled a little ruefully. They might’ve been friends, but Anise couldn’t disobey Tom.
Before they disappeared, Anise sent a powerful wave of energy toward the windows that stopped the hail of crossbow bolts for a few moments. Instead of cursing Tom for his pettiness, Hadjar and Price used the time that Anise had bought them productively.
“On my command,” Price instructed calmly. “Use your best Technique. I’ll lure them into the garden.”
Hadjar eyed the armored Dora. She’d put her hammer away in her spatial artifact and was focusing on protecting the wounded Einen. The elf Princess was risking her life to save a commoner!
“Do it!” Geran roared. “Fury of the Emerald River!”
He swung his broad, short sword three times, and the swings merged together. Each of them created a river of green energy that had a dragon’s head within it.
Whirling and twisting, merging into one and then splitting once more into three separate rivers of energy, they cut through the walls of the restaurant and began to circle around the windows. The crossbow bolts that pierced through them lost half their speed and many of them were reduced to splinters.
Price moved to Dora and Einen and covered them with his body. The sword in his hands, which was connected to his Technique, began to rust. The poison that covered the bolts had incredibly deadly properties.
Hadjar, using half his remaining energy to power the Technique, launched a furious attack.
“Azure Cloud!”
A small cloud of dark blue energy appeared over the restaurant. A black dragon with a sword for a body descended from it, roaring loudly enough to shatter the windows. Its wild lunge was so quick that it looked as if it had already been smashing through the roof when it materialized. An explosion rocked the entire building. Almost the entire southern wall of the restaurant, which had turned into logs and splinters, soared through the air.
Before they realized what was happening, the crossbowmen turned into purple flames. In all the chaos, the four friends ran out into the yard. They were so close to escaping. Instead of crying out in happiness when they reached the yard, the two swordsmen swore in unison:
“Damn it!”
Chapter 497
When they’d first entered the restaurant, it had been dark out. However, it had been a night full of stars and moonlight. Now, running out into the garden, the four friends found themselves in a different world: the sky above them was inky black and thick, and palpable darkness loomed over their heads, obscuring the moon and stars.
They presumed that the restaurant had been sealed off with a special veil, as the darkness was pouring out of a gray hieroglyph. It looked like a scar in the fabric of the world itself. A hideous, ugly scar that sent shivers down their spines.
The horror didn’t stop there. The water in the numerous streams, canals, and ponds of the restaurant had turned scarlet. Sometimes, the screams and groans of the dying people echoed around them, but as they moved farther and farther away, the quieter and less frequent the cries became. There were dead bodies everywhere. They lay on the ground, all of them bleeding from various wounds. Some were still in their death throes, their hands clutching various weapons. This only made the sight more depressing, as all of their weapons were covered in rust. The blood flowing from their wounds leaked into the reddened waters.
Corpses lay scattered on the ground, hung from burning buildings, and some had even been strung up on tree branches. The only comfort they had was a blanket of black ash that covered everything around them.
The guests of the restaurant had been nobles, cultivators from birth. They’d clearly taken hundreds or thousands of assassins down with them. Even so, everyone who’d been in the restaurant had been killed. How many nobles were now little more than collateral damage? A thousand? Two?
“Demons!” Price swore.
Behind him, engulfed by the fire, the restaurant was collapsing, and in its flames, they could see more and more bodies burning up.
Hadjar agreed with his enemy and temporary ally, to whom he now owed his life. Something abnormal was happening here. Neither a sect nor an assassin clan had done this. Everyone who’d died here today had families and friends who would hunt down those responsible for this tragedy and punish them. Why, then, had they done this anyway? And why hadn’t they retreated yet?
Hadjar looked at the pale Dora. She seemed to know a little more about what was going on than Price or himself.
“Damn it,” Price repeated, much more quietly.
Hadjar managed to catch him before he hit the ground. Price’s Imperial armor slowly shrank and turned into a massive emerald bracelet. The swordsman gradually assumed an appearance similar to Einen’s: his skin was turning green, and a stinking, thick goo was beginning to run down his face.
“It’s
the poison.” Hadjar said and swore.
There was a small, red scratch on Price’s side where the bolt had struck him. A web of blackening, pulsing veins was spreading across his skin. If it hadn’t been for the greenish hue, Hadjar would’ve thought that the poison was the same one ‘The Black Gates’ sect had used.
“We need to get out of here.”
Hadjar started to lift the groaning Price, but then stopped. A dagger sank into the ground near his foot, its blade coated in green slime.
“If you defeat me, you’ll be able to produce an antidote out of this sample.” A voice sounded from the darkness.
Hadjar lowered Price carefully to the ground. He looked at Dora, who’d grown even paler. She clung to Einen as if she feared that, if she released him, they’d die or the whole world would fall apart. The strong and powerful eldest heiress of the Marnil clan was useless right now.
“Who are you?” Hadjar shouted.
Rising to his feet, he held the Black Blade in front of him. The cloak fluttering behind him, obeying its master’s will, spread out, forming a sphere that covered his vulnerable friends protectively.
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt them. Not until I kill you, anyway. A lovely evening like this deserves to end with a glorious fight.”
A tall woman stepped out of the darkness, now illuminated by the light of the fires. The top half of her face was hidden by a helmet. The helmed had no visor, it only covered the bridge of her nose and temples with steel shaped like fangs. Her black hair fluttered in the wind, along with her long, red cloak. Her Imperial level armor didn’t hide her lovely, slender figure. A leather skirt with a long split down the side covered her chainmail pants, which were tucked into high boots. She held an eerie sword across her shoulders. The heavy blade, which was exactly six feet long, was razor-sharp along both edges, and looked almost like the dangerous, steel stinger of a giant insect. In the flickering firelight, the woman looked like the beautiful lover of Death itself.
But Hadjar’s gaze wasn’t focused on her. Something behind her had caught his attention. There, sitting on the branches of one of the dead trees, was a bird. A large raven. Hadjar was almost certain that he’d seen it somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where.
“We can start our battle now,” the woman continued. The power that emanated from her was that of a Spirit Knight. The amount of blood on her blade and armor indicated that she was the one who’d killed most of the nobles. “You will die a glorious death, but it will be horribly painful.”
“Is there a second option I can choose instead?” Hadjar asked.
“I’ll make your death quick and painless if you step aside so that I can complete my task and kill the elf bi-”
Hadjar didn’t even let her finish that sentence. Turning into a plume of black fog, he charged the enemy. In his mind, he imagined a maple leaf falling from a branch and landing on her chest.
“Autumn Leaf!” He shouted.
Hadjar put a lot of energy and the mysteries of the Way of the Sword Spirit into his attack. Used in close combat, this Technique had incredible speed and destructive power. It took the form of an explosion of black energy that had the silhouette of a swaying dragon within it. With all the force he put behind it after he imbued it with the mysteries of the Sword’s Heart, it should’ve killed or mortally wounded even a Spirit Knight. However, Hadjar wasn’t so naïve as to celebrate victory ahead of time. After all, he didn’t feel his sword sink into her flesh and begin to absorb the fragments of her Spirit.
The assassin had held up her gigantic blade in front of her like a shield. His attack struck it. It might’ve sent anyone else flying, but the Spirit Knight didn’t even budge. She held firm.
Hadjar had to retreat in order to not fall victim to his own Technique. He took three steps back, and only then did the inertia of their collision loosen its hold over him, allowing him to regain his balance.
“Not a bad Technique,” the assassin said, acting as if she were at a wine tasting. “Earth level?”
“Azure-”
“Bloody Harvest!”
The titanic blade of the Spirit Knight slashed down. Hadjar, who hadn’t managed to use his most powerful Technique, was hit by an avalanche of blood. It struck with such crushing force that the ground beneath him didn’t even crack, it simply liquefied. Using all the speed and power he could muster, he threw himself to the side. If it hadn’t been for the fog that had covered him, he would’ve been cut to pieces or reduced to dust. He wouldn’t have even left any purple flame behind.
After rolling across the ground for a good ten feet, Hadjar couldn’t get up right away. There was a wound on his chest that was as long as his arm and as wide as his hand. His blood drenched the ground.
“Mediocre.” The assassin sneered. “I expected more from you. Bloody Harve-”
“I’m not dead yet!” Hadjar’s eyes flashed with an azure light.
Chapter 498
“Really?” The assassin’s smile was doubtful. “Alright, let’s see what another descendant of the Enemy can do.”
Hadjar’s eyes, which had been glowing bright blue a moment ago, began to dim. He was used to Spirits knowing who he was, but this was the first time Hadjar had heard it from a human. Then the fact she’d said ‘another descendant’ hit him and his eyes widened.
“You didn’t know?” Her laugh was everything but pleasant. However, Hadjar didn’t mind her mocking him if it bought him a bit of time.
“I did not,” he whispered, feeling his wound slowly heal. After his training with the Primordial Water and Dream Grass, his body had become stronger. But while his body was recovering, his energy was flowing like sand through his fingers, and his Call was coming closer to ending. Luckily, Hadjar still had a couple of tricks up his sleeve. Today wasn’t the day he met his maker.
“Really?”
He couldn’t see her eyes because of her massive helmet, but he suspected that they’d widened slightly in surprise. Then she laughed, croaking like a crow. Hadjar had definitely heard that sound before, and even her armor and huge sword were very familiar to him.
“Did you honestly think that there’s only one descendant of the Enemy in this world, and that it’s you?”
Hadjar stared at her in bewilderment. That was exactly what he’d thought. Wasn’t he the only one? Was his mother’s family just one of many that had inherited the Black General’s blood and power?
“You did. You actually thought that.” The assassin nodded. “I suppose that makes us... I don’t know... Very distant relatives. So distant that it’s funny.”
She kept on laughing. Hadjar slowly realized that she was right. After all, the Enemy had lived a very long time ago. Him leaving his seed behind in only one bloodline seemed laughable now that he thought about it.
“Here, I’ll even prove it.”
The assassin held out her free left hand. Clenching her fist, she made her energy flow from her core to the meridians in her arm. After a second, she summoned a small strip of black smoke. It stayed in the physical world for only a second, but that was all the time Hadjar needed to recognize the Black Blade.
“Ugh!” With obvious relief, the assassin blew the smoke away. “Not many have as much of the Enemy’s energy in their veins as you do,” she explained, swinging her giant blade around and holding it out in front of her. A single swing of her massive sword was enough to crack the ground around her. “So, when I kill you, I’ll take all the Black General’s energy that belongs to you.”
“Bloody Harvest!”
Hadjar was ready for another bloody avalanche. Rolling to the side, he snatched a small amulet from his spatial ring and threw it right in front of her Technique. The small piece of red paper had only one hieroglyph on it. Confronted with a Spirit Knight’s Technique, it lit up with an incredibly bright, golden light. The bloody avalanche was gradually absorbed by it. It swirled faster and faster, saturating the amulet until it disappeared completely.
“Damn it!”
The assassin, expecting a trick, plunged her giant blade into the ground in front of her. She did so just in time. A dense beam of bright, golden energy shot out of the amulet as a low hum filled the air. A pillar of flame slammed into the Spirit Knight, dragging her across the ground. She screamed and tried to hold on to her blade while using a Defensive Technique, but her efforts ended with her cloak, hair, and armor catching on fire. After digging a deep furrow in the ground with her blade, she was finally able to disperse the flow of golden energy.
“D-”
“Lightning Shackles!” Hadjar shouted.
Several more amulets appeared between his fingers. After being pumped full of energy, they fanned out into the sky and began a mad dance around the assassin. She hadn’t had enough time to recover, and now found herself facing forty lightning bolts. Blue sparks chained her down, squeezing so tightly that her armor began to melt and crack.
Hadjar took another artifact out of his ring. It looked like a small, golden palm. Throwing it into the sky, he channeled as much energy as he could into it. His Call immediately vanished, but the upturned palm grew tenfold. Enveloped in the same golden glow the fire had shone with, it descended on the assassin. The pressure of its power was almost as strong as the pressure of the Spirit Knight’s ‘Bloody Harvest’. Bound as she was, the young woman could only watch in horror as this artifact full of destructive power descended upon her.
There was an explosion. The shockwave blew Hadjar away. A pillar of dust rose into the sky. The shattered ground and rocks rained down all around them. Amid the chaos, the broken ‘Lightning Shackles’ were still visible. The sparks that flew through the garden set fire to the trees and buildings that had survived the initial attack.
Hadjar, whose terrible chest wound had stopped bleeding, brushed the debris away and got to his feet. There was so little energy left in him that he could barely breathe.
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