Kingdom's Bloodline, page 18
'Did my control decline?' The Mystic did not think much about it. He was indifferent as he tightened his grip again.
However, at that moment, in the midst of the burning illusion, Thales felt a little happy. The pain from being crushed by the atmospheric pressure seemed to have decreased. He found himself able to speak again. With effort, he opened his mouth and looked at the energy sphere in Asda's hand.
'I hate people who hold a ball and pretend to be all bad*ss.'
"Damn you, Mystic energy!" Thales heard himself say, and then heat radiated from his body.
Asda looked surprised. The dark chess room was suddenly basked in a red light from an unknown source. Asda looked around in shock and immediately found the source of the red light. He looked down at his left hand and saw a trace of radiant red light appear inside his blue energy sphere.
A trace.
A dot.
A line.
A section.
The red light spread out slowly until it corroded the entire energy sphere.
"No! This is… This is…" Asda muttered as though he had just seen an inconceivably beautiful scenery.
The translucent blue energy sphere in Asda's hand suddenly stopped spinning. The energy sphere then turned red and then disappeared from his left hand. The Air Mystic suddenly raised his head to look at Thales who was in the air.
In Thales' right hand was a red energy sphere that floated quietly. Asda's eyes then looked excited. "You are—"
*Boom!*
Before the Mystic could finish speaking to Thales, the world seemed to shatter.
The energy sphere suddenly exploded! An invisible energy flashed from inside and transformed into a tremendous and magnificent power.
If the cellar of the chess room was like a balloon, then the balloon had just been blasted into pieces! Doors and windows, glass, chessboards, candles and everything… blown away and smashed up.
The beams and pillars of the house suddenly exploded.
*Boom!*
Asda was hit by a huge force that was like a heavy hammer. He flew back and crashed into the wall.
Thales was also knocked back by the force, causing him to crash heavily into the ceiling. But the ceiling and the walls also exploded. The shackle that seemed to curb his strength had vanished, along with his consciousness.
.....
On the streets.
*Boom!*
Morris had just dropped two Blood Bottle Gang men who were suffocated by his psionic power. He was surprised to hear the explosion.
'The extent of this explosion… it is at least a battle of 'supreme class.' Is it Cenza? Did Cenza meet the Air Mystic?
'No… No! Then Cenza must be dead.' Morris thought bitterly. The elites around Morris were also surprised.
"Boss!" The Assassin Layork was covered in blood. He quickly rushed over from afar. His expression showed mixed feelings. He was out of breath as he spoke.
"The air wall… The air wall has disappeared!"
Chapter 15: Yodel Cato At Your Service |
Groudon and Jala shot towards Kohen at top speed.
If Kohen was a point, then he would be the point that would form a right angle based on the direction where Jala and Groudon were charging towards him—Groudon from the north, and Jala from the east.
Groudon growled, his blood vessels bulging as he thrust his red sword towards Kohen, not resting until his sword draws the blood of his enemy.
At the start, Kohen was stunned for a moment. However, Jala lightly pointed at his left shoulder and then pointed at his right shoulder. Kohen was already preparing to draw his sword to strike Groudon, but he saw the look behind her goggles.
The police officer immediately understood Jala's intentions. Looking at his heavy injuries, he did not think too much. He knew that he would not be able to stop Groudon's sword and so, he would stop defending altogether.
Kohen then thought to himself, 'Girl, don't let me down.'
Kohen's expression was clear as he ignored the sword approaching him. He gave up his defensive style, passed the saber over to his left hand and resolutely held it in a reverse grip. He concentrated as he waited for the woman's arrival.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Jala threw the Wolf Limb Blade from her right hand at the aggressive Groudon! The flying Wolf Limb Blade shot straight towards the red-black swordsman's abdomen from the left.
With her right hand free, she rushed towards Kohen without slowing down.
In the next moment, Groudon's sword tip reached Kohen's chest area and the green longsword pierced into Kohen's abdomen! However, Jala's flying Wolf Limb Blade streaked across the air and slashed the left side of Groudon's chest.
Groudon roared. Kohen groaned in pain. Thanks to the interference from the Wolf Limb Blade, Groudon's thrust shifted a little to the side and missed the man's vitals.
The Glory of the Stars in his body to surged up swiftly in Kohen's body and accumulated around the flesh near the injury. Looking at the fierce eyes of the red-black swordsman, he then turned to look at the woman to his right while tenaciously enduring the pain.
He decided to believe in her. 'But what about her? Would she believe in me?'
Groudon snorted coldly and pulled out his sword, he then headed towards the approaching Jala.
In front of him, the police officer endured the pain in his chest and abdomen. The Glory of the Stars glimmered, and the saber in his left hand fell with a loud crash, stabbing into the ground below. It looked like the final struggles of a heavily injured swordsman.
Groudon seemed indifferent. An entirely different power of Eradication compared to Kohen's Glory of the Stars surged through his body. He readied his stance. With one move, he would be able to strike the young girl between her eyebrows.
'You cannot save him. As a result of your reckless actions, both of you will die together.'
However, Jala simply glanced at Groudon and she moved past Kohen, even bypassing Groudon to get behind Kohen!
Groudon was stunned for a moment. 'She did not want to save him?'
Jala did not choose to take advantage of this moment to attack Groudon by surprise; she knew that Groudon was already prepared to counterattack. Behind her, Ralf rapidly approached together with the wind. The woman knew that there was only one chance.
She then calmly extended her right hand—her survival would be in Kohen's hands. The police officer gritted his teeth.
Suddenly, he swung his right hand that was infused with the Glory of the Stars fiercely behind him.
'Now!'
He then saw Jala, who had just passed by his right side, grab his right hand in midair, like passing a baton in a relay race.
"AH!" Kohen roared. The remaining Glory of the Stars all over his body converged into blue glowing spots and gathered in his right arm. With that arm, he yanked Jala back!
The police officer's left hand held on to the saber stuck in the ground—it served as a pivot point. An unpleasant sound of friction could be heard from the tremendous momentum.
At the next moment, following the police using the saber as his support and pulling her back, the graceful Jala became like a flail. She swung in a semicircle in midair and due to Kohen's swing, landed on Groudon's other side. She had changed positions in an instant!
Jala held Kohen's hand as she would to her lover. Her Wolf Limb Blade in her left hand was held high above, with the blade pointed downwards, and the cold blade slashed downwards!
Shock appeared on Groudon's face.
'Her goal is... I see. She wanted to obtain the cop's cooperation, and while coordinating their strength together, they can instantly attack the side where I am undefended.' He pursed his lips indifferently. 'A great plan, but in the end, she's still just at ordinary class. She underestimated the skills of a supra class swordsman too greatly.'
The power of Eradication in his arm was swiftly activated. The green longsword began to move faster than usual as it swung to the right.
'Before you can strike, my sword wil- Eh?'
Groudon's expression froze momentarily. He saw Kohen grit his teeth and rush over before he used his body to block Groudon's saber. Sparks shot up.
*Crack! Slash!*
Groudon's shoulder bone was sliced off, and his abdomen was cut open. The Wolf Limb Blade slashed Groudon's right shoulder and tore through the right side of his chest.
*Crack!*
Kohen's right arm was dislocated and his right rib was lacerated. A large amount of blood from Groudon's shoulder gushed skywards and sprayed over Jala's face!
At this moment, Ralf's wind reached Kohen's side. Groudon opened his mouth and spat out blood in disbelief. Then, he laughed as though he had freed himself, and collapsed.
'What a great attack. What great teamwork.'
Groudon gently closed his eyes. Within a short moment, the terrifying red-black swordsman was slain by the unfamiliar, yet tacit, cooperation between Jala and Kohen.
The Phantom Wind Follower saw Groudon's fate. He could not believe that the Air Mystic's terrifying supra-class swordsman had the upper hand at one moment, and yet was so easily slain in the next.
However, he did not have time to be shocked, because Kohen roared and stomped with his feet, then he pulled the saber out from the ground with his left hand. Kohen turned to charge at Ralf regardless of his dislocated right hand. The light from the saber flashed.
Ralf laughed softly. 'How could you intercept the Phantom Wind Follower with this speed? Even while moving at high speeds, I can change directions at any mo- What?'
Ralf was surprised to see that Jala, who was beside Kohen, had knelt down on one knee and then crashed into Kohen's bosom. The police officer managed to turn around with a painful groan. However, he now shot towards Ralf at more than twice the speed from before!
'Damn! With this speed, it's impossible for me to—'
Ralf roared and deployed his Psionic power with all his strength! As the winds whistled, Ralf fished out his hidden blades from his sleeves to forcefully block the police officer's fatal strike.
However, Kohen's saber seemed as though it had a life of its own—it twisted and stabbed, suppressing Ralf relentlessly.
Their blades locked. One of the signature styles of the Swordsmen of Eradication was to lock an enemy's bladed weapon. Ralf then gave up all hope as he saw Jala, who was still with Kohen, pop her head out of his bosom with a grim look.
'No.'
While he was struggling to break away from Kohen's saber, the female bartender stretched out her right hand and crushed his throat with ease.
Two people and one corpse fell on the ground at the same time.
The police officer thought to himself, 'Fortunately, this Psionic had never been on a battlefield before. If he had pushed ahead instead of trying to fall back in the beginning, we would have died.'
Kohen spat blood out in a pathetic manner. His abdomen hurt and his right arm was dislocated. As a result, he was unable to get up.
"You… Who are you?" The police officer weakly asked the girl in his arms.
Jala had exhausted all of her energy and just laid there on his broad chest. She then turned her head and wiped off the blood on her face onto his uniform. The female bartender trembled slightly but still wore a relieved smile.
"None of your business." The young woman laughed as she replied but her eyes looked distressed.
'Brat. You should be able to escape.'
*Boom!*
At that moment, a muffled explosion was heard in the distance.
.....
"Qiren, one needs enthusiasm when conducting research. One must not be lazy. Learning is a lifetime of interest and diligence. When you reach my age, you could find yourself alienated. You would become unsociable, indifferent, and you would have difficulty finding enthusiasm.
"You will learn that the things supporting you, in the end, are not vanity, achievements, or contentment, but the speck of pure obsession you had in the beginning.
"So, you must understand Professor Chen's stubbornness and madness—That's probably the only obsession he has left in his life."
Thales shook his head. He kept another recalled piece of memory back into his head, and then pulled himself out of the rubble.
As the boy climbed out of the rubble, covered in blood, he looked up and saw Asda gazing down at him with a complicated expression.
The Air Mystic's clothes and long hair were still pretty and pristine. It was as though he had never experienced the explosion.
'Insane and paranoid,' Thales criticized silently. He was extremely exhausted and unable to continue resisting, so he simply turned to lie down in the rubble. He was a little tired of the lawless world where power was respected.
"You… Mystic, do whatever you like." Thales gasped and breathed heavily.
'A lunatic who kills people for a wrong word—no wonder the Mystics lost the war.'
Asda silently watched Thales with a strange expression. After a while, he emitted a peculiar laugh. "Hahaha, is this also a coincidence?"
The strange Mystic gently waved his right hand and lifted Thales up into the air, but did not attempt to kill him again.
He waved again and the atmospheric pressure began to change, instantly staunching all the boy's bleeding wounds.
Thales was helped up by the Mystic, his two feet touched the ground. However, the boy still looked at the Mystic with enmity; he no longer harbored any hope of holding any sort of rational conversation with Asda.
"Child, you had just used some kind of power to break my mystic barrier—the thing you called an 'Air Wall'," Asda softly said with an excited tone. "Only supreme class masters can do this, but you are only... Moreover, the power in your body could interfere and affect my mystic energy. Do you know what this means?"
"I don't even understand what you meant by supreme class." Thales replied weakly, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't want to tell a madman who just tried to kill me!"
Asda stopped smiling and gave him deep look. "Child, looks like you do not know your own nature. But never mind. Everyone will experience a first in losing control over themselves, and we all start from ignorance."
'Who would want to… Eh?'
Thales calmed down for a moment and thought about the meaning of Asda's words. He immediately looked up in surprise at the Mystic who had just tried to kill him.
"Experience a first in losing control over themselves?... We?"
Asda gazed at the child with the eyes of a fanatic. "Yes. We, Mystics."
Thales began to feel fear, for some unknown reason. Looking at the Mystic's fervent expression, he subconsciously took a step back and shook his head in terror.
However, the Mystic firmly stepped forward and spoke with a terrifying fervent, and insane tone, "Yes, child. What you said earlier is true. Your value in the future is worth my while to spare your… No, it is worthwhile for me to do my utmost to guide you! Child, what is your name?
"Ever since we were betrayed by those two bitches and lost the Battle of Eradication, our numbers have become fewer! You will become the leading member that will help us turn this situation around. They will not even realize it…" Asda held his shoulders tightly as though afraid Thales would run away the moment he let go.
"I… I don't even know what you are…" Thales murmured and took a step back, but Asda held on to him tightly. Asda's smiling expression was rather morbid.
He was like a person who had not smiled for many years and had forgotten how to smile. He suddenly spread his lips wide, enough to reach his cheeks.
"Today is the day your fate turns." Asda said ecstatically, "Follow me…"
For some reason, Thales remembered the three 'human spheres' in the cellar. He also recalled the man trying to kill him in the basement. Seeing Asda's morbid smile, other than panic, he had a strange feeling.
'God.' Thales remembered Asda's strength and could not help but gulp, 'Mystic… But this... is a lunatic who kills without batting an eye. Should I go with him?'
Thales opened his mouth with much difficulty. "But…"
He had finally broken away from the Brotherhood; from being a beggar, after so much hardship.
''But…"
In the next moment, as though Errol heard his voice, he no longer needed to decide.
"You can say 'no', but you cannot refuse. This is only the first time you lose control. Every- Urgh!" Asda, who was still chattering away nonstop, suddenly had his expression freeze.
A smooth blade of a sword suddenly stabbed through Asda's chest. Asda lowered his head incredulously, looked at the blade sticking out of his chest, and let go of Thales.
Thales was also shocked. He took a few steps back, tripped on a plank of wood, and then fell to the ground. However, Thales did not see any fear, alarm, or bewildered emotions in the Mystic's eyes. It was as though the man had not been stabbed but bitten by a mosquito, and with an astounded expression, had asked, 'Why are there mosquitoes?'.
He looked as though he did not even feel the pain.
'It obviously pierced his heart,' Thales thought in horror.
Asda stared at the blade strangely.
"Impossible." Asda frowned. He looked up and thought carefully before he spoke to the person behind him, "Even if you are a supreme class elite, it is impossible not to breathe; it is impossible not to move the air as you move; it is impossible for there to be no pressure in your body. As long as there is breathing, air flow, or pressure change, it is impossible to escape my detection.
"How long have you been in Red Street Market? How did you hide from my mystic powers? No, you could not break through the air wall either. Otherwise, you would have made your move in this room sooner, correct? Tell me."
There was no reply.
Asda looked belligerent as he turned around, ignoring the blade stuck in his back. He then coldly said to his attacker, "Tell me."
This time, Thales saw the person who attacked Asda. The attacker stood quietly. He was dressed in black clothing with a hood over his head, his gloves and boots were also in black.
