Kingdom's Bloodline, page 19
Stranger still was that the attacker wore a dark purple mask. The mask had two dark lenses in the position of the eyes.
The man was motionless, like a ghost. At that moment, anger passed through Asda's thought, which was formed with mystic powers. After all, anger was a human emotion that had left him a long time ago. So the mystic power in his body surged. It quickly made him calm and rational again.
"I believe you must be very patient," Asda softly said. "You waited for my mystic power to become unstable. You perceived the drop in power and ambushed me?
"Wonderful. You did it; you managed to ambush a Mystic." Asda ignored the blade in his chest and stared unwaveringly at the attacker wearing the strange mask.
"So, who are you? Did you accidentally discover me when you noticed the disturbance at Red Street Market? With this sort of skill... Which family are you from?"
A barrage of questions, but the masked man still remained silent.
Asda frowned. He had asked a lot of questions, but could not feel the air pressure in the strange man's body change. 'Could it be that he is neither surprised nor glad, and has no reaction at all to these questions?
'After hundreds of tests, my mystic air perception in mind reading is no longer effective? I can only use brute force.'
"Did you think this would kill me?"
Asda approached one step closer. He gently raised his left hand, his eyes expressionless. The air began to flow as his fingers moved, squeezing around the strange, masked man.
'This cannot spread beyond Red Street Market,' Asda thought to himself, 'If the Kingdom's Wrath or the Black Sword noticed this and rushed over, today's actions would be meaningless. Using a bit of mystic power is enough, I just need to deal with this masked man.'
This time, the masked man spoke, "No, a Mystic cannot be killed." His faint voice came through the mask.
"So you were neither dumb nor deaf." Asda gazed at the two lenses on the mask. However, he saw nothing except complicated machinery and gears behind the lenses.
Doubts rose in his heart. "You don't seem to be completely ignorant about us either..."
Thales almost exclaimed aloud. This was because the masked man's voice was the same hoarse voice that had been difficult to distinguish—it was the same voice that told him to lower his head during the fight between Jala and Ralf. With this in mind, Thales' trembling hands slowly began to calm down.
The masked man lightly stepped forward and went past Asda. It was as though the frightening air pressure could not even hinder him!
While the Air Mystic was caught off guard, the masked man stretched his hand out and pulled. The dagger disappeared from Asda's back and appeared in his hand.
It was a shortsword with a gleaming blade and a dark-hued cross on the cross-guard.
Asda became somber. It was unusual for him to be unable to respond. He glared at the uninvited guest coldly and took the current situation into account.
'What is he relying on? According to the intelligence updated yesterday, Judgment Spear is on the Western Frontline, the Motionless Bow is at the outskirts, and the Constellation Staff is at the Rejuvenation Palace. All that was left is the mysterious Supreme Sword and Shield. Supposedly, some say it is being kept away but others say it is at the Broken Dragon Fortress. The other anti-mystic equipment in Eternal Star City was also not enough to seal a supreme class Mystic.
'So why is this masked man still so calm?'
Thales could barely believe what he saw. When the masked man had taken out the dagger from Asda's back, the wound that should have been bleeding emitted a small blue light.
The light turned into his clothes, appearing like new. It was as though he had never been stabbed in the chest.
'A Mystic.' Thales started to believe in Asda's insane words. 'What kind of monster is a Mystic?'
Before Thales had time to clearly think about this, he was shrouded by a figure. The strange, masked man walked in front of Thales. Before the boy could react, he had already enclosed him in an embrace.
Thales struggled but the masked man lightly held the back of his neck. The boy felt his strength slowly disappear and became limp in his arms.
In a daze, Thales saw Asda lift both his hands up in the corner of his eyes. "Hey, be careful of his—"
The boy wanted to speak but the masked man had covered his mouth. Asda stood behind them, no longer intending to continue observing.
'This boy is too important.'
"Since you know Mystics cannot be killed, why did you act?" Asda's mystic energy started to move, he gathered the air within fifty meters around him. "You cannot be a True Class but you should at the very least be at the peak of Supreme Class. You even have a way of hiding from Mystics."
With a nasty expression, Asda waved both his hands. Thales then felt the surrounding air pressure change.
The Air Mystic was about to attack.
"But no matter who you are—" Asda's words were then interrupted by the terror in his eyes. "This! What is this?!"
Following this interruption was also a change in the surrounding air pressure. Thales looked across the shoulder of the masked man and saw that Asda looked frightened. The Mystic trembled and took a few steps back, a purple light shone from where he had been stabbed. This was the first time Thales saw alarm in the Mystic's eyes.
The masked man lowered his head towards Thales and his hoarse voice echoed, "A Mystic cannot be killed, but they are not invincible."
For some reason, Thales suddenly felt calm. He felt much safer with the strange person compared to the lunatic behind. The alarmed Asda looked terrified as he covered his chest. It was as though the purple light was about to explode from there.
"No. No…" He then looked back up at the masked man. Fear and hatred were evident on his face. "This is… the Sovereign State's… legendary, anti-mystic equipment!"
The masked man reached out and covered Thales' eyes.
"This weapon… I have never seen this before… No… No… Those two bitches…"
Thales could not hear the rest of Asda's flustered words because as Asda gritted his teeth resentfully, he turned into hundreds of light rays, and then exploded into a burst of unlimited energy. Thales felt as though he had entered another space where all the light and sound had disappeared from his senses.
He knew he was already far away from Red Street Market, and that the night was over.
.....
When Jala awoke, she found herself being carried on solid shoulders. Both sides of the street slowly retreated. She became aware of her situation and impatiently hit the back of this familiar man.
"Hey, Edmund! Let me down! I still need to go back!"
The fat cook snorted impatiently. "Let you go back to that pretty boy? The cop? What if Big Sis knew... hehe..."
Jala's face turned red. "That cop is not my lover!"
"I clearly saw you lying in his arms. That look of happiness…"
"Did you not pay attention to our surroundings?"
"I did! It was dark and windy, late at night, amidst the flowers in the moonlight, a rendezvous between…"
"Your main point is wrong, fatty!"
"Whether I am wrong or not, we will know in the future."
"Sigh. I don't want to talk nonsense with you, I still need to look for someone..."
"Everything is like this now. Don't expect me to let you go back."
"Damn fatty! Lousy cook! Let me down! I want to challenge you to a battle!"
"Fight with you? You are only amazing as an ordinary class. Come back to me once you reach supra class."
"Ha... I really have someone important to find."
"Don't tell me it's a cop. Even if you want to look for a prince, it is useless!"
"Damn fatty! Still harping on this issue? Sheesh! Can you just let me down? Pretty please? Uncle Edmund…"
"You're already twenty and still acting spoiled? Do you think you are still a little girl? Don't you feel shame?"
"Why would I? Uncle, you are already forty but don't you also act like you're three years old?"
"Hmph. Mentally, I am still a young man… Eh? Something is not right with that sentence."
.....
At the same time, on the other side of the street in the distance, Kohen was awakened by a slap in the face.
While dazed, he realized that the person in front of him was his immediate superior, the police chief, Lorbec Deira. But this time, the chief looked concerned as he treated Kohen's serious injuries. When Lorbec noticed that Kohen had regained consciousness, he said angrily, "Has the hero woken up? Did you manage to eliminate the Brotherhood and the Blood Bottle Gang after your stroll?"
"I…"
"How dare you? You openly disobeyed orders and acted on your own! Are you proud of yourself?"
"But…"
"But what? If it was not because I wanted to save your father's reputation, I would have already shot you! Or do you think we came to look for you when we saw the sword beams?"
"Bu—"
"But what? I really have the world's worst luck to have a subordinate like you! Do you think you are the protagonist of the Dark Night Temple's drama? Then that girl just now must be the female lead?"
"She…"
"Do not mention that girl! If your father knew you came to the Red Street Market in the middle of the night to look for women…"
"No…"
"How can you still speak without shame? Even the hot favorite of the Laya Club, Miss Lilian, reported that you visited her in her bedroom in the middle of the night."
"That…"
"Security Captain, Class Two police officer, openly violated orders to seek pleasure at night! You better be prepared for a suspension when you return!"
"Ha..."
At this moment, another loud noise carried from the center of the Red Street Market.
*Boom!*
The whole city heard the terrible explosion.
*Boom!*
This time, the explosion sent shockwaves reverberating into the sky. Hot dust from the explosions suddenly flew in from afar. Chief Lorbec and the dejected Kohen were astonished as they stared at the center of Red Street Market.
"This is bad." The chief muttered, "The funds that had just been approved for construction…"
"Chief, what is with that evaluation?"
"Those who don't manage money or family, just shut up!"
On the other side of the street, the cook Edmund and Jala, who was on his shoulders, were both shocked by the aftermath of the explosion.
"Little Jala," Edmund muttered, "luckily we ran quickly and are far away."
"Is that the point?'
"Didn't Big Sister say 'safety first'?"
"You… are really my three-year-old uncle!"
"Hey, how can you speak like that?"
.....
When Thales' feet touched the ground again, he fell onto the floor and coughed. All his wounds began to feel painful at that moment. The strange, masked man stood still by the side as though nothing had happened.
"Asda… Is the Mystic dead?"
"No, the weapon is not perfect and cannot seal him permanently," The hoarse voice replied. "However, he should not reappear for at least a dozen years."
Thales' heart tightened at first, and then calmed down. The Mystic was crazy and extremely abnormal. The impression he had was too profound.
'Ten years is enough to come up with countermeasures.'
Thales suddenly looked up and remembered something. "I still have a companion. She protected me…"
"She is alright," The hoarse-voiced person seemed to understand his thoughts and immediately replied. "Right now, she is on her way back to the Lower City District."
Thales breathed a sigh of relief and then collapsed. However, he immediately remembered an extremely important detail. "You… Sir..." Thales asked with the greatest care after remembering his previous contact with the Mystic, "Who are you?"
Thales did not have high expectations of a secretive, masked man to give him a friendly reply. However, the next scene almost caused his jaw to drop to the ground.
The masked man still had a murderous look the previous moment, but he suddenly took a step back and placed his right hand on the left side of his chest, while his left hand was placed behind his waist as he knelt down on one knee.
The man then respectfully and solemnly replied, "My name is Yodel Cato. I am at your service."
Chapter 16: The Dawn, Blood and Lights |
When a second, larger explosion sounded from the center of Red Street Market, Morris, Layork, and the others had escaped from the Blood Bottle Gang members, who could not coordinate due to a chaotic command. From a distance, they saw Cenza, who was circling around with Kirks the Clown.
Cenza was almost two meters in height, but he did not look skinny and was strong and sturdy. His dark skin tone, yellowing straight hair, and frosty countenance made him look slightly somber, but all the elders in the Brotherhood knew that, apart from the three main Assassins, the 'Crownless Fist' Cenza Myron—who was also the head of the six Powerhouses—was the most dependable person in the Brotherhood. No, most of the time, he was even more dependable than the three main Assassins.
"You call this a Psionic Ability?" Cenza said disdainfully as he coldly watched 'Flying Blade Clown' Kirks jump around the roofs, continuously shooting flying blades from his bottomless dimensional-pocket.
'Morris, Adrienessa and Layork, one supra class, two other great fighters in the ordinary class, and an unknown amount of other people.' One of Blood Bottle Gang's eight Psionic Warriors, the 'Flying Blade Clown' Kirks, thought as he crouched on a roof and watched with a grave expression on his face as more powerful fighters from the Brotherhood gathered together.
The Blood Bottle Gang elites who were his subordinates had been completely massacred.
There was also Cenza, who was almost up to supreme class.
Blood Bottle Gang's reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. There was no news at all from the two supra class fighters, Song and Roubaix, and neither was there any news from Ralf. He had lost contact with Solo for the past ten minutes, and that coward, Tinker, was probably hiding in the dark and observing the situation. Rumeno should have been the one responsible for Cenza, but since Cenza was completely fine, Rumeno was probably already at hell's river, waiting to be transported to the other side by the ferryman.
Even worse, after the Air Wall disappeared with the explosion, the Air Mystic's orders had been absent for a long time.
Kirks' contemplation did not last too long.
Behind Cenza, one of the Brotherhood's thirteen Generals—the Northlander, 'Steel Pricker' Adrienessa—clenched his teeth. He nonchalantly threw a human head that Cenza had just obtained onto the floor. That head belonged to a supreme class Psionic Warrior and Puppet Master from Mane et Nox Dynasty [1] in the Eastern Peninsula—the 'Divine Chaos Soldier', Song.
The Clown contemplated for a while and took out two throwing knives from his dimensional pocket. He then placed an oxygen tube in his mouth in order to defend against Morris' Psionic Abilities. At the same time, he also made a decision to leave the place immediately.
Under these circumstances, even the Air Mystic cannot blame him for his decision.
But the next moment, Kirks was shocked to see Cenza's fist speeding towards his face.
'Since when was Cenza's speed so fast?!'
However, he immediately saw a plump figure behind Cenza—it was Morris, who was tightly clenching his teeth and activating his Psionic Ability.
'He did not remove all the air around me. The Clown thought in shock and despair. But… removed all the air around Cenza?'
When the Air Wall disappeared after the first explosion, Morris knew that there would be unexpected changes in the situation on that night. And when the second shocking explosion sounded from far away, Morris managed to react. It was time to strike back.
Without making a single sound, he firmly removed all the air on the path between Cenza and Kirks.
Cenza felt the change in his surroundings. This boxer—who had worked together with Morris for years—immediately held his breath and threw a punch. Without the burden of air resistance, and with a speed that was a few times faster than usual, he hurled his punch forward!
The battle did not continue for long.
Cenza easily caught both of Kirks' throwing knives. He then used his continuous, relentless, accurate and fearsome iron fist to break apart the Psionic Space that Kirks depended on. The Clown depended on this Psionic Space to fend off long-distance attacks. He also came well-prepared with oxygen supplies and throwing knives, causing Morris to be unable to do anything about him for some time. At that moment, his Psionic Space shattered, Layork was already standing quietly behind Cenza.
Morris, who had just finished using his Psionic Ability, bent and panted while holding his knees. His fat cheeks wobbled. He did not look at the Clown again—whose death was certain—but turned to Cenza and said, "The second… the second explosion came from deep within Red Street Market. An accident unknown to… to us must have happened. But no matter what, as the Air Wall has stopped working, something must… must have happened to the Air Mystic! Besides, we have retreated far enough, and our people have almost… almost fully assembled." Morris recovered his breath and sized up the situation with his experience. "Both Song and Kirks were defeated here. If this is a bait from them, the scrumptiousness of this bait is enough for us to give this battle our all!"
Layork ignored Kirks' pleading and coolly sliced opened the latter's neck—which was covered in greasepaint. He then nodded and said, "After the road was cleared, the front line reported that they have discovered 'Phantom Wind Follower' Ralf's dead body. At the back line, Sir Lance sent news regarding Lassbyn and Dorno's deaths. Once we add in Kirks' death to the mix, the enemy's battle power in Eternal Star City has been reduced by half."
In response to this, Cenza put down his smoldering fist. His response was short. "Then let's fight back!"
And so, the dawn in Red Street Market was welcomed with the color of blood.
When Nayer Rick—who was the logistics director Lance assigned—saw Morris and Cenza return, drenched in blood at the intersection between XC District and Red Street Market, the sky was almost bright.
The man was motionless, like a ghost. At that moment, anger passed through Asda's thought, which was formed with mystic powers. After all, anger was a human emotion that had left him a long time ago. So the mystic power in his body surged. It quickly made him calm and rational again.
"I believe you must be very patient," Asda softly said. "You waited for my mystic power to become unstable. You perceived the drop in power and ambushed me?
"Wonderful. You did it; you managed to ambush a Mystic." Asda ignored the blade in his chest and stared unwaveringly at the attacker wearing the strange mask.
"So, who are you? Did you accidentally discover me when you noticed the disturbance at Red Street Market? With this sort of skill... Which family are you from?"
A barrage of questions, but the masked man still remained silent.
Asda frowned. He had asked a lot of questions, but could not feel the air pressure in the strange man's body change. 'Could it be that he is neither surprised nor glad, and has no reaction at all to these questions?
'After hundreds of tests, my mystic air perception in mind reading is no longer effective? I can only use brute force.'
"Did you think this would kill me?"
Asda approached one step closer. He gently raised his left hand, his eyes expressionless. The air began to flow as his fingers moved, squeezing around the strange, masked man.
'This cannot spread beyond Red Street Market,' Asda thought to himself, 'If the Kingdom's Wrath or the Black Sword noticed this and rushed over, today's actions would be meaningless. Using a bit of mystic power is enough, I just need to deal with this masked man.'
This time, the masked man spoke, "No, a Mystic cannot be killed." His faint voice came through the mask.
"So you were neither dumb nor deaf." Asda gazed at the two lenses on the mask. However, he saw nothing except complicated machinery and gears behind the lenses.
Doubts rose in his heart. "You don't seem to be completely ignorant about us either..."
Thales almost exclaimed aloud. This was because the masked man's voice was the same hoarse voice that had been difficult to distinguish—it was the same voice that told him to lower his head during the fight between Jala and Ralf. With this in mind, Thales' trembling hands slowly began to calm down.
The masked man lightly stepped forward and went past Asda. It was as though the frightening air pressure could not even hinder him!
While the Air Mystic was caught off guard, the masked man stretched his hand out and pulled. The dagger disappeared from Asda's back and appeared in his hand.
It was a shortsword with a gleaming blade and a dark-hued cross on the cross-guard.
Asda became somber. It was unusual for him to be unable to respond. He glared at the uninvited guest coldly and took the current situation into account.
'What is he relying on? According to the intelligence updated yesterday, Judgment Spear is on the Western Frontline, the Motionless Bow is at the outskirts, and the Constellation Staff is at the Rejuvenation Palace. All that was left is the mysterious Supreme Sword and Shield. Supposedly, some say it is being kept away but others say it is at the Broken Dragon Fortress. The other anti-mystic equipment in Eternal Star City was also not enough to seal a supreme class Mystic.
'So why is this masked man still so calm?'
Thales could barely believe what he saw. When the masked man had taken out the dagger from Asda's back, the wound that should have been bleeding emitted a small blue light.
The light turned into his clothes, appearing like new. It was as though he had never been stabbed in the chest.
'A Mystic.' Thales started to believe in Asda's insane words. 'What kind of monster is a Mystic?'
Before Thales had time to clearly think about this, he was shrouded by a figure. The strange, masked man walked in front of Thales. Before the boy could react, he had already enclosed him in an embrace.
Thales struggled but the masked man lightly held the back of his neck. The boy felt his strength slowly disappear and became limp in his arms.
In a daze, Thales saw Asda lift both his hands up in the corner of his eyes. "Hey, be careful of his—"
The boy wanted to speak but the masked man had covered his mouth. Asda stood behind them, no longer intending to continue observing.
'This boy is too important.'
"Since you know Mystics cannot be killed, why did you act?" Asda's mystic energy started to move, he gathered the air within fifty meters around him. "You cannot be a True Class but you should at the very least be at the peak of Supreme Class. You even have a way of hiding from Mystics."
With a nasty expression, Asda waved both his hands. Thales then felt the surrounding air pressure change.
The Air Mystic was about to attack.
"But no matter who you are—" Asda's words were then interrupted by the terror in his eyes. "This! What is this?!"
Following this interruption was also a change in the surrounding air pressure. Thales looked across the shoulder of the masked man and saw that Asda looked frightened. The Mystic trembled and took a few steps back, a purple light shone from where he had been stabbed. This was the first time Thales saw alarm in the Mystic's eyes.
The masked man lowered his head towards Thales and his hoarse voice echoed, "A Mystic cannot be killed, but they are not invincible."
For some reason, Thales suddenly felt calm. He felt much safer with the strange person compared to the lunatic behind. The alarmed Asda looked terrified as he covered his chest. It was as though the purple light was about to explode from there.
"No. No…" He then looked back up at the masked man. Fear and hatred were evident on his face. "This is… the Sovereign State's… legendary, anti-mystic equipment!"
The masked man reached out and covered Thales' eyes.
"This weapon… I have never seen this before… No… No… Those two bitches…"
Thales could not hear the rest of Asda's flustered words because as Asda gritted his teeth resentfully, he turned into hundreds of light rays, and then exploded into a burst of unlimited energy. Thales felt as though he had entered another space where all the light and sound had disappeared from his senses.
He knew he was already far away from Red Street Market, and that the night was over.
.....
When Jala awoke, she found herself being carried on solid shoulders. Both sides of the street slowly retreated. She became aware of her situation and impatiently hit the back of this familiar man.
"Hey, Edmund! Let me down! I still need to go back!"
The fat cook snorted impatiently. "Let you go back to that pretty boy? The cop? What if Big Sis knew... hehe..."
Jala's face turned red. "That cop is not my lover!"
"I clearly saw you lying in his arms. That look of happiness…"
"Did you not pay attention to our surroundings?"
"I did! It was dark and windy, late at night, amidst the flowers in the moonlight, a rendezvous between…"
"Your main point is wrong, fatty!"
"Whether I am wrong or not, we will know in the future."
"Sigh. I don't want to talk nonsense with you, I still need to look for someone..."
"Everything is like this now. Don't expect me to let you go back."
"Damn fatty! Lousy cook! Let me down! I want to challenge you to a battle!"
"Fight with you? You are only amazing as an ordinary class. Come back to me once you reach supra class."
"Ha... I really have someone important to find."
"Don't tell me it's a cop. Even if you want to look for a prince, it is useless!"
"Damn fatty! Still harping on this issue? Sheesh! Can you just let me down? Pretty please? Uncle Edmund…"
"You're already twenty and still acting spoiled? Do you think you are still a little girl? Don't you feel shame?"
"Why would I? Uncle, you are already forty but don't you also act like you're three years old?"
"Hmph. Mentally, I am still a young man… Eh? Something is not right with that sentence."
.....
At the same time, on the other side of the street in the distance, Kohen was awakened by a slap in the face.
While dazed, he realized that the person in front of him was his immediate superior, the police chief, Lorbec Deira. But this time, the chief looked concerned as he treated Kohen's serious injuries. When Lorbec noticed that Kohen had regained consciousness, he said angrily, "Has the hero woken up? Did you manage to eliminate the Brotherhood and the Blood Bottle Gang after your stroll?"
"I…"
"How dare you? You openly disobeyed orders and acted on your own! Are you proud of yourself?"
"But…"
"But what? If it was not because I wanted to save your father's reputation, I would have already shot you! Or do you think we came to look for you when we saw the sword beams?"
"Bu—"
"But what? I really have the world's worst luck to have a subordinate like you! Do you think you are the protagonist of the Dark Night Temple's drama? Then that girl just now must be the female lead?"
"She…"
"Do not mention that girl! If your father knew you came to the Red Street Market in the middle of the night to look for women…"
"No…"
"How can you still speak without shame? Even the hot favorite of the Laya Club, Miss Lilian, reported that you visited her in her bedroom in the middle of the night."
"That…"
"Security Captain, Class Two police officer, openly violated orders to seek pleasure at night! You better be prepared for a suspension when you return!"
"Ha..."
At this moment, another loud noise carried from the center of the Red Street Market.
*Boom!*
The whole city heard the terrible explosion.
*Boom!*
This time, the explosion sent shockwaves reverberating into the sky. Hot dust from the explosions suddenly flew in from afar. Chief Lorbec and the dejected Kohen were astonished as they stared at the center of Red Street Market.
"This is bad." The chief muttered, "The funds that had just been approved for construction…"
"Chief, what is with that evaluation?"
"Those who don't manage money or family, just shut up!"
On the other side of the street, the cook Edmund and Jala, who was on his shoulders, were both shocked by the aftermath of the explosion.
"Little Jala," Edmund muttered, "luckily we ran quickly and are far away."
"Is that the point?'
"Didn't Big Sister say 'safety first'?"
"You… are really my three-year-old uncle!"
"Hey, how can you speak like that?"
.....
When Thales' feet touched the ground again, he fell onto the floor and coughed. All his wounds began to feel painful at that moment. The strange, masked man stood still by the side as though nothing had happened.
"Asda… Is the Mystic dead?"
"No, the weapon is not perfect and cannot seal him permanently," The hoarse voice replied. "However, he should not reappear for at least a dozen years."
Thales' heart tightened at first, and then calmed down. The Mystic was crazy and extremely abnormal. The impression he had was too profound.
'Ten years is enough to come up with countermeasures.'
Thales suddenly looked up and remembered something. "I still have a companion. She protected me…"
"She is alright," The hoarse-voiced person seemed to understand his thoughts and immediately replied. "Right now, she is on her way back to the Lower City District."
Thales breathed a sigh of relief and then collapsed. However, he immediately remembered an extremely important detail. "You… Sir..." Thales asked with the greatest care after remembering his previous contact with the Mystic, "Who are you?"
Thales did not have high expectations of a secretive, masked man to give him a friendly reply. However, the next scene almost caused his jaw to drop to the ground.
The masked man still had a murderous look the previous moment, but he suddenly took a step back and placed his right hand on the left side of his chest, while his left hand was placed behind his waist as he knelt down on one knee.
The man then respectfully and solemnly replied, "My name is Yodel Cato. I am at your service."
Chapter 16: The Dawn, Blood and Lights |
When a second, larger explosion sounded from the center of Red Street Market, Morris, Layork, and the others had escaped from the Blood Bottle Gang members, who could not coordinate due to a chaotic command. From a distance, they saw Cenza, who was circling around with Kirks the Clown.
Cenza was almost two meters in height, but he did not look skinny and was strong and sturdy. His dark skin tone, yellowing straight hair, and frosty countenance made him look slightly somber, but all the elders in the Brotherhood knew that, apart from the three main Assassins, the 'Crownless Fist' Cenza Myron—who was also the head of the six Powerhouses—was the most dependable person in the Brotherhood. No, most of the time, he was even more dependable than the three main Assassins.
"You call this a Psionic Ability?" Cenza said disdainfully as he coldly watched 'Flying Blade Clown' Kirks jump around the roofs, continuously shooting flying blades from his bottomless dimensional-pocket.
'Morris, Adrienessa and Layork, one supra class, two other great fighters in the ordinary class, and an unknown amount of other people.' One of Blood Bottle Gang's eight Psionic Warriors, the 'Flying Blade Clown' Kirks, thought as he crouched on a roof and watched with a grave expression on his face as more powerful fighters from the Brotherhood gathered together.
The Blood Bottle Gang elites who were his subordinates had been completely massacred.
There was also Cenza, who was almost up to supreme class.
Blood Bottle Gang's reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. There was no news at all from the two supra class fighters, Song and Roubaix, and neither was there any news from Ralf. He had lost contact with Solo for the past ten minutes, and that coward, Tinker, was probably hiding in the dark and observing the situation. Rumeno should have been the one responsible for Cenza, but since Cenza was completely fine, Rumeno was probably already at hell's river, waiting to be transported to the other side by the ferryman.
Even worse, after the Air Wall disappeared with the explosion, the Air Mystic's orders had been absent for a long time.
Kirks' contemplation did not last too long.
Behind Cenza, one of the Brotherhood's thirteen Generals—the Northlander, 'Steel Pricker' Adrienessa—clenched his teeth. He nonchalantly threw a human head that Cenza had just obtained onto the floor. That head belonged to a supreme class Psionic Warrior and Puppet Master from Mane et Nox Dynasty [1] in the Eastern Peninsula—the 'Divine Chaos Soldier', Song.
The Clown contemplated for a while and took out two throwing knives from his dimensional pocket. He then placed an oxygen tube in his mouth in order to defend against Morris' Psionic Abilities. At the same time, he also made a decision to leave the place immediately.
Under these circumstances, even the Air Mystic cannot blame him for his decision.
But the next moment, Kirks was shocked to see Cenza's fist speeding towards his face.
'Since when was Cenza's speed so fast?!'
However, he immediately saw a plump figure behind Cenza—it was Morris, who was tightly clenching his teeth and activating his Psionic Ability.
'He did not remove all the air around me. The Clown thought in shock and despair. But… removed all the air around Cenza?'
When the Air Wall disappeared after the first explosion, Morris knew that there would be unexpected changes in the situation on that night. And when the second shocking explosion sounded from far away, Morris managed to react. It was time to strike back.
Without making a single sound, he firmly removed all the air on the path between Cenza and Kirks.
Cenza felt the change in his surroundings. This boxer—who had worked together with Morris for years—immediately held his breath and threw a punch. Without the burden of air resistance, and with a speed that was a few times faster than usual, he hurled his punch forward!
The battle did not continue for long.
Cenza easily caught both of Kirks' throwing knives. He then used his continuous, relentless, accurate and fearsome iron fist to break apart the Psionic Space that Kirks depended on. The Clown depended on this Psionic Space to fend off long-distance attacks. He also came well-prepared with oxygen supplies and throwing knives, causing Morris to be unable to do anything about him for some time. At that moment, his Psionic Space shattered, Layork was already standing quietly behind Cenza.
Morris, who had just finished using his Psionic Ability, bent and panted while holding his knees. His fat cheeks wobbled. He did not look at the Clown again—whose death was certain—but turned to Cenza and said, "The second… the second explosion came from deep within Red Street Market. An accident unknown to… to us must have happened. But no matter what, as the Air Wall has stopped working, something must… must have happened to the Air Mystic! Besides, we have retreated far enough, and our people have almost… almost fully assembled." Morris recovered his breath and sized up the situation with his experience. "Both Song and Kirks were defeated here. If this is a bait from them, the scrumptiousness of this bait is enough for us to give this battle our all!"
Layork ignored Kirks' pleading and coolly sliced opened the latter's neck—which was covered in greasepaint. He then nodded and said, "After the road was cleared, the front line reported that they have discovered 'Phantom Wind Follower' Ralf's dead body. At the back line, Sir Lance sent news regarding Lassbyn and Dorno's deaths. Once we add in Kirks' death to the mix, the enemy's battle power in Eternal Star City has been reduced by half."
In response to this, Cenza put down his smoldering fist. His response was short. "Then let's fight back!"
And so, the dawn in Red Street Market was welcomed with the color of blood.
When Nayer Rick—who was the logistics director Lance assigned—saw Morris and Cenza return, drenched in blood at the intersection between XC District and Red Street Market, the sky was almost bright.
