Chapter 207
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Death Spirits (2)
The Execution Twin Hands was Blue Flame's signature technique.
It was the ultimate move of an absolute powerhouse, one spoken of even before Blue Flame himself.
Though it lacked the power and precision of Blue Flame's version, it was still a technique that demanded utmost caution. Moreover, infused with the practitioner's desperate resolve, it required giving everything one's all.
This clash could not end unscathed.
Aaack!
From the depths of darkness, a flash surged forth, mercilessly cleaving through the Execution Twin Hands. Like a blade slicing water, like a heroic general charging straight through a ragtag mob.
This was no surprise.
Whenever the Execution Twin Hands was unleashed, this phenomenon always played out.
It wasn't that the opponent was strong enough to split it. The Execution Twin Hands naturally had two heads. Two arms, two heads. A head and a tail, attacking and defending with both. Thus, anything slicing down the center would force them apart left and right.
No attack could fail to part the Execution Twin Hands at its core.
Yet Mian So-sal's assault was no ordinary strike. He truly bisected the center.
The deciding factor lay in whether it was a pincer from both flanks or a direct center hit.
Either way, the victim suffered a fatal blow.
A duel on the brink of a hundred-foot pole!
Fox focused every ounce of his spirit on the flashing light before his eyes.
He harbored no illusions of defeating Mian So-sal. Nor did he expect to dodge his sword. He only prayed that the Execution Twin Hands would land. But!
Puk!
A searing pain erupted from his side before he knew it.
Mian So-sal was far faster than anticipated. By the feel of the impact, he was at least a full beat ahead.
'This speed...!'
There was no time left for thought.
Shuuut! Shuk!
The Execution Twin Hands lunged at Mian So-sal.
The heads targeted the temples, the tail the heart. A single success meant instant death.
Klang!
Sword met sword.
Mian So-sal was incredibly swift. He evaded the temple strike with footwork and casually parried the heart thrust. Then he pressed his assault onward.
"Eek!"
Fox tried to change his move.
The parried downward strike could pivot into a reverse slash using wrist flexion. That would complete the Twin Goose Drops. The Execution Twin Hands' final supreme technique, its killing blow.
But once more, Mian So-sal was faster.
The downward blade was blocked at the wrist guard. The reverse slash never even materialized. The sword slid sideways as if it had legs. Mian So-sal had deflected it with the flat of his blade. And then,
Shuut! Puk!
Fox's eyes bulged wide.
Mian So-sal's sword pierced his abdomen, protruding from his back.
Blink! Blink!
Fox blinked at Mian So-sal, eyes fluttering.
The handsome young noble stood before him, but his expression was frozen cold, like a statue carved from white jade.
"What happened with Blue Flame?"
Mian So-sal asked icily.
Fox couldn't answer. He had no intention to, and even if he did, he couldn't.
His mouth locked shut. His pupils dilated, the world spinning dizzily.
Thud!
Fox collapsed like a toppled bundle of straw.
The explosion came then.
From all four directions, an intense flash blinded the eyes, spreading outward.
Kwaang! Kwaaaang!
A deafening roar followed.
The blast was powerful enough to numb eardrums.
The flash utterly transformed the surroundings. It painted the grass hut and everything around it in vivid yellow.
"Ah!"
Ugh!
Vanguard and Hanbi recoiled in shock and dismay, staggering back.
They had suspected from Fox's confidence, but they never imagined such devastating power. Enough to erase the hut entirely.
The explosive force pushed them stumbling away.
They were over thirty paces from the hut. Yet the flash that obliterated it reached even them. A scorching wind whipped through.
"Mian!"
Hanbi squinted into the flash's heart.
Was Mian So-sal alive? Impossible. That explosion could slay even a heavenly deity. Yet!
Sss...
The two saw the ground move.
Like shedding skin, a layer peeled up. And writhed.
"Tenacious bastard!"
Hanbi glared at the wriggling ground cover and spat.
The ground couldn't move. But that wasn't ground.
The flash's epicenter was ash. No life survived. If anything stirred... it had to be Mian So-sal.
Shring!
Hanbi drew his sword.
"We strike now."
"Got it."
Vanguard didn't stop him.
Shuuut! Shuut!
Hanbi charged like an eagle diving for a chick.
If that wriggling cover was Mian So-sal, he was still reeling from the blast. He'd dodged it somehow, but not unscathed.
Now was the time to attack.
Once Mian So-sal recovered his wits—or even his warrior instincts—it was over.
Pewk!
A sword dropped from the sky.
From heaven to earth, a faint, slender line plummeted.
Pat!
The line grazed the ground.
In that instant, Hanbi's face darkened. A shadow fell over him unbidden.
He'd missed the wriggling cover.
He thought he'd struck unseen... but it had slipped aside.
Flash!
The ground cover opened its eyes.
Charred black like a lump of coal... but the whites gleamed as eyelids lifted.
'He's awake!'
Mian So-sal looked at him.
It felt like a demon awakening. A wave of dread, as if surrendering his life to one.
Shuut! Puk!
Something burst from the earth, piercing his torso at the solar plexus.
"Kuh!"
Hanbi let out a short scream.
He hadn't seen the movement. His gaze was fixed on those freshly opened whites.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
Once, twice, thrice, four times... the sword withdrew and plunged, withdrew and plunged.
Hanbi staggered back with each hit.
The ground cover rose fully.
Mian So-sal, covered head to toe in black ash, calmly pursued, thrusting relentlessly.
"S-Stop already!"
Hanbi stared at Mian So-sal.
Creak!
Mian So-sal bared white teeth in a grin.
He still had white left: sclera, teeth... murderous intent.
Shuut! Puk!
Mian So-sal thrust once more. He wrenched Hanbi's sword free and shoved his body aside.
Thud!
Hanbi crashed roughly away.
Mian So-sal didn't even glance at him, turning back.
Creak!
Mian So-sal grinned with white teeth again.
Shuuut!
A sword flash gleamed before his eyes.
While Hanbi was under attack, Vanguard had crept in stealthily for a surprise strike.
The ambush was failing.
He'd silenced the flash, the energy, even the sword's whisper. Vanguard's finest covert assault. Yet the blade wouldn't touch Mian So-sal's face. Mian So-sal eyed the passing tip with mockery.
"Kek! Kek! Vermin!"
Mian So-sal muttered lowly.
Puk! Puuk!
Flesh tore simultaneously. An unfolding sword form raked Vanguard.
One sword split his chest.
Shuut! Paat!
The second sprayed blood. Severed bone jutted from flesh.
Vanguard looked at Hanbi.
Hanbi was already dead. Mian So-sal's final thrust had pierced him through.
This time, he looked at Mian So-sal.
Mian So-sal's eyes blazed with madness. His perpetual smirk was gone.
'Heh, this guy's unhinged too.'
Vanguard chuckled wryly.
This was their fated end.
Fox, Hanbi, himself... lives with no other path.
Puk!
A burning pain flared in his throat.
Mian So-sal had slashed it.
Vanguard crumpled like a soulless scarecrow.
One reduced to scattered ash, two fallen corpses.
One unscathed, still breathing.
Mian So-sal sat beneath the blazing sun.
Still caked in soot. Parts charred where Thunderbolt Blaze flames had licked.
He'd suffered severe burns, wittingly or not.
Yet Mian So-sal didn't care a whit. The man who once fussed over his looks... utterly indifferent.
He sat dazed, staring afar. Motionless, utterly still.
"We're heading back."
"Shouldn't we confirm the bodies?"
"Then you stay and check."
"I didn't mean it like—"
"Lunatic."
The sharp-eyed man glared at his subordinate and muttered.
The subordinate fell silent.
Among Bee Lord's eight disciples, none matched the Fourth in sheer cruelty.
The Fourth spoke little.
The Fourth offered no opinions.
The Fourth never botched a task.
This was the Fourth known to Bee Lord and the other seven seniors.
His men knew the real Fourth.
The Fourth's mind was serpentine in cunning. His malice more toxic than venom. His brutality unmatched by any demon. Defy him, and death awaited.
The petty mission was complete.
He'd watched Heavenly Annihilation Division trash—Vanguard, Hanbi, Fox, and presumably Jaja—meet their ends. Had they not died so neatly, seeking survival would have led to him... lucky for them they did.
Yes. Dying was their fortune.
Facing the Fourth instead of Mian So-sal meant a far crueler, more gruesome death.
Suut!
The Fourth rose.
Sssit! Sssisisit!
The hidden warriors around withdrew in unison.
A full hundred... brought to fight Mian So-sal if needed... the Hidden Phantom Assassins now retreated.