The Thirty-Sixth Stratagem
As black as the devil's incarnation itself, the darkness shot forward in a straight line. The unyielding will that brooked no obstacles seeped through the lethal aura it scattered.
There was no deafening roar, no flashy burst of light. Just a straightforward charge—pure power stripped of all ostentation.
The trail carved by the darkness-infused spear swept away every obstacle in its path. It was a destructive force like a meteor plummeting in a dead-straight line.
The shockwaves it unleashed obliterated not just the surrounding furniture and fixtures, but even rocks that looked like they'd withstood tens of thousands of years.
Only after piercing far through the wall blocking its way did the spear declare its arrival at the endpoint. It had bored clean through over thirty meters of thick stone.
"Kuhuk! You bastard...! Hiding that kind of power! You've pulled off quite the cute trick!"
But Blood Army Leader didn't die. The bastard was still alive.
Even with a hole the size of a newborn baby ripped through his right flank, he glared at me with eyes glowing red.
'Did he dodge it? Guess he didn't snag the Dark Shadow Corps captain spot in a gamble.'
If he'd taken a direct hit from Bucephalus, even Blood Army Leader would've vanished without leaving a corpse behind. But he'd evaded it. The hole in his side mattered less than the fact that he was still kicking.
"Where'd you find the spare attention!?!"
Maro unleashed black demonic energy as he dashed forward with footwork.
Blood Army Leader had dropped his sword from his right hand. He needed both to staunch the blood gushing from his side. A golden opportunity for Maro.
I didn't leisurely wait for the bastard to recover either. I drew my sword, kicked off the ground, and leaped at him.
Right now, Blood Army Leader was showing more openings than some back-alley thug. The perfect chance to finish him off completely was right in front of me.
A master like Blood Army Leader wouldn't give us another shot like this. I had to end it now.
"You bald-headed brats don't know your place, huh! Think this Blood Army Leader's gonna drop from parlor tricks like these!?"
Suddenly, his muscles began to swell. It was too drastic a change to chalk up to just channeling demonic energy for body enhancement.
His body ballooned out wildly like an inflating balloon. Looked like he was about to self-destruct.
"That's dangerous! We gotta take him down right now!"
Maro shouted urgently. With his cry, three blades of black sword energy shot from the tip of his blade—crescent-shaped demonic auras that tore through the air toward Blood Army Leader, striking his upper arm dead-on.
Claaang!
But the sword energy that should've sliced through flesh and severed the arm clashed against steel, letting out a heavy, resounding boom before scattering as ripples.
Deep dismay clouded Maro's face. Blood Army Leader's desperate gambit had worked.
'Not in the original story.'
I had to stay sharp. Without intel from the original, every move he made was a potential threat.
Blood Army Leader's appearance began to warp. The transformation was extreme. His whole body turned mottled and grotesque, muscles ballooning exaggeratedly, eyeballs shifting to a compound, insect-like lattice.
The most bizarre change was in his hands. The hand gripping his sword swelled like dough, swallowing the hilt whole. The sword fused with his arm.
He transformed the left hand holding the sword first, then gripped another sword with his right and did the same.
The hole in his side had already sealed. The grotesquely stretched skin and muscle had plugged it shut.
By the time I snapped out of it, Blood Army Leader had become a monster. If I had to compare to some beast or insect in nature, he was a praying mantis abomination.
"......Do all Dark Shadow Corps guys turn like that?"
"No way. He's mastered the Beast Exchange Technique."
A martial art from the original story. It transforms the body to boost combat power in an instant. Beast Exchange Technique fundamentally belongs to demonic arts—and a fairly advanced one at that.
'The effect's potent, but since it guzzles true essence, even demonic cultists rarely train in it outside elites. Guess this Blood Army Leader bastard did too.'
Its drawbacks matched its strengths. Beast Exchange Technique massively amplified both internal and external power in a flash.
'He just blocked Maro's sword energy with his skin alone. And the demonic energy leaking from him is leagues denser than before!'
"Kehehe! In this form, I'm always thirsty for blood. Lucky me—got a snack right in front of my eyes. Wonder what the young master's blood tastes like."
"Not content playing filthy mole rat, now you're bugging out too? Knew you had no pride, but you're someone I don't even wanna associate with."
"All talk, young master! If the cult leader got picked by words instead of strength, you'd be the one. What a shame!"
"I'll become the cult leader! And the first to purge is Dark Shadow Corps Captain Blood Army Leader!"
Shadows a hundred times denser clung to Blood Army Leader's dual blades. Now that his hands and swords were one, maybe call 'em dual sword-arms.
"I hate all-talk trash like you. Third Squad, Fifth Squad—all that garbage! That's why I stood by while they died! Now it's your turn, young master!"
"Think the leader of trash like that can kill me!?"
Maro drew out five strands of demonic energy from his blade tip. His Ten Blood Asura Sword converted it to blood energy—darker and thicker than before. The blood energy coalesced on its own into sword auras.
"Ten Blood Asura Sword! When the cult leader uses it, it feels like true asura arts. Shame such a treasure fell to a crow bastard like you!"
Maro's blood energy was impressive, but Blood Army Leader's demonic energy was more so.
Blood Army Leader moved first. His demonic energy was solid and heavy—yet ridiculously fast. It targeted not just Maro, but me too.
'Gotta dodge.'
I twisted away, letting the energy glance off. But another was already bearing down.
He was conjuring and launching new blasts faster than I could evade. Dodging wasn't cutting it anymore.
I formed a light blade with my Light Saber. Swinging with all my might like a batter aiming for the fences, I smacked away Blood Army Leader's demonic energy.
Did the elemental superiority work? My Light Saber deflected it upward. When it smashed into the ceiling, the whole underground cavern shook uneasily.
'Holy Missile!'
Defense alone wouldn't win. The instant I parried his sword energy, I counterattacked—a half-beat faster.
This time, sixty light orbs. They lit up the dark cavern like shooting stars.
Contrasting Blood Army Leader's shadow demonic energy, the barrage of pure light wove a dreamlike scene. Though the situation was about twelve thousand light-years from dreamy.
Shiiiiiing!
The light orbs rained toward Blood Army Leader. Not mechanically fired—I synced with Maro's counter.
Maro's blood energy flew alongside my orbs: light orbs breaching his guard, blood energy landing the kill shot. Perfect combo.
Maro and I hadn't rehearsed, but we pulled off seamless teamwork. No fluke—Blood Army Leader's raid had forced us to master combos.
But Blood Army Leader shrugged off the double-layered assault like a joke. Simply: he didn't even block my Holy Missiles.
The orbs hitting his skin only scorched his clothes, failing to penetrate. Despite elemental edge, his Beast Exchange Technique-fortified hide was vault-solid.
The explosions crumbled the cavern walls. Each blast sent ominous tremors tickling my feet. This place was collapsing. Gut feeling.
'Was Bucephalus the finisher?'
Couldn't drag this out. Even if we won, we'd be buried alive with the ghosts of this demonic cult branch's long-dead guardians. Not our goal.
Despite my Light Control attacks and Maro's Ten Blood Asura Sword, Blood Army Leader wasn't on the defensive. We were the ones sweating his counters.
He churned out enough demonic energy to handle us both without tiring. Sure, even with Beast Exchange Technique, humans tire—no infinite martial arts exist, even in the immortal realms.
'Problem is, we'll drop first.'
His onslaught accelerated with every exchange.
I spotted why. His demonic energy gashed Maro, the flowing blood turning to red mist absorbed by Blood Army Leader.
He was recharging his energy with enemy blood. Blood drain technique. Vicious in prolonged fights.
Tough bastard. True to a demonic cult captain. Leagues beyond the late-stage experts from Yongho Contest.
'Thought three of us could raid him... Unfairly strong. How many more like this ahead?'
I couldn't take him head-on yet. At least wait out his Beast Exchange Technique.
"Maro! Time to pull out the thirty-sixth stratagem!"
"Kuhk! Fancy way to say retreat! Think you can escape my grasp!?"
Blood Army Leader bellowed, eyes bulging. Each arm swing gouged the cavern walls. Maro was covered in cuts.
No fatal wounds, but the accumulating gashes whittled his combat power—and fueled Blood Army Leader. We were overwhelmingly disadvantaged.
Maro staggered toward me, panting. He muttered low.
"Can you make an opening? Just once?"
"Once, yeah... You got a plan?"
Didn't figure collapsing Maro had a way to drop Blood Army Leader.
"I'll make it work. If we don't kill him, we're dead. No time either. Cavern's shaking harder. Sand's falling from the ceiling. Hesitate, and we'll be buried without a coffin."
"Fine. I'll make that opening. Clean up after."
I checked my skills and stepped forward. One shot—I could do it. I had that skill.
Blood Army Leader grinned fiercely at my resolute advance.
"Decided to meet King Yama first? Tell 'em Blood Army Leader of Dark Shadow Corps sent ya—they'll roll out the red carpet! I've sent plenty that way!"
Imagining smashing that smug face made my heart race.