Free Web NovelChapter 57: Come And Die (2)
Chapter 57
The large clearing was left in a state of silence as the bandits stared in pure astonishment and total shock at the sudden change of events.
One of them had just been killed in what seemed like only a few seconds; no, it didn’t merely seem like a few seconds.. it had indeed happened within a few seconds.
The guy hadn’t even had the time to defend himself against what came for him, and now he was dead. Wait... he is dead. That thought struck the minds of the remaining Dark Reaper members, and their eyes widened as they instantly became alert and wary.
They drew their weapons, their bodies surging with qi as they prepared to battle with everything they had and take down this monster disguised as a normal human child.
He was still only a human child after all, and his cultivation was merely at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm, while there were five of them at the late stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.
Surely they should be able to win easily. That was what logic said, and yet what their instincts were telling them was completely different; every fiber of their being was screaming at them that they were in grave danger.
Meanwhile, Liyu felt the maddening itch that had been tormenting him all this while, making him feel as though he was losing his mind, lessen by a small amount. It was as if he had partially satisfied the urge, but it was still not enough... far from enough.
His urge still needed to be fed, and there was more than enough prey standing before him to accomplish that. Liyu didn’t know whether to laugh in sheer excitement or cry tears of joy because of this sudden development.
Just when he had thought things would only continue getting worse and that he was truly going to lose himself to madness, the merciful heavens had sent this bunch of prey directly to him... a gift, a gift meant to satisfy his urges and stop him from completely losing his sanity.
Liyu grinned as he looked around at the warriors who were unsheathing their weapons. They were all at the late stages of Level Two, and yet he couldn’t feel even the slightest hint of danger from any of them.
If he had to describe them with a single word at this moment, then that word would be... weak. Pathetically weak. Completely deserving of the title of prey he had given them. What amused him even more was seeing how serious they looked, all geared up and ready to fight to the death.
From the expressions on their faces, Liyu couldn’t help but become even more amused. Did they truly believe they stood a chance of winning? Well, he was going to crush that hope; he was going to drown them in terror before taking away their lives.
The promise of blood and battle sent waves of excitement coursing through Liyu’s nerves. His grin widened, his teeth lengthened into razor-sharp fangs, and he spread his arms wide as if welcoming long-lost relatives into a warm embrace.
Yet the maniacal look in his eyes, coupled with his monstrous appearance, made it obvious to anyone with common sense that this wasn’t a welcoming embrace; this was a predator greeting its prey... or rather, a slaughterer welcoming victims into his slaughterhouse.
His fingers elongated and sharpened into terrifying claws, his hair grew longer and thicker, and his eyes transformed completely into beast-like slits. Looking at the Dark Reaper members with an excited and satisfied grin, he spoke: "Come over here... Come and die."
The five men hesitated for a few moments as they exchanged uncertain glances; still, their side possessed both the numerical advantage and the cultivation advantage. At least, that was what they desperately wanted to believe, so they attacked.
All five of them charged into battle simultaneously. If things went well, they would subdue this beast-like young man and sever his head before long; he was simply too dangerous to be left alive.
And if things went badly, they would suffer some injuries but still survive in the end. That was the group’s reasoning; that was the logical way this battle was supposed to unfold. What the five men didn’t realize was that the anomaly standing before them was someone to whom logic simply did not apply.
The battle began in a swift and coordinated fashion. The five cultivators charged forward before quickly surrounding Liyu in a circle.
From every direction they attacked at once, intending to overwhelm him with simultaneous strikes so that he would have no way of blocking or avoiding everything. Yet what happened next shattered that plan completely.
Without even moving from his original position, Liyu evaded every single attack. All he did was tilt his body slightly this way, then slightly that way. Simple movements, tiny adjustments, yet every blade, every fist, and every strike missed him entirely.
The expressions of the Dark Reaper members changed drastically as they witnessed this unbelievable scene; their blood turned cold, yet none of them dared stop attacking. If they had only been suspicious before, then now they were certain: their lives were in grave danger.
If they wished to survive, they needed to wound this young monster before them, even if only slightly, and then flee for their lives. With that thought burning in their minds, they intensified their assault.
Their strikes became faster, their sword swings became fiercer, and they poured more qi into every attack, increasing the destructive power behind each blow. They attacked with everything they had, but it didn’t matter... none of their attacks were even capable of grazing Liyu’s body, let alone injuring him.
As terror continued swelling within their hearts, they witnessed something even more absurd than the young monster effortlessly dodging all their attacks: Liyu stopped dodging.
Instead, with a single clawed hand, he began blocking every attack that came his way. His hand moved so quickly that it seemed to appear everywhere at once. Every sword, every blade, every punch, every strike... all of them were intercepted; none were able to break through.
But that wasn’t the worst part: with every attack he blocked, the attacker felt an overwhelming force travel through their weapon and into their arms.
A deep and agonizing pain shot through their nerves, their bones trembled, and their muscles screamed.
It felt as though they weren’t attacking a human at all; instead, it felt like they were striking an immovable mountain, and that realization caused the terror in their hearts to grow even further.
It couldn’t be helped; Liyu was simply that much more powerful than them. The fact remained that they wouldn’t have had any hope of defeating the normal Liyu, let alone the frenzied Liyu whose mind was half-consumed by madness and whose already monstrous prowess was being further boosted by his overwhelming bloodlust.
After repeatedly blocking their attacks with a single claw, a few of the warriors were already coughing up large mouthfuls of blood; they simply couldn’t take it anymore.
The force generated each time Liyu blocked one of their attacks was enough to rupture their innards, causing them to spit blood continuously. Soon, their attacks began to slow, and at that very moment, Liyu raised one leg and stomped heavily on the ground.
BOOM! A massive shockwave exploded outward, sweeping through the battlefield and throwing all five cultivators backward. They staggered, their bodies trembling from the pain that had been inflicted upon them.
And the most terrifying part was that Liyu hadn’t even attacked them; he had merely blocked all of their attacks casually with a single clawed hand, and yet they were already in such a miserable state. What would happen if he actually attacked?
Wouldn’t that mean they were truly and utterly doomed to die right here and now? As if sensing their despair and wanting to add even more to it, Liyu stood amidst the crater he had enlarged with his earlier stomp and grinned at them: "I can’t even have any fun. You guys are too weak. I guess I should end this charade."
His voice was smooth and casual, as if he were discussing something utterly insignificant. The faces of the group darkened. Did they want to fight? Absolutely not.
Did they want to run away as fast as possible from this young beast? Without question. But would they? No, because the moment they turned their backs on him, they were certain they would die. So they decided to continue fighting; once an opportunity to escape presented itself, they would seize it without hesitation.
Liyu’s gaze became slightly more serious as he moved. The five men never even managed to understand what happened next.
A minute later... Six Mark collapsed to his knees. His heart was beating so rapidly that it felt as though it would burst apart; if he had been an ordinary human rather than a cultivator, he was certain his heart would have already exploded.
He was terrified, completely and utterly horrified. The reason was simple: it had taken the young monster exactly one minute to completely dominate the battle and kill the other four. In fact, Six Mark was certain it could have taken far less time; the only reason it hadn’t was because Liyu hadn’t merely killed them.
He had shown them something first... he had shown them what it meant to face a true demon from myth. The terror, the dread, the despair... every horrifying emotion imaginable had been forced upon them before they were slaughtered in a manner befitting a savage predator like Liyu.
Within a single minute, four late-stage Qi Gathering cultivators had been killed, killed by a cultivator at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm, killed without managing to land even a single hit.
Six Mark felt as though his entire world had been turned upside down, but even greater than his shock was the crushing despair brought about by the realization that his own life would soon end.
Demons were not known for kindness; they did not let their prey escape, and this young monster before him seemed like a demon among demons. At that moment, Six Mark stared blankly at Liyu’s hand; in that hand was the still-beating heart of one of the now-dead Dark Reaper members.
When Liyu noticed his gaze, he gave him a wide grin, then he crushed the heart. SPLAT! Blood and gore exploded outward, splattering across Liyu’s clothing that had already been dyed crimson by countless stains; the black fabric became an even deeper shade of red.
Liyu took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the carnage he had caused, then he smiled. His mind had finally become clear once more.
Throughout the entire battle, despite regaining fragments of his sanity, his mind had still been dominated by the overwhelming urge for bloodshed and destruction; now that he had satisfied that urge, he finally felt liberated from the agonizing flaw of his physique.
He needed to find a way to control his urges and bloodlust; otherwise, this might become a truly massive problem in the future.
Liyu frowned slightly, but the matter could wait for later; for now, there was still one Dark Reaper left alive, and that survivor was going to provide him with some answers.
Liyu’s mind had been consumed by madness, but enough of his original reasoning had remained intact for him to understand one thing: this group had approached him with ill intentions... that much was obvious.
What he didn’t know was exactly why. Fortunately, there was one person left alive who could answer that question. Liyu walked toward Six Mark. The man remained kneeling on the ground, his gaze vacant; his eyes shook with terror and panic.
One thing was certain: the unlucky man had been thoroughly traumatized. Liyu didn’t have the patience to waste time comforting him; instead, he spoke only two words: "Start talking." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Those two words seemed to act as the final trigger; the man immediately began explaining everything he knew. He even went so far as to list every terrible crime and vile deed the Dark Reapers had committed throughout the years.
The more Liyu listened, the uglier his expression became; it darkened further and further. As it turned out, the Dark Reapers were nothing more than a group of scum who deserved every gruesome fate imaginable.
Those bastards had even laid their hands on children. Liyu’s expression grew increasingly dangerous as Six Mark continued speaking.
He heard how the leader of the Dark Reapers had murdered a father before the man’s family, then had violated the mother before eventually killing her as well.
And the child? The child had possessed no spirit root and was deemed worthless, so they had skinned the child alive. Liyu’s anger exploded; a terrifying primal aura burst from his body. Six Mark trembled violently, his throat had nearly gone dry.
He didn’t know which part of his story had angered the young demon so much, but one thing was certain: the monster before him was furious, his eyes seemed to be burning with rage. The man opened his mouth, no words came out, he closed it again, then opened it once more.
Finally, forcing himself through the terror squeezing his heart, he managed to ask a single question: "W-Will you spare me... please?" His voice shook uncontrollably; the plea had barely left his mouth before Liyu’s hand shot forward and grabbed him by the face.
The man’s blood turned to ice, an overwhelming sense of dread flooded his entire body. Then Liyu spoke, asking only one question: "Tell me. How many children have you killed?" The man immediately shook his head frantically: "I didn’t kill any! I swear!"
His voice was muffled and trembling. Liyu stared at him for a moment, then he nodded: "I see." Those were the only words he said. The next instant... BOOM! He smashed the man’s head into the cratered ground with terrifying force.
The impact was so powerful that the man’s skull exploded instantly; brain matter and shattered bone scattered everywhere. The man died on the spot.
Liyu stood up slowly: "If you had killed any children... then your death would’ve been far more gruesome." He spoke those words calmly to the corpse, not that the man could hear him anymore; after all... he was already dead.
