Chapter 197: There is no honour in dying (1/2)

Ayaan saw Victor changing target and going after Isobel instead of him and curled his lips into a disdainful sneer. ”Huh!” while he glanced at Victor, Shawth arrived in front of him, holding a weapon like a sickle, and attacked. Ayaan saw the incoming attack and fought back, blocking the blow of the strange weapon from his sabre. This man was at the peak of the Larva Realm and unlike Victor he was a veteran in duals.

While Ayaan blocked his sickle, the ice underneath his feet trembled and turned to mush, liquefying. Though caught unprepared, Ayaan acted reflexively and used his own ice element and froze the melting ice below him before he lost the balance of his body. ”Nice!” exclaimed Shawth when he saw Ayaan avoiding his trap easily. ”You are also an ice elemental cultivator?”

”Boom!”

Ayaan replied to his question but with his sabre and the man stumbled back. His hands trembled, sore due to the vicious blow, and little surprise by the force behind the attack. He could feel and tell that Ayaan was only at the high level of the Larva Realm, but he could easily match him and even force him back miserably with his attacks. It was a big surprise for him to be pushed and shoved and forced back by someone who wasn't even his equal in cultivation.

”So you really found something in the tower boy, didn't you?” chuckled Shawth as he continued to tangle with Ayaan while floundering his sickle viciously at him.

”You want my secret?” Ayaan chuckled back. ”Moron.”

Shawth's face twitched, hearing his insult, but he swallowed his words and attacked. Ayaan was trying to anger him so he could take advantage of it, and he would not let that happen. He thought.

Fight continued, rustling noises filled the frozen river and beyond the river. Ayaan huffed and gasped and squealed as he fought, his face red, his clothes ragged, his hair scattered and his body drenched in sweat. His face red and knuckles white, his body ached and his bones churned. He did not reckon this bastard to be this tough. He was strong, far stronger than he thought, at least to make him run all over the frozen river and kick his ass when he got the chance to do it.

However Ayaan wasn't easy prey either. Shawth's arse as well ached and his expression turned grimmer every passing second. His hands trembled and his legs flailed on the icy ground. He felt as if he would lose his consciousness at any moment, but the fear of death drove him to push himself beyond the limits. He shouted and cursed and squealed more and more as time passed. Ayaan glanced at his face, into his eyes, and his mouth, and he felt as if his enemy was smiling—smiling into the eyes of death—and he felt some respect for this man he was fighting.

”Why do you serve the Heavenly Palace?” Ayaan asked as he blocked the sickle with his shining sword.

Shawth looked into Ayaan's eyes and shook his head. ”I don't serve Heavenly Palace.”