Chapter 287 (1/2)

Book 3, Chapter 23 – The Young Man

After three years with the veterans of hell's Valley, the Cloudhawk of today was completely different than the wasteland scrub from before In every way, he had matured, most notably in the physical department This manifested in increased speed, power, sensitivity, constitution and more

Cloudhawk's swipe froress He could say, without boasting, that anything less than a senior deainst established hunters he could draw on explosive power and his rare collection of powers to win victory more often than not

The attack against Blackfiend would cut down so After all, a body was naught but flesh, no ainst a blow that would split steel?

Blackfiend stared ahead at what appeared to be an eround was split by some unseen force The table placed before him was blasted apart, and yet there was no reaction frouards he had set at the tent entrance were absent, ignorant of as happening inside Why would they? There was not a single sound that they could hear

Cloudhawk didn't reveal hi the attack

His invisibility cloak was a high-rated relic, but it wasn't invincible During use, a sudden blast of resonance froht cancel its abilities Because of this, in previous fights Cloudhaould sneak up on his victims and then be revealed in the moment of his attack This, unfortunately, left him open for a counter

However, this tiht seemed to come from nowhere, belched from another dimension

Cloudhawk's command over his relics had only improved Unless he pulled out all the stops for an attack, he could maintain invisibility It was a serous

From across the tent Blackfiend was cut open from jaw to abdomen

In that instant his expression went slack There was no reaction at least, like this mortal blow had happened to someone else Nor was there any blood from the new fissure that nearly split his torso Instead, black fog oozed from the wound Tendrils of it reached out and as Cloudhaatched, Blackfiend's black flesh was knit back together When it was done, there wasn't even a scar

The Warden scowled No wonder that asshole Cyclops worshi+ps this guy, his abilities far outstripped any normal person His body really did seem immortal

As the bandit king's body was recovering, the tent's interior was enveloped in black hterous red light when suddenly he darted forward Blackfiend's large claiped wildly through the air, and it all happened before Cloudhawk could blink

This guy moved at the speed of sound! His flurry of blows created a web of energy

“Back off!”

Cloudhawk hacked with quiet carnage to cut the web apart It was like striking an iron wall His blade stopped dead With no other recourse he let his invisibility fade but activated the phase stone's energy field As he appeared before Blackfiend, the bandit king's slicing net slipped right through hioose-down carpet beneath Cloudhawk's feet kicked up a cloud of severed feathers Shards of fabric rose as well, igniting fro the air with flashes of heat and color A flash in the pan, and then darkness But the unco in the air remained

Cloudhawk felt a crushi+ng sense of danger come over him

Blackfiend was too strong As the web of energy rushed through him he felt the phase stone's field ripple and nearly collapse He was lucky – the Cloudhawk froo would have been cut into neat little cubes

Cloudhawk, of course, wasn't just going to sit around and take a beating

Blackfiend was fast, but to someone who could effortlessly follow a bullet's track like Cloudhawk, he was nothing to gawk over A hand whipped back and pulled a silver weapon froer andweapon that was very slender, and ended in a very sharp point

Four of them burst out all at once, faster than if they'd been fired from a rifle At this distance it would have been near ie, yet Blackfiend – whatever the fuck he was – didn't even bother to try Two caught hiht between the eyes

Cloudhawk's capabilities were nothing to sniff at They found purchase in the bandit king's body, and to any normal person each one would have claimed their life Of course, then, they would have an effect on Blackfiend The black-skinned ht

“Aaaaauuurrrgghh!”

He released another guttural roar

The sound of it was contained and didn't reach outside, however with a burst of strength the awl-spikes popped out of his body Curling wisps of smoke seeped from the injuries

Cloudhaas ready for soh hih the tent walls There were four punctures now, letting in light frouards screaround

My turn! Cloudhawk brought his ary leapt froe

It was aimed toward Blackfiend's waist, and before the freak could reaction it swept right through hih the tent a loud rrrip ensued, like so from outside were not prepared and were split in half, dead before they knehat happened

“What's going on? Boss!”

Several of the bandit leaders had heard by now and raced toward the din When they arrived, they found Blackfiend's tent collapsed, and corpses strewn around it The clash between Cloudhawk and the bandit leader had encompassed mere seconds, and until the end had been aled to pull the heavy tent fabric aside, what the leaders saw shocked them

The body of bandit king lay on the ground in two halves He'd been cut in half at the waist, severed completely The vicious scene left the, eyes closed, while chaos erupted all around