Chapter 36 (2/2)
“Seize the opportunity…” Tesa completely ignored Chris’ incoming punch as her throat moved and spat out a mouthful of mixed blood and [Black Crow] germs straight at Chris’ face.
Tesa received the punch head-on with her face and was sent flying backwards, several bloodied detached teeth could be seen falling on the ground quite clearly.
Meanwhile, the black germs that she spat out moved like living creatures, trying to invade Chris’ mouth and nose, making it so that he couldn’t help but stop this [Respiratory Art]. The sense of power from harmonization with the world through rhythm also stopped.
She purposefully let the blood onto her rapier not to make her sword more powerful, but so draw my attention to it. She then unleashed that barrage of stabs towards my face to force me to focus completely on her sword and not see her holding a mouthful of the black substance.
Chris was a bit flustered as he tried to peel off the black substance climbing into his mouth and nose. Without the heightened senses brought by the [Respiratory Art], he was feeling very awkward, similar to a person who was used to seeing with their eyes being suddenly blindfolded.
Tesa struggled to stand up, her face was swollen and made it so that her plain features now appeared laughable. But she didn’t care, as seizing an opportunity naturally came with its costs and risks.
She only implanted the [Black Crow] germs into her hands, but her overall constitution was also improved, otherwise taking one of Chris’ punches head-on would’ve caused her to fall unconscious.
“I won…” Tesa didn’t attempt to go in for the kill. Chris’ [Respiratory Art] being rendered useless by the [Black Crow] germs was nothing but a small victory. Being an illegitimate daughter in a merchant caravan made it so that she had to constantly be careful of everything, otherwise, she could die during the long trips at any time.
Right now, Chris’ [Respiratory Art] should be useless, but he might have other aces up his sleeves, so there was no need for her to recklessly charge in.
“Men, finish Chris off. I will appeal to Lord Negary for whoever kills him to be granted the qualifications to become a Crowmen” Tesa loudly shouted in a leaky voice.
After a few moments of silence, several people appeared out of nowhere with weapons in their hands and approached Chris. [Black Crow] germs that were suitable to be implanted into a person’s body weren’t easy to create, so there had always been very few quotas to join the Crowmen.
These people had been watching the Crowmen and Chris’ fight so they saw how powerful both of them were. It was unlikely for them to obtain the [Respiratory Art] from Chris, and it also required talent as well as meticulous training, so becoming a Crowmen was a much more enticing offer.
Due to being unable to breathe, Chris’ vision was becoming blurry, he could only see faint figures that approached him out of ill-will.
10 years ago within the Snow Mountain, those pursuers also approached him with similar ill-will. At the time, due to the snowstorm, all he could see were blurred figures as well.
“I’m no longer the same confused man who needs to be saved as before” Chris resolutely closed his eyes, recalling the words of the great man who taught him [Respiratory Art]:
[In a desperate situation, you will face the interference of fear, and the greatest strength of humans is nothing but the ability to face fear and desperation with calmness. Only by being calm can you find the way to escape from desperation!]
Recalling how Tesa bit and ripped the back of her hand and how the black substance moved from before, Chris stopped putting strength into his hands. Apparently realizing something, he quickly crouched down and hit his head against the ground with considerable force.