166 Chapter 166: Decision (1/2)
At first, panic flared up inside me and I realized that I was going to die.
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Then cold calculations took over and I lunged forward. Gemini made twin black and white streaks as they arced toward the Assassin's neck.
”You…!”
The Assassin who used poison swore as she ducked backward and tried to block my swords with her daggers. She kicked me away, but I dodged by bending backward. Hurling my twin swords at her, I dropped to the ground and used my hands to support myself while I launched a kick toward her neck. She blocked my foot with her forearm before staggering back.
”Why are you still putting up a fight? You're going to die in ten seconds! Or less!”
”Then I'll do my best to kill you in ten seconds,” I replied coldly. ”You'll be accompanying me to hell.”
”Tch!” the Assassin clicked her tongue as I increased the pressure of my kick, but managed to knock my foot away. I whirled about to get back on my feet, and the poison Assassin seized the opportunity to recover.
She then retaliated with her daggers, but my Gemini twin swords spun toward her neck, forcing her to deflect the deadly twin swords from severing her head from her shoulders.
While she was distracted, I drew both Gan Jiang and Mo Ye and bisected her at the waist. Or tried to, but credit to the highly trained Assassin, she leaped upward to dodge what would otherwise be my killing strike. Her daggers flashed down in response, but I knocked them away with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye before counterattacking with a riposte that drew blood from her cheek and chest. She staggered back, then widened the distance to retreat.
As I straightened up and took a deep breath, I noticed that I was still feeling fine. Just in case, I reached up and felt for my pulse. Yup, my heart was still beating normally.
”Your ten seconds are up,” I informed her coolly. ”I thought you said my heart is supposed to stop?”
The ponytail Assassin's eyes widened. ”How is that possible?! My poison should be fast-acting. There's no way you could have…”
I didn't reply. I had no idea why her poison didn't work on me, but I wasn't going to let this fluke go to waste. I had to kill her before her toxins finally took effect, or before she cut me again.
The Assassin parried my strike, but found herself being forced into the defensive. As sparks scattered between us while our blades clashed, I pushed her back step by step. Behind me, the civilians retreated further into the shelter, only to stop when they realized that the Frenzor Assassins were still massacring the bodyguards and soldiers.
Unfortunately for the poison Assassin, she couldn't rely on her Frenzor pals to come to her aid. I was confident that I could kill her before they reached our position.
”You…!”
The poison Assassin shrieked at me, but I didn't pay any attention to her. Instead, I dive to the side in reflex when I heard a voice and sensed an enormous surge of mana behind me.
”Richard! Duck!”
Craig's voice. While I dropped to the ground, a crimson spear streaked across the shelter and hammered into the ponytail Assassin's chest. She croaked in shock and disbelief, dropping her daggers and clutching the shaft of the demonic weapon. Not that it cared.
Raising my head, I watched impassively as Craig's demonic spear pierced through her heart and continued hurtling forward, bringing its target along with it. With a deafening crack, it pinned the Assassin to the wall, stabbing deeply into the reinforced concrete as easily as hot knife through butter. The Assassin slumped and hung over like a puppet whose strings had been abruptly cut, her head and limbs splayed untidily in suspension. Blood trailed the shaft of the spear before dripping down in huge rivulets, along with the steady stream that erupted from her ruptured chest.
”Sorry for stealing your kill,” Craig told me as he raised his hand and recalled his crimson spear. He continued to limp forward, relying on Theodore. ”But we don't have a lot of time.”
I shook my head. ”No, it's fine. If anything, I'm grateful that you caught her off guard. Saved me a lot of trouble.”
”How were you able to resist the poison?” Sheila asked, still leaning on Theodore. ”I don't think that Assassin was lying about her poisons.”
”I don't know. Maybe she forgot to apply the poison to the dagger?” I scratched my head in bewilderment. I was curious too, but now wasn't the time to care about it. The Frenzor Assassins were catching up. Vincent and Alicia had split off to join the dwindling soldiers and bodyguards while the civilians were still in a disarray.
”The Holy Spring!” One of the civilians blurted out. He was next to Vincent Violet, being one of the few who had chosen to remain behind to fight instead of run. To buy the others time to escape by putting his own life at risk. ”You went and trained at the underground Holy Spring, didn't you? That must be the gift you received from the Holy Spring! The attribute that you gained while cultivating next to the Holy Spring...an immunity to poison!”
”…really?”
Wow, that sounded anticlimactic. I was hoping for an extra elemental magic or something more impressive. You know…like…maybe regenerative powers, or near immortality, or four different types of magic. Maybe void magic or spatial magic. Maybe the ability to destroy my enemies with one punch. Or dark magic. Something that protagonists received. Something that might be a lot more visible and impactful. But no, I just received a simple immunity to poison.
That said, it ended up saving my life. If I hadn't attained that attribute, I would have died from the Assassin's poison.
Vincent Violet was giving the man a strange stare, as if he was puzzled by something. Alicia noticed his bewildered expression.
”What's the matter, Father?”
”No…I was just wondering how he knew about Richard training next to the Holy Spring. I don't remember telling him that. Only Teacher Fielding, the Holy Spring facility staff and I should know about it. We didn't inform the City Council…”
”It's not unusual for these sort of things to leak out, and the Holy Spring facility has close ties with the City Council,” the man replied. ”Besides, we have more important matters to worry about.”
Vincent nodded. ”Indeed.”
”Let's go!” Harrison ordered, still helping Dong Fang Yue Chu up. Lily was now able to walk on her own, and she caught up with Theodore, Sheila and Craig, but she was still hobbling.
”You guys go ahead,” I told them. They were far ahead of the civilians, and they were about to turn around and guide them to leave in front of them, but something occurred to me. ”You guys might want to scout ahead and make sure the surface is clear. I don't know if that Assassin brought any friends.”
”Good thinking,” Harrison agreed. ”We'll do that then.”
”What about you?” Dong Fang Yue Chu asked, glancing at me.
I gestured to my Celestial Guardians. ”I need to stay behind to maintain my soul beasts in the material world, or they would disappear and those Frenzor Assassins will be upon us in a jiffy. Don't worry, once everyone is out, I'll follow shortly.” I glanced at the stairs. ”I'll try to seal them in after I get out of here.”
”Don't be too reckless.”
As my friends left, I headed toward the civilians. They were still scattered in various groups. One of the Frenzor Assassins got through the thinning line of soldiers and bodyguards and pounced on one of the groups.
”Oh no, you don't!”