295 Chapter 295: Lancer of Red and Lancer of Black (1/2)
Needless to say, the newcomer ended up getting pulverized by Leo, his face buried in the dirt and his body partially disintegrated by Regulus. I wasn't even going to bother commenting on how he was supposed to be yet another ”genius” who had more talent than Xue Tu, and listen to his entire dossier that included detailed information about his sect, his past, his power level, his specialization, his magic, the girl he was in love with, his rivals (which included how he was jealous over certain rivals because of how much closer they were to the girl he was in love with than he was), his family, his friends, and maybe even their damned dog.
Why should I? All that mattered is that I won. And then this poor bastard ceased to matter anymore. The same went for Xue Tu, which made me wonder why he even bothered to introduce his name in the first place. He was just another nameless antagonist who would fade away into obscurity after getting defeated, because readers would complain about him being an annoying cockroach, condemn me for not finishing him once and for all so that he could keep coming back, or something similar if he decided to show up again.
Hell, there was even an entire thread in the forums asking for ”ruthless” main characters and complaining about ”spineless” protagonists who avoided killing as much as possible. Some of the readers commenting on the forums were so disturbing that I was bleeding just from reading the edge in their words.
”Fucker!” Xue Tu howled when he saw how his senior, hyped up to be even more of a genius than he was, still got utterly destroyed in one move by the protagonist, just like in every cultivation story ever. ”How is this possible?!”
”Well…let's get this straight.” I scratched my head before ramming my knee into his face, breaking his nose and causing blood to spew out. ”If he's more talented than you, and more of a genius, and has higher power levels, than why the hell are you the sect leader and not him?”
”Uh…that's…well…I don't know…”
Xue Tu looked away sheepishly even as he clutched his broken nose. Then he flared up, launching a volley of blood spikes at me.
”Who cares about that?! Just die, you fucker!”
With a sigh, I obliterated the crimson bombardment with Hei Yue and Bai Ri, scything through them. a few of them managed to scrape my flesh, leaving cuts and scrapes on my cheek and arms before I shattered them into blood fragments, but other than minor injuries I escaped relatively unscathed. Ignoring the stinging pain, I advanced closer, unleashing another twin waves of destructive mana that blasted through Xue Tu's hastily conjured shield.
”Why aren't you using Limitless Seal of Death?!” Xue Tu demanded as he flipped backward, avoiding getting hurt by a direct hit from my spells.
”Because I'm not Mu Chen and this is not The Great Ruler!” I yelled, irritated. ”Get that through your thick skull already!”
”Why should I?” Xue Tu sneered as he infused his Blood Golem with more of his mana. The huge hulk slowly forced Green Dragon's claws off its head and staggered to its feet. ”Your dear author just watched all 12 episodes of The Great Ruler anime recently and he decided to copy…I mean make fun of it! Especially with how the director randomly decided to turn an originally insignificant character into a love rival out of nowhere!”
Could I just kill the bastard already? I was aware that he was very powerful and I couldn't easily kill him, but at least I managed to get a stomp on him earlier. Never mind, I was going to continue attacking.
”Hydra.”
Nine serpentine heads burst out of the ground as the legendary creature of Greek mythology emerged, hissing ferociously. Turning around, Xue Tu paled considerably. Even as his Blood Golem launched itself at my newly arrived Constellation spirit, Hydra smacked it aside and sent it flying across the site of the tomb.
”Huff…” Panting, Xue Tu continued to wipe the blood off his face even as his broken nose healed and realigned itself. He glared at me. ”Don't think you have won yet!”
”I don't. Unlike most people, I don't underestimate my foes.”
”Good for you!” Xue Tu cackled hysterically. ”My army of blood, answer my call! Eradicate all the foes before me!”
”!!!”
Watching a red mist billow outward and expand around Xue Tu, I instinctively jumped back while simultaneously directing my Constellation spirits to retreat. There was something not right about that ominous blood mist. Perhaps it had corrosive properties – toxic was one thing, because I was immune to poisons, but I wasn't resistant to being burned by acids.
”Too bad…I managed to succeed in surviving long enough to complete my ultimate spell!”
Xue Tu crowed as he stepped out from the unfurling mist. Within the red-blood veil, I saw humongous shapes rearing up and coalescing, all feeding off from the blood mist that now settled over the area.
Each of them was immense, looking like little hills and almost nine meters high. Behind me, my Constellation spirits bristled and readied themselves. White Tiger growled, Green Dragon snarled, Black Tortoise stood firm, Leo and his pride of Leo Minor roared, while the nine heads of Hydra hissed incessantly. Even my non-sentient Constellation spirits were able to intuitively recognize a massive threat.
Oh, by the way, if you were wondering what the majority of them had been doing this entire time, they had been busily wiping out the dredges of the Blood Slaughter Sect, assisting the normal mercenaries in fighting them off. However, having understood that I might now be facing the battle of my life, I had recalled them back to aid me.
Especially since I needed numbers now.
”It took me a while, but it's entirely worth it!” Xue Tu was still shouting happily. ”You will all fall before the might of my Blood Army!”
Blood-red giants stomped out of the swirling mist, their featureless hulks splintering trees and flattening boulders as they advanced inexorably. There had to be dozens, if not over a hundred of them. Somehow I was reminded of the Titans of old, gathering under a single banner to lay ruin to the realms of men before the first gods slew most of them and imprisoned the rest of them in Tartarus. There mere sight of such goliaths marching through the forest was imposing, and I felt a chill as I craned my neck to look up at them.
”This isn't good,” I murmured.
The gigantic army of Blood Golems charged forward soundlessly, the only noise they made the thunder of their earthshaking footsteps.
*
A few more blood lances struck the earth, embedding themselves deeply into broken soil. Huffing, Redfield hopped a few steps backward, doing his best to avoid the stake-like projectiles, almost literally flying through the now crowded field of red.
The few blood spears that did succeed in hitting him merely dissipated harmlessly against the Armament Ba Qi that he wreathed around him. Weaving through the relentless bombardment of blood, Redfield streaked through the site and swung his flaming spear at Liu.
The elder dispassionately parried his strike with his spear, while several blood spikes erupted from the ground to impale Redfield. The mercenary dodged them, not wanting his Armament Ba Qi to slowly accumulate damage. If he left the attacks to continue assaulting his Ba Qi unchecked, it would reach the point where it would shatter eventually.
Vaulting away, Redfield twisted his body in midair before lashing out with his blazing spear. Embers illuminated Liu's wizened face and dispelled the shadows that night cast upon his aged figure for a moment before the elder thrust his spear upward. Redfield twirled his spear to block not just the real spear but also the countless blood spikes that had burst out of the ground and now mercilessly thrust toward him to impale his body.
The two figures danced amidst the battlefield of blood and leaves, flashes of red and orange colliding to punctuate the darkness with flashes of flames. Spinning around with a fervor of a man half his age, Liu easily parried the constant slashes and strikes from Redfield. The two of them traded over hundreds of blows, each of their exchanges obliterating the stakes of blood that now stood as monuments to their furious duel. Trees fell, razed by the sheer shockwaves from their exchanges, their leaves and twigs fluttering upward as if caught in the embrace of a tornado.
Liu parried Redfield's strike, and sent another volley of blood spikes to impale him, but the red-haired mercenary wisely evaded and darted away. The elder stood very still, his experienced eyes scanning the battlefield, and he raised his spear, unruffled, to block a blow from Redfield that came from what appeared to be his blind spot. While he did so, Spartacus lumbered forward to pulverize the preoccupied Redfield from behind.