186 Besieged (1/2)
Zorbek and the palace guards drew their swords in response to the cry for help, but someone else responded even quicker.
Leon's black spear flew past them from low altitude before suddenly curving up and shot straight through the soldier ant's eyes and crushed its brain.
The ant went limp before the palace guard was able to free himself, tossing the ant to the side.
The surrounding palace guards became alarmed when the carcass continued twitching and movement after landing on the ground.
”It's still alive!”
The palace guards gripped their swords and made several slashes, chopping off the head and even the legs.
Zorbek looked at this scene and felt something was not right. The ant didn't try fight back at all.
”Stop! It's just reacting to stimulus! It's already been killed under his Highness's spear!”
”What? It's dead?”
Startled and confused, the palace guards halted their attacks as ordered with perplexed expressions.
Sure enough, the carcass became motionless after a short moment.
”This… this wasn't part of the information we were provided…”
The palace guards gawked with embarrassment. They had overreacted and made a fool out of themselves.
”A body that still moves even after its death... That's so creepy.” Lilith said.
Her comment received many rigorous nods in agreement. Right, right? They were in the middle of enemy territory. It was normal for them to try and kill anything that moves besides them.
”Be careful of the acidic blood.” Leon shook his head and reminded.
His kill was very clean, but now it became a mess with blood was spilt everywhere due to their panic attacks.
He made a grabbing gesture and the black spear flew back into his grasp.
Zorbek and palace guards looked back at the prince with surprise. The prince had been very quick and decisive in his actions.
They also noticed dissipating grey glow from the use of [Spirit Eyes] again.
The palace guards thought that by having the prince accompany them, the prince would just drag them down. But now, they were ashamed to have such thoughts initially.
He was more qualified for this expedition than any of them. He would have still made this trip, with or without them.
After being dropped into cave filled with spiders, he knew exactly how dangerous it could get if the ants start swarming them. He had to execute the ant before its cry for help.
”Your Highness, how many times can you use [Spirit Eyes]?” Captain Zorbek asked curiously.
”As many times as I want, technically.” Leon answered, before proceeding to ask, ”Why?”
After reaching Energy Condensation Realm, auxiliary spirit arts like [Spirit Eyes], which augments the bodily functions and not exert force outside, would not expend his energy reserve.
”Is that right?”
Zorbek was taken aback. Evidently, he was very surprised. It came to his attention that the prince's divine cultivation was very advanced. Perhaps, the prince wasn't really a one-star ranked awakener, but an equivalent divine practitioner.
This shouldn't have been a surprise as the breathing technique currently being practiced by the mass were provided by the prince. But with the scarceness of spirit energy, he had no idea how the prince cultivated to such heights.
”It seems that I won't be able to use it more than a few times. It decreases my divine cultivation progress with each usage.” Zorbek answered with creased brows, before asking, ”Is there a way to prevent my loss of spirit energy, your Highness?”
Practitioners from the Divine Realm would have answered his question sarcastically with, ”You can try not using it?”
Stupid questions will always receive stupid answers. How could a mere Body Tempering Realm practitioner dream of using spirit arts without paying the adequate price?
However, this was not the Divine Realm, so Zorbek was spared the sneers of contempt from fellow practitioners.
Instead, Captain Zorbek's question immediately raised Lilith interest. She was also curious about [Spirit Eyes] and divine cultivation. This was news to her. She perked her ears, ready to listen in on their conversation.
However, she became frustrated when Leon responded with, ”Oh? You succeeded in using [Spirit Eyes] on your first try?”
Selective hearing!
Her parents were not amicable and were always seen arguing with one another. Back then, she never understood why her mother would always suddenly become angry when talking to her father, but now she was slowly beginning to understand her mother's frustration. Men only hear what they want to hear!
Unaware of Lilith's frustration, Leon continued speaking to Zorbek.
”I'm surprised you would spend time in practicing that breathing technique, but it's still too early for you to use [Spirit Eyes] without paying the price.”
”Alright, enough wasting time. Let's enter.”
Leon ended the conversation without much explanation.
Zorbek nodded without complaint. They were on a mission.
Learning there were ants in the building, the group began entering with heightened vigilance. Inside, there were several more ants roaming the top floor they were on.
They quickly made quick work of the ants with clean kills through the eyes. However, some blood still manages to spill on floor with a 'Psh' sound. Some time-worn papers on the floor were dissolved as a result.
”Increase the lighting. It should be safer inside.”
”Yes, Captain.”
With the light sources brightening, a clearer picture of the building interior. Several objects and points of interest were revealed. There were runes and high-tech equipment but none of which the usage could be discerned. Few books and papers lied scattered along the dusty floor.