Chapter 134 (2/2)

He would change that.

“Ill fated peasants, why do you bleed over my stage?” He said, stepping grandly up onto the stage with the three cowards. For several long seconds, they did nothing. The closest, the pitiful, shoeless one, didn’t even turn. A man foolish enough to wield two spears at once squinted at him, then yawned. The woman spared the new arrival a glance, but then turned back to the shoeless one.

He was infuriated. To think that these fools would have the audacity to ignore him…! Well, he would show them all how high the sky truly was.

He drew his spear, which was a beautiful piece of artisanship, studded with precious materials to boost its effectiveness. It even had a very basic Gazelle Engraving, which boosted his Agility and Reaction.

With this spear, he would-

He stilled, his eyes locking with the far man’s, who used two spears. In that man’s eyes, he saw a desolate wilderness, and a rising storm of spears, threatening to engulf him. They were endless and hungry, those spears, like a pack of hyenas, and they rushed forward, aiming to eat him alive.

Sweating, he used every ounce of will to dispel the illusion, emerging to stagger forward slightly. The man snorted, looking away.

His eyes narrowed. To think they would rely on underhanded mental attacks in order to throw him off his game…! Truly, these three were bumpkins, because they didn’t recognize him as the most talented member of the Iron Spear Style! And obviously, the Iron Spear was not one that could be swayed by petty illusions. The Iron Spear was a Style that-

His gaze met the womans.

Her eyes were dark, so dark that the irises seemed black from this distance, and He found himself unable to look away. As their gazes remained locked, in spite of his struggles, He found that the edges of his vision began to darken. Slowly but surely, piece by piece, his vision was ripped away at the edges, consumed by the darkness in her eyes. As his gaze narrowed, there was less that he could see apart from those eyes, and even more quickly he was drawn into them, until it felt like he was falling to his death there.

Abruptly he blinked, finding himself sitting on the ground, trembling, his spear laying next to him. He had no idea what had happened, or how long this had been going on for, but he was filled with shame and a vicious anger. After this he would track down these bumpkins and murder their families in their sleep…!

“We won’t move, while you deal with him.” The woman said, glancing at the far man. The far man nodded, sneering. The close man tilted his head to the side.

“Why me?”

“You are closest.” The far man countered. Seemingly despite himself, the close man chuckled.

“It’s already taken care of.”

He gritted his teeth and stood, furious that this shoeless savage would treat him so jokingly. When his spear was deep in the near man’s gut, he would-

But instead of standing, he toppled over, and then vomited all over his spear. As he struggled upwards, his vision began to swim. The edges blurring.

But he was well trained, and his style specialized in defeating illusions, so he marshalled his will and created a wave of power that should clear his head. Nothing happened.

His vision grew dark, and he could feel his mouth start to foam. The nearest man turned, and regarded him for a second. The near man’s gaze didn’t inspire illusions, and it didn’t consume his line of sight, but there was something more intimidating about the mild, light green gaze. It was a look that demonstrated how little this near man cared about him.

It was a look that, for the first time in his life, made him feel inferior.

“Poi...son….?” He mumbled, his fat tongue barely obeying him as he collapsed forward.

****

Randidly tsk’ed inwardly, and Dian’s eyes narrowed, and Tartet scowled. The energy around Dian expanded, eating up the Pollen of the Rafflesia that had been drifting towards her. For his part, Tartet raised his vibrating spears, which also seemed to destroy the pollen.

Randidly shook his head, lamenting the fact that one idiot could waste the 10 or so minutes he had wasted standing here, hoping the pollen would drift towards one of them, knocking them out and giving him the chance to inflict a killing blow.

“Uh sir…” Randidly glanced behind him, towards the voice. A beautiful woman with long brown hair gestured helplessly. “I’m just… going to remove the trash, so….”

Shrugging, Randidly spared the man who pulled out a fancy spear just to vomit on it one more glance. Then he turned back to Dian and Tartet. He listened very carefully, but he needn’t have bothered. The woman came on stage and simply dragged the twitching body away, swiftly leaving.

After she left, as one, the three of them raised their spears, flexed their hands, and cracked their necks.

“Well then, I suppose this is a good a time as any to kill you,” Tartet said lazily. Dian said nothing, her strangely intense gaze still on Randidly.

Randidly was never the one liner type, so he simply walked forward, a smile on his face as his feet carried him forward on his path.