254 Chapter 253: Heaven and Earth Strike (1/2)
Darkon slashed at me with his sword, but I managed to parry it with Shadow Fox and Azure Lotus Sword. The ground beneath my body cracked from the impact, but since I was already practically lying down, it made no difference.
The moment the pressure lightened, I immediately rolled away with a huff. Darkon pursued, hacking away with his sword and leaving great furrows in the earth while cleaving apart trees unfortunate enough to be standing in the area.
”Ha ha ha ha! Die!”
Darkon crowed as he swung his sword in a series of basic patterns that ravaged the poor swamp we were in. Right now I was no longer avoiding the denizens of the Toxic Marshes. Venmous serpents, deadly crocodiles, swarms of poisonous bugs, and a myriad of other creatures dwelling the foul swamp were caught in the melee, ending up in noxious, steaming pieces. It seemed that even these poisonous creatures were unable to withstand the toxins that Darkon wielded, despite being bearers of poison themselves.
Or perhaps that was the impression I got from seeing their corpses. After all, none of them were alive for me to see the effects of Darkon's toxins. They were mostly cut apart into numerous pieces before the poison could take effect.
”Huff…”
I retreated as far back as I could, right as a crocodile emerged from the swamp, only fur Darkon's blade to cleave it in half. The monster growled in shock and agony, the life fading from its eyes as both halves fell back into the swamp with a big splash.
Poor dude.
”Hora, hora, hora!” Darkon was shouting in what sounded like Japanese as he continued to swing wildly at me. ”Are you just going to keep running away?!”
I gave him a baleful stare. ”Uh…yeah? What kind of idiot would just stand around and let you hit him?”
”Oh, shut up!” Darkon swung at me again, and I used my footwork technique to evade it. A poor tree, and the venomous serpent coiled around it were cut into pieces as Darkon's sword sliced through them.
”What…? You're the one who asked me that question.”
”I never asked you to answer!”
What kind of logic was that? Then why even bother asking me that question? Furthermore, why was it that he could talk, but I couldn't?
”Power speaks for itself!” Darkon shouted, sounding exactly like the edgelord he was named after. ”Unlike you, who's nothing more than a pathetic, suicidal martyr fighting for the Martial Arts Alliance for the sake of the 'people'?! You so-called orthodox martial artists give too much face to the welps! Just because they are poor doesn't mean they are good. Why should you should sacrifice yourself to people who more likely than not will not amount to anything? Just so you can have a good conscience? Pretty pathetic!”
”Oh, wow…your edge is making me bleed.” I couldn't help but cringe at his words. ”And who are you to judge if people 'will not amount to anything'? That sort of arrogant mentality is pretty pathetic.”
”Power speaks for itself!” Darkon repeated with a sneer.
I couldn't help but snort. ”Power? What sort of power? Economic power? Martial strength? Knowledge? See, that's the problem with you self-centered and selfish edgelords, always thinking only about yourselves. So people who chose to be farmers should just die and not receive protection because they are 'weak'? They don't amount to anything because they don't practice martial arts? If all farmers die, then where are you going to get your food? If all people who work in banks die, then what's going to happen to your money and savings? If all people who work in the manufacture industry die, then where are you going to get your clothes, your equipment, weapons, and the things you are using now? They don't amount to anything just because they are not powerful? So you should just let them die? What kind of bullshit logic is that?”
”SHUT UP! You're weaker than me, so you should just die! Power is truth!”
”Also, you seem to forget something. We become martial artists…we join the military in order to protect the nation. So what's the point of becoming strong, learning how to fight, arming ourselves with weapons if we just save ourselves and leave our citizens and families die just because they are 'weak' and 'don't amount to anything'? Isn't the whole reason we become martial artists to fulfill our duty to the Great Zhou Empire and protect the people and our loved ones? Imagine if your family is killed by monsters one day. Are you going to say, 'they deserve it because they are weak'? How about this scenario then? If a martial artist sacrificed himself to save your family from a monster, are you going to mock him for being a suicidal martyr, and say that he shouldn't have sacrificed his life to protect your family and the other people aboard a train from monsters because your family are weak and don't amount to anything?”
”Oh, shut up!” Darkon screamed. ”And yes! If my family is weak, they deserve to die! In fact…” he grinned hideously. ”I was the one who murdered those pathetic weaklings with my very own hands! I poisoned them to death! Such weaklings don't have the right to be my family!”
Oh wow, the edgelord had definitely gone over the edge. Still, he was right about one thing, though. if I didn't have the power to bring him to justice, then he could keep doing whatever he liked without suffering the repercussions of his atrocities.
”The Black Venom Cult is my new family!” Darkon continued shouting. ”They are strong! They are powerful! Only they amount to anything! We can do whatever we want, kill, plunder, murder, ****, as long as we have the strength! None of those bullshit, pathetic morality principles can restrain us! We will do like we have because we have the power! We can carry out experiments on humans beause they are weaker than us! We can poison people to death because they're weaker than us!” he cackled wildly. ”Strength is the only thing that matters! Everyone else can go die!”
”So what happens if you meet someone who's stronger than you, and he wants you dead?” I asked dryly.
”No such person exists! The Black Venom Cult is the strongest sect ever!” Darkon howled. ”And I will prove it by killing you and the entire Martial Arts Alliance!”
He slashed at me again in an attempt to draw blood and trying to poison me. He still had no clue that I was immune to his poisons.
Even though Heaven and Earth Formula still granted me immunity to venom, that didn't mean I wanted to get hit by that blade. It hurt like hell, and it would be excruciating for me when my body struggled to adapt to the toxins in my system. During that brief moment of vulnerability, Darkon could easily deliver a killing blow, especially when he realized something was amiss, or he wanted to ensure I was dead.
I wasn't going to take the risk.
”You'll never amount to anything!” Darkon continued raving. ”Because you're weaker than me!”
I was getting sick of hearing that phrase. So when Darkon closed in, I kicked him in the knee. He grunted as his leg buckled, but because he was so much stronger than me physically, I didn't do much damage.
Not that I ever intended to do much damage to him.
Darkon pivoted on his other leg and swung his sword backward, but I managed to cross my swords and parry the blow. Above, six qi beams sliced down and struck Darkon, but he condensed his protective qi aura and withsthood the blows.
”Pathetic!” he shouted. ”You think these weird ranged attacks would have any effect on me?”
Boom!
His qi surged again, and he blasted me back with a toxic wave of qi that almost overwhelmed Snow Aegis when it swooped down to handle the blast. Damn, I was going to need to repair my Spirit Shield after this. The corrosive qi was beginning to take its toll.
On the other hand, the toxins on his sword weren't potent enough to damage my Shadow Fox and Azure Lotus Sword. Perhaps it was because I was the one who forged Snow Aegis, so my skills weren't that good and thus my Spirit Shield was of a lower quality.
Well, it didn't matter. I would worry about that later.
Kicking off the ground, I vanished from behind Snow Aegis and appeared behind Darkon. His reflexes were impressive as ever, and he whirled about to face me, his sword carving upward in a counter. I slapped it away with Shadow Fox and stabbed him with Azure Lotus Sword, but Darkon twisted to the side and narrowly escaped a hit to his vital point.
Fortunately, I was able to leave a huge cut on his chest, and ice began spreading rapidly from his wound to cover a good part of his left chest, shoulder and upper arm.
”What is this?” he growled. Before he could shatter the ice with his qi, I ducked down and launched a kick from below, connecting with his chin while his movements were still sluggish.
Thunk!
”Gah!”
Darkon staggered back, cursing. I twisted around and kicked him again, causing him to double over, and then brought both my swords down.
Clang!
My opponent barely brought his sword up in time and blocked both of my blades. Using his superior strength, he forced me off him and rammed his elbow into my face. I ducked to the side, but he still grazed me in the temple, causing my glasses to fly off somewhere into the swamp while a trickle of blood dripped down my face.
”Kuh…”
I staggered back, blinded for a bit, but Darkon seized the chance to swat me away with his sword. I crossed both my swords to parry it, only to be lifted off my feet and be sent hurtling quite a distance away. More so, because I had been slightly knocked off balance.
”Hah!”
Darkon shattered the ice with his qi, and then shook the frosty fragments off. He glared at me as he gathered more of his qi into his sword. Ominous fumes began to billow out of his weapon, swirling around in a noxious miasma around him.
”I can't believe you forced me to use this. Venom Dragon Strike!”
He lunged ahead and slashed at me. While I was still sprawled on the ground, I quickly reached up with my hand (still clutching a sword) and called forth Snow Aegis. My Spirit Shield spun rapidly as it streaked across the swamp and deposited itself between me and my enemy, receiving his full-force blow with a deafening clang.
”Fucking, irritating shield!”
Darkon kicked it away with brute force and then slashed at me. Fortunately, I had finally recovered and was back on my feet.
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”Venom Dragon Strike!”
Unlike the annoying edgelord, I didn't shout out the name of my technique and just unleashed Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike. Both our attacks collided with a violent explosion that vaporized the swamp into boiling steam and unsettled the leaves on trees for about a kilometer in radius from our location.
”Huff…”
Despite using one of my most powerful attacks, I still found myself outmatched and overwhelmed by Darkon. His attack caused me to stumble backward, his purplish-black qi overwhelming my pure black qi. Coughing, I desperately tried to right my balance.
”Hah!”
Crowing triumphantly, Darkon descended upon me with a huge slash.
”I told you, power speaks for itself! If you're weak, you have no right to live! You have no right to receive protection from others! Only the strong should be allowed to survive! All weaklings never amount to anything and should just die!”
This edgelord was getting on my nerves.
However, I honestly was having trouble keeping up with his attacks and matching him blow for blow. Darkon was too fast, too strong and too edgy. He was driving me back, and my swords were almost breaking as I desperately tried to halt his onslaught. Azure Lotus Sword and Shadow Fox trembled violently in my grasp, their blades nearly unable to withstand his relentless assault. I staggered back with a heave, only for Drakon to drive me back with a particularly vicious swing.
”Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Darkon was roaring with laughter as he swung his sword again and again, battering me. I couldn't even get Snow Aegis to fly in and interpose itself between us, nor could I direct my mobile turrets. Every ounce of attention was devoted entirely to surviving this barrage of attacks.
Darkon suddenly kicked me, causing me to double over. Even as my legs buckled, I held my swords up to block his next strike, only for him to unleash another Venom Dragon Strike. I countered that by freezing the space between us, by the corrosive qi blast disintegrated the ice and rolled over me. Yelping, I fell back, only for Darkon to punch me in the gut.
”Gah!”
Again, I was sent hurtling helplessly across the air. I managed to right myself in midair and landed on my feet, but Darkon sought to exploit that moment of vulnerability and dove forward to deliver the finishing blow. Before he could, however, my six mobile turrets fired upon him with devastating qi beams, forcing him to veer away.
”Tch!” he clicked his tongue. If he had focused his qi into movement or attacking, he wouldn't be able to condense it into a protective qi aura dense enough to absorb the qi beams without taking any damage.
I panted as I corrected my stance and raised both my swords again. Even though I was hastily bombarding the running Darkon with qi beams, he weaved through the swamp, cleverly using the trees for cover before vaulting himself to the space right in front of me. I almost didn't react in time before he swung his sword.
Clang!
”Ugh!”