Chapter 361: A Bitter Struggle Part 2 (1/2)

Chapter 361: A Bitter Struggle (Part 2) [Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach]

For some reason, Count Stuka sensed the approach of intense danger, but then he felt that it was quite comical. How could a little insect who wasn’t even a champion be a menace?

But the count’s heart was still beating fast and it made him fairly uncomfortable. He frowned and raised his origin gun at Qianye for, in his vicious arachnid eyes, the best way to avert danger was to get rid of it directly.

Zhao Yuying had just performed two consecutive sideway jumps to evade the continuous slashes of Count Stuka’s battleaxe, but her expression changed rapidly as she glanced back upon landing. “Qianye, pull back! There’s a poisonous mist!”

However, it seemed Qianye had neither neither heard Zhao Yuying’s shouts nor noticed the arachne count’s gun muzzle aimed at him. He just kept on advancing in a straight line, plowing a deep trench as he dragged East Peak along. It was almost as if he were cutting the earth into two.

Later on, the dust kicked up by East Peak increased progressively and began to emit a vague droning sound like the tides in the deep sea—East Peak was starting to vibrate ever so slightly.

“Goddammit! You madman! Little Four and Little Five are all goddamned madmen!” Zhao Yuying cursed loudly. She gritted her teeth, lifted her Mountain Splitter, and fired immediately after taking aim. Blinding light erupted abruptly as an orange ball of flame was spat out toward the arachne count. This wasn’t the most opportune time to attack, but she had no other choice.

Stuka paid no more attention to Qianye. He let out a loud roar and waved his axe with all his might. The cannon shell fired by the human lady this time was much more powerful than the previous ones, but it wasn’t at the level where the count needed to be apprehensive in a direct confrontation. The green light shrouding the battleaxe lit up and expanded several times in the blink of an eye. Then, with a torrential momentum, he slashed violently at the incoming fireball.

Only a loud rumble was heard before the fireball was shattered forcefully and turned into dozens of flaming balls which shot out in every direction. But because the cannon shell had arrived a bit faster than Stuka had anticipated, the explosion took place at a dangerously close distance.

Several stray flames landed on the count’s massive mountain-like body. This time, his defenses were actually penetrated with ease, and large amounts of yellowish-green fluid flowed out from his body. Not only did the flames not die, but they began to disseminate and form deep trenches on his spider body.

Stuka glared at Zhao Yuying with a vicious glint in his eyes. These seemingly shocking injuries could only be considered superficial wounds to him. But this made the count mark Zhao Yuying as an extremely dangerous character—he had made a decision to eliminate her on the spot even if he had to pay a certain price.

Allowing a woman with the firepower of a walking cannon to roam free in his territory wouldn’t just harm his profits. There was a good chance that she might affect the major business he had taken part in, an outcome he couldn’t afford to shoulder.

At this moment, Qianye had been tossed to the back of the count’s mind.

Stuka let out a long cry as his massive spider body rose into the air and pressed down toward Zhao Yuying like a collapsing mountain peak. Darkness origin power within a hundred meters began to fluctuate wildly, so much that a mixture of black and green mist was faintly discernible. It was a scene of absolute chaos and violence.

“Little Five, run!” Resolution flashed across Zhao Yuying’s face as she erupted in incisive killing intent. She made no attempt to run or evade—Mountain Splitter was raised, and the origin arrays lit up in quick succession as she stared fixedly at the arachne count descending upon her. “You want this mommy’s life?!”

Seeing Zhao Yuying’s bid to end in mutual destruction, a furious expression flashed across the arachne count’s countenance midair. He had forgotten just how many years it had been since he had been provoked like so.

At this moment, the dark green origin power glow had extended from his arachnid body to his human-shaped upper body and was emitting a metallic luster. It seemed he was about to go all out with his present attack.

A gentle hum resounded all of a sudden. The sound was fairly soft, but it possessed extreme penetrance and echoed clearly through the area filled with darkness origin power.

Stuka felt as though he had been pricked by a needle. His heart suddenly contracted as he sensed an inexplicable force approaching him from afar which arrived behind him in but an instant.

The arachne count had no time to turn his large arachnid body—he failed to notice that Qianye had never once slowed down and was still charging toward him. However, East Peak was now tightly in Qianye’s hands and swept out diagonally. The edge of the heavy sword trembled slightly, and every vibration would condense a lingering illusion of the blade.

Even the count’s personal guards didn’t dare approach the area covered by his darkness origin power, but it seemed to have no effect at all on Qianye. Scarlet origin power suffused with flickering specks of gold passed out of his arms, blocking out the mixture of black and green.

In a flash, Qianye was now only a distance of two or three sprints from Stuka, and three sword mirages had appeared around East Peak—a new one would be generated at the back as soon as the foremost one dissipated, maintaining the cycle. Without the slightest hesitation, he let out a shout, leapt into the air, and slashed toward Stuka from a fair distance!

All the experts on the battlefield felt a rush of palpitation.

At this moment, the void almost seemed to have opened up, revealing vaguely a tiny corner of a different world. However, the aura which spilled over in the time it took for a spark to fly off a flint was so terrifying that it gave one the urge to involuntarily prostrate in fear.

Afterward, a faintly colored thread of origin power hung down from the air and wrapped itself around East Peak.

The three illusory swords returned in a flash, and Qianye’s arms sunk abruptly because the blade in his hand had become several times heavier. He had long since prepared for this and managed to hold onto the hilt firmly without a change in his swinging trajectory. A faint sword shadow slashed out from the East Peak’s edge and charged straight toward Stuka.

Nirvanic Rend!

The blade struck noiselessly and without any overwhelming momentum. The arachne count’s expression, however, shifted greatly and abruptly—the darkness origin power around him felt like the ocean in a violent storm, akin to raging waves tearing apart the rocky shores.

Stuka could no longer pay attention to Zhao Yuying and twisted his enormous body around. At the same time, he pulled back his axe and slashed forth in a hurried defense.

The sword shadow flitted past—it appeared slow but was, in truth, extremely fast.

The first and second beams clashed successively with the battleaxe. The gold speckled scarlet origin power tangled with the mixture of black and lingering green mist, suddenly causing a series of small explosions.