Blades flashed in the firelight. Thirty-odd bandits twisted and lunged at Alan. He dropped into a low stance, his pupils rapidly scanning his surroundings. Roars, curses, the whistle of blades cutting through the air, and the rustling of leaves in the wind all flooded his ears.
The flickering figures disrupted the light and shadow in Alan's vision.
But he still heard it, amidst the cacophony of discordant sounds…
A killing intent so tangible it was almost solid, and the faint sound of a magic incantation.
In that instant, Alan looked past the crowd at Leopard in the distance. Leopard was looking back at him. And further away, a dense firelight was brewing, churning the night air.
'I see. A classic Eccentric School tactic… He sensed something was off with my Rock secret technique earlier. First, he tested it himself to dispel his men's fear, then verbally incited them to attack me all at once.'
'Then, he treats them all as disposable pawns, using their corpses as obstacles for me. Based on the information that I don't know Sword God Style, he instantly formulated a battle plan to buy time for the real killing blow… This mana fluctuation, is it an Advanced-rank magician, or a Saint-rank?'
'A good idea, but unfortunately for you…'
'Healing magic sigil, activate. Duration, ten seconds.'
The tree-like pattern of the Dragon Saint Battle Aura erupted with a brilliant green light! Battle aura and mana frolicked as they surged into Alan's limbs in an instant!
At the same time, the flood of men crashed down on Alan, submerging him!
A smile bloomed on Alan's face in the night. His whispered words, lighter than the wind, were shattered in the air by the dense chorus of swinging blades.
"A fusion of Water God Style and North God Style, a combination of the Rock secret technique and Nijūzan… My self-created secret technique, evolved."
"Rock's Impact."
Alan's eyes flew open. His blade's shadow vanished into the darkness, weaving rapidly through the crowd. The ultimate expression of the Flow technique deflected over ten incoming blades in succession. And in the gaps between these movements, he used his battle aura to push his physical strength to the absolute limit for Nijūzan!
The light of his blade flashed within the crowd!
At the very front, the dozen or so figures whose blades had been parried seemed to freeze for a moment. The next second, their bodies suddenly disintegrated in front of Alan!
Severed arms! Mangled legs! Torsos!
Organs! Bones! Heads!
The pieces of corpses rained down, the stench of blood was overwhelming, and the figures fell like harvested wheat.
Alan's line of sight was suddenly clear. He grinned ferociously through the rain of blood at the raging flames slowly rising in the air not far away.
Beneath the dancing fire was Gray Hawk's raised staff, and the final syllable of the incantation he roared out!
"Inferno Bomb! Die, you monster!"
As the visually overwhelming magic was launched, their eyes met.
There was not much excitement of a successful strategy in Gray Hawk's eyes, only deep apprehension and horror.
'Half of them died in the blink of an eye… Thankfully, the magic incantation is complete… Leopard's judgment was right. The sacrifice was heavy… but as long as we're alive, that's enough.'
Before the thought was even finished, the scorching night wind slapped against his bald head.
A line of blood spread from the top of his head, running down through his eye.
In his astonished gaze was the figure of Alan, wreathed in a light smoke.
He was right in front of him.
Horror and disbelief had just begun to surface in Gray Hawk's eyes. He stared blankly at the distorted air around the blade in Alan's hand.
The next moment, his face melted like cheese sliced by a hot knife.
Just like the 'two' Inferno Bombs that were streaking past behind Alan.
Amidst screams and wails, the Inferno Bomb, split in two, exploded among the bandits behind Alan!
The violent explosion sent a scorching pressure wave crashing against Alan's back! The thick blood on his swordsman's uniform was cooked dry in a single breath.
Alan tossed aside the scorching hot blade he had casually picked up to slice the fireball. His own sword had been destroyed in the first round of his Rock's Impact.
His flame-seared skin healed rapidly in the light of the explosion. He reached out and patted his clothes, and flakes of dried blood fell off. Alan bent down and picked up the deceptively plain-looking sword from the man's waist.
"So, the most threatening person in the camp was the most inconspicuous one… A pity. Your chanting was too slow, and your killing intent was too obvious to my perception… Now then…"
He turned his head towards the edge of the forest. In his pupils, the rapidly retreating figure of Leopard was perfectly clear.
Alan smiled and took a step with his right leg.
"I see you."
The next moment.
Leopard's head fell off.
A pillar of blood shot into the sky. His torso knelt dejectedly on the ground, two unactivated smoke bombs rolling from his hand. His head was still tumbling in the air, tumbling…
Leopard's eyes were blank.
From the moment the Inferno Bomb had been sliced in two, his mind had been thrown into chaos.
And Gray Hawk's subsequent death marked the complete and utter demolition of his most adept tactical planning, crushed into dust by Alan's despairingly overwhelming power.
Formulate a new strategy? What a joke! Was there anyone left in this camp to command?
A one-on-one fight? Between a Sword God and a Water God Style user of the same rank, the latter was stronger! And Alan not only possessed a perfect counter-attacking secret technique, but he could also use the Soundless Tachi.
A monster.
He was unbeatable. He had to escape and plan for the long term.
Fear overwhelmed his will to fight. Without a second thought, he reached for the escape smoke bombs commonly used by the Eccentric School.
And then, he died.
He didn't even have time to unleash the Soundless Tachi.
A kill with the Sword God Style is often just that simple.
The next second, the light in Leopard's eyes extinguished.
His torso and head fell to the ground under Alan's gaze.
A sword pierced the air and stuck into the ground. The tip of the blade slowly drew a shallow furrow between Leopard's head and severed neck, 'dividing' the corpse.
Amidst the scraping sound of earth, a young, harmless voice announced the end of the hunt.
"I sever."
…
[North God Style techniques and the Water God Style self-created secret technique have been integrated and evolved. North God Style rank has increased. Water God Style rank has increased.]
[North God Style — Advanced Rank.]
[Water God Style — Saint Rank.]
The smoke and dust swirled and danced, the characters merging and reorganizing.
[Evaluation: The dragon's wrath burns with flames, and when the flames pass, the Mane Wolves do not even have time to whimper.]
Year 412 of the Armored Dragon Calendar.
A midsummer night.
Alan ascended to the rank of Water Saint.
…
…
"Why do I remember Roxy's original words being 'not even the bones of the Mane Wolves remain'?"
[And yet, there are many bones on the ground.]
Alan looked down at the corpse of Leopard, who had died with his eyes open, and rubbed his chin, speechless.
"The strength of this group of bandits was much higher than I expected… Did James go to such great lengths just to kill me?"
"Something feels off… I was thinking of leaving one alive to interrogate about the details of the wanted notice, but it's a pity. He had already pulled out his smoke bombs, so I had no choice but to kill him with the Soundless Tachi first. In that situation, if I had tried to capture him alive and he had escaped, it would have been a huge mess."
[Correct.]
Alan, smelling the scent of burning protein in the air, pinched his nose.
"It can't be helped now… Even if there's something else behind this, once I reach the King rank, in the face of absolute power, James won't be able to cause any trouble."
"Besides, he won't necessarily be able to determine that I was the one who killed them. At the Red Dragon's Upper Jaw, I only demonstrated Water God Style techniques. Based on their understanding of me, they would think it's impossible for me to wipe out this group overnight."
The smoke drifted in front of Alan, as if smiling.
[Oh? What if?]
Alan turned to look at the two large craters left by the Inferno Bombs. The area where he had originally stood was well-preserved, covered in severed limbs and body parts, with thick blood still flowing on the ground.
But in the two craters slightly to the sides, it was a scene of scorched blackness. A few burning, charred corpses were scattered at the edges. As for the bandits who had taken a direct hit from the Inferno Bombs, they were no longer recognizable as human.
It had to be said, Gray Hawk and Leopard's tactical plan was quite meticulous and unexpected.
The scene had been chaotic. The stronger members of the bandit group had closed in on Alan extremely quickly, with the clearly high-level swordsmen at the front, while the weaker ones were at the back.
This way, if they were worrying for nothing and Alan's strength was indeed only at the Advanced Water God Style rank as estimated, he would have been cut down in the first wave. And Gray Hawk could have thrown his magic overhead or into the nearby lake.
But if Alan's strength far exceeded their expectations, then these skilled bandits who had been incited to swarm him would become obstacles.
Even if he could kill them in a short time, he would be hindered by the barrier of their corpses, and at that point, Gray Hawk would have unhesitatingly thrown his magic into the crowd.
It was perfect, but they hadn't expected Alan to be able to unleash over ten strikes of Nijūzan in an instant.
They had never even seen a technique like Nijūzan. After all, Alan had secretly learned it three years ago from the Second North God, Alex Carlman Ryback, who had been visiting the Water God dojo.
At the time, that guy had been insistent on taking Alan away, which had scared Alan so much that he had hidden in a capital city brothel as a bathhouse scrubber for half a month to avoid this variable. After all, he was determined to go to Buena Village, and too many variables would create even more variables later on.
Alan looked at the system panel before him and shrugged.
"Even in the worst-case scenario, if James finds out, he won't be able to pinpoint where I am. I never told anyone about my intention to go to Buena Village. To them, it's a complete blind spot."
"At most, he'll have people wait for me in Roa City. But in two years, not only will his men probably not be able to recognize me, but my disappearance during this time should be enough to lower his guard."
[Hehe, true enough…]
The smoke dissipated. Alan smiled and started walking towards the distant craters, swinging his arms as he went.
'Both styles have improved.'
'Water God Style has reached Saint rank, as expected.'
'But I still feel that Sword God Style is more natural for me. That style really is unreasonable; it's all about talent and insight. It's incredibly difficult, but once you get the hang of it, your improvement is incredibly fast. I can kind of understand how that cheat Ghino felt.'
'North God Style reaching Advanced rank is a bit strange.'
'Logically, my use of the practical combat style was temporarily boosted by the healing magic sigil. I asked the system before, and temporary power-ups that I can't maintain on my own shouldn't count… So where did the improvement come from… wait, could it be…'
Alan blinked, tossed the sword in his hand into the air, and then his body suddenly seemed to lose all strength and he fell forward. But the moment his face was about to hit the ground, he slammed his hands down. Under the reactive force, his battle aura coiled and vibrated in the muscles of his arms and abdomen!
The next second, Alan, still in a four-limbed downward posture, did a sideways flip in the air and landed steadily on the ground nearby.
He caught the sword as it fell from the air.
Thanks to his foundation in the practical North God Style, he had grasped the essence of the Four-legged Form after seeing it just once.
'Leopard's Four-legged Form really is like a leopard… The Eccentric school has its merits in some areas. I rarely saw anyone use this move in person before; the capital was full of Water God Style swordsmen…'
'It's still very clunky. My version of the Four-legged Form can be considered Advanced rank? Could it be that there are just so many North God Style Advanced-rank swordsmen that the average skill level is all over the place?'
[Correct. The skill level of North God Eccentric School swordsmen is uneven. There are even cases where some who are clearly not skilled enough have risen to high positions through underhanded means. Based on the host's current state, you are exactly 10% below the average skill level of a North God Advanced-rank swordsman.]
Alan blinked curiously.
"Since you know the average skill level of a North God Advanced-rank swordsman, how many are there in the world right now?"
The smoke paused for a moment, as if thinking, then the characters shifted and reformed.
[…3,340 people. The North God Style is very popular among adventurers and bandit groups, so their numbers are quite large. Most of them are concentrated in the Disputed Lands.]
"Hmm… After all, the North God dojo is nearby… What about Sword God Style?"
[…827 people. Most are concentrated in the Holy Land of the Sword.]
"That number is reasonable… It basically fits the scale of that town, the Holy Land of Illiterates. And there aren't many high-level Sword God Style swordsmen wandering around. We're not too far from the Holy Land here, so we can still run into a few. Further south or east, they become rarer… What about Water God Style?"
[…4,732 people. Elite Water God Style users are the ultimate bodyguards that nobles all over the world can't resist. It's also the most widespread style.]
"Reasonable… Then the North Saint…"
[The host should focus on the present and not aim too high.]
"Oh…"
Alan, 'muttering to himself,' had already walked into the two dark craters. His feet once again stepped on the thick blood on the ground, and the dark surfaces of his boots, which had been dried by the fire, were soaked with blood again.
He casually walked among the scattered body parts and debris, squatted down, and rummaged through the organs and remains with his sword for a long time. Finally, he scratched his head in frustration.
"Swords and pieces of meat everywhere… I can't find my sword hilt… I shouldn't have cut them up so finely."
He turned to look at the two deep pits, which were still burning, and fell silent for a long moment.
"Forget it, I'm not looking anymore. I should really get out of here. This magic made too much noise. It'll be trouble if someone comes…"
As he spoke, Alan's expression darkened. He turned his head and looked towards the forest at the edge of the camp.
The shadows of the forest swayed, and the leaves rustled. A figure stepped out from among them. Their steps were small, cautious, and tinged with a bit of hesitation.
Alan's pupils slowly widened. His gaze traveled up from the all-too-familiar knee-high boots to the black thigh-high socks, the hem of the magic robe, the aquamarine pigtails, the rapidly rising and falling chest, the parted, astonished thin lips…
And settled on the deep blue eyes.
The newcomer was Roxy.
She was panting heavily, her hand covering her mouth, as she stared at Alan and stopped.
The night wind blew between them, but it couldn't disperse the thick smell of blood and burning human flesh.
Join my patreon For Early access to Chapter : patreon.com/TheWorldGod
Tiamat 200 Chapter (Final)
Honkai 420 Chapter
Lobotomy 110 Chapter
MushokuTensei 229 Chapter
'Pure Evil' Simulator Chapter Ending
Crossover Fic Blapterue-Eyes Chapter Ending