Chapter 15: The Devil's Footwork
When it came to long-range combat, Kaizen Reiya had absolute confidence.
First, the speed of his Swift Boots far surpassed that of the Bandit King, Higuma.
Second, he possessed both the Glue Pistol and the Glue Cannon, each with considerable range.
As these thoughts flashed through Kaizen's mind like lightning, the Bandit King's second martial skill, the Fire Serpent Slash, was already roaring toward him.
Swift Boots!
Kaizen shifted over thirty meters away. With a boom, the Bandit King's Fire Serpent Slash struck the ground, blasting a crater five or six meters wide. Flames roiled, and the earth melted rapidly.
Kaizen had just steadied himself and caught his breath when he saw an erratic, cold light frantically rushing toward him from the slash of the Bandit King's steel sword.
It was the Bandit King's third great martial skill, and also his strongest ultimate move: the Thirty-Six Windstorm Slashes.
In desperation, Kaizen took a deep breath, desperately urging his Swift Boots, weaving left and right to evade.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! A barrage of sharp sword energy swept past, grazing his body. His skin tingled faintly.
After dodging this lethal assault, he looked back. The bandits who had been cheering for the Bandit King were directly shredded to pieces by the flying sword energy. Flesh and blood swirled in a terrible vortex.
A cold sweat broke out on Kaizen's back. He knew that continuing like this was not a sustainable strategy.
Sooner or later, his stamina would be completely exhausted.
"Kid! You coward! You don't dare to face our boss head-on!"
The Sixth Brother, seeing Kaizen so hard-pressed under the Boss's Thirty-Six Slashes, forgot the lesson of his previous humiliation and laughed loudly.
"Kid, you're just a rat! Stop running away!" The Fifth Brother sneered when he saw this.
"Kid, you're a gutless wonder! A turtle hiding in its shell! You don't dare to face my boss directly! Go find a crack to crawl into!" The Second Brother also jeered.
"The Sixth Brother, the Fifth Brother, and the Second Brother... If I absorb their combat power, I should be able to level up twice in a row, reaching Level 11."
"Once I reach Level 11, I'll only be nine levels below the Bandit King Higuma. Then I can use the Star-Siphoning Art to drain him dry."
A flash of inspiration struck Kaizen. His eyes lit up as he looked at the Sixth Brother, as if gazing upon prey.
Seeing Kaizen staring at him, the Sixth Brother was terrified, like a mouse caught in a cat's gaze.
He immediately shouted and scrambled backward.
He had just called Kaizen a coward and a turtle, but now he was so frightened he was running away. The irony was deafening.
Hmph! Kaizen moved, shooting toward him like a gust of wind.
"Boss! Help! Save me!"
But it was already too late. In the blink of an eye, Kaizen had appeared before him, clamping onto his right wrist.
The combat power within his body surged out like a torrent.
The Sixth Brother's mouth fell open as if he were under a spell. His eyes sank deeply, his face wrinkled, aging fifty or sixty years in an instant. His skin seemed to drape directly over his bones.
"You... you... you're a devil! Using evil magic!" After uttering this, the Sixth Brother collapsed to the ground in horror.
Silence!
Dead silence fell all around.
It seemed even the wind had frozen.
Everyone was stunned.
"What kind of technique is that? It seemed to suck all his energy out in an instant."
"It's terrifying. A devilish technique."
"It's horrifying, but thankfully he's on our side."
The Windmill Village death squad secretly rejoiced.
"Fifth Brother! Get over here, to my side!" Seeing Kaizen's gaze fall upon the Fifth Brother next, the Bandit King Higuma's heart skipped a beat. A bad feeling rose within him.
The Fifth Brother felt like he was being stared at by a ferocious beast, trembling from head to toe. He tried to escape, but it was too late.
A slight pain bloomed in his back. The combat power in his entire body rushed out uncontrollably, drying up in an instant like a stream in a drought.
The Second Brother was so frightened he used all his strength to dash toward the Boss, Higuma, swift as the wind. Fifty meters, thirty meters, ten meters...
Just as he felt relieved, thinking he had finally escaped, his neck suddenly itched, as if bitten by a mosquito. Looking back, he was terrified to see Kaizen's palm resting lightly on his neck.
His combat power, like a wild horse freed from its reins, galloped out uncontrollably, swiftly absorbed.
The Bandit King Higuma was about to unleash his Thirty-Six Slashes when his eyes blurred. Kaizen was already standing sixty meters away, looking at him with a strange expression.
As if he had never moved from that spot.
Such speed was truly astonishing.
Everyone present felt a creepy, surreal sensation.
"Second Brother, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother... I swear I will chop this kid into a thousand pieces to avenge you!"
The Bandit King Higuma stared viciously at Kaizen, his eyes fierce enough to kill.