Deep in the forest.
The darkness was thick and viscous. The concept of time seemed to have stopped, making it impossible to tell what time it was. Two figures faced each other through the rain. If one ignored the tangible killing intent that seemed to slice through the rain, and the fact that the two were not at a 'safe conversational' distance, the atmosphere could be considered quite 'peaceful'.
Jade's voice rang out in the rain, completely different from the charming voice of the one whose head Alan had cut off. It was a bit low, with a hint of teasing. "Hey, Ghislaine, the tenacious stance forged by the Sword God Style, if you lose your footing, all the sword techniques that use it as their core will lose their threat. Then you'll be nothing but a pitiful little kitten, right? The only Sword King of the Sword God Style, the princess of the beastmen?"
As his voice fell, the sound of something tearing through the rain was heard in the air! Sparks flew. A blackened crossbow bolt, insidiously aimed at the side of Ghislaine's face, was deflected by her with a 'Heisou'. In the darkness, Ghislaine's angry eyes stared at her fellow beastman, Jade. She swung her hand, and a flash of sword qi pierced the mud in front of her, but Jade, who was ten meters away, dodged it by stepping aside.
"Look at you, without a stable stance, even your sword qi is released so unsatisfactorily... you rely too much on the Sword God Style 'theory' that helped you become a Sword King, and you've fallen into a rigid dogma." Jade circled Ghislaine as if strolling and chatting with a friend, but at the same time, he used the cover of his voice to release another crossbow bolt.
The crossbow bolt shot out! It was still cut down by Ghislaine in mid-air! At the same time, the latter quickly glanced at her surroundings, trying to find a way out of her current predicament. In front of her was a man-made swamp with a radius of five meters. The rain kept stirring up muddy bubbles, completely submerging her below the waist.
It had been dug in advance by Jade and his two companions, taking advantage of the natural environment of the rainy night. If it were just that, Ghislaine could have escaped with her four-legged form and wouldn't have ended up in such a state. But there was something 'added' to this swamp.
Ghislaine had been trapped for nearly half an hour. She was waiting for the incessant rain to dilute the 'additive'... to give her a chance to escape. Her feet were clearly no longer as slippery as before, and she could feel a slight sense of footing. So as long as she waited for the rain to continue to accumulate...
Jade saw Ghislaine's expression and sneered. He threw a handful of red spheres into the swamp. Ghislaine glared and swung her hand, trying to knock the spheres away with her sword qi, but as soon as the sword qi touched them, the spheres exploded in mid-air due to the impact. The contents scattered in the mud. Ghislaine felt the slight sense of footing that had just returned quickly disappear. She struggled to maintain her balance, but she could no longer hold back her emotions and roared. "Jade!!! I'm going to kill you!!"
Her voice echoed in the dark forest, rippling through the rain. It was very intimidating.
Jade, in the distance, tensed up. Seeing that Ghislaine didn't release any battle aura this time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been saying that Ghislaine's sword qi was inaccurate, but in reality, he had a very hard time dodging it. After all, his opponent was a Sword King. But eroding the enemy's mentality with words was ingrained in his instincts as a North God Style swordsman, so he never stopped talking. And the crossbow bolts he released were, of course, of no real use against Ghislaine. But the effect of this move was reflected in other aspects. The sound of the arrows repeatedly flying through the air was undoubtedly very clear to the beastman with excellent hearing. If it was repeated, the opponent would lose themselves in anxiety.
This was a psychological tactic. It was also to wear down Ghislaine's will. He didn't dare to get close rashly. This was also the reason why the two had been in a stalemate for half an hour.
Jade fiddled with the crossbow bolt in his hand and quickly adjusted his expression before smiling again. "The world generally believes that the Sword God Style is stronger than the North God Style, but the biggest problem with the Sword God Style is recklessness, especially you, Ghislaine."
"The moment we met, before you even understood what we were here to do, your sword moved first, faster than your muscle-filled brain. Admittedly, the Sword of Light is a good way to kill enemies, but when your next step is into a trap we carefully prepared, you can't cut us, can you? It wasn't in vain that my brother risked his life to lure you here."
Jade raised his hand and fired another crossbow bolt. Seeing that it was still deflected by Ghislaine, he pulled out a few more of the same red spheres from his clothes with his other hand.
「North God Style—Red Ink.」
A North God Style "hidden weapon" made with a special potion prepared by a North God Style pharmacist. Once it is subjected to a strong impact, the contents will scatter in the surrounding area. This was a trick used by the Peacock Sword—North Emperor Auber—in the Asura Kingdom's succession war to stop Eris and Ghislaine. In this way, all Sword God Style moves that relied on a stable stance could not be performed smoothly.
However, in the original plot, he used a highly adhesive substance, usually for indoor or dry road surfaces on sunny days. The disadvantage was that it would quickly dissipate when washed away by water. It is worth mentioning that Red Ink also had another type of filling, a lubricant that would quickly dissolve in water. It had the opposite effect of the 'Red Ink' used by Auber and was specifically for rainy days. But the purpose was the same, both were to help the North God Style swordsman find the opponent's 'weakness'.
However, most people who had seen it were dead, so it was not known to the world. And among the living North God Style swordsmen, only a few had mastered it. It was an unannounced secret. It was one of the many bizarre techniques of the Qiba School. If a bizarre technique was known to the world, how could it still be called bizarre? This was the North God Style—Qiba School.
Jade continued to fire crossbow bolts with a flick of his wrist, observing Ghislaine's expression. Realizing that her mentality was on the verge of collapse, only one fuse away from losing control, he couldn't help but smile victoriously. "Counting the time, my brother should have succeeded by now. I've been in a stalemate with you for so long because I'm waiting for reinforcements. What about you? What are you waiting for? A corpse? Or your own death?"
"I'm going to kill you!!" A deafening roar rippled through the rain. As a fellow beastman with keen hearing, Jade smiled triumphantly. He lowered his two rabbit ears to block his earholes. "Oh my, don't shout. What's the use? They'll be here soon and it'll be your death. Isn't it better to just accept it? The pay for this job is quite generous. Speaking of which, I should thank you for being so useless. Look at your panicked state now. It's clear you didn't have much hope for that Water Saint brat either, did you?"
'Just now, you were even saying that he would kill my brother. What a joke.'
Jade raised his crossbow and aimed it at Ghislaine. "I don't know where you get your confidence from. It's ridiculous. Him? Are you kidding me..."
As he spoke, the rain fell, the wind blew, and the leaves rustled, covering a very faint footstep. But Jade still heard it. It was the familiar, stealthy footstep of the North God Style.
At the same time, a not-so-clear voice came from his blocked ear canal. "Jade?"
A look of joy appeared on Jade's face, and he was about to turn his head instinctively, but in that instant, his mind reacted that the voice didn't sound right... it didn't sound like his brother's voice?
But his gaze had already turned. The face in front of him was indeed his brother's familiar face... yes... it was his brother's face.
His neck felt a little cold... his thoughts froze.
Thud. Jade's head fell to the ground, blood spurting out in the night!! A figure silently stepped out from behind him. Blood splattered on him, was washed away by the rain, and formed a shallow, blood-colored pool on the ground at his feet. The thick line of blood connected with the 'pool', and the 'pool' quickly faded in the rain.
The newcomer was holding Nakul's head, holding it out in front of him.
And in the swamp, Ghislaine's roar instantly subsided, as if it had been an illusion. The two looked at each other, through the rain and blood. The ripples of time echoed in the rain.
Ten minutes ago, five kilometers away.
In the rain, the wind constantly brought information about the environment! He quickly passed by the dissonant broken branches in the woods. The muddy depressions under the fallen leaves and flowing water in the forest. They were not pits made by falling rain, nor were they dents made by walking beasts. They were the finishing touches of using battle aura to churn the mud to cover the footprints.
Very clear. And also very 'fresh'. The downpour kept destroying all kinds of traces, but Alan was still steadily closing the distance with Nakul! His figure shattered the rain curtain! This chase had been going on for almost ten minutes, and as Alan ran at high speed, the traces left by Nakul in the surrounding environment became more and more obvious!
Alan squinted at the dark woods in front of him in the rain. The wind blowing towards him had a 'dissonant' feedback. It was as if... a slender beast was frantically running away in front, disturbing the airflow. '...I've caught him again. So next...'
A flash of light pierced the rain! Alan swung his sword and smashed the blade light into his side. A tree, as thick as an adult man's waist, which had been 'coincidentally' broken in half, came crashing towards him. It was split in two, and Alan's figure shot out from the gap in the middle!
Nakul's figure had disappeared from his eyes again, but the information from the environment still locked his 'gaze' firmly on the other party! 'The twenty-first trap. The Qiba School is indeed the Qiba School. However, starting from the twelfth time, the frequency of leaving traps has become faster and faster.'
'Nakul is getting anxious.'
'His patience is gradually being worn down... because I'm completely different from the Water God Style swordsmen he's encountered before. Generally speaking, the speed of the Water God Style is not fast, and it's mainly about defense and counterattack. So from the moment he threw someone to block my steps, to every trap after that, he wanted to use my 'Water God Style' fighting mentality to make me stop and give up the pursuit battle that the Water God Style shouldn't be good at.'
'Unexpectedly, I'm not a typical Water God Style swordsman at all, and my battle aura endurance has clearly exceeded the estimation of this veteran Sword Saint.'
'In the original story, Nakul was only called the North King when he was with Jade. This shows that most of this person's techniques need to be used with his younger brother to display the strength of a North King. That's why he's called 'Twin Swords'. And when people are flustered, they will subconsciously look for their comfort zone, so his first choice of escape must be Ghislaine's location. There, he can find his most comfortable fighting method!'
'I don't know what Ghislaine's situation is now. But there's no doubt that, based on Nakul's anxious state, Ghislaine's location is not far away.'
'If these two are allowed to meet, and if Ghislaine is not in good condition, they might be able to escape. More seriously, if Ghislaine can't participate in the battle... I might even be killed...'
'So... before I meet Ghislaine, I need to create the conditions to kill him. There's not much time left!'
As the sound of trees falling to the ground rumbled behind him, an unreadable color flashed in Alan's dark gray pupils. At the same time, a similar thought echoed in front of him!
'So... before I meet Jade, I need to find a chance to kill him. There's not much time left!'
When faced with an unknown, uncontrollable variable, people's reactions are often similar. It was an emotion called apprehension!
Alan was apprehensive about Ghislaine's situation and decided to kill Nakul first. And wasn't Nakul thinking the same thing? But now, the apprehension had reached its end! Because the spring of 'probing' had been compressed to its limit!
Nakul flashed past a tree, feeling the blade light flash behind him. The tense expression on his face finally broke into a smile. 'Throwing that woman away gave me time to set the first trap. After that, there were twenty-one in a row. The probing was effective! Although it's not obvious, the kid's sword swing has become stagnant, and he's intentionally protecting his neck... is he using battle aura to suppress the wound? He's forcing himself to chase after me, so confident.'
'His Water God Style level is the highest, but he has the reckless brain of the Sword God Style. If he had also cultivated in the North God Style, he would definitely be a very tricky opponent...'
'Unfortunately, there are no ifs.'
'So, you should die!'
In his thoughts! Lightning pierced the night sky!
Alan's rain-soaked boots slammed onto the ground. As the water shattered, the electric light bleached his pupils. In that instant! In the light of the lightning, a dagger gleaming with a cold light shot out from the shadows of the woods in front!
Alan's pupils suddenly contracted. His wrist paused for a moment, then he swung his sword as before and sent the dagger flying! As the blade and dagger met, the light that illuminated the forest suddenly extinguished. Alan's vision entered a brief period of adaptation to the alternating light and dark due to the conversion of his functional cells. But the tactile sensation of the wind hitting his skin had already brought 'new' information!
A follow-up move that came with the flash of lightning! It was the sound of a sharp object cutting through the rain! It shot straight for his neck! The 'Sense Flow' was still in effect!
Alan violently twisted his neck. A completely blackened dagger scraped past his neck and embedded itself in the tree behind him with a clang! The dagger clearly didn't touch Alan's skin, but his neck still sprayed blood in the rain!! At the same time, his body suddenly stiffened.
In the blind spot of his peripheral vision, a figure shot out with a ghostly sword! Nakul stabbed his short sword straight at Alan's back!! 'A weakness!'
But just then, he heard a low whisper. It drifted to his ears through the layers of rain. The voice was even a bit leisurely... the same two words, a similar mentality. An unexpected, but identical, North God Style probing technique. Like Nakul, he had been using the feedback from his opponent to find a perfect...
"Weakness."
Nakul felt a chill in his heart. Colder than his heart was his neck. In his vision, Alan's figure showed no sign of stiffness. He had already turned around, the blade light extinguished in the rain! The flesh at the wound on his neck was rapidly knitting together. It was the 'bait' he had cut himself.
Could his Sword of Silence pose a fatal threat to a Saint-level within a few meters? No, it wasn't fast enough. So what if the distance was closer? Was one meter fast enough? Ah, no, as an excellent swordsman of the North God Style, this was too reckless. He should be more cautious. Then, within a foot. The distance of a wave. Was that fast enough?
The blood gave the answer. Nakul's vision was shaking, the light in his eyes extinguished. Alan held his head and disappeared into the night.
"Next."
Blood and rain fell, rippling before the swamp. Lightning split the sky! Along with the dazzling electric light, a blade light flashed. A tree trunk that required two people to wrap their arms around was chopped into wooden planks. Under the precisely controlled blade momentum, it was laid on the swamp. The figure holding the head stepped onto it. He came forward in Ghislaine's intense gaze. 'He' reached out his hand and held it open in front of Ghislaine.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you." In the electric light, in his eyes, the newcomer's smile was unrestrained. "My name is Alan."
(Author's Note)
I took the morning off to revise the text. Don't vote for the monthly ticket, I really don't deserve it. Sorry! I just finished revising and deleted the apology chapter by mistake! I just realized it's not right!! I'm sorry!! Why is every step wrong!
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