Volume 5 – A Distance Within Reach, Chapter 68: A Bitter Struggle (Part 2)
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.
The third sword shadow, however, streaked past Stuka’s body silently.
The arachne count’s protective origin power lit up brightly in an eerie green color. The next moment, countless cracks began to appear before it shattered with a loud boom and countless fragments flew off in all directions.
A bloody line appeared on Stuka’s arachnid abdomen which split open immediately afterward, forming a grisly two-meter long wound. The arachne count let out a howl of pain and sent the battleaxe flying toward Qianye with a wave of his hand.
Stuka fell heavily onto the ground with a muffled thud, but he was still able to stand and started roaring in extreme fury. The origin gun in his hand spat out tongues of flame as it bombarded Qianye continuously.
Zhao Yuying was startled for a moment after witnessing this scene. She came to at this moment and, turning the full-charged cannon around, blasted out an origin power shell which struck the battleaxe flying despite having acted late.
Qianye slashed out with his sword and felt as though he had struck a mountain. His figure paused slightly in the air before he was flung backward by the enormous counter-force that was transmitted along East Peak. The numb sensation in his hands spread to his shoulders, and for a moment, it felt as though he had lost both arms and a large stone was pressing down on his chest. The stifling sensation was relieved only after spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Qianye staggered backward as soon as he landed on the ground and almost fell over. He stuck East Peak into the ground to stabilize his body but immediately ducked to the side after seeing a series of origin gunshots through the corner of his eyes. He evaded Stuka’s barrage with several rolls but still failed to escape the shockwaves and shrapnels completely. Numerous bloody wounds appeared on his shoulder and back.
What followed was a short moment of silence as the arachne count’s origin gun had reached its limit for continuous fire. Qianye supported himself up and took advantage of the gap to drew the Twin Flowers. A pair of luminous wings appeared behind his back as the Mystic Spider Lily and Bloody Datura merged into one. He aimed straight at Stuka and fired!
All sounds vanished as the shot rang out, and only the unique timbre of the Twin Flowers echoed throughout the battlefield.
Two origin power bullets emerged from the chamber and twisted around each other like the gemini of fate. Not long after taking flight, they suddenly erupted with intense radiance and rose like two suns.
“Refined Silver Bullets of Extreme Yang!” Stuka’s heart skipped a beat as the radiance appeared. The fear of refined silver was instinctive to the dark races just as humans feared black titanium.
However, the two bullets almost seemed to be crossing through space as though the distance between them and Stuka didn’t exist. Stuka was already beginning to move sideways the moment he saw the blinding light, but he felt pain at almost the very next moment as the two Refined Silver Bullets of Extreme Yang blasted his arachnid abdomen.
Stuka turned immediately to escape. The arachnid’s agility was brought out without restraint at this moment of life and death. Qianye had just lit up the first origin array while charging for a second shot when the arachne count’s figure leapt over the mountain ridge beside the mine and disappeared into the boundless night.
Zhao Yuying had just arrived at Qianye’s side as her eyebrows rose. She wanted to chase after the fleeing count but was stopped by Qianye.
“Don’t chase after him.”
“Are we letting him off just like that? Rest assured, this mommy here has a way to finish him off!” Zhao Yuying said while rubbing her fists. This was how one should take advantage of another’s precarious situation.
“He’s taken two of my Refined Silver Bullets of Extreme Yang and probably won’t have an easy time. We have to clear up this place now. The reason you took such a big risk to come here isn’t to fight that old spider, is it?”
Zhao Yuying revealed a rare expression of embarrassment. She had dragged Qianye over for a robbery but unexpectedly encountered Count Stuka here.
She immediately shifted Qianye’s attention by glancing at their surroundings. Almost a hundred dark race warriors remained but, for a moment, none of them moved—they were stunned by the abrupt shift in battle situation. Meanwhile, there was still an arachne viscount standing at the center of the origin array.
Zhao Yuying said while pointing, “This side is yours and those stronger ones are mine.”
Qianye shook his head. “No, all of them are yours. I have to rest for a couple of minutes.”
Zhao Yuying was startled, “Why? Have you been squeezed dry with just that?”
Qianye calmly produced a stimulant and stabbed it into his thigh. “I’m not a champion yet.”
“You’re so fierce even now. What will this mommy do when you’ve become a champion? What was that sword move just now? Even I don’t have much confidence in receiving it.”
Qianye said helplessly, “They’re going to escape if you don’t take action.”
Zhao Yuying glanced back and, as expected, found the arachne viscount near the origin array edging back constantly. Apparently, he was planning to escape.
Zhao Yuying raised the Mountain Splitter and roared, “You’re not allowed to run!”
How could the arachne viscount listen to her? He turned and fled immediately without the slightest bit of hesitation. Zhao Yuying was immediately furious and shouted, “Stop Running! This mommy here commands you! You’re still being disobedient? I’ll break off all your legs once I catch you!”
Zhao Yuying shouted all the way as she chased after the arachne viscount and disappeared over the other side of the mountain in the blink of an eye.
Qianye was left alone in the mine.
The atmosphere here was fairly subtle. The dark race soldiers scattering in every direction halted their steps and glanced at Qianye with malicious intentions.