Chapter 143: Slaughter

A rustling sound drifted through the dark jungle, as if someone were forcing their way through the dense foliage. Xie Liu slowly adjusted his blade, pointing it toward the trembling leaves ahead, as if a hail of gunfire might erupt from the darkness at any second.

"Wang Qi, fall back. Head north and don't look back," Xie Liu said solemnly. The sounds in the brush grew more intense; clearly, they were being approached by more than one person.

To the north lay the defensive zone of the Allied Forces. While being recognized there carried its own risks, it was still better than being surrounded and killed right here. Xie Liu wasn't worried about himself—he had the strength to be reckless—but Wang Qi was different; his superpower was simply not suited for combat.

Xie Liu flicked the catch on his blade’s hilt, his body coiled slightly. His gaze swept across the thicket surrounding him as the rustling grew louder from every direction.

"One, two, three..." Xie Liu meticulously parsed the sounds emerging from different points, estimating the enemy force at over a dozen. He abandoned his cautious stance, lifting the blade and holding it horizontally before him. "Come and get it."

Wang Qi had retreated a short distance behind Xie Liu, scanning the surroundings nervously. He gripped the white pistol Xie Liu had given him as if it were his only lifeline.

The night air was heavy with a murderous aura. As a light breeze brushed against Xie Liu’s cheek, his eyes instinctively darted to the left. A flash of cold light lunged from the brush, reaching him in an instant.

"Hmph!" Xie Liu let out a cold snort. His blade moved before the strike could land. With a swift, dark arc, he swept his weapon across, shattering the incoming blow before it could reach him. A massive figure emerged from the darkness behind him, stumbling back with a look of sheer terror.

Xie Liu’s strike had not only severed the man’s weapon but his right arm as well.

"Sshhh—" The sound of blood spraying into the night air followed, turning into a fine mist that speckled Xie Liu’s face. He didn't even bother to wipe it away. Instead, he turned to face the wounded giant and sneered, "Speak your last words."

Xie Liu’s grin was wicked, his pupils having shifted to a blood-red hue, as if intoxicated by the slaughter.

Though he was a man accustomed to meticulous planning, Xie Liu was, at his core, an assassin. Since his plans had failed, he would pave his path with carnage. Tipping his head to the side, he watched the maimed special operative, shook the blood from the blade’s groove, and began to walk toward him.

"You're a devil!" The soldier had thought a surprise attack would end this guy—he had even bet his comrades he could take him down in three moves. But the moment they clashed, he realized he was nowhere near the level of this man, neither in physical prowess nor in spirit.

"A devil, am I?" Xie Liu retorted with a cold laugh. "If you say so."

As Xie Liu stepped forward, the maimed soldier tried to scramble away, turning to cry out for his comrades. Xie Liu would not grant him such an opportunity. He launched himself forward like a bullet, reappearing instantly behind the towering soldier.

"Pfft..." A gruesome sound echoed as Xie Liu’s blade pierced through the soldier’s chest from behind, impaling his heart.

"You..." the giant gasped in disbelief, still frozen in the motion of his attempted escape. Xie Liu gave him no more chances and pulled the trigger on his hilt.

"Boom!" With a sharp crack of displaced air, the blade’s recoil mechanism drove the weapon downward, cleaving the soldier in two.

Blood rained down, but Xie Liu dodged aside, moving through the crimson mist like a reaper from hell. "Who's next?"

The rustling in the brush ceased. Everyone was paralyzed by the sheer brutality they had just witnessed, even Wang Qi. They had not expected this youth, who looked so delicate, to be so utterly merciless.

"Report to the commander, we have a high-level esper here!" someone whispered from the dark. Xie Liu whipped his head around toward the source of the voice. "Found you!"

Then, Xie Liu moved with a speed that Wang Qi could not even track. "So fast! How is he this strong?"

It took Xie Liu less than half a second to cover the dozen meters to the source of the voice—a distance he crossed in the blink of an eye.

Since awakening his "Nightmare Eyes" at the Hunter’s Assembly, Xie Liu’s physical limits had surged. While he wasn't quite the monster that Wendy was, he was no less capable than a B-class operative. Combined with the cover of night, he completely dominated these low-level soldiers who knew nothing of his true potential.

He appeared before a tall, thin soldier. The man was unfazed, pulling his own blade from his back and lunging with a flash of steel.

"Clang!" With a sharp ring, the soldier’s blade shattered. A spray of blood followed, and the man’s head flew several meters away.

"This... impossible..." The severed head did not die instantly, watching as its own body collapsed before the god-like silhouette of Xie Liu.

"Second one." Xie Liu watched the corpse drop, then turned his gaze once more. His blood-red eyes swept over the battlefield, which had fallen into a sudden, eerie silence. They were all D-class operatives, pathetically weak. None of them carried light-blades, and their standard steel was no match for the folding blade in his hand, reinforced with dark-matter plating.

"Who’s next?" Xie Liu shook the blood from the groove once more, standing in the most exposed spot, inviting them to attack.

"He’s too strong! We have to attack together!" someone shouted from the darkness. Xie Liu shifted his eyes to see a massive man emerge, clad in heavy armor and wielding a gargantuan greatsword. "I’ll block his attacks; you all flank him!"

"Tactics in front of me? Hmph, a complete joke." Xie Liu sneered. As the giant roared, several soldiers wielding various weapons leaped from the shadows.

At their level, standard bullets were useless. To kill, one needed special ammunition or close-quarters combat. The soldiers chose the latter, adhering to their strange, archaic tradition of avoiding firearms.

Facing the swarm, Xie Liu only laughed. Tactics were important, but when the gap in strength reached a certain point, they were meaningless. As the soldiers charged, he didn't care in the slightest, his blade flicking out in wide, sweeping arcs.

"Boom!" With the hiss of the blade's pneumatic assist, the armored giant was sliced in half, sword and all. He hadn't slowed Xie Liu down for even a second.

The battle raged on. Wang Qi was fortunate enough to be ignored by the soldiers, hiding behind a tree nearby to watch the chaotic scene. Xie Liu moved like flowing water; every thrust brought forth a spray of blood. He was faster than the operatives, his weapon was superior, and he used the unique features of his folding blade to deliver fatal blows with every strike.

Relying on the blade’s mechanics and the pneumatic recoil, Xie Liu never needed to waste time on the recovery of his swings.

One man, one blade, carving through a dozen enemies in a bloody storm. Soon, half the soldiers lay in the dirt, and the toll continued to climb.

Watching this, Wang Qi felt a sense of unreality. He had sparred with Xie Liu before, but he hadn't realized the true extent of his power. Now, he understood that Xie Liu had been holding back against him all along.

As he pondered this, Xie Liu backhanded his hilt into the chest of an attacker rushing from the side. When the force proved insufficient, he slammed his left palm down, forcing the blade through in a burst of blood and pneumatic pressure. The soldier was bisected and collapsed onto the blood-soaked ground.

He was the last of the group. As he fell, the seven or eight remaining soldiers froze, standing at a distance from Xie Liu.

In just a few minutes, Xie Liu had cut down at least ten of them. Not one had lasted a single round. The survivors were only alive because they had been slightly further away.

"Are you still coming?" Xie Liu stopped, lowering his blade to point at the ground. Blood dripped from the edge, each drop echoing like a heartbeat in the minds of the surviving soldiers.

This time, he had used nothing but his blade to wreak havoc, a feat he could not have accomplished before the Hunter’s Assembly.

The soldiers looked at one another, none willing to advance. Suddenly, Wang Qi shouted from behind, "Oh no, their reinforcements are here!" He pointed to a dozen figures sprinting toward them.

One moved faster than the rest, shouting as he reached the line, "Lord Blood Maple has ordered: hold this person regardless of casualties! He will arrive immediately after finishing his current opponent!"

"Lord Blood Maple is coming too?"

"Thank god! This guy is too strong; only Lord Blood Maple can defeat him."

"Lord Blood Maple is one of the top 300 B-class elites. He’ll definitely kill this guy!"

With the order given, the morale of the soldiers surged.

Xie Liu was surprised. He hadn't expected to draw the attention of a B-class operative so soon—and a top-300 one at that. His strength would be at least equal to Blood Wolf’s; he might not be able to win this.

Although he had killed a B-49 before, that had been through surprise and tactical advantage. Now, he was exposed, and with Blood Maple and his numerous subordinates arriving, he couldn't guarantee a victory.

But what did that matter?

Xie Liu sneered, twisting the hilt of his folding blade. A depleted battery pack fell away, and he quickly drew a fresh one from his leg holster and slotted it in. He flicked his blade, the pneumatic hiss signaling his readiness. "Do any of you have any final words?"