Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ)Chapter 83 - Rain of Golden Blades
🕑 Added 2024-09-21 10:59:01 +0000 UTCMolvograd, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
A few moments later, Demian stood tens of meters away from the front entrance with Bryn by his side and Sera, Liya, Roman, Andrei, and Anna staying behind them in a loose group. As for the rest of the Estate Cultivators, they divided themselves into a few groups led by the strongest Cultivators with most of the latter being at the Peak Mid Chi Gathering and only a few at the Low High Chi Gathering Rank. While following the enemy’s advance through his Soul Sense, he suddenly recalled something. Immediately, a part of his attention was focused on the back, inspecting every Cultivator in order to verify his assumptions.
A few seconds later, a mocking expression appeared on his face as a thought traversed his mind. ‘They really think we’re blind, don’t they?’ After shaking his head slightly, his face returned to his previous neutral expression. ‘I’ll just let those rats live a few more minutes. Killing them now wouldn’t be the most efficient.’ He swiftly decided, not yet realizing how easily killing people now came to him. At that moment, he noticed the curiosity painted on Bryn’s and Sera’s faces while the two were looking at him. Since Adeliya was behind him and did not share a Soul Bond with him, she did not catch his emotional fluctuation. Without moving his gaze from the road leading to the Estate’s entrance, he stated cryptically. “You’ll understand once our ‘guests’ arrive.” Listening to his words, the two kept their questions to themselves because of their deep trust in the young man.
‘I’d tell them my plan but I don’t want to give it away to those two.’ He contemplated while a surge of annoyance appeared in his heart because of those two unknown Cultivators’ indecent actions. Indeed, the strongest of them, which seemed to be a woman, had her Spiritual Will locked on his body while the man followed suit with Bryn and Adeliya. Thankfully, both he and the young redhead possessed an Elemental Field, which made it impossible for those two people to see what they should not see. Unfortunately, Adeliya was not even able to sense the man’s Spiritual Will inspecting her, let alone protect herself. A surge of fury appeared instantly in his heart at the idea of another man peeping on the curvy woman, its intensity surprising even himself. Before he was able to make a big mistake, however, he heard Sera’s whisper in his ears. “It’s okay.” Despite using only a few words, he immediately understood that she was covering for her Mother, which soothed his anger to a manageable degree. ‘If he wanted to die, he just had to ask.’ He determined inwardly.
Barely a second later, a mature woman’s soft voice resounded in everyone’s ears, disturbing his thoughts. “It seems that Valentin did well in calling for you and me, Pietr. I never expected to find such a fine specimen while dealing with a few presumptuous insects.” After which a male voice replaced it. “I couldn’t agree more. It seems to me the rewards we’ll receive might be more plentiful than we previously expected.” A pressuring Aura accompanied the two voices, freezing in place almost every Estate Cultivator present. Naturally, Demian, Brynhild, and Seraphine shrugged it off easily while the latter helped Adeliya do the same.
Since those two wanted to crush their spirits, Demian saw no need to follow their wish. Instantly, a strong Water Elemental Aura erupted from his body while an even stronger Golden Jade Elemental Aura burst out of Bryn’s body. Despite both of them being weaker than the other party, the fact that they had both converted more than half of their Inner Energy into Elemental Energy more than compensated for when it came to resisting the enemy’s pressure. ‘From their Aura, I’d say that woman should’ve around 30% of her Energy converted into Elemental Energy, while the guy has barely 20%.’ He analyzed while also noting how much purer Bryn’s and his Energy was compared to theirs.
Since the Estate Cultivators were also covered by the two Mikhailovs’ Aura, the pressure crushing their minds and bodies vanished, making it possible for them to move again. Nonetheless, most of them still had expressions of fear painted on their faces, which did not bode well for the following battle. ‘Forget it. I did my best and I’m not their nanny.’ He concluded before turning his attention back to the two powerful hostile Cultivators. “Uh? You’ve converted more than half of your Inner Energy into Elemental Energy. It seems that your looks are not your only assets... I might fall for you if you keep surprising me like that.” The unknown woman only seemed startled, but not overly worried. Demian expected as much, however, since the difference between both of their Cultivation Bases was too wide for him to resist any of her attacks. It was to the point that she could probably crush him with the use of a casual Spell. ‘Just because they’ve got a higher Cultivation Base they think they can bully us... And here I thought I was already powerful...’ He thought wryly.
However, his attention was quickly attracted by a sudden surge of killing intent coming from Bryn’s direction. Turning his gaze in her direction, he observed the frosty expression marring her face as her gaze was directed upward. “I don’t like your eyes.” She slowly enunciated while Demian moved his gaze in the same direction. Up there, tens of meters in the air, were a man and a woman, each standing on what seemed to be flying disks. The two looked to be in their forties, although having such a Cultivation Level meant that their age should be closer to ten times that number. The man had average looks, short brown hair and eyes, and a lean frame, standing at around 1m90. As for the woman, she was above average in terms of looks, with her long dark hair and dark eyes. Her body type leaned more on the slender with average curves and a height of 1m85.
Their appearance aside, the fact that those two could fly threw a big wrench in his plan. Not as much for him as for Bryn. Indeed, Demian’s strength was very balanced, which made him as proficient in Spellcraft as Close Combat. However, the golden-skinned woman’s greatest asset was her Intrinsic power which boosted her Physical prowess to an absurd degree. The problem was that she could not fly yet, making it very difficult to leverage her advantage. ‘Well, I guess we’ll have to adapt on the fly. Pun not intended.’ He thought while catching that female Foundation Building’s condescending words. “And why should I care about the opinion of you, little slut?” ‘Do they really think they’re invincible?’ His expression turned frosty, especially after she continued with a sickening suggestion/order. “I’ll give all of you an opportunity. The women can cripple their cultivation and go with Pietr here, while you can do the same and follow me.” Her words were directed at him. “As for the rest, just kill yourself and we won’t torture you.”
Besides his own raging anger, the Bond transmitted Sera’s current surge of dark emotion. Cold rage and killing intent filled her heart with no one but himself the wiser. Something to note was that only with the Soul Bond’s help was he aware of it while his normal perception was incapable of sensing anything coming from her. ‘Even if I’m not the one to kill her, that woman’s death is a done deal.’ He concluded before adding. ‘Just like that worm.’ The worm in question was the Pietr guy whose gaze kept roaming all over the girls’ bodies. With that realization, his emotions experienced a sort of transformation, turning his hot rage into a cold fury without decreasing its intensity but making it much easier for him to think logically. Spotting Danilov and the rest of his cohort arriving through his Soul Sense, he analyzed. ‘My hunch was really too accurate. If it wasn’t for us, Roman and his men would have absolutely no chance to survive, even without those two.’
Since all the pieces were in place, Demian decided to start the bloody game. While looking coldly at those two in the air, he exclaimed exaggeratedly. “I’m wondering... Is it senility or stupidity that makes you two spewing out that kind of garbage? Maybe a bit of both?” After those words left his lips, a fake expression of surprise appeared on his face as he added. “I’m truly sorry. I understand that old age can be a curse, and the two of you are clearly too far gone. My mother always told me that I shouldn’t insult mentally retarded people or those with one foot in the grave and I did both today.” Behind him, a few chuckles resounded while Bryn’s frosty expression melted slightly as an almost imperceptible smile graced her lips.
‘Two birds with one stone.’ He proudly concluded while observing for the first time those two Foundation Building’s faces turn nasty, while some unstable fluctuations erupted from their bodies. Before he was able to add another word, though, someone else interrupted him. “Your mother died in childbirth because of you and your father, so what could she have even taught you?! And now, just because you reached the Seventh Level of the Chi Gathering Rank you dare to be arrogant?!” While turning his gaze toward the last Foundation Building Cultivator among the enemy, a light frown appeared on his face because his intuition told him that those words were not only uttered as an insult. Unfortunately, it was neither the place nor the time to dig deeper for obvious reasons. ‘I’ll ask Roman after the battle.’ He decided as his Spiritual Will caught his father’s strange reaction to Danilov’s accusation.
Regaining his poker face, he stared into Valentin Danilov’s eyes and stated in the most condescending tone he could muster. “And who are you even? Let me see... Mid Chi Gathering Rank Physique. Pathetic. You’ve reached the Low First Level Foundation Building, true, but look at your Energy Purity... I don’t even have the words to describe it...” Pausing for a second to let his words thoroughly trigger the man’s anger, he then continued. “Should I also mention the fact that you only converted less than 1% of your Inner Energy into Elemental Energy? I honestly don’t understand what makes you believe that you can say anything to me and my father. Don’t you even have a little bit of self-awareness? Just stay quiet over there and let the adults talk. It may even help you become less stupid, who knows? Miracles are a thing, after all.”
The look of surprise on Bryn’s face almost made him burst into laughter, however, he kept his face neutral and enjoyed the feeling of liberation washing over him. ‘Trash-talking is really liberating.’ He briefly thought as the previous frustration and anger plaguing his mind vanished, leaving him able to sense a small upgrade in both his Mental power and Cultivation Base and bringing him to the Peak of the Seventh Level. ‘No wonder face-slapping is the equivalent of a national sport in Cultivation Novels.’ He thought while noticing both the surging anger on Danilov’s face and the growing coldness on the unknown man’s and woman’s faces. Their reactions brought a solemn feeling to his mind as he understood that if he continued to push them they would attack instantly, making it impossible for him to do the last thing he wanted to do before the battle began.
Feeling a sense of urgency, but displaying only coldness, Demian lifted his palm upward where droplets of Water Elemental Energy materialized in a split-second. With a snap of his fingers, those droplets disappeared from the view of all Cultivators present but the strongest. A second later, the noise of a dozen bodies falling on the ground resounded from behind him. All of them were lying lifelessly with each having a bloody hole between their eyes and an expression of terror marring their faces. Their Cultivation Bases ranged from Low to High Chi Gathering with the strongest being at the Low Eighth Level. However, even the latter was not able to see the ‘watery’ death coming, let alone stop it. ‘Using Water Elemental Energy to power Spells makes them really flexible. I wonder what’ll happen once I finish converting all of my Inner Energy...’ He contemplated briefly before the expression of pure hatred painted on the Eighth Level Cultivator’s face briefly attracted his attention. ‘You reap what you sow, Renard. You shouldn’t have tried to betray us. Be more loyal in your next life.’
From his attack to his last thought, barely a fraction of a second elapsed, so no one but those two Foundation Building Cultivators would have been able to stop him. Unfortunately for those dead Cultivators, the two were too far away to do anything. ‘Looking at their faces, they probably don’t even care about those spies.’ Indeed, the two only had indifferent expressions on their faces unlike the frustration and anger marring Danilov’s face. Before they could say anything, however, Demian exclaimed, partly to focus those people’s hatred on himself and partly to explain his actions to the Estate side. “Since those traitors are dealt with, we can finally start the show. What do you say, you three morons?”
Those words were the last straw for those ‘lofty’ Foundation Building Cultivators. Suddenly, a feeling of extreme danger washed over him, prompting him to order. “Take care of the hag, Sis.” That was the only thing he was able to say before the might of three Tier 2 Spells of varying power fell in his direction. ‘No, one of them is only a Tier 1. It’s just that someone at the Foundation Building is using it through his Elemental Energy.’ He instantly realized while understanding that he might have underestimated the enemy’s strength. Nonetheless, Demian knew that he had to bite the bullet and do his best to defend against the multi-layered attack.
Instinctively, many Water Shields materialized over his head, forming a makeshift dome and also covering the people behind him. Thankfully, Bryn reacted as quickly as him, activating her Intrinsic Power which brought her Physical Strength and Defense somewhere around the Third Level Foundation Building. She simultaneously materialized a massive Golden Jade sphere that appeared right below his Water Shield ‘dome’, which added another and stronger layer of protection. Bracing for the incoming shock, he observed the uncountable number of Golden Elemental Blades dropping on his Water Shields and obliterating them as if they were made of paper.
Unfortunately, the Spell’s Energy only dipped a little from that, bringing a wry smile to Demian’s face as he grimly realized. ‘I’m still too weak.’ Shoving that thought to the side, he instinctively prepared himself by circulating his Elemental Energy to instantly use his Physical Techniques as soon as Bryn’s Golden Jade Shield failed to hold up against that overwhelming attack.
