‘The opponent is above me. I need to tie him down as much as possible and let the disciples attack from behind!’
So far, it has continued to fail, but the Black Shadow Sect Leader had no other choice.
To run away, or kill this detestable colored-eyed person here.
But how many people can abandon everything they’ve built so far and run away?
The territory they’ve barely acquired after a long time?
‘My plan is already thoroughly messed up. If I don’t kill this guy, it’ll be nearly impossible to clean up the mess. I have to kill him somehow!’
There is a saying that a Martial Realm person should conceal thirty percent of their strength, but the Black Shadow Sect Leader had no time to follow such aphorisms.
He roughly pulled the energy from his dantian, spreading his inner power throughout his four limbs and hundred meridians. As the ominous and dark energy enveloped his body, William’s eyes twinkled.
‘I can already see who your sponsor is.’
Is there anywhere in the world where such inner power is used other than that place?
“…A pawn of the Demonic Sect, were you?”
“…”
The Black Shadow Sect Leader did not deny William’s speculation. Since he had revealed his hidden inner power, there was no point in denying it. Naturally, a heavy killing intent swirled in the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s eyes.
But, unease began to flicker in the eyes of the disciples.
“The Sect Leader… is from the Demonic Sect?”
“So, we’re pawns of the Demonic Sect now?”
“We learned martial arts from the Black Shadow Sect Leader, didn’t we!”
“But we don’t have any demonic energy, do we?”
“He must have concealed it thoroughly?”
“Hah…”
‘Because of this guy, all my plans…’
“Let’s cut the chatter and settle this. I’m a busy man, you see.”
‘This fight might bring me closer to the perfection of my footwork.’
Having already clashed a few times, William had a grasp of the situation. If he could defeat the Black Shadow Sect Leader in this battle, he would perfect his footwork.
“Disciples! We must kill this guy! We’ll all be done for if we don’t!”
At his words, the disciples jumped in surprise and began to surround William. Unperturbed by their encirclement, William bent his knees while sensing the restless flow of aura within his body.
An obvious signal of movement.
The Black Shadow Sect Leader, determined not to be caught off guard again, rushed in first. A lithe movement like a wolf leaping for its prey. A speed unimaginable from his large body erupted.
‘Fighting a boxer has been a long time coming.’
William’s body also moved forward.
There is no evasion.
For a knight, there is only a charge.
A blue armor enveloped William’s body.
With the now-familiar appearance of the Oath Armor, the Black Shadow Sect Leader intensified the inner power in his hands.
Eventually, both of their feet simultaneously struck the ground, and they began to race.
Two fierce beasts charged at each other recklessly to tear at each other’s necks.
The first attack came from William.
His sword drew an elegant curve, aiming for the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s chest. As the concise sword path fell from above, the Black Shadow Sect Leader slapped the blade away with the back of his hand and threw a punch at William’s chest.
‘It’s light!’
The sword was too easily pushed aside.
Detecting something unusual, the Black Shadow Sect Leader pulled his punch back and retreated three steps. Simultaneously, William’s sword spun toward the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s neck.
“Hah!”
The Black Shadow Sect Leader leaned back to dodge the sword strike, and as soon as he straightened his waist, he hurled his palm imbued with inner power.
Palm Wind.
A technique favored by those at the peak of boxing arts was unleashed from the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s hands.
‘I might even be able to cut through the palm wind.’
Maintaining an ox-like posture, William slowly moved forward.
Since this was an unknown technique to him, the density of the Oath Armor enveloping his body became thicker to gauge the power of the palm wind.
‘But…’
If I retreat from just this attack, who knows if I’d be the cat or the rat? William bravely stepped forward, slicing through the palm wind like his nickname.
‘There’s a significant impact?’
He had thought it was just about blowing wind, but it was indeed a martial art from the Central Plains. William felt as if he had blocked a heavy punch while approaching the Black Shadow Sect Leader.
Naturally, the Black Shadow Sect Leader wouldn’t just sit there as William approached.
His fists and palms painted the air chaotically, firing several air masses at William. Since the opponent had a sword, charging straight was not a good option, so this was the chosen approach.
No matter how formidable William might be, with wind rushing towards him with enough momentum to push him back, his speed had to slow down somewhat. And the Black Shadow Sect warriors did not miss this opening.
“Now!”
‘Movements slowed, and now an ambush. Quite a schemer.’
Though it would be prudent to escape immediately, sometimes not backing down is the right answer. William gathered strength in the tips of his feet, pushed his Oath Armor to its limit, and approached the Black Shadow Sect Leader.
Ignoring the attacks raining down from behind.
“I don’t know if that’s a man or a beast.”
“Would labeling it as a lion be appropriate?”
“Ugh!”
“Master! The sword won’t pierce!”
“What kind of martial art is this… Even the famous Adamantine Body shouldn’t be this formidable!”
With a flabbergasted face, the Black Shadow Sect Leader slapped away William’s multiple sword strikes with his fists, pushing them aside. It was an attempt to make retaliation impossible.
Seeing his arms spread wider, he once again aimed for William’s pressure point.
Solar plexus.
One hit, and anyone from the Central Plains would be near death.
…That is, if it were anyone from the Central Plains.
William’s Oath Armor faithfully executed its role. The Black Shadow Sect Leader felt as if hitting a floating wall in mid-air, his hands becoming numb as he stepped back and spoke.
“I thought it was about efficacy of external skills… but it wasn’t.”
A guard that could block attacks devoid of inner power.
Ordinarily, the limit was deflecting projectiles without inner strength, thus this skill was almost unused in actual combat within the Martial Realm. It consumed too much inner energy and only had limited effective targets.
Yet, to casually block a punch infused with boxing power?
No matter how much he was a higher level warrior, it was an unreasonable degree of strength.
Thus, the Oath Armor was quite a shocking martial art even to the Black Shadow Sect Leader.
‘This kind of martial art makes the Adamantine Body unnecessary.’
It’s a desirable art.
The lust in the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s eyes flickered.
If he could somehow capture him alive, sever his limbs, and extract this martial art with the Demonic Sect’s aid, it could be made his own.
“Was he a blue-skinned man?”
“Nonsense!”
The Black Shadow Sect Leader’s body retreated. He had realized that directly confronting William held no meaning.
“Keep pounding him! Hold him until he’s worn out!”
“A cycle battle, is it?”
‘Only about half my aura remains.’
Time is naturally against the lone person when it drags on.
Yet, William was not alone.
“Seems like you’re mistaken. Did you think I came alone?”
His words had barely ended when warriors began to appear one by one atop the Black Shadow Sect’s wall.
Warriors from the Jiang Family Manor and the Goo Family Manor.
Though their numbers were a mere twenty, they were sufficient to counter the Black Shadow Sect warriors, who had already lost a third of their forces.
They were elites carefully selected from the families.
“Hold back the underlings. I’ll take care of that guy.”
“Yes, sir!”
The elite warriors from the families rushed toward the disciples of the Black Shadow Sect. As the disciples, thrown into confusion by the unexpected appearance of the warriors, began to fall one by one, the atmosphere of the battlefield flipped instantly.
“Damn!”
“I didn’t sign up for this Black Shadow Sect nonsense!”
“Damn you…”
Eyes filled with venom.
To William, this was a familiar gaze. He chuckled lightly and spoke.
“Let’s finish this.”
William’s foot stomped the ground. At the same time, William’s figure accelerated instantly, reaching the Black Shadow Sect Leader in a flash. A movement faster than before.
His lightning-like movement prompted the Black Shadow Sect Leader to attempt an all-out light body art to escape, but William’s approach was faster than that.
“Go well.”
William’s longsword drew a curve in the cold moonlight.
The sword in his hand, leaving a blue trail as it descended toward the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s shoulder.
‘Then I’ll just block this and somehow…!’
The Black Shadow Sect Leader attempted to block William’s sword with a speed he deemed impossible to better.
But this was the third time.
There’s no swordsman who gets hit by the same trick thrice.
William’s sword rotated along with its grip, twisting into a reverse hold. Then, his left hand wrapped in Oath Aura grabbed the blade, and his right hand joined it.
Mortuary Haul.
William, in this position, bent low and thrust toward the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s chest.
“Sneaky, I admit… but this should be enough for you.”
“This isn’t where I fall!”
The Black Shadow Sect Leader’s hand desperately grabbed the longsword’s crossguard. Though his grip was torn, the pommel narrowly missed his belly.
But they couldn’t maintain this standoff forever.
The moment William amplified the Oath Aura on the sword, he would be thrown backward unceremoniously.
So, the Black Shadow Sect Leader attempted to release the sword and step back to avoid the standoff.
Before he could, William stomped on the foot trying to execute the footwork.
“Aaaaah!”
“Where are you in such a rush to go? The night is still long.”
With a scream from the foot that had been stomped, a dagger drawn from William’s waist plunged into the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s shoulder. With his shoulder and foot ruined, the Black Shadow Sect Leader ultimately collapsed.
“Damn brat! Because of you! My grand plan!”
“Talking about grand plans.”
With his foot broken, there was no chance of light body art, and with the sword in his shoulder, he couldn’t use his arm.
The remaining method to choose was only one.
“Damn…”
He began to reverse the flow of the inner energy that flowed naturally.
The Reverse Blood Great Skill.
The ultimate last resort for those who have mastered demon-style arts.
Since it would end with death anyway, he’d rather choose mutual destruction.
“Go crazy, then.”
Before he could properly execute the skill, William’s sword pierced through his dantian.
“Kgh…”
“Did you think I’d let you make a final desperate attempt?”
“Barking… dog… The Demonic Sect will… revive… and someone like you…”
“Crazy nonsense.”
Blood began to flow from every orifice of the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s fading consciousness.
William sighed as he looked down at him, roughly cleaning his sword with the Black Shadow Sect Leader’s clothes before sheathing it.
‘I didn’t expect to find a connection to the Demonic Sect here.’
A new worry gathered in his furrowed brow.
