Chapter 70: Chapter 70

Jumping away from the landing spot of the spear, Henry looked with angry eyes at the man who laughed in amusement at him, the bastard was playing him like a mouse and it made his blood boil, but even when he wanted to do nothing except for beheading the bastard, he chose to take a step back, analyze things once again.

The situation was bad, and the spears were an additional trouble, Henry noticed how there were only few spears unlike the first time, but this time, the attacks were much more precise, with specific targets, making Henry wonder if the ones shooting didn’t want to harm their friends.

“Looks like you are already caught up, the newborns were always the softest, they are afraid to harm one of us, they still didn’t fully absorb the idea that we are undying!” the bastard wanted to brag! Henry thought as his grip tightened on the sword, taking in the information the idiot in front of him has given him freely, so it was the “newborns” who were shooting, and the way the man talked about him made them look like newly recruited soldiers, maybe that is what they were, and there were only ten of them.

“You are the holy tower priests, aren’t you?!” the man didn’t answer and Henry didn’t need him to, the smile on his face with the lifted eyebrow gave him the confirmation he wanted, for he had his doubts before the moment he heard the name “Mao”, the man was a legend in his kingdom, known for his devotion and asceticism, but that legend died centuries ago, and if it wasn’t for his brother Nicholas mentioning something about an ascendence before, he wouldn’t have even considered the possibility.

“Fog and Shadows!!” the ascendent who was looking at Henry with challenging eyes before, dropped his smile as he glared at the human, surprised at the way the demons obeyed his orders without a second of delay, creating a veil of grey fog that hid the shores from the eyes.

Exactly as he expected, the spears stopped, meaning the newborns indeed didn’t want to harm their superiors, with something less to worry about, Henry looked back at the man with defiant eyes, focusing on his and his every move, the man was not a God, he must have a weakness!

Beside their unhuman strength, the main problem with the priests was their fast healing, the man did spit a mouthful of blood when Henry stabbed him the first time, which meant that the attacks did affect them but with their ability to heal, the damage was repaired before it became fatal, but if that was the case, then what was the way to defeat them?

Henry’s thoughts were interrupted when the man charged at him with his bare fists, not even bothering with a sword, looking at his giant arms and fists, Henry figured the man doesn’t need any, the beasty assaults he was throwing his way were the best proof, , one of them almost landed right in the middle of his face if he didn’t move to the side in the last second.

Taking the opening created by the man’s failing attack, Henry charged at him, swinging his sword and aiming at his neck, hoping that decapitation could do what a stab in the heart couldn’t, however, the man was faster than he thought, changing his posture in a split of a second, evading the blade and throwing a punch in Henry’s direction which landed in his stomach while his other hand balled to punch his head.

Seeing the approaching fist, Henry’s mind froze for a second, he knew he couldn’t avoid it due to the paralyzing pain he was feeling, as if his insides were being ripped apart, he knew that the punch would probably crush his skull, it was his end, Henry thought as he felt time slow down while he stood there, helpless, paralyzed.

It was his end, Henry admitted to himself, but even with that terrifying realization, he refused to look away, if it was his end then he wanted to die looking at his killer in the eye, proudly, just the way a king should die, but the whitened knuckles stopped right before making contact with his face.

Was the bastard playing games again? Henry wondered once he was out of his shock, jumping away from the dangerous fist’s path, however, the uneasy expression on the man’s face told him that the sudden halt was not of his making.

The answer to his unasked question came in the form of an agonized gasp, turning o Rima, he saw how she was splitting what was left of her magic to freeze both men, her face dangerously pale, it was draining her out of her life, but she didn’t care, for she couldn’t stay still and watch Henry be killed in front of her eyes without doing anything, but it only weakened her grip on the one called Mao who didn’t waste any second once he was able to escape her spell and wrapped his thick strong fingers around her throat.

The man squeezed mercilessly, letting out all his hatred as he heard her gasp for air, he didn’t want to kill her just yet, he wanted her to suffer, the same way he did because of her kind, and seeing her resist hopelessly with her eyes filled with tears brought him so much satisfaction, it was what she deserved, what all her kind deserved, for all the atrocities they committed over the centuries, adding pressure on her delicate neck slowly, Mao savored the sweetness of his revenge, spiced up with the sight of her red eyes, wide, teary, and pained.

Rima tried to claw the man’s hands but with her magic mostly focused on the other man attacking Henry, this time in a full ice cage as she didn’t have to hide her attack, she barely managed to scratch the bastard who laughed at her helpless attempts sadistically, before lifting her off the ground, her body weighting her down, adding more pain and pressure to her throat which was still imprisoned in the mad man’s tight grip.

Rima’s eyes wondered around the shore, she wasn’t the only one dying, their troops were being butchered by those inhumanly strong men who couldn’t be killed, and just like her, none of their soldiers were giving up nor surrendering, they kept on fighting, some of them even had their limbs missing, yet they still fought, ferociously, not giving up to death.

Not giving up to death, Rima swallowed the words, letting them fill her with will power even when her magic was already drained, she refused to die, not in the circle of death, not in the mirage, and definitely not by the hands of the bastard looking at her as if she was nothing but dirt.

As if her will was rewarded, the iron grip around her neck loosened, looking at the man, she noticed his pain expression and didn’t wait to understand why as she used her magic to turn her thin nails into sharp claws and rip the man’s arm off.

Once she was free and the man fell on the ground, groaning in pain, Rima took deep urgent breaths, filling her lungs with precious air, her throat was sore and painful, her eyes burned and her body shook as she felt life leaving it, for she had abused her magic more than she should, however, she couldn’t help but have her thirst perked as she smelled the delicious fresh blood oozing out of the man’s arm.

“Just like that rainy night!” the gasping voice pulled Rima out of her daze, looking at the man who just saved her life, she noticed how he had thrown the only weapon he had in his hand to fend for himself at Mao’s back, hitting him right in the spine.

With one of his arms amputated and a sword in his spine, Mao wasn’t able to move, his wound healed around the sword but with the sharp blade still dug in him, his legs were almost paralyzed, groaning and growling, he tried to pull the sword out with his free hand, but Henry was fast to cut off his other arm.

Not wasting the precious seconds, Henry watched and analyzed the scene in front of him, a hopeful conclusion forming in his head, those men might have been stronger than humans and even demons, but they still held some human weaknesses, and what was best to kill a human than their own natural predators.

Demons!

Grabbing a dagger, Henry jumped at Mao’s back, using his free hand to grab a fistful of the man’s hair and jerk his head backwards only to slice his throat in the next second, kicking a jerking Mao’s knee from behind, he forced him down to his knees while still keeping the wound open.

“Come feed!”