Chapter 280: You chose the wrong guy, pal
Kai was walking along the beach when something wisped past his head. He could clearly see what it was and noticed a dart, one laced with poison. He chuckled to himself because not only would the dart fail to penetrate his skin, but the poison wouldn’t work either.
"Well, that’s not nice. If you wish to speak to someone, the polite thing to do is to introduce yourself first." Kai turned around, and no one was in sight, or at least visibly. He could clearly see where everyone was hiding.
"I can see you, by the way. Just come out and tell me who you are, and maybe I won’t kill you for trying to kill me."
No one answered.
"Seriously? Are you really playing this game? Okay, don’t blame me when heads start popping." Kai grabbed one of them, dragging them toward him and clobbering the guy so hard in the face that he shattered his skull.
He could have killed him, but when he punched the man, he read his memories and saw that they were the natives of this land who thought that Kai and his team were their enemies. That was all he was able to get before the man was out cold, but that was all he needed.
Quickly, he telepathically sent a message to all of his companions, informing them not to kill the people who could be attacking them.
’Might wanna check up on the guys who attacked me once you’re done.’ Amaya said back, and she continued to punch one of the beastkin in the face even though he was already a bloody mess.
"Nooooooooo!! Attack!" Karl charged forward with Carolus by his side. They had sensed that Kai was the strongest and decided to attack him together.
"There we go. It would have been boring if I had to drag all of you out one by one." Kai stretched his limbs and cracked his neck. "This is going to be fun."
"Everyone, spread out, bind him in the array!" Carolus ordered. He and Karl planned to take Kai head-on as the strongest, and they wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be able to counterattack.
Four beastkin moved around Kai in a formation. They weaved hand signs, and the ground started to glow. Ancient-looking writing made of pure mana etched itself into the ground, creating a massive hexagonal magic formation that trapped Kai inside it.
"Good work! Karl!"
"On it!" On Karl’s back was a weapon wrapped in bandages. He took the weapon out, revealing a sword with only an outline and no middle. It was as if the blacksmith who created the weapon didn’t even care to fully craft the sword.
"Time to die, demon bastard!" Carolus clasped his hands together, then took them apart. A fluttering energy that felt similar, but also different from mana, engulfed his hands, and he pressed them against the formation.
The energy made its way to Kai, trying its best to mess with his mana network. To him, it felt as if an opposing force was trying to overpower his abilities.
’Hmm? What’s this? Status Window, analyze this energy.’
As Kai waited for a response, Karl attacked. He stabbed the hollow sword into the formation, then flicked one of its edges. A pulse of energy erupted, completely wiping away all of the demonic energy in the vicinity, and they hoped it would critically injure or even kill Kai.
"Now! Detinate the formation!" Carolus yelled.
The four other beastkin weaved another hand sign, and the formation started glowing, then exploded.
"Got his bitch ass! Filthy demon!" Karl smirked.
Carolus nodded at everyone, then picked up the person Kai knocked out. "Good work, everyone. We’ll regroup with the others and see if they need any assistance."
"That won’t be necessary." Kai stepped out of the flames, his eyes glowing, his body completely unscathed. Not even his clothes were harmed.
"I-Impossible! Even the strongest of those demons could withstand this combo attack!" Karl backed away slowly.
"Unfortunately for you, I’m not a demon. Actually, that might be fortunate for you."
"Shut up, bastard! You can’t sway us with your poisonous words!" Karl drew his blade and prepared to fight once more.
Carolus handed the unconscious beastkin to one of the others and told them to get out of here. "Karl and I will hold him off. Retreat with the others."
"Yes, sir!"
The sound of hands clapping caught Carolus’ attention.
"Amazing. Such loyalty. They didn’t even question your order. You must have a high status. Okay, tell you what, after I beat you up, I’ll help you find whoever did this to this...realm."
"Fancy words for saying that you’ll take us to your master." Carolus sneered.
"Trust me, pal, there is no one in the fucking universe that I serve. Not even my father." Kai appeared next to Carolus, his arm already in motion to punch the man across the face.
Carolus’s senses were sharp, sharper than Kai expected, and he was able to defend himself. But it didn’t matter. Kai’s strength was too overwhelming for him, and his defenses were shattered instantly.
He was clobbered in the face and was sent flying into a tree.
"Sir Carolus!" Karl attacked with his sword, striking its edge to produce a sonic wave that passed through Kai’s body.
Kai felt his body defend itself against the wave, but it also felt as if his mana was being disrupted.
’A mana-disrupting blade? That’s pretty sick.’
"Die, you demon bastard!"
"I’m not a demon." Kai grabbed the sword, shattering it into pieces, and punched Karl in the gut, breaking ribs and causing him to vomit blood.
"Hyaaaaahh!"
Kai moved to the side, avoiding Carolus’s palm strike. Another strike was aimed at his head, so Kai grabbed Carolus’s hand and crushed it. That didn’t stop Carolus, though. He continued to attack Kai with everything he had, using one-handed hand signs, that weird energy, and taking advantage of his animalistic biology.
But even after all of that, he still couldn’t lay a finger on Kai.
"Fall, you murderer!" With everything he had, Carolus charged up his most powerful attack in his left hand. He leaped into the air, then came back down at high speeds.
"Thunder Chop!" The land erupted in an electrifying explosion.