Broken Swords And A Whole Lot Of Flesh

"...?" - "HAHAHA!" - "Hahahaha..." - "Are you just dumb?!" - "Commander Oscar...just let us quickly get rid of the kid. He's already so delusional and thinks he'll still be alive after you give the order, haha!"

"..." Despite the 14 'guards' surrounding him, Ciemnosc and Oscar were silent. The former looked at the latter a bit without any other words and was even scratching his arms lazily. The latter, however, looked at Ciemnosc with apprehension. It wasn't a secret that this little kid, right before them, was already able to kill those a whole realm above his own...he had to die already! By now!!

“What you lookin’ at?” Ciemnosc suddenly asked with a quizzical smile. He then grinned as he began stretching his arms downwards and a bit threw backwards. His hands were as if going to support himself on the ground after dropping down to it in the next moment, but remained in the air as his body remained standing.

When a pair of swords appeared in Ciemnosc’s hands, the guards fell silent, and Oscar began to feel a premonition. As Ciemnosc made a sudden but still so slow step forward, Oscar and his guards became anxious, surprised, and startled at once before Ciemnosc made another step, further enhancing their emotions right then and there.

That was because Ciemnosc's cultivation, which had been trapped at the late stages of the Link Consolidation realm, suddenly rose from the 8th stage…to the 9th stage… And when Ciemnosc stepped once more, his next footstep increased his cultivation base…by another stage! Reaching the Link Consolidation realm 10th stage!

“You still are too young,” Ciemnosc comically said, without any funniness to his words nor any comical point of view to it. Yet, as they dreaded another step of his, it was Oscar to become stifled with terror until he imploded it out with fear and screamed out loudly and incomprehensibly. “Stop right there! Noo, nooo! Don’- don’t do it! Not anymore!”

… Step.

Ciemnosc fell silent for a moment at the suddenly terrified Oscar. Was death that scary? Doesn’t one just die sometimes? Isn’t it supposed to be normal to die, huh??

And so, Ciemnosc’s cultivation base rose and rose with each step he took and took. By the time he was surrounded by the 14 guards that had remained rooted on their spot and were just 6 steps away from Oscar, his cultivation base had risen from the Link Consolidation realm 10th stage up to the Phrenic realm 7th stage, piercing into the hearts of those who were very damn aware that they were now killable for his little kid’s will if he so wanted it to be!

But, at the same time, it was a realm that more or less determined Oscar’s survival here because if he was at the 8th stage of the Spirit Gathering realm, then, wouldn’t that mean that Ciemnosc could kill him if he just ‘stepped’ forth once more?!

“!!...” Without any helpful thought getting into his head, Oscar could only look on between Ciemnosc’s feet and chest, as if he wanted to catch the moment in which Ciemnosc’s cultivation base advanced just 1 more stage, then run away, while his loyal, believing and honorable guards sacrificed their lives for him - there could always be a comeback!

“Psst,” making a much rare and not really laughing-like mannered scoff at Oscar, Ciemnosc held it no more and cocked his head left and right, swagging his head with a playful and denigrating grin while looking at Oscar before saying tentatively. “Don’t you get it already? It wasn’t me being ‘that’ powerful, it was just me who had always been in the Phrenic realm. Really!”

“...” - “...” - “...” - “... …”

The guards and Oscar suddenly became enlightened, they felt as if their dream of peeing didn’t affect them in real life after waking up, and they relaxed their shoulders so much despite knowing the danger of a pair of top notch quality swords right before them held by this little kid who knew how to kill in even inglorious ways and using the most painful methods.

“Hahahaha! Kid, you’ve really made a number of us, hahaha,” a guard laughed it off, easing everybody’s tension, at least from his party’s side. Ciemnosc looked at the guard to the right and nodded slowly, a little bit thin grin spreading over his face as silence somehow made its way back to the surroundings of the guards, Oscar and Ciemnosc.

The guards suddenly began walking to surround Ciemnosc’s back, not even bothering to send their Power Energy to their blades, simply allowing their Power Energy to flow inside their bodies, and not even at full for that matter. While Oscar, on the other hand, felt as if he had become the strongest person alive! He’d be the next General Hanato Wang, and that was only the beginning!

“Just kidding, I am that terrifyingly powerful,” without them being able to process it, Ciemnosc’s smile became as pure as if he was watching his mother back after a whole 2 weeks' vacation without seeing her. His swords made a reverse crossing double cut from below to up and were immediately hacking down at the shoulders of 2 guards who were still in the middle of processing Ciemnosc’s words in their minds.

Crrreeesshhhhkk, crreeshhk~.

“AAAH!” - “...shit!” The 2 guards in question, which were the 2nd closest ones to Ciemnosc only woke up when they felt a pair of extremely sharp, painful, and invading blades in their bodies, blood already desiring to gush out from their skin like a torrent being pressured from all sides.

Swish, swish- cuh.

“Oh,” however, Ciemnosc’s arms were directly flung around. Just as the rest of the guards and Oscar were waking up, they realized that the mere sheer prowess this little kid showed and the way that they intrinsically felt his Power Energy flow within his body from so up close was indeed just that of the 8th stage of the Phrenic realm now, it was more than enough to compare to a cultivator in the Spirit Gathering realm at the 10th stage!

Trklckla- crreeshhk, crreeshhk, crreeshhk crreeshhk~.

It was then that Ciemnosc flawlessly moved his swords through the 2 screaming and cursing guards’ bodies like butter at room temperature with an extremely sharp knifey. Their bones cracked up a little, their flesh was torn by the blades both inside, and their skin easily opened up to their passing as if their skin was supposed to exist only to be cut down by those swords.

Yet, when Ciemnosc was in the midst of returning those swords of his back to the 2 guards to kill them off, they directly fell to the ground, their torsos as if they had become skewered sausages without their support and weakly and softly lost all purpose in life. Not even blood came out by much as most of it had been directly drawn out when Ciemnosc first cut through their bodies and when he retracted his swords from their bodies as well.

Their organs fell on the floor and several twitches went on and on from their lower bodies as their legs were as if trying to run away, but not being able to even remember how to run, it looked as if half-cut bodies had their lower parts trying to run away without their torsos!

“Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!” Oscar without any doubt, yelled at the top of his lungs, seeing Ciemnosc lifting his left-handed sword and looking at the blood as if he was debating whether to stick his tongue out or not finally deciding not to.

Step, step step- whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Though they were really close to each other, there was still a meter or 2 at most from the guard surrounding Ciemnosc. When they stepped thrice before dashing towards him, Ciemnosc was already skipping to his right with only his right foot against the ground, his left leg folded back as a total of 5 from his front and 2 from his back were moving into his position to impale him with their long knives.

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Swish, swish… Tap- fwush! Cuh- swish swish swish, crreeshhk crreeshhk crreeshhk crreeshhk crreeshhk~.

With their blades flying towards the back and front of Ciemnosc’s body, even as he suddenly and agilely skipped to his right, Ciemnosc’s face became not serious but close; simply expressionless, indifferent, and his darkest eyes…ultimately cold!

Tapping his right foot against the ground, his left leg was pulled outwards and his body was suddenly upside down, the top of his head facing the ground in a 120 degree fashion. His swords moved through the air, first sending a powerful abrupt attack to stop those 2 on his back from keeping on charging forwards and forcing them to rush to the sides away from his body and the charging 5 other guards.

But in the next second, as if there wasn’t any law of gravity that affected him, the swords went from being flung to his back to already slashing to his front. Those 5 guards charging at him simply went past below him with their necks and bodies shrinking down towards the ground…but Ciemnosc’s swords still carried on a strength that they couldn’t see, and as mini-gales of wind went out from the swords’ blades downwards, just a couple of inches before disappearing on their own; they effectively collided with the clean napes of the guards who thought they were safe.

Thud thud thud, thud thud…roll roll roll…

In half a second, as if hit by a hammer in addition to their necks exploding out with some blood before starting to go volcano mode from there, 5 heads could be found rolling on the ground while Ciemnosc himself was even impulsed skywards a couple tens of centimeters in return.

“...Stop attacking him normally, you bunch of retards!!” Oscar finally spoke, just as Ciemnosc looked straight at him and was about to tap his own feet on the ground to land on it. Adding in a very hysterical voice, Oscar continued, “So what if he’s powerful like that? SO WHAT?! Gang up on him. Don’t let him anywhere near me!!”

“Yes, Commander Oscar!” The remaining 7 guards shouted in unison, those 2 from the back reuniting with the other 5 after being forced to run sideways from Ciemnosc’s back. And when hearing Oscar’s annoyingly conceited, hysterical but reasonable words and command, they obeyed as they all went to intercept Ciemnosc with each of them holding their 2 long knives without any hesitation to kill the actual Commander of the army!!

On the other hand, Ciemnosc suddenly brought from his Covert Space bags a strange device. He attached it to his back right away as fast as he could and faced the incoming guards while taking top notch quality sword after top notch quality sword of his own. And as he placed them on his back, some tube-like thingies with suckers at their ends seemed to grasp tightly to the end of their handles as they suddenly ‘hovered’ behind Ciemnosc’s back from the point of view of the charging guards, just a few meters more before reaching him.

But, by then, Ciemnosc had already placed 8 swords on his back and held another 2 in both his hands… In other words, he was already prepared to face whoever and whatever the fuck - he was ready to face any situation now, even if it meant facing off the 7 strongest enemies at the Spirit Gathering realm 7th stage!

Swish~ clank! Clank clank clun- clin linlin clank clank!

Ciemnosc himself stepped forwards twice, meeting the guards who were surprised at the ‘so unexpected’ move from the cornered little animal they were catching. The 2 at the front shrunk their necks right away, but remembering the way 5 of them died, they placed both their long knives with their edge facing the front.

But Ciemnosc, instead of clashing against them, squeezed through the gaps, and as they had both their knives up to their necks, they didn’t have enough time to react and stab Ciemnosc as he easily passed through them.

“...” Ciemnosc’s serene, indifferent, and ultimately cold eyes watched as a long knife moved towards his stomach from half a meter away, deflecting it with the lowest section of his right-handed sword before thrusting at the one who tried to stab him right away.

Another 2 blades from long knives intercepted his right-handed sword, clashing with it at the same time as 2 guards, who were to the sides of the one in the middle extended out their help to block the thrusting sword. From farther away to the sides, the remaining 2 guards stepped forth and towards Ciemnosc while those from behind had already stopped dashing forth and were dashing back towards Ciemnosc’s back.

‘...’ Even in his mind, Ciemnosc was seemingly at ease, with comfort and silence being the greatest way to define him at these moments, at the very least. The 2 incoming guards from his sides had their long knives pushed downwards by his left sword at an incredible speed after Ciemnosc forcefully threw his right sword to the ground, it became embedded into the dirt in the process but the 3 guards blocking the sword fell down to the ground.

Then, jumping with a single tap of his left leg while his right foot folded, making his body do a 180 in midair backwards and taking another sword from his back with a tube attached to it, he used it to stop the 2 incoming blades from long knives that were aiming at his back. Both blades ricocheted back and upwards, but their remaining long knife was directly sent towards Ciemnosc’s neck and chest - but was still blocked by Ciemnosc’s left-handed sword, swinging it right after towards the middle of the 2 guards on his back and scaring the shit out of them that they ran away for 4 meters straight.

Swooooosh~...

However, as one of the guards stopped running away, realizing how bad it was to turn their back towards such an enemy, he wanted to turn around, but when he stopped he also heard an object piercing through the air noncommittal. Yet, just as he wanted to move his head and began twisting his neck…

Phhshk!

By the moment the 2 scared guards ran for about 4 meters, Ciemnosc had already landed on the ground once again, and with his left hand throwing his sword, and it spinning with glints covering it from time to time, he sent his right-handed sword flying through the air. And while it flew, the tube attached to it seemed to move a little, perfecting the sword’s aim during this chilly early morning sky.

On the other hand, quite literally so, Ciemnosc picked up the sword that had been embedded into the ground just now while the 3 guards around it simply backed away in apprehension.

But, for the guard who thought he was now fine, 4 meters away from which even he could no longer use his Spirit Sense to scan Ciemnosc…had the back of his head pierced, a sword’s handle becoming stuck within his skull, not breaking only because Ciemnosc didn’t use his full raw strength and only kept its full speed from the start thanks to the tube attached to it.

“!!” The guards were tempted to run away, but something within them told them to keep waiting and see if they could kill him…just because of the thought that killing such a kind of monstrous fighter would be exhilarating!

They weren’t ‘professional’, nor any kind of assassins, and Ciemnosc easily deduced that in the demeanor that they had. How they behaved, and what kind of silly decisions they made that cost them their lives, literally.

Psssssittlrr~.

“...” Ciemnosc’s ultimately cold and serene countenance remained like so while the tub that had its sword attached to the guard’s head which was even now still standing finally fell down as the sword itself was pulled backwards by the tube, and even flew back all the way to Ciemnosc.

While the remaining 6 guards watched Ciemnosc vigilantly, and another 2 guards accompanied the one at the back who was lonely, they then distanced themselves from each other, the same for those on Ciemnosc’s front. Even as they were separated though, they were still in a formation together and both groups were seemingly separated in 2 without needing to have any clear demonstration of their new tactic.

Step step step. Step step step. Step step!

From his front, the guards moved first after their eyes, so obviously, met with each other; first and were soon followed by those guards on his back who rushed at him 2 seconds after those in front did. In response, Ciemnosc rotated his body, the blade that was flying back towards him, instead of embedding itself on its ‘spot’, it flew in an enlarged and thinned out ‘U’ shape trajectory, stopping the momentum of both groups on both sides.

Step- slash- clank clank clank clank clank clank. Swish- clank!

Then, Ciemnosc rushed to those in the front, his left sword already slashing sideways to the left at them while his right arm was lifted. His left sword went through each blade that was around, and it became crazily ruptured at last after just a few exchanges in between, while his right-handed sword suddenly hacked down at the guards who could only put all strength in their arms and raise one of their long knives to block it!

Though they blocked it successfully and even broke the sword directly, their long knives similarly became shards of such well managed steel, all flying about and cutting, scratching and even penetrating into their skin - but Ciemnosc’s hands and even weakest spots around his fingernails were completely left untouched.

As they were left without one weapon, Ciemnosc still had the sword that went on a ‘U’ shape trajectory which, by now, had already returned and was coming at them from the left as if intending to impale them altogether through their necks!!

‘What kind of method is this?!!’ It was all that the guards in front could think of, while in these 3 seconds of combat, the guards behind Ciemnosc could only watch as they did their best to come to aid their comrades, to kill Ciemnosc or to at least stop him from causing them any more casualties. But their 6 pairs of eyes were all shocked and amazed nonetheless, somewhat bloodshot too.

Clank~!

Once again, they blocked the incoming sword that was sure to kill the 3 of them if they once again didn’t work together - they even adopted Ciemnosc’s method as they this time sent Power Energy into their knives and sent them flying towards the incoming sword for those 2 at the center and right, while the one at the left only put his Power Energy flow into his long knife and brandished it…towards the deathly flying-impulsed sword!

…