The resplendent glow of the moon illuminated his enemies as Thorne charged forward. He moved toward the gate, where most of the guards were located. Just ahead of him stood five cultivators with dozens of regular soldiers behind them. ‘They’re all weaker than me,’ Thorne realized as he probed their energy. ‘I need to be careful, though,’ Thorne thought as he slowed his charge. I don’t know what all their spectrums can do.’

Thorne slowed to a walk as he examined each enemy. ‘So, two brown, two transparent, and then one bronze, ' he thought. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow him much respite, and the two brown spectrum cultivators charged!

Thorne lifted his swords in a hasty defense as he sensed a torrent of brown energy gathered in each of his foe's hands.

WHOOSH!

The air was split by the formation of dour massive earthen spikes. “Oh, shit.” Thorne's eyes widened, and he immediately increased the flow of amber energy. His enemies flung the spikes forward at immense speed! But that wasn’t it; the cultivators with the transparent spectrum crystal pushed forward with the windy energy and accelerated the spikes to near supersonic levels!

“Energy Bubble!” Thorne grimaced as he braced himself for impact. A shining amber bubble formed around him, and it did so just at the right time. BANG!

Thorne stumbled backward as the spikes of earth collided against his shield! “Argh!” He grunted. His amber energy worked overtime to ensure that none of the attacks broke through. An explosion of dust filled the top of the wall, and for a moment—as the dust cleared—there was silence.

“Is he dead?” Thorn heard a gruff voice ask. “He should be,” Another one responded with a chuckle, “That combo is unmatched in the whole city.”

Thorne smiled wide. ‘So that’s their best,’ he thought as he saw their five silhouettes through the dust. Well, I’ll show you my best!’

Thorne moved with haste, knowing that his advantage of surprise would soon be gone. He put away his swords and began to circulate all his red energy in his palm. The red energy was agitated and unruly. It was a bomb about to go off, and it was only restrained by Thorne’s sheer willpower. A ball, larger than his own head, crackled to life in Thorne’s hand. “Here we go.” Thorne grinned as he saw the dust finally clear.

Pushing out with all his might, Thorne’s energy screeched as he released the Red Nova Torrent at the enemy cultivators! He had practiced this skill without rest over his month in the desert world, and while it hadn’t leveled up, his control over the skill had grown much.

The ball crackled and hissed in the air as it dispersed the dust in its path, revealing itself to the once confident group of cultivators.

“WHAT'S THAT?” the bronze cultivator shrieked as she tried to duck. Unfortunately, the ball of unrestrained chaos did not have any mercy for her. With a gut-wrenching boom, the deluge of energy rushed straight into the buff woman's heart!

Expressionless, Thorne watched on as her flesh flew out into the wind. Red speckles erupted, painting the surroundings crimson as a stark memento of her now-over life. Her flesh shot out in chunks, battering her colleagues. Their expressions changed instantly. Once so confident and arrogant, the other cultivator trembled as they witnessed the unseemly end of their friend.

A spot of blood flew out from his opponent and landed with a splat on Thorne's cheek. Thorne looked at it, then back at his petrified opponents, then back at the blood. He slowly lifted his hand up to the spot, and with care, he wiped it off.

“Now to the rest,” Thorne muttered with a deadpan face. His mind was calm and collected as he rushed forward. “Cross Blade Extension Strike,” He whispered, positioning his blades in the characteristic X-shape. String on, with morbid disinterest, Thorne released the attack at his unprepared foes. Too caught off guard by their friend's death, the practitioners hadn’t yet realized Thorne had moved again. Only one of them noticed Thorne. The man gazed at Thorne with horror in his eyes. His lips trembled, and his legs shook as he stared directly into Thorne’s apathetic eyes. ‘This is how I must've looked,’ Thorne thought with passive indifference, ‘back when I fought the snake.’ He released the attack, still staring at the man!

There was no loud noise or explosion. The X-shaped strike cut through the four men like a hot knife through butter. The man he was looking at previously was cut from the shoulder down, and his body collapsed to the sandstone floor with a squishy plop.

Thorne walked past the group of now-dead men, uncaring. He only looked down once at the wind cultivator, who had noticed his attack. His eyes shone with horror. The man’s decapitated head had rolled upright, and the man’s pale face was stricken with emotion. ‘He was old.’ Thorne realized absently as he looked down at the dead man; a single tear was rolling along down his white face. Thorne pushed for a moment and watched the droplet stream down. It traveled slowly before eventually plopping down on the sandstone floor and dissipating. “Hmm,” Thorne grunted as they marched on.

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He looked forward. 'So they haven't run,' Thorne thought, 'interesting.' Two dozen feet ahead of him stood the non-practicer soldiers. Thorne could feel them tremble and shake as they pointed their guns at him.

WHIZ! WHIZ WHIZ!

Only due to his high agility, could Thorne dodge the bullets, but even so, a singular bullet struck his arm!

"ARGH! Thorne grimaced as he glanced down at the injury. Due to his constant circulation of amber energy, the damage wasn't too bad, but the metal bullet had lodged itself in his weak flesh. Blood seeped out and flowed down his arms.

WHIZ! WHIZ! WHIZ!

Thorne leaped forward, duking his head under the cascading bullets! "Fuck!" Thorne muttered as he hastily held his swords out in front of him, casting his Sword Shield!

WHIZ, WHIZ, WHIZ!

The bullets kept flying, and Thorne noticed that the soldier’s confidence had begun to return. Their once trembling arms became still as the row of soldiers focused entirely on gunning Thorne down.

"FUCK!" Thorne muttered as he looked down at his wounded arm. 'I can’t heal myself until the bullet is gone.' He realized with a barking gasp. Biting his lips, Thorne realized what he had to do. He held one sword upright in order to maintain his shield while he maneuvered his other toward the spot of the wound.

"Damnit, this is gonna hurt." Thorne winced as he plunged his fingers into his exposed flesh! Unwilling tears streamed down his face! Thorne gritted his teeth and maneuvered his hand around, searching for the bullet!

"There it is!" Thorne cried out as he felt the round piece of metal. "ARGGHH!" Thorne screamed. His flesh burned, and agony assaulted his being as his fingers pried into the weak and tender flesh of his arm.

"There. I got it." Thorne panted, nearly collapsing to the ground, as he held the bullet up in the bright moonlight. It was painted crimson with his own blood. It dripped and smelled of disturbing copper. Thorne winced just looking at it, and with a concerted effort, he dropped it. 'Now I can do my job,' Thorne snarled internally as he began to heal his arm.

Releasing the shield, Thorne leaped forward at his enemies, employing the Phantom Leap technique! Expressionless, Thorn appeared right in between the two lines of gunmen. Unable to react to his sudden appearance, the gunmen were defenseless as the merciless Thorne cut through them with inhuman speed!

Blood, flesh, and cloth flew into the air as Thorne twirled like a whirlwind throughout the ranks of the soldiers!

A tornado of blood spattered Thorne's white teacher’s robe. 'Five, ten, fifteen, twenty.' Thorne counted every kill as he pirouetted around his gun-wielding foes. It was like kicking a puppy. They could not do a thing.

Gasping and with gritted teeth, Thorne stomped away from the scene. His robe was no longer white. It was now dyed completely crimson, and every fiber was stained with his foe’s lifeblood.

As Thorne stomped away from the scene, the moon shone brightly behind him. A mishmash of dismantled corpses lay behind him. Their expressions remained intact, but nothing else remained. Spare limbs were strewn all over the top of the wall. Arms, legs, torsos; they all dotted the fifteen feet radius and would forever do so.

Ahed of him, Thorne sensed a total of ten cultivators and hundreds of non-cultivators. 'I can’t beat them all,' Thorne realized, simulating the would-be battle as he continued his march. 'I need to let down the bridge and let them in.' Thorne remembered Moravian saying that he would alert the others. 'I hope he did his job,' Thorne sighed as he glared forward at the horde of enemies. 'I have to be quick.' Thorne concluded as he transitioned to a full-on sprint!

His defined leg muscles pumped, and with the support of red energy, they moved faster than any earthling had before! The cultivators ahead of him grew surprised as they witnessed the blurry image of Thorne speeding toward them.

"PREPARE FOR COMBAT!" Thorne heard a woman shout. The ten cultivators brandished their weapons; there were spears, swords, whips, and even battleaxes. Behind the single row of cultivators was an entire cohort of soldiers. They stood in a practiced formation. All of them were armed with standard submachine guns. With stoicism present on their faces, the brave soldiers glared forward, aiming their weapons at Thorne. 'Bravery,' Thorne sighed, 'It is even stranger than fate.'

Behind the small army of soldiers, Thorne could see his true prize. There was a single lever, unguarded and plain to see. It stood rooted in the ground and was the key to opening the gate. 'I have to go over all of them, but...how?' Thorne frowned. He would have to cross nearly a hundred feet, all of it guarded by powerful foes and vast numbers of soldiers. 'I have to try it.' Thorne realized with a sigh as he prepared something he had thought he would never use. 'I hope this works, or I’m dead!'

With a stomp, Thorne threw himself off the top of the wall! He landed on the precipice and gripped the edge before letting go! "Phantom Leap" he shouted. Time slowed, and Torne felt his muscles buzz with an unreal surge of energy. Floating in the air, Thorne repositioned himself and planted his feet on the wall until he stood perfectly horizontal in the air! The steel wall sparked as he placed his feet on the surface. The slippery wall rebelled, but Thorne pushed himself forward and ran across the wall! His energy groaned and complained, begging to stop being overused. Usually, he could only travel a dozen or so feet with the Phantom Leap, and that was when he complied with the rules of gravity.

Fighting back, Thorne gritted his teeth and pushed every aspect of his body to its limits. Blood seeped down his nostrils, sweat coated every inch of him, and even his ears started to leak with crimson blood! 'Almost there.' Thorne grunted as his cells begged to just implode and end this suffering. 'Here.' Thorne realized and pressed off the slippery wall, throwing himself in the air.

Time reaccelerated, and Thorne found himself gasping for air as his skill turned off...but he had succeeded. 'The lever!'

"HE’S HERE!" someone shouted, and the army of soldiers turned to face Thorne.

'I need the lever!' Thorne lurched forward, gripping the heavy metal piece of machinery. Using all his strength, Thorne pulled!

BOOM!

The gate slammed open!