Thud!

A head touched the ground. In the very next instant, a staff was pointed to the left. The magic surged in his arm, bubbling in the shape of water. There was a reason why many players struggled to return to their primes. Their understanding of magic relied on the System. Without it, all they could do was chant and yell out names. They were hopeless.

Kazi was not.

Without thinking it or uttering it, he blasted a sweeping Gale Burst at the men to the left. The S-class skill Godly Shape Control granted him the skill to control every fibre of magic. Just ten minutes ago, he witnessed the Breath of Eulus. This wasn’t that. It did not have the same power or might as Noor. However, it did employ the same principles as a slashing attack that sent several players off their feet.

The left was distracted. The right was full of shocked expressions unable to react.

“Everyone, attack—”

Thud!

A second head fell. The woman’s throat was cut at a lower angle and slightly less efficient. His hazel eyes calculated his surroundings. ‘Seven behind me are still getting up. Three are already up. In front of me…jump back.’

He sensed a surge of magical energy from Noor’s direction. She was using incantations to amplify her magical attack power. It also served as a signal.

The puzzled expressions in front of him turned to ash as a Fire Blast sniped his head off. The panic was growing. They didn’t understand. Their senses were able to hear Noor yet even a glance risked death at the hands of Kazi Hossain whose supreme speed refused to let them be.

Kazi was still in the air, in the middle of his backwards leap, and turned. There, he found another and with another Super Spark Strike sliced their head off.

His next attack was blocked by the wrist of the one man that had sufficiently resisted his modified Gale Burst, Hu Yanlin. Underneath his clothes was a metal gauntlet grinding against his sword. Hu Yanlin narrowed his eyes.

“Do I know you—”

Metal was weak to fire. Stormedge switched from the lightning element to fire. He recalled the principles of fire in spell-casting and applied them to the shape of his sword. He recalled the strongest swordsman he knew and formulated a magical shape identical to what she did.

[ New skill learned : Ember Strike ]

Hu Yanlin was quick enough to understand the sudden heat and backed away—just as he predicted he would. Leaping away at speeds that were much too slow, Kazi roundhouse-kicked him in the stomach. Hu Yanlin toppled into the ally behind him, who had been planning a discreet strike.

Too slow. Too late.

Everything about them was too late.

They couldn’t see. They couldn’t understand like he could as in the next moment, Noor’s Fire Dart blasted Hu Yanlin and the ally away. Kazi burst forward and used the ensuing smoke and fear to his advantage.

Thud!

Thud!

Two heads fell in the usage of one Super Spark Strike. At full throttle, Kazi Hossain was impossible to stop. Even if they could land a hit, with Flow of Mana Lv. 7, his HP, defence, and overall toughness had increased exponentially.

Twenty-five had withered down to sixteen. Hu Yanli was alive, after all, having narrowly avoided the Fire Dart. He chased after Kazi who ripped through a hand and chopped off another head. In his mind, why bother going for anything other than the quick kill.

“Swift Kick!”

Whoosh!

Kazi ducked and Hu Yanli flew above him. A flying kick, a basic move from a man that had watched too many movies. Kazi swiped at his vulnerable back leg, only to miss. He blinked as Hun Yanli jerked his body up and narrowly avoided the slash, going past Kazi and landing on the ground next to his allies.

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“Calm down, people. There’s a powerful mage nearby. Six of you go over to kill her—”

Cling! His gauntlet-protected wrist blocked his sword. He wasn’t just good, he was great. A bit slow on the uptake but definitely experienced in combat. He observed not just Kazi by the eyes, he listened to him.

There was something else to him too. Clashing against him, Kazi was able to feel his level of magical amplification. Hu Yanli’s flow of mana was simply superior. As a matter of fact, his control was better than Kazi’s.

Cling! Cling! Cling!

His wrists successfully blocked three of his strikes. There was fire surrounding his fists—an Intermediate Martial Artist skill perhaps? No, even skills of that calibre would be insufficient against Kazi. There was no mistaking it, whatever training he had done under the Unorthodox Sect, it granted him an unfathomable degree of magical control. Precise applications of energy in his hands that granted him the power to oppose even Kazi.

‘Those movements and those eyes. He’s a mercenary.’ No mistaking it. ‘Sorry to say, but I've killed your kind before. You can’t be allowed to grow stronger.’

He heard three sets of footsteps, but more than that, he sensed multiple bursts of magic from behind. He slammed his staff against Hu Yanli’s arm, stabbed his sword into the ground, and pulled himself up. Now, he could see them and their surprise.

What was he doing?

He observed their feet. He watched them enter the three-metre zone…

“Magic Barrier.”

…and in one fell swoop, sliced off their legs with the appearance of the yellow translucent sphere. Heads smacked into the outside of the sphere and screamed, the sudden severance of their limbs overwhelming their beings.

Hu Yanli had been out of range. Unfortunate.

Expanding the Magic Barrier wasn’t difficult at all as it fell within the properties of Godly Shape Control. Since he had the Mage Class equipped, there were times when the Magic Barrier would automatically activate. Kazi didn’t need it though, he had done what was necessary and promptly deactivated the barrier. Still on the stop of the swords, legs high in the air, he aimed his staff backwards.

Without looking, he said, “Fire Dart.”

Saying the skill out loud made it faster, though not stronger. Thus, there was nothing Hu Yanlin was able to do as the Fire Dart struck him at a little over three feet away at a bullet-like speed. Even if he had some secret skill up his sleeve, Kazi would never allow him to activate it. He was dying here and now.

He swung his body back down, boots crunching into the ground, and dashed at Hu Yanlin. Thin black smoke was erupting from his chest.

‘Super Spark Strike.’

Thud!

Stormedge found no resistance as it chopped his head off. Hu Yanlin of the Unorthodox Sect was dead.

Behind him, he heard screams and tears. Their legs were gone. For two of them, it was one leg. For the remaining, it was both.

“W-wait.” One of the men lifted a hand. “W-we’re sorry! We are! This wasn’t…we don’t know why we’re here! We were just told to wear the necklace and go to the well—”

Boom!

Kazi didn’t need to do anything. One, two, three, four, five—five Fire Darts came from the side of the island and killed them.

A handful of them remained. A strong, supposedly unstoppable collection of twenty-five sect members turned into shivering messes.

“W-why are you killing—”

He charged at them. Immediately, they went into weak defensive positions. ‘These idiots are letting their guard down.’ He casted a glance at Noor’s direction. Carla, Lala, and the five mages, everyone was there protecting Noor. Several birds were summoned too, courtesy of Lala, who was also meeting the martial artist in close-combat. ‘Lala is covering for Noor. I underestimated her. As for Noor, she must be out of mana at this point.’

It was time to finish up then. If Lala and the others had killed three of them and were fending off the last three, then he shouldn’t have trouble with six.

After the sheer slaughter of their comrades, the Unorthodox members were smarter and made space like an arc. If he went for one, he would get pummeled by all. They assumed he would hesitate.

He didn’t.

Kazi kept running, the sword and staff grinding against the ground. He chose to attack with his sword first, electrifying Stormedge with Super Spark Strike. He chose the man to the far left, who instantly grasped that he was about to die. Instead of standing his ground and sticking to the plan, he ran.

It was a last second mad dash, so he was still close enough to transition to another technique.

“Super Spark Strike Thrown!”

The thrown sword struck the back of the martial artist and shocked him till he was down. However, with the loss of his weapon came a surge of confidence from the others. One of them got too eager and ran at him the instant he saw him throw his weapon.

“Tempest Combo—”

He whipped his head over and grinned.

‘Gotcha!’

Kazi still had his staff left. The hurricane-like fist intended for his face was firmly interjected by a staff slamming into his arm. Kazi struck him at such an angle that his arm dug into his shoulder. The combo was lost.

His sword magically returned to his open hand and slashed across his chest. His mana was low so chopping the Unorthodox member’s head off with Super Spark Strike was impossible. That left the rest of his abilities with the same hindrance. They were granted the full scope of their skills, he was not.

Still, it did not matter.

Against four, he dodged. He weaved. He found openings. He landed cuts and small slashes. A slow, methodical battle where the enemy did not know how to respond. They talked amongst themselves. They planned. They sent silent glances.

Nothing worked.

Before they knew it, they were all on their knees, staring at the ground painted with their own blood.

“What are you…?”

He gave them no answer and slit their throats. During battle, there was no mercy.