Chapter 430 - Strength and Oppression

A tall man, still wearing a heavy black robe despite the sweltering weather, stood quietly in the shadows of a deserted street corner in the twilight glow of the evening. He took out a round jade tablet from his robes, about half the size of a palm, with an eye carved into its center. Its translucent surface shimmered with a faint blue light, appearing much like glass or some sort of crystal, reminiscent of the material of a Blue Tear Eye.

Yang Yan gripped the jade tablet and issued a command to all the dark creature test subjects lurking in the nearby corners to attack the detached house in front of him.

In an instant, more than a dozen aberrations surged from the darkness. Each one was incredibly fierce, with terrifying appearances and foolish expressions drooling with saliva. They did not hesitate at all, vaulting over walls and fences as they charged toward the house as though on a hunting spree.

Yang Yan observed it all in silence, spreading out his right hand as the small disk in his palm glowed faintly. It was a product of the past year's research at the test site in Florence, allowing him to issue basic commands to those test subjects. The commands had to be exceedingly simple and precisely worded. Anything too vague or too complex would fail.

They had tested extensively inside the test site and achieved over a ninety-percent success rate with the commands. However, this was its first actual field use, and since these old folks were neither particularly weak nor overly powerful, it made for good practice for the controlled test subjects.

Yang Yan glanced at his watch; it was 5:05 in the afternoon. People from the royal family and the council had presumably already begun to move.

A three-story building tiled in blue and white stood dozens of meters away. Butcher Krog was seated in the corner on its first floor, holding a steaming cup of tea, while reaching for a stack of butter biscuits on the table with his other hand . Suddenly, the wall behind him exploded inward, and a four-armed gorilla covered in what looked like black armor burst in, its eyes burning crimson.

It charged and slammed four arms thicker than a man's thighs simultaneously into Krog's back.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Each impact was immensely forceful, and the four-armed gorilla's hardened muscles rippled like waves with every collision. It bared its teeth as though grinning savagely, eyes filled with a brutal thrill at crushing its foe—until Krog rose to his feet.

He remained facing away from the four-armed gorilla, his shirt torn to shreds by the force and exposing his broad, powerful back muscles. At some point, a thick, mysterious black fluid had covered most of his upper body, shimmering with an uncanny metallic luster. The dense black fluid spread rapidly along his arms until it covered his entire hand. Krog abruptly whirled around and slapped the gorilla.

Boom!

A tremendous force instantly blew the gorilla's skull apart on the spot! All that remained was a small section of its bloody neck, still spurting blood.

"Had enough fun scratching my back, you idiot?" Krog flexed his back muscles and turned to scan the rest of the first-floor hall, only to see more than a dozen aberrations smashing through walls and charging in from every direction toward the six veteran hunters sitting there.

"So they think we're easy prey?" The eyes beneath Iron Face Jem's mask narrowed dangerously.

"They've come knocking? Perfect chance to see how much of our strength has returned." A flash of cold light glinted beside Kames. At some point, he had drawn a sharp and menacing black warblade with his only remaining arm.

"Interesting! Over a dozen Savage Beast level dark creatures attacking us in such a coordinated fashion? Doesn't seem like the typical intelligence of ordinary dark creatures..." Rudy rose as well, tapping his cane lightly. The tip of his cane abruptly extended, revealing a razor-sharp sword point.

"Let's take them down first, then figure out what's really going on." Krog spoke in a low voice, striding quickly toward the doorway, where a massive dark creature, the size of a brown bear, stood waiting.

Beyond the walls, Yang Yan stood alone in the open space with the evening breeze rustling the hem of his black robe. As he monitored the red dots on the small disk in his palm, the sounds of battle from the detached house indicated that fighting had started in earnest. He began walking slowly toward the main entrance, only for one red dot at the center of the disk to suddenly go dark. Yang Yan raised an eyebrow; that meant one of his test subjects had been killed.

"Impressive. They may be old, but their explosive strength is much greater than I expected." Yang Yan was about to keep walking when several more red dots blinked out in rapid succession.

"Hmm?" He furrowed his brow.

Roar!!!

A roar erupted from inside the walls, followed by a huge crash. A colossal creature was flung out, blood spurting profusely from its injuries. Meanwhile, another powerful figure leaped after it into midair. He had a tough, sinewy physique, with a clump of black fluid the size of a heart writhing and swelling in his chest. His black-and-white hair whipped wildly around a rugged, chiseled face.

As he spread his arms wide, the black metallic fluid branched out like thorny vines to envelope it. His five fingers merged into a blade, and black metal gushed continuously from the edges of his palms and fingertips, instantly forming a giant butcher's knife. A fierce gust was whipped up as two fearsome blades slashed down.

Splurch! Splurch!

The enormous dark creature was sliced into four pieces in midair, right before Yang Yan's eyes. Its innards gushed out like water, and the foul, viscous red blood spattered all over the ground.

Krog's gaze was as sharp as an eagle's. He instantly set his sights on Yang Yan, spinning at high speed so that his arm rotated twice in midair. The massive butcher's blade came slashing down with tremendous force!

"Well done, Butcher Krog. You stepped down from the Number One Shadow Hunter post all those years ago, yet still you retained a Shadow Hunter level of strength!" Yang Yan murmured in admiration as his hand, red with flame, rose. It left a trail of crimson fire through the air.

"Molten Palm!"

Clang!!!

The black butcher's blade and the blood-red hand crashed against each other.

***

A few minutes earlier, Cassius emerged from the training room at the Hunters' Association in District Seven. One could see mounds of silvery-white iron dust on the floor, along with a few iron stakes worn flat by his palms, through the gap in the doorway.

He shut the door behind him and headed for his bedroom. When he opened the door, he noticed that the window that was usually kept closed was somehow wide open. A chilly wind was blowing in, making the white curtains billow to either side. The empty desk by the windowsill had a note pinned by a stone.

Cassius walked over and picked it up. Written on it were the words:

District Six, 25 Faal Street, Iron Face Jem's residence. Your mentors are all there—why not stop by for a chat?

He glanced at it, then crumpled it into a ball and tossed it in the trash can. He sprang lightly into the air and jumped straight out from the third floor. He flipped in midair to drop head first in freefall, aiming at a pile of dead leaves beside a decorated tree, and then threw a punch.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, making the entire building tremble. Dirt and leaves exploded in all directions, shooting skyward like a bomb blast. The soil and grass in a radius of more than ten meters rippled like waves.

"

Aah!

" A pitiful shriek rose from beneath the earth, then went silent. All that remained was sticky crimson blood oozing through the cracks in the ground.

Cassius used one arm to prop himself up and twist around, then thrust his fist into the ground once again. This time, it caused less of a commotion, but his arm stabbed into the earth like a spear, and he yanked it free moments later.

He dragged out a black-clad figure, crushed beyond recognition by the immense pressure. Its skin had ruptured in nearly a hundred places, like a bursting hot water bag no longer able to withstand external force.

Cassius's gaze remained icy. He hoisted the gravely injured figure over his shoulder, then shot off like a bolt of lightning.

At his speed, hardly anyone even at the headquarters of the Dark Hunter Organization could perceive his fleeting silhouette. As for the commotion he caused—the churned earth and debris—he would deal with that upon his return.

***

Swoosh!

Krog retreated rapidly, his feet scraping ten-meter-long dark marks across the floor. His eyes were serious, and sixty sacred marks on the back of his hand all lit up at once, pushing his physique-based arcane energy to the limit.

"Butcher Blade Technique, Ninefold Slash!" Krog charged forward, his arm spinning like a windmill. The exaggerated bulge of his muscles hinted at enormous strength.

Buzz!

Yang Yan strode steadily forward, the fiery red in his pupils instantly consuming his entire gaze. A colossal surge of Qi slammed downward, as though a giant crashing wave had shoved Krog.

Boom...

Krog wavered as though his head had been struck by a hammer, his vision momentarily distorted. The next second, a palm seemingly coated in molten rock appeared in his peripheral vision.

At the last moment, he switched from offense to defense, using two butcher's blades to block the incoming strike.

Crack!

One black metal blade snapped in two, while the other was riddled with black fissures from extreme heat. Krog was hurled backward through a wall.

Yang Yan wore a faint smile and did not break his stride. Using Qi to forcibly suppress an opponent was a special technique among combat artists, but only if one's own Qi was powerful enough. A robust enough Qi could render a lower-level opponent unable to move, as though trapped in amber.

Such methods worked against other supernatural beings as well. It was sometimes even more effective if the target's pursued path didn't focus on spiritual or mental development. It was an extreme contest of mental will and sheer resolve.

Crack...

Krog emerged from the hole in the wall, bits of stone dust falling from him. Blood glistened faintly at the corner of his mouth, and his gaze had turned grave. After receiving Cassius's treatment, he had recovered enough strength to reach an average Shadow Hunter, yet he still was no match for that man. Krog scoured his memory of every strong fighter he knew, but none quite compared.

The veteran hunters' battle with the Savage Beast level dark creatures behind him had reached a fever pitch. Only Blood Axe Herb, whose old wounds were too severe, was truly unable to fight. The other four hunters, having had their calamity expelled by Cassius, possessed strength close to a Shadow Hunter. But their practical combat experience with dark creatures was far beyond that of younger hunters at the same tier.

One by one, the old hunters supported each other and cleanly pinned down the enemy, often with a numerical advantage. The moment a dark creature drifted slightly away from their group, two veteran hunters would instantly appear and launch a decisive team strike, killing the creature instantly.

After just a few dozen seconds of relying on their coordination and explosive abilities, the four veteran hunters had already eliminated half of the test subjects. The remaining six or seven aberrations were clearly no cause for concern.

However, the real danger was not these creatures, but the man who had just walked in through the front door, stared down by Krog's unwavering gaze.

Yang Yan surveyed the bodies of dark creatures sprawled across the floor and the veteran hunters who had gained the upper hand, shaking his head. "As I suspected...without proper coordination, these deranged creatures make poor elite troops. They're best used in large numbers as cannon fodder..."

He issued a command via the small disk, ordering the dark creatures to retreat from the hall. Yang Yan still needed a few test subjects; he could not afford to lose them all here. Immediately, the aberrations clashing with the veteran hunters began to withdraw at high speed, obviously trying to flee.

All four veteran hunters launched a simultaneous offensive, intent on eliminating them. A savage glint flashed in Yang Yan's eyes as he stepped forward. A surge of blazing crimson Qi swept through the space, filling the entire hall in an instant.

"Stay right where you are! As mere bait, you should be more self aware..."

Crack, crack, crack...

It felt as though a massive force pressed down from the ceiling as all the old hunters' shoulders sank under the weight. Their steps became labored, joints creaking as if the air itself had turned into thick glue.

"Heh, not bad test subjects... I've never used Shadow Hunters as experimental material before. I wonder what interesting results I'll find..."

Yang Yan walked forward at a leisurely pace, examining Krog with some fascination. He raised his arm, and the crimson glow in his palm steadily grew stronger.

Boom! Whish...

Suddenly, it was like a typhoon passed through. A colossal current of air burst through the walls, compressing the air inside into visible rings of distortion.

Screech!!!

A raptor shrieked, its call laden with a suffocating savagery.

Yang Yan's face changed abruptly. The entire house quaked beneath the onslaught of that surging Qi, and the air in the hall froze in place.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

A tall figure wreathed in scarlet vapor crushed the fence as he arrived. At that moment, it was as though he commanded all the ferocious winds around him. If the powerful Qi radiating outward was a hurricane, then this man was the eye of the storm.

The air whirled ceaselessly under his Qi, forming a vague vortex. For a fleeting moment, the crimson glow in the middle looked like a single giant vicious eye of a blood vulture glowering down at Yang Yan. Crimson veins filled its pupil, multiplying by the second...