Chapter 431 - How Dare You Act Up In My Presence?

The entire courtyard was silent, filled only with the sound of howling gusts. The veteran hunters were pinned in place by the Qi, their gazes shifting to Cassius, who had burst in suddenly. Yang Yan stood there with the hem of his robe flapping madly, narrowing his eyes at Cassius.

Meanwhile, Cassius wore a faint smile as he casually held a human head in his hand.

"Were you the one who sent this fool to deliver a message?" Cassius spoke in a low, frigid voice.

Suddenly, his right hand snapped outward to grab a humanoid dark creature lurking in the shadows who had tried to slip away. He yanked the aberration forward and brought it in front of him. He slammed it down, compressing its head into its chest cavity with a heavy

thud

. Instantly, the dark creature that had been thrashing and screaming fell utterly silent.

Drip.

Two large hands pressed the severed human head onto the neck of that headless aberration. Thick, crimson blood trickled from the uneven edges of the mismatched connection. The aberration's monstrous body, fused with a human head that had terror-stricken eyes, formed a bizarre sort of beauty.

Cassius flicked away the blood on his hands and spoke slowly. "I practically wiped out all the dark creatures in Florence just two days ago, yet somehow there are still so many pests crawling around... disgusting."

His blue eyes turned a deep shade of crimson as he stared at Yang Yan.

Boom!!!

Two colossal currents of Qi took form in an instant, colliding with powerful gusts that swept the courtyard. The wind howled, stones flew, and petals and leaves tore loose in the turmoil.

The veteran hunters, previously weighed down by Yang Yan's Qi, felt a sudden lightness on their shoulders and saw two translucent waves of force meeting to form a semicircular collision in the air in the center of the courtyard.

Those two arcs had only clashed for half a second before Yang Yan's expression changed drastically, veins bulging on his neck as his skin flushed crimson from exertion. Cassius, on the other hand, remained impassive, even stepping forward. That single step caused Yang Yan's half of the Qi arc to burst and vanish at once.

Cassius’s Qi roared forward, like a towering wave dozens of meters high. The massive wave of Qi crashed into Yang Yan, forcing him to stagger two or three steps back.

On his final step, he crushed a block of hard grey stone beneath his foot. This was a contest of Qi between combat artists, one that involved their personal fist technique philosophy and willpower. The party that was crushed would suffer mental suppression or even injury, causing an obvious impairment in reaction speed for the remainder of the fight. Such a setback was undeniably a severe handicap in a battle of elites.

"What a surge of Qi! There's an almost unstoppable dominance to it. He's even above me... a top-tier combat artist?!" Yang Yan was shaken, and confusion whirled through his mind.

Clearly, their intelligence had been gravely flawed. According to Solomon the Thorn's account and the investigation by both the council and royal family, Cassius had only displayed the strength of a standard Shadow Hunter at most, even if he had slaughtered hundreds of dark creatures two nights ago. After all, a regular Shadow Hunter could manage that if the creatures were merely Wild Beast level or Savage Beast level. There had been no truly dangerous Cataclysmic Spirit level ones.

Hence, it had seemed logical in the reports that Cassius's strength was merely that of a typical Shadow Hunter. Who would have guessed he'd concealed his true strength? A mere contest for a Shadow Hunter seat containing a top-tier combat artist... Such a fighter could easily replace Thunder Prison Deleshart as the president of the Hunters' Association!

They had been clueless until they tested him, and the shock was immense. A fierce glint crossed Yang Yan's eyes, and he decided instantly. He blurred into motion, crushing the stones underfoot. Harnessing a terrifying burst of strength, he shot forward like an arrow toward the veteran hunters.

His intentions were clear: he was aiming for the weakest among them, Herb. If he could seize Herb, he could reclaim the advantage.

Krog immediately guessed his plan and intercepted him with a flying tackle as black meter covered his body. .

"Move!" Yang Yan shouted harshly as he struck with his palm. Intense heat coursed through his crimson hand, scorching the air and sending out twisting wisps of white smoke. Krog planted both feet, bracing to take the palm head-on.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in the distance.

"You're the one who should move! How dare you act up in my presence?!"

Swoosh!

A tall, black blur rushed into their line of sight. In less than the blink of an eye, a towering Cassius materialized before Krog. Scarlet vapor flowed steadily from the weave of his clothes, reminiscent of a crimson cape.

Yang Yan's eyes narrowed, and he ruthlessly increased his palm force by fifty percent.

"Molten Fist, Boiling Blood Seal!" The fiery palm print turned a deep crimson, tracing a brief arc in the air before colliding with Cassius's swinging fist. A ring of black-and-white paving stones around them splintered on impact.

The ground trembled, and sparks flew up in waves. Yang Yan staggered back more than ten paces before he managed to neutralize the massive backlash reverberating through him. His palm trembled slightly, and the web between his thumb and finger had split, causing blood to drip down. It was dispersed by some unusual force into a crimson mist before it could hit the ground.

The Qi covering his arm also began to tear in a spiral pattern, threatening to spread to his torso. Yang Yan promptly clenched his fist hard. The Qi from his hand through his forearm exploded, scattering Death's Fang Force with it.

The ground hissed as it was left riddled with needle-like holes, each thinner than a hair, a sight that was truly eerie.

"What a vicious form of Covert Martial Arts! It's almost as though it was made specifically for tearing flesh!" Yang Yan eyed Cassius warily. He believed his own Molten Fist style of Covert Martial Arts was already highly aggressive; he could ignite a victim's blood beneath their skin with a single palm strike, heating it until it boiled and cooked the muscle.

Yet his skill now seemed vastly inferior. Had he not shielded his palm with Qi just now, it would not have ended so simply. He might have had to sever an entire chunk of his flesh instead. Moreover, if he had hesitated and let that force spread, it would have cost him a huge amount of Qi to purge it, damaging his essence, energy, and spirit in the process.

"I can't face him alone. I need to go find Zhu Hun!" This thought had barely crossed Yang Yan's mind when his expression changed drastically, for a dark figure was lunging toward him, two robust arms powerful enough to split stone spread out.

As those limbs moved swiftly, the air itself reverberated with explosive force.

Bang!

Two crimson fists slammed together, the spiral and decomposition properties colliding with the igniting heat property at their highest levels, twisting the air violently. Yang Yan felt an overwhelming force crush him, and he staggered back uncontrollably.

"He's not just formidable in his Covert Martial Arts! His physical strength is absolutely terrifying. I can't even put up a fight..." He felt numb, stinging pain shoot through his right arm, and the bones on his right side creaked from the impact. If he hadn’t had Qi coursing through his bones to provide both support and cushioning beneath his skin, there was no way he could have taken that punch. He feared his arm would have been destroyed on the spot.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

The black-robed figure flew backward at high speed.

Swoosh!

However, the tall figure gave chase, bearing down in a domineering manner.

Boom! Boom!

The low walls were completely shredded as though they were mere blocks of tofu. The paving stones of the street crumbled beneath his feet.

Crash!

Just as Yang Yan tried to regain his balance, another horrifying punch flew at him. He raised a palm in defense, but the impact fractured his wrist. Still reeling from the prior impact, he was blown back like a cannonball. His teeth ground audibly, blood seeping through the gaps.

"Three punches!!! He can kill me in three punches!" He found it hard to believe, yet the acute danger sense born of the combat artist realm warned him that the next punch might truly kill him. Fighters of this caliber were exceedingly rare even within the Gate Organization. He had the rotten luck to run into one—damn it!!

Confronted with the threat of death, he steeled himself and ripped out a red eyeball from within his robes. It was a Red Tear Eye encased in amber. He crushed the amber between two fingers and turned the Red Tear Eye upon the onrushing Cassius. The crimson glow turned into a single beam with a terrifying, blazing-quick piercing force.

"Scarlet Fang Gun." A voice rang out.

The crimson beam in the air struck two fingers sheathed in a scarlet spiral force, unleashing a powerful, explosive flash. The red light bent and tore a fifty-meter trench into the earth. Though it was just two fingers wide, it ran so deep that its bottom could not be seen.

When the red glow vanished, the Red Tear Eye was drained of its power and shattered on the spot.

Of the two fingers Cassius had extended, one was entirely gone, and the other was ground down to half its length. Blood oozed from the cross-section, carrying a charred stench. Still, despite the heavy injury, Cassius’s expression remained unchanged.

He leaped forward, chopping down with his right arm. Yang Yan roared furiously as he crossed both arms before him. Cassius’s strike severed his right wrist and a long gash stretched from his left shoulder to his right waist. He wore a hideous expression of agony, not from the wounds themselves, but because he had just swallowed the disk that controlled the dark creatures.

Now, the fragments of the disk burned inside his body. The remaining few Savage Beast level dark creatures nearby began to shriek. It was as though something in the air was draining their life force. Their skin shriveled and their flesh withered in the blink of an eye, leaving them mummified in under half a second.

Meanwhile, Yang Yan's wounds healed rapidly, and his physique grew in strength and size, ripping through the heavy robe. His face, however, twisted and elongated, taking on a bestial savagery unlike any human.

Fangs jutted out from between his lips, his eyes blazed crimson, and blue veins stood out across his face. This was the latest research product from Florence's test site over the past two years, with the foundational knowledge provided by their leader Xiadu. Yang Yan and Zhu Hun had been tasked with standardizing this technology. Put simply, the primitive disk could not only control dark creatures but also channel that power back to the one who wielded it.

The more dark creatures it controlled, and the stronger they were, the greater the benefit that the disk's bearer received, causing their power to grow. Moreover, the disk possessed an emergency mode, allowing the user to siphon all power from the controlled dark creatures at once, instilling it in their own body for a sudden surge. However, doing so would destroy the precious disk entirely.

Yang Yan had never intended to use it this way, but Cassius posed too great a threat. The terror of being killed in three punches far outweighed the prospect of suffering the consequences of sacrificing the disk. He felt his entire body swell like a balloon, strength building inch by inch.

"What raging power... now, my body might be able to..."

Boom!

Before he could finish the thought, a black silhouette slammed into him again, jolting him out of his thoughts. Even with his dramatically enhanced strength, his entire skeleton felt numb as he was thrown backward. The strength gained from destroying the disk had barely kept him going a moment longer against his opponent.

In that instant, Yang Yan's determination vanished completely. He used the rebound momentum to crash through a building and then landed heavily in the river. He turned and raced wildly across the water's surface, aiming for the test site in District Six.

Zhu Hun should be hosting high-level figures from the royal family and the council there and showcasing their latest experiment. Those ancient survivors must have elite guards on standby, plus certain extremely dangerous aberrations locked in the cells. If Yang Yan and Zhu Hun combined their forces, they could turn the tables on Cassius!

Boom!

A figure on the rooftop plummeted into the river like a meteor. A spray of water soared more than ten meters high, as a black silhouette emerged through the watery veil. Cassius set off in pursuit of Yang Yan.

The Gate Organization's deeper secrets were coming to light with every battle they fought. They could transform dark creatures, control dark creatures, and even harness them to strengthen themselves! Things were growing ever more intriguing. In Florence's era, he undoubtedly held the advantage against the Gate Organization, making it the perfect time to uncover their trump cards.

It was like a black bear leisurely pursuing its prey, exerting an overwhelming pressure that forced the target to reveal every hand in an attempt to survive. Periodically, the prey would toss out a piece of honey, and the bear would pause to let them breathe for a moment. Only when the honey was fully squeezed out would the bear finish off its pitiful victim.