Chapter 476: The Death of Niutou

Before Niutou's troops could save their king, however, arrows, daggers, and the river itself blocked their path. The hunters that had lain hidden throughout the fight finally showed themselves.

"Just sit back and watch your king die!"

Even if the minotaurs and sura could get to their king in time, it was already too late.

Hurled forward by wind and storm, the spear shot forward with incredible force. Fang Yi's spear sent wind howling and lightning flashing through the skies. The spear left dozens of afterimages in all directions, surrounding Niutou completely.

"[Tiger's Howl, Dragon's Bellow]!" Fang Yi's spear took on the aspect of a dragon of the winds and a storm tiger as he charged forward. Its tip pierced Niutou's chest and pinned him against the ground.

Niutou's vitality and constitution were so immense that, despite all his injuries, he continued to struggle. His arms and legs pounded the ground, sending dust rising into the air and cracks propagating from where he lay.

"In your next life, you'd better hope you aren't born a sura or a minotaur!"

Fang Yi's hands clenched tightly around the haft of his spear as he forced the tip of the spear down, causing spurts of fresh blood to sully his armor. Half the spear penetrated Niutou's body as Niutou's eyes bulged and his heart finally beat its last.

Fang Yi then pulled out his spear, revealing Niutou's pulsing red heart for all to see.

When the minotaurs and sura saw their king's disemboweled heart, they knew it was too late.

"We have to run! Our king is dead!" The minotaurs and sura turned and fled without any hesitation, shocked beyond measure by Fang Yi's frightening strength.

Fang Yi shouted, "Kill them all! Leave none alive!"

The human hunters who stood on the opposite end of the river shore hurriedly gave chase.

Fang Yi sucked in a deep breath as he lay by Niutou's body. It had been a difficult fight, and he had expended a significant fraction of his stamina.

He was certain his troops could easily deal with the runaway forces of Niutou without his involvement; he wanted a break.

Taking out his doublegrowth flower, he reported the good news to Zhang Lie.

Within Renhuang, Zhang Lie was seated in front of a map on which six routes had been sketched. Three of them led to a red cross. Zhang Lie marked a fourth one, Fang Yi's route, with a cross as well.

"There are two remaining," he murmured to himself.

His gaze fell on the remaining two routes.

By the time Fang Yi had killed Niutou, Hong Xi and Yang Ze had made their way to Suiyue.

Suiyue responded calmly, without panicking. He got off his luxurious carriage, which was as large as a three-man bed. It was decorated with pink curtains.

Suiyue sighed. "So people really are on their way."

Hong Xi frowned. "You seem to have known that we would show up."

Suiyue shrugged. "Moyan seems to have perished. I was wondering if anyone would come for me, and, unfortunately for you, I was right. Should I consider you foolish or arrogant?"

Hong Xi and Yang Ze each drew their weapons. "There's no need for idle chatter. Let's fight!"

Suiyue cocked his head at them. "Let's discuss something beforehand."

Hong Xi and Yang Ze both frowned.

Suiyue slowly walked toward the front of the party. "Face me alone, and I shall do the same. Let's not involve our subordinates."

Hong Xi smiled. "I didn't expect you would look out for your subordinates."

Suiyue shrugged again. "They're not my subordinates, but rather my lovers.

"Your highness!" the old sura called out, blushing. Their antics sent shivers up Yang Ze and Hong Xi's bodies.

"I don't think there's an issue with that." Yang Ze agreed with Suiyue's suggestion. Preventing casualties on Renhuang's side would be beneficial to them as well.

"It's settled, then."

Suiyue's subordinates were all old sura, and though the hunters of Renhuang were confident that they could take them down, it might easily cost them some of their number.

"Once you die, we'll round them all up," Hong Xi murmured.

The old sura called out, "Your highness, we can fight! Let us do so!"

Suiyue snorted. "Stand back! Don't involve yourself in this fight. This is a command!"

Though they grumbled upon doing so, the sura gave Suiyue a wide berth. They had seen sura kings fight in the past, and they knew how devastating their techniques would be. Suiyue was, in their opinion, a particularly strong fighter.

Hong Xi activated [Eclipse] and [Black Sun] simultaneously. An aura of white moonlight burst forth from her feet, as if proclaiming her purity; the black sun behind her, however, seemed to mark her as a devilish witch.

The two contrasting auras simultaneously took effect.

When Suiyue noticed his power weakening, he smiled. "Interesting."

He charged forward in the blink of an eye as a giant shark appeared behind Yang Ze's back. Yang Ze swung down with his greatsword, and the giant shark flicked its tail and launched itself toward Zhang Lie.

Suiyue's fist knocked the shark back. Under the effects of [Mirrored Refraction], Yang Ze seemed to phase in and out of existence, moving as rapidly as a fish darting through the water. He launched [Fists of the Silent Sea] toward Suiyue out of nowhere, who hastily blocked the attack with his arms.

Ripples of water drenched the combatants, and a fog rose into the air.

Yang Ze used the fog surrounding the battlefield as a means of shrouding himself while he attacked continuously with [Fists of the Silent Sea], sending ripples into the air.

The ripples intersected, crossed, and bypassed each other as though they were in a dream, with reality and imagination intertwined.

Suiyue felt like a small canoe unmoored in a choppy ocean, repeatedly being slammed back and forth by wave after endless wave. In mere moments, his body was bruised and battered all over. He howled out loudly, forcing the fog to retreat.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" Yang Ze shot forward with yet another technique, one that Zhang Lie himself had imparted to him. This blow sucked in all the fog from the surroundings and pierced through Suiyue's chest with what seemed to be unstoppable momentum.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Reflection of Sun and Moon]!" Hong Xi followed up with her own technique, punching Suiyue in the face with a fist burning with black flame and wrapped with white moonlight.

They had used their strongest techniques initially in an attempt to end the battle in one fell swoop, before Suiyue had a chance to reverse time. However, they had clearly underestimated Suiyue, or rather, the power of such time-reversal techniques—after all, Suiyue had long since ingrained the technique into his mind, and he could activate it even when unconscious...