Paragon Of Sin

Chapter 1907: Chapter 1899: A World of Death

The rising cacophony of metallic footsteps crushing semi-loose earth grinded against the heart, tensed armors and harsh, heavy breathing and grunts were the first things that pierced Wei Wuyinʼs ears.

What he saw coming in his direction was dauntingly disturbing. A tall, brutally muscular, fully armored figure blitzed towards him. The fierce figure was absent a right forearm, the stump wrapped in quick-administered field bandages, staining a glaring dry scarlet with sanguine, as his left hand held onto a freshly blood-stained battleaxe that had chips of bone and bits of flesh at its pointed edges.

This was an entity that could tower over the average man with ease, with a visage obscured by great helmets that barely revealed its intense eyes. However, this entity was not rushing with the intent of battle, but out of fear. The fear of death. The fear of an inevitable end. Those fierce eyes were intense, not with an abundant will to slaughter to the last, but a desperate will to live!

Behind him, four armored figures chased. Their running form was excellent for a chase, steady and precise, with a stable breathing that lacked any sign of erraticism to conserve energy and maximize execution of movement. They were trained, skilled, and given instructions on the art of killing since he was young, given instructions on the art of killing since he was old enough to piss upright. While his cultivation base has reached levels where mundane fighting had been mostly abolished, his instincts for the fight were as abundant in his heart as the will to cultivate.

When Wei Wuyin saw the desperate figure dash toward him with brutal, desperate momentum, he was briefly stunned. But who was he?

Instinctually, his body and mind synchronized, regulating his breathing in a single moment, his body tensed in all the right areas, and his saber was clutched a little tighter. It was a small tightening of his grip, yet the saber howl within his mind was unleashed, and his memories of battles flooded his soul and mind without any blockage. It was familiar.

He jumped back with both feet, bending his knees to the minimum, gaining about one foot of distance. It was only a single foot of distance, only thirty-six inches, and in the sight of others this might be insignificant, but mid-air for that brief time, his body was tilted forward, his knees readied to bend further, and his eyes concentrated on the world, broadening his view in an instant.

The tall, armored figure was forceful. Within his two eyes, Wei Wuyin could see the eyes of a man who had laid their gaze on an obstacle that needed to be removed. With a slightly lowered stance, Wei Wuyin controlled his center of gravity flawlessly, gathering a firm footing in the earth with a faint twist of his feet’s soles and toes.

‘Fear. Left. Grip. Neck.’

Four words.

As those words of observation cascaded within his mind, the exchange occurred.

The tall armored figure arrived within three feet, charging with fear. Wei Wuyin’s current form was flimsy, slender, and bloodied, and his armor contained rusty patches, was incomplete, and lacked significant protection. This was especially so for his head which was absent from any helmet.

The tall armored figure lifted his battleaxe in a manner as if ready to swat a fly, intending to cleave Wei Wuyin’s upper-shoulder and head from his lower torso in one fell swoop of their weapon, adding more flesh, bone, and blood to its surface.

”ARROW!” Wei Wuyin fearfully shouted without warning, looking slightly to the soldier’s right.

”Huh?!” Fear immediately triggered within the tall armored figure’s mind. Despite this, they refused to halt their attack, intending to follow through on a target that had yet to be removed. Yet, on the fly with remarkable decision-making and planning, they shifted intentions, using the momentum to dodge the arrow, forcing them to make the swing a little somewhat wider than normal, with a little more strength.

WHOOSH!

The swing was executed!

However, to the tall armored figure, the expected sight of the man before him losing his right to live did not occur. They saw the man perform a swift leap forward into a mere foot from them, and then, with a twist of their body, the man used his left arm to press against their extended arm. For the sake of dodging the potential incoming arrow and attacking the obstacle before them, they had used an overly wide swing which caused them to over-extend their arm in the swing, reducing the lethal range the further in.

But their running momentum was unstoppable, so this action would normally be a suicidal collision, and given the difference in armor and size, it was easy to expect the outcome. Yet, that man’s left arm from the steadied approach to a flexible one.

Arm pushed. The man lifted. And then, with both legs, their thick thighs were mounted. It was agile to an unnatural degree, requiring extreme timing and bodily precision. Spinning slightly, the arm that pressed against the over-extended arm, pushed off and then, with three fingers to grip the edge of the helm’s bottom.

”Eh?” The tall armored figure lost balance briefly and then the helmet was tugged in a way that hadn’t been difficult to react in time, and when the figure’s eyes widened, seeing the chipped saber plunge its sharp edge through the minuscule opening created at their neck with zero hesitation, their fierce eyes flashed with surprise and the entirety of their life.

SPLUSH!

A spurt of hot blood sprayed outwards, overwhelming through the armor and helmet.

DOOSH!

Unable to even scream, the tall armored figure spun and landed on their absent-armed side. Wei Wuyin plunged deeper, rending flesh, slicing bone, ensuring that all arteries were severed, before using that forceful action to allow an easier time to extract. The blood began to rapidly flow outwards onto the ground as a geysering gush of blood tainted the ground.

Wei Wuyin didn’t stop, however. Upon extricating the blood from the soon-to-be-corpse, he turned and trained on the four armored figures that had given chase. They were briefly taken aback by the sight of a quick kill. While it took a while to explain, the entire sequence of action where Wei Wuyin jumped forward, went, lift, and stab, took only a split second.

In fact, the others couldn’t see anything except that Wei Wuyin’s saber had been plunged through an opening in the helm and the body of the heavily armored figure collapsed onto the ground, creating dots of lingering death, neck. It was shocking to an extreme.

Wei Wuyin’s chipped saber dripped fresh blood onto the ground, creating dots of lingering death, this man was no stranger to death or killing, likely blood still lingered in the air.

The four felt their hearts beat accelerate; in their eyes, they had never seen a man commit slaughter on a brutally vicious scale with his own hands.

Analyzing their stances and emotions, Wei Wuyin didnʼt hesitate. After testing the response of this body of his and its flexibility, he felt confident in his control. With a dash, he raced towards them.

The four were not neophytes of the battlefield or innocent children ignorant of the reality of death and its brutalities. They were hardened fighters. Their every action exuded that undeniable fact.

They reacted instantly. With unspoken communication, they initiated a formation of four when facing a swift enemy. The two swordsmen shifted to the left and right while the spearman rushed the center to meet the enemy, their bodily stance seemed primed to dodge.

Wei Wuyin noted this. He observed every action, listening to every subtle sound. As he reached ten feet from the spearman, a soft twang resonated.

The spearman stepped hard and then leaned to the left. Wei Wuyin lowered his body instantly, almost scraping the floor as he slithered forward with both legs. The sight was unexpected, and the arrow shot forward and pierced where Wei Wuyin’s throat should have been.

Wei Wuyin instantly entered close-quarters range with the spearman, saber in hand, as he was flanked expertly to the right and left by the swordsmen. The spearman, while surprised, didn’t hold back in halting, and then launching a vicious thrust toward Wei Wuyin’s center mass, intending to force a retreat or an injury.

Wei Wuyin didn’t hesitate to push forward, only making a small subtle adjustment of his center of gravity.

Witnessing this suicidal action, the spearman’s eyes widened with fear. This maniac was intending to take the spear and swing his saber! A life for a life! On the battlefield, this was sometimes the best option when outnumbered. That—or RUN!

Briefly, the spearman tried to gain some insurance by weakening their posture, ready to abandon their spear in a fierce retreat after plunging his blade through this maniac’s chest!

PIERCE!

When the spear entered from one end and out the other, the spearman’s eyes flashed with both fear and ridicule, intending to abandon their spear and allow their comrades to finish this man off with a swift decapitation. And from their stances, they were ready to do so!

Wei Wuyin, however, defied all expectations!

With a swing of his chipped saber, the neck of the spearman was shockingly hit.

The spear that should have halted the forward momentum of this maniac of a man, having pierced him through and through, was somehow thrown to his left shoulders, slowly losing the ability to perceive and a soft grunt was all that escaped the sword man’s lips.

A soft grunt was all that escaped the sword man’s lips.

The other swordsman didn’t hesitate to strike despite the shock, yet it had missed the man’s torso by an inch. No, perhaps a smaller margin than that. The shifting of the battlefield was surprisingly fast, and before the severed head even dropped, the spearman saw the remaining swordsman grappled.

And a glint of bloody sheen flashed through the air.

A shout of surprise resonated.

When the severed head fell, it saw the body of the swordsman kneeling with a chipped saber in their neck, slicing into their carotid artery. In panic, the saber was pushed out, and a geyser of blood unfolded, creating a side rain shower of sorts.

As the severed head’s vision began to dim into eternal darkness, that question from earlier echoed out, struggling to cling to the light.

‘But...how?!’

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Wei Wuyin knocked the second swordsman unconscious with a vicious kick after grappling them to the ground. His brow was covered with sweat and blood, the latter of which was none of his.

”Ouch,” Wei Wuyin lifted his arm to see that his abdomen and arm were sliced by the spear, bleeding somewhat. ”I’m out of practice,” Wei Wuyin remarked seriously as he hurriedly confirmed each kill with his chipped saber ensuring the second swordsman was thoroughly unconscious.

”Where am I?” With a gentle breath, he looked at the sanguine sky with golden clouds.

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[Authorʼs note: This arc is giving me early volume 1 and Battlefield Arc vibes, and Iʼm loving it!]