The Almighty Ring

As he swung… and swung… and swung… Jiang Fei had already spent more than 72 hours swinging his sword. For three days, he had no rest, sleep, food, or drink. His muscles were beginning to look defined from the constant swinging.

Three days Jiang Fei had spent on this planet, killing without showing any signs of stopping. Perhaps he had already killed all around the planet or perhaps he had only killed from one region, but by 0541’s count, Jiang Fei had killed millions of Poppies. And yet they were still pouring in from all over the place, like a never-ending stampede.

As the scope on his head stated, these rabbit-like creatures had no fear of death. Like moths to a flame, these rabbits saw Jiang Fei and rushed towards him, as if dying by his sword was the very thing they had been coveting their entire lives.

Before, when Jiang Fei had just landed on the planet, towering trees formed canopies with their leaves, covering most of the land with shade and providing minor protection from harsh rain. Now, after the slaughterfest, jungles turned into swamps filled with blood and flatlands turned into shallow pools of blood.

Carcasses were all that was left in Jiang Fei’s wake, yet even so… despite the sheer number of their own kind that had died, Poppies from all around the planet were still coming to him.

If Jiang Fei decided to let them be, to let them attack him without fighting back, not a single one of them would be able to penetrate his defenses. The Bio-Armor he was wearing was too strong for any of them to break. At most, Jiang Fei would only be rendered motionless after being swarmed by them. But at the end of it all, Jiang Fei would be unharmed, except for hunger and thirst.

Even so, Jiang Fei would not stop. How could he? He had been killing so many for so long that he had stopped caring about anything. His involuntary reflexes was the one thing keeping him from stopping. He saw the rabbits as young humans generally saw cockroaches. No one would dare to go to sleep if you spotted one in your bed and failed to find it.

It had been three days since he last consumed anything, but that did not stop him from killing. He had killed a good number of humans before but never of this amount and severity. On Earth, Jiang Fei needed a reason to kill. Be it to face adversaries, for revenge, or for war, there was always a reason. Now, Jiang Fei had absolutely no reason to continue. He was only killing for the sake of it. There was no longer any purpose or motive.

There were just too many of them. No matter how many Jiang Fei cut down, more came. And so, the killer in him was cultivated. Jiang Fei was now at the point where he refused to let the rabbits bite him.

The ground was soaked with the blood of the rabbits. Every step he took squished with the thick, viscous red liquid. New layers coated over the dried, old layers of blood, making it even thicker. The sensation of it would disgust anyone who could think straight.

The squealing sounds never stopped. Every time he swung his sword, there would be squealing. Like a law of nature, it wouldn’t feel right if Jiang Fei killed the Poppies instantly without giving them a chance to squeal. Every time they made that sharp, ear-piercing noise, it would send a jolt down his spine, waking him up.

Any normal human would have been broken, both of spirit and mind; Jiang Fei was only starting to feel numb.

While training his mental state, he was also honing his sword skills. Such an environment would only come once in a lifetime for Jiang Fei and he intended to make full use of it.

Without stopping, even when the sun in the sky had set and risen again many times, Jiang Fei had already spent 6 days on Cororan. The death toll of Poppies had reached 100 million yet the situation remained the same — Poppies coming in from all corners of his sight, charging towards him with murderous intent.

On the first day, Jiang Fei had slipped and fell many times as he could not get used to the blood-soaked ground. Now, that same ground was normal to him. His footwork had greatly improved from constantly fighting on the wet, slippery ground. However, that was not the highlight. The air had gotten moist from the evaporated blood and everywhere but the sky was dyed a dark crimson colour.

“Breathe… Don’t stop breathing…”

Jiang Fei was on the verge of collapsing. His mind could not think straight and he had to remind himself to breathe or he would start to forget about it. Every time he took in a mouthful of air, some of the blood that was splattered on his face got into his mouth and nose. In the beginning, it was horrid but now, as he had gotten used to it, he had acquired a certain taste for it.

On the 6th day, killing had become second nature for Jiang Fei. Every swing he took was emotionless, neither powered by hatred nor the urge to survive. It was like walking, breathing, drinking, and eating; a natural phenomenon. Seeing the guts of the rabbits spill out of their bodies was only expected.

This was the outcome Ottogackt wanted. Jiang Fei was only a 19-year-old young man who would soon be 20. Yes he was approaching adulthood, but he was still malleable, like a canvas that could still be cleaned and reconditioned.

He wanted to change Jiang Fei’s attitude, to get rid of his humanity. To turn him from someone kind and compassionate into someone cold and cruel. Even if he failed at that, he wanted Jiang Fei to get used to massacring without compassion. To commit genocide without mercy and to slaughter without batting an eye.

It was, as always, a requirement to be in the Valsalrian Army. Famed for their merciless kills, to rob an entire planet of their precious resources was nothing but a daily routine for them. To be part of the army is to get rid of one’s own conscience.

Rumble…

As Jiang Fei was killing emotionlessly, he felt a sudden wave coming from faraway. A wave of murderous intent that was like no other. Not long after, he felt a powerful tremor, which was soon followed by a loud growl.

Jiang Fei snapped back to reality at the sound of the growl.

“The f*ck?”

Just from hearing the sound and the feeling the strong wave of murderous intent, Jiang Fei knew that the next enemy was a powerful one.

Thump… Thump…

A large towering beast approached from the edge of the horizon. At the same time, the other Poppies actually slowed down and moved aside to open a path for the beast.

“Now that’s a big bunny.”

The beast, when it came into sight, was a large bunny measuring at least 10 meters tall.

Evol. Poppy

Combat level: 2,300,000

Note: An evolved Poppy. Possibility of occurring is 1:100,000,000,000. An Evol. Poppy is seen as the Guardian Ruler of its kindred. High threat.

“This is going to be tough,” sighed Jiang Fei. He was mildly surprised to see such a large rabbit possessing over two million combat level when the rest of its kindred were only at 3,300.

Thump… Thump…

Thump. Thump.

Thump thump thump…

Even though its movements were sluggish and slow, when it spotted Jiang Fei from afar, it began to accelerate. Like a train, it was slow when it was just starting to move, but soon started to pick up speed…

The other Poppies that were surrounding Jiang Fei at all angles started to squeak louder before they dispersed. In no time, the large beast stood towering over Jiang Fei.

“How I’ve missed Dawn Break… it’s boss time!” barked Jiang Fei.

He took a deep breath and deployed Omnisurge at its maximum potential, pumping his combat level up to 1,700,000. Even though Jiang Fei was still very much weaker than the boss, he could not increase his combat level further without first being excited.

The giant beast turned around and witnessed the outcome of Jiang Fei’s massacre. Nothing but dead bodies of its kindred could be seen. Anger built up and with a powerful roar, the giant rabbit unleashed a powerful roaring attack at Jiang Fei.

“UGH!”

Jiang Fei was knocked off his feet. The sheer volume of the beast’s roar was strong enough to rupture his eardrums. His head felt like it was exploding from the inside out and he could feel blood dripping from his eyes and ears.

“What a powerful sonic roar…” muttered Jiang Fei, recognizing the enemy’s power. With such a threat, Jiang Fei’s will to fight surged, further increasing his combat level to 1,800,000.

“No matter. Roar all you want, you’re still a fluffy bunny!”

Jiang Fei bared his teeth as he kicked off from the ground and shot towards the beast like a cannonball. With his hands gripping the Chengying Sword, Jiang Fei charged it with energy, preparing to cleave the beast’s head in two.

Bsssshhhh!

Pang!

“NNFF!” grunted Jiang Fei.

Unexpectedly, when the sword was headed for the spot in between the beast’s eyes, the giant rabbit blasted two powerful heat rays from both its eyes and deflected Jiang Fei’s sword. The blast from the heat rays were so strong, and when paired with how strong Jiang Fei had been gripping the sword, it ended up deflecting both the sword and Jiang Fei as well.

Jiang Fei knew that the enemy was far stronger than himself and he needed to change his tactic. Instead of fighting directly with brute force, he needed to exploit its weakness.

Once his foot touched the blood-soaked ground, Jiang Fei lowered himself while running at almost the speed of sound. He needed to be fast as the giant rabbit was not finished unleashing heat rays from its eyes. It followed Jiang Fei’s every move with its eyes. No matter how fast Jiang Fei could run, looking was much faster. Even so, Jiang Fei was still faster.

He had a plan. No matter how large the giant rabbit was, he was not as agile as Jiang Fei. Being so large, just turning around would be hard. So Jiang Fei ran towards the beast’s back. Be it with sonic attacks or heat rays, the rabbit could not keep up with Jiang Fei before he reached its back!