88: Chapter 88 Rematch with Eita

"Fine, let's fight. That Japanese samurai over there is yours, Little Liang." Ryan's voice became suppressed and savage, yet his tone remained as irreverent as ever.

"Alright, I'll take the tough nut. Just teach me a move or two later, Enshrinement Lord. Not much, just that trick from the NC Defense War photo where you grew back a kidney after a plane shot it out. In our line of work, losing hands or feet is common..." Before he could finish his rambling, Mia's silken foot kicked him in the butt. He used the momentum to pounce toward Aoyama Yohei.

Aoyama Yohei turned and sprinted deep into the cave at a staggering speed. Liang Wuer felt a bit conflicted, unsure whether to give chase or not.

Ryan looked at the directions both had taken, hesitated for a moment, and then simply sat on the ground in a corner, waiting in the shadows for their battles to start. He was deciding whose 'fish' he should steal later.

Mia remained in a defensive stance with her blade held high. After a moment, Eita emerged from a corner of the cave, carrying his demonic blade [hirumaru] on his shoulder. "How did you find me? Pretty woman?"

Mia tapped the ground with her foot, and a wave of subtle black rose ripples spread out like a tide. Upon touching Eita, the wave of light reflected back to Mia's side.

"Oh? Then let's have a slaughter! Die!!" Eita's demonic blade swung down toward Mia's head. The red Qi on his body erupted like a volcano, greatly increasing the power and speed of the strike...

On the other side, three poisoned swallow-tail darts shot out from Liang Wuer's sleeve. Amidst the sound of breaking air came his punchable shout: "Running so fast, did your wife run off with someone else?"

Aoyama Yohei's figure flickered between the rock crevices like a shadow being swallowed and spat out by the darkness. Liang Wuer activated his [Wu Shao Armor] and chased for dozens of meters before suddenly braking—the cave wall ahead was hung with dozens of nearly transparent silk threads, shimmering indigo under the faint glow of the phosphorus fire.

"Tripwire poison silk?" He clicked his tongue and took a half-step back, only to hear the wind howling behind his head. Aoyama Yohei was hanging upside down from the cave ceiling, his short blade stabbing straight for the back of his neck!

“Clang!” Liang Wuer blocked with a steel hand-spike behind his back, the sparks illuminating their distorted, ferocious faces. Aoyama licked a bead of blood from his blade—the previous throat-slitting move had been avoided, but the tip of the blade had still sliced Liang Wuer's earlobe.

"This assassination technique of yours..." Liang Wuer touched his ear, his fingertips stained with blood, yet his smile grew even more radiant. "It's cruder than an apprentice rejected from the Tang Clan's outer gate."

Before he finished speaking, the hidden crossbow in his sleeve fired nine bolts in succession, pinning into the rock wall to form a Big Dipper formation. Just as Aoyama was about to move, the "click" of gears engaging came from beneath his feet—those weren't arrows at all, but triggered ground spikes!

The ground spikes that shot back left several transparent holes in Aoyama Yohei's body. Fortunately, none were fatal, but the toxin on the spikes began to take effect rapidly. Yohei decisively fled deeper into the cave without looking back, running further and further away.

Liang Wuer didn't pursue. Partly because of confidence in his own poison skills, and partly because he was actually a bit worried that Ryan and Mia might be facing too many enemies.

"Tsk, runs faster than a rabbit!" Liang Wuer grumbled as he turned back, only to find that Ryan was no longer at the bottom of the previous cave.

In a passage deep within the cave, a massive dark shadow blocked Aoyama Yohei's path.

"You Japanese..." Ryan's pupils transformed into wolf pupils, his muscles swelling to fill out the armor that usually fit him a bit loosely. "Can you only run?!"

Aoyama Yohei came to a sudden halt, his eyes bloodshot. Ten poisoned shuriken slid from his sleeves, aimed at the gaps in Ryan's armor and his eyes.

The shuriken split into hundreds of dark shadows in mid-air, sealing off all of Ryan's paths of retreat!

"Flashy nonsense." Ryan grinned savagely, his right arm transforming into a wolf claw as he gripped the morning star [grief]. With [Holy Charge] and [Thorns Aura] both active, he downed a bottle of Mia's [Junior Antidote EX] while charging forward.

The shuriken struck Ryan's armor, but Aoyama Yohei felt a stinging pain all over his own body. Reacting quickly, he blocked Ryan's charge with his katana and flipped over to land behind him. Liang Wuer's poison was no joke either; he was starting to feel his strength failing him.

Ryan turned around, his massive shadow looming over Aoyama Yohei again. "Hey, Little Red Riding Hood, where do you think you're going? Run, little girl, run! It's only fun if I have to catch you."

The continuous insults didn't make Aoyama Yohei angrier; instead, he used the fastest speed of his life to flee toward a pre-arranged location where his comrades would be waiting to back him up.

However, with [Bloody Hunter] and [Bloody Frenzy] fully active in this pitch-black cave, how could Ryan let a helpless wounded man escape his grasp? After dealing with a few black snakes on the path that were of no help to Yohei, the bloodied wolf claws tore out the heart of the man who should have escaped, dropped it on the ground, and crushed it to pieces...

Aoyama Yohei — Deceased.

Ryan rubbed his fingers; the feedback on his wolf claws was real flesh and blood, not a Shikigami.

"One down. Aoyama Yohei. Stole the kill from Liang Wuer," Ryan sent a message in the team channel.

"Not bad, Ryan, you're the first to get a kill." Tuaner rarely called Ryan by his name. Was this a reward?

"I'm heading back to support Mia. She's probably fighting Eita with Liang Wuer right now."

Liang Wuer returned to the cave where they had fallen. His first reaction was to rub his eyes. That pharmacist girl, who seemed light-footed, flexible, and almost like a dancer, had just shattered a potion bottle she threw into the air with a blade. Then, she dragged the blade across her exceptionally tough, silk-like gloves before fiercely meeting Eita's Qi slash.

The friction caused blue flames, identical to those in Mia's eyes, to rise from the blade of the [zhongzheng sword modified ex]. As she swung forward to meet the enemy, she detonated the potion bottle that had been shattered in the air and hadn't yet fallen. The violent explosion instantly swept through the entire area around them.

"Isn't this girl a support class? I haven't seen her fight for so many days. Is she this fierce?" Liang Wuer was shocked, wondering if the Outer Gate Enshrinement was still taking disciples. If not, he could even consider becoming an adopted son. Well, it's all for the Tang Clan anyway, nothing to be ashamed of.

In a solid clash of blows, Mia used her left foot in a lunge behind her for leverage. Her left-hand short sword pressed against the spine of the sword in her right hand as she parried the airborne Eita.

Eita jumped back in a disheveled state, the cap of his Japanese school uniform blown away by the explosion, revealing short blue hair. His left eye had been injured by the shockwave of the explosion and was tearing up uncontrollably. Yet, he pulled his mouth into an excited grin and burst into wild laughter...

"So, you're a swordsman?! Excellent, [hirumaru] really likes your kind. An enchanting yet somewhat holy plaything. It must feel different to cut you down..."