Chapter 82: Two Assassins
Priam’s mind was in chaos. No matter how much he tried, he could not calm down. It was as if his soul was being crushed by an invisible hand, trapped in a cycle of pain and fury.
Priam expanded his senses to the limit. Following the trail, he finally detected presences ahead.
Two strong auras pulsed less than a kilometer away.
And together with them, there was a much weaker aura.
’Luvinah!’
His heart sped up. She really was alive!
In the next second... he took a deep breath...
A subtle golden light lit up in his eyes.
He suppressed his presence. Suppressed his emotions.
His mind went blank.
If Priam could think clearly at that moment, he would realize that he was in a completely abnormal state. It was as if he knew how to do this by pure instinct. Even while overwhelmed by emotions, in a brief thought, everything froze immediately.
Without delay, he moved like a shadow between the trees.
He got close enough to see.
There were two men. They were two Mage Disciples, one at the first level and the other at the second level. Both were technically much stronger than him, but Priam did not hesitate.
His focus was on only one place.
His eyes locked onto the man carrying a tied-up little girl.
Luvinah had no visible injuries, but she was motionless. Her eyes, once full of a vibrant glow, were now grayish-white spheres. There was no light there. She looked like an empty shell, a doll without a soul.
Instinctively, Priam accessed his spatial ring.
His senses focused on the two beast crystals he had found on the mountain during the clan’s coming-of-age ceremony. Before, he had felt that synthesizing them would not be useless. Now, his intuition screamed for him to use them.
The power of the crystals was drained and injected into the Nexus Seed.
[Synthesize] [Yes / No]
’Yes.’
In one second, a new power rune emerged. Priam observed it for a thousandth of a second while reading the information on the green window.
’Frenzy of the Last Moments...’
He remembered records about common beasts that existed in the universe. Even though they had no intelligence, they were still lethal when cornered.
If they were not killed instantly in an overwhelming way, in their final moments, they would enter a state of frenzy. Their power would sharply increase for a brief moment. It was a final sacrifice to drag the enemy down with them.
The effect of this power rune was basically that. Very simple and direct.
Priam took a deep breath. Indeed, creating this power rune before would not have been good. Other power runes from the mountain crystals had a smaller increase in power, but lasted longer, making them safer to use in battle.
This one, when used, would give him only a few seconds of incredible power. If he did not win, he would be completely out of Ether. But right now, this really was the best option.
In fact, this was the standard when synthesizing things from common beasts.
All crystals generated some power rune that burned his energy to give him a boost in strength. What needed to be burned depended on the material, but it was still a sacrifice for power.
In the future, he would always try to keep this type of energy stored to create power runes, because in difficult battles, it was very useful.
A little ahead...
"Hahaha!" A booming laugh echoed from the man in black robes who was holding Luvinah.
"These demons are idiots. Something so valuable was hidden right under their noses. We paid to enter, and we’re going to leave with the greatest treasure on the planet, hahaha!"
"It’s a pity those bastards were so stubborn," the other one farther ahead, who was clearly the leader, commented, excited. "None of them hesitated to ruin their own core. But even the destroyed cores of the adults will still bring us a good extra profit."
The one behind him nodded. "This is the clan’s greatest harvest in years. But boss... what’s the deal with this girl? Why so much trouble to take her alive? Even the clan leader got excited because of her."
The leader in front stopped and looked back with an icy gaze.
"Some questions are better left unanswered. Never mention this again. Once we step back into our Thunderhead sect, no one must know anything. Not a single word can be spoken. Or my head and yours will be the next to roll."
The subordinate paled and tightened his grip on Luvinah, now more serious.
"Yes, Boss Rhuths! You can relax. Now that she’s in our hands, nothing wrong will happen..."
*BOOM!!!*
Before he could finish the sentence, an explosive wave was felt in the air six meters away.
Amid a blast of wind, a blur flashed toward them like lightning.
It was instantaneous.
The captor suddenly felt his arms become light.
Priam grabbed Luvinah, but did not retreat. He spun his body in the air, roaring as he released furious waves of wind.
**BUZZ!**
The atmosphere grew heavy. The air around them became suffocating. The two men widened their eyes, paralyzed by shock.
Priam looked like a newly awakened killing beast. There was a lucid madness in his eyes. His left arm protected Luvinah against his chest, while his right fist pulsed with a red flame that distorted space.
Before they could react or conjure any defense, Priam attacked.
His punch struck like thunder. The impact was so fast that the man did not even see the movement.
He only felt his internal organs shatter as his vision instantly went dark.
*BOOM!!*
The metallic smell of blood instantly flooded the air.
Priam and Luvinah were dyed red.
That man, despite his superior strength, had no time to raise a solid defense. The impact of Priam’s punch created a macabre explosion, obliterating his torso.
But a single strike had consumed 40% of all his Ether, along with vital energy, being burned by the Blood-Feast Fists.
The other man, the leader, froze. He felt as if his soul had escaped his body.
Priam had appeared like a vengeful ghost. No words, no hesitation. The brutality of the scene was something they had never witnessed before.
The leader’s pupils contracted; his body trembled like a sieve. Moments before, they had been bragging, laughing about a job well done and the fortune they would earn. In the blink of an eye, they had been ripped from heaven and thrown into hell. His companion, stronger than him, had been crushed like a miserable insect.
When Priam’s gaze finally rested on him, the man shuddered all over. All color drained from his face.
"You..."
The terrified scream barely escaped his mouth.
As for Priam, he stared at that man and remembered seeing him before. It was at the auction. He was the idiot Young Master who had wanted to leave to get more money.
In the end, he lost the auction. But right after that, he used his money to buy information about where Luvinah had been taken. In the end, for him, it ended up the same.
Or that was what he expected.
"!"
Priam moved again.
The killer’s pupils dilated. He raised his weapon with the greatest speed he had ever achieved in his life, desperately trying to block the advance.
This time, there was a reaction, but it was useless.
*CLANG!!*
Priam’s fist struck the weapon like a divine hammer. The black spear snapped in half like a twig. The impact sent the man flying back, stunned.
Priam’s figure disappeared, carried by the wind.
He appeared behind the man while he was still flying through the air. Before the enemy could even turn his neck...
*Sky-Rending Wind*
Priam burned every drop of Ether he had left. All the power of the wind converged into a single point.
*KBOOOM!*
The explosion was violent. The Young Master’s body was completely torn apart, and his blood sprayed over a vast area of the forest.
At that moment, the golden glow in his eyes disappeared. Priam returned to being himself, even though he still had not realized he had changed.
The two killers responsible for the massacre of the Pristine Wild-Spirits were now nothing more than bloody pulp on the ground.
This was the first time Priam had killed someone, and it was two at once.
He took a deep breath.
He felt no regret, no nausea, and was not even the slightest bit frightened.
Even though he had previously wanted to kill those two in the worst and most painful way possible... there was also no happiness or joy.
Only emptiness...
He definitely could not be like those people. Even if they deserved it.
Priam placed an important note in his mind. Whenever he needed to, he would end everything quickly. There was no pleasure in it. He could not get used to killing, and in doing so let himself be contaminated by the evil of the world.
Priam panted, fighting for oxygen. His entire body felt heavy; his vision was blurry and trembling. All of his energy had been burned.
He placed Luvinah on the ground and removed the chains that sealed her. Then, he held her by the shoulders and stared seriously into her eyes.
"Are you hurt?"
Luvinah shook her head. There was no crying, no relief, no fear. Her eyes were now a lifeless gray.
After a second of silence, she showed a faint smile.
"I’m fine. Thank you, Big Brother. You saved my life once again."
Priam stared at her, shocked.
He expected her to break down. To cry uncontrollably, releasing the anguish of having seen her people exterminated. However... Luvinah did not shed a single tear.
She smiled and thanked him, as if nothing had happened.
Priam squeezed her shoulders harder. The unease in his chest grew.
"...I’m sorry. Because of me, all of them..."
Luvinah gently shook her head.
"No, this is not Big Brother’s fault. You are my benefactor. You are my savior and the best person I have ever met. Without you, I would already be dead, and my tribe would be doomed to die slowly... withering away in sadness while waiting for my return."
Priam was left speechless. The distorted maturity in those words hurt him more than any blow.
Luvinah suddenly coughed.
A line of blood flowed from her mouth, making Priam’s eyes widen.
"Are you okay? Did they use something on you?!"
She shook her head. "No, this is just a consequence of me forcefully sealing my Core. Don’t worry..."
She paused and sighed softly. Then, her dull eyes met Priam’s.
"Big Brother, could you take me home once more, please? I... would like to give them a proper burial."
Priam nodded somberly.
He carried Luvinah in his arms and began walking back. Although he knew danger could return at any moment, and that the logical thing would be to flee this forest as quickly as possible, he simply could not say no.
