Chapter 271: One against Eleven
Jack raised his gaze to the cloudy sky. Thick droplets of rain started falling before the enemy cultivators even arrivedfirst one and then many, they rained over Jack, drenching his hair and robes.
He ignored them, taking in a greedy breath of air to fill his lungs. Water was the least of his problems right now.
The cultivators were here.
Eleven forms rose over Jack, looking down at him from a greater height. The rain didnt bother them; their long hair and fur were matted to their backs, and the distant flashes of lightning only enhanced their dark visage.
I dont suppose we can postpone this due to weather conditions, Jack said, punctuated by a precise thunderclap.
Save your mirth, human one of the enemies replied. He had a lions mane and a thick, wide chest, reminding Jack of Rufus Emberheart. The arrogant glint in his eye was similar, too. Speak; why did you reveal yourself? You clearly cannot escape.
Jack chuckled darkly. Even if I told you, you wouldnt believe me.
The enemies looked at him with narrowed eyes, not attacking immediately. They seemed hesitant. Of course they would be; since Jack had practically summoned them here, they expected him to have allies hidden somewhere.
While they considered the situation, Jack inspected them all. There was a leonine, a sharken, two eaglers, three bearfolk, one elef, and three goatees. All ranged from level 140 to 165. The only exception was their leader, the leonine whod spoken first. He was Level 180.
Eleven enemies, all similar to him in level. Eleven inner disciples who enjoyed the full resources of the Animal Kingdom. Jack could sense his death looming, but he stared at them defiantly.
Well? he asked. Arent you going to attack me?
A faint aura seeped out of his body; a barely visible purple light. The rain curved away as if dodging him in fear, while the Dao around him got aligned to the Fist.
The leading leonine saw his demonstration of power and snorted. A blanket of supremacy erupted from his body; not a domain, but an actualization of his Dao. The rain was pushed back for a hundred feet, cowering before him, while his body was draped in a golden radiance that made him seem like a king among men.
Jack laughed at his face.
Wait! an eagler said, her eyes widening. I recognize this man! Ive seen his wanted poster. He is Jack Rust!
Murmurs of realization spread through the gathered cultivators.
So what if I am? Jack replied.
Fool! the leading leonine shouted, laughing. The killer of Rufus delivered himself to us on a silver platter! What idiocy!
Whats your name, kitty? Jack replied. Im about to become your killer, too.
The leonines eyes hardened. He made up his mind. If you have allies, human, they had best stay hidden. My master, the Warden of Hell, is watching; and I promise you, any of your allies that appear will be killed immediately. The Animal Kingdom does not forgive underhanded tactics.
Unless its you doing them.
Your insults fall on deaf ears. Nothing but a pests death rattle.
And what if I kill you, kitty? Will your master intervene then?
The leonine laughed. If you can kill me and my soldiers, I will eat my mane.
How about facing me in single combat, then? Jack tried. Since youre so supreme, why bring eleven people to kill one?
The leonine shook his head in mockery. You have shown yourself to be adept in trickery. When you snuck into our territory and killed our inner disciples, did you do so with honor? When you chose to farm our people and resources for your personal benefit, did you care about the losses you were incurring us? No, human. Vermin like you do not deserve a duel. They deserve extermination.
Jack narrowed his eyes. This guy was just spouting bullshit nowclearly, he understood Jacks strength and was afraid to fight him one-on-one.
Which was a wise choice, admittedly, but frustrating.
How can your Dao survive your cowardice? Jack asked, but the leonine only laughed.
He then turned to his squad. If he has allies, they will not dare intervene, he told them. And if he doesnt, then hes easy prey. Slaughter him.
Yes, sir! The shouts of ten immortals shook the air.
And then, they fell on him.
Jack didnt have time to curse his luck, Copy Jack, or the Life Drop for this predicament. He needed to survive. A plan was already forming in his mind; kill the fastest of these guys, then escape. There was no way he could take eleven of them at once.
Yet, the Fist protested; the injustice was gnawing at him. These guys had shown up and challenged him unfairly. They were individually weaker than him, even their leader. Why should he have to run?
Jack was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he pushed down the questions because he simply didnt have time to ponder them. The sky erupted with colors. Nine Dao Domains fell on him, constricting him in many different ways at once.
Sharp winds sliced at his skin and blew against his movement. His body felt trapped in a mire, robbed of all momentum. The despair of cornered animals enhanced his enemies and weakened Jack, while the scent and taste of copper filled his mind, sinking him into a bloody sea.
Nine of the eleven cultivators had released their Domains and charged at Jack. The only ones who hadnt were the leading leonine, whod stayed behind and coldly observed the battle, and the elef, who was their healer and also stayed at the back line.
Jack spread his arms wide, welcoming his would-be killers. He clenched his fists and grinned. Try me, he whispered to the winds, his voice lost the moment it left his mouth.
His Dao Domain erupted. A purple, starry haze unfolded, engulfing the enemy domains and fighting them in a tug of war. At the same time, he unleashed the full might of Brutalizing Aura, weakening his enemies; the larger the power disparity between Jack and the skills targets, the more effective it was.
The approaching cultivators saw death. They had poked the bear and were going to pay for it. Jack would maul them methodically and coldly, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Their experienced minds staved off the mental attack, and their numbers gave them confidence, but they still staggered.
Nine of them worked together against Jack, but he was much stronger than any one of them. His domain rumbled like a force of nature. The wind was punched away, momentum was seized back, despair became his to wield, and the sea of blood belonged to his enemies.
For a moment, just as Jack revealed his full power, they came to a stand-still, one against nine.
Right afterward, he was pushed back. No matter how strong he was, he couldnt contest nine immortals in raw power. Even stopping them momentarily was a feat of legend.
And it was enough to make them doubt their chances.
Jack grinned. As his domain folded backward, the purple receding to let the enemy in, he knew that his first punch had been blocked, but hed proven he could throw it. Most importantly, he still had control over his immediate surroundings.
He laughed as the enemies approached. Then, he stepped through space and disappeared. An onslaught of attacks passed by where he was an instant ago, raining onto the forest below and flattening it. The giant trees were cut down, the soil was upturned, craters formed, and the grass was scorched. In an instant, the area in a diameter of several miles had been completely destroyed.
But Jack was nowhere to be seen.
Come at me! he shouted, appearing behind the cultivators and falling on them. METEOR PUNCH!
The sky shattered. His skill wrestled against their domains for control, sucking some of the sound and light, then exploded in their faces. Cultivators flew everywhere. Their defenses blocked most of the power, but enough remained to scatter them. Jack pursued the eaglersthe fastest of the noble families, wielding Daos of wind.
He caught up in an instant. A female eagler barely managed to stop her flight, only for her terrified eyes to meet his hardened ones. He showed her not the slightest hint of mercy. Meteor Punch! he shouted again. He saw her horror mounting as what had originally looked like an all-out attack was a skill he could use freely.
Her allies didnt have time to intervene. Jack blasted a Meteor Punch right in the eaglers chest, shattering her body and sending what remained flying in all directions.
One down, ten to go.
Jack turned to his enemies and roared, If you dont come at me, then I will!
He pressed on. The battle fever took him over completely, turning him from a man into a well-oiled killing machine. His fists became unstoppable. His spirit, unbreakable. The Iron Fist Style filled his body, guiding him into a dance of violence as the eight opponents tried and failed to suppress him.
Jack was a force of nature. He punched a bearfolk in the face, blocked the sharkens fin-blades with his bare forearms, then grabbed her by the neck and tossed her into the approaching eaglers. He leaned back and flew down, narrowly dodging two claw swipes and receiving one on the leg, which he ignored. An eagler appeared below him, ready to unleash a sharp jet of wind at his back, but Jack expected it. He rotated mid-air and smashed down a Meteor Punch, obliterating an entire section of the forest along with the eaglers right wing.
Green magic flared. The wing was restored, but the eaglers fright was not. If not for his extreme speed, he would have been instantly killed just now.
Jack did not stop, nor did he slow. Facing eight opponents at once, his best hope was to keep them disorganized. If they managed to sync up, he would be in trouble.
Punches flew everywhere, extending beyond his physical reach to pursue his opponents. He blocked, dodged, and parried their strikes. Any injuries he sustained were repaired with speed visible to the naked eye, and his onslaught of attacks came without pause or pattern, forcing the eight people facing him on the defensive. Occasionally, he blasted out a Meteor Punch, injuring someone, but the healer was always there.
The leading leonine had still not joined the fight, hovering in the sky with his arms crossed and a stormy gaze, but Jack was beginning to entertain a wild thoughtone that bordered on hubris.
Can I take them?
He had only killed one person, and that was due to surprise, but he could face eight of them. Even if the leader joined, how much could he turn the tide? As long as he took care of the healer, who made sure all the injuries he caused were meaningless, maybe he had a chance.
He wanted to try.
Jack navigated a complex terrain of attacks, dodging two and using the force of his domain to repel another. At the same time, he charged up for a Meteor Punch, but it was a feint; as his opponents escaped, he disappeared through space.
His immediate surroundings were under his sole control. They could not stop his teleportation.
The healer was at the very back of the battle, keeping her allies between herself and Jack. Teleportation made that useless. Jack appeared behind her with his fist already clenched, but what he saw was not the back of an elef, but the front of a leonine. The leader stared at him mockingly from nine feet away.
You think too highly of yourself, he declared as he unleashed a punch at Jack. Their knuckles clashed. Jack was stronger, but he was unprepared; the impact knocked him backward, sending him spinning head-over-heels into a trio of enemies whod come to flank him.
The remaining eagler and two bearfolk unleashed their attacks at him. A sharp, invisible jet of wind and two sets of claws came hurtling at Jack, who ought to dodge. He did not. He let the claws rend his chest, only angling himself to avoid most of the wind as he passed right through their attacks. Since they were piercing ones, they did not push him back much. His momentum remained, sending him right into the midst of those three enemies, who no longer had time to dodge.
A Meteor Punch rang out. Air itself ran away from the point of impact as one bearfolk exploded on the spot, and even the eagler was only fast enough to avoid the epicenter of the explosion but was caught by the shockwave, losing his balance mid-air. Jack finished the job with a jab to the back, penetrating right through the frail body and light bones.
His fist stuck out of the eaglers chest. Jack couldnt see his face, but it had to be a mask of terror. Immediately afterward, he used a burst of Dao to completely destroy the eaglers organs from within. He was deader than dead.
Level up! You have reached Level 164.
Jack recovered his fist, letting the eagler topple to the ground and quickly allocating his new stats to Physical.
Six enemies to go. Eight, including the leader and the healer.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the leaders idea of mercy was over. The battle came to a halt as the remaining cultivators gazed at the strongest leonine, who stared right at Jack.
Youre strong, he said, his voice booming from deep inside his chest, but not enough. Prepare to die.
He raised a hand to the cloudy sky. Jack felt his hair rise; instantly, a lightning bolt descended from the heavens, striking the leaders raised arm.
The lightning didnt disperse. It remained within the leonines body, filling it with power. His fur rose and sparks crackled over his mane. His entire body screamed of violence.
Jack had seen this before. Rufus Emberheart had used a similar battle form in their final battle, except this one was far more advanced and infinitely stronger. Not to mention it was augmented by actual lightning, which was a very unlucky coincidence.
As if Jack didnt have enough on his plate already.
Sometimes, it felt like even the universe wanted him dead. But he wouldnt do it the favor. If the world wanted him dead, it had to come and try; and it better be prepared to pay the price.
Jacks Dao Domain erupted again, a veil of violence fueled by the genuine desire to fight. Despite himself, Jack was grinning.
Come! he shouted.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m