Chapter 106: Bathed In Blood
Zen's body turned faster and faster like a gyroscope. The flying knife, which was connected to Zen by the ring around Zen's thumb and impacted by the centrifugal force, was spinning more quickly than Zen's body.
The soft soil on the ground and even hard stones would be instantly split if the broken flying knife hit them. Tree roots or soft-bodied animals like earthworms huddling inside the earth were certainly no match for the broken flying knife.
But judging by the state of the ground, the demons didn't notice any sign of the slightest stir.
The demon generals came closer and closer to Zen.
Two hundred feet...
One hundred feet...
Fifty feet...
Thirty feet...
As the five demon generals neared him, Zen was engulfed by their evil spirit.
But Zen, who stood in the middle, wasn't bothered by the evil spirit at all. His body was still spinning at a fast pace as if Zen had forgotten about the danger surrounding him.
“Now! It is time!”
yelled Zen. When the five demon generals were about ten feet away from him, Zen abruptly raised his hands, and his body soared high.
Under the ground, the broken flying knife mimicked Zen's movements. As Zen's body ascended, so did the broken flying knife. After marking a crescent on the ground, it flew toward the five approaching demon generals.
This time, the broken flying knife attacked the demon generals stealthily. This assault was beyond their expectations, and so, the demon generals failed to dodge. As a result, the broken flying knife swept across their bodies.
“Puff, puff, puff...”
One demon general's arm was severed.
The flying knife sliced through the chest of another demon general.
A third demon general clutched his abdomen as the broken flying knife sliced through.
The fourth demon general...
“Ow!” howled the demon generals in pain.
Initially, these demon generals thought that their prey was like a rabbit trapped at a dead corner and within easy reach. After all, Zen was only a human being. The demon generals had not expected that Zen's assault could be so incisive.
Zen hadn't planned this attack. He wasn't sure that it would work either. But seeing the demon generals had surrounded him, Zen had no other choice.
He knew that his move would fail if any of the demon generals decided to jump at him ahead of his attack. But it was a risk that Zen was willing to take.
Coincidentally, all five demon generals acted predictably. Zen controlled the movement of the flying knife so accurately that he was able to inflict severe wounds to all five demon generals.
In spite of that, Zen still felt heavy-hearted. Demons were physically stronger than human beings. While a human being would be incapable of fighting after such severe wounds, demons would usually battle to their last breath. The fight was not over yet!
While the demon generals were still howling, Zen seized the chance to rush toward the demon general that had abducted Nina.
Zen knew that he couldn't run away and leave Nina behind.
As he dashed toward the demon general, his broken flying knife swirled inversely behind him. Then, it suddenly shot at the demon general before Zen reached his target.
When the demon general had grabbed Nina, she fainted with the power in his hand. The demon general had been astounded by the attack on his five peers. He was still confused and stunned by how a human being like Zen could be so powerful. He didn't get back to his senses until the broken flying knife came into his sight. In the face of such an emergent attack, he suddenly lifted Nina and put her in front of his body to protect himself from the broken flying knife.
It was beyond doubt that the broken flying knife would penetrate through his body if the demon general were in its path.
But now that the demon general had placed Nina in front of himself, Zen was helpless. At last, he had no choice but to wave his hand and withdraw his broken flying knife.
Zen had expected to kill the demon general with this attack. But he had never thought that the demon general's dirty trick would ruin his plan. Although Zen's plan had failed, his mood wasn't affected at all.
For a battle between two races, no act should be deemed unfair. In such a battle, only when one race killed its opponent could it survive. Thus any method was considered, no matter how underhanded.
After Zen withdrew his broken flying knife, he summoned his demonic life energy. It coursed through his body like tidal waves. Immediately, Zen rushed closer to the demon general who had used Nina as a shield.
Deep in him, Zen thought it would be unnecessary for him to continue the battle once he saved Nina from that demon general's hands. And so, his strategy was to grab Nina and leave.
But when Zen neared the demon general, his face turned serious in a flash, as a bone spur was abruptly shot at him.
Even though Zen's body was as mighty as a spiritual weapon, he would be hurt if he were to be stabbed by the hard and sharp bone spur.
Thus, Zen moved sideways to dodge the bone spur.
“Thwip!”
Another bone spur shot toward Zen. Agilely, Zen stepped sideways.
“Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip...”
All demon generals released bone spurs from their bodies.
The rate at which bone spurs were being shot at Zen, forced him to shelve his attack strategy and continue dodging. For a while, Zen eluded the bone spurs, but he found no opportunity to breathe or rest.
At the very beginning, there was still space for Zen to dodge. But as more and more bone spurs were released, Zen felt challenged to escape the attacks.
“Puff!”
A bone spur hit one of Zen's thighs. It pierced through the inner side of his thigh and came out from the outer side.
“Puff, puff, puff!”
Another long bone spur penetrated Zen's thigh from the back. As a consequence, he was unable to move. Other bone spurs hit Zen on his arms and thighs...
Although his body had been turned into a spiritual weapon, Zen still felt pain. When attacked by a palm or fist, a warm current would be produced inside his body, so that he would be neither injured seriously nor feel the extreme pain.
But now, seven or eight bone spurs had pierced different parts of his body. As a consequence, he was unable to stand or walk. Weak and unbalanced, Zen fell to the ground.
“Gyuh, gyuh, gyuh, gyuh...”
The demon general that had kidnapped Nina burst into laughter on seeing how severely Zen had been injured.
At this moment, some of the other demon generals that had been hurt by Zen's broken flying knife recovered. They stood up one after another and murmured to each other in their language. They were possibly discussing whether to kill this extraordinary human being or not.
After all, Zen had reached a half step into the nature level. It would be of great significance for their research if the demon generals caught him and took him back to their camp. Perhaps they could learn of Zen's secrets which had made him this powerful.
They knew that it was critical for one race to learn of its rival's strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, their race would only become stronger.
Previously, demons didn't have a culture. But through constant battles with human beings, they had learned something from human cultures and finally, developed their language. Furthermore, they explored human refinement methods step by step and took advantage of everything they acquired from human beings.
Afterward, both humankind and ogre realized that they should make up for their shortcomings by learning from their rivals' strong points. Hence, they destroyed their moral fences. Now, humankind and ogre had reached pacification through marriage and had learned from each other.
Drops of blood that flowed from Zen's wounds stained the bone spurs red.
For a majority of people, they would have died if attacked by several bone spurs at the same time.
Nevertheless, Zen didn't give up. He got down on one knee, stared at the demon generals in silence, and harnessed demonic life energy near his navel in secret.
He intended to destroy the bone spurs inside his body with the demonic life energy.
However great the adversity, Zen knew that he needed to keep calm. Only in this way could Zen get a chance to win...
While manipulating the demonic life energy, Zen reminded himself that he should be calm.
Suddenly, Nina, who had fainted when the demon general grabbed her, opened her eyes.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she regained consciousness. As she opened her eyes, she saw that Zen had been injured and was kneeling. Several long bone spurs had penetrated his body and blood was flowing from all his wounds.
“Zen... Luo?”
Nina couldn't help yelling.
She had known that her life was in danger when the demon general had caught her.
But she had never expected that Zen would risk his life to save her. Looking at the demon generals around her, it further dawned on Nina that Zen had also been pushed into a dead end like her.
'This young man became acquainted with me only a day ago. And yet, he is willing to save me at such a great risk to himself...' thought Nina.
What Zen had done moved her a lot.
Upon hearing Nina's call, Zen responded with a flat smile. In this critical situation, he couldn't be distracted. He needed to focus on producing and harnessing demonic life energy to destroy the bone spurs little by little...
The demon generals encircling Zen were still negotiating and discussing with each other in their language.
Judging from their looks, Zen concluded that they seemed to have reached a consensus on how to deal with him.
Suddenly, a bone spur popped out on a demon general's arm and aimed for Zen's head.
“It seems that they have decided to kill me,” mumbled Zen. His expression turned sour, and the demonic life energy that was destroying the bone spurs began working quickly when Zen saw that a bone spur was aimed at him.
As the demon general was about to shoot the bone spur at Zen, some muffled noises were heard from his body.
“Krrrrrrrr...”
The bone spurs embedded in Zen's body broke.
The demon generals paused. This gave the demonic life energy time to break the remaining bone spurs inside Zen's body.
Immediately, they fell on the ground. Without these bone spurs in his body, Zen regained his freedom.
“I won't allow you to live even if it means my death!”
yelled Zen. The second the words left his mouth, the demon general shot his bone spur toward Zen's head. Zen tilted his head to one side to dodge the attack. Soon afterward, he stood and approached that demon general.
During his battle with the demon generals, some of the bone spurs had penetrated Zen's back. Although the wounds initially dripped blood, the bone spurs acted as stoppers, plugging the wounds and preventing more blood from seeping out. Now that all the bone spurs had fallen off his body and Zen was moving to dodge the attacks of that demon general, the wounds began bleeding profusely.
Soon, blood gushed out like water from a spring. In an instant, it appeared as though Zen had bathed in blood for this battle.
As Zen was close enough to the demon general, he aimed a swift punch at the creature.
“Ogres Shaking the World!” yelled Zen.
“Bang!”
Despite his tall and strong figure, that demon general was thrown back several feet by the force of Zen's fist. Soon, he howled in pain as if tens of thousands of monsters were attacking his body.
One would be put in a rather miserable situation if demonic life energy poured into his body.
After Zen attacked the demon general, the demonic life energy poured into the creature and began dissolving his tissue and flesh.
A few moments later, wisps of demonic life energy were emitted from the demon general's eyes, mouth, and ears. At last, only a skeleton was left. The demon general's bones clattered to the ground while everyone watched, appalled by what they had seen. The demon general's body had vanished together with the demonic life energy...
Seeing that their companion had been killed so miserably, the expression on other demon generals changed.
They were shocked! It was beyond their expectation that a human being at a half step into the nature level could counterattack under such a critical situation and kill one of their companions in their presence without any fear.
Except for his head, Zen was covered in blood. At this moment, his white robe, which was a symbol of an outer disciple at Cloud Sect, had been stained as well. No longer white, it now looked like a bloody robe!
Despite his severe wounds, unswerving determination was still reflected in Zen's eyes.