Chapter 123: Pain
Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
A trumpet echoed throughout the air. The Riptide Regiment was discovered when it was still ten kilometers away from Nuremberg. Although Zaganide had gotten rid of millions of black ravens, hundreds still remained around Nuremberg, which was enough to stand guard around the whole city.
The city soon entered into its combat mode with its gate tightly closed and groups of soldiers rushing onto city walls. A pitch-dark light column soared up over one hundred meters high into the sky from the center of the city and exploded as if it had collided with something. Light dots spattered in all directions, forming a curtain of light visible to the naked eyes that covered the entire city.
The troops of Nuremberg were full of all kinds of strange creatures and amongst them, humans made up only a small part. The main force was the human-like creatures with short stature and a hump on their backs. Their faces were covered with wrinkles and their eyes could hardly be seen but their extraordinarily large noses were eye-catching, from which a kind of disgusting slimy fluid kept flowing out. They were probably of a very low social status because they weren’t only scolded by the Minotaurs but also by the human soldiers.
Apart from the soldiers, hundreds of jellyfish-shaped creatures also appeared on the walls, lining up in orderly queues while chirping, ready to launch their attacks against their enemies at any time. They were so noisy that the sounds they made even covered the Minotaurs’ roars.
Han Jin knew that they were called Evil Eyes, one of the races of the abyss! They attacked their opponents by emitting lights from their eyes, which were similar to human arrows but had much stronger strength. In this world, the status of human beings was not high. An Evil Eye, even the laziest one who possessed strength equal to a fourth or fifth-grade professional while humans had to cultivate hard to become a qualified soldier or magician.
It is undeniable that the human’s starting point was rather low. However, this is what drove humans to seek and struggle tirelessly. When there is pressure, there would be motivation. The indomitable perseverance of humans made them stronger despite their inherent shortcomings.
Ronning didn’t launch attacks hastily; instead, he consolidated the army first. Then, under a thunderous sound of explosions, rays of sharp, white light soared up from the ground and whistled across the vast sky, destroying the defensive barriers of Nuremberg directly. The black curtain of light twisted crazily, and the soldiers on the walls staggered and screamed due to strenuous vibrations. They had never expected that their enemies would have these kinds of mighty weapons.
Han Jin leaned his head out from behind a huge statue furtively and stared at the monsters below him. This was a magnificent underground palace and in the center stood a crystal column that was two meters in diameter and ten meters in depth. On the corundum ground around the crystal column were countless strangely shaped magic glyphs. The ground was divided into eight parts, each inset with a magic crystal in the center, where streams of thick black light poured into the crystal column and soared up into the sky.
Beside the magic circle, several solemnly-looking female demons were busy with something else. They were not Sirens of the Abyss. When they opened their mouths to chant incantations, they would show a row of thin teeth as well as four obvious fangs that weren’t very long but gave them a feeling of naughtiness and loveliness instead of the usual fierceness brought about by long ones. Their expressions were much more solemn compared with the Siren of the Abyss, however, the wagging tails on their backs damaged their goddess-like temperament.
No matter what kind of dresses they wore, purple or red, long or short, they were all like split pants. Human beings would definitely feel uncomfortable if their limbs were bound; this was also applicable for female demons. If their tails were bound, it would bring them discomfort as their tail was like their fifth limb.
It was not surprising to see their fair complexions but when Ronning launched attacks with the magic crystal cannons, two cat demons bent down in a hurry to exchange the magic crystals, exposing their bottoms upwards. Han Jin turned his head immediately for the sake of his conscience.
The thunderous sound of explosions continued and the cat demons became even more flustered. Han Jin touched his forehead, feeling a large lump on it. According to the plan he had discussed with Ronning the night before, he would give an attack after Reg!
For Nuremberg, the defensive magic circle was its core and thus, it was heavily guarded. Han Jin could enter it, not because he was strong enough, but because his arts of Tao broke the rules of this world and subverted much of the common knowledge within it. If his magic was exposed and became no secret, things would not be so easy like how they were now.
A large lump on his forehead formed when he tried to get out from under the corundum floor, the masterpiece of alchemists. His charm of Earthmeld could not help him pass through the corundum. Han Jin was caught off guard and nearly passed out. Fortunately, his physique had already been greatly strengthened; otherwise, he was doomed to be dead from the impact.
However, the loud sound of the collision alerted the guards. They searched back and forth several times and found the floating corundum stone at the corner. However, they had never expected that someone would have come from the underground.
Screams and shrieks came from a distance. The remaining Minotaurs in the palace rushed outside with their giant axes in their hands. Han Jin waited for a moment, leaped up all of a sudden and dropped down from the shoulder of the statue, jerking towards the nearest monster. Meanwhile, four wooden giants appeared out of nowhere and pounced on the huge crystal column.
The cat demons were apparently magicians as their reactions were the slowest. Han Jin had no time to think about the pinpricks of his conscience anymore and pressed his palm down. A cat demon was bending down and was about to exchange the magic crystals but before she could look up, the palm had already fallen down heavily on her neck.
Crack! The cat demon shook as if she was shocked by electricity and fell down. Her wagging tail softened and hung down feebly.
Han Jin did not expect the cat demon’s body to be so fragile. An odd feeling arose in his heart but he still had no time to think about it. After a low roar, his body jumped and pounced onto the other cat demon.
She opened her delicate mouth abruptly. An intangible acoustic wave swept across Han Jin and he was suddenly dazzled by the scene. Everything around him started to spin and twist. Tall buildings, telephones, computers, cars and many other modern things familiar to him appeared in front of him. And then he saw a slovenly-dressed old man bending with both hands on his back, chanting verses in cadenced tones.
‘Master!’ Han Jin was dumbstruck. He had forgotten everything and stared at the familiar figure. People in his former world called those who teach as teachers but for Han Jin, he was also his master. A different appellation had a different meaning.
His master was like a father to him, who had given him the chance to live a different life and led him down the road of immortality. Han Jin’s gratitude to his master could not be expressed with words. Now, he was overwhelmed to see this familiar figure again.
The cat demon was also stunned. She couldn’t believe the strange things in front of her! What were those tall things? Were they buildings? What were those things that were flying in the sky like dragons? And the rushing cubes; were they war wagons?
The spiritual attack didn’t last long. Han Jin came to himself soon enough. He had realized what had happened and his pupils shrunk into two dots that were as sharp as needle tips. He hated the cat demon because she exposed the softest part that was buried deep within his heart. He felt heart-wrenching pain each time this part was touched. Now, he was enraged, for this was harder to be tolerated than to be fooled or bullied. He felt afraid because his past was a secret that ought to be kept forever. Anyone who dared to threaten him must die.
In an instant, Han Jin’s figure pierced through the long sky. “Go to hell!” With a howl, his fists hit the face of the cat demon when she was still in a daze. Her body fell back softly like a broken branch before her feet left the ground. Her head knocked against the corundum ground heavily. Blood splattered everywhere.
Even without the impact, she would no longer be able to live for much longer since her facial bones were already shattered by Han Jin’s punch.
The remaining two cat demons screamed as well but Han Jin had already released a charm of Spirit Refreshment for himself. Plus, he was prepared this time. As a cultivator, the first thing to do was to cultivate his mental status and bring himself to his ideal condition. These kinds of spiritual attacks could no longer affect him.
“Die!” With another howl, his fist punched one of the cat demons who still wanted to make a counterattack by mental invasion.
It went deep into her throat–it couldn’t get much deeper than this. Han Jin’s punch shattered the cat demon’s teeth, cheeks and nearly pierced through her neck.
The last cat demon was scared out of her wits. She gave up with the counterattack and turned around, beginning to rush towards the gate of the palace while shouting out for help along the way
The remaining mercy that Han Jin had was all gone; only murderous intentions remained within his mind. He pounced forward and punched the back of the running cat demon directly. Her body shot out like a cannonball and heavily hit the palace gate with a loud sound. She didn’t fall onto the ground until a moment later due to the extremely strong force exerted by Han Jin, leaving a bloody smear on the gate.
The four wooden giants kept attacking the huge crystal column. Although they were not strong enough to destroy the magic circle, they could damage the connection point between the crystal column and the magic circle. Gradually, the crystal column started to tilt farther and farther down.
Roars came from outside the palace gate. Several Minotaurs rushed in after realizing that they were trapped, but it was too late. When they came in, the crystal column was already thudding down onto the ground with an overwhelming presence.
Han Jin had hidden behind the statue. Seeing that his task had been completed, he merged into the wall all of a sudden. The wall was not built of corundum and an explosion would soon occur after the magic circle was destroyed. He didn’t want to stay there any longer.