Chapter 207: The Past
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Before the mercenaries could react, Han Jin had already popped out of the ground and struck someone’s chest piece with the back of his hand. His movements looked extremely light, as if he was playing a harmless game, yet the leather armor on the mercenary’s back still shattered into countless pieces as the person himself struck the wall before collapsing onto the ground like a pile of dough.
The rest of the mercenaries were all shocked and reached for their swords, but Han Jin threw a hook with his right fist and struck one of the mercenaries on the chin.
Though Spirit Possession may appear similar to the various berserker spells in this world, a fundamental difference existed between them. Take fireball for example: while it is true that a magician with a powerful enough psychic force can increase its power, such increase was limited. At the least, he wouldn’t be able to defeat a similarly leveled professional with fireball alone. But in the other world, cultivators often focused their entire lives on the study of one Daoist Art, such as Spirit Possession. No cultivators are dumb, and they would have long abandoned Spirit Possession in favor of more powerful arts if it didn’t have anything special.
After reaching the milestone of one Xuan energy, the potency of Han Jin’s Spirit Possession Art had been drastically increased. This increase was not limited to one area either, as his speed, strength, and various other aspects were all affected. Thus, when the mercenary received a blow to his chin, his chin was put in a weird position, while the back of his head bent so low that it almost touched his back. He then shook a few times before falling to the ground. At that point, his whole spine had been completely bent due to the immense force. Even if he lived, he would be completely paralyzed.
The other mercenary had managed to draw his sword at this point. With an angry roar, he swung the blade at Han Jin’s chest.
Han Jin blocked the sword with a casual wave of his left hand, accompanied by a ripping sound. Though his arm was unscathed, the sword did leave a huge rip on his sleeve.
Han Jin’s expression turned cold, and before the mercenary could pull his sword back, Han Jin dove forward at an unimaginable speed. He swung his fist and struck the mercenary in the chest, and when the mercenary went flying from the force, he closely followed him and landed countless more strikes on his body.
Though the hall was quite spacious, it wasn’t big enough for fighting. The mercenary slammed into the wall then received many more heavy hits from Han Jin. At this point, he was quickly approaching death, yet Han Jin showed no intention of letting him go. He pushed his palm into the mercenary’s already deformed chest, and with a big boom, a two-foot-long hole appeared in the wall. The mercenary flew into the distance, along with countless rubble. He didn’t stop flying until he hit the courtyard wall.
Bam… The girl landed on the ground along with the table, and with that, the whole battle was almost instantly finished. In the span of the few seconds that it took for the girl to fly up and fall down, Han Jin had already ferociously killed three men.
A dark light shot out of Han Jin’s palm and landed on the table, which slid along the ground with the girl on top. It slid from one end of the hall to the other, and two mercenaries once again fell empty-handed.
With a cold laugh, Han Jin twisted his wrist. The ray of dark light shot up like a snake and clung onto the neck of one of the mercenaries at a surprising speed. Finally, with a wave of his hand, blood shot out of the mercenary’s neck like a fountain as his head flew into the air.
The other mercenary also let out a terrified scream, as if he was suffering the same pain as his companion. He then kind of crawled to the other end of the hall, still trying to catch the girl.
Han Jin twisted his wrist again, and the dark ray of light shot through the air with a shrill whistle and followed the mercenary like a maggot attached to a bone. Another fountain of blood spewed out, and the mercenary was vertically split into two. The two halves of his body flew into the air, both still spinning toward their initial direction. The arms, which had already lost control from the brain, still flung violently around on the half of the body it was attached to. Blood and other fluids, along with organs, spattered out like rain as the two pieces continued to spin. The scene was horrifying to the extreme!
Even Gibran, who was infamous for his ruthlessness, stared at Han Jin in shock, let alone the survivor.
With a final shake of his hand, the ray of dark light flashed and disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed in the first place. Meanwhile, Han Jin glanced at his sleeves and muttered, “Damn it…”
“You…” Cromwell finally jumped up. To be fair, he reacted quite quickly. He had actually wanted to help, but had immediately shrunk back when he saw Gibran. He then tried to help his other companion but was shocked by Han Jin’s freakish and violent display of power. He told himself that he would observe for a moment longer before striking, but before he even had a chance to blink, everyone working for him was dead. “How dare you…”
A few more shapes appeared in the shattered entrance of the hall. Cromwell instantly shut up as he saw that it was Juventus, the Vice President of the Mercenary Association. With someone of such a high position present, it wasn’t his place to condemn someone in the name of the association.
Juventus glanced at Han Jin before turning to Cromwell. Han Jin had truly shocked him too many times today, be it that immensely destructive spell or the ferocious and unpredictable fighting style he had just displayed. Although he was surprised, he was also confused. However, now was not the time to think about that.
“Cessacioun, are you alright?” Han Jin lightly asked.
Gibran had already cut off the ropes which had been tying Cessacioun, who was now moving around, trying to wear off the cramps in his limbs. “I’m fine, but she…” Cessacioun looked at the corner where the girl was quietly sitting. She had shown no reactions at all even when she hit the ceiling and fell to the floor. It was as if she had lost her will to live.
“Good, good.”
“Raphael, you don’t know what happened!” Cessacioun tried his best to push down his anger. He briefly explained everything and concluded with, “Raphael, this bastard was trying to track us down this whole time!”
Everyone’s expression changed as they looked at Cromwell. Sunier, Yalina, and Julia appeared especially angry. Even though the continent was a chaotic and cruel place, there was still some shred of humanity left. Why would someone bully a harmless girl?! Even if you lusted for her body, was there really a need to beat her only family to death?!
“Well done… Well done!” Juventus laughed in extreme rage. He coldly said, “Bloody well done, Cromwell! As of this moment, you are no longer part of the Mercenary Association! Return your badge, NOW!”
Cromwell’s face slightly changed. He knew what it meant for the Mercenary Association to abandon him at this moment, but he didn’t try to defend himself. Instead, he took off his badge and carelessly threw it onto the ground.
“You…” Juventus’ anger soared even higher. However, Han Jin hadn’t made a decision yet, and he didn’t want to appear overzealous. Thus, he only walked over and picked up the badge while staring daggers at Cromwell. No matter how Han Jin decided to deal with him, he would personally make sure Cromwell suffered as long as he lived.
Han Jin looked at the old man on the ground. “Tracking us?”
“He wants to know where Keeley is!”
“Tell me, why do you want to find Keeley?” Han Jin casually asked.
“Why else? It can’t be anything good!” Cessacioun humphed coldly. Clearly, Cromwell bore no good intentions, as he had tried to locate Keeyley through violence.
Cromwell did not speak at all and simply stood there.
“Who’s Keeley?” Yalina whispered.
“A friend of ours,” Sunier whispered back.
“Don’t want to tell me?” Han Jin walked toward Cromwell with a cold expression on his face. “Miss Keeley, who you are looking for, is in Black Raven City. Got it? Now, you know what you want to know, so it’s time to answer my question. Tell me, why do you want to find her?”
“Black Raven City… you… you are working for Zaganide?” Yalina looked shocked. She stared at Sunier in disbelief. Even Majordomo Gale, who was standing behind her, looked uncertain, as if he was thinking about something.
“What are you talking about?!” Sunier said in an unhappy tone. “We drove Zaganide’s army away a long time ago. Black Raven City belongs to us now.”
“Is that so… Sorry, Sunier.” Yalina was quite embarrassed. It was unbecoming of her to doubt a friend so easily.
Though Yalina calmed down, Han Jin’s words set off a giant explosion in Majordomo Gale and Juventus’ mind. Based on their experiences, there is no way for a powerful professional to appear out of nowhere; there must be a place that raised him. Hearing Sunier’s explanation, a bizarre thought popped into both of their heads: had Han Jin fought alongside Zaganide before he arrived here?!
Cromwell didn’t hear the exchange between Yalina and Sunier, as his attention had been focused on Han Jin. “Sir… what do you want with me? I recommend that you exercise caution, or you might come to regret your choices in the future.”
“I don’t see anything on you that would warrant caution,” Han Jin said calmly.
“Haha… Lord Dismark is waiting for my report.” Cromwell squeezed out a smile. “That… should warrant some caution, right? Besides, I didn’t hurt your friend. This is all a misunderstanding.”
Everyone present paled slightly. No one expected for Cromwell to be working under Dismark. Juventus’ face looked especially livid. It seemed that the situation in Isolated Cliff City was even more dire than he thought. Various lords were all trying to infiltrate Isolated Cliff City, as if they expected the city to be theirs in the future!
“Dismark? What about him?” Han Jin flatly said.
“Sir! Do you really think that you are qualified to fight against a true lord?!” Cromwell sternly said.
“If you work for Dismark, then you should know who General Quincy is. Do you know how he died?” Han Jin smiled. Bringing up this past event was a sign of immaturity in Han Jin. If someone more experienced and shrewd was in his place, they would rather take this secret to their grave. However, Han Jin was only an ordinary student before, not a wise general or a powerful boss. Even though he had experienced some strange and complicated matters when he had become a cultivator, it had only lasted a few years, and he had his master to back him up. In the end, young men liked to show off, which was exactly what Han Jin was doing.
“General Quincy…” Cromwell’s face drastically paled. He suddenly screamed, “You are the one that killed Madame Fenny! It was you!”