*Dark Sword Dance*
*Shadow Steps*
*Illusory Sword*
*Demon Flames*
*Radiant Barrier*
The fight between the two demonic monks and three humans was truly a sight to behold. Techniques after techniques kept flying out in rapid succession with neither side budging an inch.
But even though they were fighting each other to a standstill, Reed's complexion kept growing darker and darker as time kept on ticking.
"Damn you, bastards. You ants have no chance. Why don't you give up and run? At least you would live for a while longer," Reed cursed as he blocked a sword raging with light energy.
"Hah, do you take us to be fools? Look over there. Your Lord can't even keep up with Elder Nyler. Once he is pushed out of this plane, your fate is sealed. Hahaha," Asin laughed and kept on unleashing his radiant sword.
Sure enough, the aura around the Skull Lord, which was totally unbearable before, was gradually reducing. Sure enough, it was still intimidating; but nothing like it had been at the start when it had let out his deafening roar.
That is why Nyler did not fight him head on. He just kept on kiting the Skull Lord as much as possible. After all, he was on a timer himself as well. The Domain was not something that could be maintained for extended fights if he were to combine it with his more powerful offensive techniques.
'Damn it, I have to do something,'
At this point, Reed was desperate. He could not allow this to go on. If he did, there was no chance of victory.
"Number One. I have had enough. I am going to use that technique. Better run away or perish along with these ants," Reed said as he folded his hands and closed his eyes.
"Watch out, this cur is about to do something," Ashin warned.
"Art of Slaughter - Red Mist"
Immediately after, an extremely dense red mist started to gush out of Reed's body at an astonishing pace and started diffusing with the surroundings.
"It could be poisonous. Do not let the mist touch you!!" Asin shouted as he deployed his Radiant Barrier.
Jane and Ahsin immediately deployed their barriers as well. But surprisingly, their barriers did not feel anything significant from the mist. The only thing it did was obscure their vision and senses.
"Uncles, this Red Mist is not an Art of Slaughter. It is an Art of Deception. That demon is escaping!!" Janet called out urgently.
"What? This is bad," Asin immediately called his barrier back as he shouted,
"Wisp of Clarity"
Immediately, a bright light shone down and cleared the red mist completely. But as the surroundings cleared out, no one was to be seen.
"Crap!! Everyone immediately spread out and find those bastards. We need to stop whatever they are planning if we want to live..." Ashin said as he was about to rush into a corridor.
"Stop right there," Asin said as he caught Ashin's arm, preventing him from running off.
"Huh? What do you want? Do you understand the consequences of dilly-dallying? The entire plane is at stake!!" Ashin hurriedly tried to free himself while scolding Asin.
"Shut up!! Do you think I am a fool? If you want to run around this entire place, be my guest," Asin was irked by Ashin's actions. He immediately threw away Ashin's arm as he closed his eyes.
"Uncle Ashin, calm down. I think Uncle Asin has a way to locate them," Janet mediated.
"Ah, then why did he not tell me this directly? I..."
"I have found them. Follow me," Asin said seriously as he opened his eyes and rushed out into one of the corridors. Janet and Ashin looked at each other for a moment and immediately followed after Asin.
------------------------------------------------------
Entrance to the Pool of Damnation
Both Reed and Number One stood at the entrance to the Pool of Damnation. The Purple Web formation that Reed had placed was still active, indicating that no one had broken through.
"The boy is definitely in here. I will go in and take a look. Number One stay outside and prevent those humans from getting in."
"Understood, Liaison. But I am in pretty bad shape after fighting those humans. I can't hold them for much longer. Please hurry, " Number One urged.
"I understand," Reed nodded as he weakened the formation just enough to get in.
------------------------------------------------------
Wanting to have a good look at the situation first, Reed snuck into the Pool of Damnation sneakily and started to look at the spring. But to his dismay, he did not find anyone there.
Not able to see Jason, he frowned as he scanned the entire bath. After all, if that boy was not here then he was in deep trouble!!
But when his eyes finally reached the farthest corner of the bath, he almost fainted from shock and anger.
"Pesky human girl, why the f#@k are you here? What are you doing to that brat?" He roared out in anger as he lashed out with his sword.
Jane was immediately shocked upon hearing Reed's roar. She had not been able to sense him initially and hence was caught off guard. But fortunately, just before Reed's sword reached her location, she managed to roll out of the sword's path along with Jason's unconscious body.
'Why did this bastard have to come here, damn it' Jane cursed her luck inwardly as she moved Jason's body to the side. Even though she knew that Reed would not harm Jason, she still decided to leave his body at a safe distance.
"Bastard, you have finally shown yourself again. Return my mother's soul right now!!" Jane cried out as she moved away from Jason's body and took a fighting stance.
"Damn human. I see that you still remember that I have your mother's soul. Still, you have the audacity actually come here and try to ruin my plans. Don't you care what I do with her soul?" Reed clenched his teeth as he asked angrily.
"Vile creature, would you have had returned her soul to if I ran away? Enough with your bullshitting and come at me if you dare."
"Good, very good!! After I am done with you, I swear I shall torture both you and that whore's soul in the most vicious of brines,"
*Red Moon Sword*
*Woosh*
Somehow, Jane managed to step back and dodge this attack as well.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up," Reed smirked as he began a flurry of attacks.
*Woosh Woosh*
Each time Reed attacked, Jane managed to somehow dodge those attacks, although by the very skin of her teeth.
'Ah, I wish I had a weapon. I cannot clash against his Red Moon Sword directly. Wait...'
She suddenly recalled having seen a knife on Jason when she was trying to heal his Middle Dantian.
'I have to get that knife!' she exclaimed.
Thinking thus, Jane immediately leaped into the air, trying to get near Jason's location.
"Stop, do not touch that boy!!" Reed became nervous and immediately lashed out even more fiercely, forcing Jane to halt her advances and dodge to the other side.
"Hahaha, you should have killed him before when you had the chance. Don't even think about it right now," Reed laughed as he stood before Jason's unconscious body.
In fact, he knew that Jane was the one who was responsible for Jason's soul energy flow to suddenly slow down. Thinking that she might aim to kill the boy now that things were going south, he immediately fended her off.
"Humph, do you think everyone is an evil monster like you." Jane retorted back as she slowly stood up. She was running out of ideas and things were looking ugly.
Suddenly, Reed's figure blurred as he started to fade into thin air.
'What? Not Good,'
But before Jane could react and try to dodge, Reed suddenly arrived behind her.
"Got you,"
No sooner did Jane hear these words than she felt a sharp pain from her body. When she looked down, she was greeted with the sight of Reed's sword penetrating her guts.
*Wham*
Jane received a kick to her back as she flew out like a broken kite, blood constantly oozing out of her stomach and back. Even if she subconsciously tried to stop the bleeding by circulating her soul energy, it was all for naught. After all, her internal organs had taken too much damage.
*Thud*
Jane landed harshly onto the ground, right next to Jason's face. She could feel her strength slowly slipping away as her eyes started feeling heavy.
With the last bits of her strength, she moved her eyes as she tried to gaze at Jason's face.
Due to Jane's earlier healing, Jason's condition had improved significantly. His original fair complexion had been restored and it seemed as if he was sleeping peacefully rather than being unconscious.
Suddenly, Jane vomited out a mouthful of blood. Her eyes kept getting heavier as she could feel her life slowly slip away.
'Ah, looks like this is it. What a pity that in the end, I could save neither Mom nor Jason. Ah, if only I had paid more attention to my healing techniques during training... At least I would have managed to help Jason wake up...'
Even when she was dying, she blamed herself for the situation. She closed her eyes as her whole life started to flash before her. Her father, her sister, her uncles, her mother; memories after memories kept flashing in her mind as life kept on slipping out of her body.
"Pesky human bitch, this will teach you not to meddle in other's affairs," Reed sneered as he slowly walked towards Jane.
"Don't worry, I won't let your soul dissipate just yet. I will capture it just like I did you for your whore mother and then I will torture both you for an eternity,"
Reed pulled out a ring with a skull inscription from his index finger as he chanted out.
"Demonic Soul Capture"
Immediately, Jane felt her life slipping out of her body even faster. But this time, instead of dissipating into the surroundings, her soul started getting sucked into Reed's ring.
'At least I made my first and only friend in this hellhole. It is such a pity that Jason was unable to see my true face even once. I wonder if he would have liked it...ahaha'
*Sob Sob*
Involuntarily, tears started flowing out her eyes and she sobbed weakly.
'Goodbye World, Goodbye Jason'
'If possible, I would love to meet you again. Then, I would show you my face and might even ask you out. At that time, you are not allowed to refu...'
Finally, all her thoughts stopped as the last whiff of her soul left her body, leaving behind only a cold corpse devoid of any life.
'Pesky bitch, not knowing her place. Who did she think she was?' Reed mused as he wore his ring back.
'Ah, forget it, I have more important things to worry about' Reed thought as he finally turned his attention towards Jason.
Hi all,
The author of TFID here. As always, thank you for reading my work.
I tried my best to finally end the arc, but it was simply not possible. Even though I made the arc two times the length of what I post normally, it was not meant to be.
Well, thank you for reading this crap. Next chapter, I have a small surprise for all you guys who have supported this novel so far, so stay tuned. Please continue with your support for this novel till then,
Cheers