Chapter 38

"Very well. First, however, let me ask. I assume that my cover is blown no matter how this battle goes. Is that right?" The doctor asked.

"That's right. The mayor is well aware of this raid. Should we not return, he will know why," Koren said.

"In that case, there is no use in keeping my test subjects here. Please, permit me to free the young woman before you do anything," the doctor said, holding a key in his hand.

"Very well. Proceed."

The doctor walked over to the cage and unlocked it. Then he took the unconscious woman on his table into his arms and handed her over to the prisoner.

"Take her and leave. I'm sorry for what I've done to you, but some sacrifices must be made in the name of progress," the doctor said. The woman looked at her captor for just a second. Then she ran away, holding the naked one in her arms.

"It's time to fight!" Koren roared like a beast, his sword an explosive streak of light as he hurled it at the doctor. But the doctor was too quick, dodging aside to deliver a thunderous punch that raised Koren onto his toes.

"Agh!" Koren roared in pain as his free arm flailed helplessly while his other never wavered, swinging his blade with all the wrath of a thousand demons. The doctor met each strike with incredible grace, deflecting or blocking with supreme precision and agility. Aurora and the others added their own strikes. But the doctor was like a shadow in the wind, flickering, and landing between each blow with exquisite timing. He ducked beneath Aurora's lunge and swept Laurey's weapon away before unleashing a kick to Laurey's chest. His movements were like a perfectly orchestrated ballet, every action an artful step of an intricate dance.

There was simply too significant a disparity. The doctor was a tenth-level cultivator of the Condensing stage. While it was clear that he was no expert fighter, he had a deep understanding of the human body. His attacks hurt!

Even worse, he moved insanely fast, and his reflexes were above anyone else's. The only one who could possibly stand up against him was Koren, as the only Condensation level cultivator among the disciples. But he was only at the first level. He was a much more skilled fighter, but there was a difference between the gaps he could not bridge.

In the tournament, he'd even been outmatched by fourth-level Condensation cultivators.

"Everyone, behind me! I'm taking him down!" Koren suddenly roared after having taken another punch from the doctor.

"What? How?" Laurey questioned.

"Just listen to him!" Aurora responded, grabbing him by his shirt and dragging him back. Everyone followed Aurora and Laurey. Then, the sky seemed to rip apart with an almighty thunderous boom, and a dazzling kaleidoscope of sapphire swords pierced through the heavens, raining down upon the doctor below. He frantically twisted and dived to evade, but the blades cut through his clothing like butter and flew past him with barely a hairs breath of separation. No matter how hard he tried, he could not avoid them all. One of the sharp blades sliced his arm painfully before dissipating into nothingness. They rained from every angle, and nothing could stand in their way, blades cutting deep into his flesh and leaving him with a body covered in oozing wounds. The onslaught lasted what felt like a lifetime, but after eight seconds of ceaseless plunging, the swords suddenly stopped. The doctor lay still on the ground - battered, broken, and bleeding.

He was not dead, but it was clear that he soon would be if he didn't receive aid.

"You improved the technique," Aurora commented.

"Yeah," Koren said. Then he, too, fell. He was conscious but clearly extremely tired. Whether standing back up again was possible was unclear.

"Look. All his notes are written down here. His tools are here, too," Rose said as she sifted through a bunch of papers.

"That stuff might be valuable. We should take it with us to the elders, along with the doctor," Aurora said.

"Now, wait a second. What about us? Shouldn't that stuff go to us?" Laurey said.

"Why should it? We were here first. You're the guys who intruded on our mission. Just leave the things with us. You'll still get your contribution points," Aurora said.

"Well, we do outnumber you. Especially now that Koren is out for the count," Laurey said.

"Is that a threat?" Aurora said.

"Yes, it is. You know just as well as I do that those notes could be worth much more than the mission. And there are no witnesses. If we kill you all here, we'll just say it was the doctor. Then we'll kill him to avenge you," Laurey said.

"Laurey, don't! Just let them take the notes. Without them, we would have failed the mission. And you know what they say about Blossoming Rose disciples. You shouldn't mess with them," Sarla said.

"Shut your mouth, whore! If you're not with us, maybe the doctor will end up killing you, too," Laurey said.

"Wh-whore? But you're the ones who made me-"Sarla said, but she was interrupted.

"I said shut up! Aurora, Koren said himself that you're the second strongest, but you're heavily injured. Give up or die. I promise you, I will kill all of you if you don't do as I say," Laurey said.

"We're not giving you anything. I hope you're prepared to die!" Aurora screamed before shooting up from the ground! She moved like an arrow through the air towards Laurey, but before she reached him, she kicked at the wall, sending herself in another direction.

Her foot swung like a sword at Hender's throat but missed by quite a bit. Except Hender clutched at his throat and took several steps back as blood started pouring down. A few seconds passed before he collapsed, a pool of blood developing under him.

Aurora looked at him franticly, but she couldn't afford to hesitate. Just a moment before Laurey managed to cleave Aurora in half, she shot off in another direction. Thus, with the sudden death of Hender, the fight between the Blossoming Rose and White Sword disciples began.

"Nooo!" After Laurey's attack missed its target, Moreena's anguished scream reverberated through the air as she watched her beloved being cut down. With her last breath, she rushed forward, her sword flashing like lightning in the dark night. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the two faced each other with blades in hand; the only thing that gave her any hope was her fervent desire for vengeance. Meanwhile, Aurora stood unperturbed. Leaving its sheath in a flash, her sword radiated a dazzling metallic light before striking Moreena without warning and bisecting her neck in one clean swipe. At that moment, Moreena's life force left her body, and darkness claimed her soul. All that was left was a lifeless corpse, its head rolling away on the cold earth.

"You, you! You killed them!" Laurey roared as his massive weapon soared at Aurora, only for Aurora to narrowly dodge it. She could feel the wind from the strike in her hair.

"I warned you! You're the one who turned this into a deathmatch, and now you have to die!" Aurora screamed as she turned into a whirlwind of spinning kicks and sword strikes.

The twins immediately got busy as the fight started, teaming up against Tarvick, the second inner disciple. Rila and Sila were noticeably weaker but managed to keep up through teamwork. The twins knew each other just as well as they knew their selves.

Things were more difficult for Rose as Joran and Veera teamed up against her. Veera was the third inner disciple, while Rose wasn't an expert combatant by any means.

In an attack against Laurey, Aurora kicked against the man's sword, sending herself flying right in the middle of Joran, Veera, and Rose, forcing the first two back with two wide kicks.

"Rose, take the notes and run! We'll catch up." Aurora faced down Joran and Veera, the two hesitating at the prowess Aurora had just shown. Rose nodded her head and shot off towards the tunnel.

"Stop!" Laurey shouted, immediately chasing her down.

"Oh no, you don't!" Aurora roared, shooting off like a bird once more, kicking at Laurey's back. Laurey blocked the kick with his weapon, but ten more kicks followed, stopping him in his tracks.

Aurora was like a machine gun of kicks, and Laurey could do nothing but defend. There was a clear difference in skills. In a one-on-one battle, Laurey would likely die within a minute, but this was a completely different situation.

Despite the deaths of Hender and Moreena, Aurora's group was still outnumbered, and she had to protect her friends, so she couldn't focus all her attention on Laurey.

While Aurora held up Laurey, Joran and Veera took to chasing Rose, following her into the tunnel and up to the streets.

Rila and Sila fought valiantly against Tarvick, but the man was a skilled fighter. When an opening appeared, he grabbed it, stabbing Rila in the stomach. The move left him open, however, allowing Sila to impale him in the side.

"Fuck! Die!" Tarvick screamed, pushing Sila to the floor. Then he raised his weapon to behead Rila, who keeled on the floor.

Meanwhile, Aurora landed a strike, cutting Laurey on the cheek. The final opening she needed was there. Laurey was about to die, but his death would have to be traded for Rila's life. Instead of ending the man, Aurora sprang back and speared her knee into the back of the unknowing Tarvick's skull! A spurt of blood sprayed onto Rila's body as Aurora's invisible blade pierced out of the man's skull. Tarvick crumbled to the ground, landing on the bleeding Rila.

Aurora kicked the corpse to the side and helped Rila up.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But look! Laurey is running away!" Rila said. Aurora looked behind her only to see Laurey chasing after Rose and the others in the tunnels. Aurora quickly looked around her.

She had killed Hender, Moreena, and Tarvick. Hender through a slit throat, Moreena by beheading, and Tarvick through impaling his brain. They were the first three people she had ever killed. But now was not the time to hesitate!

"I'm going to chase him. I have to help Rose. Sila, help your sister."

Aurora immediately ran after Laurey, making it out of the tunnel in seconds and then into the street. There, she saw a crowd of people and, more importantly, Rose fighting against Joran and Veera. The two had managed to surround her, stopping her escape. The notes were spread all over the ground, getting dirty from all the dust. Luckily, there was no wind.

A bit away from the fight, Laurey ran towards them. He couldn't be allowed to join, or Rose would die without a doubt.

Aurora shouted, grabbing many people's attention, and charged back at Laurey. She jumped into the air and shot off from a building, her sword ready to strike! Moments before she landed on Laurey, the Streamline Sword materialized out of her blade, clashing directly with Laurey's two-handed sword! Laurey roared as Aurora forced him back, step by step!

"You damned whore! How are you this strong? It's not fair! You're just an inner disciple like me, and I'm a high-ranked one! You shouldn't be my match!" Laurey roared.

"You're a damned joke! Almost anyone from the Blossoming Rose can wipe the floor with you! You're not even good enough to be an outer disciple in our sect!" Aurora roared, continuing her assault. But despite her bravado, the disparity between them wasn't prominent enough that she could kill him in a matter of seconds.

Yet, Rose's situation was worsening, second by second. She already had a multitude of wounds on her body, and many of the doctor's notes were stained in her blood.

"Damnit! You have to die!" Aurora screamed. She was about to sacrifice herself just so she could stab Laurey in the throat while taking a severe injury herself. But then, the situation developed.

A streak of light soared through the air, moving much faster than any of the disciple present could manage. Two swords appeared out of the light, and in less than a second, Joran and Veera were cleaved in two! They were bisected from top to bottom!

Before the two corpses even knew what had happened, they were dead. And only then did Koren appear. He was pale, clearly exhausted, but itching for a fight.

"You, weren't you knocked out?" Laurey said.

"What, you think one attack is going to leave me completely defenseless? I just needed to catch my breath, is all," Koren said while cleaning his blade of blood.

"I, I give up! I will face judgment; just don't kill me!" Laurey threw his sword to the side and went down to his knees. But before anything could be said, Aurora swung her sword, severing Laurey's head from his neck.

"Fuck you, you waste of breath," she mumbled. There were tears in her eyes. Koren walked over and took the teenager into his arms.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's just this piece of shit… he almost killed Rose and Rila. And… he forced me to kill three people. Four now, I guess," Aurora said after a moment of silence.

"Most warriors have to kill humans eventually. Now, you've experienced it."

"Yeah, I guess. We should get going before the White Sword sect can retaliate."

The two went back underground while Rose treated her wounds. Sila, Rila, and Sarla remained down there, with the doctor knocked out by the side. At the side of Sarla, Aurora unsheathed her sword, ready to kill again. She'd completely forgotten about her in the chaos. She'd kind of stayed in the sidelines.

"Don't kill me! I wanted nothing to do with this fight! You heard them; Laurey called me a whore. Even though he's to one who basically forced me to let those guys fuck me. And when I got back, he basically raped me. Well, I didn't really say no, but I don't want anything to do with him anymore. If you take me with you, I'll testify to yours and my elders that you acted in self-defense. That Laurey tried to murder you," Sarla said.

"Alright, works for me. And I killed Laurey, so you won't see him again. Joran and Veera, too. You're the only survivor," Aurora said.

"I, I see. We should leave this place immediately. If an elder from the White Sword sect catches us, they might kill you outright in retaliation, even with my testimony. We should head straight to your elders," Sarla said.

"Indeed. Let's grab the doctor and go," Koren said. Everyone nodded and got to work. The doctor's notes and tools were gathered, and then they boarded the first train going out of the town.