Chapter 8: Deadly Encounter
As the deal came to a close, Derrick heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching the door. He signaled Ying to hide on the right side of the dual door while he waited on the left.
The stern-sounding man and the frail-sounding man promptly left the room. Hiding behind the open door, Derrick and Ying took out small daggers from their cloaks and thrust the blade into their torso. However, things didn't work out so smoothly for the duo.
The stern-sounding man was a large Beastman. He could instantly intercept the attack. The feeble-sounding man was a witch. Witches had weak physical abilities, but he was able to pull out a barrier talisman to counter Derrick's attack.
"So you were followed..." The Beastman said in utter disappointment.
"S-Shut up! Just kill 'em!"
The witch immediately made a run for it, hoping to spare his own life. However, Derrick quickly caught up to the cowardly witch and blew him away with a kick to the abdomen.
"You'll be dealing with me today," Derrick said with an air of confidence.
"Fuck fuck fuck! I won't let you kill me! I won't let you!"
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Ying engaged the Beastman in hand-to-hand combat. While the Beastman had much weaker martial arts prowess, his immense physical strength put the dealer on an even level with Ying.
He pushed back the mercenary with a single blow before placing the heirloom in the previous room and sealing it. He couldn't use his spirituality as he didn't know how the heirloom would react. He couldn't risk breaking or corrupting such a valuable treasure.
This limitation would no longer be in effect, as the Beastman had tossed aside the heirloom. He released his oppressive spirituality in an attempt to intimidate Ying. It was an oppressive, yet heavily refined aura that could easily cause lower-ranked fighters to buckle their knees under the pressure, but Ying was all too familiar with this level of attack.
Ying rushed in and let out a flurry of punches at the Beastman, but his punches felt weak and ineffective. Red gauntlets appeared on the dealer's arms. It was a result of the Beastman's application technique.
Each race has a unique application technique that cannot be used by other races. Beastmen in particular use their blood as conduits for their spirituality, just as Wraiths use spirit flames as a conduit for spirituality. This allows Beastmen to manipulate their blood in various ways, including creating blood constructs that are harder than steel.
The name of the ability was [Crimson Gauntlets].
The Beastman sent Ying hurling towards a pillar with a single punch, tearing apart both of his arms.
The Beastman got into a fighting stance before making a declaration. "I am Raul of the Beast tribe, I shall send you to your death."
"I've heard that line a couple of times by now." Ying got into a fighting stance and activated his application technique; [Critical Manifestation].
Ying's attacks were "magnified" with the use of the critical manifestation technique. A small cut could become a gaping wound and a project could become a bullet. This ability elevated Ying's striking power to Raul's level, putting him at a strategic advantage.
"Derrick! Ignore the witch and grab the heirloom inside! I'll hold off the Beastman!"
"That's a bit too much to ask right now! He just keeps running!"
The weak-sounding witch had successfully maintained his distance from Derrick. Despite being a complete coward, he was quite the annoying pest to deal with. Each race's progression could be easily tracked by its physical characteristics. For witches, the number of arms and mouths indicates their level of power. The weak-sounding witch had 2 arms, indicating that it was at least a low-grade witch.
Typically, such a weak opponent wouldn't be an issue for Derrick, but he needed to hold back most of his power due to the job. Killing the thieves would nullify the job and put him in bad standing with Testament.
"Hehehe! You can't even come close to me, you wraith bastard! I'm Rokka of the witch tribe, so you better remember my name and die!"
He weaved various hand signs and imbued the symbols with spirituality. White larvae appeared and floated in the air. Upon closing the distance, Derrick attempted to punch Rokka's liver, but the white larvae exploded instantaneously.
Tsk. Every time I get close to him, he just uses that strange larva ability! It seems like it's activated based on proximity. I can't just rush in and attack like I usually do. I need a ranged attack.
Derrick exerted his spirituality outward and compressed his spirit flames into a tangible object. He created a long chain with enough force to tear apart stone walls. He spun the chain at an extremely high speed before striking the floorboard with a scooping motion. The fragmented floorboards flew through the air and set off the white larvae. The chain explosion blew up smoke and gave Derrick enough time to set up a trap.
He bound Rokka's body with the spirit chain, completely negating Rokka's spell-casting ability. Capturing Rokka was far easier than expected. It seems he had vastly overestimated Rokka's ability.
Disregarding Rokka, Derrick rushed towards the locked door. However, the Beastman Raul lunged at Derrick to interfere with his plan.
However, Ying's remains began to regenerate and his severed hands grabbed onto Raul's ankles. He had purposely taken hits from Raul to throw him off guard.
"Stop!" Raul roared.
Derrick turned to Beastman and unleashed a devastating kick at his abdomen. It wasn't enough to kill him, but the attack instantly knocked him out.
With the final enemy felled, the battle was over. Derrick and Ying had obtained the notes.