Chapter 201: Needing a Hand

Chapter 201: Needing a Hand

Even as my head is still regenerating, the slight feeling of consciousness (without having a head) from before provides some benefits.

For the briefest second, I can sense whats going on without my head having regenerated.

Before me is a panting man, weakened by poison and exhaustion, who is facing off against 12 spirit beasts with cultivation. All around him lay 13 others that he had already killed.

All of the swarm creatures have already been annihilated.

In the initial assault, they had taken point and tried to attack outright. Succeeding in some respects, but failing in many others. The 13 creatures are the ones that assisted in pulling his attention away from me and covering me at the same time.

Deep burns from his light-based abilities scar their body, in addition to corroding portions that are from his demonic cultivation technique.

Almost immediately, I heal and try to save as many as I can, but Im only able to help one from the downed thirteen thats on the cusp of death. Its already been too long since the others have passed.

It also appears the others have learned from the initial assault; theyre sneaking in and out of the surrounding greenery while covering each other. Despite that, they still dont fully trust each other and arent working in full coordination.

It looks like they were able to do enough to distract him, but did not make any headway past that.

It looks like thats going to be my job to bring them together and finish this fight.

As my head finally fully regenerated, Ao Jins face turns toward me with a scowl. It appears he doesnt have the energy to even make a statement.

He throws a light at my location, obviously attempting to cut off my head again.

With me now conscious, I immediately direct one of the tamed creatures, a fast-moving bird of some kind, to move in the path of the Decapitating blow. I promised the creature that I will immediately heal it, so that way it wont die like the others.

Ao Jins eyes automatically widen and he throws another light back at me realizing the danger if Im fully conscious again.

One of the other creatures, a large and fast striking snake beast, takes the opportunity to attack a specific place. The location of the Talisman holding me in place.

Instantly, I heal all these creatures that have been assisting me to full, granting them a massive boost in energy and health. The two creatures in question already move the slightest bit quicker from this.

Of course, Ive been using my scan to plan this all out.

If this doesnt work, then I wont even be able to join the fight, which will make us all surviving much less likely to succeed. And after all the pain I put him through, he will not let me have an easy death, let alone life.

The snake continues in his blind spot while he focuses on me, and just as he notices it, the snake breaks away. Naturally, his eyes follow closely on this emerging threat, but hidden from underneath it was a tiny, but strong praying mantis. Zipping stealthily close, it lands a strike on the Talisman in the bag.

A burning line appears in the middle of it, as the bottom half burns away and the hold on my body fades away.

Im free.

Immediately, I regenerate my arms and legs, diving away from the inevitable attack that came my way. Of course, the mantis got away as well, because he viewed me as the greater threat.

Covered in sweat, he watches us with hatred as we circle around him.

Hes tired, poisoned, and weakened from the constant attacks.

My scan takes stock of my living allies.

I have 3 birds, 3 giant centipedes, 2 moles, 2 butterflies, 1 snake, and 1 turtle (that I saved earlier). And of course, the praying mantis.

There were beetles and tarantulas, but they didnt make it. There were other creatures of the same species that didnt survive the initial confrontation as well.

All the creatures that accepted did so because this was the best option for them to progress as the options they normally had were too bleak.

Its honestly a miracle that they pushed him this far. Normally, a mid-foundation establishment would wipe the floor with them, but I truly wore him down with the swarm tactics requiring him to use all of his Qi and pushing his body to the limits to survive. Hes running below empty, right now.

It also is simply a bad matchup for him, as his abilities are meant for immense single target damage. He can still sweep the light through groups, but its like swatting an electric baton through a swarm. Still Effective, but against higher amounts, a losing battle. Now, hes weak to single targets since he cant use his abilities as effectively.

Long live Z swarm tactics.

Im not looking forward to when cultivators can literally wave a hand and make groups of enemies disappear. That will make survival tougher for me.

In the middle of my thought, he surges forward towards me, still viewing me as the greatest threat. My combat scan moves into overtime and because hes much slower than he was when I first fought him, Im able to slightly dodge his attacks.

Its not enough.

Suddenly, light streams out from the circle around him and up into the air. Even in this darkness of a jungle, massive wisps of darkness interplay with the light, like a corroding influence. Creating an arrow pointing towards our locations.

This is where our hell begins.

He visibly ages, as light pours out of the circle and soars to each of our locations, targeting us directly. Anywhere the light touches, a large incision is made, and it takes everything I have to avoid it. Darting between trees and running away from that area.

All the creatures have already been taken down, even the turtle which had a strong enough shell to withstand blows from him normally.

My healing is just barely able to keep them alive, as the lights change to focus on me, heading to my location. He already knows that as long as I live, I can continuously bring more creatures to his location. Heal any that stay. Im a danger in more ways than one.

And theres no hope for me here.

I can only make it a half step before it shreds a piece of my skin. Another step and a combat dodge only allows me to avoid losing my whole arm while sacrificing a hand.

As the light approaches my head with no other way to dodge with its speed, my scan alerts me to something that was creeping behind Ao Jin this whole time.

Someone I had honestly forgotten about in the fire of the battle.

The Panther.

Unseen and hidden to the eye and senses of a normal cultivator, it crept perilously slowly. Just as before, Ao Jin appears to not be able to see its camouflaged body. In the exact instant I would have been pierced by shards of light, it leapt.

Taking a bite around Ao Jins head and puncturing his eye.

Immediately, the light dissipates, and I rushed towards his location. As expected, the Panther is swatted away and similar to the snake from before; he smashed its body into an unrecognizable shape.

Of course, I began healing it immediately to save it the best I can.

On Ao Jins side, he is crying out in pain as the poison that was laid over his body from earlier seeped into his eye from the puncture.

Our goal was to wear him down with cuts over time and this strategy, but this made a more direct impact.

The Panther is out of the fight, but scored a hit. That is enough for me to put in place a plan that I was really hoping not to ever do.

My body surges towards him, just as he regains his faculties.

His mouth wide open, I move my hand as close to his face as possible and stick my fingers in.

Almost immediately, he chomps down on instinct, my fingers now bitten off and me pulling back.

But I dont stop there.

I direct all my healing at the dismembered fingers, willing them to grow back into an arm within his mouth as it goes down his throat. It resists, but as I pour more and more of my healing towards it, it grows and grows.

It is at this moment that he realized that he fucked up.

Somehow, I still manage the slightest bit of control over it. And the last command I sent to it was to grab something and not let go.

He immediately begins choking as his throat pathway is completely blocked and actively being obstructed. Desperately, he claws at his throat and then his mouth to reach inside to pull it out.

But, with every grasp and crushing of the bone that sticks out, he only rips out part of the regenerating pieces of bone, tissue, and meat. With deeper attempts, only making things worse.

For 30 seconds this happens, and then he turns his eyes, full of fury and fear on me, as he realized hes doomed.

Thats when I realized I didnt think this part out.

The next five minutes are the most hellish Ive ever experienced as Ao Jin ripped every piece of my body apart, smashing it into a pulp with his hands. Taking petty vengeance on even the most sensitive parts of my body, as he abandoned living and only focused on killing me and causing me suffering.

As I desperately attempted to regenerate both my arm and my body, Im forced to abandon the healing of my allies just to sustain this.

It is only because my bodys natural inclination is to heal itself, that Im able to sustain this even past losing consciousness, brain, and nervous system. In some ways, the vestiges of consciousness that remain despite me losing my head and body earlier truly played its worth here.

And then it was done.

I could feel my consciousness fully reemerge after sometime, with the first thing that comes into sight, is the stilled, bulging eyes and purple face of Ao Jin. Focused with the rage only a despairing, vengeful father could summon.

Revealing his ultimate fate.

Its finally over.