Chapter 95 95 – The Battle Before Leaving 2/2



*Clap*

A clap echoed in the cave as the bald monk closed his hands and two large palms formed and tried to squish one of the enemies.

"Help!"

The man shouted desperately, and Ethan, the high Nascent Soul disciple, came to his aid and blocked one of the palms. He found out he needed to exert some effort for it.

·ƈθm 'Strong!'

Ethan was shocked by the revelation. He was an elite from a top sect, yet he had felt pressure while blocking half an attack from someone that was two sub-stages under him.

The other disciple did his best to resist the other palm, and he managed to succeed with his best defenses, coming out of the ordeal with his arms slightly shaking from the pressure. Without noticing, their minds turned slightly agitated, a result of the Demonic Qi.

"AHH! Don't use the antidotes!"

One of the three disciples that took an antidote behind screamed in pain. They carried a few types of antidotes on them, and once poisoned, a disciple that was also an alchemist determined which antidote would be most fitting to take.

'Hmph, as if it would be that easy to dispel poison that I made myself.'

--------

A few days ago:

"It might be a good time to stop your ambush here. Soon they will send a large group of disciples to take you down; although I stopped their elders from seeing your setup, they still sensed your presence and your stages."

Benjamin instructed the small group after they finished killing a few more disciples wearing gray robes, indicating them to be outer disciples of the Four Seasons Sect.

"Elder Benjamin, can they break through our formations?"

Miles asked the elder with a questioning tone. Their fights so far were barely challenging enough to be qualified as fights. They were more like a one-sided slaughter.

"Don't underestimate the means of a top sect. They will surely deduce there are powerful formations suppressing their disciples here and will send a Formation Suppression Scroll with their troops."

The elder explained the way the scroll worked and the five understood the danger. Ken pondered on the issue for a minute before asking another question.

"Elder Benjamin, I've noticed that their disciples carry many types of antidotes. How do they determine which one to take?"

"They will have an alchemist or two in their group. The alchemist will determine the type of poison they're dealing with and instruct the others which antidote is most likely to help."

"I see."

Ken smiled under his menacing mask.

--------

Back to the present:

Ken already researched the pills the members of the enemy sect carried on themselves. After understanding the way that they determined which antidote to use, he knew he only needed to fool the alchemists.

To this end, he placed two attributes of poison in his pills. One was dominant while the other, made by Fire Qi extracted from fifth-grade ores, was hidden and only activated under special conditions. 

The moment the three enemies behind took the antidotes, they felt a powerful sensation of fire in their veins, bones, and skins. The Fire Qi hidden in their body reacted to the antidote Ken foresaw they will use. 

While what he could do with poison ingested by touch was limited, he used the power of the antidote they swallowed directly to kill them instantly.

The fire started burning inside them, and the disciples, screaming in pain, combusted in flames until only ashes remained.

"No!"

Ethan shouted furiously when he saw he already lost 3 more members of his team. Even if they managed to kill the 5 without any further casualties, it'd still be considered the victory of the Divine Sword Sect with this killing ratio.

"I will defend against the monk's attacks. Jackie, you attack him. Bruce, you take down the archer, she attacked us so it isn't a violation of the rules. Grace and Beatrix, you two deal with the fire saber user."

Ethan shouted orders while the five were dodging and blocking the attacks against them. He originally planned to take their time and play it safe by neutralizing the poison first and only then go for the easy kill, but the poison was more problematic than he anticipated.

Now that 5 already died from the poison, he couldn't retreat without producing results, or he'd lose all his merit points along with everyone else who followed him. 

He also knew that the situation would only get worse the more they stalled since he felt the poison seeping into his skin, worsening his condition. The only option was to attack head-on and win as fast as possible regardless of casualties.

Bruce, as a scout, could find Diana quite easily. He brandished his spear and rushed toward her, deflecting all the arrows she shot at him. That moment, Jane lunged forward and swung down her greatsword, activating her techniques.

Bruce blocked the sword with a technique of his own, and the two started dancing in battle. Bruce would find an opportunity to land a blow every now and then between defending from both the greatsword and the arrows, but each time he did, Jane's talismans activated and saved her from taking a fatal injury.

Meanwhile, Miles was locked in his own battle. Two pretty ladies were trying to poke him with their swords, something he always preferred to be the one doing when interacting with pretty ladies.

Luckily for him, they were both weakened and lost at least 50% of their power, making them sluggish and slow. Their attacks were out of sync, and their coordination was poor, all because they weren't used to fighting under those conditions.

'Fire Flowers.'

An attack awfully resembling Senbonzakura was created from his Saber Qi and Fire Qi. Many burning petals were flying in the air around him, enveloping him in a cocoon of fire blades. He moved between the girls while swinging his saber for additional pressure.

'Stab Through.'

The women used the same technique, stabbing with their swords and trying to cut through the burning petals and reach Miles' heart. 

-----

I opened a discord server, come and join! (The link is written in the synopsis)