Chapter 117: 21st Floor [4]

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Atlas had the opportunity to get familiar with the techniques that Dusk used as these assassins chased him as well. They weren't the only ones learning.

Their name didn't come from nothing. They used a certain type of flame qi that truly looked like the horizon during a sunset.

Flame qi was Atlas' old speciality, so he was able to dissect their techniques to a level they never could have expected.

'They use the concept of materialization.'

There were eight concepts associated with the Dao of Fire. They were the Concepts of Combustion, Ignition, Superheat, Materialization, Emberforging, Ethereal Alchemy, Nirvana, and Everburn.

Of them, materialization wasn't one that usually associated itself with direct combat power. The concept of materialization defined a property of fire that allowed it to materialize as a solid object.

Experts in this kind of style usually formed weapons and other constructs with their flames. In the teachings of Dusk, the same concept was used instead to materialize an environment. seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The atmosphere of Dusk spread. The assassins became concealed within that atmosphere. Their qi was enhanced while Atlas' qi was suppressed. Experience tales at m v|l e'-NovelFire.net

There was no heat in the flames of Dusk. They were instead cold and foreboding, attacking the mind and qi channels more than the flesh body.

They were difficult to deal with, but they also didn't have insane and unavoidable destructive power. Atlas' dexterity was enough to get around them and play their game.

[Cloud Steps]

It was the perfect technique in this situation. This was exactly where [Cloud Steps] was supposed to be used.

It didn't provide much speed, but it took one's movements to a new level of perplexion. Each step looked like three in opposite directions in the eyes of the enemy. With this kind of ethereal appearance combined with the natural flexibility Atlas developed during his training sessions with Alaric, his body was more nimble than anyone else.

He could twist himself impossibly, taking steps at long and short intervals with such precision that all attacks swept by him. The impact from many of the larger moves the assassins used was unable to reach him, as the sudden usage of [Burst Step] supported [Cloud Steps] and brought the martial skill to a new height.

Using a combination of multiple movement techniques gave Atlas a way to move regardless of what situation he found himself in. That diversity was precisely the reason for his successes.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

As attacks continued to rain down with even more frequency as Atlas succeeded in dodging and weaving, the ground under the group of seven started to crack and give way.

With more pressure striking it with every passing minute, it truly couldn't hold up. Its foundation and fortification shattered entirely, leading to what Atlas had been waiting for.

The cracks spread and became uncontrollable. A great tremor spread through the cavern, and before any of the seven could move, the floor gave out from under them.

They all fell. A few of the assassins tried to attack Atlas in the moment, but they couldn't reach him.

[Lightning Shadow Steps]

Using his most dexterous movement technique, Atlas used the falling debris in order to propel himself closer to the ground.

He wanted to land before the assassins. While this place was also unknown to him, he had the entire schematic of the ruin in his head and visible to him at any time if he used [Intrinsic Foresight].

BANG!

His feet hit pure metal before he rolled to the side to offset some momentum. Despite falling over twenty meters into the ground, he was unharmed.

Without a moment of rest, he activated the invisibility skill of his mask and hid himself in the shadows. By the time he turned visible again, he was already concealed from the eyes of anyone who would want to see him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The assassins landed a few seconds later with the same loud crashing. They were accompanied by the debris, which didn't take them into consideration at all when they fell.

The ruin was filled with the sounds of screams and groans. Several of the enemies had broken bones, and one had even been crushed to death by the falling rocks.

One of them dying immediately was fortunate news, but it wasn't the most important thing Atlas learned from that moment.

'I can kill them.'

His chances were not as close to zero as he originally believed.

These assassins were not body cultivators. They were qi cultivators. They were far stronger to Atlas which meant that their qi defenses were also stronger, but their bodies…

'...their bodies are on the same level as mine.'

If they had reached Bone Forging, they would not have taken any damage from the fall. That could be proven by his own state as someone equivalent to a body cultivator who'd achieved Bone Forging.

The only weakness Atlas could exploit was their soft bodies.

'To reach those soft bodies, I need to wait for them to let down their guards.'

The strategy was assassination. It was their greatest skill, but also the reason for their eventual downfall.

'I am not so skilled in these arts.'

In this life, Atlas was forced to learn how to properly conceal his presence, but assassination techniques were a different story.

'Hmm…'

He made no noise. Quietly standing in a place where they could not see him, his qi hidden to the greatest extremes he could possibly reach at his level, he watched them regroup and heal their injuries.

They glanced around, rapidly gaining knowledge about the current environment.

The ruin was made mostly of metal. It was cylindrical in nature with a circular clearing in the center where they fell. There were three floors of the ruin that surrounded the center, however, the second and third were blocked by a dense layer of crystalline material.

"Call the others. Make sure that he cannot escape this ruin. We will end him here," one of the assassins said to the others. He must've been the leader of the six.

"Spread out and map the schematic. He cannot be more informed than us. We need to turn this place into a grave prepared especially for him."

It was a good thought to have. The ruin could definitely become Atlas' deathbed if he went into it clueless.

However, he didn't do that, did he?

No. He watched the six assassins separate down the six pathways connected to the central area. As all seven of them fell prey to the darkness, the game began.

Atlas was hidden inside a grate in the ground. He was very aware of the fact that one of the six walked right over him, and with the other five also fading down their own corridors, he left his hiding place with the flexibility of a snake, slithering down the hallway in chase of his prey.

The blades of his chain sickles did not glint. They were black and matte from all the blood they'd been showered in. The assassin walked the halls looking to his front and sides. He knew that if the enemy was with him, he would be waiting in one of these places.

Never would he have thought that the threat was behind him in the space he'd already explored.

The corridor continued and branched out into two different sectors filled with old and rusted machinery. It looked like this ruin was used in some sort of forging activities, but everything of value had already been cleared out.

Time passed in silence. Assassination was slow work, after all.

Atlas followed the man in silence, making use of the many rooms and hidden areas in the vicinity to keep himself hidden.

At this point, the assassin had already searched a majority of his corridor. He was starting to believe that one of his brothers was currently engaging the target.

That was when it happened. For but an instant, he dropped his guard and withdrew his qi defenses in order to replenish himself. The chase that led them here and the battle that shattered the floor took some effort.

He was vulnerable in a place where he believed nobody else was present.

However, a perfect assassin could never believe such things.

There was indeed someone present, someone that he could not sense.

And in that singular moment when his guard was down, that person struck with the intent of taking his life.