Chapter 136: Encounter [3]

"I don't think it is right for you to join me in anything when you haven't even introduced yourself, no?"Atlas' mind immediately went cold. His eyes lost any emotion that could be used by his opponent as he faced him.

"I don't know about that," the beastly man said. He jumped down from the small perch he stood on and joined Atlas on the floor.

"I think even if I do that you wouldn't be able to stop me."

"What do you want?" Atlas growled.

He got straight to the point. The beastly man's gaze never left his eyes despite the great treasure behind his back. It was an obvious indication that the treasure meant nothing to him.

He was only interested in Atlas.

'Is he with Dusk?'

That was the first possible explanation, but it was proved false just moments later.

The beastly man grinned, approaching slowly.

"I saw you in the second trial. You have some interesting techniques. I just wonder how strong they really are…"

"Say, why don't you try to kill me?"

"I would prefer not to."

"Why not?"

"Are you worth my time?"

It was an arrogant answer that made the man even happier.

"I think I am more than worth your time," he said.

Atlas sighed. It was an answer that could only be given by a man desperate for conflict. He wasn't going to be able to avoid this battle.

'In that case, I need to get it over with before they kill the beast.'

He still had to tap the Caridian Flesh Tree and steal its sap before the rest arrived. This man clearly wanted to make himself seem important, but Atlas couldn't give him that kind of time or attention.

Drawing his blades, he sighed once more.

"If death is what you want, then death is what I'll offer you. Come, let us see just how worthy you truly are."

The man's grin widened. His eyes dilated as he experienced bliss and as he snapped his arms out, they transformed into large mutated blades.

'More of a beast than a cultivator.'

It was the second time Atlas had the thought, and as their battle began, it would not be the last.

The man moved first. He appeared in front of Atlas like he'd teleported and swung his massive arm blades with extreme power. He didn't have to worry about transferring power to the blades as they were part of his body, so they could be mobilized in very unique ways.

Atlas' eyes narrowed. He raised his chain sickles to meet the blades. But he soon changed his mind and stepped out of their trajectory.

Whoosh!

They cut through the air right in front of his face with a level of sharpness that he didn't expect.

'My blades will be shattered if they come in contact with those.'

The Darkstar Iron was too weak to contend against the mysterious material.

'Will it be the same against the rest of his body?'

Atlas didn't know, but he didn't take the time to think about it.

Instead, the moment those blades passed by, Atlas moved in and took the opportunity to attack.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

What would have been a perfect opportunity turned into an unexpected clash. Momentum was always a worry when using long blades. It was impossible to change their paths once they'd been determined. Rather, one was forced to wait until the slash was complete before attacking again.

This beastly man did not have that problem. His blades were his arms themselves, and the joints that connected his arms were clearly reinforced to a high degree.

Abruptly, his blades came up and pushed away Atlas' attacks. He let loose a flurry of slashes and cuts that Atlas was then forced to dodge.

'This won't work.'

It was an easy conclusion to reach. The man was too dextrous even for Atlas. He was able to reach a level of flexibility that simply wasn't possible with a regular human body structure.

'Then…'

The chain sickles disappeared into his sleeves.

[3-Layered Shockwave]

Boom!

The ground beneath them shattered and broke their stances. Atlas was able to immediately recover and retreat, but the beastly man had to take a moment to steady himself.

"Not bad," he said.

"Usually, they're already dead by now. The quality of cultivators in this Tower is shit."

He flicked his blades and smiled at Atlas.

"But it's also where people like you gather, so it was worth coming."

Bang!

He shot forward and attacked again. His pattern was the same as if he knew that others wouldn't be able to counter regardless, but Atlas did not dodge.

He stood with his palms raised and took a step forward.

[Counterflow]

A fighting technique Alaric described as, "annoying and cowardly but perfect for you," [Counterflow] was meant to use the enemy's own force against them.

Atlas' palms pressed against the flat side of the blades. He winced, noticing that he was cut by the seemingly smooth surface, but that didn't stop his movements.

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In one fluid motion, he brought his arms down and guided the swords with them, pushing them away and into the ground.

Bang!

They did find their targets, only, those targets were nothing but air. The beastly man's torso was left open, and Atlas stepped in to attack.

[Dominating Fist]

Boom!

This was the final basic technique that Alaric taught him. In his own words, it was a prerequisite to something that Atlas didn't need to know quite yet.

The qi sent into his fist compressed into itself and enhanced its own power before bursting out all at once when Atlas made contact with anything.

Crack!

Two cracking sounds were heard as the beastly man's body was thrown back. He was forced to grit his teeth to hide his pain, but Atlas could still see it.

'My hand is broken.'

However, so was one of his ribs. It was an equivalent exchange. Or, it would have been if Atlas was a benevolent person.

[Regeneration]

His hand started to heal just in time. He wasn't going to be on the back foot a third time.

Atlas took the opportunity and chased after the beastly man while he was still trying to regain his balance.

[Exploding Runes]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The flames of everburn contained within the runes exploded out and covered the entire ground in a sea of fire.

'Tch.'

Atlas was forced to take a moment and reclaim some of his qi to keep the flames away from the Caridian Flesh Tree, but he didn't lose that second. If there was one thing [Exploding Runes] were good for, it was distracting the enemy for some seconds.

'He is strong, but not an impossible enemy.'

No, this man was strong in the same way that Atlas was. He was a person who used his own advantages to have his current fighting power while still being an Earth Sage.

In some ways, he was respectable.

"Hahahahaha!"

However, the mania that he fueled with his every step made him hard to see favorably.

"Good! Good! You might be one of those, then! That's perfect!"

He spouted nonsense that Atlas couldn't understand, not even attempting to avoid the flames.

"You, I'll tell you my name."

He stepped forward. His skin was melting, but beneath, what was revealed was an armor made of bones that wrapped around his entire body. It was his own skeletal structure, not some sort of artifact. Searᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"I am called Cain! Remember it."

He grinned a grin so filled with insanity that it was palpable.

"Now, let's go for round two."