Chapter 464: Expert Ranks Cowering in Fear
Even though the initial blow had been a surprise attack, it didnât change the brutal reality of what had happened. To kill an Expert Rank warrior with just two attacks⊠it was insane. Unbelievable.
There was a saying etched deep into the bones of this world: To match the strength of an Expert Rank, you had to at least be an Expert Rank yourself. It was a universal truth.
No amount of talent, no clever tricks, no overwhelming courage could substitute for the sheer gap in power that existed between an Expert Rank and anyone below it. It was a line carved in blood and history.
And yet, Max, a youth who hadnât even stepped into the Seeker Rank, who should have still been struggling against lower-tiered enemies, had crossed that line as if it didnât exist. He had shattered it beneath his feet, leaving behind nothing but a crater, dust, and a silence that spoke louder than any war cry.
The battlefield felt different now. Heavy. Charged. As if everyone had suddenly realized that Max wasnât just a target to be captured.
He was a threat to be feared.
âThis kid⊠is he truly the child of the God Ancestor?â the silver-haired elven woman muttered under her breath, her voice trembling slightly with disbelief. Her usually calm, regal eyes were wide with shock as she stared at Max, standing tall amidst the wreckage of the battlefield.
She found it nearly impossible to accept what her own eyes had witnessedâa human, still clearly in the Adept Rank, had killed an Expert Rank warrior as easily as snapping a twig.
It sounded too foolish to be true, a wild fantasy that defied everything she knew about cultivation, about power, about the laws that governed their world. Yet it had happened right before her, undeniable and absolute.
âGo and capture him, all of you! You can break his legs and hands if needed!â roared one of the remaining 9th-level Expert Rank warriors, his face twisted in rage and fear.
His pride as an Expert Rank couldnât bear the sight of Max standing untouched after such an overwhelming show of force.
At his furious command, five Expert Rank warriors immediately moved to surround Maxâtwo among them were Level 2 Expert Rank cultivators, while the remaining three were at Level 1.
Maxâs sharp eyes calmly swept across the enemies closing in on him, his mind cold and calculating even as the pressure around him mounted. âI have to take the lead here,â he thought, his heartbeat steady, his mind flashing through possibilities like lightning.
His gaze locked onto one of the Level 2 Expert Rank figuresâa sturdy man clad in dark armor, whose aura was slightly stronger than the others but who also seemed the least cautious.
âIf I kill one of them fast, I can break their momentum,â Max reasoned, his pupils narrowing as a cold ruthlessness seeped into his gaze.
Without hesitation, he called upon the Concept of Spaceâ
Whoosh!
Maxâs figure flickered and disappeared like a mirage, reappearing in a split second behind the Level 2 Expert Rank warrior.
âSoulpierce Ascension!â
Max roared inwardly the moment he reappeared behind the Level 2 Expert Rank warrior. In that split second, his soul energy surged violently, channeling the soul attack he had comprehended from the Violet Lightning deep inside his opponentâs mind.
There was no brilliant light, no flashy explosionâonly an invisible, devastating assault directly on the enemyâs consciousness.
The warriorâs eyes immediately glazed over, his body freezing midair as his mind went blank, his Vital Essence shellâthe invisible armor protecting his body and soulâcollapsing entirely in that instant.
Maxâs eyes gleamed fiercely, the moment of vulnerability glaringly clear to him. Without hesitation, he followed up with another skillâone of his most devastating legendary-rank abilities.
âVoid Coating!â Max growled, his right hand clenching tightly, the skin instantly turning a ghastly shade of gray, like ash. A strange, eerie aura of spatial distortion wrapped around his arm, twisting the air itself with an ominous hum.
Then, putting all the force of his Draconic Essences and Concept of Space into it, Max slammed his fist straight into the chest of the stunned warrior.
A dull, bone-shuddering impact sounded as Maxâs gray-coated fist sank into the manâs bodyâand then, a horrifying sight unfolded.
Cracks began to spread rapidly across the warriorâs body, starting from the point of impact like fractures on a mirror. They didnât bleed; instead, thin blue glows pulsed along the jagged lines, illuminating the cracks with a sickly, otherworldly light.
The fractures didnât stop at his fleshâthey seemed to stretch deeper, splitting through his very essence, his very existence.
And then suddenlyâthe cracks didnât stop at his body. They extended outward into the space around him, spreading like spiderwebs through the air itself, as if the very dimension around him was splintering.
Shatter!
With a sound like glass breaking in a silent cathedral, the Level 2 Expert Rank warriorâs body exploded into countless shards of light and space fragments. His body disintegrated utterly, torn apart by the collapse of the space around him.
Yet unlike space, which rapidly stitched itself back together after the destruction, the warriorâs body did not. The pieces of him floated for a brief, haunting secondâfragmented and brokenâbefore being carried away by the winds of battle.
He was gone.
Erased.
And Max stood there in the middle of the wreckage, his gray-coated hand slowly returning to normal, his breathing calm and steady, his eyes locked coldly onto the stunned enemies still surrounding him.
He had killed a Level 2 Expert Rank warriorânot with brute strength alone, but with overwhelming technique, speed, and ruthlessness.
And now, every remaining enemy finally understoodâ
The boy standing before them was not someone they could toy with.
He was a monster.
âThisâŠ!â one of the Level 1 Expert Rank warriors stuttered, his entire body trembling uncontrollably as he stared at the floating fragments of his fallen comrade, disbelief and horror etched across his face. The warriorâs fingers clutched his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white, but he couldnât hide the fear in his eyes.
âHeâs too strong!â another one cried out, his voice cracking with sheer panic, his feet instinctively taking a step back in the air, as if distancing himself could somehow protect him from the nightmare standing before them.
âWe⊠weâre not his opponents at all!â the last of the Level 1 Experts gasped, unable to keep the dread out of his voice, his body shivering as if he were standing naked against a raging winter storm.
âDonât you cower here!â the surviving Level 2 Expert Rank warrior barked sharply, his voice rough and desperate, trying to cut through the rising tide of fear among his remaining allies. His dark blue hair fluttered wildly in the battlefield wind, and his eyes, though shaken, gleamed with a stubborn, burning defiance. âHeâs strong, yes,â he admitted, clenching his fists tightly, âbut we have numbers. He canât kill all four of us if we attack him at the same time!â
He turned to lock eyes with Max, who stood silently, eyes gleaming coldly, utterly unfazed by the panic his actions had caused. The Level 2 Expert Rank warrior gritted his teeth and shouted again, louder this time as if trying to convince himself as much as the others. âBoth the times he killed one of us, he used the benefit of sneak attacks! He ambushed us when we werenât prepared! We underestimated himâthatâs the only reason he succeeded! But now that we know what heâs capable of, now that weâre ready, his tricks wonât work on us!â
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!