A Day To Remember

The fight did not end quickly, as Xiao struggled to find an opportunity to strike. None of his attacks turned out to be the ‘one good hit’ he sought. Though marred with cuts and injury, the red wolf still stood, growling defiantly as it stared down upon the human who had dared to intrude upon its territory.

Xiao was not without his own injuries… He had managed to evade the worst of it, but he was fairly certain that a few of his bones bore cracks upon them. Luckily, adrenaline pushed him forward. He once again bared his spear at the beast.

He could probably walk away now, retreat using the fact that the interior of the building was too small for the great wolf to navigate through…

But no, he felt the drive to continue fighting head-on, so he stanced himself up and prepared.

The beast similarly tensed up, its maw tightly gripping the hilt of its giant greatsword... With a low growl, it eyed the young cultivator, and a moment later… Both the human and the wolf moved.

Channelling all of the strength available, Xiao's muscles grew to their maximum size, and whilst running at full speed, he launched the spear through the air, aiming straight for the canine’s face. The unexpected manoeuvre caught the beast off guard. Its ocean-blue eyes went wide for a moment, as it instinctively deflected the spear.

As the sound of steel gnashing against steel resounded, Xiao was already close–Too close...

He unsheathed his blade and, in a swift motion, slashed at the side of the wolf’s neck, dealing a severe wound before evading an attack from the beast and stepping back.

The valiant creature tried to stand its ground, but blood poured out of its neck… Soon, its legs weakened, and it fell on its side. All it could do now was wield its bestial instinct to its maximum strength in an attempt tos stimulate its natural healing factor, but it only bought it a little while longer. Even with the bleeding stopped, it had lost too much blood.

Xiao sighed heavily. The red wolf was not yet dead, but it was thoroughly defeated. It would soon pass away no matter what he did.

The adrenaline began fading, and as such, he felt the weight of his own injuries and fatigue fall upon him. His body felt like it was crying out in agony. Still, he couldn’t yet relax. He needed to pull himself together and claim his spoils–The greatest thing he could hope to obtain in this world… Weapon Encyclopedia. Once he acquired this technique, he would be set for life.

Xiao would be able to live an incredibly long existence as one of–If not the–Strongest existence in this entire world… It was right here, buried underground, just beneath a small flower that the wolf had been resting right next to.

‘Nothing will be able to threaten me… With this technique and my knowledge of the plot, I’ll be able to live without any fear!’

“Xiao!” the voice of his spectral master rang out, and just as it occurred, a swift shadow surged from behind a wall, Xiao’s sword clashing against a Jian.

The strike was powerful, managing to send him stumbling backwards.

“Who the hell are you?”

The ambusher did not respond, but something was clearly off about him. The man was wrapped in a thick layer of black bandages adorned with all sorts of symbols. His face was covered by a black bag bearing the simple drawing of an eye.

‘Isn’t that a symbol from the Sect Of The Old Decay?’ he wondered, but soon, a shadow was cast over him as another figure appeared. Standing atop a destroyed wall, a silhouette overlooked the scene with a noble nonchalance that was so strangely specific that Xiao would have recognised the person without his sight…

“Edrick?!”

“Yes, that is my name. But do look at what I am holding”

“You…”

Anoteros was holding a tied-up Ai, the inner disciple’s face was full of sorrow as she was unable to move, as the Elt scion held her up like a piece of meat.

“Tell me, I noticed you staring intently at this flower. Is it where it’s buried?”

“How do you even-”

“I have a good network of information, and that's all you need to know…” Edrick casually threw Ai over at the bandaged figure, who caught her effortlessly.

The noble scion jumped down from the broken wall. For some reason, he was unarmed.

“You know me, I am a good guy. I will leave you two options–Well, there are more than these, but anything else you can think of? It won’t work out anyway. So… You either surrender right now and put your sword down, or you fight me”

He leaned forward with a broad smile.

“Let’s be honest, you are in no shape to face me. It will just be a beatdown. And I am not kind, nor stupid enough, to let you recover before we have our final duel… Anyway, I quite enjoyed ruining your storyline, so I can be satisfied without an epic fight to close it off”

“Storyline? You… You aren’t Zixuan Elt at all!”

“I would have thought that my name would have given me away from the very start, you know? I would call you stupid, but I guess that you merely assumed that it was an unforeseen change in the script… After all, another body snatcher in your little fantasy world? Wouldn’t that sound preposterous, heh?”

“What in damnation are you two talking about?” Chenzhe was confused, but Xiao barely even registered the words of the ghost.

“But anyway… I guess that we aren’t from the same world since you didn’t recognise my name… I used to be quite the rockstar, you know? Edrick Lucien Anoteros! The greatest serial killer of all time! The idol of young women! The face of hybristophilia! If that doesn’t ring a bell, then we really come from completely different worlds”

Xiao had never heard of any of this…

The crimson-eyed disciple raised his sword nonetheless.

“So, fight it is? I wasn’t expecting anything else from you, to be honest”

Despite his injuries, Xiao rushed at Edrick with incredible speed, but his sword only slashed air as the scion dodged out of the way.

The last surviving member of the Chen clan prepared to counter an attack. However, instead of a punch, kick, or anything else like that, a huge, sasquatch hand came slamming into him, uncaring about the blade that was in its way.

Xiao was brutally flung into a wall.

His weary body screamed out with pain as he watched Edrick’s left forearm and hand return to that of a human, bearing the same wound that the sasquatch appendage had endured to deliver this crushing blow. Though... He did not seem affected in the least.

He struggled to get back on his feet as Edrick merely stood and watched. A smile crept up onto his face.

“Say, Xiao… What are you made of?”