ATAPOW Chapter 208
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Chapter 208: The Silhouette Behind Him
“Oh, look what we got here? Come and take a look, there’s a fool here trying to play the hero?” A troll spoke with an eccentric undertone in his voice. The other two trolls exchanged glances with him before directing their attention to the man clad in metal armor.
The troll who made the remark slightly adjusted his neck, causing a series of cracking noises to fill the air. He then moved forward while flexing his fingers, causing the ground to tremble slightly with every heavy step he took.
“What did you say, little runt? This almighty being didn’t quite catch it. Care to repeat it once more?” The troll hunched his body and leaned his ear closer in a provocative manner.
“Shring…” His statement was met with the sound of a sword being unsheathed from its scabbard.
“Hahahaha… Don’t tell me you actually believe that this toothpick in your hand is capable of wounding this-….”
“Crack, crack, crack!” The sound of shattering bones and tearing flesh froze the derisive expression on the troll’s face.
The icy-cold sensation piercing deep into his chest felt undoubtedly real and genuine to him.
[Demon Slayer — Crimson Memorandum]
The silver sword, adorned with an exquisite pattern, effortlessly impaled the troll’s chest. The sound of bones shattering resounded as the sword’s hilt rotated and turned the tissues and bones within his body into fragments.
“Uwooh…!” The large eyes of the trolls conveyed a sense of hysterical pain and were on the verge of bulging out of their socket.
“Crack, crack, crack — Swoosh!!” Glimmering with a dazzling silver radiance, the longsword shot out from the troll’s shoulder, instantly removing one of his arms.
With his strength deprived, the troll’s eyes grew vacant and his knees gave way, causing him to kneel on the ground. His massive head hung powerlessly, like an inmate on death row awaiting imminent execution.
Despite that, the longsword showed no intention of halting its fluid motion. In an instant, a silver radiance whizzed past, taking advantage of his defenselessness to aim for his neck.
His gigantic head was sent flying into the air. The decapitated corpse swayed several times in an erratic manner before it slowly collapsed onto the ground. In the wake of its fall, a surge of bodily fluid gushed out from the exposed wound.
“Ho-how dare you, scoundrel!” The remaining troll duo was both shocked and angry, baring their teeths and brandishing the weapons strapped on their back. At that moment, they had forgotten the purpose of their journey there.
The customers in the store were left breathless by the shocking scene that unfolded before them.
Ji Bai’s eyes fell on his silver sword — Its surface gleamed with a chilly radiance in the sunlight, with not a trace of bodily fluid to be seen.
It was a fine sword, its quality not inferior to his holy sword, Heaven’s Abundance.
He swept his gaze over the trolls who were furiously looking at him before kicking away the decapitated corpse at his feet. A cold gleam flickered within the crevices of his helmet.
If it had been in the past, even Ji Bai would have had no choice but to activate his [Radiant Armor] when faced with the possibility of all-around attacks from three trolls.
Meanwhile, Lil’ Sha was rendered speechless from shock as she silently observed the commotion from a hiding spot in the corner. In her impressions, Ji Bai was strong, but that assessment was only limited to comparisons between the Asiatic Cat Race and the human race. She was doubtful whether he would have a significant advantage against the mainstays of a second-tiered species; After all, it was hard to bridge the gap between species.
As she stared at his imposing figure, Lil’ Sha’s eyes were filled with glowing spirits. She could not help but notice that Ji Bai’s fighting style seemed somewhat different than before.
While the person standing there was still the knight clad in inferior armor, his silhouette seemed to transform into something else altogether…
[Demon Slayer], a set of sword techniques invented by the Godslayer of the Second Epoch. Legend had it that these techniques were employed to vanquish Gods, with their killing power amplifying exponentially when facing opponents many times stronger and more tyrannical than the user.
Until now, such sword techniques had already been lost for close to two epochs.
Until now, that is.
The memories of the nameless ancient knight had bestowed upon Ji Bai knowledge that extended beyond the world’s underlying structure.
With his expertise in numerous ancient martial arts and sword techniques, the knight in pitch-black armor stood unrivaled in his comprehension of the way of the sword.
The mastery he attained through a lifetime of honing his skills in various martial arts, coupled with his deep understanding and insightful knowledge, had culminated in the creation of the unparalleled set of sword techniques known as [Demon Slayer].
The knowledge of these sword techniques, as well as his understanding and insights utilizing them, had all been imparted onto Ji Bai’s mind.
This resulted in Ji Bai’s execution of the sword techniques being practically on par with the original creator himself.
The disparity between him and the nameless Gulan race warrior laid mainly in factors such as strength, constitution, species tier and other attributes.
As far as technique was concerned, Ji Bai was nearly on par with him, having fully assimilated his memories in this regard. However, due to the aforementioned differences, he was incapable of unleashing a power comparable to that of its original creator. Even so, it was more than sufficient to deal with these insignificant enemies.
“W-Who are you?? Aren’t you also a demon? We have no grudge against you, so why did you act so arrogantly here? Do you think you can escape the consequences just because you have diplomatic immunity?” A troll seethed in anger as he pointed at Ji Bai and interrogated him.
Meanwhile, the decapitated troll corpse was being witnessed by onlookers on the street and the customers in the store who had a clear view of the unfolding events. Despite the untimely nature of this situation, a mixture of satisfaction and nauseating disgust arose within them, as the pent-up emotions that had been building up inside were released.
“Oh! I understand now. You’re a member of that dissident group, aren’t you? Your timing couldn’t be better. I’m going to rip your head off and take it back as proof of completing the task!” The troll shouted angrily, stomping his thick feet on the ground with such force that the houses on the street trembled slightly.
As the two enraged troll foot soldiers confronted him, Ji Bai did something that caught them off-guard.
He returned his silver sword to its scabbard, swiftly turned around and ran. Despite being in the middle of the commotion, he did not forget about Lil’ Sha, who had been observing everything from the sidelines. As he came around the corner, he scooped her up and tucked her under his arm.
“A-wawa~ Obscene Middle-aged man. Your strength should be enough to deal with them on the spot, so why are we running?”
“Use your head some more. If all three trolls were to die in that store, what do you think the local troll government would do to the father and daughter pair that run it?” Ji Bai glanced at Lil’ Sha who was tucked under his arm. Even though she could not see his expression, she could hear the perfunctory tone in his voice, as if he was talking to someone cognitively impaired.
“Uuuh~” Lil’ Sha expressed extreme discontent with his response. She tried her best to rack her young mind for a counterargument, but her efforts proved futile.
“Speaking of which, do you think that old man from earlier will be alright?” As she pondered about that, Lil’ Sha could not help but feel worried.
“I don’t know.” Ji Bai spoke truthfully. Besides, a second-tier species like the Asiatic Cat Race was not something he could comprehend with common sense.
If he were to go by human standards, the impact from earlier would have been enough to halve his lifespan. Despite the fact that an Asiatic Cat might sustain fewer injuries, he should not hastily jump to conclusions and assume he would survive.
“Thud, thud, thud!” Feeling vibrations reverberating through his feet, Ji Bai knew the two troll brothers were tight on his heels without having to turn his head to check.
However, he found himself forced into a dead end after taking the next corner.
As he turned around, he found himself face to face with two figures whose immense size blocked all sunlight from entering the alley.
“Hehe… Go ahead and run! Why don’t you continue running, little cockroach?” Wielding spiked clubs in their hands, the troll duo chuckled as they watched Ji Bai entering a dead-end.
“…Watch as I tear the limbs from your body, little cockroach!”
Ji Bai put Lil’ Sha down and unsheathed his silver sword. His gaze turned chilly as he confronted the troll duo.
“Swoosh!!” Two faint gusts could be heard.
Following that, something surprising took place.
The smiles of the two mountain-like trolls froze on their faces and they fell to the ground with a loud thud, stirring up clouds of dust.
Ji Bai was momentarily stunned.
‘I haven’t even made my move yet, so what’s going on??’
Feeling a sudden chill down his neck, Ji Bai instinctively lifted his gaze. There, he saw an Asiatic Cat; A scar ran across one eye, evidence of a previous encounter with a sharp blade. Leaning against the walls of the alley, he was looking down at him with a cold expression on his face.