Chapter 113: Fighting

Marcus led the procession, his warrior’s pride warring with pragmatic acceptance. Elena followed reluctantly, her archery skills useless against Gold-rank opposition. Jack brought up the rear, his hand still resting on his sword hilt in futile defiance.

’They’re gritting their teeth but following orders.’

The leader watched the procession with obvious satisfaction. “Excellent. Your subjects show proper respect for power dynamics. Usually, they run away when things go south.”

Derek rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Finally get to examine the merchandise up close.”

Torres’s gaze fixed on Elena with predatory hunger. “That archer’s even prettier without the bow pointed at us.”

’Stay focused. Timing is everything.’

Ethan walked ahead of his subordinates, each step carefully measured. Behind him, he could hear the soft sounds of suppressed anger—teeth grinding, fists clenching, quiet curses barely contained.

Outside the barrier, the three predators waited with patience. The leader maintained his position slightly apart from his subordinates, wariness evident even in the moment of apparent victory.

’He’s experienced. He won’t let his guard down completely.’

Derek and Torres positioned themselves to get better views of the approaching subjects, their attention particularly focused on Elena’s reluctant approach.

“Stop,” the leader commanded as Ethan drew near. “Turn around. Walk toward me with your back facing me.”

’Standard prisoner control technique.’

Ethan nodded submissively, noting their exact positions as he turned. The leader stood roughly eight meters away. Derek and Torres flanked the approach route, approximately six meters apart and ten meters from their boss.

’Perfect spread. They’ve separated themselves.’

The two subordinates watched Elena emerge from the barrier with undisguised lust, their guard dropping as they anticipated easy victory.

“Look at that,” Derek muttered to Torres. “Even better up close.”

“Dibs,” Torres replied automatically, his hand moving away from his weapon.

’Now.’

Ethan’s Enhanced Speed talent erupted like contained lightning. The world shifted into slow motion as his Gold-rank power fully manifested.

’Fire and Wind combination attack.’

His Wind talent shaped compressed air into invisible blades while his Fire talent ignited them with destructive heat. The combination created weapons that moved faster than thought, cutting edges wreathed in flames that could slice through Peak-Silver defenses like paper.

Derek’s eyes widened in the first microsecond of realization, his mouth opening to shout a warning that would never come. The fire-wreathed wind blade took his head cleanly, separating it from his shoulders before his brain could process the attack.

Torres managed half a step backward before the second blade opened his chest from collarbone to hip. His expression of shocked disbelief remained frozen as his body toppled in two pieces.

’Two down. One to go.’

The leader reacted with Gold-rank reflexes, power blazing around him as he tried to intercept Ethan’s charge. But surprise and proximity worked against him; to save them, he required time and distance he no longer possessed.

’Don’t let him escape.’

Ethan materialized directly in front of the leader, his Enhanced Speed carrying him across the intervening distance in the space between heartbeats. His Iron Enhancement talent coated his fists in metallic hardness while his full Gold-rank strength channeled into devastating strikes.

The first punch shattered the leader’s hasty guard, his arms breaking like dry branches under the impact. The second drove into his solar plexus, folding him around Ethan’s fist with explosive force.

’I can’t kill him yet.’

The leader tried to retreat, his Gold-rank power blazing as he attempted to create distance. But Ethan’s combination of talents made escape impossible—speed, strength, and tactical positioning overwhelmed him.

A Wind blade severed the tendons in the leader’s right leg, dropping him to one knee with a scream of agony.

“Argh!!”

His left leg followed seconds later as another blade found its mark with surgical precision.

’Crippled but alive. Perfect.’

The leader collapsed completely, his Gold-rank aura flickering like a dying flame as shock and blood loss took their toll. His eyes showed the dawning realization that he’d made a fatal miscalculation.

“You… you’re not a simple Gold-rank,” he gasped, blood frothing from his lips. “Impossible. New Lords are never…”

Ethan stood over his crippled opponent, power radiating from him like heat from a forge. The mask of surrender had fallen away, revealing the predator beneath—one far more dangerous than the petty territorial raiders he’d just eliminated.

Behind him, his subjects stared in stunned silence. The impossible had just occurred—their apparently defeated Lord had slaughtered three opponents in as many seconds.

’Their loyalty numbers are returning. Good, I lost quite a bit when I told them to surrender.’

Marcus was the first to find his voice. “My Lord… that was…”

“Not now,” Ethan cut him off, his gaze never leaving the broken leader. “These animals thought they were hunting sheep.”

Elena’s bow was back in her hands, an enhanced arrow nocked and pointed at the surviving attacker. “What do we do with him?”

’I need to extract as much information as possible. ’

Ethan knelt beside the leader, his voice dropping to a conversational tone that somehow carried more menace than screaming would have. “You’re going to answer some questions. How you answer determines whether you die quickly or slowly.”

The leader’s face had gone pale from blood loss, but his eyes still held traces of defiance. “You… you can’t… my Lord will…”

“Your Lord isn’t here,” Ethan interrupted quietly. “Just you, me, and a lot of questions about your operation.”

’Time to learn exactly what we’re facing.’

His subjects gathered in a protective circle, their earlier despair transformed into fierce loyalty. They’d witnessed their Lord’s true power, seen him choose their protection over his own safety, or so they thought.

The numbers on their loyalty displays climbed steadily as understanding dawned—their surrender had been tactical deception, not cowardice. Their Lord had risked everything to eliminate a threat they couldn’t have faced conventionally.

Jacoub approached cautiously, his architect’s mind already calculating improvements to their defenses. “My Lord, should we move him inside the barrier for interrogation?”

“Yes,” Ethan replied, his attention focused on the bleeding predator.

’Now we find out exactly how deep this conspiracy goes.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep