Chapter 86: Han is dead!

The man fled. Before he could, he was impaled by Ethan’s dagger.

Others who had been considering Han’s offer froze mid-step.

Better to face monsters than this silver-wrapped death that moved through human ranks like judgment incarnate.

That’s right. You need to think twice now before you do something stupid.

Han’s face contorted with rage as his recruitment drive collapsed before it could begin.

“You’re murdering our own people!”

“I’m executing traitors.” Ethan’s voice carried no emotion, no justification. Simple statement of fact.

The Harpy shrieked above, its wings generating another wind assault to protect its human ally. But Ethan was ready this time. Crystal Hardening absorbed the worst impacts while his speed carried him around the wind currents.

Time to end this charade.

“Last chance, Han.” His daggers gleamed with accumulated blood, monster and human alike.

“Surrender and face trial, or die here as a traitor.”

Han’s silver aura flared desperately, sword rising in trembling hands. Around him, the few soldiers who had initially considered his offer backed away with growing horror.

The cancer had been cauterized before it could metastasise.

Ethan moved like death incarnate, his Enhanced Speed talent blurring his body as he closed the distance between them.

His daggers were aimed for Han’s throat, he wanted it to be quick, clean, and final.

The Harpy’s wings generated a focused wind burst that caught him mid-leap. The attack redirected his momentum, his daggers scraping harmlessly off Han’s hastily raised blade.

“You’re making a mistake!” Han scrambled backwards, silver energy flickering around his sword.

“The City Lord is the real enemy!”

Ethan didn’t waste his breath on a response.

He pivoted, using the Harpy’s own wind current to accelerate toward a different angle. This time, his attack targeted Han’s exposed flank.

Steel rang against steel as Han parried desperately. The impact sent vibrations through both blades, the general’s inferior technique evident in his awkward recovery.

The Harpy swooped lower, talons extended toward Ethan’s back. He sensed the attack without turning.

He rolled forward, trying to escape the attack, which brought him beneath Han’s guard.

His dagger drove upward—

The Harpy’s talons raked across his shoulders, but his crystal talent absorbed most damage, and his strike was disrupted once again. The blade missed Han’s heart by inches, carving a shallow wound across his ribs instead.

“Argh!” Han staggered backwards, blood seeping through his armour.

Not deep enough.

The Harpy circled for another attack. It had read Ethan’s movement patterns, timing its interventions.

Need to change tactics.

Ethan activated his Fire talent, flames gathering around his left hand while his right maintained grip on his bloodied daggers.

“Let’s see how well you coordinate against multiple threats.”

He hurled the fireball not at Han but at the Harpy’s flight path. The creature twisted to avoid the blazing projectile, momentarily disrupting its protective circle.

The opening lasted barely a heartbeat.

Ethan struck during that window, launching himself towards Han with explosive force. Both daggers targeted vital points—one for the heart, one for the throat.

Han raised his blade in desperate defence, silver energy condensing around the steel. The weapons met with thunderous impact that sent shockwaves across the ruined street.

Han’s blade shattered under the assault, fragments scattering as Ethan’s daggers continued their lethal arc.

The Harpy’s shriek split the air as it dove towards them.

Ethan made his choice.

He twisted mid-strike, accepting the Harpy’s claws across his back to ensure his daggers found their mark.

Han’s eyes widened in shock, then dimmed as life fled his treacherous form. He collapsed backwards, silver aura guttering like a snuffed candle.

<You have killed Mid-Silver Human, Han>

Finally..

The Harpy shrieked in anguish, its attack having failed to deliver the killing blow it had sacrificed Han to achieve. Blood streamed from Ethan’s wounds, but his Regeneration talent was already working.

Ethan circled warily as the Harpy pressed its assault. Wind blades screamed through the air heading to his position.

He ducked beneath a horizontal wind slash.

Boom!

A building behind him crumpled.

His defensive talents and speed kept him alive against an opponent that should have overwhelmed him through its aerial superiority.

The Harpy dove towards Ethan, its talons extended for his skull. Ethan sidestepped at the last moment, daggers flashing toward the creature’s exposed flank.

His dagger met the Harpy’s feathers before penetrating its flesh in a spray of blood.

It wasn’t a killing blow, but enough to make the Harpy reconsider its reckless charges.

Fifty meters away, Ruan barely avoided decapitation as the behemoth’s massive claw swept through the space his head had occupied moments before.

Too close. Too many close calls.

Without Ethan coordinating their assault, the three remaining generals struggled against the regenerating monster. Its wounds from earlier had mostly sealed, eye stalks tracking their movements with renewed clarity.

“Wei, left flank!” Ruan commanded, silver energy flickering around his notched blade. “Zhao, keep it distracted!”

Lightning crackled as Zhao’s spear struck armoured plating, the electrical discharge barely scratching crystalline surfaces. The behemoth’s retaliation sent her tumbling across broken stone, armour dented from the glancing blow.

We’re losing.

Wei’s twin swords carved shallow furrows that sealed almost immediately. The creature’s defence was terrifying, they couldn’t do enough damage whilst also being cautious.

“Damn it, this is not going to work” Wei gasped between strikes. “We need—”

A massive claw caught him across the chest, launching him into a collapsed building. His silver aura flickered weakly as consciousness wavered.

Just me and Zhao now.

…

Across the ruined plaza, Ezekiel and the monkey had reached a stalemate of mutual destruction. Both bled from dozens of wounds, their silver energies flickering with exhaustion.

“Getting tired, little lord?” The monkey grinned through its bloodied teeth, staff intercepting another axe strike. “Your city burns while you waste time with me.”

Ezekiel’s response came as a horizontal slash that opened another gash across the creature’s ribs. “It’ll still be standing when you’re dead.”

Their battle had become a war of attrition.

Neither possessed the energy for decisive strikes, yet neither could afford to yield ground.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep