Chapter 76: Joan, The Child of Destiny
Back to the present...
"Kill that bitch!" one man roared, pointing at the redheaded woman.
The men immediately drew their knives, ready to hack her to death. However, they had barely taken a step when Brock’s thunderous voice stopped them.
"STOP!" he yelled, slowly turning around, Eddie’s head still in his arms. "Keep him safe..."
The man nodded and respectfully took the head. Brock leaned down, kissing Eddie’s head before turning to the swordswoman.
"Step back," he instructed his gang. "This bitch’s head belongs to me."
Perhaps in his rage, Brock forgot that Eddie never moved alone. If he was killed, it meant that the woman had handled several of them together.
Even though Brock was an evolver, his lackeys could feel something was wrong with the woman. Yet, no one dared to question him. Eddie’s death had hit Brock hard, and no one wanted him to lash out at them.
Thus, the men reluctantly retreated a few steps, forming a loose circle around the two of them. Brock reached down and unstrapped the oversized cleaver from his waist.
"You’ve got guts," he snarled. "Killing my brother and then walking out here like you own the place. I’ll enjoy cutting you one limb at a time and then let the goblins enjoy your body. Yes... that would be a deserving punishment for you."
The redhead merely tilted her head, already bored from all the talking. Seeing as the woman had no intention of talking, Brock raised the blade overhead. The woman also got into position.
Brock charged with surprising speed for his size. He brought the oversized cleaver down in a devastating overhead swing, aiming to split her in half.
The woman turned sideways to dodge the blade, lashing out at the same time, slashing around Brock’s naked chest.
A streak of blood appeared on his chest, starting from the right ribs to his left shoulder. Blood gushed out of the wound as Brock stumbled backwards.
"Tsk, not deep enough," the woman clicked her tongue, looking at her blade.
She had chopped off the others with ease, yet the man before her was barely affected, as if he had skin like metal. She could only put a scratch on him.
Meanwhile, Brock looked at the woman and frowned before breaking into laughter.
"Hehe... HAHA!"
The gang members around involuntarily stepped back. They had seen the scene once before. Back when the twins challenged him. Although he lost the battle then, the twins recognized his talent and even gave him a nickname.
The Mad Titan.
Someone who didn’t feel any pain. The more he was hurt, the stronger he got. One could only imagine how strong he would be now that he was hurting both emotionally and physically.
But that wasn’t the skill he had awakened. It was merely the passive effect of that skill.
"Good... Very fucking good," he scoffed, scooped up some of his blood and smeared it on his face. "You actually managed to hurt me."
The next second, something strange happened. The blood on his body hardened, covering his entire torso. The bleeding also stopped once the armor activated.
"Even this world is full of surprises," the woman smirked, pointing her blade towards Brock. "What is your name, brute?"
Instead of answering, Brock just stared at her, and his lackeys burst into laughter.
"Look at the bitch acting all high and mighty!" one of them said between laughs.
"Bitch forgot the hand that killed her family, haha!"
"Did you hit your head again?"
The woman didn’t pay any attention to them, her gaze remained fixed on Brock.
"Introductions can wait," Brock replied, rolling his shoulders. "As for the name, you’re going to die screaming it."
"Haha! Boss is savage!"
"Don’t bother with it, girl. That armor is unbreakable! Even bullets bounce off it!"
"Yeah. Get on your knees and start servicing if you want to live—"
Before the guy could even laugh, his head went flying. Everyone in the crowd was silenced just like that. However, it wasn’t the woman who killed him, but Brock.
He grabbed the guy’s stump of a neck, and the blood traveled from his body into Brock’s until only the guy’s husk remained. The absorbed blood quickly turned solid, covering the rest of his body.
Once done, Brock grinned arrogantly and spread his arms wide, inviting her attack.
"Come on then, little girl! Hit me again! Use everything you’ve got!" He licked the blood from his lips and sneered. "Aren’t I a gentleman? Letting the girl make the first move?"
The woman smiled and nodded. Usually, she was the one offering the other a chance. Only once before had someone offered her the first strike... and she died the next second.
"Second time must be a charm," she smiled, remembering her encounter with the Overlord in her past life.
Lifting the blade overhead, she brought it down with all her might. A red stream shot out of the blade, passing through Brock before fizzling away.
Brock looked down, then back at the woman before breaking into laughter.
"Haha! I must have overestimated you! There’s not even a scratch—"
Brock couldn’t say the words anymore as his body split apart. A thin red line appeared from the center of his forehead and traveled perfectly down his face, all the way across his torso.
The next moment, his entire upper body split cleanly in two along that line. The two halves peeled open like banana skins to reveal a bloody mess inside.
Brock literally fell apart, and his oversized cleaver clattered to the ground beside what remained of him. The Butcher Gang members stared in absolute horror, unable to tear their gazes off their dead leader.
"Anyone else?" she asked, sheathing her blade.
Meanwhile, she didn’t notice the strange creature standing in the dark. It didn’t have eyes, yet it kept staring at her.
[Retreat.]
Aiden instructed the ghoul while he used [Supervision] to look at the unfamiliar yet familiar woman.
"I didn’t expect to find you so soon," he smiled. "Child of destiny, or should I call you... Joan?"