Chapter 238: The End Of The Dark Viper Guild.
Kael didn’t respond to Simon’s challenge.
He simply moved.
His figure blurred from where he stood, and before Simon could properly react, Kael had already appeared directly in front of him, a fist descending from above with the weight of a heavy hammer strike.
Simon barely managed to raise his sword.
BANG!
The collision exploded through the battlefield.
A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact, racing across the ground and shattering what remained of the already damaged pavement. Dust and fragments of concrete were blasted outward as Simon’s feet were forcibly driven backward, carving two deep trenches through the dirt.
His arms trembled violently.
Numbness spread through his hands, the impact having nearly forced the sword from his grip.
Simon’s expression immediately turned sour.
Just one exchange.
That was all it took for him to understand the difference between them.
It wasn’t close.
Not even remotely.
How could he be this strong?
Simon gritted his teeth as he stared at Kael. Wasn’t this man supposed to be a newly emerged S-Rank Hunter? How could the difference between them be this enormous?
Before he could dwell on the thought any further, the remaining guild members attacked.
They had seen what happened.
Their captain had been overpowered in a single exchange, and that left them with only one realistic chance of winning. If they couldn’t defeat Kael individually, then they would overwhelm him through sheer numbers.
A wave of coordinated attacks immediately surged toward Kael from every direction.
Blades descended from above while others swept toward his legs and torso. Several attacks came from his blind spots, designed to restrict his movement while the warriors behind them prepared to follow up. Arrows and spells flew from the rear, creating layers of pressure meant to pin Kael in place and bury him beneath the sheer volume of attacks.
Kael didn’t retreat.
Instead, his body twisted in mid-air.
His movements flowed like water as he slipped between the incoming attacks. His right hand shot forward, fingers locked together into a spear point, and punched straight through the first man’s guard before striking him directly in the shoulder.
CRACK!
The man’s body spun violently through the air.
Kael’s left hand came down immediately afterward in a hammering blow.
A descending sword met his palm.
CRACK!
The blade shattered beneath the impact.
Kael’s attack continued without losing momentum, his hand crashing into the wielder’s collarbone and sending him staggering backward with a broken cry.
Another man rushed in from the side.
Kael’s leg snapped upward.
The edge of his foot caught the man across the temple with enough force to tear through his defenses. His head was split apart by the strike, and his body collapsed before it could even reach the ground.
Kael moved through them like a storm of steel.
Every part of his body had become a weapon.
His fists smashed through guards. His elbows crushed ribs. His knees broke through defensive stances. His palms redirected weapons before his counterattacks immediately followed. Even his feet were capable of delivering blows powerful enough to kill.
Within the first few seconds, three men had already fallen.
The change among the remaining fighters was immediate.
Their attacks became less coordinated.
Some hesitated before stepping forward. Others instinctively slowed down whenever Kael’s gaze turned toward them.
They had entered the battle believing their numbers would be enough to overwhelm a single opponent.
Now they were beginning to realize that numbers meant very little when the gap in strength was this enormous.
Simon noticed it as well.
"Damn it."
He gritted his teeth and charged forward again.
His sword flashed, one strike becoming three, then three becoming nine.
A cascade of silver cuts erupted around Kael as Simon unleashed a complex sword technique, every movement flowing into the next as he attempted to overwhelm Kael with speed and precision. The blade seemed to appear from every direction at once, each strike targeting a vital point.
Kael stepped into the attack.
His hands moved faster than Simon’s eyes could follow.
Each defensive movement met Simon’s blade with a sharp metallic ring. Rather than directly blocking the sword’s force, Kael redirected it, altering the angle of every strike just enough for the blade to miss his flesh before immediately positioning himself for the next attack.
Simon continued attacking.
His sword became a blur of silver, yet none of it could touch Kael.
Then Simon saw an opening.
His sword shot forward in a straight thrust aimed at Kael’s throat, but Kael’s hand moved, two fingers catching the blade and stopping it dead.
Before Simon could react, Kael twisted his wrist.
CRACK!
The sword shattered.
The sound seemed impossibly loud in the sudden silence.
Simon stumbled backward, staring at the weapon still held in his hand. The blade that had once been long and sharp was now nothing more than a jagged stump.
His strongest weapon.
A weapon forged by a master smith and reinforced over the years with various high-quality materials.
It had been capable of cutting through the defenses of powerful monsters and Hunters alike.
Yet Kael had destroyed it with nothing more than two fingers.
Simon’s face became ugly.
He barely had time to react before a massive axe suddenly came swinging toward Kael from behind.
Morgan had chosen that moment to strike.
The huge weapon tore through the air in a brutal, whistling arc, aimed directly at Kael’s body from shoulder to hip.
Kael didn’t even turn around.
His left hand simply moved behind his back.
His palm opened.
His arm became rigid as Earth Energy reinforced his flesh.
BOOM!
The axe slammed into his palm.
A massive shockwave exploded outward, flattening the dust across the ground and sending debris flying in every direction.
Morgan’s arms buckled.
His shoulders were violently dislocated from the impact.
Yet the axe had stopped.
Completely.
The enormous blade had struck Kael’s open palm with enough force to destroy stone, but it had barely managed to cut a few millimeters into his skin.
Morgan’s face went pale.
Kael slowly turned his head.
His eyes glanced toward the axe embedded against his palm.
Then his fingers closed around the edge of the blade.
Crunch.
The steel folded beneath his grip like foil.
Morgan’s pupils shrank.
"What..."
Kael pulled.
The axe tore from Morgan’s hands so easily that the vice captain nearly lost his balance.
Kael casually tossed the ruined weapon aside.
CLANG!
The massive axe landed among the rubble with a heavy, lifeless sound.
Morgan barely had time to recover.
Kael’s palm slammed into his chest.
BOOM!
Morgan’s body flew backward like a cannonball, crashing through a pile of rubble before disappearing beneath the debris.
He didn’t get back up.
Whether he was alive or dead was impossible to tell.
The remaining elites froze.
Their eyes moved between the rubble where Morgan had disappeared and Simon, who was now standing with nothing more than a broken sword in his hand.
The two strongest members of their group had been dealt with almost effortlessly.
And that was enough to shatter whatever courage remained among them.
Some took an involuntary step backward.
Kael didn’t give them the opportunity to recover.
His figure blurred.
The next instant, he appeared among them.