Chapter 34: Hostage
Finn pressed his sword against John Schmid’s throat. One small push and he could slit the man open. Yet he didn’t move. He just stared ahead, cold and steady.
Before him, four figures emerged from thin air, as if chunks of ice had surfaced from still water.
Olivia and Jimmy lay sprawled on the ground, drenched in blood, their limbs broken. A young man in a red robe and a Demon Gang member held them down.
The red-robed youth clasped his hands, ready to unleash his power at any moment. He could turn invisible, making anyone in a small area vanish—exactly how he had ambushed Olivia.
The Demon Gang member pressed his palm to Olivia’s head. He looked like a mutant too, but Finn had no idea what abilities he controlled.
Olivia’s hair was tangled, a deep gash on her forehead bleeding down her cheek. She’d been shot in both calves, her wrist shattered—completely immobile.
Jimmy was no better. His arms and legs were broken, leaving him helpless on the dirt. Were it not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, he could have been mistaken for dead.
In close combat, his “Laser Rain” was useless—only weighing Olivia down.
Ever since arriving in this wasteland, he had stayed behind Finn, too afraid to fight fully. Now, without Finn’s protection, he was paying the price—a potentially fatal one.
Olivia’s injuries were worse. As a Tier 3 Vanguard with true combat ability, she had received “special treatment.”
Even powerless, the Radiant Path followers and Demon Gang members kept their focus on her.
A muscular man in a crisp black suit walked in, a black cigar clamped between his teeth, puffing leisurely. This was the man Finn had come to kill—Simpson Browne.
“Sir.” Simpson removed the cigar, crushing it in the ashtray. “You’ve killed so many of my men already. Isn’t that enough to satisfy you?”
“You’re alive. I’m not satisfied,” Finn replied evenly, pressing the sword another inch against the high priest John Schmid, leaving a thin line of blood.
Simpson shrugged, pointing at Jimmy and Olivia. “I know you can revive the dead. But if someone is blown to dust, can you still bring them back?”
“Dust? Planning to blow yourself up?” Finn sneered.
Snap!
Simpson didn’t answer. He clicked his fingers.
The Demon Gang member, still pressing his palm to Olivia’s head, suddenly grabbed her arm and activated his power.
Boom!
Olivia’s entire right arm exploded into a cloud of blood mist, nothing left. He slammed his palm back on her head. “One squeeze and this girl turns to powder!”
“Oh, looks like we have hostages now. Time to savor this outlander’s heart.”
Rex stepped forward, his scaly face twisting into a cruel grin, a bright red tongue flicking out.
“What, mine doesn’t count?” Finn twirled the sword around John’s neck. The high priest trembled.
“Stand still, Rex,” Simpson said coldly. “Finn, leave Black Mountain, and I’ll release your companions. Hostages released together, just outside Black Mountain.”
“Hey, that’s not what you said when you called me in!” Rex thrust out both clawed hands. “You promised I’d get to eat this outlander’s heart!”
“Don’t be foolish.” Simpson’s face darkened.
He wanted nothing more than to tear Finn apart. He had planned to use Olivia and Jimmy as bait to trap him. But in their first clash, Finn had dropped High Priest John Schmid in a single strike—almost a one-hit kill.
Simpson knew John Schmid’s Tier 4 Vanguard strength was no joke. His wind blades could cut through armored vehicles. If they hit Rex, they would have torn his scaled body too. Yet Finn had taken hundreds of them unscathed. His defense was stronger than Rex’s steel-scaled frame.
Moreover, as a devout follower of the Radiant Path, Simpson could not allow John Schmid to die on his turf.
Faced with the situation, Simpson swallowed his rage and switched plans: a hostage exchange.
“Enough? My sincerity clear?” Simpson asked Finn, forcing down his anger.
His men were almost wiped out, his base destroyed, years of effort wasted, and his plan to dominate Black Mountain failed—yet now he was forced to offer goodwill first. A bitter humiliation.
Finn stayed silent, sword steady.
He glanced at Jimmy and Olivia. If they were reduced to dust, he couldn’t revive them. The Nine Revolutions Resurrection Pill could bring the dead back and regrow flesh from bones—but only if bones and corpses remained.
Jimmy lay on the ground, stretching his tongue toward a filthy orange puddle dotted with shards of glass. His movements were tiny, careful. With broken limbs and no strength, no one noticed him.
Finn knew that orange liquid—it was one of the three healing potions he had given Jimmy earlier. During the ambush, one bottle must have shattered, spilling its contents. At a glance, it looked like ordinary sewage.
Jimmy licked it bit by bit, the only part of his body he could move—like a stray dog drinking from dirty water. Lonely, miserable, yet Finn didn’t mock him.
“Fine,” Finn said, pressing the sword against John Schmid’s throat. “We’ll release the hostages together.”
“That’s no fun!” Rex yelled. “I haven’t tasted his heart yet! Two hostages—what’s the difference if one dies?”
He grinned savagely, striding toward Jimmy, claws glinting, hungry for blood.
The tense atmosphere snapped tight again.
Finn glared at Rex. “Stop!” He twisted his wrist slightly, sinking the blade deeper into John Schmid’s skin.
The Demon Gang member tensed, palm on Olivia’s head, ready to trigger his power. One wrong move, and she would explode into blood mist.
Rex laughed mockingly. “What if I don’t stop? What will you do?”
Simpson said nothing, letting Rex act.
“Ah!”
Everything changed.
Jimmy surged upward like a wounded lone wolf, crashing into the Demon Gang member, knocking his wrist aside. At the same time, he drove a dagger into the man’s hand.
“Well done!” Finn roared, twisting the sword through John Schmid’s throat, blood spraying. He drew a Desert Eagle from his storage and blew the Demon Gang member’s head apart.
Rex and Simpson froze. Before they could react, Finn fired a second shot, killing the Radiant Path follower with invisibility power.
“You bastard!” Rex’s eyes burned blood-red as he lunged like a raging steel giant lizard.
Finn sidestepped and channeled his Profound Energy, unleashing Crimson Flame Torrent. Flames erupted from the sword, turning Rex into a living fire lizard.
Rex howled and thrashed in the blaze. Flames scorched his scales and burned into his skin, filling the air with the acrid stench of charred flesh.
On the other side, Simpson saw the situation collapse and instantly smashed the glass window. Without hesitation he leaped out from the thirtieth floor.