Chapter 184: Too Late
"Don't you two split up! Stick with us and fall back toward the boss!" Li Xing shouted, sidestepping an attack. After coordinating with Li Yue to cut down an expert, she reached Fan and He Yi's side.
"Don't worry about us! We'll hold off these experts for you. You sisters need to hurry and support Zhou Fan. You have to make sure he gets away!" Fan was covered in wounds. His left arm had been stabbed by someone and now hung limply at his side, completely immobile.
"Go, quickly! Only if Zhou Fan gets out alive will we have a chance for revenge!" He Yi added urgently. His and Fan's injuries were the most severe. Trying to break through to Zhou Fan's position was nothing short of a fool's dream. Their only sliver of hope was for the twins to charge through.
It wasn't that the two men were weaker than the twins. They had already been severely injured in the battle against Vermilion Bird's group, and now they were being specifically targeted by the enemy's top fighters. It was a great feat in itself that they had lasted this long.
"None of you will leave here alive today! You're all staying!" Just then, several of the experts attacked in unison, leading their men to completely surround the four of them before launching an assault like a pack of rabid dogs.
In just over ten seconds, Fan's body gave out. He was slashed across the chest and collapsed to the ground. The longsword in He Yi's hand had already been snapped in half, the other piece of the blade nowhere to be seen.
Although Li Yue and Li Xing had relied on their speed to avoid any critical injuries, the sheer number of cuts they'd sustained was already hampering their ability to fight.
In that instant, all four of them felt a surge of despair.
"Pull yourselves together! How are you going to avenge Lingling Daoist and White Tiger like this? How are you going to kill Vermilion Bird and all our other enemies?" Just then, a voice seemed to descend from the heavens. A figure charged in from the side, cutting down several enemies with a single swing of his sword. He appeared before them, grabbed the fallen Fan from the ground, and tossed him to He Yi. "Carry him. Don't let him get trampled like an ant!"
Zhou Fan had seen their situation and knew they couldn't last much longer. He had no choice but to temporarily give up on Metheus, who was being protected by a large group, and come to their aid.
"You two, follow my lead. I'm going to give you a practical lesson right now. I'll teach you the fastest, most effective way to strike an enemy and neutralize their ability to fight!"
Zhou Fan glanced at the twins and spoke in a low voice. He actually switched the Li Hen Sword to his left hand, holding a dagger in his right, and began to seriously teach them amidst the swarm of enemies.
"Observe each enemy's attack patterns. Even experts from a unified training program will have their own unique tells. For example, this one likes to put his full power into every move. When you don't know the power gap between you and an opponent, try to dodge. Don't clash head-on. Then, after he's thrown a strike and before he can launch the next one, stab your dagger hard into his armpit!"
"Remember, in a chaotic battle, when the enemy is strong and we are weak, when they are many and we are few, incapacitating an enemy is more beneficial than killing one!"
"This one's lower body is unstable. Attack his legs!"
"This one is strong but slow. Don't meet him head-on. Feign weakness, get behind him, and stab him in the third vertebra!"
Zhou Fan was teaching in earnest, and Li Xing and Li Yue were learning in earnest. Fan and He Yi, however, were dumbfounded.
'Holy crap, did he really have to pick this moment?'
"Against an opponent who is stronger and faster than you, you must use the synergy you two have as sisters!" The expert in front of Zhou Fan was so skilled that even Fan and He Yi, at their peak and uninjured, would have been no match for him.
"Li Xing, go for his eyes, throat, heart! Don't get greedy. One strike only. Hit or miss, make sure you can retreat in one piece!" Zhou Fan commanded, all while holding off the charging Metheus and his men and using his dagger to instruct the two sisters.
"Li Yue, attack his knees and groin. There's no room for honor when facing an enemy. Do whatever it takes to neutralize him quickly. Now! While he's attacking Li Xing, jump and stab him in the spine!"
"Li Xing, turn back! Full power—stab his tailbone!"
THUD!
Through their constant harassment and coordination, the twins actually managed to take down an expert with barely a scratch on them.
This scene left even Fan and He Yi completely stunned. 'Holy shit, that works too?'
"Kill him! Kill the Nether King now!" Metheus roared. Seeing two people they could have easily crushed actually manage to methodically kill one of his experts under Zhou Fan's command, his rage toward Zhou Fan intensified.
But at that moment, facing the swarm of charging enemies, a bloodthirsty smile tugged at the corner of Zhou Fan's mouth. "Too late. If you'd realized this sooner and gathered all your forces to kill me, instead of trying to take me on by yourself, you might have had a chance."
Zhou Fan's words were abrupt, so abrupt they seemed nonsensical.
But in the next instant, when several cars came roaring up and figures poured out of them, charging into the crowd and instantly cutting down more than a dozen men, everyone finally understood what Zhou Fan meant.