Chapter 262 - 226: The Situation

Chapter 262: Chapter 226: The Situation

SCREECH—!

The two great axes slammed into each other, their blades locking together. But this was never a fight between equals—not in terms of the wielders, nor the axes themselves.

A white light flowed over the silver great axe in Lin Fan’s hands. Wreathed in unstoppable kinetic energy and Sharp Energy, it bit into the edge of Hong Chuan’s ordinary iron axe like a knife through butter.

Accompanied by a grating screech of metal on metal, the point of contact glowed red-hot from the intense friction. The rain on the blades instantly vaporized, erupting in a cloud of scalding white steam!

"Break!"

Lin Fan let out a low growl and twisted his arms sharply upward.

SNAP!

With a dull crack, the heavy bone-chopping axe head was sheared clean in two. Half of the blade went spinning through the air and fell to the concrete floor with a CLANG.

When Hong Chuan saw a great axe suddenly appear in his opponent’s hands, he had dismissed it as some kind of illusion. He paid it no mind, simply bringing his own axe down with the belief that brute force could overcome any trickery.

He never expected the powerful impact to loosen his grip. His now-broken "axe," which looked more like a pickaxe, slipped downward, missing its target completely. It left him wide open, his eyes widening in horror.

But Lin Fan gave him no chance to recover. Using the momentum from the upward swing, he took a sharp step forward with his right foot. He twisted at the waist, spinning gracefully around to Hong Chuan’s side. His silver great axe carved a cold, crescent arc through the rain!

SCHLICK—!

It was a truly horrific sound.

If Hong Chuan had been an employee at this factory, and the original owner of that axe, he would have been all too familiar with it.

The silver axe blade, carrying immense force, slammed deep into the man’s right shoulder!

His prized metalization Superpower, which could supposedly withstand gunfire, was as fragile as paper before this strike.

Caught completely off guard, Hong Chuan felt a searing pain in his shoulder. He instinctively ramped up his Superpower’s output and struggled to back away, but this only tore the wound open further.

His opponent’s Awakened ability was indeed formidable. The Sharp Energy was completely consumed by his metalization Superpower. The axe blade only managed to split the collarbone before getting stuck between the shoulder blade and ribs. Lin Fan had no choice but to channel more energy into it. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the blade outward, prying it along the gaps in the hardened bones!

"AAAAAGH!"

Accompanied by Hong Chuan’s blood-curdling scream, his entire muscular right arm, with half the shoulder blade still attached, was gouged from his torso!

[-469]!

[209/720]!

SPURT— Scarlet arterial blood sprayed more than two meters into the air, instantly staining the bluish-gray concrete.

[-1]

[-1]

...

As the blood continued to gush out, Lin Fan watched his opponent’s health bar steadily decrease...

Hong Chuan screamed as he collapsed to the ground. His severed arm, still gripping the broken axe, fell in front of him, twitching from reflexive nerve spasms.

The agony and terror nearly made him pass out. But he was an Awakened One, after all. His powerful life force drove him to instinctively clamp his remaining left hand over the gruesome wound.

He frantically channeled the Superpower within him. As the rain washed over the wound, his exposed muscles and bones took on a bluish-gray metallic sheen. He forcibly sealed the blood vessels, as if fusing a sheet of iron over the injury. In just two seconds, he managed to stop the gushing blood.

The loss of his shoulder girdle left his entire torso uncoordinated. He could only sit paralyzed in a pool of his own blood, staring at the man holding the dripping great axe. Cold sweat mixed with the rain on his face, his eyes filled with nothing but absolute terror. He didn’t even have the strength to stand.

...

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Just then, a few panicked gunshots rang out from behind him. The underling who had been knocked down by the rifle spray earlier, but had luckily only suffered a flesh wound, had somehow gotten back up. Hiding behind the iron gate, he was shakily pulling the trigger of a police-issue pistol aimed at Lin Fan.

VMMM—

The faint purple halo of the [Armor Crystal] lit up once again. The pathetic pistol rounds were useless against it, doing nothing more than creating a few ripples on its surface.

"Fuck! Monsters! They’re all monsters!"

The underling wildly emptied his pistol’s magazine. Seeing that it had no effect on Lin Fan whatsoever—and had even drawn his attention—the man completely broke down.

He threw the pistol away as if it were a venomous snake, wondering what had possessed him to shoot at that man. He then spun around, intending to shut the iron gate and escape into the factory.

But as he turned, he tripped over the body of a comrade Lin Fan had killed with the rifle earlier. The corpse was wedged in the gap of the gate, and no matter how hard he pushed, the iron gate wouldn’t close!

"No, no..."

He started to bend down to drag the body away, but then he froze. As if his mind had split in two, he suddenly turned and ran, completely abandoning the iron gate behind him.

...

It was Lin Fan’s first time using a gun, after all. While his strength allowed him to control the spread, the line of fire was still uneven.

Of the four underlings behind the Awakened One, only two had died in the hail of bullets. Of the two survivors, one was incredibly lucky and hadn’t been hit at all; he was currently playing dead on the ground.

The other was this one.

He took two steps back, putting some distance between himself and the hardening Awakened One struggling on the ground. At the same time, he flipped his right hand over, and a fist-sized metal sphere covered in indentations materialized in his palm.

He didn’t bother to aim. Relying on instinct, he threw it with an underhand toss toward the gap in the iron gate, right at the health bar he could see!

WHOOSH—!

The metal sphere let out a terrifying whistle as it flew with pinpoint accuracy through the gap in the gate.

"Ah—urk!" A short scream, followed by the sickening CRUNCH of a heavy object shattering bone.