Chapter 294: Bring It On!

"Just die already!"

Leech lunged, his daggers inches away from Soren’s vitals.

"Haha-!"

Leech’s laughter stopped abruptly, his wicked smile vanishing as Soren’s hands shot up and caught both of his wrists mid-strike. His eyes went wide, disbelief flashing across his face as he tried to push forward. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move them at all. In fact, the daggers were slowly being forced away from Soren.

"Honestly..." Soren muttered, staring dead in the Leech’s eyes. "I’m disappointed."

He tightened his grip.

"URGH!"

The Leech groaned in pain, his muscles straining as he tried to pull free.

"I thought you were strong."

"!"

The words struck deeper than any blade. The Leech’s face contorted with rage and humiliation, his teeth grinding so hard it seemed they might crack. "You... You bastard!" he snarled, thrashing wildly. "Don’t look down on me!"

In a desperate burst of fury, he kicked upward, putting all his strength into his legs as he drove them both straight into Soren’s abdomen. The sound of impact echoed in the surroundings, however... Soren didn’t budge an inch, his expression devoid of any pain or discomfort. The kick might as well have been a child’s tantrum.

’Is he using mana too?’ Leech’s mind raced as he tried to find an explanation for his absurd situation. ’One way to find out then!’

Without hesitation, he activated Mana Drain at full power. ’!’

"You!" His eyes widened as he sensed mana being pulled from Soren’s body into his own. "How do you ha-argh!"

"You really disappointed me..." Soren muttered as he tightened his grip even further.

"YOU BA-AAARGHH!"

The Leech screamed, the bones in his wrists creaking under the pressure. His fingers spasmed open, and his daggers clattered uselessly to the ground. Without another word, Soren hoisted him high into the air and then slammed him down with terrifying force.

"BOOOOM-!"

The ground cracked beneath the impact, dust and debris exploding outward as the Leech’s body cratered into the floor.

"GA-!" Leech let out a choked gasp, his body convulsing from the shock, but Soren didn’t release his wrists. Instead, he lifted Leech again and brought him crashing down on the other side.

"BOOOM-!"

Then again.

"BOOOM-!"

And again.

"BOOOM-!"

Each slam sent tremors through the ground, the Leech’s body flailing like a ragdoll in Soren’s grasp. Blood sprayed from his mouth, his screams reduced to broken gasps as the relentless assault continued, the sound of his body hammering against the shattered floor echoing through the arena.

It seemed like the possessor had finally noticed his ally’s dire situation, because a dozen possessed guards suddenly broke away from their positions and charged toward Soren.

However, Soren wasn’t worried in the slightest. He just swung Leech’s body in a wide arc, using him as a makeshift weapon. The first guard took a direct hit to the chest from Leech’s head and was sent flying, while the next got slapped by Leech’s flailing hands and crashed into two more coming behind him.

"Hey, I know you’re listening," Soren spoke up as he kept swinging Leech around. "If you wanna save your young master, return the princess at once. Or else..."

A moment passed, and the last attacking guard suddenly stopped, life returning to his eyes. "...Or else what?" he asked with a sneer. "You’re gonna kill him?"

Soren shook his head. "No."

"Then why-"

"But they can." Soren cut him off, pointing at Commander Ervin. "Unless you return her and pay enough compensation for all the damage you’ve caused... the Empire will hunt you down to the ends of Etenia. You should know that better than anyone else."

"..." The knight went silent for a moment.

Soren smiled faintly and slammed Leech once more, right in front of the possessor’s ’eyes’.

"What are you even thinking about so much? You don’t have much of a choice here."

"I..." The possessor spoke, looking up, his smile twisting. "I am thinking of how to torture your wife~"

"..." Soren stared at the possessed guard, his expression turning cold. "...Is that so?"

"Mhm~" The possessor’s grin widened, his voice dripping with mockery. "I wonder how long she’ll last. She’s got such a-urgh!"

A slap landed on the guard’s face and knocked him to the floor.

"You talk too much." Soren lowered himself and sat on his knees, looking coldly at the possessor. "But since you’re so confident, let me make this clear. There’s no getting out of this for you now. I’ll find you myself and... I’ll make sure you regret every word you said."

The possessor’s twisted smile flickered on the guard’s lips, as if he was about to respond, but Soren didn’t give him the chance. The next moment, the guard’s eyes rolled back, his body going limp as he fell unconscious.

"Then let me make things clear to you too." A voice echoed from not too far away. It was the possessor speaking through another guard. "You are gravely mistaken if you think you can really defeat us. Especially me~"

The guard then looked in Commander Ervin and Nullifier’s direction and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Raven! You can go all out now! And release the Leech too!"

"..." Soren squinted as he glanced at the limp Leech at his feet and the Nullifier, who suddenly stopped attacking. ’...Is there a second phase to this? Really?’

The thought almost made him laugh.

It was like something straight out of the stories and games he grew up with, where the villain would dramatically power up right when things looked bad.

’I guess they weren’t so far from the truth after all.’

’Not that I mind it.’ His smile widened as he looked back at the possessor. ’I was hoping for a real fight anyway.’

He met the possessor’s confused gaze head-on and gestured with his finger. "Bring it on."

"...You," the possessor muttered before grinning even wider than before. "You are crazy! And I like it! Haha!"

"ARRRRRGH!!!

Soren watched as the Nullifier suddenly let out a thunderous roar and drove his fist into the ground.

"BOOOM-!"

The floor detonated on impact, cracks exploding outward like a web of lightning as shattered stone shot into the air. The shockwave ripped through the arena in an instant, tearing up everything in its path and throwing a thick cloud of dust and debris across the battlefield.

Through the chaos, the possessor’s voice rang out, laced with amusement.

"This is going to be so much fun~!"