Chapter 295: Cockroach

’Finally going all out?’ Soren thought to himself as Leech started to move again, a reddish aura surrounding his body. ’As if I’d watch you recover!’

Soren stepped forward and drove his foot toward Leech’s abdomen. However, they passed through nothing but air. Leech had already disappeared, leaving behind only an afterimage that flickered once before vanishing.

’Wait...’ Soren narrowed his eyes as his senses stretched to the limit. ’Mana is back.’

He realized. However, it was only in a small radius surrounding him and Leech.

’Ethea was right. Nullifier can really control his constitution to some extent now. That only means...’ He trailed off as he scanned his surroundings. There was no trace of Leech, as if he had vanished into thin air. However, Soren knew he was here, waiting for the perfect moment to strike while recovering from his injuries. ’...I guess I really made the right choice in choosing him.’

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting his senses expand outward. At the same time, he reached deep within himself, drawing on his mental power until it spread through the air like an invisible web.

’...Don’t force it... Feel it...’

Gradually, the world around him dimmed. It all went silent. In that silence, Soren reached deeper, past the noise, past the chaos, until all that remained was the faint pulse of the world itself. It was then that he finally felt it.

’There.’

A faint ripple stirred behind him before shifting quickly, circling to his left and vanishing, only to reappear a heartbeat later from another angle. The Leech was obviously probing him, testing his perception, and waiting for the right moment.

’...Let’s give him that then.’

Soren turned his head slightly to the right, as if he had misread the Leech’s position.

’!’

The air behind him tore apart. Leech shot forward like a crimson blur, his daggers aimed directly at Soren’s exposed neck. But Soren was already moving, his body twisting just enough to let the first blade whistle past his ear. The second dagger followed in a vicious arc, sliding across his shoulder, leaving a thin line of red in its wake.

Soren didn’t react to the cut and kept his composure.

The Leech didn’t stop. He came again and again, his body a streak of red shadow as he attacked from every angle: left, right, above, below. Each strike flowed into the next without pause, the daggers carving through the air in relentless patterns.

Swooosh-!

Clang-!

Swoosh-!

To any onlooker, it would have looked like Soren was being swarmed by a dozen attackers at once. Leech moved so fast that his form never fully solidified, his body flickering in and out of view like a flame caught in a storm.

Soren’s body was a mess of wounds, covered in cuts from head to toe. His clothes hung in tatters, soaked through with blood. Short and long gashes lined his arms, his legs, his chest, his back, even his face. He looked like he had been dragged through a storm of blades, and yet he remained standing, as if the pain belonged to someone else entirely.

"Fu*k!" Leech’s frustration boiled over. Almost every swing carried enough power to slice a fuc*king dragon, and he had landed more hits than he could count. By all logic, this bast*rd should have been reduced to chunks of meat by now. So why was he still alive? Why was he still standing?!

"Why won’t you just fu*cking die?!"

Leech cursed as he unleashed another barrage.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

His movements became wilder with each passing second, fueled by rage, each strike aimed to kill, to maim, to bring this bast*rd down once and for all. But no matter how many times the blades bit into flesh, the wounds sealed shut behind them almost instantly. As if it wasn’t enough, the bastard’s skin would glow silver and send a sharp jolt of force back through his arms, numbing his fingers with every impact.

’Damn it! Does he have some kind of abnormal physique too?’ Leech gritted his teeth, his breathing growing ragged. And it wasn’t just the healing or the damage reflection. Every time he thought he had landed a killing blow, this bastard would shift at the last second, turning what should have been a sure kill into a shallow cut. And even the hits that did land felt off most of the time, as if the force behind them was being drained away before it could do real damage. ’But... ’it’ should start soon.’

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he adjusted his grip. He had been doing more than just attacking. Every cut, every graze, every drop of spilled blood had been part of a larger backup plan. He had been channeling various manas into the bastard’s body with each contact, and soon they would tear him apart from the inside out.

’There is no way he can survive now... All I need is a little more time.’

He laughed louder, and time passed.

’...Wait.’ Leech’s smile slowly faded. ’...Why isn’t it working?!’

He had used more than five different people’s mana. The bastard should have exploded by now!

"Urgh!" He cursed as he delivered another strike. ’Aeshvin! Lend a hand, will you!’

’...You can’t defeat him?’ A moment later, a mocking voice echoed in his mind. ’This weak cook...?’

’Urgh! It’s not time for this!’ Leech retorted. ’He’s abnormal! I can’t land a killing blow on him, and his regeneration speed is off the charts! His body is f*cking tough too! He must have an S-rank or even higher constitution. There’s no other explanation!’

’I see...’ The voice trailed off. ’Actually, he has high mental defense too. I couldn’t get into his mind yesterday or a little earlier. So I won’t be much of a help to you.’

’Then what should I do?!’ Leech roared furiously. ’My mana is gonna run out soon, and I will be at his mercy!’

’...Why don’t you just switch then?’ The voice suggested. ’If he is so confident in his constitution, let him face Raven instead.’

’...’ Leech went silent. Because doing that would be acknowledging he couldn’t defeat a f*cking 4th circle chef! But... He couldn’t keep this up for long. His body had yet to recover; his arms were growing numb from the repeated force of his own attacks reflecting back at him, and his backup plan had failed. Every second he spent here was a second wasted. And yet, the humiliation of it burned hotter than any of his wounds. ’...Damn it.’

"Raven!"