Nightmare’s Call

Chapter 138: Covert War: Part 3

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In a dark corner of the city, a black cross sword pierced through the chest of a mantis. Following a forceful upward whisk of the sword, blood gushed out freely as the mantis’ head and throat were sheared open, leaving its headless body to drop dead on the ground. Following that, the Blackfeather swordsman quickly transformed into a plume of black smoke and flew into the distance.

In a quiet alleyway beneath the flight path of the black smoke, Dao Ling was having a brutal fight with a mantis monster in the dark. This particular mantis was more powerful than the others. Just when Dao Ling was about to lose the battle, a shadow swept past. The mantis suddenly froze as a streak of blood appeared across its neck. A second later, the mantis’ head slid off its neck and dropped to the ground.

Dao Ling quickly glanced in the direction where the shadow left, panting loudly. He could only see the back of the Blackfeather swordsman, Crow quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Killings happened rampantly in Huaisha after dark, and the time was 3.10 a.m. In another dark corner of the city, more bodies of non-human creatures fell to the ground. More mantises than ever had gathered there from afar, yet the situation still slowly but surely leaned in favor of Ironfist Society.

“So many have died? Trash! They’re all trash!” Somewhere in a dark and dense jungle, a shadowy figure stopped his movements and roared in anger and frustration. Placed before the figure were bloody balls of meat on the ground. Made from mincemeat, the meatballs were covered in some disgusting sticky fluid. The shadowy figure opened its ravenous mouth and gnawed half of a meatball as if the yucky fluid did not bother it at all.

“Ironfist Society? Where did this piece of trash come from? How dare every Tom, Dick, and Harry come out to fight back while I am injured? Do they really think I will not act?” The shadowy figure discarded the half-eaten meatball and pulled himself out of the ground. Before it, two mantis monsters chattered away like they were saying something, producing low, intermittent sounds in the process.

“Gather everyone in the vicinity.” The shadowy figure unearthed itself and stood on the grass under the moonlight. It was a dark-red humanoid mantis, much brawnier than the other mantises. “How dare that little pest show its teeth to me…” He had run out of patience. After the rising suppression in the middle of the country, he was forced to flee to the remote area. Little did he expect to get the same treatment from a little-known snob there. “It looks like I have been silent for far too long; everyone seems to have forgotten who I am…” The humanoid mantis grabbed a large black cape from behind and quickly put it on to cover himself.

“Let’s move.” The humanoid mantis led the group and moved toward Huaisha. He would not take such insults silently anymore. Now, he wanted to hunt and gather enough blood as well as flesh, then recuperate in the shortest time possible. After that, he would finish off those pieces of thrash who dared to oppose him. He would deal with this Ironfist Society that killed his ancillary bodies. He would crush them under his feet, make them his raw, bloody food, and let bystanders understand that he, Tassardibar, was not someone who could be trampled upon even if he had fallen into the gutter.

The humanoid mantis moved faster and faster as he became more anxious. A group of shadowy figures was following him and moving just as fast. Through his ancillary bodies, he had obtained information on Ironfist Society’s exact location. He had also gathered every child of his in the vicinity to encircle the society’s premises, ready to launch a brutal massacre.

They progressed along the road on the edge of the dense forest. With the speed of a humanoid mantis, it took him just a dozen minutes to arrive in the suburbs of Huaisha. More mantises had joined him along the way, and their number had now swelled to over twenty individuals. The mantises moved at lightning speed, and they flew past in the shadows. Their camouflage skills were as good as they could get. That left the humanoid mantis the only one still running on the road. At least, it seemed like that was the case.

Another ten minutes passed by. When the humanoid mantis arrived in Blackwater district, he yanked out a pair of dark-red leather gloves out of nowhere and put them on while he was still running.

Under the night sky, Tassardibar stood on the street not far away from the premises of Ironfist Society. He looked ahead at a small building that looked somewhat like a school at the end of the street. That was his target.

His surroundings were eerily quiet. The rampant murder cases had turned the area into an abandoned city at night. People stayed indoors, fearing for their safety, but Blackwater district had always been the most dangerous place in Huaisha. The frequent murder cases had only worsened the situation dramatically.

The street was well-lit with rows of street lamps along the way. Suddenly, in a dark corner on the left of the road, a vault guard, fully armored, violently pinned a mantis on the ground. On the right, a Blackfeather swordsman and a mantis were sending slashes at each other. After a dozen rounds, the mantis was slashed in the throat and dropped dead to the ground. The vault guards and Blackfeather swordsmen were fighting a brutal war along the street that led to the Ironfist Society.

It seemed not just the mantises, but these fighters too had gathered here. Although the number of mantises that came under the cover of night had far surpassed their number, the mantises were no match for them when it came to one on one combat.

Instead of joining the fight in the dark corners on both sides of the street, the humanoid mantis strode straight toward Ironfist Society. He aimed to kill the key figure there, and he was less worried about the others. He needed a thorough, decisive victory, a gruesomely brutal massacre to make a point to his enemy and the world that he was still had the strength and in control.

“Are these all the men you have? That’s all you’ve got? That’s your headquarters?” The humanoid mantis grinned as he strutted toward the premises of the society.

All of a sudden, a vault guard lunged out with a sword silently, aiming at his chest. He flung his claw to block, bending the sword while sending the soldier flying back out several meters. The soldier dissipated into a plume of black smoke and disappeared. He was unbothered, and he continued to stride forward.

Everyone, be it the Blackfeather swordsman, the vault guard, or even his ancillary bodies, whoever dared to stand in his way would be summarily and violently flung out of his path. He was far more powerful than they were. Even if he stood still and let the vault guards did whatever they wanted, their silver swords could do no shit about his incredibly tough shell. The differences in strength were depressingly evident. In just a few beats, he had made out three hundred meters.

The air was slightly chilly at night. The crescent moon hung brightly in the night sky like a sickle. Inside Ironfist Society, the air was still and quiet. No one was standing guard at the entrance. The whole premises seemed like an empty place.

Suddenly, the door was broken into pieces, and debris was sent flying. The shrapnel hit the walls and the floor, before breaking into smaller wooden chips.

A dark-red glove reached in, gripping onto the broken, blanched doorframe. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng was sitting with his leg crossed in the main hall, hands resting on his knees, eyes slightly closed as if he had fallen asleep.

“Neither the Azure Heart nor Heaven’s Spire. A village school it is. You are just asking for trouble!” a tall figure draped in black cape strutted into the main hall, eyes fixated on Lin Sheng. He paced forward, slowly drawing his cape open to reveal the steely body of a mantis. He was going to nail this person dead in his chair with his claw so that those dumb trashes would understand the consequence of provoking him. The humanoid mantis raised his hand, aiming his finger at Lin Sheng as unexplainable purple-red energy appeared and hovered above his palm.

“Have you ever seen what death looks like?” Suddenly, a voice spoke into his ear. The mantis was transfixed, and he saw Lin Sheng had opened his eyes. This guy who looked nothing but an ordinary folk possessed a pair of light-gold eyes! The humanoid mantis was confounded.