Chapter 80: Fighting for Survival

"Impossible! You! You bastard! You fused with the humans’ inferior ways. You deserve death for your betrayal!"

The man roared, his grin fading away, replaced by maddening anger.

While the Vorath really could fuse with the humans’ ways of cultivation, none of them had done so because they considered it an absolute disgrace to their superior bloodline.

Besides, fusing with cybernetics would mean they truly accepted that technology was better than Mana, something they had firmly refused to believe.

But now, here it was, a Vorath who had fused with Human Cybernetics!

"Activate Vorath Mana Manipulation..."

"Activate Dash!"

"Activate Redblitz..."

Immediately, pitch-black Mana coated Arlo’s claws, increasing their lethality twofold as the ground beneath him was scorched away, blue flames gushing from beneath his feet.

"I will say it once more. Killing me won’t be easy!"

"Kill him!"

Immediately, they all pounced on Arlo, who spread his wings and quickly took to the sky, flapping and ascending higher and higher.

[Be careful. The barrier is a dome. Don’t slam your head into it!] the System said as Arlo stopped about twenty meters above the ground, and in the next instant, the golden swords slipped into his hands as a wicked smile appeared on his face.

Raising both swords, incredible veins bulged across Arlo’s arms as the Core within his chest lit up brightly, infusing its energy into the two cybernetic swords he held, and immediately...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The air was sliced apart as Arlo slashed downward with horrifying power.

"What the..."

KAAAABOOOOOOOOM!

A devastating surge of energy ravaged the entire ground, blowing away the Vorath around the area as they desperately tried to escape, while a wave of blood splashed into the sky after two Vorath failed to move away quickly enough and were sliced apart.

"Get him!"

They all roared, climbing the buildings and leaping toward him with incredible nimbleness and speed.

Immediately...

BAAAANG!

BAAAANG!

BAAAANG!

The sound of swords and claws roughly clashing together resounded through the night sky as Arlo slashed with all his strength, his hands becoming a blur due to how rapidly he exchanged blows with them.

His wings flapped wildly, allowing him to avoid getting cornered by them, yet they were anything but slow.

Even with his wings and the advantage of being in the air, all it truly allowed him to do was avoid getting surrounded while also giving him a better chance to react to the flying claws and tentacles attacking him from different directions at the same time.

"He’s pretty fast with those wings..." the leader of the group said, simply lying on his back and watching as the fight proceeded with no intention of joining in.

"Still, he will be doomed once they grab hold of his attack rhythm..."

________

BAAAANG!

Arlo’s hands violently trembled as gigantic claws roughly smashed into them, sending him flying backward uncontrollably for more than ten meters.

Forcefully halting himself, he sensed three sharp tentacles heading toward his back while two more claw attacks rapidly closed in on his neck and chest.

Immediately, he reacted.

BOOOOOM!

The air beneath his feet released a muffled boom as his Thruster Feet suddenly flared brightly, lifting him upward at just the right moment and allowing him to avoid the two claws and two of the tentacles.

The remaining tentacle immediately pierced through his leg and tore out through the other side, but Arlo quickly swung his sword and sliced it apart.

As the two Vorath whose attacks had missed were slowly dragged downward by gravity, Arlo burst forward with intense speed, appearing behind one of them as the tip of his sword tore through the back of his neck and emerged from the other side.

BLEEERGGGGH!

The Vorath wriggled crazily in midair, trying to drag Arlo down with him, but Arlo mercilessly tore his sword from the creature’s neck before turning toward the other Vorath, who had twisted his body sideways to stare at him in shock.

SOOOOOOOAR!

The air was blown away as Arlo violently flung his sword forward with terrifying speed, his eyes locked onto the Vorath’s chest.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Almost like a flash of light, the Vorath only saw a golden beam streak through the air before feeling something violently tear into his chest.

The sound of his heart imploding within his body rang out, and in the next instant, he smashed into the ground like a log, the sword impaling his body directly into the earth.

[Good. That’s four down! But now you don’t have a sword!] the System said as Arlo began flying wildly through the air, his wings flapping furiously.

It was just as the System said. He now had no weapon to defend himself, but he was far from helpless.

BOOOOM!

The top of a building was violently stomped upon, causing half of it to collapse into rubble, and in the next instant, a figure appeared before Arlo, its gigantic claws violently cleaving toward his face.

CLLLAAAAANG!

The sound of claws roughly clashing against claws resounded as Arlo also slashed out with his own claws coated in Dark Mana.

BOOOOM!

A horrifying shockwave erupted from the point of contact, yet the Vorath immediately attacked again, sending its claws forward as Arlo met them with his own.

Another powerful shockwave rippled through the area.

"Finally!" the Vorath said with a sickening smile as Arlo’s face changed.

The Vorath had grabbed tightly onto him, and together, they were rapidly dragged downward by gravity.

Arlo tried to raise himself back into the air with his wings when two more presences entered his range of perception, but the weight of the Vorath clinging to him rendered him almost immobile.

Then, three Vorath tentacles wrapped tightly around his legs.

"Bye-bye!" the Vorath holding onto him said as Arlo was dragged downward at terrifying speed.

The Vorath tried to release him from his grasp, but his expression changed when he saw the sickening smile on Arlo’s face.

"Let’s see whose spine is stronger, shall we!?"

The two figures plummeted toward the ground at horrifying speed, their claws locked against each other as their eyes fiercely met.

Nukin thought Arlo’s proposition was a good joke, and a sinister smile appeared on his face.

With an instantaneous burst of power, he forcefully twisted his body around, placing Arlo beneath him as they continued plummeting toward the ground.

"You seem to forget I’m heavier than you!" he said.

Arlo raised an eyebrow before an evil smile appeared on his face.

"Redblitz!"

A powerful burst of red energy erupted from beneath his feet, violently shooting him upward, and then...

"Dash!"

Arlo activated his ability while immediately rotating his body in an instantaneous motion, his movement aided even further by Dash.

"What the!?" Nukin yelled in shock as he suddenly found Arlo above him.

Before he could even think...

KAAAAAAABOOOOOOOM!

CRAAAACK!

He was smashed into the ground with horrific power, causing him to cough out a massive amount of blood that splashed all over Arlo’s face.

"I guess my spine is stronger. Goodbye now..." Arlo said with a sickening smile as he watched the life slowly leave the monster’s eyes.

A dying gaze filled with guilt and stubbornness.

Unfortunately, that was no longer something Arlo cared about.

The Vorath’s eyes quickly lost their light, and Arlo finally felt the grip around his fingers loosen as he removed his hands from the corpse.

Yet, the moment he raised his head, all he saw was a wall of tentacles rushing toward him.

Then...

BAAAAAANG!

A horrifying force smashed against his entire body, sending him crashing violently into the ground.

He carved gigantic craters through the earth before finally smashing into the barrier, which was immediately covered in cracks before quickly healing itself.

Arlo slid down the barrier and remained motionless.

"You put up quite a good fight, killing five of us. I tip my hat to you out of respect..."

The leader said as he slowly rose from his sitting position and waltzed toward the seemingly unconscious Arlo.

"I’m... not... done yet..."

The cracked whisper, like that of a dying man, echoed through the stillness of the night as Arlo slowly rose back to his feet, raising his head toward the Vorath, whose faces were filled with shock.

Deep red blood covered the young man’s head.

Two deep lash marks ran along the side of his face, exposing the bone beneath.

A visible crack could be seen across his white skull, though it was quickly covered by more crimson blood.

His upper clothing had been reduced to nothing, revealing three large slashes across his chest that dripped with blood.

They watched as his transformation slowly disappeared, his wings retracting into his body while his hair and skin gradually returned to their previous colors.

But Arlo’s face was the most horrifying part of all.

A beautiful yet spine-chilling smile rested upon his lips.

"You sure you still haven’t taken enough of a beating before your untimely death? No matter how much you fight, you’ll still die, you know."

"Why take the hard path when you can simply take the easy one?" Vukasin said, though his eyes gleamed with even greater excitement.

This was the scene he loved to see, the reason he had chosen the profession of a killer in the first place.

To see blood pouring down his opponent’s body as they struggled desperately for their lives.

It brought a crazed rush of adrenaline through his body, and he always loved to savor the sight by simply standing at the side and watching.

That was why he had hired underlings for himself.

Even if he had to share the money, it was well worth it!

"Killing me... won’t be easy!"

"Well, let’s find out..." Vukasin said, raising his hand once more as the group of Vorath slowly walked toward Arlo.

’Can I use the War Demon Art now?’ Arlo suddenly asked in his head.

[You have my 150% approval.]