366 Broken Spirits
“On me!” Infamous Enigma shouted, leading the attack.
The other members would hesitate to follow up without someone of his caliber to lead the attack. It was something he had to do.
After Infamous Enigma dashed ahead, the other black cloaks also charged at Vaan from different directions. Since they decided to attack, they didn’t have fear, not with Infamous Enigma taking the lead.
Furthermore, they all possessed strength comparable to Rank 4 Aura Lords.
“Die!” Infamous Enigma roared.
Even as the enemies closed in on Vaan, he remained unarmed and welcomed them with his bare hands fearlessly.
The enemies might be using Rank 3 – Rank 4 weapons, but he had nothing to fear. After all, his aura cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.
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«Cultivation»
Aura Circulation Method: The Way of the Formless Dragon (High-rank)
Cultivation Level: Early Rank 3 Aura Grandmaster → Peak Rank 4 Aura Lord
Aura Power: 250 → 1050
Special Trait: Dragon Aura
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«Physical Attributes»
[1100 Strength] [Peak-level Rank 4] [250 → 1050 Aura Power (↑800)] [Total Strength: 1350 → 2150 (↑800) (Low-level Rank 5 → Mid-level Rank 5)]
[250 → 450 Speed (↑200)] [Low-level Rank 3] [250 → 1050 Aura Power (↑800)] [Total Speed: 500 → 1500 (↑1000) (Peak-level Rank 3 → Low-level Rank 5)]
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“Come!” Vaan shouted, excited to test his strength.
In that instant, his dragon aura immediately poured out of his body, surging upwards like boiling water, causing the air and ground to reverberate.
Infamous Enigma’s heart shook at the sight of Vaan’s thick red aura, but he quickly steeled his heart and pressed his attack.
Clang!
Vaan caught Infamous Enigma’s blade with his bare hand before he kicked Infamous Enigma in the stomach, sending him flying.
Infamous Enigma immediately lost control of his weapon, but he did not care about that; shock was written all over his face as he flew through the air and crashed into a building.
In the brief instance in which his weapon made contact with his opponent’s incredibly thick red aura, he felt his attack’s momentum slow down drastically.
‘Such a tyrannical aura!’ Infamous Enigma thought.
He wondered if his attack would even be able to cut the person by the time the blade made contact with the person’s skin.
After Vaan blocked the first attack and sent the person flying, it was immediately followed up by the attacks of five other black cloaks.
However, Vaan deflected all their weapons with the blade in his hand in one swift and circular motion. Then, he followed up with a whipping kick, breaking the ribs and spine of the first victim, bending the person into a V-curve.
In the same instance, the person slammed into three out of the other four black cloaks as they were also caught in Vaan’s whipping kick and had numerous bones in their bodies shattered.
The last black cloak was fortunate enough to dodge with a duck, but Vaan’s chop soon came down on his head, crushing his skull, brain, neck, and partway into his chest.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Vaan could have easily split the person in half with more force if not for the person’s armor hindering the path of his chop.
Nevertheless, the remaining black cloaks in the surrounding quickly halted their charge, stunned by such brutality.
Vaan’s method of fighting was so primitive and beast-like. There wasn’t any skill or technique used, just raw physical power.
“This is a Peak-stage Aura Lord? Even Peak-stage Aura Lords aren’t this strong! I’ve seen people of King Varan’s caliber possessing such brute strength!” Lethal Shade cussed.
His confidence quickly dropped to rock bottom, but he did not give up.
Witches had the advantage in their spells of mass destruction, while aura users’ strength lay in their single-combat prowess. They could be overwhelmed with numbers.
“What are you all waiting for?! Overwhelm him with our numbers! Don’t give him a chance to relax! We can overpower him with our numbers!” Lethal Shade barked his orders.
However, the black cloaks remained hesitant. They didn’t want to become crushed bloody messes like their fallen comrades.
Meanwhile, Vaan noticed a survivor among the five black cloaks he took down.
The person suffered severe internal injuries due to shattered bones but still mustered all his strength to crawl away, dragging his broken body along the dirt-filled ground.
Bam!
Vaan splattered the person’s head with a stomp and put the person out of his misery. Then, he glanced up at the shaken and hesitating black cloaks nearby.
“Not coming? Then, I’ll come to you!” Vaan declared, eyes burning with silent rage and excitement. His battle spirits rose while his opponents’ were crushed.
He had verified the might of his dragon aura. It was so strong and sturdy that it was comparable to the aura of Rank 5 Aura Kings and no different from actual dragon scales.
As such, he gave up blocking attacks entirely.
With a single step, Vaan launched his body forward toward the closest black cloak within his line of sight.
The person was so scared that he took a clumsy step back.
It wasn’t so bad when Vaan didn’t single out any of the black cloaks. But when he did target one, the black cloak was absolutely terrified despite being a battle-hardened A-rank Witch Hunter.
The A-ranker felt like a tiny person facing a humongous dragon; small and insignificant in comparison.
Nevertheless, the A-ranker didn’t get the chance to recover from his hesitation.
Vaan closed the distance between them instantly and drilled his hand right through the A-ranker’s stomach in an uppercut motion, easily reaching up to the chest area and lifting the person’s entire body up in the air due to their height difference.
The A-ranker was only six feet tall, while Vaan had already reached six feet four.
After the person had half of Vaan’s arm inside his upper body, he could only hang powerlessly in the air before Vaan tossed his body aside.
A heart remained in Vaan’s hand before he crushed it.
In that instant, the remaining A-rankers from the Assembly of Silent Night all felt their heart turn cold, and a chill ran up their spines, giving them goosebumps.
In the face of absolute strength, many lost their fighting spirits.