The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 366: Near Death

“Bone Man!” Goldthread screamed, his rage burning away his rationality, and he shouted at his other companions, “Fight!”

The Twelve Zodiac Signs had long joined the battle.

Outside of War Tiger, the only one who could fight Wei at close range without getting killed immediately was Qing Ling.

Holding her Black Gold Tang Dao, she rushed toward Wei and War Tiger.

With level 5 God of Blades, she was a threat to Wei, and combined with the relentless deadly attacks coming from War Tiger, Wei was forced to parry their blades with one hand holding his sword and the other hand holding the sheath, too occupied to make another long-range attack like the cross slash earlier.

The three of them fought on the running track cast in a crimson light. Their blades crossed and collided in a flurry, making it difficult to make out which blade was whose.

Officer Huang wielded two guns, his eyes sharp like those of an eagle. While Wei was moving at great speed with War Tiger and Qing Ling doggedly attacking and flanking him, making the risk of friendly fire high, level 4 God of Firearms granted Officer Huang the ability to predict the target’s movements with high accuracy.

Bang bang, bang.

Spotting an opening, Officer Huang made three shots in a row.

Wei parried Qing Ling’s forward thrust before turning to dodge War Tiger’s vertical slash. At that moment, bullets shot at him from the side. He swung the sheath in his left hand upward.

Clink, clink.

He managed to block two bullets.

The third bullet, however, came half a second later, and at a different angle—as Officer Huang had intended.

The powerful bullet ended up brushing past Wei’s left arm. While it hadn’t gone through his arm, it had cut and injured the muscles.

He jumped five meters backward.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

With tremendous speed, Wei made a double cross slash at Officer Huang, sending four arcs of blade aura his way, leaving no room for Officer Huang to dodge the attack.

Mischievous Monkey, as if he had foreseen the move, put his hands on the ground and conjured an earth wall that was close to half a meter thick, shielding Officer Huang.

A second later, the four slashes hit, cutting the wall into pieces instantly, the force barely offset.

Officer Huang felt gusts of wind hit him in the face, chest, and shoulder, followed by a burn. Even after being mostly offset, the slashes still managed to slice his skin open like razors.

Officer Huang’s eyes widened. He was dozens of meters from the pride monster, and the slashes had first gone through the thick earth wall, yet its remaining force was still cutting. What a formidable power!

He couldn’t help but worry over War Tiger and Qing Ling. How dangerous it must be to fight Wei in melee range!

Boom, boom, boom!

When Wei jumped five meters away to attack Officer Huang with a double cross slash, Wu Dahai knew it was his chance. Without the concern of friendly fire, he summoned lightning with one hand. The violet lightning strikes that were each as thick as a man’s thigh came down upon Wei.

It was so sudden that Wei had to make a backflip to dodge the hit. While midair, he sensed a shadow slamming down on him.

It was a car.

Goldthread had manipulated its gravity and hurled it at Wei.

Swish, swish.

Twisting half a circle in the air, Wei made a cross clash, cutting the car into four pieces and sending them flying.

Just when he made the landing, the lightning came again.

Wei dodged to the left. Then War Tiger charged at him out of nowhere, his movement twice as fast and his killing intent twice as fierce, leaving Wei with no way to get away in time.

Had the man been hiding his real strength?

For the first time, Wei lost his composure and felt the threat keenly. He had no presence of mind to care about the potential lightning, bullets, cars, or other range attacks that might come his way. Instead, he put his full concentration and strength in blocking War Tiger’s attack.

Five seconds before.

When Wei made a double cross slash at Officer Huang, War Tiger recognized the problem they were facing.

If things went on, they would lose over half of their companions even if they ended up winning, and that was the kind of victory War Tiger didn’t want.

Thus, War Tiger came to a decision. It was a tactic he had considered but never carried out.

Self mutilation!

Yes, he hurt himself on purpose!

His Talent made him stronger the closer he was to death!

Taking out a shortsword, he stabbed himself in the chest without hesitation, only narrowly missing his heart.

He didn’t pull out the shortsword; that would only make him bleed faster and increase the danger.

At that moment, the energy in his body screamed at him, going berserk.

Killing Expert, in dying state.

—All in!

His eyes radiated gold light. All he could see was Wei.

He dashed at a speed that surprised even himself. It didn’t feel like he was running, but teleporting.

Like the hand of the god of war, his right hand made an unstoppable, unavoidable slash with unrivaled precision and power.

Wei, similarly, made the most powerful slash he had ever made.

Swish, swish.

Their blades collided like two streaks of lightning. For half a second, even the sky seemed to dim and lose its color.

Bam!

At the moment of collision, powerful shockwaves burst out in all directions.

Qing Ling, who was the closest to the two of them, dug her Tang Dao into the ground, yet she still ended up thrown off her feet for a few meters.

The others, who were more than ten meters from the two men, were pushed back and ended up losing their balance too.

When they recovered, War Tiger was already standing behind Wei, his body leaning forward and his head lowered, maintaining the posture after making the slash.

Wei stood where he was with his right foot forward and his right hand holding his single-edged sword. He had stopped moving after attacking as well.

The two of them had their backs to each other, standing ten meters apart.

Two seconds later, War Tiger’s right arm spurted out blood in an arc, and the same was true of Wei.

They both lost their blade-wielding arm wholly, and blood gushed out of the stumps like springs.

War Tiger dropped to his knees, holding onto the stump of his right arm with his left hand, unable to fight any longer.

While losing an arm wasn’t fatal to him, he had inflicted a serious injury on his chest earlier, and forcing himself to fight would damage his heart further and cause his death.

Wei had been seriously injured as well, but he could still fight.

Tapping into his energy, he did his best to slow the bleeding from his missing arm.

Then with the tip of his foot, he brought his sword up to hold it with his left hand instead, making a cross slash at Goldthread without hesitation. While his left hand wasn’t as powerful as his right, the attack was still formidable.

Swish.

White Rabbit tackled Goldthread with Jump, saving him. Then she quickly picked herself up to activate Jump again, rushing to War Tiger.

She had to bring War Tiger to Fat Jun and Lovely Lamb, who were protected by Dead Pig.

With the two of them together, it would only take two minutes for War Tiger to recover enough to keep fighting. Then Wei would lose for sure.

Bang, bang, bang.

Officer Huang fired at quick succession.

Cang, clang, clang.

Wei blocked the bullets with quick slashes, the blade sputtering sparks as it collided with the bullets.

Then lightning came down upon Wei from above. Wei, with only one arm, zigzagged to dodge the lightning strikes while approaching the biggest threat to him at the moment, Wu Dahai.

Songstress started singing again.

Wei didn’t pay it any mind. While Requiem did cause some distraction, the pain shooting from the stump of his arm kept him clear-minded, offsetting most of the effect of the Talent.

Wei had reached him too quickly. Wu Dahai couldn’t run away in time.