CHAPTER 310: WHAT?

The whole battlefield froze at the deafening crash. Both sides felt a terrifying pressure and quickly backed away. But... surprisingly, it was just sand and subtle waves of energy flowing in every direction.

The golden monkey swallowed hard. All that power... was perfectly concentrated? What in the world could do something like that?!

Seconds later, everything went silent.

The three young Heavenly Elemental Spirits were panting on the ground, surrounded by a thick mist of sand and dust.

Suddenly... they felt a figure appear before them.

They saw his thin, taller back, then felt a terribly evil aura emanating from him. Then, the figure turned and faced them.

"!"

The three held their breath. That person’s whole body in front of them seemed corrupted. His red eyes and presence were terrifying, but... for some reason, they felt a warm comfort filling them.

Darian activated his curse and saw something that made him sigh. The three carried a karma that shone like pure white beacons.

"Later we’ll talk... I..." he murmured, as softly as he could, "came to help a little."

The three nodded with their eyes glowing.

"AAH!"

A terrifying scream filled with hatred echoed.

The sand started to sink... then the leader of the Aberrants appeared ahead. His face twisted in pain, and his body was completely charred black.

The three young ones stared at him in disbelief, feeling like they were dreaming.

"Oh? You’re pretty tough, huh?"

At that moment, all the Fiendgods managed to see the situation. They saw a small man covered by a cloak, standing, radiating a presence that shook them to the core.

"BASTARD, DIE!" roared the Aberrant leader.

His saber had fallen nearby, but he ignored it. Moving almost on instinct, without thinking, he leapt and came down with his sharp claw stretched toward Darian like lightning.

Even if it was a quick strike, his physical power was terrifying. The saber only amplified what he already had.

Darian narrowed his eyes. How many lives had he absorbed to reach such power?

At that short distance, his claws almost touched Darian’s throat the instant the strike fell. But...

*Crash!*

The earth split open in countless cracks. Then, a muffled cry of pain echoed.

Five meters back, Darian appeared with the three young ones close to him. The girls clutched his arms, while the boy held one of their hands firmly.

Darian had simply vanished with them at the right instant, using the power of the winds. The Aberrant’s strike slammed into the ground with full force. The monster’s nails cracked and blood spurted from his fingertips.

"You were really trying to hit me?" Darian spoke dryly, then turned to the three, giving them a serious look.

They nodded and stepped aside, raising their swords back into fighting stance.

Seeing him mock, the Aberrant leader lost his composure. He moved quickly, grabbing his saber.

Darian didn’t stop him. He didn’t need to. Escaping him was easy; after all, that man’s karma was as dense and black as a Risen’s.

Earlier, Darian had used up all his fire runes and a third of his wind runes in his explosive attack. Even with his refined elemental control, that had only wounded the target — which showed just how terrifying that race was.

This enemy could be easily killed with the dark power. However, Darian wanted to take the chance to study that species’ abilities more closely. If in the future he came across one even stronger and harder to face — maybe even stronger than him — he could be in trouble for lack of knowledge.

It was a good chance to learn. Besides, now he wanted to see what those three young ones were capable of.

As soon as he grabbed the saber, the Aberrant leader swung it toward Darian in a frenzy. However, having learned his lesson, he didn’t dare use all his power in a single strike. He kept two-thirds of the energy in reserve, so he could move quickly and stop the enemy from simply dodging and retreating.

The blade cut through the air, missing Darian.

But then, it swung around in another direction, chasing him.

"Oh?"

Darian sneered and dodged again. But the blade kept shifting direction, chasing him almost like in a dance.

The stronger Fiendgods watched everything from afar, surprised. Meanwhile, the others went back to fighting the enemies.

Darian showed openings, like the saber could finish him off at any moment. However... it looked like magic, but he really managed to dodge every single strike.

The three young ones stood further back, faces full of panic, yet still holding tightly to their swords, ready to help.

At the instant Darian seemed just a hair away from failing a dodge... the three swords sliced through the air in perfect sync.

They finally got their chance to recover and strike!

Blows infused with three different elements joined together in an absolutely abnormal harmony. Darian felt admiration at that.

The blades sliced right past Darian and went straight at the enemy.

*CRACK!*

The impact sent the target flying backward, spraying blood through the air.

Three massive slashes appeared on his body. But... the very next second, the wounds closed.

Darian saw and felt everything clearly. ’It’s like a spiritual root? No... more like physical meridians in the body. Interesting.’

He realized where the Aberrants’ power came from. They had strange veins running through their bodies, flowing with vital energy that allowed instant healing, without even needing to think about it.

Even Darian, when he had his white power, after getting injured, needed to focus and move energy to the wound.

It was fast, but still cost him at least a second — and during that time, he couldn’t use his dark power. The Aberrants, though, had that passively and extremely strong. They could keep fighting with all focus on attacking, without losing anything.

"Big brother, thank you so much for the help. But... this place is dangerous, so you should leave!" — suddenly, a gentle voice full of concern rang out to Darian.

He turned and met the gaze of the girl with the blue aura of water. The three were staring at him with genuine fear and a sincere desire to protect him in their eyes.

’Oh, what? They think I’m weak?’ Darian could hardly believe it.

He sighed. Those youngsters must have only a handful of years of life, and therefore very limited intelligence and huge naivety.

In this world full of primordial power, that race probably was born and, in just a year, could already walk around. For lack of reasoning... if they claimed to be only two or three years old, Darian wouldn’t be surprised.

Earlier, he had attacked using the power of two Laws of the system. So, of course they thought it was an all-or-nothing strike, and not actually his own power.

And now... since he was clearly only dodging, skirting death every instant, they concluded he had nothing left to offer and was in danger.

Darian gave a small smile to the three. "Don’t worry, I’m pretty fast and I can still help by restraining him."

Without hesitation, he rushed back into the fight!

"No! You’re gonna die!"

Seeing him charge at the enemy again, looking like an idiot full of openings, the other girl shouted in despair. There was no way the Aberrant leader would let him get away this time.

Suddenly, the enemy moved like lightning, at a speed three times greater than before. Now he was putting 95% of his power into speed, relying almost entirely on the saber’s offensive potential to kill.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Darian. By the time Darian reacted, the blade had already brushed against the back of his robes.

Right after, a bizarre scene happened.

Darian suddenly spun like a top, at a strange and seemingly senseless angle. But... the move made the strike pass right through, only grazing his skin. If the Aberrant made a second quick move, Darian would be sliced in half!

"Watch out!" — the three young ones shouted in unison, charging at the same time.

Their swords lunged with full force, trying to force the enemy to defend instead of pressing the attack.

But... in that apparent careless moment from Darian, a non-existent opening appeared!

When the saber missed Darian, for a split second, that Aberrant couldn’t channel his power into anything. It was impossible for anyone else to know this, but Darian caught it easily, thanks to the curse, and trusted the three would attack at that exact moment without hesitation to save him.

The three swords struck the target head-on. It almost looked like the Aberrant leader had intentionally left a gap to be exploited.

The three froze, wondering if it was a trap.

But... the blades actually cut him brutally!

A rain of blood exploded in every direction, and the Aberrant let out a terrifying scream as he was blown away.

Darian nodded in satisfaction. Those three were incredibly talented and precise. It was impressive how three Heavenly Elemental Spirits, born from different elements, could attack in perfect sync and merge their powers with such harmony.

On top of that, they didn’t hesitate in battle, yet still carried absolute kindness and purity.

There was no way he would allow those three to die in front of his eyes.