Chapter 52: The Dreamer is Weak and May Be Destroying Everyone's Dreams
Aoto took steps as light as feathers. He immediately sensed them moving and drawing closer.
"They've detected me. This narrow space is no good."
He immediately turned and ran fast. While running, he looked back and saw them right behind.
He used his wind energy to lift his body. His body shifted into a prone position, head pointing forward. He flew away at high speed.
"Fighting in this narrow space is almost certainly a loss. I'd have to defend. But there are three of them."
Aoto ran fast outside while the other three chased right behind. He'll gritted his teeth and turned back. He gathered energy, preparing to unleash an attack.
"This is the chance."
He continuously swung out a series of strikes... horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, diagonal slashes... The ice slashes continuously slammed into the tunnel.
He aimed very precisely, not letting any strike collide with the tunnel walls.
The three men saw this and stopped. Their hands reached out to create an extremely thick energy layer to block the attacks.
Mask: "Erect the energy!"
The consecutive slashes slammed into the energy layer they created. The slashes continuously eroded that energy layer, making it thinner.
Aoto stood outside, still continuously waving his hands, unleashing slashes.
The three men gritted their teeth to hold on.
Kasp: "I will detonate it."
Yuio turned over and shouted loudly.
"Are you crazy? If you do that, how will we use this path?"
Kasp: "But we need to settle him."
Mask: "No, if you do that, we will be cut off from him."
Kasp did not care. He channeled disruptive energy in…
BOOM!!!
A terrifying explosion occurred. Those three were immediately blown far away. Their bodies emitted black smoke after the explosion as they flew back toward the section of the tunnel unaffected by the blast.
Yuio gritted his teeth and shouted.
"You old man, didn't you hear?"
On the other side, Aoto used his energy to wrap around his body, forming a shape like a god protecting him. He was blown far away.
That was Aoto's "Guardian God." It wasn't a technique or an item... It was simply his energy control reaching a certain peak level. It allowed him to create a giant half-body of energy. Only with extreme concentration and a level of dexterity difficult for others to reach could one maintain and create it.
The half-body of the Guardian God was the upper part, with a very detailed form showing his concentration and skill in using energy.
The torso had sharp lines. The two sides of the waist narrowed to help easily during combat, avoiding bulkiness. Two giant arms were created; the wrists needed to be small for flexibility, and he had that. The shoulders needed to be large to act as force points, and he had that too.
Especially the head part, created like a god, with a fierce appearance.
He did not create extra details to stand out, like hair or abdominal muscles. Because they were unnecessary and would increase the need for concentration…
The large explosion made the ground above shake violently. Takeshi was sitting on a chair playing cards and fell backward.
The whole inn was in a panic at this tremor.
"What the hell was that?"
"What happened?"
Takeshi scrambled up, clutching his head. His face showed a bit of discomfort.
"What is it? An earthquake?"
At this time, Aoto's energy also spread out a bit. Takeshi's eyes widened. He had sensed Aoto's energy.
The three people sitting opposite him playing cards all carried weapons. It seemed they knew how to fight. They also sensed the energy, which was strange to them.
One of them said with a suspicious voice:
"Probably someone fighting somewhere."
With worry, Takeshi turned back and said:
"I'm not playing anymore. You guys play, okay?"
He ran outside, running fast toward the direction he sensed.
"Is he fighting? What is he doing after all? I don't know if he's okay after such a big explosion. And he didn't tell me where he was going."
He ran to the middle of a bustling and crowded market.
"The energy is here. Could it be he is below?"
Takeshi glanced around.
"Is there a sewer here?"
Suddenly, he saw five people wearing black cloaks, but still revealing white outfits inside. They moved quickly toward a certain direction.
"Huh?"
He didn't care and continued to find a sewer to go down.
"Is there no sewer here?"
Returning to Aoto, he stood up and observed the rubble before him.
"With this rubble, it will take them a while to have a path. Now Kazuka and Ayaka are right ahead, yet I can't do anything."
"What should I do? Clear the rubble with them?"
"No. But currently, those two are quite safe. The dwarf old man is also gone. They don't have him. Or should I retreat now to call those two?"
"But I'm afraid it will take too much time and they will move away. But if I am alone, fighting is difficult and time-consuming. Who knows what they have for self-defense? Best to go call the others."
Aoto turned his back. Wind wrapped around his body and lifted him. He flew out, toward the exit. Flying to the stairs, he suddenly realized that was Airi's energy.
"Airi's energy? And 5 others."
"Could it be she sensed it and came here?"
He immediately sped up fast, his face carrying worry.
"Could it be the 5 people outside that the dwarf man mentioned?"
His hand manifested a green energy spear.
He lunged upward and burst outside. It was Airi. She was standing there panting, surrounded by four men. Another one was lying on the ground, seemingly defeated.
Aoto from behind threw the spear in his hand. They saw it and jumped far away, observing both of them.
"Should we keep fighting? Or go tell that guy?"
The man standing in the middle shook his head.
"No. If that guy knows, we are dead for sure."
"Then what needs to be done now?"
"Keep fighting."
A loud sound from afar rang out.
"No need for that."
WHOOSH!!!
A powerful horizontal slash flew out, tearing the wind at extreme speed, cutting all four men in half before they could react. Blood sprayed everywhere. Bodies flew apart.
Aoto and Airi stood there, eyes wide in shock.
Airi: "What the hell was that?"
The slash cut through them and continued toward Airi, but she was further away and had been alert from before, so she jumped up and avoided that deadly slash.
Aoto stepped forward.
"Are you okay?"
Airi shook her head, her eyes still focused forward.
"I'm fine."
Two footsteps slowly approached. A masked man and a girl walking together.
Both were surprised because she was grabbing Takeshi's shirt and carrying him. Takeshi seemed unconscious.
Though very angry, they understood they needed to be calm now.
Airi shouted: "Who are you?"
The girl accompanying the masked man pulled her blade from its scabbard. The sound of metal rubbing rang out. She pointed the shiny sword tip down at the grass.
Masked man: "No need to know who I am. Just know that I am bored."
His voice rasped at the last few words. The girl immediately lunged forward. Her expressionless face and cold eyes made her extremely dangerous.
Airi also lunged forward to counter.
CLANG!!!
The two blades collided after piercing through each other's energy layers, creating a light breeze. Airi was blown far away.
THUD!!!
She immediately lunged, making the ground under her feet crack. She wanted to close in on Airi once more before Airi could land, but Aoto did not let her.
His hand manifested an energy spear and he lunged up, wanting to confront her directly in the air.
The two weapons collided. Her energy seemed to be more than when confronting Airi.
Her energy immediately pierced through the energy layer surrounding the energy spear. Aoto also felt the spear was nearly cut. Both immediately retreated.
The masked man stepped toward the girl.
"Don't kill them."
She nodded.
"Understood."
Blue energy began to cover her sword and body extremely densely.
Airi and Aoto were also surprised by this energy source.
Aoto: "She is very strong."
Airi: "Yeah. I think we should scout a bit more. If it still feels possible, we fight. If not, we will turn to save Takeshi and run. Currently, he's probably just unconscious."
Aoto: "Understood."
"Strange, why can't I sense the energy of that masked man?"
Airi: "I have a feeling he won't attack us and just wants to watch. For now, just stay on guard, okay?"
Both sides lunged forward at very high speed. Dust and sand were blown away.
Aoto swung his spear across. An energy strike with an extremely wide range flew out. She ducked down, immediately accelerating, making them both bewildered.
She appeared behind Aoto and closed in on Airi. The energy-filled sword pressed against her neck. Blood chains immediately wrapped around Airi's body to protect her.
The sword slashed in and immediately bounced off. She jumped back, but Aoto from behind lunged forward. He cast a sharp, cold gaze backward.
WHOOSH!!!!
His right hand, which was holding the spear and swinging, suddenly stung. And it fell down like an autumn leaf. Aoto clutched his arm, gritting his teeth, looking at her in pain. He kicked his arm on the ground in the direction he was running. When it flew up, he caught it and pressed it to the wound. Energy was continuously healing him.
She continued to close in right in front of Aoto, not wanting to let him breathe.
Aoto jerked back instinctively.
Aoto: "Not good."
His energy erupted, transforming into a shape like a god, with a fierce face, about 2 tharn high. He stood inside it and waved his hand. The energy arm immediately descended.
At this time, the arm she had just cut had been reattached normally.
"Guardian God!!"
She widened her eyes in surprise. Her slash, not yet unleashed, froze. And she jumped backward.
Suddenly, a series of chains lunged out, putting her in a pincer move.
Her expressionless face shifted. Discomfort was clearly shown.
"I intended to play around for fun, but I'll settle this quickly to be safe."
Her energy exploded stronger while she was floating in the air. It created a sound like a small explosion.
She spun in the air. A series of slashes were unleashed. The blood chains flying toward her were immediately cut into a hundred pieces. The descending energy hand was slashed through and disappeared.
She landed on the ground, pivoting her hips.
WHOOSH!!!!
A horizontal slash with extreme power flew out. Airi knew this strike was not normal. She put both hands forward and exerted force.
"Can't dodge in time."
A series of chain layers intended to block were slashed through without causing any hindrance. Airi raised the Blood Night Sword with the intent to block, but another small slash flew in and slashed Airi's hand away.
"What the hell?"
Airi wanted to jump up, but before her legs could spring... The slash glided through. Airi's body bent as she received this strike. It pierced through her body and cut Airi in half.
Blood sprayed from her mouth. Her eyes rolled back, her mouth agape. The upper and lower body parts flew far apart. Red blood splattered everywhere.
Aoto was stunned witnessing Airi being split in two. The energy arm just slashed off immediately regrew. He immediately summoned a giant spear and a colossal energy source.
"Vampires can recover, right? But has she attained that recovery capability yet?"
He gnashed his teeth, controlling his Guardian God body to hurl the spear toward her.
She was not panicked at all but very calm. Her left hand grabbed the sword hilt along with her right. Energy radiated stronger.
A vertical slash was unleashed by her, splitting the ground into a large trench. It immediately flew extremely fast, splitting Aoto's energy spear in two and heading toward him.
His half-god energy body unleashed a punch to confront the incoming slash. When the punch was thrown, the energy from his body was like refueling the strike. One could clearly see the energy ripples Aoto transmitted to the Guardian God's arm.
However, the Guardian God's arm was immediately cut in half. The slash still lunged forward. Aoto standing below was hit. But the energy wrapping him was very thick, so he wasn't split in two.
But blood was spat from his mouth. A long slash mark appeared on his body running vertically from top to bottom, cutting his shirt in half, revealing a deep wound. Energy was still healing him, but this slash was so strong it made him struggle immensely.
He staggered as if dazed and collapsed to his knees. Panting sounds rang out in cycles like a gentle, weak piece of music, trying to resist.
"Ahh, that slash was too strong... Ahhh, it felt like it almost knocked the energy out of my body. She is too strong."
He gritted his teeth in discomfort.
"Must help my friends."
She walked toward the masked man and bowed her head respectfully.
"I have finished the processing."
The masked man glanced at her and looked toward Airi lying in the distance with two separate body parts.
"Is that vampire dead?"
"No, she is recovering herself."
Where Airi lay, energy was helping her stop the bleeding. Blood chains immediately lashed out, grabbed the severed torso, and joined them.
She lay there, eyes tightly shut. Though her body was split, she was still conscious.
"Hurry up, there's no time."
Right now, energy was radiating non-stop around the area where she lay. Then the lower body immediately stood up. The upper body was pulled up by blood chains and joined together. The surrounding energy was so thick it was hard to see through.
The closed eyes immediately opened. Red eyes stared straight forward. The Blood Night Sword lying on the ground immediately flew into her hand.
The masked man pointed behind.
"Maia, that vampire stood up."
So, she was Maia.
Maia turned back. Her face was still cold to the point of being expressionless as if she had known.
"Don't worry. I knew it."
Maia's gaze directed down to the sword Airi held. Her eyes held a bit of suspicion.
Airi immediately stomped hard on the ground. The ground cracked a large distance. She lunged straight forward. The wind had to part to make way for the one who wanted to fight back.
The masked man slowly retreated.
Maia was a bit surprised. Airi lunged forward and unleashed an attack with a stance and swing exactly like hers. But the feeling it brought was stronger.
The horizontal sweep flew out with an extremely wide range. The trees in the forest right next to where they fought were immediately cut down.
Maia swung her sword. A vertical slash with an arc shape was unleashed. She unleashed an even stronger slash. Wherever the slash went, the ground was cut in two.
Maia's slash immediately overwhelmed Airi's slash, instantly cutting through and heading toward the lunging Airi.
Airi jumped to the left and successfully avoided it. Maia saw this and immediately closed in on Airi with extreme speed in just a blink of Airi's eye.
Airi widened her eyes in surprise. Maia's blade once again closed in on Airi.
"Too fast."
Airi put her sword forward, intending to block.
The sword path was too fast. Airi certainly couldn't block it. But unexpectedly, the blade slowed down.
CLANG!!!
The two blades collided. Wind and dust flew everywhere. Two energy sources were trying to annihilate each other.
Airi gnashed her teeth in resistance.
Suddenly, Maia's left hand pulled back as if preparing for a punch. Energy gathered in Maia's fist densely.
Airi knew it. But her two hands were occupied resisting with the sword and could not block.
"Not good. Can't summon blood chains."
Blood chains required high concentration. But in such a tense battle, just concentrating was already good enough; one couldn't speak of high concentration.
Had Airi concentrated highly? Or was there something else?
Maia unleashed the punch surrounded by energy, aimed straight at her stomach.
THUMP!!!
Airi's stomach contracted as she received the punch. Her throat tightened, her eyes rolled back. Her face clearly showed agony. She spat a large mouthful of bright red blood.
The thick energy surrounding her could not protect her. It was pierced through too easily, showing the disparity.
Airi flew into the air and slowly fell to the ground.
Airi fell to the ground, her body showing signs of convulsing.
In fact, Maia had unleashed a strike with a lot of disruptive energy into Airi. Now, the two energy sources inside her were constantly clashing, leading to this convulsion.
Aoto standing far away was also helpless, only able to look on with worried eyes.
Maia walked toward Aoto slowly.
Aoto gritted his teeth, both hands raised forward. He gnashed his teeth and exerted strength.
Maia retreated a few steps when she saw the wind beginning to rise and swirl together.
Maia: "Let's see what it's trying to do for a bit."
Maia turned her head and looked at the masked man.
"Should I block it?"
The masked man shook his head.
"Just let him destroy."
In fact, this Kari city was near the border and had no soldiers or guards. It was just a place for trade. Because it was once robbed, merchants built the walls. Although they tried to establish a leader and a guard force, the people here did not want to be controlled. The few people on the wall when Kazuka's group first entered were actually just observers. They stayed up there to distinguish which were bandits to close the city gates.
At this time, the madly swirling winds were gathering, curling into two giant tornadoes. They spun around each other like two pythons in the sky, roaring in the biting wind. Aoto stood motionless in the middle. His blonde hair and cloak were whipped by the wind, but his gaze remained cold as if he were controlling everything.
The wind rose violently as if wanting to tear space apart. The atmosphere was heavy to the point of suffocation, seemingly shrieking in fear.
Maia saw this and retreated a few steps. She gave the stage to Aoto to perform, being an expressionless guest watching the performer like a clown trying to make her feel a bit interested.
Small objects around—leaves, branches, pebbles—were sucked into the sky as if pulled by an invisible hand. Even large tree trunks began to tilt. Roots burst from the ground, torn from the forest like small sticks of firewood.
Aoto just flicked his hand lightly—a seemingly simple gesture, but it made both cyclones roar simultaneously, their speed skyrocketing. They lunged toward Maia like two frenzied monsters.
The shrieking sound of the wind echoed like the scream of a thousand souls being pulled into the vortex. Trees were uprooted continuously, spinning in the air before being crushed or thrown away. The two tornadoes were high enough to touch the clouds. The cyclone bodies were like two giant pillars reaching straight into the sky, swallowing everything in their path.
Maia calmly jumped back. She held the sword with both hands. Energy radiated and wrapped around the sword. This time, the energy was even denser. She pointed the sword tip at the ground. When the energy surrounding the sword touched the ground, "crack," the ground shattered like an impacted glass pane.
Aoto stood far away, gritting his teeth to maintain these two tornadoes. His eyes were firm and hostile looking at Maia.
WHOOSH!!!!
Maia unleashed an extremely strong and large slash that flew out, tearing the air. The two tornadoes were immediately slashed away. The wind immediately weakened. The tornado forms disappeared.
A scene both majestic and destructive of nature was thus struck down. That ease was as if with just a snap of fingers.
Aoto widened his eyes in horror.
"What... What?"
Before he could process it, Maia closed in on Aoto and unleashed a punch with even more disruptive energy than the one thrown at Airi.
The powerful punch pierced through the energy layer surrounding his body. As soon as it pierced through, that punch immediately pushed disruptive energy in.
Blood spat from Aoto's mouth. The horrific pain made him immediately faint. His body curled and flew fast into the distance. He slammed into a large tree, making it immediately fall. He just kept flying and rolled several times on the ground.
Maia glanced around, then turned and walked away toward the masked man.
Maia bowed respectfully.
"This time it's certain."
The masked man nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Then capture them."
Maia: "Are you planning to do something?"
The masked man went to where Takeshi was lying and sat down to observe.
"I find this group quite interesting."
Maia's face was still calm, but her tone showed she was quite curious.
"Just that?"
The masked man shook his head. He was about to say something. But suddenly, a series of rocks and trees fell down beside him, making him startle and flinch. His cold demeanor disappeared. Now he glanced up at the sky and observed the scene of raining stones and trees falling.