359 Death Incarnate [2]
Yes, Leo was like a walking hurricane of death and destruction. But there was one way to stop him.
Raymond had been watching the cloaked man ruthlessly butchering his fellow police officers with considerable ease.
His heart was stirring, struggling to barely keep the tumultuous rage within him from exploding.
He couldn't let himself get blinded by the maddening fury, no matter how much he wanted to tear that man's throat apart.
He motionlessly stood there on the sidelines, not allowing himself to blink as he saw his friends get mercilessly slaughtered by the axeman.
Seeing his dying friends screaming out in agony, getting sacrificed one after another, he wanted to join the bloody fray and help them.
But he couldn't. All he could do at the moment was contain the mournful tears of seething rage.
He wasn't frozen in place out of fear. No, in fact, he wasn't frozen at all. He was just observing the battlefield and his opponent.
Raymond was painfully aware of all his strengths and weaknesses. He knew that his best aspect was observing the situation with a calm mind and thinking of a rapid solution.
He had always been good at analyzing things – whether it be the battlefield or living people.
And right now, he was doing just that. His opponent was a master martial artist, and from the looks of it, not just an ordinary master either. He couldn't be defeated in hand-to-hand or melee combat.
Raymond didn't miss how the axeman was barely deploying any mana at all – strictly using it right before unleashing an attack to either empower his body or reinforce his weapons.
That could only mean one of the two things – his mana core was either not very large or he had exhausted most of his reserves before arriving here.
Raymond also noticed how this man only started killing when one of his men was mistakenly unmasked.
That meant this wasn't a professional group of thieves but an organization that would rather keep its identity hidden.
Okay, it was fine. The situation, no matter how morbid, was still salvageable.
If they could just thwart this cloaked man's dance of death, then subduing his comrades wouldn't be very difficult.
And if Raymond was right – he prayed to the gods that he was – then defeating this cloaked figure was easy.
They merely had to rain down a salvo of mid to high-grade artillery spells on him. Either that, or they could simply unleash one super-destructive AoE spell.
Since the man seemed to possess a small mana core, he would not be able to shield himself against a barrage of obliterating spells.
The problem was that none of those solutions were applicable since they were inside a very compact space right now.
Also, not to mention, they were under a freaking building. If they were to mess up and misfire, the whole thing could crumble down and crush them to death.
"Ray…!"
No, to be honest, even if none of them mess up, the rain of artillery spells would surely be destructive enough to pulverize this whole underground chamber.
"...mond!"
Yeah, employing either of those two options was just courting death. But then, what other choice did they have?
"Raymond!"
"...?!" His thoughts came to an abrupt halt as a couple of voices called out his name, pulling him out of his daze.
It was only then did Raymond noticed Nero and Anastasia had been constantly shouting his name all this time.
As a semblance of focus slowly returned to his gaze, Nero summoned his sword and yelled at the black-uniformed officer.
"Raymond, we can help!"
Anastasia, who was initially hesitant to interfere with law enforcement matters, now nodded vigorously in agreement.
They all understood the gravity of the situation. If they did nothing, all of them would die.
Raymond gritted his teeth and reluctantly accepted the three cadets' offer to help. They were closer to him than his fellow officers, making it easier to discuss his plan with them.
And besides, Raymond had a plan that could hopefully keep them out of harm's way.
"Listen," he began, pointing to the distant figure of Leo, who was leaving a trail of death and chaos in his wake. "Our priority is that man."
Nero concurred, "Yeah, the balance was tipped to their favor as soon as that man joined the battle."
Raymond nodded and continued, "Dealing with him is relatively simple. If we can lure him outside, we can ambush him with a barrage of artillery spells."
Chase voiced his concerns, "That won't be easy."
Raymond clarified, "I never said easy, I said simple."
With cold sweat drenching his forehead, he asked, "How many Area of Effect and artillery spells do you all know?"
"I know two," Chase replied. "One of them is an imprisonment spell."
"I know five," Nero stated. "All of them are destructive."
"I can use a bow," Anastasia concluded.
Raymond sighed in relief, "Okay, that should be more than enough."
Nero inquired, "So, do you have a plan?"
Raymond nodded, casting a quick glance around to scan their entire surroundings with eyes that held back panic and fear.
All around them, people were still fighting.
Shaolin officials and Raymond's fellow uniformed officers clashed in a gruesome struggle against the cloaked figures.
Meanwhile, only one man remained standing alone against Leo. It was the same tall, robust bald individual with prayer beads around his neck and a bladed mace in his hands from earlier.
Out of the ten men who had bravely decided to confront the God of War, he was the only one left alive.
…But not for long.
His colossal bladed mace was dented and caved inward in several places, while his massive body had numerous lacerations.
Blood was seeping out of the countless cuts and wounds littering his body, but he refused to back down.
However, his weapon didn't look as resilient as him.
Soon, his mace would break and that would be the end of him. He only survived until now because of his unnatural agility and recklessly swinging his colossal mace.
Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – Raymond didn't have enough time to witness the bald man's impending death.
Instead, his attention was elsewhere as he scanned his surroundings, looking for something in particular.
Raymond's eyes locked onto a cloaked figure, and he urgently pointed in its direction, alerting the three cadets around him.
"There, look at that man. He was the one who collected the relics earlier."
A spark of understanding lit up in Nero's dark eyes. "So if we take his dimensional ring and make a run for it, their leader will have no choice but to follow us outside the building."
Raymond nodded. "So, who among you is the fastest?"
†
Without letting anything distract him, neither the cowardly cries of his victims nor the distant clangor of the battle between his squad and the rest of the authorities, Leo continued to crack open one skull after another.
In the end, only the huge man who looked more like a monk than a warrior was left standing before him.
Leo was sure he was a kind guy. In fact, everyone in Shaolin was kind. He really didn't want to kill him or the others, but he had no choice.
So he took a deep breath and pressed on.
He unloaded a relentless fury of slashes on the bald man, his arms moving in a blur. It was as if Leo was attacking from several different directions at once.
If that wasn't bad enough, each one of his strikes seemed to contain the weight of a small hill.
The bald man desperately tried to block the unending assault, using his giant mace to shield his massive body from the chaotic hurricane of axe slashes.
But in the end, his reliable weapon gave out. The sturdy shaft of his mace finally succumbed to the assault and shattered.
The bald man was obviously ready for such an outcome. So as soon as his bladed mace broke, he went back on the offensive.
He couldn't play defense anymore. He was all out of options. If he was going to die, he would rather go in a blaze of glory while fighting.
He took a step forward and raised his right arm, enveloping it in a thick layer of mana. Then, as if his arm itself was a sword, he brought it down on Leo.
Kach—!!
But as if his limb was made of paper, Leo swung his axe up and cleaved off the bald man's arm.
Instead of panicking or trying to run away, the bald man closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate, his lips quietly moving to produce a silent whisper.
"Why did I lose?" He asked.
Leo swung his second axe at the bald man's neck and responded in a low tone before cutting off his head, "You cared too much about your comrades."
Kach—!!
The severed head flew and blood gushed from the decapitated body of the bald man.
For the first time in a long while, Leo found himself disgusted by the repulsive sight of his kill.
However, he sternly focused his mind and–
Kawaarrr—!!
Leo's next thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a deafening blast that resounded from somewhere inside the underground chamber.
Startled by the ear-piercing noise, Leo scanned his surroundings, his thoughts racing.
'These fools! Did they really cast magic in such a tight space?! Are they really idiots?!'
But Leo couldn't entirely blame them either. They were facing certain deaths. Perhaps they had considered making the entire building collapse, taking their killers down with them.
However, innocent slaves and countless nobles were still inside the building.
Surely, the military police and Shaolin officials wouldn't condemn the innocent to their doom alongside the criminals, would they?!
And as it turned out, Leo was correct. They didn't take such an extreme measure. Instead, it was someone quite familiar who had caused the explosive noise.
Ethereal sparks enveloped Nero's body, revealing that he had not cast magic but had unleashed his Elemental Aura.
He was holding a sword in his hand, its blade glowing in an azure hue. That sharp sound earlier was probably him breaking the sound barrier with his sword slash.
However, still, it was far too dangerous to use such a destructive aspect of his Aura in a tight space like this! Did that damned Liz Snyder teach him nothing?!
In front of Nero lay a dead figure of one of his squadmates. It was the same man who had been assigned the duty of collecting the relics.
In Nero's hands was a dimensional that belonged to his fallen squadmate. Inside of it most likely were the relics they were here to secure.
Nero looked up, his gaze meeting Leo's– or so he felt. The cloaked individual in front of him had his face covered with a mask.
However, as soon as Nero felt it, he turned around and moved toward the exit in a blur of flash, leaving behind a faint azure trail of light.
"Tsk," Leo clicked his tongue under the mask. "It's probably a trap, isn't it?"
With a shake of his head, he headed toward the underground auction hall's exit. He followed Nero's trail and left the shopping mall.
And as soon as he stepped outside…
All hell broke loose on him.
