The barrier around Cyrus was maintained, and Kate helped get rid of any insurgents still inside the city, so there was no danger to residents for the time being. However, if the mayor fell, the city would soon follow.
Knowing this, Mayor Henry tried his best against the three leaders of the Blaze Union, but his might simply wasn't enough.
"What happened to all that bravado you had before? Is this the best you can do?"
They were all in the Sky Realm, but the difference in cultivation was too much for Mayor Henry's determination to overcome. In just a few exchanges, the mayor's clothes were stained with his blood while the union leaders were unharmed. Even though they could likely defeat him individually in his current state, the union leaders boldly capitalised on their numerical advantage.
"Accept it. You're not our match. Perhaps if you offer us the secrets of the original four cities, we might be willing to spare your dog life."
"Hahaha!"
Mayor Henry struggled to stay on his legs, but he kept glaring at the union leaders and refused to admit defeat.
"Never!"
"Very well. Let's start by crippling him."
The other union leaders agreed with Elder Lut while Mayor Henry's expression grew more tense. The union leaders blocked his path to ensure he couldn't escape, but one of them caught sight of a streak of light in the sky.
"What's that?"
After he pointed it out, everyone else also noticed the phenomenon and that it seemed to be heading towards them. Though she wasn't aware of their conversation from within the city, Kate noticed that light at around the same time and smirked at its appearance.
"Took you long enough."
At the head of that streak of light was a young man wearing a plain white mask that concealed his appearance. He was flying by ejecting fire from the bottom of his feet, which allowed for high speed but also made him very eye-catching. Upon noticing the mayor being surrounded by the three union leaders, he summoned a thin silver blade and stopped above Cyrus before aiming at them while concentrating fire at his feet.
"Ethereal Blade Method, Speed Form, First Stance,"
Once he was ready, he fired a burst of flames from his feet and blasted towards the group of Sky Realm experts at sonic speed.
"Instant!"
In one swing, he split Elder Lut's body in two and landed with a loud crash near the mayor.
"Brother Lut!!!"
Mayor Henry couldn't see his face, but the young man gave him a familiar feeling. That feeling became stronger as the young man leapt out of the crater created by his landing.
"Benefactor, could you be-?"
Before Mayor Henry could finish, the young man raised a finger to where his mouth would be. He had no intention of letting any enemies in the vicinity live for much longer, but they weren't the only ones watching this battle, so he didn't want word of his true strength to spread. Though the young man didn't discuss his reasons, the mayor nodded in understanding.
"Very well. Please let this old man fight by your side."
The young man was confident that he could win this battle by himself, but this was originally the mayor's fight, so he silently agreed and gave him a healing pill for his injuries. By the time Mayor Henry recovered and the two turned towards the three union leaders, Elder Lut's two halves had rejoined, but his expression was still dark.
"Be wary of that one. He seems to know some strange technique that allows him to heal from lethal injuries. It didn't happen this time, but there's also a chance of his cultivation improving after recovering."
The mechanism behind Elder Lut's Reviving Phoenix Art was quickly laid bare by the young man's special eyes. Though he had expended a significant amount of energy to reach the city in time, he judged there was still enough to execute the three Sky Realm experts.
"You! Why do you interfere in this conflict?" Elder Lut shouted.
"..."
Instead of responding, the young man straightened his posture and held his blade ready.
"There's no point in talking, brother. He was lucky with that sneak attack, but it'll be the worst decision he's ever made."
"Right."
The other two union leaders were infuriated by the young man's attack on Elder Lut, but Lut held a hint of apprehension. Though it was a sneak attack, Elder Lut had an active barrier spell, and through the collision, he could tell that the young man's attack power wasn't inferior to his. Of course there was a chance that the young man couldn't bring out an attack of that level again, but to have another variable appear right as they cornered Mayor Henry was quite displeasing.
"Fellow leaders, I'll handle him. Hurry up and deal with that old man."
"Yes, union leader Lut."
Watching as the union leaders charged at them, the young man decided to remove their numerical advantage. Using the Instant Stance of the Ethereal Blade Method, he pierced the chest of one of the two weaker union leaders. Without the extra boost of gravity and fire, it was difficult to surpass a Sky Realm expert's perception with just speed, but after attaining Soul Perfection he could quickly suppress his presence to the point of being nearly invisible even under the surveillance of spiritual sense.
"What?!"
"You dare kill—"
While both of the other two union leaders focused on the young man with his blade pushed through their companion's corpse, the same scene suddenly repeated itself elsewhere.
"Gah!"
Hearing the death cry on his left, Elder Lut quickly turned around, but it was already too late. The young man had waited until they focused their attention on the clone he left behind so that he could kill another union leader in one strike.
"Is he really this powerful?"
Mayor Henry watched in shock and awe as two men who had given him so much trouble were easily dispatched. He had already suspected that the young man was stronger than him during their previous meeting, but it was still unexpected that the gap between them would be this great in just a year. Even if they fought within the city, he had little confidence in being able to gain the upper hand.
Elder Lut was even more confused and dumbfounded by the deaths of his two martial brothers.
"You… how could you? How could you?!"
As he struggled to process what happened, Elder Lut charged at the young man in a rage. Mayor Henry struck him with lightning spells to slow him down, but Elder Lut endured the spells with his barriers and continued unabated. Elder Lut then cast flames on boulders rising from the earth and used them as both his attack and his defence. Though he was infuriated, he was still wary of the ghastly speed the young man had shown.
The young man nodded in praise of this move that targeted the weakness of the Instant stance. Since the Instant stance relied on a burst of velocity, he couldn't turn once he started the technique. Though his body was tough enough to charge through the boulders, it would at least slow him down and alert Elder Lut of what direction he was attacking from. Nonetheless, he had no need to rely on that technique to finish this battle.
Since his cultivation was below the Sky Realm, the young man had to rely on special means to fly, so he walked towards Elder Lut instead. Lut attacked him and the mayor from above with flaming boulders and fire spells, but the young man protected himself with just one hand. He was strong enough to swat away the boulders, and his insight into the laws of fire made him invulnerable to most common fire spells.
Despite maintaining the high ground, Elder Lut felt pressured by the young man's approach and decided to use his trump card.
"I'm not finished yet! Flame of Rebirth!"
With a shout, Elder Lut summoned a vermillion flame around his body. From the fluctuations it gave off, Shui could tell that the flame was a manifestation of his fire intent. While some geniuses might touch upon the natural laws in the Earth Realm, it was the norm for Sky Realm experts to reach this stage. However, revealing what laws one comprehended was equivalent to revealing one's weakness, so most kept it as a last resort. Mayor Henry had comprehended the omnipresence aspect of the natural law of wind, but it wasn't very useful in battle at his level of understanding.
"Die!"
Instead of throwing spells, Elder Lut charged at the young man with his body. The young man had an idea of why he was so confident, but he still swung his blade. The blade tore through Elder Lut's body without resistance, but Lut also struck the young man in the chest. It should have been a failed attempt by him to trade lives, but Elder Lut's injuries soon vanished while the young man felt some of his life force drain away.
"So this is the rebirth aspect of fire."