Kenji's POV:
*Bang**Boom**Bang*
"WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU?!" I shouted as I shot a fireball to counter the one the orange-haired guy had thrown my way.
*Boom*
*Pop*
Just as the fireballs collided in a massive explosion, my 6th sense picked up some strange fluctuations going on behind me and I reflexively spun around to throw a fire fist which clashed with the wind currents engulfing the arm of the dark-haired guy in glasses who just appeared behind me.
*BANG*
Normally, in a situation where a wind and fire cultivator clashes like this, you'd normally think the fire cultivator would have the advantage since a direct clash would result in the wind catching fire, but that's not always the case as is evident of how I can feel the skin on my knuckles being shredded right now.
"Ugh!"
Like a candle in the wind, my flames were being snuffed by the overwhelming intensity of the wind currents.
"These treasures belong to us! No hard feelings!" He said, as he increased the force in his fist and sent me spiraling towards the ground below.
"CAN'T WE JUST SHARE?!" I shouted as I managed to maneuver my descent to land on my feet.
*Pop*
"Sharing means less treasure for us! So sorry, but you got to die!" Said the orange haired guy who just teleported next to me with a swirling fire in his palm.
I reflexively jumped backwards to avoid the inferno shooting out of his hand, unfortunately, that was a mistake in judgment on my end, or at least that's what I thought at first.
*Sizzle*
*Pop*
*Swish**Swish*
You see, aside from the two obvious, the orange-haired fire cultivator and the wind cultivator in glasses, there is also a third enemy, a purple-haired guy cultivating the spatial element. He's been standing on the sidelines as support, coordinating their attacks by connecting spaces so his buddies can get from A to Be in my blind-spot at a moment's notice. The reason why I mention this now is because this time he had opened a portal in the direction I was dodging to transport me instead, placing me in the air about to get hit in the back by two wind blades. Between tanking an inferno palm strike and a pair of wind blades, I would have been better off choosing the former since my resistance to my own element would let me come out of it with just some minor burns. If I had been hit directly, those wind blades could have been fatal. They could have.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
*Clang**Clang*
It's been a while since I've used one and this whole fight happened so suddenly I kind of forgot I had it, but there were currently a very strange sword and scabbard stuck to my back right now. Right before the wind blades hit, the black scabbard suddenly expanded, blocking the attacks.
"Phew! That was close! HEY, CAN'T WE AT LEAST TRY TALKING THIS OUT FIRST BEFORE JUMPING TO MURDER! GEEZ!!!" I shouted at them, reaching for the hilt of my new sword as the guy in glasses came charging behind me while a spatial distortion was forming below.
*Swoosh*
"And give you a chance to escape with your life! Fat chance!" Said the guy in glasses as I ducked under the hand lined by wind blades trying to chop my head off.
*Swish*
*Bang*
I then proceeded to knock the glasses of his face by headbutting his jaw, which kind of hurt a little for me too, but meh. I've been through worse.
*Bang*
"It's too late anyways!" Shouted the guy who just teleported in below me with a flaming spear in hand.
Dodging his first thrust by a hair's breadth, he continued.
"Everybody knows if you don't kill after a strike has been made it will mean trouble later!"
"For fuck's sake!" I said, unsheathing my blade as I've finally had enough.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Honestly, I am still a little bit in doubt about this thing really being a mythical blade like the boss said, then again this is the boss's handiwork so there is no telling what it is. The moment I tugged on it, something wet and slimy wrapped itself around my hand, however, before I had time to question it, it was as if my hand had a mind of its own as the black blade moved from my back to my front in a single swift motion, splitting him in two from shoulder to hip. I didn't feel even the slightest bit of resistance as I swung the blade through flesh and bone. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I hit nothing but empty air.
"UGH!"
Hearing a grunt of pain behind me, I noticed the wind cultivator, now missing his glasses, was sporting a cut on his torso. I guess he had recovered from that headbutt a little faster than I thought he would and tried going for another attack while I was distracted, only to get cut when I swung the blade.
Regardless, the cut wasn't deep enough to be fatal so he's not done yet, and since I didn't cut through his dantian, the guy I just killed should revive as a ghost any moment now. Or so I thought.
*Thud*
"Huh?"
For some reason or another, the wind cultivator suddenly dropped to the ground and stopped moving, meanwhile, I didn't spot any signs of the nascent soul of the guy I just killed.
*Pop*
"Hey! Come on! We got to go! …! Shit, he's not breathing!"
*Pop*
While I was standing in the air, confused at what's going on, the purple-haired guy suddenly appeared next to check on the guy who just fell to the ground, shot me a glare, then teleported away with him.
"Uh? What?"
This is something I would come to find out later, but there is apparently an instant death curse applied to anyone who is cut by this sword which effects both the body and soul, which is why those two went down so fast. I would also come to regret letting that last guy escape back then.
…
Somewhere in the west of the 2nd martial continent, situated between the sages territory and the dark empire, a large, gray, fortress was bustling with activity as soldiers were frantically running around as they hurried to prepare for the siege that would no doubt take place in the not-so-distant future. Meanwhile, atop the northern wall facing the direction from where the enemy forces could be spotted marching over the horizon, a tiny silver-haired girl in a sad clown mask was sitting, her feet dangling off the edge as she carefreely blew soap bubbles.