Chapter 65: Honor
Of course, it would be stupid for him to die here, for no real reason.
However.
Lao looked at the black dot between stars. Then he clenched his sabres, filling them with Qi.
His own Spirit Weapons were long lost. These two were just replacement, however, maybe the reason he was so unlucky during that fight was that he treated them like replacements. Every sabre deserves respect, after all. This was a saying of his clan.
More than that, It was its law, one of two.
As for the second…
"Life doesn't matter in battle…"
Life is just a resource, one of many that you can use in a fight. So his father told him long ago, and so were the laws of the clan.
It does not matter if you die if you can kill the enemy.
During that fight, he was fighting as if his life matter. That was wrong. And now he even considered escaping the battle to preserve his life. How laughable! Of course, he should continue fighting.
So what that his death would be bad for his clan? Going against its laws is even worse.
It was a twisted way to think about this, however, he has always been a twisted person. When his brother's descendants adjusted the manual of his clan so it was "safer" for the user, he had a hard time not proclaiming them traitors.
And now he almost became a traitor himself.
Thoughts were getting quieter and quieter in the mind of Lao, while his resolve was getting stronger and stronger.
Slowly, almost all of his remaining Qi concentrated in his sabres. His gaze was as sharp as their edges.
He lifted his hands and at the same time, the wolf lifted his dark sword.
"I hate swordsman." Said Lao almost whispering.
"Shadow Ripping Heavens."
His Qi, blade-intent, determination and even life, such a meaningless thing, concentrated in one, just one attack.
Then he slashed forward and a wall of shadows as if cut through the earth. Earthquake sounded, the beast met the attack head-on, and then suddenly appeared just before him, attacking back.
Two dark forces crashed.
Lao felt his hand getting weaker and everything around losing its color, blurring. He was well trained to resist against pain, but it wasn't pain, rather than that it was a weakness, weakness of his age.
As if his cultivation was vanishing and his body was degrading to that of a sickly one hundred and four years old man.
At the same time, the scar on the wolf's chest was getting bigger and at last, a pitch-black crystal revealed beyond.
"Boom!"
Both of them flew back. Lao spit a large amount of blood. He felt weaker and weaker; there was so much of dark energy in his body that he could not resist it anymore. His Inner Sea was completely dry and the wolf, though in a bad shape, his crystal heart with many cracks, was still in the air.
Suddenly, his sabre shot at the wolf, crashing at the crystal.
"Boom!" Sounded and several more cracks appeared.
The beast's eyes were staring directly at him. With a great effort, the animal lifted its hand, and a completely black spear formed in it.
"Boom!"
Sounded again, and the second sabre also crashed at the crystal. Crakes spread on it like a spider web.
Time slowed down.
The black spear shot at Lao, piercing through his chest. The old man started falling down, his blue gown wavering and shining in the moonlight. The wolf was still standing in the sky.
At last, weakly, he waved his hand.
A simple twig flew from his sleeve. Like in a slow motion it connected with the wolf's dark heart.
Crack!
It shattered into bits.
…
…
…
Xin could feel his every heartbeat. Both the old man and the demon were falling from the sky. Everything was slow until two crashes sounded.
The old man landed on his knees, just in the middle of the previous battlefield, full of ashes now. The demon was lost somewhere in the forest.
"The best possible result."
Sounded a harsh voice. The man with a yellowish face tilted his head.
"How heroic!" Whispered the girl in blue, trying to be as quiet as possible so the man won't hear her.
The three of them were standing on a tree, a bit behind the battlefield and the whole army. The old man landed between them and the troops. Several thick bushes were obstructing the way.
"Come here!"
Suddenly sounded his elderly voice.
The soldiers, hesitant at first, started moving toward him. However, Xin could barely see it because of the distance and the bushes.
"What is he doing?" Asked the man.
"I don't know." Said the girl and received his scornful gaze.
Xin clenched his fists.
"I want you to know who has saved you today."
Said the old man, his voice wavering but so loud that it could be heard in several kilometers.
"Now that is bad."
Suddenly the man jumped from the tree. Xin was confused at first but then saw him taking out his two sickle-like weapons.
"Guard the kid; I will silence him before he can say anything bad."
"Ok!"
Shouted the girl and looked at the place where Xin was a second before.
The boy, meanwhile, jumped from the tree and blocked the way of the man.
"What are you about, brat?"
"Are you going to kill him?" Xin asked, looking directly at him.
"Yes."
"But he saved them, and you."
"It is my job, now let me do it and then I'll start questioning you."
Xin clenched his teeth and then took out his sabre.
It was obvious he won't be able to beat that man; however, he had to try to at least stop him until the old man finishes saying what he wants. He agreed to save that army and Maha for that, after all. He will probably have a lot of troubled because of that, but right now the boy couldn't care about that.
"Now then, I don't have time for that."
The man lifted his leg, so fast that Xin couldn't even see it. The boy's body froze. He couldn't even move while looking at the iron boot that was falling toward his face.
"Hey mongrel, why don't ya pick on someone your size?"
Suddenly said a familiar voice.
Before Xin could comprehend what happened, the boy saw a pure black garb flash before his eyes. Then he saw a fist connect with the yellowish man's face.
All his facial muscles disordered, and like an arrow, he flew back, crashing through several trees in a row.
"Long time no see, kid."