Kia locked on the demonic enemies in the dark then suddenly attacked.
"Demonic creatures! You deserve death!"
"Omni-Sword!"
As a weapon master, how could Kia not have another weapon in stock? This time it was the mysterious and omnipotent Omni-Sword!
The moment this sword was unsheathed, the dark night seemed to light up! Night and day reversed!
The ever-present dark and eerie arura of the vicious ghosts was washed away and with a single swing, the tethers on the ghosts were severed.
The ghosts who only seemed capable of one expression, a vicious one, suddenly seemed confused. Then their faces showed deep sorrow, followed by a sense of understanding, acceptance, and then gratitude for their freedom.
Not only did the ghosts' expressions change, but even their color changed from a blackish-red to a calm azure. Their immeasurable gratitude towards Kia for having saved them condensed into white lights that entered Kia's body.
"You poor departed souls, you can now rest in peace," Kia said with a sigh as she watched the departed souls disappear into the void.
The ghosts seemed to rise in the sky before turning into a white smoke that shot into the heavens. Although the process seemed long, all this happened in an instant.
Watching this scene, for a moment a deep sense of melancholy seemed to overtake Kia. She could not help but lament about the sorrows of life.
Among the thousand ghosts there were men, old and young, women and even children! What kind of monsters was she dealing with?! Neither the living nor the dead were left alone!
'These Beasts!' Towards these people, a deep sense of hatred had already welled up in Kia's heart. The encounter tonight stimulated more than Kia's sense of justice; a desire to massacre this group of monsters was ready to burst out. Exterminate!
After freeing the ghosts, Kia charged along the hook's line towards the first opponent she saw.
The dark purple Ghost Devouring Hook seemed to have lost its 'mojo' after clashing with the Omni-Sword. It fell to the ground grey and powerless.
Without the tethered ghosts, the hook was just another piece of scrap metal.
The user of this weapon was named the Ghost Serpent. Naturally this man had not only mastered numerous snake arts, but he was also a practitioner of the dark arts who specialized in corrupting, imprisoning, and manipulating the souls of the dead.
Having lost a thousand souls in the clash with Kia, Ghost Serpent was naturally livid.
"My childreeeeeen! How dare you take them away from me," he cried out while charging towards Kia.
"Wait!" The other two men beside him tried to stop him from haphazardly meeting the enemy but it was too late.
The Omni-Sword was swung once and blood sprayed like a fountain. The silver sword slashed into Ghost Serpent's chest in a horizontal line. A spray of blood shot out of the narrow cut like water through a compressed hose before the man fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Whether he was alive or not, no one knew.
At this point, Kia was already in position to clearly see the remaining two opponents. Both of them wore grayish green heavy cloaks that looked as if made of coarse sisal. Their faces seemed to be extremely deformed and filled with potholes, boils, and strange bumps.
In fact, as people whose line of work involved all kinds of evil things including vicious ghosts, poisonous snakes, and even undead corpses, it was not strange for them to be scarred through their work. Whether it was snakes, ghosts, or corpses, they were all poisonous to the living.
However, despite how deformed they look, these two men exuded an extremely powerful aura that seemed to freeze everything around them. They were unlike Ghost Serpent who Kia had just slayed. Outside of Milele's gates these two men were probably at the Earth rank.
The black mist around the two men seemed to carry a sort of malevolence and grievance that could not be dispersed.
"You dare kill him?!" the man standing on the right screeched in anger. The strange thing was that despite his words or the emotions he was exuding, he still retained a strange creepy smile on his face. This man was aptly named Smiling Serpent – the man who never stopped smiling.
"Your actions are an open declaration of war against the Red Hawk Organization," The other man named Black Serpent snarled as he repeatedly pointed at Kia as if disparaging a naughty child.
'The gall of these beasts!' Kia could not believe what she was witnessing. It seemed these evil beasts were ready to play the victim despite their villainous line of work!
"How dare you? How dare you? What right do YOU have to be angry at ME after what you have done? You monsters!" How could she lose a shouting match against a bunch of 'snake-men' like these? It was naturally impossible, or so she thought.
It seemed Black Serpent was ready to counter as he shouted even louder while filled with a sense of righteous indignation, "You slave to morality! Do not dare lecture me!"
The man did not even pause before continuing, "We do what benefits us? They say that since ancient times those who obey the law, those who keep the moral code, they are promised rewards for their good deeds, for their obedience, either by government, by religion, or by family. But the reality is: a sword is dangled over their necks – obey or else?"
When he got to this point, Black Serpent's voice got even louder as if he was afraid Kia would not hear him as he said, "Or else what? Ostracization? Excommunication? Imprisonment? Death?"
"Well I, Black Serpent, have already tasted all that long before I even became a criminal?"
"As for the rest of you, you are slaves to morality; puppets to empty societal structures; existing without your own desires!"
The way Black Serpent spoke, it was as if he was the righteous one in this encounter. To Kia, it was evident that this man had already sunk beyond the point of return.
'What a long speech; very well put together.' Even Kia had to silently admit it to herself. But she naturally could not outwardly show it.
"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That is all I hear," Kia replied to Black Serpent in a mocking tone while holding her hand behind her ears and tilting her head as if to listen more, "but do you know what I think? So you had a hard life? Bummer. You are not special in this world. In fact, you are nothing. Before the grand structures of this world, EVERYONE is NOTHING!"
"No one, not even Kings or Emperors, has any right to do what you beasts are doing to these little girls! You will go down tonight!"
In response to Kia's answer, Black Serpent did not continue arguing as he declared, "So be it, I will ruin you here and now!"
A fierce battle immediately erupted between the two sides.
Mwana's Book of Knowledge
Bonus Notes 1: Kia's Weapons so far
1. Hanging Maiden [Smash and Server]
2. Dark Soul Twin Blades
3. Anti-Demon Spray
4. Anti-Demon Bone Breaker Spike
5. Omni-Sword
Bonus Notes 2: Beasts of Burden
The members of the Beasts of Burden, a human-trafficking division of The Red Hawk Gang, are:
1. Barbarian Bull Queen (Leader)
2. The Rabid Hyena Bandits:
- "Red Sun" Speedman
- "Blue Moon" Kaka
- "Ash Cloud" Vumbi
- "Little Brother" Kipi
3. Snake Charmers:
- Black Serpent
- Ghost Serpent
- Smiling Serpent
4. Mythical Beasts:
- Guam Serpent
- Lion Spirit Hound
5. "Rainbow Archer" Flame Spirit Hand (a high level Undead Marsh corpse puppet)
6. Over a dozen other low level corpse puppets controlled by Black Serpent
7. 1,000 ghosts controlled by Ghost Serpent