"How arrogant!" Wang Teng snapped, completely missing the irony. The guy was a hypocrite, but then again, most cultivation story protagonists were arrogant. "Should I show you my sword qi then?"
He swung his hand and unleashed a destructive wave of qi, but I shot it down with an azure arrow. Having swapped my sword for my bow because this had turned into a long range fight, I kept my distance and fired off another volley of arrows in his direction.
Either because the manhua artist was too lazy to draw a complex fight scene or the web novelist was too unimaginative, Wang Teng simply stood there and flexed his chest, emanating a blast of qi that destroyed all of my arrows. You know, instead of dodging them like how I did. That was…pretty inefficient and a total waste of qi, if you ask me.
Wang Teng didn't care and continued charging, probably because like all cultivation protagonists, he had an infinite amount of qi. He swung his sword and unleash another tide of flames before whirling around with an ice punch.
If there was a peanut gallery, they would be praising him for not only being good in empty handed close combat, but also his comprehension of sword techniques and even being a dual element wielder because he was the typical Mary Sue, but for some reason, his party was strangely silent. Consisting of a couple of burly men and a single lady in mage robes, they looked indifferent to the fight that was folding out.
Was it because they were confident that Wang Teng would win no matter what? Or they didn't care?
"Attributes! Where the hell are my attributes?!"
Wang Teng slashed at me once more, forcing me to duck. I countered with a kick from below, but he hopped over my sweeping leg and spun around to deliver a kick of his own. I dodged that and then deflected his follow up strike, only for the flames to suddenly explode from the length of his blade to engulf me. Wang Teng continued slicing through the inferno, aware that it wouldn't be enough to finish me off.
I parried the blade and then elbowed his arm away when he tried to smash his Phantom Ice Fist into my face. He twirled his sword about and thrust it toward my heart while his fist hurtled toward my neck at the same time.
Both were clearly killing blows. The guy obviously did not plan on showing any mercy. He was carrying out his vow to ruthlessly murder all the students of Ling Zhen…just because he wanted to eliminate any roots that might threaten him in the future or some fucked up cultivation logic like that.
Again, I saw how hypocritical cultivation protagonists were. It wasn't all right if the antagonists tried to kill them or their family members and loved ones, but it was perfectly fine for the protagonists to go around massacring entire sects because…they couldn't afford to leave behind any enemies who might take revenge in future or "strong eat the weak" or some bullshit like that. To that end, it was justified that they killed innocent people, including children in the sect or clans they were exterminating. Of course, authors would always gloss over that, and edgelord readers would support such nonsense.
Thinking about that, I felt rage build up inside my chest. Unfortunately, Wang Teng wasn't giving me any time to ponder about the hypocrisy and unfairness of it all. I was being cornered as he struck, slashed and hit me again and again with several consecutive attacks from his sword. I gave more ground and desperately retreated.
To add insult to injury, I could hear the comments from beyond the fourth dimension whining about how I was weak and pathetic. Never mind that Wang Teng would be the protagonist if this was a typical cultivation story.
Fortunately, this was reality, so he didn't have plot armor or deus ex machina. Even if he did have plot armor, my ability allowed me to break it. So I took a deep breath and committed everything I had to defense, countering, blocking and parrying every one of his blows as best I could. While we exchanged blows, I waited for an opportunity to turn the battle around.
And it came.
Wang Teng bellowed as he swung his sword at me. Instead of parrying it like always, I slid to the side and allowed his blade to brush past. As he staggered forward, caught off guard and unable to prevent his momentum from carrying him closer, I flicked my Azure Dragon and severed his arm right above his elbow. My opponent shrieked and stumbled back, blood spurting from his stump while his right arm spun in midair as it flew away, still clutching his sword. Gritting his teeth, he whirled around to desperately retaliate with his remaining hand, frost encrusting his fist, but I ducked my head to the side and avoided the icy qi by the narrowest of margins. Twirling my sword about, I rammed it into his chest and continued slicing upward, cleaving his upper torso, neck and head into two as my blade exited from the crown of his skull.
Blood continued to fountain as the two upper halves of Wang Teng's body split apart, and he toppled over. I panted and retreated a couple of steps, watching him warily. I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly stood back up, or if this was an afterimage or a clone.
Apparently, it wasn't. I confirmed that Wang Teng was very much dead, and then slumped against a nearby tree to catch my breath and come to terms with what had just happened.
Unlike what those screaming, frothing keyboard warriors from beyond the fourth dimension believed, you couldn't just decide the results of combat based off who was currently pressuring who. Wang Teng might have pressured me tremendously, but all it took was a single strike from at the right time and right place, to completely turn the tables on him. After all, it didn't matter if Wang Teng appeared to be winning for the majority of the battle, how many hits he landed on me, how he was going on the offensive and I was forced onto the defensive. If my single counterattack killed him, the result would be his death.
And say what you like, but the survivor was the victor and the dead was the loser. You could chalk it up to luck, you could lament about how unfair it was, and you could even say that my victory was undeserved, but that didn't change the fact that he was dead and I survived. This was the lesson of harsh reality that I wished to teach to both the keyboard warriors in the fourth dimension and to Wang Teng.
Even though I was exhausted after the duel with the now deceased Wang Teng, I couldn't let my guard down. I glanced at his party, who were still watching us in disinterest. Myria, Sylvie and Silvia had come forward to protect me, and Sigmund waited quietly in the shadows, but I knew he would move immediately the moment he sensed a threat. Eliza kept her distance, but Morten joined the other girls to help me up.
"You're not avenging that guy's death?" Myria finally broke the silence. The two burly guys and the slender girl in robes exchanged a look before they shook their heads.
"We don't even know who the fuck he is," one of the guys – a balding, muscular guy wearing black leather – said with a shrug. "He's supposed to be from Hua Xia, and he just happened to stumble upon our party while we were fighting off spirit beasts. But he's a loner, and refused to associate with us. Always kept a distance. We just happened to be together because we were heading in the same direction."
"Don't worry," the other guy, who had dark skin and was wearing sunglasses, assured us. He reminded me of Wesley Snipes, for some reason. When he was playing Blade in the movie trilogy. He even had a sword slung to his back. "You took his life in self-defense. We can serve as eyewitnesses. It's his fault for attacking you all of a sudden. And I don't understand what vendetta he was mumbling about. All I saw was you trying to defend yourself and stop him from attacking you."
"I see." I sighed and shook my head. "And thank you."
Honestly, Wang Teng struck me as some delusional middle school second year syndrome sufferer who read a web novel or manhua, fell in love with the protagonist, and decided to cosplay as him, down to dying his hair gray. He even copied the names of the techniques the manhua protagonist used, and deluded himself into thinking that he could pick up attributes. That was the result of superfans self-inserting themselves into the protagonists of their favorite web novels or manhuas so much that they could no longer differentiate reality from fiction.
And so, he paid with his life.
Even if he wasn't delusional, and if everything he said was true, including the grudge he had against Ling Zhen, his behavior was still problematic. Quite bluntly, if he hadn't tried to kill me to "root out any future threats and prevent a future where I would threaten his family and loved ones," he would still be alive. And frankly, I didn't know who the fuck he was, who his family or loved ones were, and that Ling Zhen had a vendetta against him in the first place. I would have remained blissfully ignorant, and not deal with him as long as he didn't bother me.
Well, that was the problem with brainless, arrogant cultivation story protagonists. They get all impulsive and would gladly offend every Tom, Dick and Harry they don't like just because they wanted to. Then they made the shocked Pikachu face when the enemies take their families hostage, but instead of rationally self-reflecting and reining in their arrogant and condescending behavior and stop offending potential enemies, they decide the best solution was to just kill everybody related.
Then the vicious cycle continues to repeat itself. well, I guess the authors had to make up conflict for the story to "progress" somehow. Whether it was the protagonist offending everyone under the sun or everyone deciding to pick on him for no reason other than because they stupidly thought he was "trash," there was a need for an enemy.
…speaking of which, I could say the same for Wang Teng.
Shaking myself of my lerthargy, I sprang to my feet once more and gestured toward the upper branches.
"Let's go. That idiot wasted too much of our time. We still have a few elvish enclaves to save, and we need to find out what happened to Ardena."
"Yes, thank you." Eliza was unable to hide her irritation. She kicked Wang Teng's corpse as she passed by, and left it to the critters that dwelled in this part of the trunk. We followed her lead and ascended higher, and I could make out the beginnings of another spirit beast swarm assaulting one of the enclaves.
Without hesitation, I drew my bow and fired a barrage of azure arrows from afar. Eliza wasn't the only one annoyed by the delay caused by Wang Teng. If his stupidity led to more elves suffering casualties just because he disrupted our journey…
Well, it was useless to think about it now. I could only focus on the present. I watched with satisfaction as my arcane projectiles hit their mark, blowing holes in the bug type creatures that were scuttling toward the enclave.
That caught their attention.
"Hmph."
Sigmund didn't pause either. While I was shooting, my arrows now backed up by spells from Sylvie, Silvia and Eliza, the black swordsman sprinted ahead. In a single bound, he crossed the vast distance between the slope along the trunk and the branch, landing right in front of the largest bug beast. Most likely a commander type or a brain bug. It screeched and turned its blade-like legs toward him, its mandibles clacking threateningly.
Executing a single, almost contemptuous, stroke, Sigmund cleaved the giant insect into two. It screeched and flailed about as it fell apart, ichor spilling to pool beneath its segmented body.
The insect creatures around the commander beast went into a frenzy, but Sigmund simply annihilated entire scores of them with each blow. While he fought, I continued to provide long range support alongside spirit swords, lightning bolts, fireballs, icicles and wind blades from Sylvie, Silvia and Eliza. Myria and Morten joined Sigmund, along with the three newcomers who had accompanied Wang Teng before his ill-advised challenge to me. The dark-skinned guy with sunglasses wielded a thin sword that resembled a katana, while the burly, bald guy swung an axe. The lady in the robes wielded a spear, completely contradicting my first impression of her as a priestess or a spellcaster type.
I guess appearances could be deceiving.
Nonetheless, after the debacle with Wang Teng, I was so glad that I could return to carrying out the mission once more and saving elves again. This was what I came to Yggdrasil to do, after all.