"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHA HA HA!" Hearing Clifford's painful scream, the masked man smiled in triumph. But then, the scream turned into a long laugh, causing him to stare at the swords that had failed to penetrate further into Clifford's body, leaving only a superficial wound.
"Wow, is that all you've got? Such an impressive ability!" Clifford taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. With a heavy shake, he threw the man off, who turned into liquid before landing on the solid ground with a splash.
The man sneered upon hearing Clifford's words. Since he couldn't inflict much damage, he had only two choices. First, he could drag the fight out a little longer until the poison took effect. Alternatively, he could bring Clifford into his world and destroy his soul directly, but that would conflict with his plan to make Clifford a puppet later. Making up his mind, the masked man decided on the former.
"How about this? I will stand still. Easy, right?" Watching the man's expressions, Clifford taunted with a wide grin on his face. Beckoning the masked man to charge at him, Clifford opened his arms wide, leaving himself exposed. Watching Clifford's display, the man's expression changed from disdain to anger as he discarded his initial plan.
"Cocky bastard, I promise you will regret it!" Screaming in anger, the man used his elements, causing fire to swirl around the black sword in his right hand. Combining the fire with the wind element, the flames covered his sword and arm, taking the form of a large drill. Throwing the other sword back into his body, the man mobilized his earth element, turning his left arm into solid rock ridden with spikes.
Charging at Clifford, the man aimed to strike with the fire drill and protect himself with his solidified arm in case anything unexpected happened. Closing in, the man prepared his drill only to see Clifford lowering his arms.
"Got you!" Closing his arms around the man, Clifford held the man's waist with both hands.
"No, I did." Striking Clifford's head, the drill turned into a fire beam that burned everything in its path. Witnessing the fire grill his target's head, the man laughed loudly until he felt the hands holding his waist move a little higher to his chest. Suddenly, the hands started closing in on his chest like walls trapping it in between.
"No," feeling the intense pain caused by his ribcage bones slowly getting crushed, the man muttered a single word before turning into a screaming dog. "No, no, no!" Losing his mind, the man started kicking and punching Clifford, trying to free himself, which ended up in vain as if he was hitting a diamond wall.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the man messed up his face, thanks to the mask that covered it. Unable to free himself, the man's screams grew louder, echoing through the air and alerting the convoy and those attacking it right now.
"Look what you've done," muttered Clifford as the fire was extinguished, revealing his skinned face to the man. A shiver went down the man's spine, realizing that Clifford didn't feel the pain at all. "It's about time you find your peace." Hearing Clifford's words, terror took over the man's mind as he witnessed Clifford's jaws expand unnaturally before turning into a serpent.
Contrary to the man's expectations, his death didn't come right away as the unholy creature bit off his entire shoulder and right arm. Savoring the taste, Clifford proceeded to bite him repeatedly until nothing was left except the dead man's head and mask. Removing the man's mask, Clifford swallowed the head before throwing the mask into his spatial ring. The moment the man met his demise, all the puppets, including the ones attacking the convoy, fell lifeless to the ground.
"Oh well," pushing the man's memories aside to process later, Clifford rushed to the convoy to take care of the masked men, needing to ensure his employer's safety. "I might have to hurry." Finishing his words, Clifford took on his eagle form and flew back to the convoy. Witnessing the battle from far above, Clifford was surprised that the cultivators had held on this long.
Diving down, Clifford landed on his knees with a thud, drawing everyone's attention. Rising, he stretched his body and eyed everyone intently. He easily noticed the weary expressions of those defending the convoy. To him, they were nothing more than a meal, ripe for the taking.
"Kill all of them, and I will sign the mission right away!" Hearing Nathan's scream, Clifford charged at the nearest man, brutally swallowing his upper body before moving on to the next.
"What are you doing?! We are on your side!" Witnessing the one next to him being eaten alive, the leading cultivator screamed, confused by Clifford's actions. Ignoring the scream, Clifford appeared before him instantly.
"No, you were going to die from the very beginning." Gripping the man's neck tightly, Clifford twisted it, ending the man's life before throwing his corpse aside for later. Witnessing the sight, the masked men were tempted to run away but couldn't, as that would label them as traitors.
Slowly, one after another, met their demise. Watching the buffet of corpses lying on the floor, Clifford grinned wildly before abandoning his human form. Turning into a gigantic serpent, Clifford devoured the bodies one by one, slowly filling up his reserve of dark force. By the time Clifford satiated his hunger, some corpses still lay on the ground. Making up his mind, Clifford collected the corpses and threw them into one of his spatial rings.
Once done, Clifford made his way to Nathan as the guards intentionally distanced themselves from him as much as they could. In the end, they were glad they didn't end up as food like the cultivators. Offering his mission paper, Nathan signed it right away. With the paper signed, Clifford decided to leave.
"Hey, come back! You still have to escort us to the city" Watching Clifford turn into a bird and fly away, Nathan screamed regretting that he signed the paper too early.