我无法理解他是如何确定我是个闯入者.没错,我是偷偷溜进来的,但我却穿着这件黑袍.他不会把我误认为是一个好奇的普通邪教徒吗?或者他的判断有其他的依据.他看着我的方式让我意识到他真的相信我是一个闯入者,而我无意继续我的骗局.
我对这里的邪教徒几乎一无所知,也没有表演的才能.现在我已经暴露了,我只能振作起来,直面挑战.
魁梧的男人微微蹲下,弯曲膝盖,身体前倾.
"哈!"
随着他双腿突然爆发的力量,木地板突然碎裂,仿佛有人拿了一把大锤砸了一下.在如此巨大的肌肉爆发力的推动下,他的身体瞬间从篮球场中央跃了起来.他以闪电般的速度飞过球场和观众席之间的隔板,向我逼近.
他的速度是如此惊人,以至于在一瞬间,我什至感觉到向我冲来的不是人类,而是一辆高速行驶的车辆.
没有时间犹豫.
当他接近我时,他握紧了拳头,向我打了一拳.
我条件反射地召唤出我的心灵感应能力,举起双臂,将它们交叉在胸前进行格挡;然而,他闪电般的一拳在击中我的手臂并落在我的腹部之前突然改变了方向.
他非常强壮,他的拳头带着他高速动力的力量.我感觉自己好像真的被车撞了一样,整个身体都被打飞了.
虽然我本能地用手臂挡住了,但事实上,我的心灵感应保护涵盖了我的整个身体.无论是击中手臂还是腹部都没有决定性的区别.因此,即使他发现了我的动作中的缺陷,也不会造成更大的伤害.它看起来相当笨拙.
我从观众席的前排跌落到后排,在这个过程中压碎了几个座位.
就在我回过神来的时候,我发现那个魁梧的男人不知怎么地跳到了空中,而他的着陆点正是我所在的地方.
我立即起身躲开.
他像一块巨石一样从天而降,将已经受损的座椅碾压得更加严重.
这些座椅由廉价塑料制成,只有下面的黑色金属支架.我看着他脚下的塑料座椅碎片,心想一想,我的心灵感应能力开始行动起来.锋利的塑料碎片飘向空中,同时从各个角度刺向他,同时他注意到了这个异常.
魁梧男子用一只手遮住了眼睛.
The plastic fragments couldn't pierce his skin. The fragments that were aimed at his eyes also failed due to his vigilance.
"Tricks."
He snorted coldly and then lunged at me, throwing a left punch.
I immediately attached my telekinetic power to my right arm and also threw a punch.
The two fists collided with a thunderous sound, like a clap of thunder on flat ground. I felt a strong gust of wind brush past my face, which was the wind generated by the collision of the fists.
"So that's it. You're not only tough but also quite strong." said the burly man.
Immediately after, he raised his right fist.
"But you're too inexperienced!"
In the next moment, he pulled back his left fist and threw his right fist.
I also pulled back my right fist and threw my left fist.
For the next three seconds, fists collided continuously, generating gusts of wind everywhere. My ears seemed about to be deafened by the incessant crashing sounds. I unleashed a rapid flurry of punches that I had never used on ordinary people before, and the burly man's punching speed was even faster than mine. After three seconds passed, he caught another flaw in my movements and sent me flying back to the basketball court.
I adjusted my posture in mid-air using my telekinetic power and landed steadily on the ground.
Suddenly, I found myself standing right next to that strange bonfire and saw the iron sword stuck in the fire.
He had said that this thing was a ritual node, right?
I grabbed the scorching hot iron sword, and the telekinetic power wrapped around my palm served as an insulating glove.
"It's useless." The burly man stood at the back of the spectator stands and said to me, "You can't pull it out."
Indeed, just as he said, I couldn't pull it out. It was as if it had been welded firmly to the floor.
"Unless you kill me, otherwise it can't be pulled out. This node is designed this way." The burly man walked over. "My task is to guard this place and prevent outsiders from destroying the node."
His words hinted at his high status at this stronghold.
"Is it okay to tell me such things?" I asked. "As long as you don't say anything, I'll remain completely in the dark."
"It doesn't matter." said the burly man.
I couldn't understand why he would say that. Isn't this a very important node? Could he have set some kind of trap in his words to mislead me? But I couldn't figure it out for the time being. I then asked, "You said Alphonse Elric had been here before, right?"
"That's right."
"Where is he now? Have you killed him?" I asked.
"No, he was taken away by the priest." said the burly man. "He was extremely unlucky. If his opponent was me, he might still have a chance of winning. But facing the priest, he had no chance of resistance. Originally, there was only me, a mage, guarding here. But coincidentally, the priest came to inspect, and he unluckily ran into the line of fire."
"Who is the priest?"
"He is our leader."
The burly man seemed quite talkative. He answered every question I asked.
"Why do such things?" I asked my biggest question. "What is your purpose?"
"This is all for... offering sacrifices to the great deity."
At this point, the burly man suddenly accelerated and charged at me, swinging his arm down.
I dodged this attack.
"So many people have died in Beaver City. Don't you feel any guilt?"
"Heretics who don't believe in the deity deserve to die!"
Once we talked about their ideology and beliefs, the burly man became irrational. Although he had been quite talkative before, now he showed an fanatical and extreme aggressiveness. I remembered the two people I had interrogated earlier. They had been unyielding even under my cruel torture, but I didn't admire them. Instead, I found them even more irrational and extremely warped.
While parrying the burly man's attacks, I looked for an opportunity to counterattack. However, all my counterattacks were blocked by him.
He must have undergone years of martial arts training. Every punch and kick had a certain order that ordinary people didn't have. I could hardly find any flaws in him.
Ironically, I am clearly a telekinetic superpowered being, yet I am engaged in close combat with this guy who is good at enhancing his physical body. But, to be honest, this is indeed my full combat stance.
As I mentioned before, the power of my telekinetic power weakens as the distance increases and strengthens as the distance shortens. At close range, my telekinetic power can exert even greater strength. In other words, if I want to use telekinetic power to manipulate an object for combat, naturally, the closer it is to me, the better it can reflect my telekinetic strength. Given this, in my vicinity, is there anything more suitable as a carrier for my telekinetic power than my own body?
Perhaps there are more clever combat methods, but I'm really not a quick-witted person.
"It's useless!" The burly man shouted while attacking. "I've already seen that you haven't learned martial arts. Your movements are full of flaws! You're just relying on this strange defense to fight me head-on! Your defeat is only a matter of time!"
It is said that martial artists attach great importance to strength, skill, and also spirit. The strength is vastly different when one is in high spirits compared to when one is in low spirits. His act of speaking during the battle wasn't a careless move. Perhaps it wasn't because he underestimated me. It was just that he was boosting his own spirit and suppressing mine.
The burly man threw a straight punch at my chest. Pushed by this tremendous force, I slid backward nearly ten meters.
Although protected by telekinetic power, a small part of his strength still had an effective impact on me. I felt a sharp pain and a feeling of tightness in my chest.
He charged at me again and threw a punch.
I took a step back to avoid the attack. Then I jumped upward and delivered a mid-air spinning kick.
"Naive!"
The burly man effortlessly blocked it and then threw another punch at me in mid-air.
According to general martial arts concepts, any action that puts oneself in a state where one cannot borrow force is naive. He was right about this. But I'm not a martial artist. I'm a superpowered being. Even in mid-air, I can still make a move.
I used my telekinetic power to slightly change my position in mid-air and avoided his attack. In the next instant, I used my telekinetic power to spin my body in mid-air for a week and delivered another spinning kick.
The burly man was kicked in the face by me and flew several meters away.
Sure enough, even for a martial arts expert like him, it was impossible to react in time to such an unconventional attack.
He adjusted his posture in mid-air and landed steadily on the ground.
I seized this opportunity and charged at him, kicking at him as soon as he landed.
He immediately blocked my kick.
At this moment, due to the commotion of our battle being heard by people outside, more than a dozen cultists entered this indoor basketball court. After discovering me fighting with the burly man, they immediately charged at me.
I saw that some of them were holding guns.
The burly man attacked me, and I immediately retreated and charged at the dozen or so cultists.
"Run!" The burly man shouted at the dozen or so cultists.
But it was already too late.
I brought them within the range of my telekinetic power and imagined my telekinetic power as a falling blade. In the next moment, blood spurted from their necks, and they all fell to the ground.
If only this move could work on this burly man too. His defense was too high, so this kind of attack wouldn't work.
"Damn it!"
My actions enraged him.
Just looking at this scene, it seemed as if I were the villain.
Even for me, I didn't have the confidence to fight this burly man while also being on guard against gunfire from other directions. In that case, my defeat would be almost certain. In other situations, I might consider showing mercy, but in this desperate situation, I had no choice but to kill them.
Having no choice but to kill them - this statement makes it seem as if I killed them reluctantly, giving the impression of making excuses for myself. In fact, if it were really a different situation, would I really show mercy to them? They are all the culprits who have turned Beaver City into what it is now. Logically speaking, I have no reason to show mercy to them. They are not sick people or victims. They deserve to die and are completely guilty.
No, this is still an excuse.
Although I can claim to others that I killed them because they are evil and because they are guilty, in the end, the psychological motive for me killing them is simply out of my own self-interest. They posed an obstacle to me and increased my risk, so I eliminated them. The reason why I feel a lump in my throat about my killing is because my motive is selfish, right?
I didn't feel guilty about my actions. I just felt that I had taken another irreversible step.
The burly man attacked me, and I parried his attacks.
"You..." The burly man showed a look of astonishment.
I knew what he was thinking. He was probably wondering why he couldn't break through my defense as easily as before.
"Since becoming a superpowered being, my intuition has become very good." I said to him.
"What are you trying to say?" The burly man's face looked grim.
"What I mean is..." I took a step back. "Although I haven't learned martial arts, basically, as long as I follow my instincts, I can make the right judgments."
This step back made the burly man's punch miss.
Then, seizing this opportunity, I spun around and kicked, sending him flying more than ten meters away.
"Just follow your instincts?" The burly man said. "Do you think I'll believe you?"
"I don't need you to believe me either." I said. "Your martial arts are excellent. I've seen people who practice martial arts before, but they can't compare to you. It took me so long to finally adapt to your rhythm. In the future... even if I encounter a martial artist as powerful as you again, I won't be flustered. In this regard, I should thank you."
"Arrogant!"
The burly man attacked again.
I followed my instincts and engaged in a mutual attack with him.
The mutual attacks lasted for ten seconds, and he still couldn't break through my defense.
In the previous attacks and defenses, it only took him three seconds to catch my flaw. But now, ten seconds have passed, and he still hasn't caught my flaw. Even if another ten seconds passed, it would be useless. I think he's not completely unable to see my flaw, but he just can't catch it. Unlike ordinary muscle movements, my body is driven by telekinetic power, and telekinetic power is controlled by my thoughts. This telekinetic driving technique allows me to make any movement as I wish literally and without any sign of muscle exertion.
However, if this continues, it will be endless.
Although he hasn't been able to cause effective damage to me, neither have I.
I must exert stronger offensive power.
I disengaged from the attack and defense and retreated five meters.
The telekinetic power that was previously evenly distributed inside and outside my body began to concentrate on my right palm.
The burly man charged at me, attempting to pursue me.
I spread out my right palm and closed my fingers.
Secret technique - hand blade.
I faced the burly man and swung my right palm.
His fist was cut off at the wrist by me, and blood gushed out wildly.
"What!" The burly man was greatly shocked.
Taking advantage of his moment of shock, I made use of the valuable experience I had gained from fighting him earlier, caught his flaw, and mercilessly cut open his carotid artery.
Blood sprayed out like a water pistol.
He fell limply to the ground, struggled for a while, and finally stopped moving.
...
I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This hand blade move was also very risky for me. Because the previously evenly distributed telekinetic power was concentrated on my right hand, while enhancing the attack power of my right hand, it also weakened the defense of other parts of my body. If I hadn't caught his flaw and been counterattacked successfully by him, then with my defense at that time, I would probably be seriously injured immediately and fall into a disadvantage in the subsequent battle.
This burly man was very strong and even put me at a disadvantage for a while, but I won.
I walked towards the bonfire and stopped at a distance of ten meters. Using my telekinetic power, I pulled out the iron sword.
Just as he had said before, this iron sword could only be pulled out after his death.
Strange. I had thought that since he had spoken so freely before, maybe he had set some kind of trap for me, so I deliberately stood a little farther away and didn't get too close. As a result, nothing happened? Was everything he said the truth? But if so, based on what motive would he tell me everything?
I took out my black phone and checked the map.
Another red cross on the map had disappeared. It was the southern stronghold where I was.
So that's it. As long as the ritual node is pulled out, it counts as destroying the stronghold? Recalling carefully what the burly man had said before, this stronghold was likely established for this ritual node.
I carried the iron sword and left the stronghold.