The Creatures that We Are

Inside the Absolute Barrier, Azure Dragon and Six Rime stood side by side, their expressions grave as they stared at Gao Yang, Qing Ling, Can, and Ke Yo through the barrier.

They knew that the barrier would soon dissolve. They couldn’t afford to relax for a moment.

“Six Rime, run as soon as the barrier goes down. I’ll take care of them.”

“No,” Six Rime said.

“This is an order.”

“No.”

Azure Dragon was caught off guard. All these years, Six Rime had never once rejected any order from Azure Dragon. This was a first.

“Why don’t you obey order?” Azure Dragon asked in a low booming voice.

Six Rime stayed silent.

Something soft flashed through Six Rime’s eyes. She looked at the four awakeners outside the barrier. “I…found my belief.”

Azure Dragon paused in surprise.

Six Rime said coolly, “I’m a fighter, I will not desert. I’m a fighter, I shall be judged for killing the innocents. I will not run away.”

Silence stretched for ten seconds. Then Azure Dragon let out a long sigh, his gaze solemn and approving. “You’ve found your belief. Then you must stick to it.”

“Yes, sir,” Six Rime said with certainty.

“I’ll take care of Gao Yang. The rest are yours.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do your best. There’s no mercy on the battlefield, only survival.” Azure Dragon narrowed his sharp eyes. “Remember, this is a judgment for you, but also him.”

“Yes, sir.”

The smoke and gunpowder had long dispersed after the explosion. In the deep pit under the desert, the gray-blue moonlight quietly shone on the large charred ruin in darkness, illuminating the six humans.

The two on the left stood inside a square barrier with a faint golden shimmer, quietly watching those outside the barrier. And the four outside the barrier sat on the ground, quietly looking at the two.

A breeze swept and rustled the hair of the four humans outside. Not long after, they slowly got to their feet and stretched their limbs to warm up.

The skinny long-haired boy stood at the very front, lifting his hands to tie his messy hair into a ponytail. Then he took off his tattered coat and cast it on the ground.

The tall, slim girl next to him loosened her black shawl and revealed her smooth shoulders and fit physique under the black tank top. Her lowered hands were holding two long blades with a cold glint.

The two frail-looking girls behind them wore a coat and a simple sweater respectively. They took two steps back with their hands linked and vanished with a quiet whoosh.

The moon dimmed, and the wind stopped. Tension curdled in the air. Something intangible and unseeable was surging in frenzy—a thick sorrow, a deep hatred, a cemented killing intent.

Soon, the tensions condensed into a single sound, signifying the turn of fate like a solemn, dignified bell ring.

Clink.

The barrier shattered, scattering golden light particles everywhere like the starting pistol’s shot at the start of the match.

Four figures vanished at the same time.

…

Bam!

A second later, Gao Yang and Azure Dragon appeared ten meters up in the air, their fists colliding.

Dense energy burst like golden fireworks, lighting up the entire pit in an instant.

With the stats bonuses granted by level 4 Absolute Defense, Gao Yang’s Constitution and Endurance reached 1600. However, his stats were still only half of Azure Dragon’s.

He could envelope himself with a golden barrier through Absolute Defense, though, which acted like a light sturdy armor that didn’t hinder movements while greatly increasing his defense. It allowed him to fight Azure Dragon head-on like a proper warrior.

Azure Dragon was shocked to see Gao Yang take his punch. The boy’s physically twice as strong as he was before. As expected of the top Guard-type Talent, Absolute Defense. And the Talent must have reached level 4 and seen a substantial evolution. The golden armor is something White Tiger wouldn’t be able to make.

While he was surprised, though, he hadn’t stopped moving for a second.

Suddenly, Azure Dragon’s fist opened and lunged to seize Gao Yang’s wrist at a speed beyond human eyes like a viper, yanking Gao Yang toward him. Caught off guard, Gao Yang followed the momentum to slam into Azure Dragon, bending his left knee and bringing it to Azure Dragon’s lower abdomen.

While Gao Yang’s a much more skilled fighter than Wang Zikai, though, his technique was child’s play to Azure Dragon. Having foreseen the move, Azure Dragon lifted his right foot and kicked Gao Yang’s knee down.

At the same time, he made a thousand simple punches.

Fists rained down on Gao Yang’s entire body as he shook madly amid the flurry of attacks. The golden barrier armoring him shattered in three seconds, and blood and golden energy splattered.

When Azure Dragon made the three hundredth punch, he keenly sensed that the impact of his fist hitting the target wasn’t right—this was a double!

The moment Azure Dragon seized Gao Yang’s wrist, Gao Yang had already swapped himself with his double, having his double take the upcoming damage.

Meanwhile, he quietly teleported above Azure Dragon.

A wing of flame unfurled from his back, covering the pit and lighting it up.

“Fire Punch!”

The wing disappeared in an instant, streaming into Gao Yang’s right fist as highly compressed energy before the powerful punch was thrown. A fire dragon powerful enough to instantly vaporize all carbon-based lifeforms growled and bit at Azure Dragon.

The area of effect was too great for Azure Dragon to dodge it and come out unscathed, and he didn’t have time to charge and make a serious punch.

Three thousand quick punches!

Azure Dragon followed the already-generated momentum and sped up his punches, making more hits with energy in the form of golden fists conjured by every swing. Like countless flowers, they bloomed and confronted the fierce fire dragon hurtling his way.

Countless golden fists evaporated as they collided with the dragon, yet more followed and bloomed. The punches corroded the fire dragon as they vanished.

From afar, it looked as if a fire dragon had descended from heaven and slammed into a golden grinder spinning at high speed. Wild heat currents rippled in waves. Crimson flames blazed amid the shimmering golden energy. For a moment, the sky and ground became red and golden like a cauldron in purgatory.

That put a forced stop on Six Rime and Qing Ling’s intense fight.

Can had brought Ke Yo to Qing Ling’s side and shielded them with a wind barrier. The heatwave was hot enough to melt people.

With a hand, Six Rime conjured a shield of ice to protect herself from getting burned, too.

The cauldron boiled for close to ten seconds. Then a downpour of fire and golden energy came. It seemed that Gao Yang and Azure Dragon had reached a tie.

Qing Ling’s heart sank. A tie was a defeat.

It would mean that Azure Dragon would soon become resistant to Gao Yang’s Fire. The second attack might still pose a threat, but a third would be a waste of energy.

Can knew that very well, too, and she thought anxiously, We have to take care of Six Rime ASAP and help Captain!

She dissolved the wind barrier and went invisible with Ke Yo again.

Qing Ling charged at Six Rime with her blades. With a lift of her hand, Six Rime turned the ice barrier into about a dozen long, slim ice snakes, sending them shooting toward Qing Ling.

Qing Ling dodged left and right while wielding her blades to cut the snakes with graceful slashes. Without stopping, she continued to rush toward Six Rime.

Six Rime’s icy eyes flashed with a cool blue light. The ice snakes Qing Ling had cut down turned into liquid instantly, or it would be more accurate to say that they had turned into fierce waterjets consisting of countless drops of water.

They shot at Qing Ling from all directions like a string for beads, threatening to pierce and thread her.

Qing Ling started. It was too late for her to get out of the way.

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