Chapter 55 Two Choices? Advanced Self-Created Profound Meaning?

As these words fell, the circle of people around him stepped back in unison once more, panic undeniably gripping every face.

It was a joke. Even a senior practitioner of the Sword God Style had lost, so were they supposed to just go up and throw their lives away?

At the back of the crowd, a thief who had only mastered the basic techniques of the Sword God Style judged his own abilities to be lacking. Utilizing the human wall still standing before him, he turned on his heel to flee.

Yet the moment he spun around, a sharp gale whipped up from nowhere beside his ear, and a piercing sonic boom exploded behind his head!

Following that, in the corner of his vision, something gleaming suddenly flashed and vanished into the distant woods.

He stood frozen for a split second, feeling a chill wash over his side while the sound of liquid splashing onto the ground in a steady patter reached his ears. Subconsciously, he turned around, only to encounter the horrified gazes of his comrades fixed entirely on him.

His mouth opened in utter bewilderment. As if finally realizing something, he lowered his head.

A column of bright crimson blood was spurting violently from his chest. The pectoral muscles he usually took such pride in had completely vanished, replaced instead by a massive, gaping wound.

Gouts of blood mixed with mangled viscera coughed out from his throat. Struggling to turn, he looked toward the crowd behind him.

The expressions of his surrounding 'colleagues' had blurred in his fading sight, but for reasons unknown, the figure of the seemingly harmless god of death in the distance remained crystal clear—

The man's palm was outstretched, frozen mid-throw with a posture as if he had just hurled a javelin. Seeing the doomed thief look over, he even offered a faint wave of the hand from afar.

His vision went black.

With a heavy thud, the mutilated corpse collapsed to the ground like a tattered rag.

The crowd unanimously shifted their gaze from the corpse to the instigator who had just thrown the sword and executed that breathtaking North God Style throwing technique.

Allen slowly retracted his open palm. The broadsword that had belonged to the corpse beside him was now completely gone, and a faint green radiance rippled rapidly and imperceptibly across his body.

The night wind ruffled his hair, yet his voice remained piercingly clear.

"What I need to remind you of is this: tonight, you have only two choices."

"One, kneel down and offer your necks to be slaughtered."

"Two, kill me."

"Before that..."

Allen glanced at the dull, vacant stares of the crowd before him. His sword gently caressed the flickering firelight, rising past the tops of the heads of those around him to point straight at Spotted Leopard, who wore an ugly expression just outside the perimeter.

"None of you are leaving."

"So... my advice to you all is to come at me together. After all..."

Allen sheathed his blade along his back, extending his tongue to lick a stray drop of blood from his cheek.

"I'm in a hurry."

Absolute silence descended.

The thieves stared blankly at one another, awkward and rooted to the spot, trapped in a fatal dilemma.

***

Behind the crowd, Gray Eagle and Spotted Leopard exchanged an unspoken glance amidst the deep shadows of the night, their faces illuminated by the gloom.

Both wore expressions of utmost solemnity.

Gray Eagle drew a sharp breath and opened his mouth, intending to shout something out, but a sudden gust of wind blew dust into his eyes.

Spotted Leopard moved!

Kicking up a flurry of wind and sand from the earth, his figure shot forward like a fired bolt, leaping high into the air! The blade's radiance tore a long, bright ribbon through the glow of the campfire! Wrapped in a howling gale, the weapon plummeted from the sky straight down toward Allen!

*Perception.*

Allen looked up and chuckled softly. The surrounding woodland fell instantly dead silent. Just as the expressions of utter astonishment began to form on the faces of the nearby thieves, Spotted Leopard's slender form descended from the air with both hands gripping his blade, hacking downward with the ferocious intensity of a fierce tiger breaking out of its cage!

The gleam of the sword flashed and leaped within Allen's narrowing pupils.

*North God Style Counter-Slash, Form One: Avalanche Fall.*

*A ferocious downward slash initiated from the Upper Stance by the practical school, concentrating all battle aura onto the blade in a widespread, explosive burst...*

*His wrist posture is shifting. Flawed training? Or perhaps... a feint?*

Even as thoughts flashed rapidly through Allen's mind, the wind pressure stirred up by Spotted Leopard had already collided violently with his stance! Yet just as the descending blade was about to sever Allen's neck, Allen's own sword was already suspended right in front of his face.

It had blocked the exact landing point of Spotted Leopard's strike with absolute precision.

In that very instant, a brilliant flash of light erupted within Spotted Leopard's delicate, sinister eyes!

With a deafening explosion, Spotted Leopard's sword was violently deflected by Allen!

However, the attacker was no longer holding his weapon! Spotted Leopard had abandoned his blade at the exact moment of impact! Twisting his body mid-air, he grazed past the tip of Allen's sword by a hair's breadth, crashing brutally down beside Allen on all fours like a beast!

Amidst the shattering of broken stones and gravel, Spotted Leopard lunged toward Allen's flank in a single, fluid bound!

Simultaneously, a dagger gleaming with a chilling light was already thrusting toward the lower ribs beneath Allen's arm.

Yet before the blade could pierce him, Spotted Leopard's expression shifted drastically. Abandoning his weapon for a second time, he executed a backward aerial flip, planting both hands on the ground like a gymnast to launch himself away from Allen's reach.

The next second! A sharp, shrieking whistle tore through the space between them!

The airborne dagger had been intercepted and shattered to pieces by Allen's backhanded strike, pinned deep into the earth. Leisurely, Allen pulled his sword tip free from the debris, tilting his head to look at Spotted Leopard lingering a short distance away.

Spotted Leopard had already retreated to a safe zone. Casually snatching a blade from a nearby accomplice, he looked somewhat disheveled, yet the corners of his mouth curved upward into a mocking smile.

"...I actually thought that rumored self-created ultimate technique of yours had improved even further, so I tested the waters. Turns out you deliberately interrupted your Flowing Ultimate Technique, switched your sword stance, and thrust at my wrist using the Sword God Style's Wrist-Fall... Still, it didn't seem fast enough..."

Allen chuckled indifferently.

"Avalanche Fall? Mediocre at best. The Four-Footed Form? A bit interesting. But then again, how could someone who pours all their energy into the unorthodox school ever truly grasp the essence of the practical school? In my opinion, continuing to delve deeper into dog-paddling would be a much better choice for you."

Spotted Leopard's smile faded, and a trace of resentment flickered through his sinister gaze.

"That doesn't match the taciturn image they talk about in the rumors. Your tongue is remarkably sharp and unappealing."

***

Allen blinked.

"Right back at you."

As Spotted Leopard spoke, the solemn expression on his face had already vanished for the most part, and he deliberately raised his volume so that all could hear.

"You all saw my probe just now, didn't you? This brat excels at defensive techniques using the Water God Style, his counter-attacks aren't fast enough, and he doesn't know the Soundless Blade! As long as our offensive is dense enough, he'll have no choice but to sit there and wait for death! Once we get our hands on that thousand gold coins, we can all head to Rigett and live it up!"

The majority of the thieves present practiced either the North God Style or the Sword God Style. Through the brief exchange they had just witnessed as Spotted Leopard leaped in, they had indeed spotted Allen's weaknesses.

The kid really did seem to be waiting for people to come to him, and his constant verbal provocation felt entirely like a tactical inducement...

Once this thought took root in their minds, it could no longer be suppressed.

Driven by the powerful temptation of a thousand gold coins, they subconsciously began to rationalize their previous failures in their own hearts, fabricating a 'reason' to continue charging blindly forward.

They told themselves that the Soundless Blade used by the earlier Sword God Style thief must have been merely 'half-assed'; that rushing him together might still cost a few more lives, but surely the unlucky ones wouldn't happen to be themselves.

As long as they were careful enough, wasn't that thousand gold coins practically theirs for the taking?

They felt confident again.

Yet, while everyone was rolling up their sleeves and eager for a fight, Spotted Leopard quietly frowned in a way almost completely unnoticeable. He stepped back subtly, pushing the others to the front to shield him, while exchanging an unspoken look with Gray Eagle in the distance without a trace of movement.

Meanwhile, Allen watched Spotted Leopard's actions with a look of quiet amusement. Remaining completely silent throughout, he was more than happy to let this scene play out before him.

Had it been before, to wipe out so many people in a single night, to be entirely honest, going toe-to-toe in a direct brawl would not have been wise. At best, he could only rely on superior battle aura quality to wage a guerrilla war, wearing these bandit groups down one by one in the forest.

Just like that ambush at the Red Dragon's Jaw.

However, this forest wasn't all that far from the towns. Should a few of them manage to escape back, his movements would be exposed, and that would bring endless troubles.

Yet... things were different now.

Certain things had undergone a qualitative transformation over these past few months.

For instance, the enhancement of his swordsmanship.

For instance, the healing magic runes.

And for another.

His newly 'evolved' self-created ultimate technique.