Fighting the Assassins

An hour before dawn in Metah city, a fight started between two groups of powerful cultivators.

Swish-swish-swish-swoosh! Assassins moved like blurred shadows, swarming Xiao's group.

Shew! Shew! Shew! Shew! Knives and darts were hurled at them from all directions.

"Leave this to me!" Gyoro shouted and raised his hammer up high before swinging it down and striking the ground.

Boom! A powerful shockwave pulsated radially outwards, flinging away all the projectiles while creating a large crater on the ground. The shockwave also sent some of the assassins flying backwards. But they were replaced by others who immediately struck with a wave of dangerous moves. Dagger and knives flew again; some spiraling, some flashing energies.

Boom! Gyoro struck again, replicating the scene from the first strike.

"Hahaha! I can do this all day motherfuckers! Do you know how many times I have to hammer metals to forge weapons in a day?" Gyoro laughed.

"Rainbolt!" Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Muchen started firing crossbow bolts at the assassins, clad in his energy; each bolt homing onto the targets and blowing up after piercing the assassins.

Boom! Boom! "Ahh! Gyyahh!" Explosions and screams echoed.

Bwoosh! Xiao and Deodomus revved their energies, displaying their level 3 Master realm cultivation bases.

"Come…" Hawk beckoned but neither of the two moved from their spot. Instead, they summoned a spear each and aimed.

"Death Spear!" Boom! Boom! With sonic speed, the spears were hurled at Hawk who moved his trident and struck.

Boom! Boom! The two spears were destroyed. A momentary pause occurred as Xiao and Deodomus realized their opponent was faster than their fastest moves!

"Well, shit." Deodomus muttered.

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh! Suddenly few more assassins revealed themselves, dressed differently; each wearing a bird mask. They were Crow, Parrot & Dove; all in Master realm, although at levels lower than Xiao and Deodomus, but there was strength in numbers, and put together…there were a lot of numbers on the assassins' side. Plus, the Sage realm Hawk was yet to make a serious move.

"Are we fucked?" Muchen asked.

"Oh yes..." Xiao replied. "In the wrong hole."

"Ah well, I'm lucky to have lived this long. Usually, cultivators die young." Gyoro muttered, not too upset about the fact that he had been dragged into a battle, which wasn't his to fight. Cultivators weren't whiny people.

"A..are we going to die, Mommy? Deo? " Hailey asked in a trembling voice. She was too young and inexperienced to develop a warrior's mantle.

"Death isn't so bad Hailey…" Xiao spoke before Deodomus could reply. "Especially when you're a weak girl with an elemental constitution. Men will rip your vagina apart everyday for your elemental traits."

Hailey shuddered.

"Stop scaring her!" Deodomus frowned. But inwardly he had decided to kill Hailey for her own sake before they lose the fight, but it was merely just starting.

"Don't worry Hailey, I will protect you." Deodomus said, looking at her over the shoulder, and smiled. Hailey sniffled and restrained her tears.

"No. I will." Xiao spoke. "Someone has to distract Hawk so that he doesn't attack the group. You're good at distracting people and using underhanded techniques aren't you?"

"I am." Deodomus nodded. "And you're good at leading warriors."

"I am." Xiao nodded.

"Attack!" Hawk shouted and all the Master realm assassins led the charge, followed by the minions.

Swish-swish-srrr-swoosh! All sorts of weapons and moves were unleashed in a flurry, assaulting Xiao's group before they could finish discussing their strategy.

BOOM! A thunderous explosion occurred as lightning rippled everywhere.

Chi-chi-chi-chi… Blue lightning arcs danced around Deodomus' body; his hand outstretched toward the assassins. He had destroyed all the moves with the power of the lightning element! At once, everyone gawked at him, friends and foes alike.

Little did they know that this flashy move consumed 30% of the lightning element traits that he had stockpiled thus far.

"I'll handle the boss. You can manage the others?" Deodomus asked.

"Barely. Luna will come at you too." Xiao said.

"Of course." At once the two of them fell silent.

"This might be our last fight." Xiao whispered.

"Hmm perhaps." Deodomus sighed and stomped forth, outstretching both arms as a dozen swords were summoned and hovered in the air, clad in lightning. He was unwilling to die or letting others die on his watch. He would go all out!

"Sword Step, Sword Spiral!" He yelled and the swords started revolving around the group protectively. Lightning flashed from them every now and then.

Swish-swish-slash! Clang-clang-clang! The assassins attacked again, hurling knives and daggers which were repelled by the spiraling swords.

Swoosh! Deodomus leapt forth and sprinted. The swords followed him, spiraling around him and dispelling any weapon-attacks. He took a sharp turn and bolted away. His gaze glared at Hawk momentarily as a challenge.

"Hmph!" Hawk accepted the challenge. The contraptions on his back stretched open and turned into two metallic wings which flapped and took him into the air.

"He can fly?!" Muchen exclaimed.

"Of course." Peacock snorted. "Those wings have strategies installed in them. Beware the others too. All Master realm assassins have strategies on them. Though only Hawk has one that lets him fly."

"Here they come!" Gyoro roared, summoning another hammer, holding one in each hand. Muchen quickly reloaded his crossbow. Hailey fidgeted nervously while preparing to use her lightning moves. Xiao replaced her bikini armor with the jade-white armor and summoned a long sword.

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh! The Master realm assassins arrived, backed by the ordinary ones.

"Feather darts!" Crow moved his arm. The feathery wings connected to the underarms detached and flew toward Xiao.

"Dove Gale!" Dove gestured and her drove of pet doves flew towards Xiao's group. Each dove had explosives tied to their feet.

"Kwaak! Kwaak!" Parrot came himself, looking for a close-range fight.

"Peacock Dance!" Peacock shouted, stepping out and moving speedily. It seemed like a dance as her colorfully clothed body moved. She threw countless knives, flicking her hands, killing the doves before they could come any closer.

"Death Bolts!" Muchen fired bolts in a frenzy, killing doves and striking down the feather darts.

Meanwhile, other assassins attacked from the hind side, but Hailey was more alert than she seemed.

"Lightning Cat!" She used a mid-range move. Lightning & energy separated from her body, taking the shape of a blue cat, which sprinted at lightning speed, controlled by Hailey, and zapped the assassins. Muchen turned around too, helping her. Gyoro bided his time. His heavy moves could disrupt his comrades' moves.

Swoosh! Parrot came close, using a curved sword. Xiao took him head-on.

"Sparrow Steps, Sword Rush!" She exclaimed, turning into a blur and a fierce force striking Parrot.

Clang! The two swords connected. Parrot was immediately pushed back. Xiao followed and continued her assault. Her sword struck mercilessly at the foolish bird.

"Shit! Support him!" Dove yelled and Crow dashed away.

Boom! Boom! The doves rained down but were blown away prematurely as Peacock and Muchen hunted them down with great accuracy.

"Hmph, you need to be punished!" Dove came for a close combat.

"Bitch please." Peacock snarled and leapt at her. Both of them were at level 1 Master realm. They started fighting speedily with knives.

Gyoro took the helm now, purging the onslaught of flying projectiles and moves. Muchen kept firing bolts but it wasn't always effective. The assassins had enough moves to counter the bolts. Hailey kept the backside safe with her Lightning Cat technique. For now, the fight seemed at a stalemate.

"Trident Gatling!" Hawk shouted, repeatedly jabbing air toward Deodomus from above. Trident images made of energy separated from his trident and struck the ground with explosions.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Twang! Boom! Some tridents blew up the ground, while some were destroyed by Deodomus' spiraling swords which had been reduced to three.

"Twin Moon Slash!" Luna shouted, slashing crescent moon-shaped energy arcs toward Deodoms.

Boom! The ground was split open. Luna missed Deodomus by a few inches as he had managed to dodge. The next moment a spear came at Luna at sonic speed. She could only defend.

Boom! The collision impact pushed her several meters away before she landed on the ground. Deodomus had summoned multiple spears by then.

Bzzzt! Lightning erupted around him, channeling onto the spears before he made his shot.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The spears flew with loud booming sounds & lightning crackling at their butts, increasing their speed. They reached Hawk instantly!

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Hawk maneuvered with superhuman flexibility, dodging all the spears except one that pierced his left wing. It didn't make him fall but as he glanced over his shoulder to check the wing's damage, he faltered. The spears were still around him, hovering in the air! Small lightning bursts were keeping them afloat. He sensed trouble and tried to fly away.

"Too late!" Deodomus beckoned with both hands, clapping them together and lacing the fingers, forming a joint fist. "Lightning Cage!!"

Crackl! Chi-chi-chi-chi-chi! Blue lightning had burst forth and formed a cage around Hawk. It couldn't possibly last long as the spears weren't getting any more lightning supply from Deodomus, but it bought him enough time to tackle the Moonlight Assassin.

Swoosh! Luna came sprinting at great speed. Her body seemed like a white streak as she kept attacking Deodomus.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Hundreds of moves were exchanged within moments. Deodomus was on the losing end as Luna was faster than him. His injuries increased but he didn't waver. He was waiting for an opportunity.

"Twin Moon Slash!" Luna struck a powerful move.

Slish-slish! A large x-shaped cut emerged on Deodomus' torso & blood spurted out, but he didn't care. He had merely a second to take advantage of!

"Yeti Power! Troll Grip!" He exclaimed; his body enlarged immediately, getting taller and muscular. His hand clasped onto Luna's head, covering her eyes as well and he squeezed hard.

"Ahhh!!" Luna screamed. She might be a faster and better cultivator than Deodomus, but her body was weaker than Deodomus'. Luna could feel her skull cracking!

"Fuck!" She cussed, slashing at Deodomus with her moon sickles; but just then, lightning assaulted her body, zapping her to the core.

Crackle..! Chi-chi-ch-chi! Crackle! As lightning flashed on her head, she screamed aloud before going limp. Deodomus dropped her to the ground and exhaled deeply.

Next, he crouched down and robbed Luna's spatial ring. He could have warped her entirely into his spatial ring, effectively removing her from the fight but he didn't want to transgress upon her freedom again. He decided to give her due respect as a warrior.

Boom! The lightning cage burst into smithereens and the spears were flung away in all directions. Deodomus gazed up at Hawk. Deodomus now had only half the energy left in his dantian, & only 30% lightning element traits. He had to finish the fight quickly!

Whoosm! Suddenly a red armor appeared on his yeti body, adjusting itself to his size. Earlier, he hadn't used the armor because he wanted to bait Luna to come close to him. But now he had to perform his best and use everything in his arsenal.

Srrr…! He summoned a new spear and spun it in his hand, locking his gaze with Hawk's.

Whoosh! Hawk descended with great speed, spinning his trident too. Deodomus leapt several feet high up and they met midway.

Boom! Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang! They exchanged dozens of moves.

"Lightning Barrier!" Deodomus shouted, creating a lightning barrier around himself and Hawk. He had trapped him again!

Whoosh! Bam! The two of them landed on the ground. Lightning kept zapping Hawk, making it impossible for him to fly. He was now tied to Deodomus & forced to fight at close range.

"Not bad. Your tricks are all good." Hawk complimented. "But tricks cannot defeat superior power."

"We'll see about that." Deodomus said, replacing his spear with a sword and lunging at Hawk. He chose to fight at close range so that Hawk cannot make proper use of his trident's reach.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! The two fought speedily.

Meanwhile, Xiao was dealing with her fair share of fighting. She fought Crow and Parrot together. Crow mostly used mid-range moves, while Parrot was a close-range fighter. Xiao's long sword and spear techniques were just enough for both of them as her cultivation was higher than theirs, but they had great coordination as a team and were keeping Xiao pinned between them.

"Wing Beam!" Crow shouted, expending his entire right wing to hurl them as an energy-clad beam of wing darts at Xiao who defended with a rapid spin of her spear.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang! The darted wings were flicked away but while Xiao was at it, Parrot attacked from the hind side.

Swoosh! He struck speedily. His poison daggers cleft at Xiao's sides but she moved away while still spinning her spear with her left hand, and swung her long sword with the right.

"Cutting down the river stream!"

Swish! A yin arc leapt at Parrot speedily. It was so fast and continuous; it could cut off a river stream for a few moments. Parrot defended by crossing his forearms and cladding them in energy, thus managing to survive. Meanwhile Crow expended his other wing as well. It hardly posed a problem to Xiao, except keeping her distracted while Parrot closed in again for another bout.

Swoosh! Clang-clang-clang-clang! Parrot struck speedily with his daggers. Xiao parried. But Crow also arrived and struck with odd moves. Sometimes he targeted her legs, sometimes, shot for her head. Xiao could fight multiple opponents but these two were in the Master realm. Together, they were able to pressure her.

Xiao replaced her spear with another long sword and dual-wielded them, maintaining her grip in the fight.

Things were getting dangerous for the rest of Xiao's group. Hailey was exhausted and Muchen was running out of bolts. Gyoro's energy expenditure was high. Muchen kept handing out energy pills but the inexperience of the three was leading to mistakes. Poisoned daggers often flew into their formation and slashed or stabbed them. Muchen didn't have a specific cure for it. He used general antidotes to help minimize the spread of poison in everyone. Peacock and Dove were equally matched and unable to end their fight.

Since all the high realm cultivators were busy, the ordinary Advanced realm assassins all ganged up on Hailey, Muchen, and Gyoro. They couldn't last for long this way.

Luna awoke at this point, finding the clamoring around her confusing. But quickly she stood up sharply and tried summoning a moonblade sword but realized that her ring had been stolen! She glared at Deodomus who was barely persisting against Hawk.

Xiao was pinned between Crow and Parrot. Peacock was having an internecine fight with Dove; both bleeding profusely. The three weaklings were being bombarded by daggers from all sides by over a hundred assassins.

Luna's gaze passed through everyone and landed on Hailey. She remembered that this was the girl she had wanted to kill, which led to a series of unfortunate events, halting her cultivation progress and ruining her life. Now was the best time to get rid of her!

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." Luna thought & sneered. She walked towards the fight. She passed by a few assassins on the back. "Spatial ring." She demanded, stretching out a hand. The nearest assassin hurriedly gave her his own ring.

As Luna wore the ring and summoned two short swords from it, Muchen noticed her and became anxiously alert.

Swoosh! Luna turned into a white streak as she rushed straight toward Hailey.

"Shit! Peacock, help us!" Muchen urged the nearest Master realm ally. Peacock immediately grasped the situation and retreated backwards, reaching the group and standing defensively. Xiao noticed the commotion but was busy fighting. Deodomus turned his head, seeing how close Luna was to the group, going straight for Hailey!

"No…! Luna! Don't do it!" Deodomus yelled.

Shunk! A trident was stabbed into his ribcage, dealing a fatal injury!

"Deo!" Xiao screamed as she noticed this, & fought in a frenzy.

"Sword Lotus!"

Shink! Shink! Shink! Shink! Shink! Her sword moved speedily, creating an illusory image of a large silvery lotus that engulfed Crow and Parrot, slashing them deeply everywhere, & as they fell, Xiao dashed toward Deodomus.

"No Xiao! Save Hailey!" Deodomus roared, stretching out a hand.

Shunk! The trident pierced his back and he vomited blood, while the lightning barrier vanished.

"Deo!" Hailey screamed before stopping abruptly as a white figure appeared in front of her. Her terrified gaze met Luna's cruel one. Time seemed to have slowed down. Luna slashed with her swords mercilessly!

Swish-swish-slish-slish-slash!! Red blood spurted everywhere, splashing onto Hailey's face.

"Ahhhhh!!!!!" Hailey's scream echoed aloud.