Chapter 20: Desperate Battle

  Damon trekked through the rugged forest for around two months after the battle back at Stonepillar Mountain. He had assumed he would be tracked down by the Tower cultivators very quickly, but so far the journey had been relatively peaceful. Aside from some random carnivorous beasts trying to defend their territory, he had not encountered anything or anyone else.

  Damon was currently standing in front of a cave on the side of a small hill. Lying on the ground in front of him was a bear with an arrow stuck in its head. Now that so much time has passed, he felt more assured of his safety. If they haven’t found me by now, I must have completely lost all pursuers.

  He decided to make camp here for the time being and finally go through the belongings of the two cultivators he had slain. He had felt so rushed previously that he did not have the peace of mind to stay in one location for more than a couple of hours, much less to search through the pouches.

  Damon channeled his energy into the one that the second masked man held. It contained several dozen essence stones, alongside multiple defensive scrolls. Besides that, there was nothing else of importance, just some random books and journals, alongside some crystal vials filled with unknown substances. There was also a crystal orb, which did not show any reaction even when he injected either mental or arcane power.

  “No cultivation arts books? Hmm… Do they leave those behind at the Tower before going out on a mission? I guess it’ll make them less desirable targets for independent cultivators… Though whether an independent cultivator could kill an apprentice of a Tower is hard to say.”

  Damon placed the essence stones, defensive scrolls, and crystal vials in his own storage pouch, leaving the rest in the original. He then took out the first cultivator’s pouch, expecting to see more scrolls in this one, as the man had died before he could use any.

  After probing it, Damon smiled as his intuition was correct. This pouch contained a similar number of essence stones, but it contained more than 10 offensive scrolls alongside several defensive ones. Just like the other man, he was carrying only random journals and historical books, and no cultivation manual. He similarly had several crystal vials filled with colorful liquids and a defunct crystal orb.

  “I need to get these appraised when I arrive at the Assembly. Some of these elixirs may be helpful to my cultivation, maybe even able to heal my current injuries. I shouldn’t risk taking any without knowing what they are, though, as they could be poisons for battle.”

  After ascertaining the contents of the two storage pouches, Damon was quite elated at his newfound fortune. His wealth had previously consisted of only four scrolls and 11 essence stones. He also had a staff, but it only very slightly increased the strength of fire elemental spells. He didn’t think it was worth the hassle of withdrawing and using it during battle, as he relied more on his stronger mind cultivation.

  Damon lit a fire and started roasting some bear meat for his dinner. Though a little too gamey for his taste, this large bear would be able to provide him with meat for many days to come. He was in the middle of eating when he felt a slight tug on the very edge of his Mindsense. When he focused on it, he dropped everything in shock before pulling out multiple defensive scrolls and activating them at once. This caused him to cough up a mouthful of blood as a large crack formed in his Arcane Node.

  Outside the cave, a cloaked figure was flying above the hill, chanting a spell. A huge boulder made from the fusion of many smaller stones had formed in the sky. As the last syllable left his mouth, the gigantic stone, half the size of the hill, started falling, picking up momentum as it moved.

  Boom! A deafening blast broke the silence of the night, even shaking the earth beneath.

  The massive boulder completely destroyed the side of the hill where his cave was located. Just before it hit the ground, a figure encompassed in multiple shimmering colors of light had just managed to run out of the cave; however, he was thrown far into the forest due to the aftershock caused by the destruction.

  Thankfully, the barriers of light were able to soften the aftershock, and also the numerous trees he had rammed through before smashing into the ground. Fate had a cruel sense of irony. Damon had just been thinking he had completely escaped the Tower cultivators when the attack had destroyed the hill. The timing was so precise that he could not help but shout profanities at the heavens. If the cultivator had attacked from slightly further away, his Mindsense would not have caught the slight fluctuations in the atmosphere, leading to his demise.

  The masked figure followed the trail of destruction caused by Damon being flung into the forest, before he arrived above a small crater. In the middle of the crater, Damon had just stood back up, wiping the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Two of the four barriers he had created earlier were already gone due to the depletion of arcane energy. The other two remained, though they were already cracked and trembling as though they would disappear at any moment.

  “I knew you wouldn’t die from such a paltry spell. I did, however, expect you to be in a much more sorry sight, though, so you already did very well. So, you managed to make it all the way here? Just a few more days, and you would’ve made it past the borders of the Tower’s territory. Fortunately, I caught up to you and found you before you crossed that border. The Deputy Tower Master asked us to catch you alive, so why don’t you just give up and let me take you back without any trouble?” The masked man spoke out as he drifted down onto the ground several dozen feet from Damon. He was the Law Enforcement Hall Deputy Leader.

  Damon glared back at the Deputy Leader. His mind was a mess as he tried to think of a way to escape this situation. The man in front of him had energy levels above the Node Awakening realm. Though unsure of his exact stage, he was undoubtedly a Channel Weaving Disciple. He came to the conclusion that he had no choice but to fight. Currently, he did not have any abilities that would aid in mobility. There was no way he could outrun someone stronger than himself, especially when they could fly.

  Ignoring the man’s suggestion, Damon withdrew Dawn’s Edge from his storage pouch and threw it at the man, while making a handseal. Moments later, Dawn’s Edge blurred before splitting into 11 exact copies of each other. The 10 images started circling the man before flying straight at him.

  Having watched Damon’s actions, the deputy leader sighed in disappointment. He would have much preferred Damon giving himself up without a fuss. It was definitely a lot harder to capture a cultivator alive rather than killing them outright. Damon was also using some strange abilities, ones that a physical cultivator would not be able to use. In response to the trails of golden light caused by the swords, the man threw out a large kite shield covered in runes. It hovered just a few feet away from him and started rotating around his body. He then cast a barrier spell very quickly for additional defense. Though he was very confident in himself, he was not inexperienced enough to let his guard down from the start.

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  The golden lights flying around the man in a circle found their positions and rushed at him from every direction. The man started casting another spell even as he maintained his focus on the swords approaching him very quickly. Initially, he became shocked when the swords flew straight through his barrier, thinking he would be skewered by them. However, they dissipated as they passed through him, showing that they were nothing but an illusion. Only one of the swords, the one flying directly behind him, was real and clashed with the kite shield that had automatically positioned itself to defend its master.

  “Phew. I thought I was a goner for a second! These are some interesting tricks you have there. Thankfully, this little artifact shield I possess is a remnant from ancient times. It can automatically react to danger, so it won’t be fooled by something like an illusion. However, I’m still impressed. That golden sword of yours is by no means weak either. To think it left a dent in the shield… Not even the attacks of a late stage Channel Weaving Auron had managed to do that.” The man had become relaxed again after seeing that his defenses were working against Damon. He now had the leisure to talk, even as he cast his spell. The ability to do so implied that he had a strong comprehension of the spell he was currently casting.

  Damon was dismayed to see that the sword was blocked by the shield. So far, there had not been anything that it could not pierce. So this is the limitation of Dawn’s Edge. If I only rely on this sword, I will never be able to defeat this Disciple. How can I get past that shield of his… Damon’s thoughts were churning as he quickly came up with a strategy that could work.

  The deputy leader had grown tired of trying to talk to Damon, as he did not reply at all. He finished his casting, and large stone walls erupted out of the ground around Damon, enclosing him completely. A moment later, the stone wall directly between them was blasted apart as Damon used another offensive scroll.

  Damon rushed out from the confinement of the stone walls, blood dripping down from his mouth once more. Gritting his teeth hard, he made a wild decision. He made multiple hand seals in a row, upon which his body started to blur before splitting into three. Two of the Damons ran in opposite directions, surrounding the man from three directions.

  The man watched in fascination at the abilities he had never seen before. After seeing the boy’s current abilities, he believed nothing the boy threw at him would be able to get past his defenses, so he was waiting for Damon to make his move as he stood there with his arms crossed. It was mere entertainment for him at this moment.

  “Two of these must be an illusion. How do they work? You used hand seals to cast them, not chants. What kind of spells are they? Come, show me more of your unique abilities!”

  The three Damons took out multiple scrolls. They were holding around five in each hand. With a loud roar, they activated them all simultaneously. All manner of spells began to form around the three Damons, all offensive in nature. However, the fake Damons and spells started to become fuzzy due to the excessive number and difficulty of images to copy.

  The real Damon was once more standing behind the masked cultivator, unleashing his barrage of attacks. He channeled mental power into the spells, allowing him to control their path to encircle the man, instead of the attack being linear.

  As Damon fell onto one knee, he coughed up multiple mouthfuls of blood. He was holding multiple essence stones in both hands, absorbing energy from them rapidly. At this moment, the spells shot out in every direction, coordinating with each other to hit the masked man at the same time.

  The man suddenly became serious again. To think he has such fine control over his power to activate so many scrolls simultaneously. Also, his power fluctuation is only at the early stage of Node Awakening. How does he have enough arcane energy to power them all?

  These spells had the power of a full-strength attack by a late stage Node Awakening Initiate. Though one or two would not do much damage against his barrier, there were 10 such spells shooting toward him at the same time. They were also precisely positioned and timed to land simultaneously. His barrier might not be able to hold up against the onslaught. As a precaution, the man also withdrew several scrolls for his own use. They were defensive scrolls of the second tier. With the addition of these, he would easily be able to withstand this impressive attack.

  However, just as the man was about to activate the scrolls, he became distracted for a split second as he saw what appeared to be several distortions in space flying toward him. This became the beginning of his downfall, as they pierced into his head without being blocked by either the barrier or the shield. He screamed in agony, but the pain subsided immediately after. Clenching his teeth tight, he looked up to see the spells about to reach him. Even so, he did not panic as he believed in the strength of his barrier and shield. The shield was rotating around him so quickly that it left blurry afterimages behind.

  The barrage of different spells crashed into the shield and barrier, causing an earthshaking rumble to ring out. The man let out a small smile as he saw that his defenses weren’t broken through. The barrier had cracked and was trembling uncontrollably, but the majority of the spells’ strength was depleted after the initial impact. It was now just the explosions and shockwaves that were shaking his barrier.

  Yet, this smile was short-lived as a golden light erupted from the ground beneath the man. He looked down in surprise as the golden light flashed past him. He still wasn’t sure what happened when the world in his eyes began to spin. Finally, the spinning stopped, and the last thing he saw was his own headless body crumpling onto the ground before everything went dark.

  Not far away, Damon remained kneeling on one knee. His right hand was steadying himself by holding onto his bent leg, while his left hand was clutching his chest. A small puddle of blood had formed in front of him due to vomiting up multiple mouthfuls of blood. His Arcane Node had almost shattered from excessive usage. Even without his original injury, any early stage Node Awakening Initiate who did the same thing as Damon would also be in a critical condition.

  Damon inspected himself from within. He could see countless cracks running through his node. There was even damage to his other organs and muscles due to the excessive drain caused by activating so many higher-level scrolls simultaneously, and the massive influx of energy from the essence stones running rampant through his body. This external source of energy did not belong to him, so his body naturally rejected it if it wasn’t incorporated gradually.

  Damon withdrew an essence stone and began slowly absorbing the energy within to regenerate his empty reserves as he ruminated about the preceding battle.

  Using the mirror image ability on myself and then casting all those dazzling spells… They were again just a distraction. He only focused on the spells and forgot about Dawn’s Edge, believing in the defenses of his shield. I used all those abilities, along with the mind spikes, as a diversion, allowing me to secretly control Dawn’s Edge to drill into the ground before emerging beneath him. If he had stayed airborne during the fight… I would most likely have lost and been captured. His shield could defend him from all directions, except below. But I can’t rely on just Dawn’s Edge forever. I still need more power.

  Damon then stood up unsteadily before stumbling over to the corpse of the Disciple. He searched the body for anything of use, coming up with a storage pouch. He also made sure to grab the shield and scrolls that had fallen to the ground. After putting all these items away, he turned around and started staggering toward the southwest. Just a few more days, and he would be able to leave the territory of the Arcane Tower and enter the territory of the Assembly.

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  Damon's tactics were the best he could do with his current abilities?

  Deputy Hall Leader?