Chapter 256: The Killing Strike

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After erecting a barrier for himself, the magician started his incantation, while one of his friends guarded his side. Han Jin’s eyes were focused on Louise below him, and he looked as if he hadn’t noticed the two magicians at all. When a faint red light appeared in the air, Han Jin suddenly waved his hand, and four blinding rays of red beams shot out in a square formation toward the chanting magician.

The magician guarding his friend suddenly shouted and raised his wand. Immediately, a dozen or so wind blades appeared in the air to meet Han Jin’s four flying swords.

A wave of noise similar to that of pearl rolling on glass sounded as the two attacks clashed. Although the magician was guarding his friend, he hadn’t treated Han Jin like an enemy, so the hastily released wind blade was too weak to do anything. Although most of the blade had hit its target, Han Jin’s flying swords could not be stopped.

The chanting magician blanked as he heard the scream of his companion. His meteor spell was almost complete; should he immediately stop the casting and suffer the backlash of magic, or should he ignore his friend and finish casting first? He didn’t know what to do.

The flying swords flew extremely fast, and because of the magician’s hesitation, he was spared from further hard choices. With a boom, the four flying swords simultaneously connected with his magic barrier, which collapsed in the blink of an eye. Four bloody, gaping wounds appeared on the magicians body, and his body flew back like a boulder as blood fountained out.

“You…” The other magician’s expression turned furious. He gave Han Jin a hate-filled glare and raised his magic wand.

Han Jin was dashing forward with his flying swords, and he covered the dozens of meters between him and the magician almost instantaneously, but even so, the magician had already disappeared into a ball of light.

Han Jin continued his dash forward and swept his gaze across the perimeter. He soon found the magician reappearing several hundred meters away chanting something. His face appeared solemn and strained. Clearly, he was preparing a powerful spell!

Han Jin coldly smiled and raised his hand. A lightning bolt fell down like a waterfall and accurately struck the magician.

The energy he had absorbed from the dragon blood in the past few days was far more potent than the blood of the adolescent dragon he had absorbed long ago. Ever since he had crossed the threshold of one Xuan energy accumulated, his energy reserve had been stuck in the single digits, but now, he had more than twenty Xuan worth of energy in his reserve.

The improvement was immense! Before, every time he unleashed a powerful move, he would exhaust about one third of his energy. Now, he could consecutively use the same move a dozen times, and even unleash more powerful Daoist techniques!

Practically though, it was hard to judge a cultivator based on this continent’s standards for professionals. If Han Jin used his full strength to fight, he could more or less match the power of many top-grade professionals. The problem was he could not sustain such a style of battle; once he expends all his energy on several of his powerful moves, there is nothing more he can do except wait for his death. On the other hand, if he tried to conserve his energy and prolong the battle, his attacks would barely scratch those same top-grade professionals. Thus, Han Jin was both strong and weak at the same time, and which he would eventually become was entirely dependent on whether he could find a fighting style that suited him. Of course, one’s style did not have to always stay consistent; it was often wise to adjust to different opponents.

As of now, Han Jin was still searching, thinking, and exploring new methods. Before, he would never use something as low level as Palm Thunder, which was even weaker than ordinary flame charms. However, his only intention was to interrupt the magician’s spell cast and force him to fight with only spells that could be instantaneously released.

A thunderous explosion rang out as the thunderbolt struck the magician’s Shield of Air. The damage Palm Thunder had caused could almost be ignored, and the magician’s Shield of Air had not been affected at all. However, the magician had been so shocked by the explosion that his eyes had almost rolled back in his head, and he had almost forgotten the spell he was incanting. Even Louise, who had been mired in her own battle, instinctively glanced toward the direction of the explosion.

Many unsuccessful cultivators who had only learned the basics of Daoist Arts often loved Palm Thunder precisely because of its flashy noise. Of course, it was practically useless against real demons and ghosts, but it was more than enough for those charlatans to impress bystanders.

The magician was likewise scared out of his wits. Since his incantation had been interrupted, he had to suffer the backlash of magic. Although his face was pale, his first instinct was to check on his Shield of Air. Clearly, even he did not believe his shield could withstand such an impressive spell!

Han Jin rode his flying sword at a downward angle, and the distance between the two rapidly shrank. Although the magician had ensured his shield was still intact, he still was not convinced and released another barrier before finally raising his wand again to restart his incantation. Even though the backlash of magic had severely wounded him, he had no choice other than to defeat his opponent first.

Han Jin waved his hand again, and three more consecutive bolts of lightning landed on the magician’s Shield of Air. Thunderous explosions rolled and resounded across the land, and the magician was once again dazed and interrupted from his cast.

The magician was having quite an unlucky day. The first time, he had been interrupted by surprise, and while he steeled himself the second time, his waning mental state had been nowhere near enough to withstand the blood curdling thunder. After suffering two backlashes from two failed spell casts, he was as useful as a cripple.

Han Jin gestured again, and the four red, glowing flying swords shot down again as if someone were controlling them. The four swords started slamming into the Shield of Air nonstop, while Han Jin himself jumped up and shot the green radiance beneath his feet into the shield as well. The Shield of Air and the additional barrier behind it instantly crumbled at the violence, and the magician’s body was likewise cut in half. Immediately after, the green radiance circled around Han Jin and flew him back toward the main road.

The regiment of about a hundred knights had seen the scene from a distance, and had increased the speed of their charge. Meanwhile, Han Jin landed unceremoniously on the road by himself, as if he intended to stop the charge of those knights all by himself.

The knights galloped even faster. Whether they were afraid or not, no one knew, but they did know that when fighting a magician, closing in on them was half of the battle. That was common knowledge among all warriors.

Behind Han Jin, the knights commanding the foot soldiers also sent out half of their ranks in an attempt to form a pincer maneuver.

On the endless plain, the galloping knights displayed a terrifying momentum. Though their numbers were few, they looked unstoppable. In comparison, Han Jin’s shape looked frail, lonely, and even pitiful.

Close… closer… One hundred meters… fifty meters… Han Jin could now see the knights’ slightly twitching faces.

Practically speaking, two groups of knights desperately charging at a single person from two directions was truly a desperate move. Whether they could even kill the single enemy was questionable, let alone the fact that they would cause more harm to each other during their unstoppable charge. However, after Han Jin had easily eliminated two of their magicians, he had become a threat they could not ignore. Right now, the top priority was to take him off the battlefield no matter the cost.

Han Jin waved his hand, and most of the flying swords returned to his hand, leaving only one that glowed red silently floating above him.

If there were any knights that knew Han Jin well, they would have immediately turned and run as far away as possible.

“The most terrifying enemy is the unknown” is not a mere saying, but a simple truth! Just as one can tell the coming of autumn by a single leaf turning yellow, Han Jin could tell the weaknesses and strengths of swordsmen, knights, magicians, archers, and many other of this continent’s already well-defined professions. He also understood well what they relied on in a fight, and regardless if he was in the northeast or the southwest, the difference in each profession’s specialties were not huge. However, no one here knew anything about Han Jin!

Seeing that Han Jin still did not move, the knights’ face lit up. The ones in the front raised their spears, while the ones in the back drew their bows to prevent Han Jin from escaping by air. Though they had a well thought out plan on how to defeat the enemy, they had missed one crucial part: how could an actual magician have the guts to stand in the face of waves of charging knights?!

Just as the gleaming spear tips were only thirty meters away, Han Jin suddenly started chanting, “One Stone Splashes A Thousand Waves!”

A ray of white light shot up into the sky and slammed into the floating sword, followed by a thunderous explosion. Countless tangible shadow swords looked as if they had shredded the sky to pieces and then covered everything within several hundred meters.

Under the dense shower of the shadow swords, the battlefield changed in an instant. The knights and their armors were split open, the energetic war horses were cut to pieces, and even the lively grass was not spared, as countless trenches and pits were created by explosions. The bright red of blood, the verdant green grass, as well as flesh and skin of assorted colors, flew everywhere and formed a blizzard – a blizzard straight out of Hell!

From above, it looked like the knights’ charge formation had been instantaneously and completely destroyed, minced into flesh scraps that littered the ground.

But there were survivors. A knight in heavy silver armor was somehow still alive, though the armor he wore was in shambles. With a roar filled with anger and desperation, he charged at Han Jin.

The few other knights that survived blanked, then immediately scattered, completely ignoring their commander. They had seen that their leader was still alive, but they also knew that anyone who could instantaneously unleash a spell this powerful was bound to be a top-grade professional! Besides, if this mysterious magician knows a bloody spell that none of them have even heard about, god knows how much more power he possesses?!

Seeing that a knight was still charging him, Han Jin raised his hand to unleash the green radiance, but he hesitated. Instead, he drew his whip with a back hand. With a slight shake of his hand, the whip shot toward the knight’s ankle like an agile snake.

Han Jin had first easily killed two magicians, then used an unknown spell to slaughter hundreds of knights. No matter who faced an enemy like this, he wouldn’t dare let his guard down. The knight realized that there was more to the whip than what met the eyes, and suddenly jumped with a roar. His spear was now covered in a radiance that extended several meters long, which he pointed straight at Han Jin’s brow.

Han Jin rapidly retreated, and the green radiance under him suddenly turned into a giant sword that was about twenty meters long before slamming down with several thousand tons of force. Han Jin smiled amid the brilliant light. He had a faint epiphany: in a battle, it was not necessary to have the fastest speed, nor was it necessary to have the power to instantly destroy everything in his path; control and rhythm was equally as important!