Capítulo 110: Book 4: Chapter 22 – Who’s This?
Although it was true that Ace was protecting the others from facing a small force that may well be too strong for most of them, there was another, more selfish reason for coming alone, and that was to vent.
There was a part of Ace that wished he was heading to the battlefield on his own so he could rampage through the O'Brien Armies ranks wantonly. Unfortunately, with Amira and Killian present, he couldn't be so unrestrained.
As strong as they were now, they wouldn't be able to follow Ace as he slaughtered a path into the depths of his enemy's forces.
As the leader of the team, he couldn't afford to, nor was he willing to put their lives in unnecessary danger. As such, he would have to suppress his urge for blood. So when he sensed their group speeding towards the enemy's camp, he couldn't help but hope they were the enemy so he could vent some of the rage he was holding onto.
More specifically, he hoped they were from the O'Brien Empire.
Hearing the madman's question, the warrior who was being held up by the throat hesitated.
As terrified as he was and as much pain as he was, he was nothing if not loyal. It would take more than the loss of an arm to get him to talk.
"AHHHHHHHH! NO! WAIT! PLEASE! I'LL TALK!" The man roared in agony as he suddenly felt his neck being burnt by his captor's sizzling hand. "WE'RE FROM THE O'BRIEN EMP-"
Before the man could finish his sentence, his slowly melting neck was snapped in two.
"Good!" Ace said with an evil grin suffusing his lips. "Very good!"
Though they couldn't see his expression under his hood, they could feel the chilling killing intent he radiated and hear the excitement and anticipation in his tone.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back for each of them. They no longer cared about turning their back to this robed demon. Everyone who could run ran as if their lives depended on it.
Had they stayed and fought together, Ace would've had to expend a fair bit of effort to defeat them, but like this…
It turned into a complete massacre.
The smell of blood and burning flesh wafting through the air would've made most sick to their stomach, but Ace wasn't phased in the slightest. In fact, he wished there were more. The anger in his heart hadn't diminished by much at all.
Thankfully he didn't allow his anger to cloud his better judgement. The fact that there was such a powerful squad sneaking behind enemy lines spoke to a bigger plan, and if for no other reason than that this was Amira's homeland, he had to do everything he could to help.
"Now," Ace said slowly. "I need you to tell me everything your team had planned."
After everything he'd witnessed, Haruol, the member of the O'Brien Empire who'd used the cover identity he'd created to infiltrate the Rohault Army, was shaken to the very depths of his soul in complete and utter fear.
Previously, he would've considered himself a highly experienced warrior who couldn't be taken aback by much, but never in his life had he seen a massacre quite like this.
It had to be remembered that even the weakest members of their squad were at the sixth rank. With that kind of strength, they'd be respected almost anywhere they went on the continent and yet every single member of their elite squad was completely massacred. Still, the thing that really put the fear of god into him was that, despite not being able to see his attacker's face, he could sense the pleasure he took from hearing the screams of each of his victims.
"Devil… You… You're the Devil," Haruol muttered, his fear keeping him from forming full coherent sentences.
"I don't have time for this," Ace said as his rising killing intent forced the lone survivor to stop his rambling. "Tell me what I want to know, or I'll show you a fate far worse than death!"
If his loved ones from his previous life saw Ace now, they would be hard-pressed to recognise him at that moment. Even in the face of Blackbeard, the man who killed his good friend and fellow Whitebeard Pirate Commander, Thatch, the anger he felt couldn't even begin to compare to the anger he felt after finding out the truth about his mother's past.
And then, finding out about what that same family had done to his master, his anger was right at boiling point. If it weren't for his having a first-hand seat to how his impulsive actions could affect those he cared about in his previous life, Ace would've long since slaughtered a crimson path into the O'Brien Empire.
They might not know it, but his desire to keep his loved ones free from harm was acting like an anchor keeping him grounded and preventing him from giving in to his wrathful desires. That being said, he would still take every opportunity he could to vent in the most brutal way possible.
"No, stop. I'll talk…" Haruol hurriedly exclaimed when he heard Ace's voice. It was almost as if he wanted him not to talk.
"… And that's everything I know," Haruol explained. "Please, I'm begging you. Don't kill me!"
"Don't worry, I won't kill you," Ace replied, taking off the interspatial ring on the team leader's finger as well as the man's head storing them both in his own spatial ring. "I still need you to retell everything you told me to the Rohault army's higher-ups."
With that, Ace disappeared with the O'Brien spy, hurriedly heading back to his own team, ignoring the growing fear and anxiety of his hostage. It was up for debate which he was most scared of, Ace or the Rohault Army, a group he knew hated nothing more than traitors, but when he thought back to everything Ace had done to his comrades, he couldn't help but wish Ace would move faster.
Subconsciously, Haruol believed that whatever happened to him after being handed over, it would be infinitely better than what Ace had intended to do to him.
.
.
.
"What's taking that Ace fellow so long?" Chukaya asked, giving voice to his obvious displeasure.
Unfortunately for him, he was all but ignored by the rest of the team, as none of the others could be bothered to care about his concerns, but before he could say anything else, Leo suddenly raised his head to look in the direction Ace had left from.
"What is it?" Amira asked. "Is Ace heading back?"
Seeing the horse-sized lion nod its head, everyone turned to look in the direction it was staring, only to see Ace making their way towards them, leaving a faint afterimage with every step he took, causing both Ebeze and Chukaya to stare in amazement.
They knew that with the speed he exhibited when leaving, Ace must've used a movement technique, and from what limited information they had about the Yin-Yang Pavilion, neither were too surprised that Ace had access to one.
Still, because Ace had left in such a hurry, they weren't able to truly appreciate how impressive it was before, but now…
Movement techniques that could be used without battle-qi were exceedingly rare, but as one of the most powerful forces on the continent, their Rohault Empire also had one. Still, they only needed one look at the way Ace was able to casually travel over 30 meters with each step to understand that theirs wasn't as impressive as his.
The truth was, their [Evanescing Step] was a lot more complicated than [Soru], but it was the simplicity of [Soru] that made it so special. The more steps you could take in one go, the faster you could move, which inherently made it so that whilst skill and comprehension played a big part in one's ability to use it, the higher one's warrior cultivation realm, and in turn one's raw speed, the better their [Soru] would be.
Ace ignored the shock of the two Rohault talents as he casually threw Haruol on the floor in front of his team, and then with a flick of his wrist, he removed the storage ring he'd taken from Haruol's now deceased team leader and tossed it to Killian.
"Here, you can have this," Ace said casually, ignoring the shocked expressions of Ebeze, Chukaya, and Haruol.
To be fair, their shock was understandable. It had to be remembered that the only group of people that one could definitely expect to find a storage ring on were saints.
Not only were they unbelievably rare, they were also incredibly expensive. Many wealthy noble families would have to sell all their belongings just to afford one, but because of that, the cheapest way to get your hands on one was to do as Ace had done twice already and steal it. So unless one had the corresponding strength, just owning one would put a target on your back.
Both Chukaya and Ebeze could be considered nobles with powerful backgrounds, yet neither of them could even hope to get one until they reached at least the eighth rank. The only reason Amira had one was because she had two saint-level parents – you'd need to have a death wish to even attempt to steal hers!
The one Ace had stolen from Haruol's team leader wasn't even his in the first place. Instead, it had been loaned to him by one of his superiors for the purpose of their mission.
So to see Ace give it away so casually was nothing short of astounding, but neither Killian nor Amira batted an eyelid. Killian simply dripped a drop of blood on it to bond with it, whilst Amira was more focused on the man on the ground.
"Who's this?"
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Book 6: Chapter 4 – Son of Heaven
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