Rivers of the Night

Chapter 265 265: The Same

Ease. That was the only way to describe the dismantling.

Surgen was easily amongst the top geniuses of the Nightingale Empire. If he appeared in the Obsidian Eclipse Sect, he would most certainly have a spot amongst the top 20 of his cultivation rank.

And yet, it was akin to a child — so slow, so uncoordinated, so ill-prepared — that he was butchered right before the eyes of those he called family, everything happening so fast that he didn't even begin to bleed until the pieces of his body had long fallen to the ground.

The Thistle Marquis didn't know how to react, Sigil's eyes were open wide, and Lani was stricken by so much fear that his arm became stuck in the palm-flipping motion that would have pulled his weapon on.

Unfortunately for the last of them, Theron had never taken Surgen seriously enough to be surprised by his own success. The moment he landed on the ground behind him, he had already moved again.

Lani's heart leapt into his throat as he hurried to retreat, finishing the process of summoning a whip to his hand.

In a desperate bid, he pooled all the Wood Mana in the surroundings he could into stream after stream of attack, forming an avalanche of vines and roots that pulled themselves up from the ground and dove in from the trees in the surroundings.

He didn't care about his Mana consumption in the slightest; he just wanted Theron to target someone else — anyone else.

Theron danced through the attacks, his steps light, his movements almost inhuman in their fluidity. He never seemed to lose momentum, one graceful shift after another coming in continuous streams.

No one would feel the constant changes in momentum his body was undergoing as he used the laws of inertia to his advantage. He had only just gained the ability to change the density of his body, and yet he was already applying it at such a high level — decreasing his weight for sudden movements and suddenly increasing it for abrupt stops and changes in direction.

His speed and acceleration should have been jerky and far less beautiful than it was, but as he added layers of complexity to his Water Resonance Movement Method, he only continued to glide through the air akin to streams of water following the paths of least resistance.

He conformed to the wind itself, sliding past the roots as though his path were rivers…

And then his blades flashed.

Chi.

BANG!

[Pressurized Burst].

The air seemed to explode, bombs echoing off in chain reactions along Lani's constant stream of attacks. The latter hadn't even realized that as Theron was moving to dodge his attacks, he was constantly leaving small nicks in the vines and branches, allowing just the slightest bit of his Water Mana to seep inside.

The water content of Wood Mana was exceptionally high, and Lani was in too much of a panic to realize what was happening before it was far too late.

The moment Theron's Water Mana co-opted the base of his attacks, he used [Pressurized Burst] to shatter them from the inside out — not only shattering them all to pieces, but causing explosions in the ground and a rain of wood and plant chunks to obstruct a great deal of vision.

Theron appeared by Lani's side in a flash, his body low to the ground and his blade carving in an arc. The Thistle genius had already turned to him, panic and rage in his eyes as he slashed down with all his might…

But he was only halfway through the attack when his body became sluggish and the world spun around him.

No, it wasn't spinning… but why did it feel like…

'Oh… I'm dead…'

Lani's head fell to the ground, a blade cutting through the back of his neck as the Theron he targeted suffered the aftershock of his attack, shattering into a rain of water.

Silence echoed once more as wood chips fell to the ground. The initial explosion seemed to have cleared out all remaining sound, making everything feel so much more hollow.

Theron stood there, his blades unblemished by blood and his eyes icy cold.

Across from him, Sigil stood, his whip still in his hands. The potential Thistle heir — or rather, the only one remaining now and likely the de facto heir as a result — looked down at the corpses of those that used to be his competition.

They had always been roadblocks to him, difficult opponents that, though he was confident he could defeat in combat, he could never truly get rid of. The family couldn't allow such ruthless killing, as it would cull them of their talents. There was a reason why his uncles were still alive to this day.

It was how a Clan grew.

But looking at them now, he felt… somewhat empty.

Was this the real gap between himself and Theron? There was no way he could kill Lani and Surgen so easily even if it had been a one-on-one battle, let alone in such a setting.

Slowly, he looked up to meet Theron's gaze and then chuckled a bit bitterly. He had wanted to be equals with this young man, but how could he be equals with someone so much younger than him and yet already so much more powerful?

"… They have your wife…" Sigil eventually said.

He didn't know why these were the first words he wanted to say, but for some reason, he felt like it was important that Theron know even now, even given the situation.

However, the stone-cold indifference in Theron's eyes in response made him realize something.

"… I see. It seems you've been playing a game from the start. You don't care much for her at all. My Thistle Clan must be quite the joke to you."

Theron still didn't respond, his gaze remaining just the same.

"It looks like I've misjudged you. I thought you were better, but you're just as cold and selfish as the rest of them."

Sigil's hold on his whip slowly became more relaxed, as though a weight on his shoulders was gone. Then, battle intent radiated from his gaze.