Raffaele’s entire body turned numb and her cheeks became red at once. A look of uncertainty flashed in her eyes before turning into a firm expression immediately.
“I know.”
Her voice sounded like the buzz of a mosquito when she replied and she broke free of Garen’s embrace suddenly before she pushed the door open and left.
She shut the stone door behind her.
Raffaele was led towards her own room by one of the people in charge.
Behind the young female guide, she hung her head while somewhat heavy feelings filled her mind.
“For the mission of the Witch King Mother… Lion Mother… Protected me so that I can finish this task successfully…” countless complicated ideas drifted through her mind continuously.
As she regulated and controlled her own consciousness, she slowly sank into a state of half confusion and could only follow the young woman and walk forward instinctively.
While she remained in this state, a faint voice echoed throughout her mind suddenly.
“Hong Ji, you did extremely well and without raising Garen’s suspicions.”
“Witch King Mother?!” joy stirred within Raffaele’s heart suddenly before her mind shouted out internally.
“Don’t worry, although that person is extremely powerful, he is still not an undefeatable Death Apostle. As long as he is not a Death Apostle, he will definitely have flaws. You merely need to wait for the right opportunity and be more patient… Patience…” that voice disappeared slowly.
Raffaele finally knew that the Lion Mother had left when her mind regained consciousness in a somewhat frustrated manner suddenly. She was one of the forty-five Witch Lion Mother’s daughters who had been chosen as members of this plan, and the most important member as well.
Once she thought of her mission, Hong Ji became even more determined at once.
When she thought of the possibility of having to go up against a few innocent subordinates who were merely normal people, an unbearable feeling bubbled up inside her heart. However, it was immediately suppressed forcefully.
“Holy Fist Palace is the source of all chaos and Holy Fist Garen is the origin of Holy Fist Palace. This is to ensure that the order of the world returns to conformity… Everything that I do is for order…”
When she thought of this, sacred splendor appeared in the depths of her eyes once again.
“Now all I have to do now is to observe the internal situation of Holy Fist Palace for a while, as it’s best to clarify all the divisions of strength and forces. After that, I’ll go to the foot of the mountain again…” a plan formed in her heart quickly.
*********
Inside the stone hall
Garen stood beside one of the stone pillars that was next to the fountain in the center with a calm expression on his face. A Blood Breed subordinate in black clothes was currently standing beside him and reporting the situation quietly.
“…investigated all of the related areas and searched high and low in all of the places where it could possibly exist. As of now, we have not received any information on Marshall Dahm,” the male Blood Breed covered his face, making it impossible to see his expression while he reported everything in a low voice.
“The reporting division confirmed that they lost him three days ago? What about Caesar?” Garen’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
“Since Sir Caesar had to arrange for follow-up tasks to wrap everything up, he was unable to return earlier. The hidden members have been arranged to escort Marshall Dahm, but no one expected that they would encounter an ambush along the way. The members have gone missing. Judging from the traces that were left on the site, it seems like this was the doing of the Blood Breeds. However, we were still unable to determine Marshall Dahm’s whereabouts despite using every method we know. I’m extremely sorry!” said the male Blood Breed with his head lowered.
“Dahm…” Garen pondered casually. “He should have a mask with him now. The probability of the Blood Breed’s actions is very likely.”
“That is indeed true. Moreover, the key point is that our strength networks are only covering the American territories. Meanwhile, the other territories are still being influenced and occupied by the forces of the Blood Breeds. This makes it impossible for us to conduct grand scale searches.”
“You can go back down first,” Garen nodded.
The male Blood Breed exited the stone hall respectfully, leaving Garen there alone.
‘The actions of the Blood Breeds are extremely arrogant…’ Black Sethe’s voice drifted over.
“Not the Blood Breeds,” Garen answered simply.
‘Oh? How do you know? If it wasn’t the Blood Breeds, who else would dare to ambush a high-level expert like Dahm?’ Black Sethe could not really understand how Garen was able to come up with such a conclusion.
“I naturally have my own ways. But I’m certain that it’s not the Blood Breeds.” Garen walked towards the front of the floor-length glass and looked out at the endless sea of white clouds. His gaze seemed to penetrate the boundless distance while looking on in an unknown direction.
****************
Within a concealed valley in America
Huff…
Huff…
Huff…
Something sounded like the heavy breathing of a wild beast. It also sounded like the violent panting of an exhausted fierce predator.
Dahm sat leaning against a little green moss-covered ravine inside the valley. He’d covered himself with large piles of broken tree branches and leaves to the best of his ability before stretching out his four limbs and body.
Both of his eyes were bloodshot and he seemed unusually thin and sallow, as though he’d been unable to rest for a long time.
Within the lush green forest around him, muffled noises and movements would echo through occasionally. These noises were enough to force him to turn his head around quickly while looking behind himself with an unusually worried expression on his face.
It was true that he’d had no chance to rest.
After obtaining the mask, he had been ambushed by people on the way back. All of his escorts had been killed and he’d used all of his strength to fight the enemy off before escaping quickly. Next, his opponent started to chase him quickly. While he was being pursued, he could feel that his opponent was clearly closing the gap between them. When he ran towards a place with more people, his opponent would follow him closely behind suddenly before clashing with him violently. They fought until he was forced to flee into more remote areas.
They were forcing him into no man’s land!
Dahm sank both of his feet inside the undergrowth and mud inside the ravine. His body was covered in bits of grass and little insects while there were countless gashes on is clothes. His entire body seemed incomparably sallow, making him look completely unlike his usual elegant Marshall’s demeanor.
After three consecutive days of being pursued and attacked, the high state of anxiety that he was currently in due to lack of proper rest caused him to become as easily startled as a bird by the slightest noise. His body had weakened as well. He was initially able to release the first star and use the Waterbird Fist’s Final Profound, Flight of the Evil Phoenix that he was unable to control all along. However, he had overused his body, and his current lack of rest made it difficult for him to heal. His bodily deficiencies were also becoming even worse.
“Don’t tell me I’m going to die here?!” unwillingness flashed in Dahm’s eyes.
At this moment, the distinct noise of footsteps could be heard faintly in the forest. The noise started off slowly and paused for a while before it detected that he was here. Suddenly, the noise quickened at once and approached him instantly.
“You can’t escape anymore!” a determined gaze flashed in Dahm’s eyes. “You may lose all chances of resisting if you keep escaping!”
He tried to relax his body as much as he could. He tried his best to accumulate all the energy in his body despite being unable to rest for a long time while waiting quietly for his enemy and pursuer to approach him quickly.
500 meters… 400 meters… 300 meters… 100 meters…
Crash!
A tree branch and leaves were torn down at once before a familiar figure appeared before Dahm’s eyes.
“Hochman!!” Dahm yelled out suddenly. “It was actually… It was actually you!!!” he gritted his teeth in anger. His body had tensed up immediately even though he had just relaxed it moments ago. Intense hatred flashed in his eyes.
Hochman’s face was calm and he’d just changed into a black suit and beautiful black leather shoes. He looked like a regular but successful man who was planning to attend a banquet. However, his attire was clearly abnormal and strange while standing in a forest in a canyon.
He glanced casually at Dahm who was in an extremely awkward position.
“How pitiful. To think that you would fall into such a state, Dahm. You’ve truly embarrassed Master now.”
“I knew it was you…!!” Dahm’s entire body trembled with rage. All this while, he would be pursued by the other person whenever he wanted to rest. Every time he thought of stopping, his opponent would approach him immediately, making it impossible for him to rest. He could never understand how someone was able to grasp his whereabouts so accurately. But in hindsight, he realized that it could only be Hochman, who was able to use the Qi connection between both of their Soul Primers to locate him.
Dahm himself was currently unimaginably weak. He was unable to do the same thing, but it was clear that Hochman had his own ways.
Both of them were practitioners of one of the two sides of the Waterbird Fist respectively. The Negative Waterbird Fist and Positive Waterbird Fist could only become the Two-Faced Waterbird Fist when it was combined. Unlike the other similar branches, the techniques that these two men were practicing were the strongest among the Waterbird Fists and were also the practicing pathways with the greatest power.
Garen had once mentioned to just the two of them that although the strength of their Fist Techniques was extremely powerful, they would naturally lose a lot as well. Strength could only be obtained by paying prices that were unimaginable to normal humans. Therefore, only one person could survive between the users of the Negative and Positive Fist Techniques. The one who survived would be able to resume the fusion of the Fist Techniques and advance it to peak levels.
As for the extent of the peak level powers, even Garen himself was unaware of what that truly meant. Since this pathway was merely a road formed by a theory that he had deduced, the true powers that it could achieve were something that he himself as the advancer of the Waterbird Fist did not know either.
“This is truly a rare opportunity… Don’t you think so, Dahm?” Hochman adjusted his glasses and walked towards Dahm slowly. “Perfecting the Waterbird Fist is the final goal that you and I should be pursuing.”
“You won’t get away with this…” said Dahm furiously.
“Who knows?” Hochman spread both of his hands while a smile appeared on his face. “Actually, I’ve always been very thankful to Master for giving us a chance to improve. He was right. The results that one wishes to accomplish can only be achieved if an equivalent contribution is made. Just look at Quentin, Xander, and the others. They’re currently still at Middle levels and can never achieve Upper levels. Moreover, they are forced to struggle bitterly whenever they face just one Upper-level Blood Breed. Why is that?”
He paused before his smile widened.
“Because their contributions towards their martial arts were not great enough!”
Dahm could only grit his teeth in response.
Hochman glanced at him casually.
“The way of our Waterbird Fist of the Holy Fist Palace is also a holy path for Fist Techniques. In reality, although other people are unaware of this, should we just remain unaware as well? The supposed holy paths are actually just demonic paths. Aren’t we just practicing demonic techniques? How would we be able to progress so quickly otherwise?”
“The demonic technique adheres to the survival of the fittest as its main principle. Dahm…” his eyes turned fierce at once. “I’m stronger than you. Therefore, you’re only destined to be my stepping stone… These things were already predestined.”
“If you kill me, you won’t meet a happy ending! Besides that, don’t you want the mask?!” although Dahm already knew that it was impossible for him to escape by sheer luck, a final ray of hope flashed in his eyes.
“I’ll form the holy path after I kill you. As for the mask, it was naturally snatched by the Blood Breeds, or perhaps already destroyed.” Hochman smiled before a dull crashing noise could be heard below his feet as he charged towards Dahm like a rocket. His arm expanded suddenly and became thicker and darker as if it was completely shrouded in countless dark blue veins.
His ferocious Qi was moved by this punch as though all the air around him had been absorbed into his fist.
The entire forest darkened slightly when it was affected by the frantic flow of air.
“Go peacefully! I will take care of your household properly!”
Boom!!!