"Hmm?"
Karo raised an eyebrow and turned around, only to see the bright blade stained with residual blood pass through the flames lingering in the night and reach his neck.
In the brief moment when he had swung the Chain Hammer, He Ao had slipped past it and arrived at his side.
"Not bad footwork."
He instantly twisted aside and retreated. As he evaded He Ao's blade, he gave a fierce pull, and the golden Chain Hammer suddenly whipped back toward He Ao's back.
At that same moment, He Ao's strike missed, and his figure flickered before abruptly appearing to the side.
The returning Chain Hammer passed through the afterimage he had left behind and smashed toward Karo's face.
Bang--
Karo reached out and caught the hammer's handle. Grinning, he looked at He Ao with interest.
"Your strength far exceeds that of an ordinary Rank C. It lets you wield such power even while poisoned. What is it? Some Rank B Transcendent Item that even your Federal Bureau of Investigation colleagues don't know about?"
He paused. "Or perhaps some 'Blessing of Order'? Or the blessing of some god?"
He lightly swung the Chain Hammer, watching He Ao gradually pull away and stop before the cliff wall. His grin widened. "Honestly, I hope it's a Blessing of Order. If those well-dressed bastards got their own god's chosen killed, their expressions would surely be entertaining. What a pity."
He sighed softly.
At that instant, He Ao's figure flickered again and appeared on the other side.
Boom--
The cliff wall where he had just been standing was shattered by the massive Chain Hammer, spraying dust and broken stones everywhere.
If his reaction had been even a little slower, he would have been reduced to a pile of flesh.
Everything Karo had said had