One by one, the others moved beyond the shield's range. Zhongli had intended to pursue them, but Kaecilius blocked his way.
"Your opponent is me."
Kaecilius pulled transparent, diamond-shaped spikes out of thin air and charged at the man before him with one in each hand.
The spikes in his hands whistled sharply through the air and slammed into Zhongli's shield.
Seeing that he still could not break the golden shield, Kaecilius resorted to foul-mouthed taunts. "What's the point of hiding all the time? Do you know what you look like? A turtle cowering in its shell."
These provocations did not stir Zhongli's emotions in the slightest. Over his long life, plenty of the gods he had fought during the Archon War had enjoyed running their mouths.
They could not defeat Morax, yet they always liked to get the better of him verbally.
Of course, those gods had ended up either sealed away or shattered by Morax's stone spears.
With the feeble taunts Kaecilius was throwing around, he was lucky that Zhongli had mellowed out these days. In the past, Morax would have smashed him to pieces with a single stone spear!
Still, even Zhongli could not tolerate a junior continually mouthing off at him. His handsome brows lowered, and his expression grew stern.
"What?"
Kaecilius noticed the change in the man. Believing his taunts had worked, he grew even more brazen.
"Am I wrong? You just called me cowardly and afraid of death, but aren't you acting even more cowardly than I am? You don't even dare face me in a real fight."
His words were vicious, laced with mockery.
As Zhongli listened, a trace of emotion finally entered his gaze as he looked at Kaecilius. It was not anger, however, but pity.
That look clearly infuriated Kaecilius.
He