He was about to laugh aloud when his field of vision suddenly began to tilt and split apart.
He saw his lower body, still in its running posture, charge another dozen meters under its immense momentum before collapsing to the ground with a thud.
His upper body, meanwhile... was slowly sliding off.
Warm, metallic-smelling liquid gushed from his waist and abdomen like a fountain.
Only a second later did the agony sweep through his remaining nerves.
"Aah-!"
He let out the last, brief scream of his life.
His gaze finally froze in the direction of the tavern.
Across several hundred meters, he could seemingly still see the calm profile of that man sheathing his sword.
Thud.
The two halves of his body hit the ground hard, blood and entrails spilling everywhere.
The pitch-black slash, after cutting through Od, continued onward without losing momentum, extending several more kilometers. Only after carving an enormous rift across the horizon that lingered for a long time did it slowly dissipate.
Along its path, dozens of pirates were cut in half at the waist. Even more were scared out of their wits by the apocalyptic sight and scattered in all directions, screaming for their parents.
Inside the tavern.
Gion clearly sensed Jackal Od's life force being wiped out completely in an instant.
She watched Lin Xuan slowly slide his long sword back into the scabbard at his waist.
Click.
With a soft sound, the sword guard settled perfectly against the mouth of the scabbard.
That terrifying presence vanished along with it, as though it had never appeared.
Lin Xuan once again became that languid young man with a hint of weariness in his eyes.
He turned, ignoring the mess on the floor and Sally, who had gone blank behind the bar, and walked straight up