"Braham! Damn it, Priest Luo Chen, if you have a problem with us, come at me! Don't hurt my comrades."
Wyper watched as another of his companions was struck down by Luo Chen and shouted in anger.
The blood-red light faded, revealing Braham. He was covered in blood and surrounded by a blood-colored aura, with a sunken palm print on his chest. He spat out a mouthful of red blood mixed with a little black, then collapsed, exhausted and powerless. He lay motionless, his fate unknown.
"Haha, don't rush. It'll be your turn soon, Wyper. Before that, I'll deal with the others!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Chen vanished again, then appeared before another warrior and struck. Another warrior fell.
"Six!"
"Seven!"
"Eight!"
As Luo Chen's voice rang out again and again like a summons to death, the Shandia warriors kept falling. Now, only a few remained.
"Damn it, I told you to stop! Didn't you hear me?"
Wyper was on the verge of breaking down. He furiously aimed his cannon at wherever Luo Chen appeared and fired wildly, but Luo Chen was far too fast after using his ability. His attacks couldn't even touch a hair on Luo Chen's head. Instead, it was his companions who got hurt.
The Shandia warriors had not been seriously injured by Luo Chen's attacks, but their wounds grew worse under their comrade Wyper's bombardment. One by one, they fell, smoke rising from their bodies and their eyes rolling white.
Kamakiri, hiding in the trees, saw that Luo Chen had enraged Wyper to the point of losing his senses. Wyper was firing wildly at the enemy, but it was their own people getting hurt. Kamakiri could no longer stand by and came out to stop him.
"Wyper, stop! He's just trying to provoke you. Stop!"
Kamakiri ran toward Wyper, shouting at him.
"I didn't expect you to come rushing out so soon, Kamakiri. Then I'll deal with you first!"
Luo Chen had just appeared before a warrior and was about to strike when he saw Kamakiri run out. He vanished from the warrior's sight with a whoosh and appeared before Kamakiri in the blink of an eye, speaking to him calmly.
"Bang!"
Back where Luo Chen had been, the warrior had been startled by his sudden appearance and raised his weapon at him. Once Luo Chen vanished, the warrior could no longer hold himself up and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"So, what's your choice? Will you fight to the death like your companions, or give up resisting and surrender?"
Luo Chen asked Kamakiri the same question he had asked at the start.
"You've got to be kidding! How could a Shandia warrior possibly surrender?"
Kamakiri swung his burning sword at Luo Chen.
A great tree was cut down, its trunk falling straight to the ground and startling countless birds into flight.
A boulder was also sliced in half with a rumble, but Luo Chen remained unharmed. He flashed to Kamakiri's side.
"What..." Kamakiri was shocked. He hadn't seen how Luo Chen had reached his side at all.
"Blood Energy: Reverse Flow!"
Before Kamakiri could react, Luo Chen pressed his right hand against his back. A vast surge of blood energy poured from his hand into Kamakiri's body, churning ceaselessly within him.
"Pfft!"
The blood energy rampaging through Kamakiri made him spit out a mouthful of blood. His body was gravely injured, and he sank weakly to one knee, his burning sword falling to the ground.
"Kamakiri!"
Seeing another companion fall, Wyper shouted in concern.
"No need to rush. It's your turn now, Wyper. Hmm..."
Luo Chen turned and prepared to walk toward Wyper, but suddenly he found himself unable to move. Kamakiri had suddenly locked his body around him, impeding his movements.
"Do it now, Wyper! I've got him locked down! Hurry!"
Kamakiri shouted at Wyper, holding Luo Chen firmly with his body, heedless of the damage the churning blood energy was doing to him.
"Kamakiri, you... I understand."
Wyper hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the determination in his companion's eyes, he agreed and rushed toward Luo Chen at full speed on his jet boots.
"We'll help too! Hurry, Wyper! Don't worry about us. Do everything you can to take him down and avenge our comrades!"
The warriors nearby saw what Kamakiri had done and made the same decision. They cast aside their weapons and used their bodies to hold Luo Chen in place.
"You..."
"Hurry! We can't hold on much longer!"
Amid everyone's shouts, Wyper finally reached Luo Chen and resolutely pressed his right hand against him.
"Die, Priest... Luo Chen! Reject!"
"I miscalculated, but I won't be taken down by you so easily. I'm the man who will stand at the pinnacle of piracy!"
Facing the blow that would decide his life or death, Luo Chen also cast everything aside and gathered all his abilities around himself to protect his internal organs.
"Boom!!!"
"Pfft!"
A tremendous explosion rang out. Forced to take the devastating blow with his body, Luo Chen spat out blood-red blood.
The Shandia people holding him in place were also struck by the shockwaves that spread from the attack. All of them spat blood as they were thrown back and fell to the ground.
Luo Chen's consciousness grew hazy, and his body swayed uncontrollably. In the end, he too fell weakly to the ground.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Are you... all right?"
Wyper clutched his right shoulder with his left hand, drawing ragged breaths as he asked his companions with a pained expression. Clearly, that last attack had not been easy on him either. His entire shoulder had nearly been torn apart, and he was only holding back from crying out through sheer force of will.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Several surviving warriors also hurried over and helped their companions up. They looked at Wyper with concern, as if asking how he felt.
"I'm... fine. Bring them back. We should... leave this place too."
Looking at the few warriors left, Wyper made a difficult decision. He decided to abandon the operation and return to the Shandia village.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
The sounds of wavers approaching rang out. Laki came with several Shandia warriors who were worried about them, calling out to them from a distance.
"Wyper, are you all right?"
As she spoke, Laki and the others reached Wyper's side and looked at them anxiously.
"What happened? How did you get so badly hurt? Who did this?"
Laki supported Wyper's swaying body and asked urgently.
"I'm fine. The enemy's been dealt with. Go check on the others first."
Panting, Wyper gave them the order in a rapid voice.
"All right, I understand. But are you really all right?"
"Enough, hurry and help the others. You don't need to worry about me."
Wyper waved his hand and spoke to her impatiently.
"All right, I'll go..."
Laki gave him a concerned look, then turned to check on the others' condition.
Just as they finished checking everyone's condition and helped them up, preparing to leave, Luo Chen finally regained consciousness. He slowly got to his feet and spoke to them.
"Wait. If I let you leave like this, how could I show my face again?"
"Damn it, how can he still get up after taking my Reject?"
Leaning against one of the warriors, Wyper turned his head and spoke in disbelief.
"Click! Click!"
Hearing his voice, the warriors immediately drew their weapons and pointed them at him, on high alert.
"Wyper, what's going on? Who is he?"
Laki, standing beside Wyper, pointed her gun at Luo Chen and asked.
"Cough, cough! He's the enemy we just ran into, one of Enel's priests. His name is Luo Chen."
Wyper coughed up two mouthfuls of blood and explained to her.
"You go first. I'll hold him off. Otherwise, none of us will get out of here."
After a moment's thought, Wyper spoke resolutely. He was determined to hold Luo Chen off so the others could escape, making amends for the consequences of his recklessness.
"No, you're badly hurt. You have to leave with us. I'll stop him instead. You go first. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Laki handed the warrior she was supporting over to the others, drew her gun, and rejected Wyper's proposal.
"No. This is a sin I committed alone, and I should be the one to atone for it. Hurry and go."
Wyper also rejected Laki's proposal, wanting to face Luo Chen alone to atone for his sin.