Trial's Finale (3)

Now the only two living people in the Wright estate were Shui and Anders. Anders was now too weak to do anything, but he had stopped coughing blood and looked up at Shui with a sharp gaze.

"Can you at least tell me who sent you?"

"I came for my own reasons, for revenge for my mother."

"Is that so?"

"You know who I'm talking about?" Shui asked with raised eyebrow.

"I can't say I'm certain, but the women who've caught my eye are few. If I limit to those with children then the number becomes even smaller."

Shui wasn't surprised that Anders couldn't figure out who his mother was. In addition to his disguise he already knew that his mother wasn't the only one he had ruined. Shui questioned whether death would be a good enough punishment for someone like this, but his time for pondering was cut short.

"Don't you dare?!"

Several powerful auras were quickly approaching. Since the Wright family was rich, Shui expected them to have connections with several powerful forces which were now coming to help.

With his time quickly running out, Shui aimed at Anders and mentally drew 'Lightning'. The bolt left a tiny burnt hole through his head and then he fell to the ground, dead, just like his sons and his guards.

"You bastard!!"

Right after he put a hole in the old man's head, five people attacked him with spells. Two of these five people were in early Earth Realm. Shui blocked their spells with his barrier and 'Protect' visually examined them. It wouldn't be impossible to beat them, but if he wanted to defeat his other enemy then he couldn't waste anymore of his energy here.

"Time to start it up."

The entire town of Cyrus lit up like it was on fire, alerting everyone in the city.

"What is this?"

The mayor's words weren't particularly loud, yet they reached the ears of everyone in Cyrus. Shui trembled because of this voice but it didn't deter him. To power this array, Shui had scattered and hidden every beast core he had accumulated in Blue Mist Gorge across the city, but he didn't have anytime to waste. He began walking past the five who flew here without even looking at them. Noticing this movement, one of them tried to stop him, but then he realized that he wasn't capable of that. Many other cultivators also realized that their movements were restricted and the confusion they harboured changed into fear.

In the midst of frozen bodies with eyes showing clear terror, Shui strolled towards the martial academy. The mayor was the first to notice how odd this was and so he sent a message to him. A calm yet powerful voice reached Shui's ears.

"Is this your array?"

"Yes, but don't worry. I only want to kill one person. I won't bother the rest of the town as long as you don't interfere."

"And you think I'll allow you to be so bold?!"

His voice suddenly became so loud that it nearly burst Shui's eardrum but he didn't even flinch.

"Do you have a choice?"

"...You will pay for this."

This array took Shui an entire night to construct without alerting anyone, and if he focused all of its power on one person it could restrain even the mayor for a short moment.

Shui knew that he was being very rude to him, but to finish his revenge he didn't care about that. He had to put all of his focus into the next fight so he couldn't afford to be distracted by any other enemies.

When he reached in front of the martial academy, he sucked in as much air as possible and shouted.

"Rizer! Get the hell over here!!!"

After his shout, Shui changed back into his true form and waited for a powerful aura to wash over him. At first, this incoming aura was powered by anger, but then it changed into confusion and surprise by the time Rizer came into view.

"Yo-you're alive?"

"It-It's you."

Along with Rizer was also Matt, who was now in late Soul Realm. Most of the power of his array was on those in the early Earth Realm and wasn't targeting those above that level. For those in the Soul Realm, it was possible to free them if someone in the mid Earth Realm assisted, but since the power used to hold them would disperse to the rest this couldn't be done for everyone. While only the two of them came to meet him, there were two other persons in the martial academy who were watching.

'What trouble did Rizer provoke this time?'

The headmaster and the other deputy headmaster also wanted to meet Shui, who was likely the perpetrator of this incident, but the mayor stopped them. He told them Shui's cultivation and had them wait and watch. Although it was dubious whether or not Shui would stick to his word, they couldn't afford to aggravate him without the right opportunity. The mayor already had someone researching the array Shui laid, but they needed to buy time until they found out how to deactivate it.

Shui looked very young, but his abilities made them wonder if he was truly just a child. However, Rizer was sure.

'The boy escaped Blue Mist Gorge?! How?'

Rizer had his guard up high against Shui, but Matt hadn't understood the situation. He only noticed that something strange was happening and believed Shui was taking advantage of the incident to try something. He had heard that Shui was sent to Blue Mist Gorge, but he immediately assumed that he used some trick to escape or he fooled them into thinking that he had ever gone there in the first place. Although he had witnessed how much of a monster Shui was, he couldn't believe that he was powerful and talented enough to make it out of Blue Most Gorge in three years. After all, that was a place even he didn't dare enter.

"What are you here for? You should have died and met your friend in the underworld. Hahaha!"

With his master behind him, Matt openly provoked Shui, but he was just an ant in Shui's eyes. All he needed to do was restrict Matt with his array, and then absorb his essence through the connection that was formed. One moment he was fine, and then the next he was a dried corpse. This method of killing birthed shock before it birthed fear and anger in Rizer. The mayor, headmaster and the other deputy headmaster were also shocked by Shui's means. All of them quickly remembered the strange murders that occurred three years ago.

"Now that the nuisance is gone, shall we have a good chat?"

Even though there was no chance of them being friends, Shui said this line with an innocent smile which reminded Rizer of the fact his disciple had just been killed in front of him. His face rapidly contorted and while trembling in anger, he pointed at Shui.

"You you you-"

"What? Forget how to speak?"

"Youuu!!!"

An explosive heat burst from Rizer and spread to Shui, and would have burnt the immobile students in the academy if it wasn't for the headmaster activating the defensive array. Part of him hoped that the defensive array would block the effects of Shui's suppression array as well, but it had no effect.

Shui was able to easily resist the heat that came from Rizer with just his body once he used the power of Connection stage, unlike nearby glass windows which shattered. However, he knew that he couldn't beat Rizer with his current power since this wasn't even a spell. If he wanted to win, he had to use martial intent to enter the Still Heart state. It wasn't something he could do at will, but if he didn't he would die.

"I suppose it's all or nothing."