19. Pierce

Kiel was silent as he looked down on the dead body near his feet. He looked at the sword of the corpse near him and then at the remaining four men who remained stupefied by both the death of their ally and the inexplicable pressure Mortal.

Everyone was looking at Kiel like he was some kind of deranged man. His words did not make sense, but every word coming out of him made his overwhelming presence even overwhelming.

'Who the hell is he? We were not told of this, a Martial Master overwhelming a Peak 9th Stage True Spirit Realm cultivator like myself in terms of pressure?' the leader was sure that Kiel was not overwhelming them through sheer power, but through a mix of bloodlust, killing intent, and presence.

"I am going to vent this foreign emotion now… try to keep my mind occupied."

All of them trembled when they entered Kiel's eyes. A cold yet scorching gaze made them. Kiel moved his right left and kicked the sword nearby towards one of his enemies.

Kiel's aim was the head, and as the assassin registered what was happened and used his weapon to deflect the sneak attack, his line of sight was momentarily limited by his sword, hand, and arm.

The man's arms finally passed, and as the sound of his blade and their target's sneak attack was registered in his ears, and then he heard his companion's frantic shout, "Mo-move!"

His vision was recovered as his arms passed the field, and what he saw was a pair of an abyssal, unfeeling void from Kiel's eyes… he trembled from fright, but he was lucky for "spear" in Kiel's hands pierced without restraints.

Without shouting any fancy names or even using any Martial Techniques, Kiel called upon the 5th level Mastery of the spear, [Dominion], and pulled his enemy to his range.

Sharp and unrestrained Spear Energy manifested around the stick, and what used to be a meter and a half stick became a 10-foot long spear.

"Please… no." the man said under the covering he had over his mouth.

"Pierce…" Kiel whispered and an invisible pierced his enemy's head. Another life had been taken.

Unfortunately for Kiel, however, with this death, the other three had already regained themselves.

Their body began to shine as they summoned their Soul-Beasts out of their bodies. There were three enemies left; Kiel registered their Soul Beasts in his mind, 'A Southern Gale Elk, a Lunar Beast, and an Abyssal Black Bat. If I am of the same level as them, I can draw this out and hunt them one by one after separating them. But I have limited Spirit Energy, I need to make this quick.'

When Kiel saw these beasts, he did what he had done before and kicked the sword near his feet towards his enemies. Kiel's target this time around would be the one in the middle.

"Do you think we'll fall for that again?" the man in the middle deflected the sword flying towards him with his sword. But as he did so, he had already gathered energy in the middle of his palms to attack.

He waited and waited, but even as he regained his complete vision, he saw Kiel in the same place he stood. The other three were confused as they thought he would attack.

'Does he have something up his sleeves?' despite their strength advantage, they were acting carefully. The bastard before them was abnormal who just killed people of their levels without receiving so much as damage.

Kiel began to move, but instead of engaging them in fast combat, he started walking. The actions he just did despite not using much Spirit Energy caused him around twenty percent… Kiel was resting while using their own reluctance.

Seconds passed, and when no one moved, the one with the Abyssal Black Bat tried testing the waters with a palm technique.

A brass-colored palm attack flew out towards Kiel.

Seeing this made Kiel stab the earth. He drew out his strength and then uplifted a chunk of the ground on the palm strike!

BOOM!

An explosion quickly followed; a dust storm appeared as the chunk of the earth was blown away. The three men's vision was impaired from the smoke. The man with the Lunar Beast then saw a figure quickly cutting through the smokescreen, and almost immediately, he used his collected Spirit Energy and sent out a palm strike.

"DIE!"

BAM!

It was a direct hit, and to ensure Kiel's death, he used his sword to the body in two pieces. Blood splattered about, and he could clearly feel flesh being cut. However, as the body he cleaved got nearer, what he saw was a headless corpse with the same black robes as his — it was the same person that had just died.

A voice next to him reached him, "Pierce…" another life was lost. The one with the Lunar Beast had been slain.

He managed to let out a scream before dying, and this gave the people in the smokescreen feel more dread and began panicking. The Abyssal Black Bat's screech was a fact of this as it's the cultivator who let it opened fire with its Mystical Ability.

A Soul-Beast had one skill that it could retain after its death; it was called Mystical Ability.

The Abyssal Black Bat's Mystical Ability was called the [Night Screech]. It was a sound attack that affects every cultivator who hears it!

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

When Kiel heard this, he quickly decided to hold the stick in his mouth and then used both his middle fingers to destroy his ears… he was no longer affected.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" he roared out to taunt Kiel!

"Argo! STOP IT!" his companion that was caught in the sound attack, shouted, but the one called Argo failed to respond.

It could usually be controlled who it will affect, but with an impaired vision and a clouded mind from fear, he decided to let the sound rampage!

Argo didn't know what was happening. He couldn't comprehend why someone as weak as Kiel could kill them. It didn't make sense, and as he remembered the horrendous deaths, the more he grew afraid.

He didn't want to die, not here, not like this. But soon enough, a figure appeared from behind him with bleeding ears, "Pierce…" Argo froze from fright, and the moment the words came out of Kiel's mouth, chest already had a hole in it.

Kiel grabbed the neck of the dying Argo. There was still light lingering in his eyes, and as he looked deep into Kiel's deadpan eyes, what he received before death was... fear.

As Kiel looked straight into Argo's eyes, he broke it to ensure he would not survive. He had seen people without a heart survive. It would be best to be thorough. He watched as the light finally disappeared to confirm his death.

As Kiel held onto Argo's dead body, the smokescreen he had created was blown away by a gust of wind.

The one with the Southern Gale Elk remained. He looked around and saw his companions all lying on the ground, dead. And when he looked right ahead, what he saw was Kiel, holding onto Argo's broken neck.

He had just received damage from Argo's indiscriminate attack, and seeing his companions die without being able to do anything made him realize, 'This person is a demon.'

Kiel threw Argo away and began walking towards the man with the Southern Ragin Elk. His steps were slow and steady. It was as if Kiel was taking an ordinary stroll. It had nothing special.

But the man whose strength was leagues above Kiel in terms of cultivation saw this as menacing. His knees finally buckled as despair settled in. He was defeated by Kiel's very presence.

Kiel stopped before him, and then, the man with the Southern Gale Elk looked at this man in the eyes and begged, "Please… let me live." His spirit was broken to bits.

Kiel read his lips and decided to answer…

"Tell me who sent you…"

"A man named Hasa."

"Who is he?"

"The current head of Kingson Family — Van Kingson."

Kiel remained silent for some time. But as he regained himself and lowered his sight, he and the man met eyes once more.

"Pierce…" Kiel killed him soon after.

Kiel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'Van Kingson.' he repeated inside his head.

When he opened them again, a light appeared… he now knew who he would kill.