Disposition of King
[The effect of your Title,
[Your mind becomes filled with the blessings of '???'! ]
[All unnecessary subsets have been banished!]
The system chimed. But of course, Ying couldn't hear it.
'W-what the system?!'
If miracles really existed, then this most certainly one. Ying's mind, which was as foggy as the peaks of a clouded mountain just a second ago, had suddenly become as clear and as serene as the still seas themselves!
The pain, which had overwhelmed him not too long ago, had completely disappeared. Alongside every other mental manifestation, which had plagued him endlessly...
...Pain.
Panic,
Fear,
Worry.
Even haughty emotions like excitement and elation were vanishing without a trace. It was a change Ying welcomed—as such emotions could not help him right now.
Right now, he needed the mindset of a war veteran, and he reckoned that such people did not harbour such frivolous thoughts. At least, not in battle.
'I see…'
It had only taken an instant, but Ying had suddenly become like a machine. Cold and efficient. The movements of his opponents even coming across much clearer. With nothing but a simple command, he was inputting information, deciphering, processing, and dispelling irrelevancies at lightning speed.
Normally, he would have wanted nothing more than to simply revel in his newfound clarity. But his emotions were currently locked away in a mental prison.
All that was left was to act accordingly.
After all, a good idea backed with poor action..... or a lack of thereof, could never lead to true efficiency.
Generally speaking, in a fully immersive game such as this, the title's effect was a bona fide cheat. But it didn't mean he could skimp out on doing his own work.
'That, I can do...'
Whoosh!
Ying's body soared through the space with inhuman speed. His brain simply disregarding the protests of his battered body, and in the blink of an eye, his figure was already looming over Captain's.
Captain, befuddled with pain and at the end of his tether, failed to regain his cool in time. Consequentially become a sitting duck. Rising Feather cut the air and drew a powerful arc of crimson across Captain's wide-opened back.
Ying used a skill.
Great Tidal Sword Slash: Tidal Sword Strike.
'Uack!!'
Captain spat out blood, stumbling to the floor on his arse. The attack had been so brutally precise—powerful—that dodging or blocking was not an option. And as it would seem, neither was taking the attack head-on...
Perhaps a concise counterattack would have mitigated the damage?
Nah, the results would still have been the same….. more or less.
Thud!
Captain's body slumped to the floor. He had finally run out of strength, it seemed. His frame was covered in cuts, wounds, and blood. And by now, the poison had already started causing every opening in his face to bleed profusely.
Now he knew it, there was nothing he could do. It was his loss
'C-cough—cough!.... Damn.'
He tried. He really did. In fact, compared to his companions, he was undoubtedly the best performer. One had fallen to a mere sneak attack, while the other was already on death's door from merely the sheer potency of the poison.
Perhaps, if he had made some adequate preparations of some sort—like, say, he had worn a damned mask— maybe?
No.
The herb was capable of penetrating even the tiniest skin pore. He was doomed the moment he became exposed to it! Furthermore, there was really no point in regretting anything right now. It's not like he could turn back time.....
..... He wasn't like the great hermit of the Spring Turtle Sect, after all.
And besides, even if he did possess such heavenly power, he sincerely doubted that the… the malefic beast before him would let him off so easily.
'W-what a monster….'
And so, Captain closed his eyes, giving Ying the greatest compliment which a Daoist give another after such a perilous battle. Soon afterwards, a cold blade would pierce his chest, sending him into the embrace of everlasting silence.
"Haaa…"
Ying let out a raspy breath as his eyes lingered on Captain, in search for even the slightest hint of residual life. When he was satisfied, he sighed again, then turned his attention towards the other female.
She was in terrible shape.
Her bloodshot eyes looked utterly torturous, with blood ceaselessly flowing from her facial officesl. Her body had long since lost the strength and mental bearing, to keep herself upright, leaving her sprawled on the ground in an awkward position.
Only the occasional spasms of pain betrayed that she was still amongst the living, albeit barely.
Tap. Tap. Tap
Ying walked in her direction.
His pace was slow due to caution. After all, he couldn't afford to make a foolish mistake THIS late into the game. But it would seem that the female mercenary..…'mistook' the calm and low steps for something else.
To her, it was like a taunt.
As if the black-haired devil was mocking her, and with her own death nonetheless!
Each time the sound resounded across the spacious chamber, a nightmare—each more frightening than the last—would conjure itself inside her mind. Her heart would clench up, and her already fatigued breathing would get even worse!
Like a haughty grim reaper, Ying walked. Steadily and rhythmically. His twin blades left a grotesque trail of blood in his wake....
She knew the fate that awaited her. There was no helping it now, now that even Captain had fallen to his sharp edges. But still, she could not bring herself to beg for mercy in the face of the one who had killed her comrades.
They were people she had trained with, from a very young age. They were her friends, and the one who killed them...… was now standing right before her. But what could she do about it?
Absolutely nothing.
'Ugh...'
Stressing her muscles, she somehow managed to raise her head. And then her gaze fell upon the one who would soon murder her. She stared into his black pupils, which now seemed infinitely deeper than it had been just mere minutes ago.
She became fraught with fear.
What was she afraid of, I wonder?
Death?
Unlikely! After all, she had been specifically trained to spit in the face of human mortality.
Ying contemplated as his gaze fell upon the figure of a shivering maiden in the soft darkness of the night. Her auburn hair and eyes were already dyed, and dripping vermilion....
Ying had no way of knowing this, but ever since the awakening of his Titles' effects, and the materialization of the blessing from the being known as '???', his entire presence had changed completely.
He had somehow obtained this, this indescribable….. profoundness.
His gaze had become deeper. His every movement was filled with the regale of a lofty ruler. His poise carried a transcendental uniqueness, that would enrapture all whose gaze fell upon his noble being. He had the disposition of a king.
A king....
A hero who would bring respite to his vassals, and peace to his subjects. A perfect entity, representing respect and power.
...Nah.
That didn't sound like Ying at all.
The epithet of king was far too corny for his tastes. And besides, there were more than a single path to Hegemony.
At that moment, something came over him. Something he could have never expected to happen even if he somehow managed to achieve a thousand years of life. It felt like his mouth gained sentience, as it moved on his own, he said:
"Any last words?"
"…?!"
'….!!'
'…..?!!'
'W-what the hell?!!' Ying forced a thought, his face scrunched in distraught, 'Which pompous douche chronicle did that leak out from, ugh,'
Perhaps it was due to a momentary lapse in self-control, or maybe it was the side effect of his title?
Ying couldn't quite tell what in the blue blazes just happened there. But his immediate reaction was to deactivate whatever had granted him such Clarity. Only then, could he finally manage the thought.
His moment of respite did not last very long, though as all the mental stress he had incurred from the fight fell upon him all at once like an anvil, causing his knees to buckle.
Thud!
'Ouch!' Ying thought holding back the urge to caress his arse, 'I mustn't do it... There's a girl in here!!'
...Speaking of girls he had a date with one particularly despicable one about right now. But first, he had to deal with this mercenary who also, coincidentally, turned out to be a girl too.
"Cough, Cough!"
The girl coughed up her life's essence as she lowered her bloodshot eyes and grit her teeth. Perhaps she would have looked impressive if the fearful chattering of her dentition wasn't echoing across the very room.
'Damn, I have to finish what I started, I really do… but my body isn't listening to me anymore. Damnit, move!' Ying struggled to grasp his sword and move his tired muscles. His efforts seemed to be paying off, though, just a little more and this'll all be over.
He managed to grab the hilt of his blade, and practically logged himself into striking position. It was then…
…It was then, then t,hat the soft voice of the brown-haired maiden washed into his ears and plunged all of his efforts into the pit of pointlessness.
"...mercy."
All she said was one word, just a single word. Her voice radiated a tremendous pain and tiredness that somehow appealed to Ying.
Right, it was her words that appealed to him. Definitel,y not the fact that it was a perfectly endowed beauty asking for his help!
After all, if he hadn't lucked out on his physique, then he would have been in the exact same position right now. Probably worse, and she had simply been following orders too.
It was his conscience that was talking right now, definitely not his hormones…
'Dang it, Vin, she tried to kill you for crying out loud.' He persuaded, 'Don't you remember what happened between that bat-themed superhero and the cat lady? Dangerous romance is nothing but trouble! In fact, what's to stop her from killing you the moment you step out of this room eh?'
Ying was locked in an internal debate.
It was a heated battle between his conscience and his hormo-kuhum… err, his conscience. Just his conscience. Nothing more!
After a long, awkward silence, Ying finally came to a decision. He stupidly scratched his head, then spoke.
"I…"