Cultivation Through Artifacts

"Die."

As that single word sounded in the silent surroundings, Khal's whole being froze up. Just now, everything happened so fast that even though he readied himself for the attack it was only in vain; Moras's speed simply exceeded all of his expectations!

"What should I do? This speed is twice as fast as Angor's!" Khal's brain was functioning on 120% capacity trying to figure out a solution to escape, but even with his Heaven's Eyes, the approaching palm was insanely fast.

It was so fast that the air around it trembled, twisted, and turned clear to the bare sight!

In any normal way, Khal's current situation definitely meant certain death, but for some reason, he felt that there was a solution to escape death's clutch.

"Think! Think! Just what can I do? I don't have the speed to dodge nor to defend in time. Then what?" as Khal thought about this, suddenly his eyes widened and brightened up the next second, like he had been just enlightened.

"That's right! I don't have the speed, but I have something else that has!" exclaimed Khal and turned his fan upward while channeling a tiny portion of his Essence into it.

Moras who expressed ecstasy as he imagined Khal's death the very moment he touched his neck, unexpectedly felt a sudden pain in his hand, causing him to miss his target only by a hairbreadth.

"What?" Moras revealed surprise by the sudden change of events and looked at his bleeding wrist with a dazed expression.

"Opportunity!" shouted Khal inwardly as he noticed Moras's startled complexion; in a flash turned around and swung his fan toward his neck.

*Swish!*

"!?"

Yet, the title of Fourth Stage Cultivator wasn't given for Moras for fun; both his momentum and reaction speed were way superior than Khal's. Instantaneously he bent himself backward while at the same time kicked toward Khal with his left leg with a speed so fast that it was only a blur.

"BAM!*

Khal saw the whip-like kick coming at him but his reaction speed was still slow; he was blasted away like a football and crashed onto a huge boulder in the distance, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere.

"Hmm... Interesting." hummed slightly Moras as he watched the small hole on his arm, "So your weapon not only could create huge blasts but also can fire small Essence projectiles as fast as bullets. It only depends on how much of your Essence is channeled into it... Haha! It seems today is truly my day! If I kill you not only will I obtain a Beast Core and get to kill you, but that weapon will be mine too!!"

As Moras laughed wildly like a lunatic the dust finally dissipated revealing a smashed stone in the distance but without any sign of Khal's figure.

"Oh? Trying to escape?" asked Moras as he squinted his eyes and a cold glint flashed in them gently.

-

-

-

"That was close... Way too close!" thought Khal calmly as he run toward the peak of the mountain with his fastest speed.

The moment Moras kicked him and realized he will be blasted into the boulder he used his fan's power at the very last time to create a smokescreen that would hide his figure, letting him escape toward the peak hidden.

Although he could have chosen to run toward Moon City he chose to escape toward the peak. Choosing the former one would have been only a foolish choice; between Moon City and Moon Mountain the path was only a meadow without any places or spots that would help him in his escape. He would have been fully exposed to any kind of attacks from Moras there so his death would be certain there.

But here on the mountain, where hundreds of trees and boulders with numerous places to use to his advantage, Khal could at least win a bit of time thinking of a way to survive.

Khal ran among the trees here and there without stopping while using his Heaven's Eyes to survey his proximity with great caution. Remembering how unexpectedly and fast did Moras appear behind him, Khal knew that if Moras gets close to him once again there won't be a second chance to escape. If he gets caught, that was the end for him for sure.

"Taking into account how he tried to grab me, it seems his Talent is specialized in close combat so I need to act carefully when be tries to attack me?l. With his speed, power, and momentum, he is greater in every aspect than me because of his Cultivation Stage. What should I do then?"

As Khal ran and turned toward the east after a huge stone, suddenly he stopped and looked at the sight before him.

"A dead end?" Khal watched the huge mountain wall before him that went hundreds of meters up and wanted to turn around, but it was too late.

"It was a nice try I won't lie. But unfortunately, this is where our little tag game should end."

"..."

Turning around slowly, Khal looked at Moras in silence, with not a single emotion present on his face.

Right now, he was trapped. There was not a single route for him he could choose from to escape. Even if he tried to climb up, he would die while if he chose to run either left or right, Moras would kill him in a single second without giving him the chance to use his trick once again. So the only solution that he could do, which in fact was the riskiest but at the same time had the greatest chance for him to survive, was to force himself through and head straight at Moras.

"Let's give it a try. If I use my Heaven's Eyes and my fan properly at the right time, I can create a chance for myself. If not... Well, I will be dead anyway."

In an instant, Khal's eyes shone with the fire of determination, while the fan in his hand started to glow with a gentle silver light.

"Oh no! How scary!" flinched Moras slightly by Khal's piercing glare, then the very next second grinned like a maniac and laughed, "No matter what you will try, once I touch either you or your weapon, you will be a dead man!"

"What should that mean?" asked Khal calmly, but deep inside he started to think for solutions. Right now, even a single second more could help him come up with a greater plan than his current one so this chit-chat was the perfect chance for him in this situation.

"What should that mean?" chuckled Moras lightly and picked up a small pebble from the ground.

"What should that mean?" as he asked that tiny symbols with a black luminance manifested on the rock's surface giving Khal a chilling sensation.

"Just watch!" Moras smiled and threw the pebble away and the moment it crashed into the tree in the distance...

*BOOM!*

Like detonating a bomb, the whole tree was blown away and turned into ash while only a 3 meters deep crater remained in its place.

"!"

Khal saw this and could only breathe in a mouthful of cold air. It turned out Moras's Talent was way more dangerous than he first believed it would be!

"Surprised?" grinned heavily Moras as glanced at Khal, "My Talent lets me put explosion marks on anything I want, and once I activate it..."

Moras just pulled his thumb before his neck, showing Khal that it meant the end.

"But naturally it only works against enemies that are on the same or below my Stage. Once I try to use it against someone who is above me in power, my Talent's efficiency decreases a lot."

As Moras said that Khal's eyes widened in surprise and instantly thought back to the moment he was in Shadow Woods. At that time Moras extended his arms to help him get up where the gesture looked harmless, but now it won a completely different meaning; if he decided to accept his offer he would have been marked and be a living bomb ready to be detonated.

"..."

Just the thought alone as his body exploded without him knowing why made all the hair on Khal's body to stand up.

"This is definitely not good news." thought Khal as he realized the weight of this.

"But don't worry about this too much. At least, your death will be fast and painless." as Moras said he took a step forward, but the next second frowned and raised his head toward the sky.

"What is that?"

Khal first didn't want to raise his head in fear it was a trick, but seeing the troubled complexion of Moras without any sign of acting he raised his head too.

And instantly as he did, what he could only see was a crimson dot descending from the sky and in a flash, flew by before Moras's head and vanished into the distance.

"What happened just now?" asked Khal with confusion, but what he heard the next moment was something he wouldn't have thought; Moras's body fell onto the ground heavily and started to struggle like he couldn't breathe.

"Eh?"