Chapter 344 Openly Outmaneuvered

“Even the Dark Guild too wants to invite Chu Xun to be their guest?!”

The same thought flashed through every single puzzled mind who was watching the live telecast from all across the world.

But everyone knew full well that Chu Xun being a guest was nothing than a lamb being led to the slaughter. Both the Holy Temple and the Dark Guild were competing for the chance to be the ones to earn fame by slaying the Devil.

Chu Xun’s name had always been of great renown and his recent exploits had only made him more famous. Up until this day, hardly anyone on the face of the Earth failed to hear his name.

And fame would come to those who manage to kill him.

“Master Karl,” the grin slowly faded from Claude’s face, “I’m afraid the Devil has agreed to come to the Holy Temple.”

Seeing his chance, Chu Xun remarked off-handedly, “Actually, I’m thinking I might enjoy it more by visiting the Dark Guild. Well, at least I don’t think they would treat their guests by shackling them.”

Chu Xun gave his heavy manacles a shake for good measure.

Karl beamed at that, revealing a neat row of white teeth. “Now, do you understand, Claude? The Devil is having second thoughts about visiting the Holy Temple as a guest.”

Claude turned to Chu Xun, putting up as best a smile he could muster, “Surely you know that this is the most amicable way the Holy Temple treats guests like you, Chu Xun. One can safely expect that the Dark Guild’s shackles would be worse than our meteorite manacles now dangling off you.”

Chu Xun threw an inquisitive look at Karl, “Really?”

Caught by surprise, Karl hastily replied, “Naturally, for guests as unique as you, we have unique ways of ensuring hospitality.”

Chu Xun gave a surly shake of his head, “I change my mind then.” He turned to Claude, “Let’s go. I think I’m better off visiting the Holy Temple.”

“Your intuition is failing you, Devil,” scoffed Jayce. “Do you think spurious folks like the Holy Temple will show you mercy?”

“Don’t they worship the Sun God?” gasped Chu Xun with feigned ignorance, “They should practice mercy and compassion, honesty and candor.”

Karl broke into roaring laughter. “Aren’t you a foolish one, Chu Xun,” he added derisively, “You’re nothing but a joke if you hope for such phony trash like them to show you compassion.”

“But they have been gentle and polite,” remarked Chu Xun doubtfully.

“Wolves in sheep clothing. That’s what they are. Surely you know better than to believe crocodile’s tears, you naive fool,” said Karl.

“Naive?!”

Hearing him being described using “naive” almost had everyone who knew him dropped their jaws with disbelief and shock and even their eyeballs were nearly popping out.

“The Devil of all people?! Naive?! He’s the most deceitful, most treacherous, most cunning, most shameless, and worst of all, the most duplicitous man out there!”

Most of all were the people who harbored grudges towards Chu Xun – the Broken Souls Cult among them – who were already stomping their foot while cursing what a bumbling fool Karl is.

With his smile all but faded, Claude decided to no longer show any courtesy to the Dark Guild presbyters. Coldly, he hissed, “The Devil is a captive of the Holy Temple. We will never surrender him to you. So you’d better perish those thoughts.”

Karl and Jayce drew closer menacingly and retorted with all pretense forgotten, “He destroyed our branch stronghold. That demands retribution from the Dark Guild.”

“As if the Holy Temple has not suffered any losses ourselves,” scoffed Claude, hardly budging an inch, “Our fortress was destroyed too.”

“I see only one way to settle this dispute then: combat,” said Jayce.

Chu Xun’s lips twisted into a devious grin. He did not even deign to hide his wicked smile and everyone from all of the world could see him.

“Is this all Chu Xun’s ruse?! To incite both parties to fight each other while he escapes?”

The ever-observant Claude immediately caught Chu Xun’s expression. “If escaping while we fight is what you’re concocting, I’m afraid it’s rather too feeble a plan,” said the Deputy Prelate suddenly.

“Heh heh heh,” Chu Xun giggled weakly. Stiffly, he muttered, “You’ve seen through it, eh?”

But wait a minute, thought the people who knew him. “This is the Devil we’re talking about! He’d never reveal his emotions so openly!”

“How funnily innocent you seem,” smirked Karl as well, “And you think we’d not notice?”

“All right,” Chu Xun shrugged, “Since you’ve seen through my plan, so deal with it yourselves. Am I to go to the Holy Temple or the Dark Guild?”

Instead of waiting for an answer, he trotted to a rock and sat down.

That left Claude, Karl, and everyone else stunned.

It took barely a split-second before they realized what happened! They had been openly outmaneuvered by him! Without even a single lie or trickery!

It was true; Chu Xun hardly employed any tricks for he did not even need to.

The Holy Temple and the Dark Guild, both symbols of demarcating polarities and born nemeses of each other with irreconcilable differences.

No trickery or deception was needed. All it took was a little maneuvering and both parties now had to pick their own poison.

But with the honor and reputation of the organizations they represent at stake, it was but a clear Hobson’s Choice – they could not back down from a fight.

Sitting comfortably on the rock, Chu Xun was rather enjoying the moment and it was all he could do to prevent chanting loudly, “Fight… Fight…”

No matter how reluctant they were, both Claude and Jayce and Karl knew full well that a fight was inevitable.

“Come on,” prodded Chu Xun, “I’m waiting! I’m anxious!”

“Waiting for what?!” Everyone watching the telecast was thinking, “Are you so anxious for your own death?!”

Claude’s eyes flashed dangerously. He stepped closer to his sworn enemies, trying to talk them down, “Gentlemen, this is a gambit he’s playing on us. We must...”

BOOM!

A bright-scarlet ray of light shot at Karl; its heat was so great that the air began to warp and boil.

Grunting angrily at the sudden attack, Karl quickly conjured a sheet of light that materialized before him.

Crack!

The red death ray penetrated through the sheet of light like a needle through cloth and struck Karl squarely, sending him careening away.

It was so quick, and no one expected that Claude, for all his politeness and manners before, would launch a sudden attack.

Karl was quick to defend himself, but Claude’s surprise attack came so suddenly and it hit him, his chest now a smoldering pulp of charred flesh.

“Holy Temple filth,” snarled Jayce.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Several dozen blades wrought of winds slashed furiously at Claude.

A strange, brilliant glow of red enveloped around Claude and he flung out an arm, firing several rays of scarlet light in response.

He pounced at Jayce, his entire self shining like a miniature sun as its fiery energy pulsed inside him before he fired a blast of it at the presbyter of the Dark Guild.

Jayce quickly conjured a shield of wind. But it was no use; the churning winds evaporated into nothingness before Claude’s fiery energies before the blast hit Jayce.

Howling, the hit blasted Jayce some distance away, leaving a trail of white fume from the wound on his chest with the acrid stench of burning flesh.

Grinning wickedly, Claude chased after his quarry. Only, out of nowhere, several scythes of wind came slashing at him, forcing him to duck sideways.

It was Jayce. He was weaker in powers than Claude, but he possessed the special ability of wind manipulation.

Then Karl, who had earlier suffered a blow from Claude, sprang to his feet and he charged, swinging his fists at Claude.

The wound on his chest was gone.

Chu Xun, along with everyone watching the live telecast, immediately understood. Karl’s ability allows him to self-regenerate any wounds, an ability immensely useful for a warrior.

Chu Xun watched with interest. How came these people with their special abilities? Were they born with such unique gifts or did they do something to acquire these abilities later?

Karl might look like a clumsy rhino, but his blows were furious and heavy, and with the gift of his self-generation, he attacked Claude using his brute force.

Jayce might be hurt, but still armed with his aerokinesis ability, he hurled more wind blades at Claude, sending them whistling dangerously through the air.

These blades of winds were so destructive that even they easily split the ground and pummel rocks into stones.

It turned out to be a difficult conundrum for Claude who was locked in a melee with Karl while maintaining constant vigilance for any of Jayce’s attacks.

“Jayce!” Chu Xun called suddenly.

He pointed at the ten or so acolytes of the Holy Temple that came with Claude.

Jayce’s eyes flashed with comprehension and he conjured more wind blades and sent them hurtling towards the acolytes.

“ARGGGHH!”

Unlike Claude, the acolytes were lesser warriors who became true lambs for slaughter before Jayce’s unique ability.

In just moments, three men died being reduced to minced meat.

Claude spun around with shock when he heard the cries. Seeing the deaths of his men filled him with more rage and his powers rose with greater intensity and the air began sizzling.

Bang! Bang!

Yet Karl was holding up on his own. Despite his weaker offensive capabilities, his unique self-regeneration gave him the edge he needed to continue fighting as any part injured would quickly heal.

“Filthy trash of the Holy Temple, you’re gonna die,” hissed Karl, his eyes red with rancor and grudge for Claude’s earlier deceit.

Jayce carried on flinging more wind blades at Claude while sending more to attack what remained of the Holy Temple’s retinue.

“ARRRGHHH!” more acolytes died horribly.

Swish!

Blood sprayed everywhere when one of the wind blades lopped off the head of an acolyte and the head tumbled to the ground helplessly.

Slosh! Slosh!

Blood sprayed uncontrollably like a geyser. Being able to slice and destroy even the hardest of rocks, there was no doubt as to what the wind blades could do to humans.

One after another, the acolytes of the Holy Temple died being slaughtered. Some fell with their limbs maimed, some died being quartered at the waist, but most perished by beheading, and everywhere on the floor, blood and dismembered limbs lay strewn and scattered with morbid repugnance.

In mere moments, none of the acolytes that made up Claude’s retinue survived, with not even a proper corpse remaining.

“You foul creatures! How dare you slay the citizens of the Sun God! You’ll pay by suffering immolation that will last for thousands of years for this atrocity!”

At the great hall of the Holy Temple headquarters, everyone there was watching the live broadcast too.

“I’ll destroy you lot, Dark Guild!” snarled the High Prelate, “I swear I’ll destroy you all!”

“Holy Temple my eye,” said a comment left by someone from the Dark Guild during the telecast, “They’re nothing more than a bunch of phony crooks. Mark my words: the day will come when the great hall of the Holy Temple is turned into a pigsty.”

Meanwhile, Claude’s battle against Jayce and Karl was reaching its climax.

Bang!

Karl was sent flying into the air by Claude, spewing a trail of blood from his mouth.

But Claude looked nowhere near winning himself; the Deputy Prelate looked no more the part, with his robes in tattered and blood-soaked and he had nearly died when one of Jayce’s wind blades nearly struck his heart.

At the same time, Chu Xun noticed something: Karl’s self-regeneration ability seemed to be faltering. While it had taken him only a split-second to heal, his wounds now require more time to fully recover.

Even Jayce’s wind blades were beginning to look as slow as a gentle breeze and he looked so pale and exhausted that he could barely conjure any more now.

“Despicable scum, die!”

With golden hair streaming in the wind like a roaring lion’s mane, Claude summoned his powers and fired a blast of energy as searing as the heat of the Sun at the group of acolytes from the Dark Guild in retaliation.

That single attack killed more than half the men Karl and Jayce brought with them.

Using this chance, Jayce furiously brought down another blade of wind down on Claude’s unprotected back, slicing mercilessly through his flesh with blood spurting like a broken dam. Claude leaped sideways, but on his back was a long, horrible gash.

So pale that he looked as if he was going to die, Jayce tried to conjure another wind blade only for his magic to fizzle out like dying embers.

Chu Xun recognized what he saw: overexertion. The use of special abilities is not without limits and it takes a heavy toll on one’s physical strength.

Karl managed to clamber to his feet, this time with his wounds fully healed. With his steps still wobbling, he charged at where Claude collapsed.

If not for his dark complexion, he would have been as pale as Jayce.

Karl lunged at Claude, swinging a fist at his head while roaring, “DIE!”

Swish!

Karl’s fist halted before it made contact as his eyes traveled down, shaking with disbelief, and stared at a dark-red dagger protruding from his chest. Then he crumbled lifelessly to the ground, his head hanging limply from his shoulders.

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