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“The king…
of a Gillian?” Erolot stared in disbelief at the High Hollow who had just arrived before him, unable to help but doubt the outrageous claim.
If the Hollow standing before him were an Adjuchas, Erolot wouldn’t have had a shred of doubt, he would have turned and fled without a second thought.
Against an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, he had no means of resistance whatsoever.
One Soul Absorption, and if his Reiatsu wasn’t strong enough, he could be pulled in and devoured whole.
But right now, unless his Reiatsu perception was wrong, the newcomer’s Reiatsu was still unmistakably hovering at the High Hollow level.
“Hmph.
What a delusional fool — such shameless boasting!” Having worked out that this Hollow was simply here to take advantage of the chaos, Erolot’s mood was instantly swallowed by rage.
“I don’t know where you crawled out from, but don’t think for a second that an outsider like you is getting anything from me!” “Heh.
Ignorance breeds courage.” Wayne sneered, and in the same breath confirmed that the lord of this forest was none other than the arrogant beast-type Hollow standing before him.
“If you don’t believe me, why not come find out?” He crooked a finger, the gesture pure provocation.
“Insolent!” Erolot’s Reiatsu spiked sharply, and the sand and gravel nearby was sent scattering by the force of that pressure.
“All of you — attack!” At Erolot’s command, his three remaining Hollows immediately channeled their Reiryoku and lunged at Wayne.
Wayne faced those three surging waves of Reiatsu without a trace of fear, standing perfectly still, utterly unmoved.
BOOM!
A massive crash pierced everyone’s eardrums.
Right in front of Wayne, Jekain moved with overwhelming force, a single palm strike swatted all three lunging Hollows clean out of the air.
“You miserable worms.
Don’t you dare lay a hand on My King!” Jekain took a great stride forward and moved to engage all three at once.
His most powerful offensive ability, Cero, had nearly drained him dry, but as a Gillian, his sheer physical durability was more than enough.
Three High Hollows at the same time didn’t trouble him.
“Now then.
It’s just the two of us.” Watching the minor nuisance get swept aside, Wayne shook out the Blade Claws on his right hand.
“Let’s have some fun.” A Shadow Step carried him straight at Erolot.
Five arcs of blade light, cold and gleaming, stabbed directly at Erolot’s Hollow Mask.
CLANG!
A tremendous collision rang out as Wayne’s right claw and Erolot’s Scythe Blade locked against each other.
The clash of Reiatsu shoved both of them back several steps, opening distance between them.
Wayne had his fighting spirit fully roused.
Erolot’s expression had gone grave, though the difficulty on his face was hidden behind the Hollow Mask fixed to it.
The faint fluctuation in his Reiatsu, however, couldn’t escape Wayne’s perception.
How can there be a High Hollow this powerful?
Erolot was shaken.
He knew his Reiatsu had already reached the peak just before advancement, in theory, he should have been virtually unrivaled among High Hollows.
But the Reiatsu radiating off this outsider was filling him with wave after wave of unease.
That exchange had looked simple.
Erolot had put in at least eighty percent of his strength.
Wayne had looked completely at ease.
If it was a bluff, it was a flawless one.
But the Reiatsu Wayne radiated, combined with the words and actions of that Gillian earlier, tipped Erolot’s suspicion firmly toward the alternative.
What he didn’t know was that Wayne’s Reiatsu had long since grown comparable to a Gillian’s.
After all, this was an existence that had actually devoured one.
“Damn outsider!
One day I’ll make you pay for this arrogance!” Erolot flung the parting threat over his shoulder and broke away.
“Oh?
The game just started and you’re already running?” Wayne’s voice carried a flicker of amusement.
“I won’t let you off that easily.” Shadow Step after Shadow Step fired underfoot.
Wayne overtook Erolot in moments and stopped directly in his path.
At this stage, without Sonído to accelerate them, Hollows could only rely on raw physicality and Reiryoku techniques for movement, and at this stage, Wayne’s Shadow Step was a flat-out cheat skill when it came to speed.
Erolot wheeled around the instant he saw Wayne blocking him and bolted in another direction.
Wayne smiled with contempt, flickered out again, but made no move to press an attack.
A cat toying with a mouse caught between its paws.
Finally, after being cut off several times, Erolot broke for the outer perimeter of the forest.
Wayne offered a light smile, stepped forward, and followed, without using Shadow Step.
“Running low on Reiatsu?” Erolot felt a surge of elation at the sight of Wayne following on foot.
“Hmph.
Then let me show you what it means to have the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole lurks behind!” Wayne chased Erolot out of the forest’s core zone, deliberately keeping his distance, making no move to flash forward and cut him down.
Erolot moved as though searching for something, charging straight in one fixed direction through the forest.
They ran for a long while.
At a stretch of elevated ground, Erolot leaped up with everything he had, found his footing at the top, and turned to look back at his pursuer.
“Oh?
Finally stopped?” Wayne halted as well, looking up at Erolot’s savagely glaring face.
“I half expected you to keep this chase going until you ran clean out of the forest.” “You think I’d run around aimlessly like a headless fly?” Erolot threw his head back and let out a howl at the sky.
Within moments, answering cries rose from every direction across the hills.
Then silhouettes began appearing in Wayne’s line of sight, some tall, some short, some strange, some grotesque, closing in from all sides until he was completely surrounded.
“Oh?
You have backup?” Wayne swept his gaze over the encircling Hollows and let out a slow breath of surprise.
“You kept a reserve plan in place even for dealing with a Gillian.
Looks like you were absolutely set on making this encirclement a sure thing.” “Hmph.
If it weren’t for your sudden appearance, that Gillian would already have been mine — you’re the one who forced me to play my last hand this early!” With that, Erolot reached out and seized an Elite Hollow, tore its Hollow Mask off, and stuffed it into his mouth.
He hurled the body toward the surrounding Hollows, who tore it apart and consumed it completely.
At the same time, his own Reiryoku began recovering at a startlingly fast rate.
“My ability is rapid recovery and consciousness control.
After I advanced to High Hollow, I found I could easily control Hollow Beasts with low Sentience and weak Reiatsu.
“For the sake of my own advancement, I stationed Elite Hollow Beasts at various points along the outer edges of this entire forest.
These Hollows were livestock I raised for consumption, no consciousness of their own, but every single one obeys me completely.
“My original plan was to devour that Gillian first, then come to the forest’s edge to feed again if my Reiatsu ran short.
But it seems I’ll be using them against you instead, outsider!” Erolot’s grin turned vicious.
“So what if your Reiatsu is strong — so what if you’re the king of a Gillian?
Today, this is where you die!” “Laughable.” Wayne looked at the dozens of Hollow Beasts surrounding him with open contempt, not a trace of alarm on his face.
“You think mindless trash like these can deal with me?” “Heh.
Maybe not alone, but draining your Reiatsu down to a certain level should be no problem at all.
And don’t forget.” Erolot’s voice dropped.
“I’m still here.” His Reiatsu had recovered to its peak.
The pressure he let off, once fully released, was enough to make the surrounding Hollow Beasts instinctively give ground.
“Is that so?” Wayne felt that Reiatsu wash over him.
“Then let’s test it.” “Save your sharp tongue!
Get him!” Erolot’s composure shattered at the sight of Wayne’s calm.
He let out a furious roar and launched the order.
The Hollow Beasts circling Wayne screeched in answer and charged.
Faced with the encirclement, Wayne’s right claw twitched.
Arcs of lightning began coalescing instantly, crackling into shape.
Every one of these Hollows was only Elite-rank, but their sheer number was enough that Wayne needed to bring out something real.
But before the Lightning Strike could fully form, a ripple of Reiatsu entered the range of his perception.
The flickering arcs of Reiryoku lightning gradually scattered and faded.
“Finally here.” With those words, several surges of Reiatsu erupted outward at once.
The Elite Hollow Beasts flinched back with terrified cries.
In the next instant, billowing dust, crimson blood, and cleanly severed limbs filled the air.
Those low, frightened whimpers turned into screams of agony and desperate, piercing wails.
The dust settled quickly.
Before Wayne stood seven High Hollows of different shapes.
Scattered across the ground around them, the corpses of Elite Hollows.
“My King.
We arrived late.” All seven bowed toward Wayne in unison, their deference so absolute that Erolot, standing up on the high ground, was left utterly stunned.
“Not late.” Wayne gave a single nod.
“Right on time.” He looked at the carpet of corpses, satisfied with his subordinates’ work.
Then his gaze swept back to Erolot.
“Well?
Any more of your so-called trump cards?” “This, how is this possible!” Erolot stared at the enemies who had appeared without warning.
“Was all of this arranged by you?” “What else did you think?” Wayne said calmly.
“Why do you suppose I didn’t come after you immediately?” “You had so many directions to run.
How did you manage to charge straight into exactly where my people were waiting?” Erolot’s expression froze as the words sank in.
Only now did he realize, from the very beginning of the chase, this had been the one direction where the enemy hadn’t immediately given pursuit.
It wasn’t that the enemy’s Reiatsu was running low.
It was a trap.
He had walked straight into it himself.
“…Attack.” Wayne gave Erolot no further chance.
A single command, and all seven figures burst forward at once.
Seven powerful surges of Reiatsu swept over Erolot in an instant, catching him still in a daze.
The outcome was decided in moments.
Within seconds, Erolot was torn to pieces by seven Reiatsu strikes landing all at once.
“Let’s go.” Wayne watched Erolot fall and said it lazily, already turning away.
“Go take this forest.” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!” ➤ Next: Luring the Enemy [FULL STORY ACCESS] Unlock (100+ Chapters) ahead of the public release!