Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 311: Graveyard

Chapter 311: Graveyard

What was a graveyard? A collection of bodies? A place of sorrow and longing? The undeniable truth, however, was that it was an amalgamation of Azrael herself. A tangible thing that could be grasped. A small, a view, a taste, a feeling. Twelve corpses, thirty corpses...

"You were excellent test subjects. Die with that knowledge."

Sixty corpses. Sixty deaths. Blood and smoke filled the nose. Chandeliers had fallen and toppled bodies. It was a massacre.

Dasha Pang’s black lightning-charged gauntlets crushed the skull that had already been ripped from its spine, turning the blood and bone to smoke. His Qi Sense was momentarily inactive. His ears were not and he could hear rapid footsteps from the entrance.

Crackles of black energy spread across him. ’I can’t activate Tarnkappe’s invisibility.’

A consequence of creating this graveyard.

"W-what the hell!? What happened here!"

Three hunters entered the fray, all of whom he was able to identify by name. They frequented the bars in the Dark Sector. His eyes and ears could never mistake them even if all he had was a glimpse:

A Tamil male in blue garbs by the name of Keeran. A pale woman, Asa, with an abnormally long spear and red helmet. Lastly, a Russian archer in dark blue armour who famously titled himself Light-Shadow Archer.

"You." The Tamil male with no weapons to speak of addressed him directly. He had seen the skull. The hunters had already confirmed their target. "Who are you?"

Who was he? Why did he attack? Dasha’s one eye craned toward the man with the questions, his hands coming to his side.

Dasha then turned fully. The Seven-league Boots wrinkled with black sparks and in the next second, his gauntlet clashed against flesh. Keeran intercepted him with an equaling force. Dasha bounced back at him, predicting the incoming fist and guiding himself under it. Winding up behind him, he wrapped his arms around Keeran’s neck, going for a rear-naked chokehold.

Keeran countered with a swift elbow to Dasha’s ribs, forcing him to loosen his grip. They broke apart, only to engage again, their movements a blur of fists, elbows, and knees. In the heat of close-quarters combat, Dasha switched to jiu-jitsu: coming close, clawing into Kareen’s tricep, doing a judo step forward to throw off his balance, and reaping the leg to bring him down.

Except Keeran’s feet were superglued to the ground. Attempting to get him off balance was like moving the Earth itself. Dasha managed to grasp his mistake in time and got away with a single punch to the chest.

That single stone-esque punch broke a rib and forced Dasha to backpedal and momentarily lose the world to white. Asa lunged with her spear, the sharp tip aimed at Dasha’s heart. He dodged, the blade grazing his side. Blood seeped from the shallow wound, but he ignored the pain, his eyes locking onto Asa’s.

Their confrontation was cut short as the Light-Shadow Archer released his arrow. Dasha rolled to the side, the arrow narrowly missing him and embedding itself in the marble floor. The archer’s precision was deadly, and Dasha knew he couldn’t afford to be hit.

"Do you see that?" Keeran asked.

"His anticipatory movements are nonexistent. Everything is fluid to a beautiful degree," Light-Shadow Archer stated. "It is like his body obeys his mind."

’Currently, I can only fight at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.’ One by one, Dasha analyzed his opponents, starting with the archer. ’Semi-high defense, high range, and high observation. As for Keeran, he appears to be very well-versed in close-quarters combat. He’s two dashes less skilled than me. However, he seems to possess an uncanny strength. As for Asa...’

That spear of hers had seven-heads and seven barbs on top of it. Longer than two metres, its range was long and wide. Double-trouble.

’Ruh al-Qital was supposed to protect me yet two of her barbs pricked my skin anyway. The gi is undamaged though. The spear’s effect must guarantee damage or nullify armour.’

There wasn’t much distance between Dasha and the three hunters. However, time was not on his side. The more the hunters were able to observe the massacre, the greater their impatience. The type of impatience that desired death, not rash decisions.

’Light-Shadow Archer is not shooting yet. Must be trying to figure out if I have other fighting styles. If that’s the case...’

"Hey, you half-masked piece of shit," said Asa. "You have one last chance to tell us your name. You’re dying anyway, so might as well."

Dasha charged. Keeran braced himself, expecting another Brazilian jiu-jitsu maneuver. Dasha feinted a grapple and Keeran was ready for it.

Twang!

In that split second, the Light-Shadow Archer released his arrow.

Dasha dodged coolly, the arrow whizzing past his ear. He came close to Keeran but not too close. A switch from jiu-jitsu to kickboxing. Keeran should have been caught off-guard. The twisting momentum of his feet brought him a minor amount of space that granted a series of rapid kicks aimed at the midsection. The sound of an arrow slicing through the air reached Dasha’s ears too late. He felt a sharp pain as it struck his shoulder.

Not the front either—the back.

Keeran was about to counter. Dasha quickly placed his foot behind Keeran’s ankle, slipping behind, and pushing him away. The brief millisecond of instability allowed Dasha to gather his bearings. However, Asa was behind him, her seven-headed spear poised to strike.

Dasha’s gauntlets met the spearhead with a loud clang, blocking the attack. His gauntlets crackled, planning to push Asa back. But in that instant, Keeran recovered and delivered a powerful punch to Dasha’s temple, the exposed region of his broken mask. The force of the blow sent Dasha blasting into the wall.

The impact was brutal, cracking the wall behind him. Dasha nearly dropped to the ground, blood trickling down his eye. His vision blurred red. He walked out anyway, his eyes cold and calculating.

"Humans are like animals," Keeran stated. "They have a set pattern. You may wield two, three, four, perhaps even ten fighting styles. It matters not. You have a specific goal in mind."

"I kept track of his eyes," Light-Shadow Archer told his team. "He’s aiming for your heart, likely to extract it from your chest."

Spears and arrows and fists. Three against one.

Monster Hunters versus Dasha Pang.