Chương 1494: 1492. Taste of Fear

The dynamic of the fight drastically changed when Faenys started fighting him properly. The great sect leader suddenly lost his will to fight, constantly trying to flee. It was a rather disappointing turn of events for the Chosen of Phobos. She had guessed based on his expression that the old monster would appear before she killed him, if she continued as she did before. This was why she got a little more serious, which led the fight to escalate to something a little more serious.

How was she supposed to know that taking him seriously and using some of her skills was enough to break his will to fight? Suddenly, all he did was try to run away from her, which was annoying. Unlike the little pests she allowed to run from the sect, she couldn't let the sect leader get away. He and the old monster were the two that could not be allowed to survive this day.

"Escape Talisman!" Man Shi exclaimed, and his body turned into a stream of energy immune to damage. The hardly perceptible current shot off in the distance. It actually resembled short-distance teleportation or blink, except that it was weirder. This was already the third talisman the sect leader used to evade a lethal blow. Faenys was done blaming and properly aimed to end his life, yet he kept getting away with these tricks.

However, since it was not actually a blink or teleportation, it was not enough to escape from her.

"How?" the sect leader gasped when the time limit for the talisman escape ran out, and he transformed back, only to find the armored foe standing right in front of him. Not only allowed her <Predator's Instinct> to track him for 24 hours, <Seizing Grasp> and <Dullahan's Chase> made it impossible for the sect leader to create any significant distance between them. With every meter past 5, the energy that was trying to escape slowed down by 10%.

At 20 meters distance, the energy that traveled faster than she could perceive fell to just 25% of its original value. In comparison, this was a snail's pace she could easily keep up with. <Demoralizing Strike> Considering the sect leader was already in a state of panic, the skill's damage increased. Men Shi evaded, or at least he thought he did. Yatagan Mim grew in length mid strike and cut him straight across his chest.

The monochrome robe, already stained with black blood, was in tatters, as the defeated man stumbled back in disbelief. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. In his eyes, she saw fear, panic, and shock as he faced his very own mortality. To a person spending their whole life to increase their power and live longer, facing imminent death was probably the greatest shock. However, there was something beyond that.

Others would collapse under the weight of this realization and the various status effects, but this guy didn't. It wasn't that he resisted, but that he snapped. Beyond the fear was a glint of insanity.

"Blame yourself! You forced my hand!" he suddenly exclaimed as a bright light radiated from his core. Faenys had heard of this move and instinctively stabbed the sword in his abdomen, but what had been put into action could no longer be stopped.

"I can't survive, I will at least take you with me!" he muttered and grasped the sword and her arm. Men Shi intended to detonate his cultivation base. Considering his level and the amount of energy she could feel from him, the whole sect would probably vanish with him.

"Oh, I don't think so~" she said, largely unworried. With a forceful twist of her body, she broke free, severing both of the man's wrists. Stepping back, she threw the Soul Piercer dagger at the man's abdomen before speeding off, away from the center of the explosion. Activating all her speed boosts, she kept growing faster with every step, proving that she was the speedster of Minas Mar. By the time the dagger struck the sect leader, Faenys was already out of the sect and on the way to leave a place behind.

She followed the street out of the sect and straight toward the entrance of this vast valley. When she reached the mouth of the valley, the Southern Blade Sect was only a speck in the distance. This was where she stopped and looked back, not a moment too late. The chosen of Phobos had turned around just in time to see an overwhelming explosion. A massive fireball blasted into the air, while a fiery wave waltzed over the tiny buildings.

The fire didn't stop at swallowing the sect as the explosion expanded and even swallowed the adjacent ridges. Terrifying winds blew around her as Faenys witnessed what she would compare to a nuke... However, she was already far enough away and apart from the wind and intense heat, nothing reached her. Her only concern right now was whether she had managed to end the sect leader for good when she threw the dagger.

Seth and Master Mountain had cautioned them that cultivators above the nascent soul stage could blow up their bodies and escape with just their souls. Since she couldn't see souls, she could only hope the dagger struck true.