123 A Very Close Call
They nodded while I jumped off my chariot using the long rope. Once I reached the ground, I didn’t stand idle for even one second and started to run as fast as I could.
I knew I had a short span of time to clash with the jumper. So I got out my two swords, feeling more regretful about that big glaive inside my inventory.
If I got the strength and cultivation base enough to use it, then this battle wouldn’t be this hard.
What made the Curasee race frightening was the fact that they could use the host’s power and abilities to the max. Yet this came at a price they had to pay.
If they fought, they had to burn more of their life force. If they did that, then their ultimate mission of reproduction would be jeopardised.
But I wouldn’t hang any hope over that Curasee fear towards this point. After all, it seemed that the bastard bug had already decided to give me a good fight to the bitter end.
“You really came,” as I reached him, he finally turned to face me. His eyes were both scarlet red. That wasn’t all, but even his skin started to radiate a faint layer of red lustre like it was burning from deep within.
“I won’t let my friend fall down here,” I announced before pointing my swords both at him, “come, let’s see how strong Curasees are!”
“You…” his eyes shook slightly before he laughed in a vicious way, “as you already knew about us, then it’s no way to let you off.”
“As if you planned to let me live from the beginning,” I said while starting to walk slowly towards him, “as if you intended to let my friend live.”
“Hmm, I always heard about how your race treasures useless emotions like love,” he said while taking two spears, “you’ll never be strong until you transcend such useless things… Male and female… Love and relations… All these are useless, all of them are nothing but weaknesses!”
*Phew!* *Phew!*
He threw the two spears like he was throwing two rocks towards me. I leant towards the right and left in a smooth way while feeling how dangerous these spears were.
Just passing past me made me feel a gush of wind as if they were like arrows and not spears. I expected that. After all, the strongest points of that jumper were in two things; his cultivation base and his rich inventory.
“Speaking as if living without feeling a girl’s warmth is useless,” I returned to walk again, “it’s you who lost all the fun in the world living like parasites.”
“Words coming from a dead sack of meat are ash in the wind,” he took out two more spears before throwing them again towards me.
And this time once he threw these two, he took another two out and repeated this. I knew just leaning to the sides wouldn’t be enough, so I started to run instead of retreat.
*Phew!* *Phew!* *Phew!* *Phew!*
The spears flew fast, so fast like real arrows. Yet I kept jumping right and left, leant to the back and front, even turned around myself a couple of times like I was dancing, letting all of the spears fly to the wind and hit nothing but thin air.
And the more I evaded, the closer I got to him.
*Clang!* *Clang!*
Two swords of his appeared and stopped my two swords. At this moment, I could already feel his scorching hot breaths. It was apparent now what another kind of battle was going on inside that jumper’s body.
“I’m interested to see how you plan to deal with me,” he said in a voice that didn’t belong to the jumper, “I want to see your swords cut the body of your beloved friend. Come on, show me how you’ll decide this!”
He pushed me a few steps to the back using the jumper’s higher strength. As I retreated, he raised both hands to aim the two swords at my head and neck in two deadly blows.
“Let me see how you’ll save your friend without killing him,” he shouted in a strange happy tone. “Or will you fall on the hands of the warmth you dreamt about falling asleep within.”
*Clang!* *Clang!*
I hurriedly pushed my two swords to deflect his two attacks. At the same time I rotated around, used the pushing force to reach the area behind him.
“Let’s see then,” without hesitation I threw one sword towards his back. From such a close angle, it was very hard for anyone to evade it. Yet that jumper really had a high cultivation base indeed.
*Fwoosh!* *Clang!* *Phew!*
It happened so fast as he rotated in a smooth way like a flash. He evaded my throne sword before slamming both swords one at my flank and the other at my chest.
One sword was deflected by my sword, and the other was simply evaded by leaning to the ground.
“Die!” he roared in a crazy tone while jumping high in the air while raising both swords like they were one greatsword.
“It’s too early to say so,” yet at this moment I wasn’t even close to nervous. Once I threw my sword out, I knew he was going to evade it.
But all I wanted was for him to jump high in the air. No matter how strong the jumper was, no matter how high his cultivation was, once being airborne he would lose a big deal of his advantage.
As for me, I simply used the force generated from blocking his sword and pushed with all my might against the ground. As he jumped, I also jumped higher.
Instead of having the advantage of a high vantage point, the situation reversed at this moment as I became the one flying higher, with him not being able to adjust his body at all while being midair.
“Yes, come and kill him, come and kill your lover, human bastard!” he roared and laughed in a hysterical way while I was flying higher than his head. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Did you think I knew about your race without knowing about your weaknesses?” I snorted and suddenly the sword in my hand vanished. I held his two shoulders with both hands, used his body as a ground base to control and stabilise my body midair and stop it just upside down on top of his head.
“F*ck you! F*ck you! F*ck you!!” It seemed what I said got into his mind. Of course there were ways to kill such races before cursing anyone. And there were other ways to cleanse them outside anybody they cursed.
And out of all the ways I knew, it happened that I knew of a simple way to kick that bastard outside of that jumper’s body.
“I won’t let you do it!” Just as I stabilised my body, two things happened at the same moment!
That filthy parasite roared in defiance as he took out two spears from the jumper’s inventory, letting his two swords down to the ground. The spears he got instantly turned upwards, trying to hit my body.
And at the same time I felt a familiar deathly heavy pressure coming from one direction. It was that monster! Damn! It came at this crucial moment and without even causing a single sound!
Yet I already came at this stage, so there was no point in retreating or hesitation. As the Curasee two spears nailed at my chest, I flipped my body from right to left, putting my face towards the back of that jumper.
And a blink of an eye earlier than the arrival of the two spears, I threw my body with all my might while bending my legs. I fixed my hands over his shoulder like anchor points while aiming the tips of my toes towards the back of his head.
The simple way to kick that parasite out of a body was simple. Using a strong force to hit the back of the neck was enough to force it out. Once expelled, the Curasee wouldn’t survive for more than ten seconds.
If he didn’t find a suitable host fast, a host that was overwhelmed with rage that clouded one’s mind, then he would die!
That was why I kept myself as calm as possible. If I was driven by rage or fear, I might become the next target of such deadly Curasee.
“My kin won’t let my death go without revenge!” he roared like a wounded beast. It was too late to do anything, especially if both our bodies were still in midair.
Yet I never cared about such empty threats. “Drop the act and just die!” especially when I knew what he desperately needed at this point.
He was trying to push me over the edge of rage or fear, trying to cloud my mind so he wouldn’t end up dying. That race might seem suicidal, but in fact I knew how valuable they treasured life.
Or else he would have killed the jumper from the first moment he controlled his soul, or when I started fighting him.
But even if he tried to do that now, it was already too late. Besides he wouldn’t lean to such suicidal acts.
*Crack!*
My legs hit the back of that jumper’s head, but it felt like I hit some form of a fragile glass. I felt like something cracked under my hit and then a long trail of filthy odoured black red fog came out from the nostrils of the jumper.
And with that I felt the body of the jumper to suddenly grow soft, losing all signs of living.
I didn’t feel any alarm. After all the fight I had from the outside had a more brutal one deep within the jumper’s body.
The two souls were clashing in a deadly fight. So losing consciousness was something expected.
“Come here,” but there was no time for me to care about that damn Curasee. After all there was a far deadlier predator eyeing me and the jumper at this moment.
Without even waiting to reach the ground, I extended my arms and held the jumper from the chest.
“… This…!!!” yet at this moment I discovered something groundshaking! But the next instant I threw all I felt behind my back. It wasn’t time for such distraction.
“Now!” Once I held him, I shouted while turning my head to the side. A giant behemoth appeared like a mountain just less than a hundred metres away from the two of us.
And that bastard wasn’t just standing there idle. I saw its gigantic tail arching high in the air, almost hundred metres higher than its body. That thick and rounded end of that tail was aiming at the two of us.
In less than ten seconds, that tail would land mercilessly over our heads, smashing us into nothing more than two pulps of smashed meat!
“Hahaha!” a nasty laugh came from the side, “even if I died, it will still be great to deliver both of you to death with me as well, hahaha!”
“You’ll be the only one dying here,” I replied without showing any sign of distress. From one side, a gigantic tail was arching high in the air, prepared to fall upon my head.
And on the other side, a ferocious predator was eyeing me, waiting to lose my cool to get his one in time chance to survive.
But how could I come here without being prepared for that?
*Fwoosh!* *Fwoosh!*
Just as I said this, two red foggy silhouettes appeared around me and the jumper as the soulers came. Before I left I gave one single instruction to the soulers in secrecy.
‘Come and save my ass when I call, come and take me away when the signal is given.’
Out of my warriors, the only ones who could come and save me and the jumper from the jaws of death were the soulers.
Just as I planned, once I called, two came and each carried one of us and flashed again before taking us tens of metres away from our original position.
This time they didn’t try to attack, so there was danger to me or the jumper.
*Fwoosh!* *Fwoosh!*