Way of the Devil

Panda Novel

Grayish-white mist rolled and surged under the lights of the night.

On the misty streets, a big, tall, and strong figure was dragging thick and heavy iron chains along the rock pavement.

The figure had no breath or heartbeat, and was covered in ice-cold pitch-black armor. It appeared no different from some knights that favored heavy armor. The heavy armor alone would be enough to crush even an adult male who frequently trained his body.

However, the big and tall figure clad in armor showed no delay in its movements.

“My God! It’s the Executioner!” A faint startled cry echoed amidst the mist.

“Fool! Shut up!”

However, it was too late.

The big and tall figure that had been walking slowly suddenly paused. It seemed to be listening for something.

“Swoosh!”

It suddenly pulled on the iron chains and charged in the direction of the voice.

“No!”

“Activate the traps! Don’t let it come close!”

“Quick! Quick! Quick!”

“Don’t go! Hold it down! The Executioner is immortal, all we can do is stall for time! Anna, lower your head!”

“Bam!”

A muffled explosion sound came from within the mist.

“This way! Lure it this way!” A man started giving directions loudly in an anxious voice.

“Pcchht!”

“Grew! No! Oh my God!”

“Don’t panic! We’ve succeeded!”

“Boom!”

A deafening explosion sounded.

“It’s finally over. It won’t come out so soon. Let’s get out of here!”

“Should we scatter?”

“No, we can’t. If we scatter, the Executioner will only split into different individuals, and it’ll be more difficult to deal with later. The only way is to delay it head on. There’s no use in running as well. If we get slightly further from it, they’ll instantly catch up to us with the thick mist. We can’t run.”

“But…”

“Shut up! If you don’t want to die, listen to me!”

“Boom!”

Suddenly, there came the sound of an explosion.

“My God! It’s out! How did it get out this quickly?! Run! Ah!”

With a deafening wail, which was shortly followed by a few suppressed startled cries, the night quickly fell silent again. In no time, the thick mist started to subside.

….

White Oak County.

On the bustling streets, Luo Di was completely covered in a thick gray cloak. A straight sword wrapped in cloth was on his back. He resembled a wandering craftsman as he wore a thick wide-rimmed hat.

He walked along the streets and squeezed his way through the traffic. He quickly entered a sloping alley on the right. A few dirty children were playing with a ball there; they seemed to be having fun running across the muddy puddles.

Luo Di walked through the alley to a billboard on the wall. He took a look at the messy bills stuck on it.

He quickly found what he was looking for in the corner.

The information he wanted appeared just like any other job recruitment advertisement. However, Luo Di naturally had his own decoding method.

He lowered his head and started flipping through a small notebook. He followed the decoding method in the book and extracted the actual contents of the bill.

“Executioner… appeared… Jomund and the others are missing…”

When he read the decrypted content, Luo Di fell silent for a while. A hint of pain shone through his initially dark eyes.

“Even Jomund died?” he mumbled under his breath.

He put the notebook away, walked out of the alley, and quickly arrived at an isolated small tavern called The White Eagle.

A wooden plate which read “temporarily out of business” was hung on the tavern’s door. However, the interior was brightly lit.

Without hesitating, Luo Di pushed the doors open and walked inside.

Some people were arguing inside the hall. The argument was not loud, but their tones were frightened and pained.

A dozen men and women, old and young, gathered in a circle as they sat in their own chairs. Two strong-looking individuals, a man and a woman, were going at it in the center. They faced each other as if this was a cock fight.

Between the two, the man was crying. His body was shaking as he growled and grabbed the strong woman’s cuffs while he cursed.

The woman, on the other hand, was of such formidable appearance that the first person you would think of was a muscle demon. She was also bellowing and shouting as she had one hand on the man’s neck.

The two of them started a contest of strength, but it was clear that the woman was much stronger than the man. She kept pushing him over, and he kept losing his balance.

“If it weren’t for your orders!! Anna and the others wouldn’t have died!! They wouldn’t!!” shouted the man.

“Everyone here is cursed. We all bear Sella’s Mark! Everyone will die! You! You! You! You! Everyone! We’ll all die! Don’t you f*cking talk about fate with me!! I don’t believe in it! So what if I was the one who gave the order?! I told them to retreat immediately, and what did they do?!” the woman shouted. “A coward has no right to speak to me. Scram!”

She lifted the man and tossed him mercilessly onto the floor. The man lost his balance, and lay whimpering on the floor with tears streaking down his face and snot coming out of his nostrils.

“Luo Di, you’re here.” Someone greeted Luo Di.

A blonde girl came up to him with a gloomy expression, and said, “Jomund and the others are all dead. They’ve encountered the Executioner.”

Luo Di wore a calm expression, but a hint of sadness flashed across his eyes. “I know that already.” He nodded slightly. Then, he lifted his head to look at the strong woman, who was still speaking in the center, Mera.

The members of this small unit, the White Eagle, had been marked by the town. They should have died many years ago. However, their hatred and survival instincts had made them think of various ways to stay alive and struggle on whilst they were at death’s door.

They had travelled the world, seeking a way to save themselves. However, their efforts were in vain. On the other hand, because they traveled everywhere, they managed to gather a group of people with the same unfortunate fate they were suffering.

They were comrades, people who wanted to live on while making deathbed struggles. There were blonde-haired, blue-eyed, black-haired, black-eyed, dark-skinned, fair-skinned, and yellow-skinned people.

Each and every one of them shared a common trait, though. They had come in contact with that terrifying town before.

Mera was the one who had survived the longest among them. She was also the strongest.

“Luo Di, you came at just the right moment. Tell us, how did you evade the Executioner back then?” Mera had noticed Luo Di as well. They were both the most senior members of The White Eagle, and also the strongest. After surviving no less than dozens of hunts, they had rich experience in dealing with the Executioners. She wanted Luo Di to do the talking now. If they had a change of perspective, the fear in the hearts of the others might be eased better.

Luo Di stepped forward, into the center.

He swept a look around him. He stared at the White Eagle members who looked at him until they were completely silent.

In no time, the slightly noisy hall gradually quieted down.

“Truth be told, there’s not much experience I can share. If we encounter an Executioner, the only thing we can do is run away,” said Luo Di drily. “I’ve studied the Executioners closely before. They possess an immense and unstoppable strength and indestructible, powerful bodies. They have no weaknesses, and know no fatigue. Most importantly, they’re monsters that cannot be killed.

“The only thing we can do is to slow down their movements. In order to do that, the satiny medicine which I’ve concocted might be of some use. Besides that, I want to tell everyone here this. Jomund and the others aren’t the only ones who’ll have to face the Executioners. I have to face them as well.”

Initially, when Luo Di spoke, the emotions of the others had started to calm down. However, when he said his final sentence, the atmosphere in the hall tensed up again.

“Luo Di, you…” Mera looked at him with a slightly worried expression.

“I’ll be leaving soon, living on my own for some time. Until I make another appearance, don’t come looking for me,” said Luo Di calmly. “I’ll be away for three to five months.” Then, he looked toward Mera.

“I know. Old rules.” Mera nodded. Within the White Eagle, she had a promise with Luo Di. In the event that one of them died, the other one who survived would take care of the deceased’s descendants.

“Don’t die,” she added.

Luo Di curled his lips upward in a slightly awkward smile. “Actually, according to my calculations of their patterns, it won’t be long before it’s my turn to die.”

Mera’s expression stiffened. As a marked person who was as experienced as he was, she understood what dying meant.

That was a hopeless situation that could not be avoided. It was an assassination that the people who fled from the town could never hope to run away from.

“We’ll have hope… As long as we don’t give up.” She took a deep breath.

“Yeah… I’ll go back when that time comes.” Luo Di smiled drily. “My son is only tainted with the mark. As long as he stays far away enough and isn’t involved in this because of me, he might have the chance of living.”

“He won’t accept this if he finds about this truth.” Mera shook her head.

“He will,” Luo di said with a smile. “If I succeed, I won’t tell him the truth.”

Nobody could defeat the monsters, let alone the Executioners who were crueler and more ferocious. Even Luo Di himself did not have complete confidence to flee from their hands. In addition to that, there was the impending death that was more formidable and terrifying.

He had not much time left…

***************

Sunset County.

‘Let’s raise it slightly and see its effects.’ Lu Sheng stood in the empty space where Luo Di usually practiced with the sword. He was holding a bottle containing the pills which he had taken a few moments ago.

‘This watchmallit Sword Style is completely reliant on this medicine to improve the practitioner’s strength. The practitioner’s body would even be corroded by the toxins in old age. It’s great in its own way.’

Lu Sheng checked his surroundings. When he was certain that nobody was spying on him, he took out a black pill and swallowed it whole.

“Deep Blue.” He immediately took out his modifier and checked the condition change in the frame.

As the medicine entered his stomach, his spirit quickly adjusted his digestive tract to crush the pill, absorb the medicine, and remove the toxins. In less than a minute, the effects were felt. His body was slightly heaty.

However, Lu Sheng did not stop. Instead, he continued taking the pills.

In less than half an hour, he had consumed an entire bottle of pills. The amount was enough to last an ordinary person for five years.

He had finished it in one go.

Shortly afterward, his body started heating up, his muscles started swelling, and his bones grew itchy. A strong sense of hunger surged from his stomach. The pills were starting to take effect. When he consumed too many of the difficult to digest pills, Lu Sheng’s body was hard-pressed to bear it.

Lu Sheng quickly took out the dried meat and sugar cookies from his sack on the ground. While drinking from his water bottle, he started gulping down the food.

‘I’ve met the main requirements for improvement. It’s time to use Deep Blue. The requirement for improvement is the most basic food nutrition, but I could actually substitute it with Yang Essence. Unfortunately, I haven’t fully grasped the basic rules of this place. I can’t simulate the nutritional contents of the food in this world with Yang Essence… I can only substitute it with Mental Energy for now. What a waste.’

Lu Sheng felt slightly hopeless, but his gaze fell on the modifier’s interface, and his focus quickly fell on the sword skill frame.

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