Chapter 331: Why Should I Avoid Your Sharpness? (Patreon)

"Caesar!"

Geno had instinctively thrown himself over Belle to shield her, but he'd forgotten that Caesar was still planted right where she stood.

The sight made Geno's pupils contract. The truck was less than two meters from Caesar, and in that moment he knew it was already too late.

They hadn't known each other long, but personally, Geno admired people like Caesar: brave, bold, and born to lead.

She was just a little short on education. If only she'd read a few more books.

In Geno's mind, he'd already rehearsed how to explain to the rest of the Sons of Calydon how Caesar had become Caesar fragments.

What happened next sent every word of that explanation straight into the recycle bin.

Caesar showed not a trace of fear at the heavy Hundred-Ton King thundering toward her. She sank her breath down into her dantian, dropped into a horse stance, and let out a sudden roar.

"Haaah!"

Her left fist swung out with a boom, trailing gusts of air and a massive surge of energy as it rushed to meet the Hundred-Ton King head-on.

They say two kings never meet. You're a king, I'm a king, so if we do meet, why would I dodge your edge?

A deafening crash rang out!

Caesar was sent flying…

Then again, reality wasn't a TV drama. Nobody could stop a big truck with their bare body. Getting launched was the norm.

But Caesar's effort wasn't for nothing. Thanks to her, the Hundred-Ton King had been forced to a halt on the spot. Its front plating was smashed to scrap, black smoke billowed from the engine, and it was clearly done for.

Geno hurriedly used Teleport to catch Caesar as she sailed through the air, sparing her a second round of injuries.

"Caesar, Caesar! Are you okay?!"

He shook her in his arms, but she didn't respond at all.

Belle, badly shaken, still reached out a small hand and held it beneath Caesar's nose. Only after she felt breath there did she slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, she's still alive. Let's get her out of the Hollow, quick!"

Caesar had survived, but she'd still been hit by a giant truck. Worried about internal injuries, Belle felt getting her to a doctor fast was the best move.

Geno nodded and got ready to carry Caesar out of the Hollow.

But before they could move, the truck they'd forced to a stop stirred again.

"Help… somebody help me…"

A faint voice drifted from the truck into Geno's ears, stopping the foot he'd been about to lift.

"Someone in the truck is calling for help?"

Geno glanced back, puzzled, and that one glance put them on the back foot.

The truck's door swung open, and a middle-aged man in work overalls tumbled out. He had to be the culprit who'd attacked them.

Geno stepped closer. Whether it was to save the man's life or to find out why he'd attacked them, the guy needed to be saved.

But by the time Geno got a clear look at the man's face, it was too late.

His face was covered in dense traces of Ether Corruption, and his eyes were hollow and lifeless. He clearly didn't have long left.

"Uh… aaaaaaaah!"

The driver let out an agonized wail. Amid a sizable surge of Ether energy, his figure slowly fused with the Hundred-Ton King beside him.

Moments later, a towering humanoid mechanical Corrupted stood before Geno and Belle.

"What a cool Corrupted! Giant humanoid mechs never go out of style!"

"Is this the time for that?! It's charging at us!"

Seeing Geno still gushing over the thing's design, Belle dropped everything else and hurried to tell him to run.

But Geno shoved Caesar into Belle's arms and then summoned his weapon.

"Stay right here and don't move. Let me go deal with it."

With that, Geno walked toward the Corrupted, blade in one hand.

The Corrupted showed no fear at his approach. It swung a huge fist and came at him.

"Too slow!"

The design suited Geno's tastes just fine, but sadly, its combat power was third-rate at best. Geno dodged the attack with ease.

Then he blinked up onto the Corrupted's head and drew his weapon back to his waist.

"Frost Genesis!"

A biting slash of blade light, flecked with frost, cut into the Corrupted. A great wave of blue energy burst across its body, and the giant Corrupted shattered in an instant.

One strike, and the hulking brute was finished.

What nobody expected was that when the huge mechanical body broke apart, the driver from before dropped out of it.

A glint flashed in Geno's eyes as he caught the man. Looking at the Corruption marks covering his whole body, Geno shook his head helplessly.

"Can't be saved, huh. All I can do is make it quick for you."

"Wait!"

Seeing Geno about to strike, Belle rushed forward to stop him in a panic, but she was one step too late.

Squelch!

The blade ran straight through the driver's heart, and as it stopped beating, the signs of Corruption on his body went still.

"Last rites complete!"

"Geno, that was way too hasty. I know he couldn't be saved, but we could've still questioned him for information. Why did you just kill him?"

Geno's decisiveness left Belle uneasy. She knew he'd done it to spare the driver more suffering, but the gap between humans and Ethereals was still hard for her to accept.

All she could do was frown, forcing down the dread in her chest as she kept her head and laid out the best course of action to Geno.

"Uh, I forgot."

Geno scratched his head awkwardly. It really had been a bit hasty.

Oh well. What's done is done, and there was no regret pill to swallow.

The two of them hastily buried the body and left the Hollow.

Not long after they'd gone, a blond-haired man appeared there out of nowhere. He stared in the direction Geno and Belle had left, then gave the mound of earth where the body lay a look full of contempt, his discontent growing sharper by the moment.

"Tch. Useless trash. Even with the drug that person gave him, this is all he amounts to?"

"Lucius, what do we do next?"

A masked, black-furred Wolf Thirren had appeared at the side of the blond man called Lucius. At the question, Lucius merely waved a hand carelessly.

"Business as usual. This was just an appetizer. When Tour de Inferno begins, we'll catch them all in one net."

"The Outer Ring will be ours sooner or later."