Chapter 637 Darren Was On The Verge Of Death


    "You want to run away? Don''t be so naive. There''s no escaping me!" The voice that followed Darren


    was far too close forfort. Hideously inhuman though it was, there was an unmistakable yfulness


    in its cruel roar.


    Knowing that there was indeed little hope in retreating, Darren abruptly stopped and fired his dark gold


    internal force.


    To his dismay, his elixir field had been pierced, causing an awful pain to tear through his body for as


    long as he used his skills. The only thing that could hurt more, in fact, was a direct attack on his soul.


    Meanwhile, his dark gold internal force was slow enough that the dark smoke dodged it with ease.


    This foe had grasped the Shadow Rule, and was in fact the stronger of the two.


    While still injured, it would be almost impossible for Darren to win this fight.


    After dodging his attack, the dark smoke condensed into an arrow and shot toward Darren.


    It struck home, piercing him through the belly again.


    "Ha, you little weakling," the man taunted. "How does it feel with your elixir field broken?"


    Darren did not answer at first. He swayed on his feet, blood soaking the lower half of his body even as


    he tried to cover his wounds.


    "Oh, what are you waiting for?" he gasped. "If you''re going to kill me, just get it over with."


    These words of Darren''s were a gamble on his part. He was hoping that his attacker was angry


    enough, or sadistic enough, to be goaded into taking its time. Otherwise, the man would indeed just


    finish him off immediately.


    "Ah," came the reply. "So it''s a quick death you want? I don''t think so. Not after the trouble you''ve


    caused me, killing so many of my disciples in the Crimson Sea Sect. No, I promise you anything but a


    quick release from the pain."


    Hearing this, Darren felt a small measure of hope. It seemed he might actually have a chance of


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    survival now.


    Gritting his teeth, he backed away, heading to the spot where several powerful masters were locked in


    fiercebat, oblivious to Darren''s existence.


    If he could lure his assant there, he thought an opportunity for escape might present itself.


    Meanwhile, the dark smoke wasn''t letting up for a second. He followed Darren and repeatedly stabbed


    at his elixir field, clearly taking his time with it.


    Incredibly, the pain continually grew worse and worse, and Darren was near-constantly hacking up


    blood as he endured the torture. If he lost consciousness or finished bleeding out, it would be the end


    for him.


    Finally he wasn''t far off from the fighters. The Holy Will was sting around them, which made Darren


    very ufortable.


    However, the thought of a slow, gruesome death made him more ufortable. He steeled himself


    and flew toward the center of the battlefield.


    Seeing this, the dark smoke realized what his victim was up to. "Oh, you''re clever," he muttered,


    incensed. "I think I''m done ying with you, then."


    With that, the dark smoke turned into an arrow again. This time, though, he aimed himself straight at


    Darren''s heart.


    Yet at that very moment, Darren was shouting as loud as he could in the midst of the battlefield, "Watch


    out! The top master of the Crimson Sea Sect ising to attack us!"


    All of the warriors heard Darren''s warning. Though they didn''t recognize him, they were smart enough


    to stop what they were doing and reach out with their spiritual sense.


    Sure enough, they detected the approaching smoke creature, preparing tounch a sneak attack.


    The next moment, nine streams of powerful Fringe Holy Will simultaneously shot towards the intruder.


    Strong though he was from havingprehended the Shadow Rule, even he couldn''t just ignore


    attacks from such warriors as these.


    Had he been able, he would have killed all of them already.


    But even as he dodged eight of the attacks, one made a direct hit and sted him back a great


    distance, where he turned back to his human form.


    That was the form of a thin young man. Human though he was, the murderous intensity in his eyes was


    incredible.


    He flew back to the spot he''d been sted from, cursing and raging at how he had been foiled. By the


    time he reached it, though, Darren was nowhere in sight.


    "Damn it! Bastard. I will find you and I must kill you today! You won''t live to see tomorrow, you bastard! I


    will find you, and soon!"


    Having dered this, he drifted about the battlefield, exploring it carefully. Anytime he met someone


    else or came across an ongoing fight, he made himself scarce. He had no interest in anyone now


    except for Darren, who had escaped from his clutches.


    Darren, meanwhile, had found an innocuous-looking corner and hidden himself there beneath a pile of


    some twenty or more corpses. He held his breath for as long as he could, for fear he might be


    discovered while still wounded and weak.


    ''Just look at me now!'' he thought indignantly. ''Weak! Useless!''


    After being chased down and nearly killed by someone in the form of smoke, he''d now resorted to


    hiding under some dead bodies. He couldn''t remember being in such a ridiculous or depressing


    predicament, not since first bing a powerful warrior.


    Some minutes passed, and the war there began to subside. Many participants had died, and the rest


    were worn down and wanted to conserve their strength.


    The nine people whom Darren had tricked into saving him were all badly injured. At that moment,


    though, something interesting happened with them.


    One of the nine people stepped into a footprint that was on the ground. A momentter, his form began


    to fade until he hadpletely disappeared from the battlefield.


    "Damn it!" someone said. "Someone from the Heaven Lake Sect went through there. Once he controls


    the passage, none of us will be able to use it anymore!"


    With that, the remaining eight masters grew tense, and soon enough they joined inbat again, each


    one fighting to get into the array.


    In time, three of them made it through.


    Meanwhile, the man who had pierced through Darren''s elixir field was still looking for him, ignoring


    everything else that was going on.


    He grew more and more frustrated until he finally realized that Darren must be hiding under the bodies


    of the dead, of which there was no small number in that deste ce. Now, wherever he went, he


    struck at the corpses, violently scattering or outright dismembering them.


    ''Oh, hell. Here hees, '' Darren thought, his face turning ashen as his nemesis drew near. Darren


    was in no condition to defend himself. If not for the sheer strength of his will, he would have passed out


    a long time ago.


    Despite himself, his heart pounded harder and harder.


    "You son of a bitch!" the thin man yelled nastily. "You''ve led me on quite a chase, but now you''ve got


    nowhere else to run and hide."


    Grinning wickedly, he stared directly at the remaining pile of cadavers, where Darren was hiding. "You


    have until the count of three," he went on. "Come out now if you want me to just get it over with.


    Otherwise, I''ll take my time killing you.


    One... Two... Three!"


    There was no answer. The thin man struck the pile with his palm, and limbs and blood exploded in all


    directions.


    Darren, too, was thrown into the air.


    "Hah!" The thin young man watched him, crowing in triumph before leaping to meet him in the air. With


    another palm strike, he sent Darren crashing back to the earth.


    The viin followed him back to the ground, kicking him in the chest as hended. "I gave you a


    choice!" he said fiercely. "You could have died already, had youe out when I called. Now, though,


    I''m going to make it nice and slow."


    Saying this, he struck his palm against Darren''s elixir field, this time shattering itpletely and putting


    a nasty hole in his abdomen.


    Darren convulsed, unable to help shouting in pain. He felt almost like his soul was being torn apart.


    But even then he had some power left in him, in a way. With his elixir field open, his powers activated


    entirely of their own ord. There was a burst of de and sword intents, then a fiercer st of olive-


    ck force which went right at his assant.


    The young man was caught off-guard and howled as his shoulder bone was smashed to pieces.


    "How dare you!" he said through gritted teeth, even more enraged than he already had been. "After the


    beating I''ve given you already, you still have the gall to try and fight me? You have no idea how cruel I


    can be!


    I''m surprised, though, to see that you practice both de and sword at the same time... I''ve only ever


    seen people who cultivate one or the other. I think I''ll just take out your de and sword cores, then,


    and see what the difference is."


    With a grim expression, he reached his hand out toward Darren''s elixir field.


    Unable to resist, Darren felt his already-weakened life aura start to rapidly drain away. There were no


    morest-ditch gambits for him to try. Even the one attack he had just managed had really been a


    reflex, rather than anything he could consciously do.


    An overpowering sense of despair enveloped him. By the time his adversary was through, Darren


    would almost certainly be dead. But even if he somehow survived this ordeal, he would be a nobody


    without his de and sword cores.


    "Huh, what''s this?" the thin man asked himself, hesitating at thest second. "This is a weird bastard.


    He''s got a neb inside his elixir field."


    Ovee by curiosity, the thin man forgot about Darren''s de and sword cores and reached out to


    the neb instead.