CHAPTER 465: THE TRAITOR’S WOUND

Xinya led her group from one place to another. However, they always teleported somewhere with no usable information.

They found nothing about the Princess’s presence. No matter whom they interrogated or where they went, there was no trace of her.

Everybody felt that really unlucky, but in reality, Xinya interfered with the teleportation. She knowingly misguided her group while the Angelic Order’s forces came closer and closer to victory.

Without Slayer’s constant watching eyes, she could’ve killed everyone and escaped to safety. But for the war’s sake, she needed to keep Slayer occupied.

The madman’s suspicious gaze never left Xinya’s body. She felt him watching the minor cut on her left cheek, which still hadn’t healed. He tried asking about it multiple times, but she always dodged the question.

She kept up this act for the next hour or so, but eventually everybody else grew curious too...

They stood atop a hill at the edge of the storm. Her silvery-white hair danced in the heavy winds, while the large raindrops wetted everyone’s clothes, which made Slayer’s garb smell even worse.

Xinya’s pale right hand played with her dao’s handle, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice. Her team stood around her, waiting for an explanation about the scar.

Slayer was especially curious, since he had noticed something amiss a long while ago. Throughout their search for the Princess, Xinya acted strangely, never explaining where they were going, just opening portals and entering without a word.

Nobody dared question her except Slayer, but he got ignored. This further raised his and everyone else’s suspicion. Even Chang stared at his boss with estranged and worried eyes.

"You pretended long enough. Why don’t you share with us the reason we hadn’t found the Princess yet?"

Xinya’s hold on her dao’s handle became firmer, while her face remained expressionless. Even though Slayer’s words brought even more suspicion on her actions, she maintained decorum and pretended to be oblivious.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ve been searching for the Princess for barely an hour. It isn’t my fault nobody knows her location!"

Slayer chuckled, the grin under his blood-red hood widening. He felt the change in Xinya’s heartbeat and breathing, like a human lie detector.

Previously, Xinya kept everything under control, but it seemed even she couldn’t hold on to this faked state. The moment she slipped up once, Slayer noticed.

"Liar. You either know where she’s or at least know where she isn’t, and led us there on purpose... You betrayed us and Asia, just admit it and we can move on!"

Her underlings glanced between Slayer and Xinya, unsure who to believe. On one hand, they wanted to trust their leader’s affiliation, but the madman’s concerns weren’t invalid either.

This stalemate lasted for a few seconds, when the sound of wingbeats appeared above them. They all glanced up, and Xinya’s face immediately fell as the raven landed on Slayer’s shoulder.

"Detain her. Xinya is hereby a traitor to Asia! We’ll interrogate her after the battle is over!"

The raven’s words set everyone in motion, including Xinya. She drew her blade faster than anyone else, even Slayer, could react.

The dao cut empty air, and soon half the Transcended lost their heads, while the other half suffered severe cuts along their bodies.

However, the raven suffered the most, since other than a few dark feathers and lots of blood, nothing remained of its body.

Slayer chuckled as he held onto his bleeding shoulder. He straightened up and grinned at Xinya.

High above, the sound of thunder returned as raindrops began falling all around them, washing away everyone’s blood. The lightning illuminated the surrounding plains, bringing light to Xinya’s stressed, uncertain face.

"I should’ve known, but still I had some doubts. When you first began acting weird, I saw a few deserters’ faces from the mountaintop. They all had the exact same wound on their left cheeks... The traitor’s wound..."

The curved bone sword grew from Slayer’s right hand. He took a deep breath of cold, fresh air and stared into Xinya’s dark blue eyes with a wide, hateful grin.

"As you know, I’m truly a horrible bastard. I kill and eat anyone I want! Men, women, children, animals, monsters, anything!... However, throughout my murders, I never once betrayed anyone! When I made a promise, I always kept it! I hate traitors more than anything else!"

Xinya smirked and laughed at Slayer’s words. Her loud voice, full of ridicule, echoed around the hilltop.

"Wow, a principled psychopath! How quaint!... You really think I care about your opinion? I did my fair share of messed-up stuff, but it doesn’t even come close to the horrors you unleashed on humanity!"

She shook her head, still in disbelief about how stupid Slayer sounded.

"I killed and tortured many people, but there’s only one regret I’ve in life. I shouldn’t have neglected my son... Some time ago, I reached an epiphany and realized I didn’t want my son growing up anywhere near his father or in an awful place like the Asian city-states!"

Xinya wanted to continue her speech, but soon a beautiful singing voice reached her ears. They all glanced above, to the edge of the storm, where a large flying vessel pierced the clouds.

"Hmm... I don’t think that ship is ours, which means this battle is close to the end. Looks like we lost... Come on, Boss. Let’s teleport back to the capital. There’s no need to further this conflict and risk your life..."

Chang desperately tried to avoid a fight with Xinya. It wasn’t because of respect or hidden affection... He simply feared her ability, since it could kill him with ease!

However, crushing his hopes, Xinya shook her head. Her dark blue eyes stayed focused on Slayer, since he was the most threatening there.

"I can’t do that, Chang. I won’t go back to Asia. Especially not as a hostage and traitor!"

The lanky man sighed upon hearing his boss’s rejection. He drew both revolvers and pointed them at Xinya.

"Well, I guess you don’t have a choice. Either come with us, or die here on this cold hilltop!"

Chang’s goofy personality disappeared entirely, leaving only a cold killer behind. Xinya had mixed feelings about this abrupt change.

She was never close to Chang or anybody else, but she at least had some connection with him akin to friendship. It pained her heart to betray him, yet she didn’t regret her choice. Only Lin’s, her son’s life mattered!

Xinya didn’t say anything in answer. She simply lower her center of gravity and pointed her blade at the few Transcended left alive.

Slayer chuckled and spread his arms, uncaring both about Xinya’s ability or the situation’s gravity.

"You won’t convince him, Chang! Or whatever your name is... She made this decision hours ago. Plenty of time passed, when she thought everything through thoroughly... Let’s end the charade and begin the inevitable!"

He pointed the bone sword at Xinya, his grin widening. From above, lightning illuminated everything, and for a split second, she saw under his hood.

A disfigured, horrific, scarred face with bright, blood-red eyes stared at Xinya, like a hungry beast at its prey.

A shiver ran down her spine, yet she didn’t back away from the combat. Instead, she swallowed her fears and prepared to fight until the very end.

A lightning struck the ground nearby, and using the loud thunder, everyone sprung into motion.

Chang fired a few dozen shots at Xinya, who simply slashed once and cut the bullets into small pieces of metal. Her attack also took out a few more Transcended, leaving five against one.

She aimed her second slash at Slayer, but the horrid human being dodged the attack, since he saw the future.

Before Xinya could’ve used her ability a third time, Slayer was already jumping towards her. His bone sword cut forward vertically, leaving afterimages with its speed.

Xinya barely had time to block his weapon. She tried deflecting it, but Slayer was stronger, and could push her dao aside with ease.

Slayer stepped right just as Chang unloaded another volley. Xinya used the opportunity and significantly lessened her blocking strength, making Slayer stumble forward, right into Chang’s path of fire.

The bullets penetrated his flesh, killing him on the spot, since every shot carried death within... However, in the next moment Slayer blinked and smiled as the vision went away...

Instead of right, he stepped left, which put Xinya between Chang and Slayer. She couldn’t push the bone sword away, and couldn’t evade or cut through the bullets.

Time was running out, and she needed to make a decision quickly. With a calming breath, Xinya let go of her dao with one hand and grabbed onto Slayer’s bloody cloak.

He pushed the bone sword forward, its blade biting deep into Xinya’s right shoulder, nearly severing her arm. The traitor screamed in agony, yet her right hand grasped the cloak.

One of the most important parts of sword fighting is footwork. Without good footwork, you’ll lose every battle fast, since your swings, blocks, parries wouldn’t have proper structure...

So what would happen if someone suddenly lifted you off the ground in the middle of combat?

Xinya’s hold tightened on the blood-red robe as she lifted the creepy man into the air. Without the support of his feet, Slayer couldn’t overpower her blade anymore.

She tossed him away while pushing with the dao. The bullets nearly reached her skin by that time, and despite all her efforts, she still couldn’t evade them.

Her dark blue eyes closed as the bullets crept closer... It felt like seconds, maybe even minutes had passed, but still the projectiles hadn’t reached her skin...

After waiting long enough, she opened her confused eyes. She expected to see dozens of bullets nearing her body, but instead all she saw was a tall man in midnight black armor with white, glowing lines and a helmet, which resembled a screaming skull.

The man held a glowing white warscythe in his hand, and around them a time sphere kept the bullets out.

"You did a good job, Xinya. Your son will be proud... However, let me take care of Slayer. You just rest and be safe!"