The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order

226  Temporary alliance

Cain and a Sword Monster with a single arm were fighting on top of a very thin tree branch. The human and the monster displayed superb footwork, and their weapons clashed at an impressive speed. Despite only having a single arm, the Sword Monster could manipulate its weapon better than any of the monsters Cain had faced before and was able to blend attack and defense flawlessly.

Cain took a step back just in time to avoid a sword from cutting his neck, and then he immediately moved forward, hacking with his machete. The battle was extremely intense and pushed him to his limits, but that was precisely the type of training that allowed him to advance so fast.

After a month inside the forest, Cain's cultivation returned to the start of Level 4, and he unleashed Level 6 battle power thanks to his Blood Energy and Ego Wave. His mastery over the machete grew with every battle, and it was reaching the point that he felt extremely comfortable with the weapon by his side. That was just the improvement in terms of his machete's ability to shield him from the weakening force. Cain's cultivation had undergone a terrific refinement thanks to the red orbs, with his Astral Wave reaching an exceptionally pure state. As for the improvement in his constitution, it was hard to tell for sure, but Cain was confident that his next marrow washing would be extremely potent.

A sharp light appeared in Cain's eyes when the machete and the Sword Monster's weapon clashed, and neither could push the other back. He stomped the tree's branch with his feet, breaking the part in front of him and sending the monster falling to the ground.

While the Sword Monster was still mid-air, Cain lunged toward it at full speed and hacked with so much strength that it split it in two.

Dark mist emerged from the corpse and was devoured by Cain's machete as he took the red orb and deposited it into his space ring. He had killed so many of these monsters that consuming the red orbs directly after a fight was no longer productive. The battle was hard but did not leave Cain exhausted, so he was ready to advance further when a figure appeared at the edge of the [Basic Scan Force Field], and it was not a Sword Monster.

Cain focused on that place for a moment, and after some thinking, he went forward.

---

A young man with golden hair fought a massive Sword Monster that held a sword nearly as large as its body. Every swing of the bastard sword generated small gales due to its power, but the young man maintained a safe distance.

The weapon in the young man's hand was not exactly a sword, as it would be better to call it a blade due to its form. It was not that large and thin, granting it great speed but also fragility. Luckily, that was not a problem due to the young man's battle style.

Every time the young man waved his blade, arcs of golden light would emerge from it and flash at immense speed toward the Sword Monster. The Sword Monster was able to shatter most of the arcs of golden light, but some managed to reach its body, leaving deep wounds.   "AWWWW!"

A cry of rage and pain emerged from the Sword Monster as it charged toward the young man, ready to split this one from the head down.

The young man saw the wild charge of the Sword Monster, and his Essence Wave burst to its limit, making a golden light cover his entire body. Instead of moving back, he pushed his focus to its limit and waited.

Just as the Sword Monster appeared by his side and hacked down toward his head, he took a single step to the side, using his blade to hit the bastard sword's upper edge and burying it into the ground. The bastard sword nearly vanished into the ground due to its potency, temporarily immobilizing the Sword Monster since these creatures could not let go of their weapons.

After that, the young man's golden light exploded with even greater power and began slashing at the Sword Monster with a shocking speed. All the blade strikes did not only cut since they also unleashed arcs of golden light, making the wounds extremely deep.

The young man's battle style displayed the reason why calling Essence Cultivators simply magic casters would be a grave mistake. "AWWWW!"

One final roar of pain and rage emerged from the Sword Monster as the blade and arcs of light cut its body to pieces.

A smile appeared on the young man after killing the Sword Monster and seeing the vast amount of dark mist entering his blade. Just as he was about to grab the red orb left behind by the monster, a hand touched his shoulder.

The young man's eyes widened when he realized that someone had managed to stand right behind him, and he did not notice it until that person made contact. He immediately made his Essence Wave explode with all its power, flashing forward before turning around and sending a barrage of arcs of golden light.

Those arcs of golden light were sent in a hurry, but they had great power. Yet, a machete bathed in Blood Lightning shattered all of them with a single movement. "Cain!" "Hello, Antony."

The first person that Cain saw inside the dimension was no other than the first soldier to become a Wave Champion among the thousands that reached Blade Mountain. Cain suspected that dozens, if not hundreds, of people had reached this dimension, but he had not seen anyone before since he advanced too fast. His delay due to his swordplay training must have been the reason some of the strongest were catching up to him.

Antony put his guard up when he saw Cain. They were in a different dimension, and there was no way to communicate with the outside world, so the rules and codes of the empire mattered very little at this point.

However, he was able to relax when he remembered that shoulder tap and realized that if Cain had wanted to harm him, that machete would have cut his head off.

"Temporary alliance?"

Antony proposed something that was common knowledge for all cultivators across the entire world, especially humans that were known for their greed. Individuals could form a temporary alliance during the search for treasures. It was an unwritten rule that they would look after each other during the search, doing their best to protect the other. However, that would stop the moment they found the treasure, and at that point, they would have to decide how to advance. Cain showed a small smile as he heard that and nodded. Antony showed a battle power at Peak Level 5 and would be of help in the ensuing battles.

Now that everything was in order, Antony took the red orb before adopting a meditative position and began cultivating to restore his strength. "Do you have any insight about this place?" Cain asked while looking around, tactically unleashing his Ego Wave, so Antony would not question his ability to perceive the surroundings. "Although I come from Noble Family, my father was only a Viscount, so our knowledge about the Collapsing Lightning Sector is very limited. However, I noticed that the light wall surrounding this place was advancing."

Cain was a little surprised to hear the last part. The forest was so full of trees, and he had advanced so much that he could no longer see the wall of light. It seemed there was a time limit to reach the forest's center.

"How fast?"

"It is hard to tell, but from what I saw, it should reach this place in around ten days."

Learning that his advancing speed was enough to leave the wall of light far behind relaxed Cain. That way, he would not have to sacrifice his sword training to avoid being expelled from the dimension.

"What about you?"

Now it was Antony's time to ask Cain about his understanding of this place.

"I don't know much other than it seems to be a natural inheritance since it communicates to us through feelings instead of actual words. Also, touching the wall of light will take you out of this dimension and back to the real world."

Antony was surprised to learn that he could leave this place by simply touching the wall of light, and when he wondered how Cain managed to figure it out, he looked at the red force field that moved around him.

"Our next step should be making our way into the center of the forest, but slowly and focusing on developing our swordplay. There must be a reason why the dimension forces us to use the swords at all times."

Antony agreed with Cain's strategy. Simply rushing forward and ignoring their weapon would be a dire mistake.

"By the way, before we move forward, I need to ask. How many people have you killed?"

Antony was surprised by that question and could see in Cain's eyes that this one needed an answer.

Current schedule: 7 chapters a week.

6/7n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Bonus chapters:

Over 400 power stones: 1 extra chapter.

Over 800 power stones: 2 extra chapters.

Over 1200 power stones: 3 extra chapters.

Redsunworld

Creator's Thought