Chapter 64: Edward Wu
Chaos. Ever-deepening chaos.
Worm operatives poured in through every entrance around the arena. The fighters had no choice but to step up, holding them back to protect the important guests inside.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on? How did these people even get onto the island?"
Wakatsuki Takeshi frowned. He had already driven back several Worm members, yet the attackers assaulting the venue seemed endless.
"This is bad. They’re all armed."
Gaolang Wongsawat spoke as he fought back-to-back with Wakatsuki.
The Worm operatives might have weapons, but the Kengan fighters were no pushovers. Working together, they could barely hold the entrances to the venue.
Yet an unsettling feeling lingered in the air. Those paying close attention noticed that the Worm’s assault force was not particularly strong. There were no more fighters on the level of those Luke, the Fang of Metsudo, had killed at lightning speed earlier.
It felt as though the Worm had dispatched a bunch of low-level grunts just to trap everyone inside the venue.
Inside the VIP room, Katahara Metsudo’s brow was tightly furrowed. "I’m afraid the Worm’s target isn’t the guests inside. They only want to tie down the fighters, then eliminate their real targets outside."
There was a trace of worry in his eyes.
Erioh... don’t die on me.
Boom—
In a corridor outside the arena, a figure was blasted into the wall.
It was Hollis Kure, the Ogre Weeping Child of the Kure Clan.
Standing calmly in the middle of the corridor, surrounded by enemies, was a man with short blond hair slicked straight back. He wore sunglasses and had an unlit cigar clenched between his teeth.
Facing the siege of Japan’s most terrifying family of assassins, the man wore a disdainful smile. He even leisurely lit his cigar.
He looked at the Ogre Weeping Child and the Kongo Demon, both of whom he had smashed into the wall and whose fates were unknown. Then his gaze casually swept over the heavily injured Erioh Kure and Raian Kure.
"What a death wish. You’re nothing but a pack of backward trash. Who gave you the courage to gang up on me?"
"Huh? I never asked them to help me. I can slaughter you all by myself!"
Raian Kure was exceptionally violent in his Removal state. Blood flowed across his body, but it did nothing to diminish his fighting spirit or killing intent.
"Edward, you truly are strong. You’re nearly as strong as I was in my prime."
Erioh Kure spoke. His shriveled, diminutive frame stood in stark contrast to Edward’s massive physique. A katana rested in his thin hand, yet even with a weapon, he had failed to gain the upper hand in their recent exchange.
Only now did he have to admit it.
Time spared no one.
"Still don’t get it? You people have been stagnating here, while we of the Westward Faction are the ones moving forward. A thousand years have passed. We evolved to a realm completely beyond yours long ago."
Edward Wu slowly exhaled a cloud of cigar smoke. "Get lost now, and I’ll spare you. Don’t interfere with my real business."
"The Worm and the Westward Faction have both come to this island. Are you planning to destroy the Kengan Association?"
Erioh sneered. "Quite the ambition."
"The Kengan Association? Ah..."
Edward’s face was full of mockery. "Destroying the Kengan Association is just a side matter. I don’t care what happens to any of you. Right now, I only want to kill Luke and protect this world."
Erioh and Raian’s eyes narrowed at once. Then Raian burst into laughter.
"Protect the world? You’ve got to be kidding me. Did I just hear Edward Wu say he wants to protect the world?"
His laughter gradually faded, replaced by a cold and savage expression.
"Don’t make me laugh. We’re an assassin family."
As he spoke, he charged forward. The Kure Clan’s killing arts came out in full force, yet Edward Wu evaded them with effortless ease. Then, seizing an opening, he sent Raian flying to the far end of the corridor with a single punch.
Erioh’s blade stabbed toward Edward’s back, but Edward moved as though he had eyes behind his head. He shifted slightly, and the blade slid through the gap between his arm and torso. Then he twisted with force.
The katana snapped.
Using the momentum of his turn, Edward chopped Erioh across the neck with the edge of his hand. The aged Erioh was sent flying, his fate unknown.
"All right. Trash should know its place. Stop getting in the way of my business. If you want to die, I’ll give you the chance next time."
Edward Wu spoke as he started toward the venue. He did not trust Tiger Niko’s disciples to kill Luke. In the end, he would probably have to finish the job himself.
When he said he was protecting the world, he was not joking.
The Tiger’s Vessel had been killed. Although the Connector had not made a statement yet, Edward believed the Connector must already be furious.
And when the Connector was angry, the world became a dangerous place.
At least, that was what Xavier believed. Edward himself did not particularly care. He simply did not want to get caught in the fallout because the Connector was in a bad mood.
Ohma Tokita’s death meant that Shen Wulong’s plan would have to be postponed by at least another twenty years. Though he had already lived through five thousand long years, Shen Wulong had become somewhat impatient in this life to fight "himself."
That was precisely why they had cooperated with that bizarre man. If he truly could split Shen Wulong apart and place the personalities of the "Dragon" and the "Tiger" into two separate bodies, then what they were doing now would have meaning.
"Don’t run..."
Raian staggered back to his feet. Bathed in blood, he still burned with fierce fighting spirit. He would never accept defeat after defeat.
He had once been the invincible genius of the Kure Clan, yet he had never beaten Luke. Now the enemy of his clan stood before him, claiming he was going to kill Luke too, as though Raian did not even exist.
"Luke, Luke, Luke... every last one of you won’t shut up about Luke..."
Still in his Removal state, Raian spread his arms and assumed a stance. Savage madness filled his face.
"That bastard is mine to kill!"
Edward stopped in his tracks. Veins bulged across his forehead.
"You said I’m running?"
He whirled around and activated Removal for the first time in the battle. Until now, he had suppressed the Kure Clan’s experts without even using Removal. It was clear that he was genuinely enraged.
Anger covered his face. The instant his foot touched the floor, the ground sank beneath it.
"Kid, who the hell did you say was running!?"
Edward Wu’s towering, muscular body surged forward at incredible speed. His spinning kick descended like a battle axe, cleaving toward Raian’s head.
The madness on Raian’s face did not fade in the slightest. He raised both arms to block, already preparing to kick Edward Wu in the groin afterward.
Boom—
To the surprise of both sides, Edward’s killing kick never landed on Raian. And because of the figure who had suddenly appeared in the midst of the fight, Raian’s attack route was cut off as well, preventing him from throwing his kick.
With a heavy impact, the floor cracked and fragments flew. The wind whipped through the man’s short hair, while purple-black eyes gleamed with the wild delight of a predator who had found worthy prey.
Borrowing the rebound force, Edward Wu instinctively flipped backward. He landed firmly and stared at the intruder with grave eyes.
"Yo, Raian. You got beaten up pretty badly, huh?"
That irritating voice rang out, instantly sending Raian into a rage.
"Who told you to stick your nose in!? I was about to kick his balls in!"
Luke glanced at the faint dark sheen on Raian’s arm, somewhat surprised. Then he smiled.
"If you use my secret technique, you won’t die. But it won’t feel good either."
Without giving Raian a chance to retort, he stepped forward and stood in front of him.
"Take your clan head and your people away. His head is mine."
Raian’s anger surged, but he knew that he had been badly wounded and could no longer fight at full strength. And if that old man was not treated soon, he really might not make it.
So Raian swallowed his fury. Moving at high speed, he slung the injured men over his shoulders and left through the stairway at one side of the corridor.
"Hahaha! I didn’t expect you to come straight to me. That man’s disciples really are useless."
Edward laughed as he watched Luke. He could see that Luke was uninjured. In other words, Fei Wangfang and the others had failed to even scratch him.
Luke held Prison Demon as he looked Edward Wu up and down.
"I was taking Raian into account, but I still could have cut off one of your legs just now. Are you really not going to use a weapon?"
Edward Wu lowered his body, extending both hands like a tiger pouncing on prey.
"I am the strongest weapon."
Luke shook his head and sighed. "I’d love to praise that line, but you really don’t have the strength to back it up. Has Niko Tokita come? What about Xavier?"
Veins stood out on Edward Wu’s forehead.
"Kid, don’t think blocking one strike from me means you’re stronger. I’m nothing like the trash you met before. I’ll tear off all four of your limbs. That guy never said your corpse had to be intact."
"Oh? That guy? Sounds like someone has his eye on me."
Luke bared a row of stark white teeth in a grin.
"Can you tell me who he is?"
"There’s no need. You’ll see him soon enough... as a corpse."
Edward lunged forward. Both were using 100% Removal, but he was far stronger than Raian was now. He was the pinnacle of the Kure Clan’s strength and technique!
But in the instant the two men passed each other, Edward’s fist wind merely stirred Luke’s hair.
One of Edward’s hands flew into the air.
Luke turned and looked at the fountain of blood spraying from Edward’s severed arm.
"Not that tough after all. Is this the body you called a weapon?"
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