"No," I replied confidently to Asura's words. Despite my body being practically devoid of strength and numb, and my soul being torn by curse magic. And on top of that, a storm wave was coming at me, ready to grind me to dust, I didn't regret going to save Xu Chao Tina and wanted to kill those who kidnapped him. No, I haven't lost yet, so why regret it! I can still and want to kill them!
Straining every muscle in my body, overcoming immense pain, both spiritual and physical, I felt something. Some kind of flow, circulating through my body with the blood, something that filled my limbs with immense power, allowing them to move and break the restraints holding me. With a sharp movement, I tore the vines holding me, and the wind stars instantly formed a wind dash path. Pushing off the ground, I soared into the air, above the storm wave that had swept away the tree to which I had been tied just moments before.
Using space magic, I retrieved the daggers I had dropped earlier, then landed on the ground. This warm something, spreading through my body, began to accelerate my regeneration, gradually healing my wounds. It also strengthened my soul and broke the bonds of curse magic. I didn't immediately understand what it was, but after feeling this effect for some time, I realized it was internal energy, circulating in all living organisms. I was able to feel it and intuitively direct it to help myself. This means the first stage of training with the old man is complete!
"What!" exclaimed the guy in the black jacket, not believing his eyes and gradually losing consciousness from blood loss.
"No! You couldn't have survived!" the girl next to him cried, starting to sob.
"Yes, what kind of guy with a steel will is this! He completely got rid of my magic!" grumbled the man, creating a star map of the wind vortex. It was clear from him that he was quite exhausted during this battle.
"He's just some kind of monster! Even true leaders are easier to kill!" grumbled the woman, preparing a stone wall.
Meanwhile, the snake simply went mad from the pain inflicted on it and its master and lunged at me. Using a wind step, I also went towards it, simultaneously creating a double lightning shock. Casting magic, moving became much easier. Now hold me, guys, death awaits you! Approaching the snake as closely as possible, I slightly changed the direction of my movement, circling around its head. It couldn't do anything to me, as I far surpassed it in speed; I think I even slightly surpassed the speed of ordinary true leaders!
Circling the snake from the side, I didn't let it crawl far and with a dash jumped onto its head, instantly piercing its skull with daggers and sending a lightning shock into its head. The snake writhed, trying to throw me off, let out an angry hiss, but quickly fell to the ground dead. The guy in the black jacket, behind my back, screamed like he was being cut and lost consciousness, almost dying.
"I'll kill you, you bastard!" the girl next to him screamed.
However, I was ready for this, and immediately after the snake fell to the ground, using a wind dash, I flew back towards the guy and the girl. Immediately after I took to the air, wooden stakes grew in that spot, and a moment later, a vortex of wind blades appeared. But I didn't just fly back; I used the energy of the wind dash and sent a dagger at the man, which was hindered by nothing but the conveniently forming stone wall in front of him.
I flew behind the girl and the guy, then immediately used a wind step and pierced the girl's chest with the remaining dagger in my hand. At that moment, I felt that the effect of the sudden awakening of internal energy was starting to wear off. The pain in my body began to return along with the fatigue and exhaustion of my soul. I glanced at the man and woman; they were also standing, breathing heavily. Naturally, after so many mid-level spells in a row, anyone would be exhausted.
"And what now? The miracle effect is almost over, your determination to die is useless, what a pity," Asura's voice sounded in my head.
"No, you're mistaken. It's not the determination to die, but the determination to kill!" I replied mentally with a devilish smile on my face.
Piercing the guy's head with a dagger, to make sure he wouldn't interfere, I used a wind dash, simultaneously pulling the dagger towards me. The woman prepared to create a stone wall, and the man was finishing the wind blade vortex. I quickly completed another wind dash and divided its energy into two parts, directing it to my hands. Throw. Both daggers flew towards their targets. One to the man, the second to the woman. The second was thrown with a slight delay, but it was enough for her to activate a stone wall, protecting the man.
One dagger, as expected, crashed into the wall, leaving cracks on it. The second, despite the quickly created water shield, pierced through the woman's abdomen, creating a hole there, thanks to the accelerating air currents. Shock and despair froze on her face; she began to fall backward slowly. I waved my hands, activating spatial claws and simultaneously returning both daggers to my hands.
"No-o-o!" the man screamed with bulging eyes, watching as my dagger, returning to me, pierced the woman's chest again, finally killing her. I landed on my feet and grabbed the daggers, standing opposite the man. "You'll regret this!"
"Look, you really managed to turn things around. I wonder if you can see it through to the end?" Asura chuckled, clearly deciding to actively comment on the last minutes of the battle.
I didn't answer him, but only activated a wind step, heading towards the man, simultaneously preparing a wind dash. He didn't stand still like a statue but used the wind blade vortex, which was already ready. It appeared right in my path, but unfortunately for him, the wind dash was already ready. I soared above the vortex, sending both daggers into it, accelerated by the dash. He naturally tried to defend himself, covering his vital points with his hands, which still had armor.
The daggers hit his hands directly, bouncing off. However, he also staggered back a couple of steps, and blood flowed from the places where the daggers hit, and the armor itself was covered in cracks. Landing, I retrieved my daggers and, using a wind step, continued my advance. The man tried to take another step back, but it was too late. The shock of the blow and the death of his loved ones had dulled his reaction, and I was too close.
With one dagger, I pierced his chest, with the second, his abdomen. On his face, just like on the woman's, shock and despair froze. His body slowly slid off the daggers and collapsed to the ground. I remained standing, breathing heavily. My suit was practically torn to shreds and covered in blood, not only from the enemies but also from my own. The hands holding the daggers trembled from overexertion, almost letting them go. My legs also buckled.
The effect of the internal energy awakening had completely passed, so all the pain from the wounds returned. I had many burns from poison, a couple of ribs were definitely broken, as well as multiple bruises and other unpleasantries. Besides all this, the curse magic had inflicted significant, though not critical, damage on my soul, which also caused pain throughout my body. My magical powers were drained almost to zero, and my mental ones were working on credit, so my head was splitting in half. Besides the usual pain, everything swam before my eyes, and I could hardly concentrate on anything. I just stood there stupidly, unable to even move a finger.
After a couple of seconds, I coughed, bent over, and spat out a large puddle of blood. I literally started shaking, so I fell to my knees and braced myself with my hands on the ground. Returning the daggers to my spatial bracelet, I began to look around, searching for Xu Chao Tina, the one for whom all this was arranged. After half a minute, I found him to the side; he was not harmed at all.
"And what now? You wiped out all the enemies, but who will drag him to safety? Did you think about that?" Asura's voice sounded in my head.
"Hahahaha!" I laughed hysterically, throwing my head back, then slid the mask off my face, letting the accumulated blood flow down. "That was fun," I said through panicked laughter, and then spat blood again. "Who will drag him? I will, of course," I said, exhaling, my entire chin and half my face smeared with blood.
I got to my feet, overcoming immense pain, and walked over to Xu Chao Tina, who seemed to be starting to wake up, but I hit him on the head, and he quieted down. Grabbing him by the ropes, I dragged him away from here. As I left, I threw an open lure from my spatial bracelet into the center of the clearing and hurried to leave as quickly as possible.
It was unbearably difficult to walk, but dragging Xu Chao Tina was even harder. A couple of times I vomited blood again, my face became paler and paler, and my limbs heavier and heavier. The sun had already appeared from behind the horizon, so if I didn't hurry, I could easily be seen when trying to get back to the old man's house.
After about forty minutes, I reached the outskirts of the city, where I left Xu Chao Tina. Of course, I had previously cut the ropes and brought him to his senses as much as possible. When he started to wake up, I simply hid around the corner. He should be fine; after all, he's a mid-level mage, not an ordinary person.
"And just like that, you leave him after what you did, hahahaha!" Asura laughed. "Now he should patch us up with the old man."
I didn't answer him, but still, as he said, I headed to the old man's house as quickly as possible, hoping he would be there. After another twenty minutes, fortunately, unnoticed by anyone, I reached the old man's house, barely alive. Barely moving my legs, I entered and headed straight for the kitchen. The old man was sitting there drinking tea; when he saw me, his eyes widened in shock. Then there was anger, as if he was ready to kill me on the spot. But soon his face showed surprise again, and he caught me when I started to fall.
"What happened? What kind of predicament did you get into to come back half-dead?" the old man bombarded me with questions, dragging me to the training hall. I hardly listened to him; my consciousness gradually drifted into some distance. "Besides, in this battle, you awakened and were able to feel internal energy, so that's why I'll help you, not finish you off!" he said sternly, laying me on the floor.
The last thing I remember is the old man pouring some gray liquid into my mouth. I didn't taste it. After that, he quickly undressed me and began to rub me with something. After that, my eyes closed, and my consciousness drifted into darkness.