Chapter 59: Fangs
The scorching flames, as blazing as the midday sun, illuminated the night like the brilliance of daylight.
A surge of immense force suddenly struck against Andre’s arms.
In the next instant, the exploding blaze and firelight instantly engulfed Andre and the several meters around him, decorations and foliage on both sides of the street were utterly reduced to ash and dust under the sweeping inferno.
A trace of shock finally appeared on Andre’s face.
This was not an effect that could be achieved by a fire arrow formed through bloodline power!
With a suspicion already forming in his mind, Andre had no time to worry about the upheaval in his body caused by the impact.
He spread his arms wide, and flames coiled around them, transforming into solid brilliance.
[Raging Overlord Fist]!
Without hesitation, he launched a punch forward.
“Ding—”
A metallic clash rang out sharply.
As he had expected, the edge of Andre’s fist collided directly with the tip of a longsword.
The moment the two flames touched, they exploded into a massive burst of fire.
A fiery pillar far more immense than what Andre had released earlier surged skyward.
Moreover, unlike the previous pillar which simply tore through the sky in a straight line, this one spiraled upward with intertwining flames, like two giant fire serpents wrestling each other.
When it reached a certain height, it suddenly burst like an overinflated balloon, expanding violently before exploding into a rain of fire.
This fiery rain had an extremely strong adhesive quality. Anything it touched could not resist its burning power.
Even stone tiles and green tiles were quickly pierced through by the falling fire droplets.
When the surrounding civilians who failed to dodge were touched by these fire specks, they could only emit pained screams.
Tragically, even when they immediately dropped to the ground and rolled in an attempt to extinguish the flames, they found in horror that their rolling only caused the fire to spread further, ultimately igniting them entirely, as though they were fuel.
In an instant, the street around them was filled with hundreds of human-shaped torches.
Andre’s face turned pale.
He knew very well that his battle art absolutely could not produce such an effect.
[Raging Overlord Fist] was renowned purely for its dominance and explosiveness.
When his punch landed, the flame would be ignited by the bloodline power within him and detonate like a military fire barrel at close range, with formidable impact.
Crucially, the explosive flame’s destructive power never harmed himself. That was why the Billy Family dared to engage in close combat with their enemies.
But now, since this rain of fire falling from the sky wasn’t caused by him, then who else could it be?
It could only be Yam Soderbell!
Because the only opponent currently facing him was this one!
However, what Andre didn’t know was that Yam and Akar were also startled by the strange phenomenon brought about by this fiery downpour.
Akar knew that his older brother had successfully mastered the battle art [Flame Stream Strike].
But in truth, this art merely allowed his flames to become more condensed and enabled him to project sword aura formed by flames to strike enemies within about ten meters, the most lethal range being between five to seven meters. Within this range, the flaming sword aura possessed maximum killing power.
So, what Akar had done earlier was essentially exploiting Andre’s arrogance to lure him within seven meters, allowing Yam to launch a surprise attack.
But they hadn’t anticipated that Andre would react so swiftly in actual combat.
Even with his line of sight obstructed, the moment he blocked Yam’s sword aura and realized the enemy had changed, he immediately countered with his strongest killing move.
This level of combat instinct and judgment, both Yam and Akar had to admit they could not match it.
What followed, the fiery rain, unleashed an even more unprecedented phenomenon.
These flames… felt as if they possessed sentience, as if in that moment, lifeless fire had become a living thing.
In that instant, both Yam and Akar had the same thought: these flames were feeding!
“You…” Andre stared in horror.
Then he saw that Yam and Akar themselves also had to evade the falling fiery rain.
Among them, Yam dodged with the greatest ease.
The flames that clung and could not be extinguished were dispersed instantly when struck by Yam’s longsword, which burned like flowing firelight; but Akar did not have such ability.
He had to constantly draw his bowstring and release arrows, using the fire arrows’ long-range properties to intercept the flames heading his way.
At that moment, Andre understood clearly.
These strange flames now falling from the sky, were undoubtedly connected to Yam!
He didn’t know why, but even Yam seemed unable to control these flames, resulting in a complete loss of control and a scene that now resembled a natural disaster.
But right now was a rare and excellent opportunity!
Without a second thought, Andre turned and fled.
At this moment, he had fully understood.
When he first heard Akar say that killing him was Lord Dean’s command, he hadn’t believed it.
But when Yam also appeared, he knew Lord Den truly intended to kill him.
And this had to be the will of Marquis Visen.
As the foremost lackey of the Kasein Family, Andre knew even Monica didn’t have the authority to give orders to Dean. The only one who could command Dean’s actions was the head of the Kasein Family, the lord of Red Eagle Territory, Marquis Visen.
So shrewd was he that in a single moment, he had already figured out the whole scheme: Marquis Visen intended to annex Gem Territory!
And the letter Monica Kasein had previously sent to his father, claiming that after taking Red Soil Territory, they would fully support the reconstruction and economic revival of Gem Territory, looking back, it was all just rhetoric meant to placate his father.
The Kasein Family might indeed be planning to restore Gem Territory’s economy and population, but it wasn’t to help the Billy Family recover, it was purely for the Kasein Family’s own restoration!
And it took no thought at all for Andre to realize who the Kasein Family had chosen as the successor of Gem Territory.
His dear little sister, Anna Billy.
But—
They still had a chance.
As long as he could escape the pursuit of the Soderbell brothers and regroup with his father, or even with other lords or Bloodline Knights, then the Soderbell Family brothers would completely lose their chance to kill him.
At that point, they would instead be the ones forced to endure Marquis Visen’s wrath for failing their task.
Likewise, now that Andre had seen through Marquis Visen’s intentions, there was no way he would continue to harbor any loyalty toward him.
Though he hadn’t yet decided whom the Billy Family should turn to once the Soderbell brothers were dead, he at least knew this much: he had to survive this crisis first, before thinking about anything else.
Therefore, Andre no longer had any will to linger and fight. He lowered his head and sprinted with all his might.
“Akar!” Yam gave a low shout and immediately gave chase.
Akar also promptly followed.
However, he didn’t dare to pursue across the rooftops, because his method of attack was far too conspicuous.
At this moment, if he drew his bow from atop a roof, his identity would be fully exposed, inevitably drawing the attention of other Bloodline Knights. And once others discovered they were hunting Andre, there would be no way to explain themselves. Worse, they might even become scapegoats.
Still—
Seeing Andre fleeing like that, Akar actually breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
Because the fiery rain still continued to fall from the sky, the commotion here had already attracted the attention of many within Red Soil City.
It was likely that someone would soon interpret this firestorm as a signal and rush to provide backup.
So if Andre didn’t flee, they might have found themselves in even more trouble.
Now that Andre had turned to run, while the situation was veering out of control, it had also eased the potential for things to escalate further.
Akar took a deep breath.
The moment he escaped the range of the falling fire, he drew his warbow to full draw.
Scorching flames gathered between his hands and transformed into a massive flaming long arrow.
His three drawing fingers cracked slightly, and just as blood beads welled up at his fingertips, they turned into wisps of blood-red smoke.
Akar’s complexion, too, paled at an astonishing rate.
“Dng—”
The vibration of the bowstring stirred the air.
The flame-engulfed fire arrow turned into a blazing crimson light bolt and shot through the air.
The scent of burnt flesh quickly spread through the air.
The blazing light bolt shot forth like a meteor, its tail flame searing the air in its path and leaving behind a flaming trail across the ground.
A terrifying aura of death instantly enveloped Andre.
In that moment, he clearly realized that if he did nothing to stop it, he would undoubtedly die right there and then!
So he didn’t dare to continue sprinting wildly, because the speed of those flaming light bolts was even faster than his running pace!
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to dodge—
However, Yam pursued him with unrelenting ferocity, leaving Andre no room to dodge at all, in fact, Andre didn’t even dare to dodge recklessly.
In his eyes, Yam was an even more terrifying viper than Akar. If he attempted to evade, Yam’s strength would undoubtedly allow him to seize that fleeting opening. At that point, escape would truly become impossible.
With a sudden, explosive shout—
The flames on Andre’s arms surged upward violently, almost making it seem as if two massive pillars had sprouted from either side of his body.
[Raging Overlord Fist]!
A dual strike!
Andre launched punches with both fists at once.
This was the result of eight months of relentless training!
Originally, he had intended to use this technique to decisively crush and slay Yam in their next duel.
But at such a critical life-and-death juncture, he dared not hold anything back. He could only regret that this punch hadn’t come sooner, had he used it in their first clash, he might not have ended up in this situation.
Andre’s fists pounded toward the massive fire arrow.
“Split!”
But at that very moment, Akar suddenly let out a shout as well.
The blazing light bolt, over a meter in length, instantly exploded apart, transforming into six shorter light bolts.
These split evenly into three on each side, curving around Andre’s arms to strike at his flanks.
“What!?”
A flicker of surprise appeared on Andre’s face.
But he quickly adjusted his stance, retracting his outstretched fists toward both sides and leaping a large step backward, attempting to evade the six scattered light bolts that were now targeting every angle of his body.
Yet, almost in the exact instant Andre raised his arms to block from either side, Yam, still over twenty meters away, suddenly appeared right before him as if the distance had been erased.
The longsword in his hand thrust straight for Andre’s throat.
This scene appeared as though Andre had abandoned all defense, presenting an open target for Yam’s attack.
Despair flooded Andre’s eyes.
He finally realized clearly, this was a death trap meticulously laid for him by the Soderbell brothers!
“Pch—”
The longsword pierced through Andre’s throat.
Yam, expressionless, swung his sword in a horizontal arc.
In an instant, he tore through half of Andre’s neck.
He did not ignite Andre’s body with flame. In fact, even when his sword pierced through Andre’s throat, he had withdrawn the fire from the blade.
The kill was done purely through his own strength and the sharpness of the weapon.
No trace of “flame” was left behind.