Rise of the Crusader

215 Fight On The Mountain

A deep frown emerged on the faces of Karmau and the other death merchants.

They stared at Vernon with eyes glowing with killing intent.

Clearly, Vernon paid no heed to the prowess of the assassin division, or else how could he have obliterated a hundred of students without batting an eye?

Vernon suddenly sneered, “Not bad, the five of you have grown a bit stronger than our last encounter.”

“But, where is that fellow of yours,” Vernon muttered

“Oh, Orpheus, isn’t it? He is the most decent person among the six of you, so how come he isn’t here.” Said Vernon with a puzzled expression.

And as no response came from the five in front of him, Vernon continued, “It can’t be that the five of you intend of taking me down, with his help, right?”

“Hahaha!!! How laughable.” Vernon laughed hard.

It came as no surprise that the five death merchants were rather composed, despite Vernon’s demeanor.

.....

They were among the strongest and most dangerous students in the first year, but despite their reputation and the power which they possessed, Vernon didn’t seem to treat them in any regard.

To him, they were more like pigs waiting to be butchered.

Suddenly, Karmau turned towards Mystique, he continued to stare at her, but once he received a nod of the head from Mystique, a hammer appeared in his hand.

A war hammer, to be precise.

The long-handled hammer with a heavy head of iron was covered in a greenish substance that wrecked nothing but murderous intent.

Even other the other four death merchants had seen the hammer several times upon its arrival in Karmau’s hand, the four of them moved a few steps away from him.

As for Vernon, he remained laying on the mountain, with his hand behind his head, but a sinister smile was now on his face.

“Hehe!” Vernon chuckled.

He didn’t seem to be frightened by the presence of the war hammer, instead, he appeared to be even more relaxed than he had been a few moments ago.

It wasn’t even up to a second after the war hammer appeared on Karmau’s hand, and the four death merchants had a weapon wrapped around their hand.

As eight shurikens appeared in between Mystique’s fingers, a recurve composite bow and appeared on Nyssa.

It didn’t simply end there, as Akuma had four little stones in between his hand, while Nikita’s eyes went from brown to purple immediately.

“If you mean business, then you leave me no other choice,” Vernon said lazily.

And right before the eyes of the four death merchants, Vernon slowly stood from the mountain.

His eyes were still shut closed, but after stretching his hand, and then yawning a bit, his eyes sprang open.

A vibrant blue eyes like an aqua jewel appeared before the four on the mountain. Before those eyes, even the most priceless jewel seemed to pale in comparison.

And even though this wasn’t the first time, Karmau and the other death merchants were seeing Vernon opening his eyes, they couldn’t help but be dazzled by the beauty of it.

“Close your eyes, quickly!” Mystique’s voice suddenly rang out, removing the four beside her from the trance state they were in.

Whether it was Nyssa or even Mystique herself, the five of them closed their eyes immediately.

They assumed a battle stance, seemingly ready to make a move on the slightest bit of movement they heard or felt in the surrounding.

“Sigh…” Vernon shook his head.

Seeing how the five of them had reacted to him opening his eyes, he didn’t hide how disappointed he was in them.

And despite their eyes being closed, they could picture the look on Vernon’s face as this wasn’t the first time, he had reacted this way.

However, this wasn’t enough reason for them to open their eyes. The death merchants had been through this and were certain that if they wanted to win this battle or even come out alive, their eyes needed to be closed.

“Fine, then… I will just take it that, you want me to send you to hell as soon as possible.” Followed by a crackle of knuckle from Vernon, he moved.

The five death merchants seem to have been waiting for a move from Vernon, and once he took a step forward, the five of them launched at him.

A formation was soon made by four ahead. With Karmau leading the attack, and Nikita behind him.

Akuma stood on the left side, while Mystique stuck to the right. And as for Nyssa, she remained still, with one hand on the bow, and the other on the arrow.

The distance between Vernon and Karmau was soon close, and with a fast and yet steady release of her finger, Nyssa’s made the first attack on Vernon.

The arrow moved swiftly, and within the blink of an eye, it was close to making contact with Vernon.

Time to slow down during that moment, and with Vernon leaving his guard wide open, the arrow was with no doubt going to penetrate deep into his body.

However, just as the arrow was to make contact with Vernon’s chest, an arrow much similar to the one that was fired emerged from Vernon’s chest.

“Shit, we were too slow!” Karmau lamented.

As once the arrow appeared it ripped through the arrow in front of it, and with a speed that defied what was proven by scientists, it charged toward the death merchants ahead.

The arrow’s speed as well as power was five times that of the one that was fired, and as if sensing the destructive force that was present in the arrow, Mystique yelled.

“Don’t try to attack it!”

Even before Mystique’s yells, it was already intended to not attack the arrow, and instead to dodge it.

The five death merchants were decisive and also quick, and before the arrow would deliver fatal damage to any one of them, they hurried away.

Vernon smirked, “You know, I expected better from you all, considering the five of you are now A-Rank metahuman.”

“But, if this is the best you can come up with, then I better just lay down,” said Vernon.

There was a burst of laughter from Karmau after Vernon spoke.

“That was simply a warm-up, to determine how much you have grown, Vernon. The real battle is just about to begin.” Karmau uttered with complete confidence.

The expression on Vernon’s face still however remained the same.

He had heard all sorts of bluffs from several individuals in the world, and despite all that was said by them, they still ended up being killed by him… So, Karmau’s words were indifferent to him.

“Un” Vernon suddenly mumbled.

Much to his surprise, a second after Karmau spoke, he opened both of his eyes.

And with another war hammer appearing in his left hand, Karmau’s eyes flickered, and he said, “Now, let’s dance.”