63- Amputation (3)

The others immediately followed the Bride of Nine Spiders to attack, and since they were surrounding Mason and Danny, attacks came from all directions.

Mason remained calm and unleashed one of his special moves, which unfortunately still remained nameless. Spiritual Energy and Divine Sense surged out together, and as the latter condensed the power of the Gravity Dao, Spiritual Energy merged with it.

The combined energies spread out like a thick, invisible bubble, catching everyone within. Before, Mason had used this technique on the demons, acting as a magnet to draw them in using the Concept of Pull. This time, he used the Concept of Push.

All of them were forcefully halted by Mason’s powerful Spirit before the bubble ‘popped’, and they were all pushed away. The effects were not as dramatic as they had been with the demons, though, since Mason had a dimensional advantage against the demons that he lacked against these possessed humans, and the power of gravity was also affected by mass.

Still, it forced them all on the back foot, and Mason used this moment to rush at Stick.

Mason knew that strategically, it would be better to use this moment to take one of the Immortal Weapons; they were the biggest threats present. But Mason disliked Stick, and he was certain he could finish him in a single move.

Perhaps there was something cruel about it, but Mason used the blade of his master to attack Stick. His slash was simple, bereft of much technique. And still, there was nothing Stick could do as it passed through his neck in one swift stroke.

Stick’s power not only came from his Martial Arts, but also from his psionics. Mason’s Spiritual Outburst had dealt quite the violent blow to everyone, but Stick and the disciples of the Chaste had felt it even more precisely because they were disciples of psionics. They were much more attuned to their Spirits, so any damage dealt to it was felt several times over.

A part of Mason expected Daredevil’s mentor to pull something at the last second, one last lifesaver, something to save him from the ultimate fate of all humans, but his head slid off his shoulders like any other ordinary human.

And that was when Mason noticed something. None of the members of the Chaste had shown any change with the death of their leader; they merely rushed forward to attack Mason. But among them, Izo did show something. He attacked, too, but his eyes had flickered to his dead disciple.

So, Mason decided to take a gamble.

Grabbing Danny by the shoulder, he repositioned the two of them, expertly dancing around the attacks like they were not being besieged by the very best martial artists on the planet.

This ease was only a manifestation of Mason’s accomplishments in martial arts so far. Not only was there an immense difference in power between even the sub-stages of the Awakening Master realm, but Mason’s martial techniques were that much superior.

All cultivators started out as martial artists, since it was only through the absolute mastery of a martial art that one could normally feel their Chi for the first time. This naturally ingrained that particular martial art into them.

This meant that even as they grew stronger, normal cultivators would retain the flaws of their martial arts, and forever remain incapable of using 100% of their prowess. After all, the point of martial arts was for a weak person to use their weak body to deal serious damage. In exchange for that, there came flaws, which were expressed by the rigidity of their art. And as they grew stronger, this rigidity became more prominent.

But since Mason had been able to sense Chi all along, he had been able to tailor his own martial art. While others mastered the martial arts of the weak, Mason mastered the martial art of the strong.

This resulted in the current situation, as even with someone like Fat Cobra, their rigidity turned them into little more than battering rams, while Mason moved like a flowing river. Slamming a battering ram into water would only cause a splash, and nothing more.

Of course, enough battering rams could hinder the path of the flowing river, and even as Mason dodged the strikes aimed at him, he noticed how they were tightening their encirclement around him and Danny. If things continued this way, they would form a tight enough space where it would become impossible to dodge.

Then came the moment Mason had been waiting for. Izo had been attacking just like the rest, his every attack aiming to kill. He was even slightly better than the rest, as he not only knew the most about Mason, but he also worked exceptionally well with the members of the Chaste.

And that was exactly what made Mason take his gamble. The moment he noticed that Izo was in the middle of the group, surrounded by multiple Immortal Weapons, he finally attacked by launching his cane sword at them.

The throw was aimed at the Steel Serpent, who held the power of the Crane Champion. Mason had heard there was a complicated history surrounding this guy, but the fact of the matter was that he held the Chi of the Immortal Beast from K’un-Zi, the Vermilion Bird. He had been harassing Mason with fire-covered fists.

The rigidity of martial artists was only relative to what Mason could do. They still remained formidable fighters, and so Steel Serpent easily dodged the sword.

"Kiyaah!"

An aged hand suddenly grabbed the cane sword in mid-air, and with a shout, Izo suddenly slashed his blade at Steel Serpent’s neck.

The Immortal Weapon did not leave even a single chance to defend himself; Izo’s battle cry forcefully stunned him as he violently beheaded Steel Serpent.

Unlike Mason’s earlier blow, which had been clean, all things considered, Izo’s strike sent Steel Serpent’s head flying immediately, a geyser of blood spurting out from the severed neck. Mason could immediately tell Izo had applied his own understanding of the Dao in that strike as the spraying blood moved too fast to be normal.

There was no effect as it splashed on the others, unfortunately, but going by the faint pressure he felt on his Spirit, Mason guessed it was supposed to work similarly to Izo’s cry, by suppressing the Spirit of whoever saw it.

This time, Steel Serpent’s death brought a much greater reaction as they all retreated, stopping the fight for a moment. Mason and Danny were still pinned against a wall, so they had nowhere to go, but the fighting had stopped.

And instead of joining the side of the Hand, Izo retreated alongside Mason and Danny, wiping at his eyes with his free hand. Unbelievably, the scarlet color disappeared from his eyes as they returned to normal.

The Immortal Weapons and members of the Chaste all asked as one, the surprise in their voices evident, "How is this possible?!"

Izo spat to the ground, sneering, "Pah, you think I got to survive all this time being a gullible moron like Stupid here?" Mason rolled his eyes at the insult, and Izo continued unperturbed, "But while he may be stupid, at least he understands it. There’s nothing worse than someone who overestimates their intelligence."

Mason wanted to argue, even if only internally, but he had to admit he had no idea whatsoever what was happening. Well, with one exception. The Beast was clearly stalling for time, to allow Wolverine to regenerate and enter the fight again. But Mason said nothing, since Danny also needed time to recover from his earlier Iron Fist punch.

Through its dominated underlings, the Beast growled, "You think this changes anything? I don’t need these stains alive; I have already grasped the essence of their Immortal Beasts. Killing them has no effect, and maybe my forces are not enough to kill your hammer, but all I need is the death of the Iron Fist. No matter how many you kill, it won’t change anything. But a single kill for me, and I will be freed from my prison."

Izo scoffed but said nothing, readying his blade. Mason was about to say something when Danny, who had still been hunched over, suddenly sprang up, rushing through the hole left by Wolverine earlier as he cried out, "Hold them, I’ll finish their weapon!"

Mason opened his mouth, dumbfounded by Danny’s absurd decision. Unfortunately, he could not stop Danny as the Beast’s forces chose this moment to strike also.