"Akeno, can you keep going?" Fang Qin asked, worry evident in his voice between ragged breaths.
Taking a deep breath, Akeno stood back up, his face marked by exhaustion. He struggled to stay on his feet beside his master. "It's going to be difficult... We absolutely need to keep him immobilized for thirty seconds..."
"Do you have a plan?"
Glancing at the branch master and then into the forest where a hundred of his clones still hid, waiting in the shadows for the order to strike, Akeno inhaled deeply.
"If we can hold him still long enough, I can seal him."
"Seal him?" A flash of determination lit up Fang Qin's face. Tightening his grip on his sword's hilt, he declared with confidence, "In that case, I'll do everything to keep him restrained!"
...
On the sect members' side, they had already left, running as fast as possible toward Hope City.
Within the group, Chikara and Maiko glanced behind them from time to time, worried about Kaede, who had stayed behind to help Akeno.
...
At the underground base, about fifteen demonic cultivators emerged, soaked and panting.
Mo Tian stood at the front of the group, his eyes burning with rage. They had drained a significant portion of their Qi just to survive.
"Follow me!" As long as the mayor was still standing, even in their exhausted state, victory was assured.
With that in mind, Mo Tian led the remaining group to follow the mayor's trail and track down those who had attacked them.
...
Unaware that multiple enemies were heading their way, Akeno and Fang Qin stood before the mayor, now reinvigorated with a new fighting spirit.
"Tell me, Fang Qin, this is quite the remarkable domain I see here. Worthy of you. If I step on one of these lotuses, your blade will be at my throat. But what happens if I simply stop walking on the ground?" the mayor asked calmly, rising a few meters into the air.
"Problem," both Akeno and Fang Qin thought at the same time.
The Hundred Lotus Technique was a purely ground-based technique and was far inferior to the Thousand Lotus Technique, which the sect carefully preserved as an inheritance for its leaders and elite members.
More advanced, it was said that the Thousand Lotus Technique could create a thousand lotuses at once, on both land and air, and even allowed those below the Rebirth stage to step on the lotuses and soar into the skies.
For Fang Qin, who had been exiled to Hope City and was not held in high regard by the sect's leaders, obtaining such a technique was impossible.
"One minute," Akeno murmured to Fang Qin.
"What do you mean?"
"We end this in one minute," Akeno said darkly. He was beginning to doubt his decision to come to Hope City.
Who said Hope City was peaceful!?
Calming his mind, he probed Reibi, sealed within his body, and checked how much more dark chakra he could extract.
Reibi was different from other demons; he needed to feed on negative emotions to produce chakra, making his reserves dependent on the surrounding darkness.
Without negative emotions to harvest, his supply of dark chakra was limited.
After creating a thousand clones and using it against the mayor, Reibi's reserves had fallen dangerously low.
"There's no choice but to try," Akeno thought, extracting another dose of chakra from Reibi. A black aura once again enveloped his body.
1 second!
Akeno suddenly disappeared from the mayor's field of vision, reappearing immediately behind him at an incredible speed. Ninja movement techniques had certainly not lost their effectiveness.
He channeled chakra into his right hand, creating a half-formed vortex of dark chakra, which he slammed into the mayor's back, sending him crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact, shattering the earth around him.
As the mayor hit the ground, Fang Qin appeared in front of him, his sword raised against the mayor's throat.
Dodging with all his might, the mayor couldn't comprehend how the situation kept shifting.
One moment, he seemed on the verge of victory; the next, he was staggering under relentless attacks.
"Enough!" Rushing toward Fang Qin, the mayor was once again struck by Akeno, forcing him to the ground.
Unlike before, he now felt his internal organs violently shaken.
For Akeno, it was a slight disappointment that he still couldn't perfectly form a Rasengan.
Lacking full mastery of the technique, Akeno settled for creating a semi-vortex of chakra in his hand to strike.
At least his attack was effective, which was enough for now.
10 seconds!
Dodging the mayor's attack, Akeno knew he had to hurry and keep chaining attacks without wasting a single second.
While Akeno ensured the mayor remained grounded, Fang Qin unleashed rapid strikes aimed at the mayor's neck. He wasn't as strong as the mayor, but with his perfect mastery of the technique, he could match his speed and deal serious damage within his domain.
Gradually, the mayor lost focus, his movements slowed, his organs battered, and his throat covered in cuts.
20 seconds!
"STOP!" the mayor shouted, unleashing an explosion of Qi.
The blast of Qi sent Akeno and Fang Qin flying, interrupting their relentless attacks and giving the mayor a chance to take flight and escape.
But just as he lifted a few centimeters off the ground, two golden chains made of chakra shot up from the ground and wrapped around his legs before he could get any further.
"Kaede!" Akeno thought, recognizing the adamantine sealing chains.
Dragged back to the ground, the mayor felt his Qi weaken, losing all ability to fly. "What is this?!"
Emerging from the earth, Kaede appeared before the mayor with a wide grin. "Got you!"
Seeing the chains binding him connected to the little red-haired girl in front of him, the mayor was livid. "You little brat!"
Still wielding his sword, the mayor hadn't lost all his strength despite the chains.
These chains were overwhelmingly powerful but were primarily used by the Uzumaki clan to seal chakra.
Fortunately, it seemed the chains could also seal a portion of the enemy's Qi.
Interrupting an attack with dark chakra, Akeno sent the mayor crashing into the ground again before he could even touch a single hair on Kaede's head.
"Now!"
30 seconds!
From all directions, a hundred faceless clones dressed as assassins emerged from the forest, forming hundreds of hand seals.
Initially panicked, Fang Qin was about to attack the newcomers but stopped when Akeno raised his hand, signaling that everything was under control.
Sensing his impending end, the mayor struggled even harder.
Kaede had successfully bound his legs, but his arms were still free.
Meanwhile, Akeno could no longer sustain Reibi's chakra and completely sealed the mark on his stomach, cutting off the chakra flow into his body.
Feeling severe backlash, Akeno nearly collapsed but forced himself to stay awake, keeping a distant watch on the mayor.
40 seconds!
The clones completed their seals, Kaede maintained her chains, and only Fang Qin was left fighting the mayor.
Even with a large portion of his Qi sealed, the mayor could still fight Fang Qin on equal footing within his domain.
It was the difference of a cultivation stage.
Without Akeno interfering, the mayor could focus entirely on Fang Qin. Despite his reduced Qi, his strikes were still powerful enough to uproot trees, and his speed was nearly invisible to the naked eye for cultivators below the Rebirth stage.
Fang Qin was already out of breath, and like Akeno, he couldn't last much longer. His Qi reserves were nearly empty, and he was now fighting purely with swordsmanship.
50 seconds!
"Fang Qin! I will kill you all!"
But as the mayor and Fang Qin fought, in a moment of inattention, a bracelet on the mayor's right wrist was sliced off and fell to the ground.
Suddenly, Akeno's clones, still empowered by Reibi, felt an overwhelming surge of negative emotions from the mayor. It was almost tangible.
In the seal on his stomach, Akeno felt an insatiable hunger coming from Reibi. No matter the changes in the mayor, Reibi harbored an irresistible urge to break free from the seal and pounce on him.
Even Fang Qin was taken aback by the sudden shift.
With a new look in his eyes, Fang Qin felt even more disgusted by the mayor. "So, you've been a demonic cultivator all along..."
Before their very eyes, the mayor's body began to transform—his eyes turned blood-red, blue veins bulged visibly across his skin, and his flesh took on a sickly, decayed hue. He now bore all the unmistakable signs of a cultivator who had fully fallen into the demonic path.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" he howled, completely consumed by madness.
1 minute!
After thirty seconds of forming hand seals, Akeno's clones all slammed their hands onto the ground, causing intricate patterns to rapidly spread toward the mayor.
Seeing the unfamiliar symbols crawl toward him, covering his body, the mayor screamed even louder, losing the last remnants of his sanity—until, at last, all of his Qi and strength were completely sealed away.
As his power vanished, his screaming stopped. Silence fell.
"...It's over... Master, you can have your revenge." Akeno, drenched in sweat, spoke calmly.
He knew it wasn't his place to execute the mayor. Fang Qin had waited far too long for this moment.
"Thank you," murmured Fang Qin.
Standing before the fallen mayor, Fang Qin looked down one last time at the man who had caused so much suffering—who had taken countless orphans, who had walked the path of darkness. He thought of the faces of the missing children from Hope City, of Xue Lian, of his disciples.
But just as he was about to swing his blade and end the man's life, the mayor's broken voice rang out.
"Fang Qin?"
Meeting the mayor's gaze, Fang Qin froze.
Gone was the crazed, bloodthirsty glare. Instead, it was the look of a man waking from a never-ending nightmare.
"What—" Hesitating before his enemy, Fang Qin was cut off as the mayor let out a heart-wrenching, tearful scream.
"What have I done?! No, no, no, NO!" the mayor wailed, as if his entire being had shattered.
It wasn't just Fang Qin—Akeno and Kaede, too, were bewildered by the sudden change in his demeanor.
Minutes passed. His cries eventually subsided, leaving behind a broken, trembling man. Slowly, he lifted his head, glanced at the sword in Fang Qin's hands, then lowered his head again, exposing his neck.
"What are you doing?" Fang Qin demanded, disgusted and furious.
The mayor's actions were bizarre, but Fang Qin had no intention of feeling pity for the man responsible for so many atrocities in Hope City.
"I beg you... kill me." The mayor's voice trembled, his eyes filled with tears.
His words ignited a deep rage within Fang Qin. "What did you just say!?"
Staring directly into Fang Qin's eyes, the weakened mayor shed even more tears.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Sorry? You're sorry? You bastard!" Fang Qin's hands shook. "After everything you've done... you dare ask for forgiveness?!"
His mind flashed with images of the missing children of Hope City, those who had vanished over the years. His fury boiled over.
The mayor kept his head bowed, motionless except for the occasional tremor.
"Who took the children!?" Fang Qin demanded coldly.
For what felt like a long moment, the mayor opened his mouth—then hesitated. His lips trembled before curling into a bitter smirk.
"I..." A broken chuckle escaped his lips. "Fang Qin, you shouldn't try to find out..."
Fang Qin narrowed his eyes. He felt no sympathy for the man before him. "Talk."
The mayor let out a sad, almost mocking smile.
"If I talk... I die. And if you dig too deep... you die."
He paused, his gaze drifting eastward—toward the capital. It was fleeting, but Fang Qin noticed it.
Stunned, Fang Qin struck the mayor. "Impossible! The Empire would never allow demonic cultivators! There's no way they could hide in the capital itself!"
Coughing up blood, the mayor didn't respond. He simply closed his eyes, as if accepting something inevitable.
After taking a few moments to stare at the fallen mayor, Fang Qin raised his sword. "Any last words?"
The mayor remained motionless, waiting for the end.
"Do as you will," he murmured.
With a resolute expression, Fang Qin swung his blade, cleanly severing the mayor's head.
Even if he had regained his senses after his Qi was sealed, his sins could not be erased, just like the hatred that consumed Fang Qin at that moment.
"Goodbye, Han Yan."