Chapter 53: The Slaying (Seventh Bonus Chapter for Contract Rankings)

The harm caused by an electrostatic shock to ordinary people is considerable. Among these so-called native warriors, few were truly professional soldiers—perhaps only the Eagle Tribe trained their warriors in the manner of Eagle Fighters, while most others were merely renowned hunters from their respective tribes. Without professional training, once their morale was broken, they could not reorganize themselves.

The destructive power of Liu Zhi’s electrostatic shock was not particularly lethal; apart from the two or three dozen native warriors closest to him who suffered serious injuries, the rest were merely knocked down and left with a numbing sensation. Yet this was enough to shatter their morale. When Liu Zhi’s undead began killing them, they could not mount a counterattack.

This presented Liu Zhi with an opportunity.

He charged into the crowd, entering a mode of ruthless slaughter. With the tip of his sword wrapped in wind blades, wherever he pointed, one or two native warriors were cleaved in half. The warriors were terrified—half their attention remained fixed on Liu Zhi. Whenever he looked their way, they screamed and ran, giving him no chance to strike.

What they did not know was that Liu Zhi’s right hand was already beginning to ache; he could still swing his sword, but could no longer unleash wind blades as before.

He glanced at his subordinates and the corpses of enemies scattered about, then decisively waved his hand. “Kill them all. Don’t let a single one escape.”

His skeletal warriors swiftly pursued the fleeing natives. The shambling corpses did not join the chase—not because Liu Zhi needed protection, for he had never considered himself a proper necromancer nor hid behind his undead. The shambling corpses simply moved too slowly; sending them after fleeing natives would only let them get away.

Once all the skeletal warriors had scattered, Liu Zhi strode slowly toward the field of corpses. He discarded his wooden sword and casually picked up a bronze longsword. Taking a deep breath, he turned to look at Black Kite, who was still battling Soul Naga.

Even with the native warriors slain or scattered, with Liu Zhi and the corpses watching him, Black Kite—held in place by the shield—remained unresponsive, just as before, forcibly blocking everything Soul Naga threw at him with the shield.

The faster the shield moved and the more dazzling its effects, the more uneasy Liu Zhi felt. If this was all, why did the shield persist in defense? Was it merely protecting Black Kite’s corpse, already charred by electricity?

With this suspicion in mind, Liu Zhi looked again and was startled to see Black Kite’s left hand, which held the shield, trembling slightly—seemingly unable to keep up with the shield’s speed.

Meanwhile, his right hand stayed pressed upon his bronze longsword, as if awaiting something.

A thought flashed through Liu Zhi’s mind. He was waiting—waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Realizing this, Liu Zhi observed closely and saw that Black Kite’s eyes remained tightly shut; previously, Liu Zhi had assumed he was dead. But it now seemed that Black Kite was not dead after all—he still had the power for one final attack.

With this in mind, Liu Zhi wasted no time. Raising his sword, he charged toward Black Kite.

His sudden involvement did not elicit much reaction from Black Kite; the shield was able to block Liu Zhi’s attacks as well, managing both sides with remarkable agility. Liu Zhi furrowed his brow—he understood now. The shield possessed speed beyond normal comprehension.

With a thought, Liu Zhi raised his hand and threw the longsword at Black Kite. The shield blocked it, but now Liu Zhi’s hands were free. He brought his palms together before his chest, and the Death Staff, which had been floating behind him, appeared in his grasp. He raised the Death Staff high and brought it down upon the shield.

This time, Liu Zhi used all his strength. As the Death Staff struck the shield, he pressed down with full force, restricting the shield’s mobility.

Soul Naga would not miss such an opportunity. Her body sprang forward, all four limbs making strange movements.

At that moment, Black Kite sensed something was amiss. His eyes flew open, fixing intently on Soul Naga’s chest. The bronze sword in his hand flashed like lightning, stabbing into the area of Soul Naga’s heart.

But Black Kite’s choice was mistaken. As an undead, Soul Naga’s weakness was not her heart—it was her head.

Even with the sword embedded, Soul Naga’s assault did not pause. Under twelve streaks of sword light, four large and small Z-shaped wounds appeared on Black Kite’s body.

Unlike Liu Zhi, who could only draw Z-shapes on living flesh, Soul Naga’s Z-shaped sword carried her own distinctive style.

As a naga, she wielded tremendous power. The secret Z-shaped sword technique, meant for stabbing and slicing, was used by her to devastating, cleaving effect.

After several heavy blows, Black Kite’s body was chopped into seven or eight fragments. His head rolled to a stop before Liu Zhi, landing at the shield pressed under his hand.

Liu Zhi noticed that Black Kite’s eyes seemed to open and gaze at him.

As their eyes met, a prompt appeared:

[Valuable soul discovered (green). Would you like to collect or absorb it?]

[Collect soul: Gain one standard unit of enhanced soul. Level 1 ghost creation success rate +52.1%, Level 1 skeleton creation success rate +2.7%, Level 1 zombie creation success rate +1.03%]

[Absorb soul: Acquire Aztec Eagle Warrior legion training methods for fledgling Eagle Warriors.]

Reading the last option, Liu Zhi’s eyes lit up. He remembered when he first arrived in this world, holding the golden pendant, two choices had appeared. If he could kill the treacherous descendant of Francisco Pizarro, he could use the artifact to summon a heroic spirit of an Inca warrior as his subordinate.

Alternatively, he could obtain the training methods for the Inca Empire’s Sun Warriors—said to be on par with the three major Aztec warrior groups.

In other words, this time he had obtained a reward equivalent to his initial choice.

With this realization, Liu Zhi’s gaze shifted to the diamond-shaped leather shield that had so effectively blocked Soul Naga’s attacks. An unexpected message appeared:

[Ding! You have discovered one fragment of the Aztec Altar. Would you like to absorb it into the Palace of the Underworld?]