School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 214 --Annihilation

Following Owen’s strike, both Old Gun and Kate lost their will to fight.

The once deadly adversaries set aside the hatred born from their struggle for dominance.

What was the point?

It was nothing more than a petty squabble, akin to ants fighting.

For people like them, the greatest tragedy was to spend half a lifetime striving, achieving a modicum of success and confidence, only to have it effortlessly shattered by a true powerhouse.

The next day, as Owen walked past Old Gun and Kate, they still dared not look at him.

Their expressions seemed to lament how much better things would be without him.

Without him, they could have contentedly observed their small patch of sky from the bottom of the well, blissfully unaware of the broader world.

An unlikely friendship formed between the two men, akin to wild beasts licking each other’s wounds.

Owen was disdainful of this.

He was the strongest and he had the right to be so.

Being powerful was wonderful; it meant he could do as he pleased without bearing any responsibilities.

Breathing in the sweet air at his leisure, Owen hurried eastward for another forty miles, eager to meet the witch and see what kind of woman had driven the world into a frenzy.

His mood was somewhat exhilarated, yet his strength still allowed him to sense everything happening around him.

As Owen passed a stretch of road flanked by woods, he smirked and halted his horse.

"What’s the matter, my lord?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"We’re off to watch a play," Owen replied, tying his horse to a tree by the roadside and carrying Rose into the woods.

They landed beside a large tree, where Owen concentrated and made himself and Rose invisible to others, looking out over a clearing in the forest.

In the clearing, a middle-aged man appeared, dressed like a wandering martial artist.

He looked ahead warily as a handsome young man jumped down from a tree.

This young man was an asura, and Owen, hidden in the shadows, felt a headache coming on.

The young man was dressed in white, his hair cascading down with a devil-may-care aura, approaching the middle-aged man without a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

"Do you want to know why I’m hunting you?" the middle-aged man asked.

The young asura responded, "I’m not interested."

"Really? You don’t want to know?"

"Maybe if you get down on your knees and beg, I might be interested."

The middle-aged man didn’t reply, but the murderous intent in his eyes intensified, his anger clear for even a fool to see.

"Hmph, it’s simply because I killed the men you sent into my army’s territory. Lucky you found out I personally led a team into your territory for intelligence. You’ve killed plenty of my men too. Unfortunately, you’ve underestimated my strength. Those you sent to kill me are now waiting for you underground," said the young asura, his demeanor calm.

"So what?" the middle-aged man retorted.

"You seem very confident."

"Ha ha ha, we asuras are born to be strong, confidence is our hallmark."

"After all this talk, I still don’t know your name. It’s infuriating, my people have spent a long time and still don’t know your real name."

"Ha ha ha."

The young asura laughed, "Steven, is that the best you can do? Let me tell you my real name is..."

Before he could finish, the smile on the young asura’s face vanished.

Steven took advantage of his distraction to charge at him, seizing the initiative.

"Siro, prepare to die."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Steven appeared in front of the young Asura, a heavy punch aimed straight for Siro’s face.

The force of the punch was so fierce that it broke the branches of the giant trees behind Siro, who couldn’t help but show a look of disdain, even as he forcefully blocked Steven’s punch.

With a loud crash, the powerful impact created a huge fan-shaped crater behind them.

Despite the force, neither man stepped back, but Steven’s fist was firmly caught by Siro.

Siro taunted, "I thought your despicable sneak attack would be a bit more formidable."

"Pity, I’m not as familiar with sneak attacks as you demons are," Steven retorted, summoning all his strength and sending a flurry of punches towards Siro.

Bang, bang, bang! After dozens of exchanges, Siro took advantage of a gap in Steven’s assault to retreat.

Standing ten meters away, he looked at Steven and laughed, "Impressive fervor, but your speed is lacking."

This provocation only fueled Steven’s anger further.

Siro continued to provoke, "If that’s all you’ve got, I suggest you give up resisting. It’ll save you some pain at least!"

"Shut your damn mouth!"

This curse seemed to fully expose Steven’s current state of mind.

"You’re asking for it." Siro swung his hands, releasing a black mist laced with toxins towards Steven’s vital points.

A hit would paralyze the entire body.

But there was no fear in Steven’s eyes.

He shielded himself with his hands, and an arcanergy barrier instantly formed.

Siro’s black mist hit the barrier without penetrating.

"Go!" Steven roared, propelling the barrier forward.

It crashed into Siro’s poison mist, shattering into pieces.

Boom, boom, boom!

After several loud explosions, the protective barrier shattered into pieces and vanished into thin air, but at the same time, Siro’s poison gas was neutralized.

"Nice technique, too bad you’re not one of my demon army."

"You’re not bad yourself, pity you’re not human."

"Hahaha!"

"Hehehe!"

Both men burst into laughter, then almost simultaneously stopped.

They eyed each other, preparing for their final attacks.

The woods were silent except for the wind, and the air was sweet.

The two combatants were fully concentrated, gathering their strength in the shadows, yet neither had made their move.

Hidden in the shadows, Owen was beginning to find the standoff somewhat boring.

He even considered intervening to give them a taste of what Old Gun and Kate had felt.

Siro was certain Steven would lose his patience first and make the initial move, fully convinced he had ignited Steven’s rage.

All he needed was patience; Steven would make the first move, presenting a flaw for him to exploit for a lethal strike.

Five minutes later, Steven acted, launching countless punches towards Siro, who stood his ground, countering with innumerable palm winds to neutralize Steven’s assault.

Seeing his attacks ineffective, Steven suddenly leaped towards Siro, aiming to decide the outcome with a deadly punch.

Siro saw his opportunity, a sly smile creeping across his face.

As he sidestepped into the air to meet Steven, from the sleeve of his left arm, he slid out a dagger laced with deadly poison.

Concentrating all his strength into his left hand, he slashed down at Steven’s right arm.

He thought he had won! Yet, this belief lasted less than a second before Steven’s left hand twisted his neck in that instant.

He fell to the ground, consciousness fading, but in the final moments before his awareness vanished, his mind was filled with the thought: How can such a person exist?

"Do you really think I would be provoked into rage by you? Fool, that was just a performance for your benefit."

Black blood sprayed from Steven’s severed arm as he stemmed the flow, speaking to the corpse on the ground: "Even in death, even if I lose all my comrades, even if I lose everything. I will fight against you and the demon army to the end, even if in the end no one acknowledges my existence."

"Is that so?" Owen appeared, his tone colder than ever before.

"Who are you?" Despite his grave injury, the sudden appearance of Owen filled Steven with dread.

"Someone who has fought countless battles against the demon army and its allies."

"Then pass a message to General Ferris for me; I have eliminated Siro."

"General Ferris, what is that?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Owen infused Steven with a bit of arcanergy to delay his death.

"Do you know? There are many people like you!"

Owen’s gaze was vacant, as if talking to himself: "For their kin, for the land beneath their feet, who isn’t like this?"

"The demon army seems to be fighting for this too, right? Do you know what’s the most terrifying thing?"

"The most terrifying thing is sometimes I feel this war has no right or wrong. From their own perspective, everyone believes they’re in the right, and those who die, die without meaning."

"You’re insane."

"Yes, I am insane."

"I’ve long felt something was off with me, but now, I feel quite good. Look how sweet the air is, mixed with the sickly scent of blood."

Steven thought he was truly facing a madman, one who believed eradicating the demon army was justice, yet spouted incomprehensible theories.

"You, you’ll eventually betray the human race," Steven blurted out involuntarily.

"Betrayal, huh? I recall I’ve killed a traitor or two of high rank," Owen seemed to drift into distant memories, "One last traitor never got settled, but no matter. You’re calling me a traitor?"

"Anyone who thinks like you is a traitor."

"Oh..."

Owen lifted Ice, not bothering to draw the blade from its scabbard, and struck down at Steven on the ground.

Once, twice, thrice...

He lost count of how many times he hit, and by the time he snapped back to reality, Steven had long ceased to breathe.

The feeling of being unaccountable was truly liberating.

He thought to himself as he turned around to embrace Rose, who was standing behind him, and walked back to the main road.