Death... and me
chapter-156

In that moment of life and death, Lovak didn't panic. After being a bandit for so long, he definitely had had his own near-death experiences. Still, he came out on top and even cultivated all the way up to the Core Formation Realm. He was really a rarity considering his background.

Lovak didn't try to block and of the swords. Instead, he concentrated his entire Spiritual Energy on his legs and accelerated! It looked like a suicide answer, but surprisingly, it worked. It wasn't that Rean or Roan didn't react in time, but that their speed wasn't fast enough to cover for that. Thanks to that, the twins' attacks only left small cuts on his body. Nonetheless, Lovak was alarmed. That's because he understood there all six swords were real! He thought that from the six, four of them would be fake. Obviously, the six cuts around his body proved that he was wrong.

Even though Lovak escaped, Roan's mind was as clear as ever, and it also affected Rean, who was connected to him by the Light and Dark Thread in their souls.

'Turn!'

Almost with impeccable coordination, the twins made a turn and rushed at him. Lovak was taken aback by their movement, but when he noticed the twins' Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment, he snorted. He felt that those two wouldn't be able to reach him in time, so he was preparing to counter-attack.

Too bad, though. Lovak was still within their range!

'Death Style, First Form, Stellar Piercer!'

Two rays of dark and white were shot against his head and heart at a frightening speed. Lovak's heart couldn't help but skip a bit, seeing it. The inertia of his last acceleration was still acting on his body, so he wouldn't be able to turn to the sides in time.

"Ahhhh!"

Lovaks let out a shout, and his legs exploded with Spiritual Energy once more. Instead of trying to dodge to the sides, he stomped the ground with all his might, which immediately made his body soar in the air. Rean and Roan's Stellar Pierce missed the targets by a hair, but still hit his body, levy two small blood holes. However, Lovak was relieved. The places he got hit weren't that serious.

He had used his full strength to jump, but he isn't a Core and Fusion Realm cultivator. That being said, he can't use his Spiritual Energy to fly yet. Nonetheless, he could still use it to control his descent... or so he planned at first.

Before his body even reached half of the way into the air, Rean and Roan stopped right bellow him. If one looked closely, they would see an explosion of Light Element on Rean and Roan's Legs. Still, their instances made Lovak have a foreboding feeling. All his disdain for these young twins with mixed Black and White hair had already disappeared completely. In his eyes, they could totally fight at his levels and potentially kill him. Sure enough...

'Death Style, Fourth Form, Soaring Dragon!'

Rean and Roan soared in the skies at a speed that far surpassed Lovak's jump. They swords were sheathed, but Lovak's Spiritual Sense could tell the amount of Spiritual Energy inside their sheaths. The moment they bring their swords out, it would be a fearsome strike. Lovak was already feeling helpless.

'Just how many techniques those two know?'

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Lovak then used his Spiritual Energy to adjust his position as he brought his saber forth. Even though Rean and Roan acted in unison, there was a small difference in their ascension. Rean would reach him just a split of a second earlier than Roan. Lovak used the breath moment to parry Rean's attack with his saber.

*Bang! Crack!*

At that very moment, Lovak was shocked. He has a High-Level Spiritual Saber, but a small section of it was still damaged with that first parry. Yet, he didn't have time to think. He used the first strike force to maneuver his saber faster just in time to block Roan's one.

*Bang! Crack, Crack!*

Lovak was sent flying as Rean and Roan continued to soar for a while. However, Lovak didn't lose his concentration. He knows that the formation in his fort is in the enemy's hands, so he had to be ready to fend off any of the Spiritual Energy Swords of the formation. However, contrary to his expectations, not a single Spiritual Energy Sword appeared until now.

He finally landed on the ground and quickly looked around. All the Foundation Establishment Bandit were busy dealing with the formation. Reabar and Laxin were busy fighting Luina, who had the support of the formation. The only reason they were still holding Luina back was that the formation was also dealing with all the other bandits around. That being said, Sister Orb couldn't use more power to help Luina. Instead, she had to keep the rest of the bandits at bay, and it would take some time for her to get rid of them.

As for Oritis and Rolim, they had already entered the building where the hostages were being held. They would probably take some time before getting rid of all the enemies inside too.

Finally, Lovak understood, the formation was impressive, but it couldn't against him at the moment.

*Thud, thud.*

Lovak looked a few tens of meters away and saw that Rean and Roan had finally landed on the ground as well. More impressively was that the two of them began to walk in his direction with their sword in hands. Lovak then took a deep breath. He finally got rid of his passive instance, where he could only defend. Now, he can finally initiate his attacks as well.

"From your robes, it seems like you are from Dalamu and Lagan Sects. I have sent to the next world quite a few of your members, but it seems like your sects finally decided to take us seriously. Although you two are just kids, you are still the most fearsome enemies I ever battled. However, as long as I get rid of you two, I can win this battle. I will then leave this country and start a new group elsewhere. But first, you need to die."

Roan smiled before saying.

"As expected of a Core Formation Realm. Even though you are just in the Initial Stage, you are still alive after this many attacks. You said it right. As long as you take us down, our group will lose. But do you think it will be this easy?"

Lovak shook his head.

"It won't, but I'm confident in my strength."

Roan nodded.

"Good! Then you are worthy of being the first one to see this technique."

Lovak looked at them and understood that things were not good for his side. He raised his saber as Spiritual Energy began to run around his body at high speeds. One could hear the cracking of his bones and tighten the flesh, showing that he was using Spiritual Energy beyond what his body could handle.

'Rumbling Core!'

That was a skill that he developed himself during one of his moments of life and death. It increased his overall strength by almost 50%! However, he could only keep it for at most a minute. If he doesn't finish his enemy before that, his body will definitely collapse to the backlash.

As Lovak activated his technique, Rean and Roan did the same with theirs. They raised their swords against each other as they kept looking at Lovak. Light and Dark Element began to flow through both swords without stop. However, those elements weren't being exchanged through their Soul Connection alone. The Light and Dark elements also started to flow through the air, entering each other swords. At that moment, their limit of Elemental Exchanged was broken, raising to another level altogether. Both Exchanged Elements then ran through their swords and entered their bodies as well. At this moment, Rean and Roan had never used so much of each other's Dark and Light Element.

'Death Style, Fifth Form, Mirage Assault!'