Yang Kai finished washing the blood from his hands.
He rose slowly from his crouched position and turned around. Water dripped from his fingers. He flicked both hands once, scattering droplets into the dirt.
Only then did he properly notice them.
Figures.
Emerging.
One by one from behind trees, bushes, shadows.
Dozens of them.
All staring at him.
His brow twitched slightly.
The fuck… why are they looking at me like that? I didn't even touch the weapon.
Before he could analyze further—
The girl who had been shouting earlier lunged at him.
She didn't hold a weapon.
She used her nails.
Her fingers were clawed like an animal's, aiming straight for his face.
At the same time, others rushed in from multiple directions.
Stones in hand.
Broken branches raised.
Bare fists ready.
Yang Kai didn't move.
He simply stood there.
Calm.
Waiting.
The girl reached him first.
Her nails were inches from his skin—
Then Yang Kai moved.
He jumped.
Not backward.
Upward.
His body lifted cleanly off the ground, and as he rose, he placed one foot directly on top of her head.
Using her skull as leverage.
Then he pushed.
Hard.
Her balance shattered instantly. Her forward momentum turned into collapse. She slammed face-first into the dirt, stunned and disoriented.
She didn't even understand what had happened.
His reaction speed was absurd.
Several attackers froze mid-charge.
Others realized immediately what he was doing.
"Stop him! He's going for the axe!"
"Take him down!"
"Damn it, he's smart!"
But Yang Kai was already spinning in mid-air.
Once.
Twice.
His body rotated fluidly as he ascended toward the floating axe.
A faint smile curved his lips.
As gravity began to pull him back down, he adjusted his posture mid-air and extended his right hand.
His fingers closed around the handle.
Solid.
Cold.
Real.
He had it.
Below him, the clearing exploded with curses.
"You bastard! Come down!"
"He has the axe! Kill him first!"
"Damn it! Why didn't you throw more stones?!"
"I'm out of stones, you idiot! I told you to bring more!"
A stone suddenly shot toward him from the left.
Fast.
Accurate.
Mid-air, Yang Kai turned his wrist.
The axe blade flashed.
It cannot hurt me.
The blade struck.
The stone shattered instantly into dust.
His body continued its descent—
Splash.
He fell into the pond.
Water surged upward, waves spreading across the blood-stained surface.
Then—
Nothing.
No movement.
No ripple beyond the fading disturbance.
The clearing grew uneasy.
"Is he dead?"
"What? He has the axe! If he's really dead, who's going to bring it back?"
"Hey… I'm not going in there. There are probably dozens of fucking corpses inside from earlier fights."
"Yeah, no shit."
A tense silence fell.
Then one boy stepped forward.
"You losers will die if you hesitate," he sneered.
Without waiting for anyone else, he sprinted and leaped toward the pond.
But before his body even touched the water—
Something flashed beneath the surface.
A sharp arc of steel.
His head separated cleanly from his neck.
It hit the pond first.
Then his body followed a split second later.
The water churned red again.
And then—
Yang Kai rose.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
He walked out of the pond as if emerging from hell itself.
Water streamed down his body. His clothes clung to him. His hair hung wet over his forehead.
The axe rested in his right hand.
The blade tip dripped blood.
His eyes were dark.
Cold.
Devilish.
He looked at the stunned crowd before him.
An evil smile spread across his face.
"Playtime is over, punks."
Twenty-three of them.
They formed a loose circle around him, weapons raised—stones, branches, sharpened sticks, trembling fists. Some of their faces were pale from what they had just witnessed. Others burned with forced courage.
He had split a man in mid-air.
But hesitation now meant death.
So they charged.
All at once.
Like he was their sworn enemy.
Yang Kai tightened his grip on the axe.
Good.
This is what I need.
He understood his situation clearly. This body—though strange and resilient—still lacked stamina. Its raw strength was not overwhelming. If he burned out too quickly, he would be torn apart.
But real combat accelerated growth.
Pain.
Pressure.
Life-and-death exchanges.
That was the fastest way to adapt.
He didn't wait for them to close in.
He moved first.
The nearest was a girl gripping a jagged stone, sprinting directly at him with reckless fury.
Yang Kai stepped into her range before she could react.
The axe flashed sideways.
A clean arc.
The blade bit into her forearm just below the elbow.
There was resistance for a split second—
Then separation.
Her hand, still clutching the stone, spun away into the air.
Blood sprayed violently.
She screamed.
A raw, piercing sound that tore through the clearing.
Yang Kai didn't even look at her again.
He pivoted immediately.
A boy lunged from his right with a broken branch aimed at Yang Kai's ribs.
Yang Kai stepped inward instead of backward.
The branch scraped across his shoulder, tearing fabric and skin.
Pain flared.
Good.
He brought the axe handle—not the blade—down hard onto the boy's jaw.
Crack.
Teeth shattered.
The boy collapsed sideways.
Another attacker came from behind.
Yang Kai felt the air shift.
He ducked.
A stone whistled past where his skull had been.
He rotated low, sweeping the axe horizontally at knee height.
The blade carved through two legs.
Not cleanly—
But deep enough.
Both attackers dropped instantly, shrieking as their bodies folded unnaturally.
The circle tightened.
They were afraid now.
But fear mixed with desperation was dangerous.
Three rushed him together.
One leaped high.
One came low.
One stayed back, ready to strike when he was distracted.
Yang Kai chose violence.
He stepped toward the one in front, raising the axe high.
The boy flinched, trying to block with his branch.
Yang Kai didn't aim for the weapon.
He aimed for the shoulder joint.
The axe chopped down brutally.
Bone cracked.
The blade lodged halfway into the collarbone.
The boy's scream turned into choking sobs.
Yang Kai ripped the axe free and used the backward momentum to spin.
The attacker behind him managed to slam a rock into his back.
Impact.
Air left his lungs.
He staggered forward half a step.
Another stone hit his thigh.
Pain radiated.
His stamina was dropping.
Too many at once.
He couldn't let them surround him fully.
With a sharp exhale, he surged forward toward the densest cluster instead of retreating.
Aggression shattered coordination.
They didn't expect him to charge.
The nearest boy hesitated.
That was enough.
Yang Kai kicked him hard in the stomach.
The boy folded.
Yang Kai grabbed his hair and yanked his head back—
Then drove the axe blade straight down into his face.
It split from forehead to nose.
The body went limp instantly.
Blood covered Yang Kai's hands again.
Someone screamed, "He's a fucking monster!"
Another charged blindly in rage.
Yang Kai sidestepped and let the attacker's momentum carry him forward—
Then hacked diagonally across his back.
The blade tore deep.
The boy collapsed face-first.
Now only about half remained standing.
Breathing hard.
Sweating.
Bleeding.
Yang Kai's chest rose and fell heavily.
His muscles trembled slightly.
This body is reaching its limit.
But—
His movements felt sharper.
His reflexes slightly faster.
Each exchange refined him.
Two attackers rushed simultaneously from opposite sides.
He couldn't dodge both cleanly.
So he didn't.
He stepped toward one and allowed the other's stone to strike his shoulder.
Pain exploded through his arm.
Before the attacker could recover from the swing, Yang Kai buried the axe into his abdomen.
Then he kicked him off the blade.
He turned immediately.
The other attacker was mid-swing again.
Yang Kai grabbed the wrist holding the stone.
Twisted.
Bone snapped.
The stone fell.
Yang Kai headbutted him hard.
Then finished him with a short downward chop.
The clearing grew quieter.
Bodies lay scattered.
Groaning.
Bleeding.
Dying.
Only a handful remained standing now.
They no longer rushed.
They stepped back.
One whispered, "We can't beat him…"
Another dropped his weapon.
Yang Kai stood in the center.
Soaked.
Breathing heavily.
Axe dripping.
His eyes were calm.
Cold.
Predatory.
He rolled his neck once, ignoring the sting in his shoulder.
"Who's next?"
Silence lingered for half a second.
Then survival instinct shattered it.
The remaining fighters—eight of them—did not flee.
They attacked together.
Desperation overrode fear.
Two rushed from the front, screaming as if volume alone could make them braver. One circled right with a sharpened stick. Another grabbed a fallen stone. The rest tightened the ring, trying to collapse inward.
Yang Kai inhaled slowly.
His arms felt heavier now.
His shoulder throbbed where the stone had struck earlier.
Good.
This pressure will refine it.
The first attacker reached him—a tall boy swinging wildly with both hands gripping a branch.
Yang Kai stepped inside the swing.
The branch scraped across his back instead of crushing his skull.
He drove his knee upward into the boy's stomach.
Air burst from the boy's lungs.
Before he could recover, Yang Kai hooked the axe behind the boy's ankle and yanked.
The boy fell backward.
The blade came down once.
Clean.
Across the throat.
Blood sprayed upward in a red arc.
Yang Kai didn't watch him fall.
A stone smashed into his ribs from the side.
Pain flared.
He turned sharply.
The stone-thrower was already reaching for another rock from the ground.
Too slow.
Yang Kai hurled the axe.
The weapon spun once in the air and buried itself into the thrower's chest.
The impact knocked him backward.
He collapsed with the axe lodged deep between his ribs.
For a split second, Yang Kai stood unarmed.
The others saw it.
"He threw it! Now!"
Three charged at once.
Yang Kai didn't retreat.
He sprinted straight toward the one closest to the embedded axe.
The first attacker lunged to tackle him.
Yang Kai pivoted, grabbed the attacker's arm, and used his forward momentum to slam him face-first into the ground.
He didn't finish him.
No time.
The second attacker swung a sharpened stick toward Yang Kai's neck.
Yang Kai ducked low, feeling the wood graze his hair.
He drove his fist into the attacker's throat.
The crunch was dull but effective.
The attacker staggered back, choking.
Yang Kai reached the body with the axe embedded in it.
He planted his foot on the corpse's chest and ripped the weapon free.
A wet tearing sound followed.
He turned just in time to block another stone with the axe handle.
Impact rattled his arm.
His stamina was draining rapidly now.
Breathing heavier.
Vision sharpening.
Adrenaline flooding.
The last four regrouped briefly, exchanging terrified glances.
One of them broke first and tried to run.
Yang Kai stepped forward and threw the axe again.
It struck the runner squarely in the back of the head.
He collapsed mid-stride.
Three left.
They no longer shouted.
They attacked in silence.
One dove low to grab Yang Kai's legs.
Another leaped high.
The third circled behind with a jagged branch.
Yang Kai allowed the low attacker to grab him.
Instead of resisting upward, he dropped his weight.
His elbow smashed down onto the back of the attacker's skull.
Once.
Twice.
The grip loosened.
The leaping attacker came down aiming a stone at Yang Kai's face.
Yang Kai tilted his head sideways.
The stone clipped his cheek, tearing skin.
He ignored the sting and drove his forehead forward.
Their skulls collided.
The other boy dropped instantly.
The final attacker hesitated.
That hesitation was fatal.
Yang Kai stepped forward and drove the axe horizontally.
It cut deep into the boy's torso.
Not clean.
Not elegant.
But enough.
The last body collapsed.
Silence returned to the clearing.
Twenty-three had surrounded him.
Twenty-three now lay broken across the ground.
Yang Kai stood in the center.
Chest rising and falling heavily.
Blood soaked his clothes again.
Water from the pond mixed with fresh red stains.
His muscles trembled from exertion.
But something felt different.
Sharper.
Stronger.
His grip tightened around the axe.
He looked up at the distant blue screen through the gaps in the canopy.
The numbers were still falling.
Slowly.
He exhaled once.
Then dragged the axe across the ground and began walking deeper into the forest again.