Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 75: Rotted water

The Knight closest to them turned, his nose flared in anger, and he moved forward, his left leg angled out to trip Atrox. But Tiber was suddenly there, his hand gently extended to touch the Knight on the shoulder, a zap of essence flowing from him into the Knight.

Immediately, the man stiffened, his body locked up as his eyes widened in horror.

It was one of Tiber’s techniques—Terror’s Horror. He could inflict terror and horror into something with just his presence, but even more so with a touch of his hand.

Before anyone could react, Tiber lifted his axe and used the handle to push the man hard on the chest. The Knight fell to the ground before he knew what was going on, his face still squeezed up in confusion. "W... what?"

Everything happened in seconds. Fortunately for the Knight, Tiber only used a bit of his power, or he might not have easily broken out of it.

Atrox continued walking as if nothing had happened, but to the others, the message was clear. If Tiber had wanted the Knight dead, they’d only be seeing his detached head right now.

This subtle warning was quickly understood by everyone, and they silently reevaluated the situation. That Knight had been set up to fight and humiliate Atrox, but it had backfired completely!

Atrox stopped walking when he reached the middle of the room, a few feet from the team leader. "I’m finally meeting you, team leader of Team 34..."

"Team Leader Senk," Xan said.

"Ah, yes. Team Leader Senk," Atrox said.

Senk’s face tightened, and the smile he had been holding dimmed. Things weren’t going the way he expected at all, and this guy was even more arrogant than anticipated. He decided to bite back. "So you’re the one who wants to fight me. I’m surprised, honestly. I know we’re both in the same Knight rank, but you should know there are always differences in power.

"I’m a team leader. That should tell you something."

Atrox nodded. "Yes, right. Can we leave this small talk? Tiber, lead the others away, and do your best not to cause any trouble unless they start it."

He turned back to Senk as his team followed his orders. "If this is an official duel, then it’ll make things easier for me. But I don’t want your rank, so there’s that. It’s too low for me."

Immediately, Senk’s face turned rigid. Too low? "My rank is too low for you? I will teach you a lesson. Too bad you’ll forget it because you’ll be dead!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Get on with it," Atrox said. His face looked bored, but his mind was anything but. He already had a formation in his mind, and his core was ready to unleash essence at any time.

Senk gestured, and suddenly the circle around them lit up. A transparent shield flickered to life, a dome that cut the spectators off from the fighters to prevent them from getting hurt.

Senk crouched immediately and brought out his sword—a black metal thing that seemed rusted. "Prepare yourself for pain," Senk said.

Atrox smiled, thinking of the best way to handle the fight. Should he go for one shot or play with the man? ’Maybe I should use this opportunity to test out my techniques and power? Also, I’m going to limit the amount of essence I use. I’ll use half my core... or should I use a quarter?’

Senk had already begun. A thin layer of sweat covered him as if he had just run a mile, carrying the faint smell of decaying flesh. Then he got even sweatier, dripping water from his body as if holding back a flood that was now leaking from every pore.

Atrox took an unconscious step backward. The smell of the room had turned to that of rotted flesh. "Why do I always fight disgusting enemies?"

Atrox muttered as he remembered Arvas. The black water dripping from Senk hissed like acid as it touched the ground, then began to gather around the man, curling like heavy rain defying gravity.

"You seem shocked," Senk said with satisfaction. He lifted his sword, and the water ran down it, blasting out in an arc of black.

Atrox summoned a shield of red essence, and when the attack struck, the shield shimmered and cracked as the black water ate through it. He jumped away just in time as his shield shattered and the remaining attack passed through.

Senk surged forward, his water forming a wave that lifted and leaped toward Atrox like a canopy ready to engulf him.

Atrox raised both hands and released a wave of fire. The two forces collided, blasting steam everywhere. Water and fire. But this wasn’t ordinary water, and this wasn’t ordinary fire.

Atrox brought his right hand down, directing the fire at Senk, who had come closer with his water. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The man immediately covered himself in a thin layer of water. A mistake. Even if unusual, water was still water, and with the heat coming from Atrox’s infernal fire, it neared boiling within seconds.

Senk yelped in pain and quickly retreated. Not a single drop of water had touched Atrox; it had all turned to gas before reaching him. A good thing, too, since the water was corrosive.

"Impressive, to create that amount of... water," Atrox remarked.

Senk scowled. He had noticed Atrox’s fire wasn’t ordinary when it first appeared. It had heated the surroundings quickly, and even his water was getting warm. He had to finish this quickly.

Atrox knew this as well. He let a flame burn casually atop his right hand. His first formation made it possible to control fire, and he wanted to test what he could do with it.

With his mark, Infernal Dominion, he didn’t need to fear getting burned by fire, and heat was nothing but a dull sensation to him. He warped the fire around his fist like a tight glove and smirked.

"Shall we then?"