Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 142: You Talk Too Much

Inside the grey mist, Orien spread his senses to the limit his ward would allow, dashing towards the direction he heard the explosions.

BOOM...!

Another explosion rang once more, confirming his predictions. ’I commend the person for lasting this long against someone like this.’

Diving a few tens of meters inside the grey mist, his ward finally engulfed the adventurer standing his ground against the catwoman. However, what he saw was not what he imagined.

’Ah, I see...’ Orien thought inwardly. ’It’s not that he’s fighting the catwoman. He’s rather attempting to keep her at a distance by throwing explosive spells around.’

Even then, it was a good attempt. It seemed to work as it kept the catwoman at bay. The adventurer couldn’t see the approaching bounty hunter as his senses were reduced to only 2 meters around his body.

But from what Orien could tell, the adventurer was in his mid-twenties, slightly taller than he was and of average looks. The only feature that enhanced his average looks was his blue eyes which shook with dread.

’He seems to be at the Silver rank.’ Orien saw through the adventurer’s level and shook his head. ’He’s no mat – oh, shit!’

The scared adventurer seemed to have sensed his approach and turned around, firing a huge fireball his way. Orien swiftly spun on his heel and somersaulted out of the way.

BOOM...!

The grey mist dispersed as the flames exploded out, ripping into the ground and sending debris flying. However, as quickly as the grey mist dissipated, it returned.

The moment he landed, Orien closed in, instantly appearing before the scared adventurer. His senses had not yet picked up on the catwoman. However, if he did not deal with the frightened adventurer, he could be fried in the back.

"Sshhh..."

Orien covered the adventurer’s lips with his right hand, his other hand holding the hand that shot the fireball at him. Had the adventurer not recognised his features, he would have done something from the sudden heart attack he had just received.

Once the adventurer nodded in understanding, Orien let go and stepped back. "You alright...?"

"Y-yeah, thank you." The adventurer nodded heavily, his eyes darting around cautiously. "That-that woman is still around..." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"I know..." Orien nodded and scanned around as well. Turning to look at the adventurer, he asked: "Where is the man?"

"I-I don’t know, sir." The adventurer shook his head. "I came here to hunt some magical creatures when I heard some explosions. When I got here, I saw a party fighting the woman in the posters."

"Right..." Orien sighed, already knowing how the adventurer ended up in this situation. ’He must have believed he had a chance to make some money and a name for himself.’

"I know you’re in here!" Orien called out in a loud voice. "Are you going to keep hiding in this mist like the cat you are!"

For the plan to work, he needed to engage the catwoman in combat. Several seconds passed, and no reply came, causing both adventurers to furrow their brows.

"I-I think it’s best if we leave while we can." The adventurer suggested while he looked around desperately.

"Shut up."

Orien growled in annoyance, his fifteen-meter limit stretched to the limit. He stepped away from the adventurer and moved deeper.

"You sure have some balls on you..." Orien grinned when he finally got a response. His taunt must have triggered the catwoman.

"Yeah, I do get that a lot." He chuckled and turned to his right. "Are you going to reveal yourself or do you want to keep hiding?"

The grey mist suddenly began to swirl and expand outward, creating a visible space of more than 40 meters in diameter.

The catwoman, just like described in the posters, stood just right outside his golden ward, staring at him with a deep frown. "You must be one of those bounty hunters."

"Indeed," Orien replied, seeing no reason to play games. "Alright, we both know how this goes. So, I will give you a choice: surrender now, and you might be shown mercy."

"You seem to forget where you are..." The catwoman’s eyes darted around, hinting at the grey mist. "Are you sure you want to take that tone with me?"

"Oh, trust me, cat. This is not going to go the way you’re thinking." Saying those words, he retrieved a long sword from storage and swung it around. "I’m not so easy to deal with."

The adventurer who stood behind Orien knew what was about to happen next and wisely created some distance from the two, coming to stand at the very edge of the grey mist.

Diving back into the grey mist would only hinder his senses and distort his sense of direction. It was better to stay where he was and just make sure he wasn’t implicated in the fight that was about to happen.

"I’ll ask again... Surrender," Orien said, his voice low and firm as he brandished his weapon to the side and dropped into a crouch.

The catwoman didn’t answer. She remained still, eyes fixed on him with unmistakable arrogance. ’Tsk. Who does this bitch think she’s looking down on?!’ Orien growled inwardly, fury rising.

With a roar in his mind, he shot forward in a flash, closing the gap between them in an instant. Dropping into a crouch just before the startled woman, he grinned and swung his sword in a wide, horizontal arc.

The blade screamed through the air, a sharp metallic hiss trailing its deadly path as it raced toward her neck.

Whoosh!

As he expected, the catwoman narrowly evaded, bending backwards at the last moment as the blade and arc sliced harmlessly above her.

’Heh~’ Orien grinned, not slowing for a second. ’Let’s see you dodge this!’ A small dagger appeared in his left hand, and he immediately thrust it toward Jess’s abdomen.

To his surprise, Jess twisted away with expert precision, executing a graceful, complex manoeuvre that let her slip out of reach before putting distance between them.

"I must admit that was impressive," Orien said as he straightened his back. He didn’t bother to look behind as Jess was still in the range of his ward.

Putting the dagger away, he turned around to face the catwoman, who still had that look in her eyes, confidence naturally exuding from her presence.

"Unfortunately for you, your luck will be running out very soon." Orien added in a confident tone. While he was confident in his combat skills, he didn’t dare let his guard down.

He still had no idea where Caleb was, and his earlier thoughts were just that – thoughts. ’I sure hope they’re doing what I told them to do.’

"You talk too much..."

Jess’s voice brought back his full attention. He watched as Jess crouched and extended her hands forward, taking a cat stance. Then her nails extended into sharp claws that glimmered slightly under the light of the sun.

"Mm."

Orien nodded, his left eye twitching slightly. Even he agreed with the cat. Maybe he was just doing it to buy time, but when had he ever relied heavily on others?

He took another fighting stance with his weapon pointed at Jess. His first attack was just a probing move to understand how the catwoman fought. Now, he was ready to clash for real.

A moment of silence passed between the two as they narrowed their eyes at each other. The only other person around to witness the fight made sure to hide themselves just inside the mist.

CLANG...!

In a flash, both fighters closed in on the other. The bounty hunter swung his sword, clashing with the sharp claws of the cat, generating a loud metallic hiss that sent sparks flying.