The Final Desperation

Genji traveled for a whole day, occasionally stopping to fend off some fanatics, when he spotted a small town in the distance. Deciding to spend the night there, he rode toward it and dismounted at a distance. As he walked through the streets, he noticed the people giving him strange looks. They were not used to having visitors, especially in this region.

After wandering for a few minutes, a lady in modest clothing approached him and offered to accommodate him for the night. Genji agreed, since he was unlikely to find a better offer. The people were struggling enough to get by, let alone care about a random visitor. Genji was lucky someone even bothered to talk to him.

"I can give you a room, but you'll have to figure out your meals yourself. I barely have enough for myself," the lady said, patting the basket beneath her arms. "This is three days' worth of food."

"That seems a bit short," Genji commented.

"Life's tough right now. We have to make do with what's available." The lady lifted the cloth covering the basket, revealing several loaves of stale bread and some mushy fruit.

The lady led Genji toward the center of town. Along the way, several passersby briefly looked at her before hurrying off to tend to their own matters. Genji noted that their movements were a little stiff, as if their muscles were drawn taut. Genji also felt a sense of premonition, though he couldn't explain why.

They walked for a short while before arriving at a small house with dull metal ornaments. These embellishments had large botches of oxidation, creating a drastic contrast to their dark body.

The sense of dissonance grew stronger. The lady unlocked the door and held it open for Genji. They walked inside, and she closed the door behind them. They continued inward and made a left turn, arriving just outside the living room. A large portrait of the lady hung on the back wall, displayed for all to see. It was quite realistic, almost as if the lady had been cloned and shoved inside.

Genji's instincts went ballistic, screaming at him not to enter under any circumstances. Because once he's inside, he won't come out.

His eyes widened as he realized the source of his trepidations.

The people—had they always seemed so tense? Not in the way one might guard against outsiders, but with a pervasive stiffness that affected everyone in town. No, on closer examination, there were a few rare individuals who didn't seem afflicted. The only problem? They were all women!

The second suspicious point was the metal trinkets outside the houses. If the people were truly struggling as much as Genji had been told, then where did they get the resources to smelt those minerals? They certainly couldn't have bought it from a merchant, since no one would dare travel here for business. The worst offender was the painting, which is equivalent to a caveman using an iPad - jarring and not possible.

Put together, these factors could only mean one thing: this town was a witches' hideout in disguise, and all the townspeople had been refined into puppets. Genji had walked straight into a trap. No wonder they were giving him such strange looks. He might be the only hunter who dared to enter their lair this brazenly.

"What's wrong?" The lady asked, her breath tickling Genji's neck. "The bedroom is just past this one. I can show you if you follow me."

"Oh, sorry. I was captivated by your painting. I've never seen something so real before," Genji replied as he stabbed backward with his dagger.

At the same time, the lady reached out to push Genji into the room. "Thank you. I worked hard on it."

As the dagger sank into her stomach, Genji reached over his shoulder with his other hand, manifested [Curse Bearer], and pulled the trigger, blasting her face point-blank. The lady soared backward and crashed into the wall. However, she was unharmed when the smoke cleared.

Instead, the image of her in the painting now bore a stab wound and an exploded head. Bone fragments and blood droplets were suspended in the air, depicting the moment of their highest velocity.

Genji brought the flintlock down and fired twice at the painting. A barrier of black electricity appeared, intercepting the attack. He released the flintlock, summoned his other dagger, and unleashed a crescent arc at both targets. The figure in the painting received a deep diagonal cut from shoulder to hip but was otherwise unharmed.

The lady pulled herself up and smirked. "So you figured it out. As expected of a hunter. But it's already too late. Your biggest mistake was entering my house to begin with!" She slammed her palms together forcefully, and black runes made of curse energy lit up on the walls.

The walls began to shift, and the painting retracted into the ground. At the same time, dark fumes spewed out from the corners and infused into the walls, reinforcing them.

Genji suddenly appeared in front of the lady and slashed through her neck. The wound faded like a mirage as her arm shot out at Genji. As the fingers pierced through an afterimage, a downward slash wrapped in thick shadow flames enveloped her. Genji fortified his leg with Solid Core and delivered a harsh kick, slamming her into the wall again.

Large cracks spread outward, but they soon began to heal under the magic's influence. Genji reached into the wall, grabbed his opponent, and swung her around with brutal force.

The lady shrugged off all these impacts and swiftly weaved multiple hand signs. Genji quickly threw her away and dashed for the exit. However, what he found was only a dead end. The house's layout had changed completely in this short time.

A wall sprang up behind him and surged forward, cutting off his retreat and threatening to crush him into a bloody pancake. Genji took a deep breath and accelerated. His muscles tensed up as the red glow of Berserk empowered him. Then, in a mighty kick, he burst through the wall and landed in the in-between space.

Large gears turned overhead, assisting the walls' movements. And at the peak of this area was the elusive painting that his opponent was trying so hard to protect. At this point, the figure in the frame was mangled beyond recognition, yet it still functioned without fail. Genji took out a grenade, pulled the pin, and hurled it at the painting.

The lady tried to move the painting using the gears, but their bulkiness hindered her efforts. The next moment, a fiery explosion engulfed the portrait, forcing the barrier around it to consume a large amount of curse energy to offset the damage. A tattered frame emerged from the fire, its borders barely held together by thin strands of wood.

Genji appeared beside it in a flash and stabbed at the center. Just then, the lady rushed into the room, thrust her hand toward the painting, and yanked hard. The painting jerked aside, following her motion, and narrowly avoided destruction by a hair's breadth.

Suddenly, a storm of blood shot toward the painting. Bruce, who had been biding his time, finally struck at a critical moment. The attack left several gaping holes in the picture before it was pulled to safety.

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Genji pivoted in the air, pulling his arm back as shadow flames and cutting intent wrapped around his dagger. The two forces compressed inward into a volatile point as bloody wings launched Genji at his opponent. As he descended, the air within 2 meters coiled around him, forming a large drill.

In the next moment, he crashed into the wall, violently grinding his foe against it. The wall held for a moment before bursting open, revealing the outside air. Genji followed through with an after-swing to dissipate the remaining force and sent the lady flying through several houses.

The townspeople's heads snapped toward him, startled by the commotion. Although they were aware of Genji's presence, they didn't expect him to fight back so fiercely, especially against their leader's signature traps.

The dust settled, and the lady limped into view. A stream of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as a phantom of herself shattered behind her. After enduring an ungodly amount of damage and physical trauma, the painting's damage transfer had finally failed.

"Activate the cursed domain. We're going all out," the lady commanded as she swiped the blood from her mouth with her thumb, leaving a streak across her face.

The townspeople's eyes dimmed as the witches controlling them shifted their focus to carrying out the order.

"Charge!" The lady ordered.

The townspeople's eyes glowed a bright red, as their unassuming exteriors popped open, revealing various mechanical parts and hidden weapons. These modifications could be classified into several distinct styles, each corresponding to a different manufacturer.

The lady retreated as the puppets rushed forward. Genji swapped to his saber and advanced into the crowd. His saber hacked through metal and wood, sending fragments flying with each step. As this was happening, his eyes scanned his surroundings for any witches. He knew that the battle would only end when he removed the source of these puppets. Otherwise, he would need to consider his retreat.

But just as that thought appeared, several energy pillars shot up around the town, merging above the town center. The agglomeration of energy swirled for several seconds before spreading outward into a dome that encased the entire town.

The surroundings grew dark like a solar eclipse as an oppressive force weighed down on Genji, hampering how much strength he could exert. The curse energy in the air grew more active as it became harder to breathe. A myriad of curses poured down on him, aiming to sap more of his strength.

Genji released a sweeping arc of cutting intent and dashed toward the energy pillars. A wall of puppets gushed out from every corner, doing everything in their power to stall him. Genji weaved through the crowd with utmost precision, capitalizing on even the slightest opening. The puppets reached out to grab him, but a streak of cutting intent severed the hand before it could reach him.

Within seconds, he was upon the first pillar. The witches guarding this zone invoked a barrage of indiscriminate attacks, carpet bombing the entire area. Genji charged forward without flinching, letting Quantum Barrier absorb the brunt of the impact.

The next moment, Genji appeared beside the witches and unleashed a bloodbath. With each swing of his weapon, a geyser of blood spewed into the air, only to immediately turn against its owner.

Under the cover of blood, Genji emerged in front of the pillar and drove his blade through the chest of the witch empowering it. The witch spat out a mouthful of blood, and the energy pillar faded. A burst of cutting intent shredded her body from the inside out as the remaining witches scattered.

Moments later, the other pillars of energy faded. The enemies had realized their current strategy was futile and regrouped for a final showdown.

Cutting through a sea of puppets, Genji soon emerged across from them. The two sides locked eyes for a fraction of a second before bursting into action. On one side stood a group of thirty-something women, each with hands enveloped in swirling dark mist. On the other side was a single hunter, aided by countless unique items, and a nightbane in sheath form.

The two sides were highly disproportionate, yet they were somehow evenly matched. The onslaught of attacks resembled a warzone, but Genji forged ahead without slowing down. Whenever he was surrounded and couldn't dodge, he would unleash a single slash, tearing open a path forward.

Genji was like a God of War, unstoppable and invincible. However, appearances could be deceiving. With each passing moment, his steps grew heavier; his breath more rugged; and his swings weaker. He was rapidly losing strength from all the curses stacked on him. His vision and hearing were the next to go, as he grew numb from the bombardment.

Yet, none of this deterred Genji. Ripples of cutting intent replaced his senses, functioning similarly to radars. His footwork grew more elaborate as the intensity of battle pushed it to new heights. If it weren't for his darkened eyes and slower swings, he could have easily passed for peak condition.

Like this, they entered melee range. The closer witches warped their hands into claws to block him, while the ones further away scattered. However, those confronting him were quickly cut down. Their skills were amateurish and full of openings compared to Genji's, who'd slaughtered his way through numerous battles.

Yet this barely affected their numbers. Many of the witches he cut down simply got back up, their wounds turning illusory. These witches had set up damage transfer anchors beforehand and were fearless against anything Genji threw at them. The poison from his saber dealt continuous damage, but it was far from reaching the anchor's limit.

Genji knew he couldn't go on like this and racked his brain for a solution.

'Think. Is there a weakness I can exploit? There's no way the damage transfer is perfect. There has to be a catch.' Genji reviewed all the instances of the damage transfer at work and noticed a peculiarity.

'That's right. It's all physical damage! They don't have a way to protect their soul, do they? In that case...Shadow Devour should work, but I'll need to modify it. Reduce the power, and make it persist after a kill. I don't need to guarantee their death. Just enough to knock them out of this fight.'

Genji's mind kicked into overdrive as he began analyzing the modifications. The task wasn't too difficult, since his persistent training had polished his foundations to an exceptional level. All he needed now was a clear direction and a spark of inspiration to create a new technique.

After all, the 81-time multiplier in the training hall wasn't just for show.

This was why he had the confidence to do this mid-battle. It wasn't like the previous times, when he had to stake everything on a final gamble or die trying.

After a few seconds, he found a solution. 'I can use the exponential growth property to make up for the energy consumption. Then hold back most of its power when I cut through them. That should keep the ability's overall intensity in balance. The hard part is actually executing it. This will be a strong test of my control.'

Genji unleashed a ring slash, forcing back the nearby witches before switching to his daggers. The witches were startled by the sudden change but dismissed it just as quickly. They could tell Genji was on his last legs and believed nothing could change the outcome. After all, many of them still had intact transfer anchors. Oh, how wrong they were.

Genji crossed his arms and took a deep breath. His mind locked onto all the witch's positions as a volatile vortex manifested around his blades.

'One. Two. Three,' he inwardly counted, breathing out and vanishing. The next moment, a streak of black snaked through the crowd.

Dagger Arts: Threading the Needle!

Without stopping, he spun around, took another deep breath in, and burst forward. Within two seconds, he'd cut down 2/3 of the group. The remaining witches remained dismissive and began charging their next attacks, expecting their sisters to rise and stop Genji.

However, they soon realized something was wrong when their connections to the downed witches abruptly vanished. Their eyes widened with alarm, but by then, it was already too late. Genji was not someone who would let go of such an opening. With another flash of the knife, he took out six more witches.

The survivors realized their predicament and activated their contingency measures when a dagger violently tore through their throats. They gasped in pain and clenched their wounds, hoping to preserve their vitalities. However, the last of their life drained from their bodies, regardless of their best efforts.

The town has been cleansed.

[You have killed 42 witches.]

[Your maximum energy has increased by 1732 points.]

[You have obtained 8,599 coins.]

[You have obtained...]

With their deaths, the dome overhead shattered into countless shards that quickly dissipated. Genji let out a deep breath and calmed his pounding heart. Steam wafted from his body, a result of the air's friction evaporating his sweat.

His body ached all over, and his limbs felt like lead. Genji chugged a healing potion and circulated his energy to expel the remnant curses plaguing him.

Once he had recovered an adequate amount, he asked Bruce to gather all the bodies into a pile. Genji then doused them with gasoline and threw down a lighter.

Another successful funeral pyre.

Without looking back, Genji hopped on Bruce and rode away.