There's No Need to Hold Back This Time

Sam's hand froze mid-air.

Eric finally saw the face clearly too.

"Oh my god! That's impossible! You were killed by the Demon Witch! I saw it with my own eyes! You were blown to bloody mist!"

Lin Mo's clone stood in the snow, long blade pointed downward, snowflakes landing on the edge and melting into fine droplets that slid down the spine of the blade.

He lifted his head.

"If he hadn't killed me, how would he have gotten the nerve to challenge me? And how would I have gotten the chance to come kill you?"

Eric and the other two stared back, completely baffled.

They had no idea what Lin Mo was talking about.

But Lin Mo knew the readers would understand.

He raised his left hand, and the blood covering the blade surged.

That blood had never dispersed—it had clung to the weapon's surface the entire time, layer upon layer, now steaming in the freezing wind.

Seeing this, Eric stomped the ground without hesitation.

"Just because we didn't finish you off before doesn't mean we're afraid of you!"

The earth trembled. Six jagged earth spikes erupted from beneath Lin Mo's feet, fast and from vicious angles, each aimed at a different part of his body.

One strike, one kill.

The spikes tore through the snow, lifting Lin Mo clean off the ground.

But he stood on the tips of the spikes, as steady as if he were out for a stroll.

"Father of Gods, grant me the power of flame!"

Boom!

Ivy didn't hesitate.

Fire spread from her body, heat waves distorting the air around her. The snow within three meters of her feet evaporated on contact.

Ring of Fire Resistance!

A wall of flame expanded outward from her like a ring, so hot the air itself hissed and crackled.

Her goal was simple: burn away the blood clinging to Lin Mo's weapon.

In her mind, without that blood, at least half his offensive capability would be gone.

Eric kept stomping the ground, forcing Lin Mo into tight spaces with the earth spikes, giving Ivy room to work.

The fire ring and the spikes closed in at the same time.

Lin Mo raised his blade.

One slash.

The earth spikes split clean in half, and the fire ring cracked open at the point where the blade passed through. Both forces were severed by that single cut, their remnants curling outward and carving two deep trenches into the snow.

Sam was waiting for exactly that opening.

A laser beam shot from his position, aimed straight at Lin Mo's face. At under a hundred meters, Sam never missed at this range.

The speed was blinding, rocketing toward Lin Mo's head.

Lin Mo turned his blade sideways.

The moment the beam hit the flat of the sword, he twisted his wrist at a microscopic angle.

The beam bounced back.

Following its original path, it flew straight back at Sam.

"Shit!"

Eric reacted fastest. He raised his right hand, and a two-meter-thick slab of rock burst up from the ground, shielding Sam.

The beam slammed into the slab, burning through half its thickness before fizzling out, leaving a glowing red-hot hole in the stone.

Sam peeked out from behind the slab, his face pale.

This wasn't a turn-based game. Lin Mo stamped his foot, and the earth spikes shattered.

Blood Rage.

His eyes turned red—not that eerie crimson, but the dark red of bloodshot vessels swollen to the limit.

The next breath.

He was standing in the middle of the three.

Literal middle. Eric two steps to his left, Ivy two steps to his right, Sam three steps behind him.

All three pupils shrank at once.

Lin Mo opened his palm.

Blood Fury.

The blood in his hand compressed and expanded in the span of a fraction of a second.

Then—it exploded.

A crimson shockwave erupted in every direction.

Eric didn't have time to summon stone. Ivy didn't have time to call on the Father of Gods. Sam didn't have time to run.

None of them could react before the surge of blood blasted them in three separate directions.

Eric smashed through two pine trees before stopping, his back buried in a trunk, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Sam tumbled more than ten meters across the snow, clothes shredded, left arm hanging at a wrong angle.

Ivy was hurled into a snow crater. Her flames had gone out completely, and her body was covered in blood that wasn't hers.

That blood squirmed across her skin like living things, suppressing the fire elements inside her.

Lin Mo stood still, pulling his hand back.

Around him, the snow had melted into a perfect circular zone of bare, steaming soil.

Suddenly, Lin Mo raised his eyes toward the direction of the command post. He had clearly sensed something.

He averted his gaze, his tone flat.

"Forget it. I'm done playing with you."

He walked toward Ivy, who was burning off the blood stains from her body with her flames nearby.

Flames roared around her, heat twisting the air, evaporating the blood from her skin. She was charging up, ready to unleash something big.

Too bad Lin Mo wasn't going to give her that chance.

He walked straight up, grabbed Ivy's head with one hand, fingers closing around it like he was picking up a chick.

Ivy's flames burned hotter, but her body began trembling uncontrollably.

Not out of fear—it was her blood.

The blood in her veins was vibrating, being dragged by an unstoppable force. The sensation made her scalp crawl.

She had never faced an opponent like this.

"You're not from the Superpower Youth Corps."

Ivy gritted her teeth, forcing the words out of her throat. "What the hell are you?"

"Hell? That's a rude thing to say." Lin Mo tilted his head. "Lin Mo from China. A decent man. Don't you remember? When you were little, I struck you with three lightning bolts."

Ivy froze. Two Lin Mos?

There were two?

How was that possible?

She refused to give up. She struggled, raised a hand, condensed a ball of fire in her palm, and slammed it into Lin Mo's chest.

The flame expanded instantly—a two-meter-wide fireball swallowed both of them.

The temperature soared to an insane degree, scorching the ground beneath them, turning the soil cracked and red.

Inside the blaze, Lin Mo didn't move an inch.

Clothes unsinged, hair uncharred, not even a singed eyebrow.

He looked down at his chest, patted off the nonexistent dust:

"Solid ability, I'll give you that. But unfortunately, you have to die."

Ivy's pupils shrank.

Lin Mo's fingers tightened. Clean and quick.

A sharp crack.

Ivy's body went limp. Her flames died out, like someone had pulled the plug.

Lin Mo let go. The body fell to the ground.

No blood on his hands. His expression barely changed. There was no room for small talk on a battlefield—when it was time to kill, you killed.

He had held back earlier to let their plan play out, but this time he needed no such restraint.

These Divine Eye Bureau people had outlived their usefulness.

On the other side, Sam scrambled to his feet, legs shaking violently.

He didn't hesitate. He turned and ran.

One thought only: get back alive and report this monster's intel to Divine Eye Bureau headquarters.

He'd heard it—this man was also Lin Mo.

This man had to be escalated to the highest threat level within the Bureau.

He'd barely made it twenty meters.

Lin Mo raised his hand and hurled the long blade.

The sword spun half a turn in the air, spearing through Sam's back and out his chest.

Sam looked down at the tip of the blade jutting from his chest, blood flooding up his throat.

His body was pinned to the ground, legs still frozen in a running pose.

"Why are you running? It’s not like I said you could leave," Lin Mo muttered to himself.