Chapter 126: Counter-Kill

“Answer my questions one by one. Don’t waste my time!” Kush roughly pulled off David’s faceplate and looked him in the eyes, his voice low and commanding.

David remained silent. Kush swung his left fist again, striking another rib and breaking it with a sickening crack.

David let out a muffled groan but still said nothing.

“Do you think stalling like this will help? I have secret techniques that will make you reveal everything you know!” Kush sneered.

He unleashed a series of brutal punches, each landing on David’s most vulnerable spots, worsening his injuries until he was completely immobilized.

Only then did Kush release the white luminous armor enveloping his body and pull his faceplate back down.

Muttering words indistinct to David, Kush seemed to be preparing some arcane spell.

From the moment Kush first struck him, David had shifted most of his consciousness into the Shadow Attendant’s body.

He realized he had underestimated Kush’s resolve. Kush actually dared to deploy mercenaries within Perlan City to block the military’s armored troops.

Such an act was tantamount to declaring war on the Panrock Star military. Retaliation was inevitable.

Despite the searing pain in his body, even though his core consciousness was minimal, David still felt the excruciating agony transmitted through the Shadow Attendant.

“What can I do?” David pondered, knowing he still had tricks up his sleeve.

His trump cards were the mental shock and spiritual slumber techniques. But the mental shock was unusable earlier due to distance, and now that Kush was close, the relentless blows had inflicted grievous damage on his body.

Pain fractured his focus, making it impossible to summon mental shock effectively. Spiritual slumber also required immense concentration, which the pain disrupted.

Moreover, because his spirit was no match for the hypnotic brainworm’s, his spiritual slumber was far less potent. He estimated he needed to be within about a meter to launch it successfully.

Spiritual slumber also demanded preparation time, requiring him to mentally sketch the slumber pattern.

At this moment, he could only rely on the consciousness remaining within the Shadow Attendant’s body to think. Returning to his own body would mean unbearable pain would shatter his focus.

In truth, Kush was highly experienced with prisoners. Trained to know exactly how to inflict pain that broke resistance without killing, he understood how torment could shatter most people’s wills.

Yet Kush never expected a student like David to endure such suffering without breaking down.

Ordinarily, only soldiers or mercenaries could withstand such pain without screaming. Even armored warriors would struggle to endure Kush’s expert cruelty silently.

Still, no matter how much David resisted, Kush was absolutely confident he would extract all he wanted to know.

Chanting under his breath, strands of white light began forming strange patterns in Kush’s eyes.

Meanwhile, a desperate David sensed two white spheres of knowledge within the Shadow Attendant’s body—spiritual remnants of Level Two Hardened Rock Beetles he had absorbed, now manifesting as two physical aptitude knowledge spheres.

Somehow, these spheres had shifted from unusable to usable.

He instantly understood why: his transformation into an armored soldier had greatly enhanced his physique and strength.

Only such an improvement could awaken these previously incompatible knowledge spheres.

The Shadow Attendant flew beside David, placing a hand on his chest. The two physical aptitude spheres entered David’s body.

A surge of warmth flooded him as his grievously injured body began healing at an inexplicable speed.

The pain lessened significantly, becoming bearable.

David transferred his consciousness fully back to his own body. Without time to assess his condition, he focused his spirit to guide a spiritual arrow from the seedling protected by his soul fortress.

At that moment, Kush completed his secret technique, his eyes flickering with eerie white patterns.

“Tell me—where is the ‘Elixir of Eternal Youth’?” Kush demanded sternly.

His voice brooked no refusal. The white patterns in his eyes rippled as strands of spiritual energy surged toward David’s soul.

The spiritual energy transformed into strange runes, but they were blocked by David’s soul fortress.

Compared to David’s fortress, Kush’s spiritual patterns were minuscule—a giant facing an ant.

Kush was shocked, his gaze filled with disbelief.

He was no expert in spiritual arts, focusing mainly on combat prowess, unlike Jeremy who trained in both and showed great potential in each. That was why the organization valued Jeremy so highly.

Yet in terms of pure combat strength, Kush was far superior to Jeremy.

That wasn’t to say Kush couldn’t use spiritual techniques. Most in the organization mastered such secret arts that could pierce a soul and force answers.

But Kush’s spiritual patterns were repelled, while David’s spiritual arrow launched forward, heading straight for Kush.

At such close quarters, Kush had no chance to dodge. Lacking expertise in spiritual matters, the arrow was about to strike him when a pure white necklace embedded inside his exoskeleton armor shattered, forming a shield that protected his soul.

The spiritual arrow struck the barrier, causing it to tremble twice before its energy was depleted and vanished. The shield had served its purpose and then disappeared.

Kush staggered as if struck by lightning, his eyes briefly clouded, but he quickly regained composure.

David then activated his spiritual energy to form the slumber pattern once more, launching it toward Kush.

This was his first time using mental shock against an armored soldier, and the technique itself was taught by Jeremy. He harbored doubts about its effectiveness.

His caution paid off. Just as Kush recovered, the slumber pattern entered his soul.

As it began to affect Kush’s spirit and was about to transform into a more potent hypnotic pattern, a massive shadow suddenly emerged within Kush’s soul.

The incomplete hypnotic pattern was shattered by the giant shadow’s palm.

Though the hypnotic pattern was destroyed, Kush’s eyes grew vacant from the ongoing mental assault.

The colossal shadow within his soul was beyond his control; it could only shield him from severe spiritual damage but could not stop the lingering effects.

Enduring the pain, David’s two physical aptitude knowledge spheres had healed most of his wounds, but he was still gravely injured.

His hand slipped between his legs, grasping the Level One military dagger.

With both hands, he gripped the dagger and activated the damaged exoskeleton armor, wielding the blade like a short spear aimed at Kush’s face.

Covered entirely by exoskeleton armor, Kush’s face was the only unprotected and nearest target.

The dagger, glowing faintly with a cocoon-like light, carried David’s burning fury.

He had never suffered such severe injuries before; his life had been gravely threatened, nearly falling under the control of strange secret arts.

Even if he resisted spiritual techniques, the consequences would expose anomalies in his soul, inviting further torment.

The dagger made no sound as it thrust forward, its speed barely slowed by David’s injuries.

In a flash of cocoon light, the blade pierced Kush’s mouth, throat, and pierced into his brain.

Agonizing pain snapped Kush out of his stupor, but the mortal wound left his eyes filled with unwillingness before they slowly dimmed.

The Shadow Attendant moved automatically, absorbing Kush’s soul.

Only when David sensed the familiar soothing sensation from the Shadow Attendant did he truly relax.

He glanced warily at Kush’s still-standing form and slowly withdrew the dagger from his mouth.