Kai watched everything from afar, fragments of the untold story slowly forming in his mind, but he could barely piece together a theory with the information he had.
His heart raced as he inspected the battlefield, the countless corpses and destroyed land sent shivers down his spine. His gaze snapped to his father, who seemed to be swallowed by a dark and murderous wave.
The sound of clashing metal accompanied by grunts of pain rang in his ears as Ray pushed against the army, his small body barely noticeable in the cloud of darkness.
Sweat dripped down his forehead, blood and guts covered his clothes, and his purple sword was now painted with a crimson dye. Countless enemies surrounded him, and each of his slashes claimed one life as he nimbly moved around the battlefield like a rabbit.
He held his wand in his left hand, quickly casting spells as he snared his opponents before cleanly slicing their necks, the morbid sound of their heads smashing against the ground rang in the battlefield.
He ran toward the center of the army as he panted heavily, and his wand lit up as he quickly chanted a spell. A dark cloud slowly spread with him as the source, shrouding him in darkness.
He silently walked behind the dark soldiers, who silently dropped to the ground as his sword swiftly sliced their necks, blood gushed out of them like a fountain before they could even process their death.
Their number slowly decreased, and by the time his spell had dissipated, Ray had already killed more than fifty of them. His clothes were stained with black blood, and his irregular breathing gave away his fatigue.
I didn’t think it would be so hard to take on an army… ‘He’ made it seem so easy… He thought as he brought a vial to his lips, gulping down the red liquid as he dodged a swing coming from his right side.
The tip of the thin sword grazed his cheek, leaving behind a trail of blood as Ray quickly thrust his sword in the soldier's body.
Huh?
He let out a surprised grunt as the dark soldier’s body transformed into a viscous liquid, trapping his sword and his legs as a horrifying, deformed grin formed on his dripping face as his body grew larger and larger.
The creature let out maniacal laughter as its body exploded into bits, a corrosive liquid spreading in every direction, eating away at the ground and corpses.
Ray’s barriers were useless against this attack, and his feet were locked in place. Unable to dodge out of the way, he hastily cast a shield spell, blocking most of the liquid, however, a few drops still ended up landing on his skin.
He grunted in pain as he endured, and his hair stood on end as the sound of whooshing arrows rang in his ears.
His eyes widened as he looked up at the wave of hundreds of magic-imbued arrows, the air split in two as they traveled through the sky, raining in his direction.
“Ray!”
Elena yelled from afar as her eyes snapped toward her husband, but she herself didn’t have any time as dozens of soldiers attacked her relentlessly, their metal swords and dark armor barely able to endure the high heat from her two-handed light sword.
Her twelve invisible swords also ran around the battlefield, cutting down any dark soldier that dared to underestimate her. The sword’s mana signature was so small that they could barely detect it before they fell to the ground with an expression of disbelief.
A slim man watched her from a distance, his sharp eyes locking onto her location as his longbow trembled in his hands. The tensed string immediately got released and it released a screech akin to an eagle.
A single arrow sped toward Elena, creating silent explosions as its speed reached an incredible level. It split the air in its path, arriving almost immediately at the exact location where she would dodge.
Her eyes snapped to the arrow, her heart skipping a beat, she reacted quickly and threw out a red crystal without hesitation. Flames burst out of it, instantly burning the arrow, and sending everyone tumbling backward.
She panted as cold sweat ran down her spine, instantly turning to the archer who had a devious smile plastered on his face, another arrow instantly appearing within his bow as he took aim once again.
He got ready to shoot once again, the string vibrating violently under his fingers, and Elena cast several barriers in quick succession before retreating, her large sword morphing into a light bow as she took aim as well.
The string trembled gently as she pulled it back, and several arrows manifested in the bow. She carefully aimed at the archer while moving about on the battlefield, nimbly dodging and taking cover behind the degrees as dozens of soldiers chased her down.
Their standoff was broken by the sound of shattering glass, which rapidly resounded on the battlefield in quick succession. Once, twice, thrice… ten times…
Their eyes snapped toward Ray’s location, which rapidly flashed with consecutive white lights as the rain of arrows descended upon him, his barriers shattered one after the other as he retreated, trying to dodge the mass of projectiles intent on taking his life.
He nimbly ran around the battlefield, creating barriers and dodging the dark soldier’s swings while trying to get closer to their backline, but the enemies kept attacking relentlessly, and when Ray killed one, another three took his place.
The volley of arrows nearly stopped, however, the number heading toward him was not negligent. He grunted in pain as an arrow hit him in the shoulder, and his sword fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Almost immediately, a dozen swords descended upon him, and his heart skipped a beat as he prepared to create several more barriers in an attempt to save his life.
The twelve swords stopped mid-air, falling gently to the ground, accompanied by their owner’s bodies. He quickly picked up his sword, briefly glancing toward Elena who was fighting intensely on her own battlefield.
Escaping the entrapping, he pulled out the arrow from his shoulder and quickly tapped the green crystal in his breast pocket a few times. A gentle energy emitted from it, spreading throughout his body but mainly focusing on the wound, which closed up almost immediately.
He let out a relieved sigh before moving his sword in a circular pattern, leaving a faint trail of light as he did so. The light became sharper, and as its form clicked in place, Ray pushed it toward the army approaching him.
The circle grew larger and larger as it passed through the dark armored soldiers, until finally stopping a few dozen meters away, where it started spinning violently, emitting mana waves for a few seconds before slowly fading away.
The mana waves affected all the enemies the circle passed through, making them drop to the floor and squirm in pain every time it pulsated. However, this only affected a few enemies for a short period of time, which barely gave Ray a small opening to dash forward and slay some of them.
Cold sweat ran down his back as fresh blood dripped from his sword, its purple edges painted with a crimson hue. He panted, his breathing uneven, and he gulped as he stared down at the army coming toward him.
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Damn it! No matter how many I kill, they just keep coming!
He tapped one of his rings twice as he retreated, clutching his wand as he chanted a spell while avoiding the mass of enemies coming toward him.
A ring on Elena’s finger flashed twice, and her weapon changed back into a wand as she cast a small shield and jumped high in the air, freeing herself from the cluster of enemies.
The slim archer smiled and scoffed as he aimed at a place where Elena would be. You can’t dodge in the air, you wench!
The bow’s string let out a screech, the arrow dashing toward her as it split the air in two. It arrived below her feet in a few seconds and would pierce her body in mere milliseconds.
The archer had a vicious smile plastered on his face as he excitedly watched the arrow travel toward Elena, however, it quickly disappeared as something unexpected happened.
A small square of light manifested below her feet, which she then used to jump upward, dodging the arrow by a hair’s breadth. She pointed her wand forward and a large speck of light shot toward the battlefield.
Ray’s eyes glowed with a purple hue after he chanted a short spell, and he looked toward Elena’s attack, and a murmur escaped his lips as he prepared another spell.
The speck of light exploded above the soldiers with a blinding light, and anyone who was within its reach had their vision taken away from them for a brief period of time.
He took advantage of the situation and ran toward the mages, his vision unaffected by his wife's spell, the dark crystals on his wand lit up with a fierce light as he pointed it toward the ground, chanting a spell as fast as possible.
Ten seconds passed… fifteen seconds… His spell was just about ready when the blinding light faded, and the enemies regained their sight, however, it was far too late.
A fierce, dark light exploded from his wand, enveloping everyone in a small area around him, binding them with dark, metallic chains that spread toward enemies outside the area of effect.
The chains bound everyone, leaving them unable to move an inch, and, like an anaconda, they tightened around their limbs and necks, their faces turning blue and their bodies shaking in terror.
The morbid sound of tearing flesh and crunching bones resounded on the battlefield as hundreds of limbs fell to the ground, an ocean of blood forming on the ground as their screams of pain rang in Ray’s ears.
A small clearing formed around him, and his clothes turned a dark shade of red, just like his eyes. Mountains of corpses lay at his feet, and the other soldiers shook in their boots as they looked at the horrific scene.
Haniard was amongst them, his face flushed red, and his body shivered uncontrollably from anger. He bit his lower lip as blood dripped down his chin, and he glared at Elena and Ray with unfathomable hatred.
I can’t believe his strength rose by so much… Aaaaah! Why did such a talented disciple betray me?! And that damn bitch! She’s so strong as well, what kind of magic is she using? I’ve never seen that before… She’s at least an Eight Star Small core…
He yelled inwardly, and he clicked his tongue as he slowly moved toward Ray. Regardless… both of them will die by my hand!
His spatial ring flashed and a purple sword, similar to Ray’s, appeared in his right hand. It held a similar purple luster, and its black surface was akin to a deep, dark abyss that pulled people toward it.
Its thin golden lines glowed under the moon’s soft rays of light, and he brandished it in front of him as he got used to its weight. It’s been a while since I last used this…
Ray’s eyes widened upon seeing the sword, his body shivered involuntarily as his pupils trembled. The Purple Dragon sword!
Memories of that sword taking the lives of countless soldiers under the former king’s rule flashed in his mind. The sword which destroyed the castle’s gates and killed the former king now lay before him, his master now wielding it against him.
He retreated quickly, casting a few more buffs, but before he could finish, Haniard disappeared from his location and appeared right in front of Ray, his purple sword leaving a dark trail behind as he swung it in a crescent moon motion toward Ray’s neck. What speed!
He raised his sword, and the two clashed with a purple hue as he deflected the blow. The blades trembled as they pushed against each other, and Ray put all his strength into his sword, however, it wasn’t enough to resist his master.
His eyes widened as he saw Haniard raise his leg, kicking right at his solar plexus. However, dodging was impossible because of the sword pressed against his neck.
He grunted in pain as he got kicked backward, sending him straight into the wall of his house, leaving a man-shaped indent on it as he slid down, coughing heavily and struggling to breathe.
“Dear!” Elena rushed to his side, quickly creating a mana shield in front of them, quickly healing Ray as he coughed a mouthful of blood.
“Fuck… he’s damn strong…” he said, his voice barely a whisper as he slowly stood up.
Ray chuckled bitterly and several different colored flasks appeared between his fingers, Mana regeneration, strength boost, speed boost, endurance boost, endurance regeneration, natural shield… so many potions.
His heart ached as he drank them all in quick succession, his stomach churning briefly before he tightened the grip on his sword.
“You madman!” Haniard couldn’t help but curse at the sight of Ray drinking so many potions at once.
Usually, drinking so many potions with different effects would cause an overload of mana in the body, resulting in it falling apart or even exploding.
Ray had a faint smile on his face as he dropped the empty flasks, feeling invigorated. I took a lot of time to make these potions, so of course I would make sure they were compatible with each other!
He tightened his grip around the sword’s handle, and he disappeared as he dashed toward Haniard, leaving after-images in his trail. His sword split the air as he swung at his former master, who instantly parried the attack, sending energy waves into the surroundings.
Haniard’s pupils widened as his sword trembled under Ray’s strength, and he pulled back as he retreated before instantly attacking.
Sparks flew everywhere as the two exchanged dozens of blows in mere seconds, their unfathomable speed creating illusions as the sound of muffled metal striking metal resounded on the battlefield.
Blood and sweat dripped down their bodies as they pushed their blades against one another, and their eyes locked for a brief moment before continuing their harrowing exchange.
He thrust his sword toward Haniard’s chest, his purple blade glowing with a faint luster as it suddenly gained speed, catching his mate by surprise. The sword penetrated his shoulder, and blood gushed out as he quickly retreated, applying pressure on his fresh wound.
Ray quickly dashed toward him, aiming his sword at Haniard’s neck as he swung it in the shape of a crescent moon, but he quickly dodged to the side, barely avoiding the fatal blow.
The two panted as they glared at each other, and Ray bit his lower lip as a grim thought surfaced in his mind. He isn’t trying at all! At this rate I will be the one to… die.
He pulled out his wand and swung at Haniard with a single hand as he chanted a spell before quickly placing it into his mouth, and a symbol akin to a seal glowed on its base.
Jumping forward, he swung at his master with both arms and in the instant, the swords collided, he opened his mouth, dropping the wand as he shouted:
“Break!”
The wand lit up with a white, phantom light as small, ghostly hands manifested from its base, instantly grabbing Haniard’s arms and legs.
Ray took advantage of the opportunity and instantly crushed two paper seals, and a dark barrier manifested around Haniard instantly, the pressure within greatly increased.
Void Bind?! Haniard thought, panicked.
In that same instant, a small, white creature with only one eye and a large mouth jumped at Haniard, its razor-sharp teeth glowing with a faint luster.
Not good! Haniard screamed inwardly as he saw the creature approach his body, he defensively raised his left arm, letting the beast bite on its metallic material. The thing munched on it, however, its teeth weren’t sharp enough to penetrate the solid material.
What? There is something even a Void Devourer can’t eat?! Ray thought, chanting another spell while Haniard was still under the effect of ‘Void Bind’, and at the same time crushing one more paper talisman.
As his spell finished casting, a dozen lightning bolts landed in Haniard’s location, instantly scorching the ground as a black cloud of dust rose into the sky, slowly revealing that the place where Haniard stood was now a dark hole.
Is it over? No… it can’t be that easy…
Ray turned his head in every direction, inspecting his surroundings and listening closely to the slightest rustle. His eyes widened suddenly and he raised his head as he heard a whistling sound from above. Impossible!