Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The dark purple Violet Guardian, the pure black battle dress, the small and exquisite yet dark and thick holy s.h.i.+eld, the silver-white longsword etched with simple patterns, and her chiseled features coupled with resolute deep silver-purple eyes… At that moment, Natasha was totally different from her friendly hospitable self. Instead, she was emanating a foreboding air.
Suppressing his surprise, he wondered with mixed feelings of joy and worry why he and Natasha could run into each other at a place like this, and where were the Violet Duchy gold knights and radiant knights under Natasha's command. Under normal circ.u.mstances, the South Church would never let the order of knights to be jumbled up. The n.o.bles were only faithful to their own masters. The senior-rank personnel could make arrangements for them, but they're by no means obligated to abide by them.
Natasha must have entered this alternate dimension as the leader of the Violet Duchy's gold knights and radiant knights, so why was she unprotected? Why did she leave her troops?
No, Lucien quickly corrected himself — there was still someone protecting her. Lucien noticed that behind Natasha was a silhouette that almost melded into her shadows. It was “Blue Tide” Camil in a black dress.
Ramiro did not see Francis as his ally, which means that he was most likely from the North Church. Why was Natasha collaborating with him? The elder in white robes was definitely a senior-rank priest, and the gloomy man seemed to the night watcher ranking nineteenth, level-eight radiant knight, the “Fire of Purification” Danniel. They would never side with Francis.
Lucien was puzzled. Natasha's brother had died in the war against the Northern heretics, which in turn caused her mother to pa.s.s away early. She would never ally with people of the North Church.
Many night watchers kept their bloodline, history, and real name under wraps. However, those with a high ranking were rather famous, and their code name and real name were known by most large organizations. As a result, Lucien had been able to find the ident.i.ty of his attacker in the spirit library after Ramiro's self explosion. It mattered little whether Ramiro was his real name. That wealth of information provided by the spirit library also allowed Lucien to deduce from the aura and demeanor of the gloomy man that he was the Fire of Purification.
Two royal knights of the South Church, a senior-rank night watcher, a senior-rank from the South Church, and a radiant knight who seemed to belong to the North Church's Executioners — this combination seemed quite strange to Lucien. Maybe it was Sophia who brought this band of people together to form this temporary alliance? Lucien remembered Sophia who had remained out of sight so far. There was for sure something fishy about her father Rudolf II. She herself was not a devout follower either. Coupled with her n.o.bility, she was a prime candidate to become a strategist.
The battlefield was quiet for a short while. Francis and his lot were scared and confused by the strange behavior of the Lord of War, while Antanas looked at them with a mocking smile. He surveyed the surroundings before taunting. “Just the lot of you? Come at me together!”
He raised the huge war hammer, and the surroundings were instantly transformed into a gory battlefield. Knights on horseback and on foot swarmed out from behind Him. They looked fanatic, battle-ready, and terrifying. In a mere second, he had a.s.sembled a banner of knights of at least grand knight status.
Everyone killed by Antanas and his subordinates who had died in battle would enter His semi-illusory frontier of war and partic.i.p.ate in endless crusade until even their souls perish.
The key difference between the gold knights and radiant knights was that of the semi-illusory willpower frontier, which could span for several hundred meters. Antanas was undoubtedly developing his powers in the direction of knights.
“Kill!” Antanas roared.
“Kill!” His cry was echoed by the countless knights behind him. Their cries converged into a deafening cry, their l.u.s.t for battle was so imposing that even senior-ranks took a step back involuntarily.
I am the Lord of War, I am the Leader of Armies!
Antanas and his men charged towards Natasha. As a divine-blooded who honed his skills on the battlefield, he could easily sense that she was the weakest among the enemy
Flags waving, spears raised, and divine spells flew. Francis, Danniel, the senior-rank priest, and Camil all felt their willpower robbed, causing them to react a split-second slower than usual.
Natasha was instead visibly excited. She did not avoid the brunt of the charge, rather, she jumped directly at the war hammer head-on with her s.h.i.+eld raised high.
Bang! A small but horrifying crack appeared at the point where the black s.h.i.+eld collided with the war hammer. The s.p.a.ce around them seemed to congeal and solidify. With the point of impact as the center, shockwaves radiated relentlessly outward, and divine powers and spears from outside the sphere could not penetrate the solidified s.p.a.ce.
Natasha's features were tense. She looked so lonely, yet so determined.
“Doesn't she know to dodge! Daring to fight a level-nine gold knight front-on when she's a mere level seven! Even if she had the replica of the level-nine s.h.i.+eld of Truth, she shouldn't be this reckless!” Lucien cursed silently. A part of him wanted to drag Natasha back from the battlefield.
Although she had risen to level seven last year, the difference in power between her and Antanas was still immense. Further, there were plenty of level eight radiant knights around to protect her! She should really take a lesson from Sophia, who was not even showing herself in a situation like this after receiving Rudolf II's teachings.
A tome of heavy divine aura appeared in front of the white-robed elder. The pages turned rapidly while divine light flashed. A huge column of light connecting sky and earth then struck at Antanas.
A layer of what looked like rust and blood appeared on Antanas' body, s.h.i.+elding him from the Sunstrike. However, the knights who were charging with him were evaporated.
He attempted to strike at the elder, but Natasha would never let an opportunity like this to slip away. Her silver-purple eyes were cold, and she struck with her longsword. An otherworldly crack that looked like it could sever anything appeared in front of the swing.
Antanas's gaze tightened and forcibly changed his direction, evading the strike. Then, he struck a flurry of blows at Natasha with the warhammer. In the surrounding frontier of war, the spirit knights materialized once more.
At the same time, the darkness in the sky turned into the sea, cras.h.i.+ng down on Antanas.
Simultaneously, silent white flames rose from the ground and lunged at Antanas.
The pages of the Cannon in front of the elder were flipping rapidly, and lights kept flas.h.i.+ng. They were continuously buffing Natasha with divine power, blessing, war tide, and the like.
Their only chance of winning was if she could bind Antanas with her replica.
After Camil and Fire of Purification joined the battle, Natasha found some room to breathe. She shook her s.h.i.+eld and readjusted her form. It looked like the relentless barrage of attacks by Antanas had turned her body numb with pain.
Francis looked at Bero, and communicated to him via a divine spell akin to Soul Connection. “If you can help them bind Antanas, I will then a.s.sist my lord to kill Asin. After my lord absorbs the “Hidden Death and Resurrection” G.o.dhood from Asin, he would rise to the level of Antanas and the situation would be under our control”.
“No Problem.”
When the Lord of War appeared, the G.o.d of Love and Beauty Asin's face was filled with heartfelt joy. Upon seeing that Antanas was tied down by his enemies, her expression changed a couple of times. Taking advantage of the fact that Asin was still trapped by the starlight cage, she tried to flee.
“It would do Antanas the most good for me to not be captured!” She thought to herself.
“Come back here!” Francis, who had been keeping an eye on her, transformed into a Hydra, and a think black mist enveloped the surroundings.
Starlight shone but immediately dimmed. Knowing that it would be difficult to break out directly and not wanting to fight with Francis, Asin suddenly plunged down and tried to escape via the Solna river.
“I command you, freeze!” Ell had managed to escape from the starlight cage and used the Command that he had newly acquired after absorbing the G.o.d of Storm.
Starlight radiated from Asin's body, and her eyes turned lifeless for a while. The controlled plunge suddenly lost direction, and she fell into the river.
“Chance!” Ell and Francis both rushed towards the Solna River.
Lucien looked at the scene resignedly. Asin hand landed right in front of him!
Just as Lucien tried to transform and escape in an effort to remain hidden, His left hand raised involuntarily.
Lucien seemed to have heard something similar to “Cheese!”
This isn't the time to be thinking about food! Lucien cried silently. However, his left hand betrayed him and his transformation failed. his left hand pulled him towards Asin.
Asin had barely recovered from the freezing spell before she saw a handsome man with black eyes appear from the river. His aura was so great and powerful, it caused even the false G.o.d to tremble. It was a feeling of meeting one's natural predator.
Driven by fear, Asin unleashed a torrent of divine powers. However, the hand that was reaching towards her was unaffected by the attacks. It penetrated the protection sphere and landed on her neck.
All divine powers disintegrated upon contact with Lucien's left hand!
Ell and Francis halted halfway in their rush when they saw the flashes of divine power in the river. Asin seemed to have unleashed her potential, and a scary one at that. They slowed down, guarding themselves against a possible final attack as well as making sure that she doesn't escape via other routes.
The flashes finally died down, and they were greeted with an unbelievable scene. The beautiful and s.e.xy Asin was held at her neck by a handsome young man, and her G.o.dhood was being slowly extracted from her.
“Who is he?” Ell and Francis were gob-smacked. Who on earth was this powerful man?
Lucien's eyes met with theirs. He shook his head resignedly and greeted them casually.
“Good Evening.”
Can he say that he'd been handed the wrong script?
