Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Legend's Return (3)
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[This bastard! Don’t you even know it’s etiquette to wait when someone’s transforming to unleash their true power?]
“That was just your own etiquette in the Dragon Demon King’s army, as I recall.”
Azel sneered at Reygus as he pressed the attack. But Reygus’s response was nimble. His mana force, now more than double its initial level, continued to swell, making him correspondingly faster and stronger.
[It won’t be as easy as before!]
Reygus parried Azel’s ferocious barrage with astonishing reaction speed. Unfettered by muscle strain or labored breathing, his surging velocity proved tricky even for Azel to handle.
Clang!
Yet at some point, sparks erupted from Reygus’s flank. Azel had breached his guard and landed a direct hit.
[What the?]
“Your technique’s not what it used to be. No clue how long it’s been since you turned Undying, but you clearly haven’t mastered it yet!”
That sparked a flurry of eruptions across Reygus’s body. For a Dragon Spirit Art practitioner stripped of Dragon-Horse power, glitches in technique execution were inevitable. Azel zeroed in on those openings, using psychic waves to distort Reygus’s senses.
[Urgh! Damn it!]
In that instant, Reygus boldly hoisted the Soul Shackle Seal. Azel struck like he’d been waiting. The Dragon Demon Sword speared Reygus’s hollow torso, detonating in a thunderous boom.
Boom!
But the next moment, Azel spewed blood and went flying. Reygus had counterattacked without a care.
A living man would call it a suicidal thrust. For the already-dead Reygus, though, it was just another move.
[Sometimes a dead body has its advantages! Hahaha!]
“You brain-rotted fucker!”
Azel gnashed his teeth. He hadn’t anticipated this exactly, but figured a Dragon Demon Sword crit would halt him cold.
Reygus, however, got off with one side of his armor shattered and ribs flying apart. Already fortress-tough, his defenses had skyrocketed alongside his mana force surge.
That was when a whisper reached Azel.
—Sir Azel... no, Hero Azel Karzark.
Balsel. Azel shot back.
—What? I’m busy. Later?
—It’s urgent.
—Why?
—I request a switch.
—Huh?
Azel scowled at the curveball. Balsel pressed on.
—We’ll take Reygus.
—Didn’t you just scrap with him and get nothing?
—True, but we didn’t lose.
—Hmph.
—Can’t win, but we can tie him down. Better if you handle the others. We retreat before reinforcements. Eliminate all but Reygus first, secure comrades.
—No idea where that confidence comes from... but okay. It’s bugging me anyway, and your call’s solid. I’ll hand it off after three.
—Understood.
Azel counted to three, then spawned a clone that lunged at Reygus. Reygus, mid-restoration of his wrecked body and armor, swung the Soul Shackle Seal in a hearty counter. That instant, the clone’s Dragon Demon Sword morphed into a thunderbolt and crashed down.
Kwarrrng!
Azel seized the opening to swap spots with Balsel’s crew.
Reygus clocked it late and flew into a rage.
[Azel! Fleeing a man-to-man duel? Turned coward on me!]
“Call it rational, why don’t you? Want a fair one-on-one? Next time, ditch the kid army and show solo.”
[You scum! Think these clowns can stop me?]
Reygus barreled toward Balsel and his two Undying. But then.
[Hm?]
His charge lost visible momentum. Still quick, but a clear drop from before.
Claaaang!
Undying Ro’s axe intercepted the Soul Shackle Seal. His mana force explosion granted otherworldly power and speed. Yet Balsel’s gaze reduced it to blockable levels.
[Kuh! That trick again?]
Reygus snarled in irritation. External force clamped his mana flow. A mage’s gimmick? He’d scoff it off. But this? No clue.
One thing clear: Balsel’s eyes were the source. Amid the Guardian Shadows, Balsel fixed him with a gaze that chilled on sight.
[Guess I smash you first!]
Reygus roared and pounced on Balsel. Ro intercepted, to no avail. Reygus accelerated a beat faster, body-slamming him axe-swing mid-motion.
[Arrrgh!]
Ro hurtled away like rammed by a berserk chariot. Undying mage Pai, poised to strike from the flank, panicked. She’d timed a spell-blast for Ro’s block.
[Improv’s lacking, newbies!]
Reygus plowed on, batting aside Balsel’s Guardian Shadow guards and storming forward. Too swift; Balsel floundered, half-crouched, unable to react.
But as the hammer descended, Reygus knew he’d misjudged.
[Wanna die that bad?]
Balsel charged head-on, sword flashing. Block the Soul Shackle Seal with that puny blade? Masochist move.
Yet a pure white flash lanced out next.
[Gah?]
Reygus recoiled in shock.
Clash moment: his speed lagged, Balsel’s spiked. Time slipped out of sync; Reygus half-swung when the strike dove in, forcing a frantic dodge.
He stumbled back, grinding his teeth.
[Damn! Glaring’s not your only trick?]
Balsel Flash Stepped in tandem. The bolt-like thrust clashed against the Soul Shackle Seal.
Tiiiiing!
Air quaked violently as the impossible unfolded. Reygus got shoved back.
“Urk.”
Balsel grunted. The impact rocked him too.
His eyes wield absolute dominance over Undying. Mere sight suppresses necromancy’s core—the toying with death. Code Name Alpha’s gift ensures they crumble without resistance.
Reygus weakened, sure, but still menaced. Never faced this: eyes usually shut, stored mana drained dry. Close ‘em, recharge.
‘He resembles them.’
Reygus evoked the Guardian Shadows’ Prophecy Guardians’ ‘Sleepless Protectors.’ Not mere elite Undying—the aura matched eerily.
Linked somehow. But no obsessing now. Fate’s truth grasped, he poured all into the foe at hand.
‘How long can I last?’
No victory delusions. Just snag Reygus’s ankle for Azel, however briefly.
“…Dragon Demon General Reygus.”
Balsel’s eyes gleamed uncanny as he smiled. An awkward, grotesque twist—like he’d never smiled, horrifying in its rictus.
“Thank you.”
[What?]
“You let me—no, us—learn our origins and fate. Never dreamed I’d thank a Dragon Demon Worshipper.”
Mad cackles spilled from Balsel.
4
Azel’s crew linked seamlessly with the Guardian Shadows, holding strong. One, though, got peeled from the field into peril.
“Haa, haa….”
Laura.
Disheveled, she caught her breath. One-on-one, she’d crushed Dikal. Shadow Sword Corps piled in? She crumbled fast.
Powerful mage or not, her foes were all ex-rivals for her and Aunsor’s heir spot. Magic gap aside, thirty-plus Dragon-Horse powers linked under Dikal’s command overwhelmed her through sheer efficiency.
Nonstop magic barrages from every angle pushed her two kilometers from allies before she knew it.
No help coming. Dikal’s design.
“Even mighty Miss Laura’s scraping bottom now?”
Dikal’s grin oozed sleaze.
No solo win against her. But dooming her with dropout might? Vile ecstasy.
Laura lacked breath to retort. Shadow Sword Corps pelted petty spells, denying respite.
‘Capture play.’
Dikal’s game was obvious. Full kill? Done already. Nah—they wanted her alive.
Cut ally chatter, isolate bit by bit, erode stamina and mana. Dikal reveled in the sadism.
“Your fate’s set, Laura.”
“…”
“Elders crave traitor’s mug. After? You guess. Prime stock despite treason: next-gen breeder or lab rat. Traitor’s hell either way.”
Chill-inducing spite. Dark Snowfield in their hands beat death; they’d craft worse. Dikal eagerly pitched her into Aunsor satisfaction.
“Where….”
Dikal advanced from the encirclement’s rear. A gap tore in Laura’s tight magic web.
Boom!
“Kyaaak!”
Laura shrieked, reeling back. Dikal’s deliberate hole. She knew, but desperation clung to the sliver.
Dikal parried her spell like he’d queued it. Then steamrolled.
“Hahaha! End of the line? Knew it’d crash here, still flailed.”
“…”
Laura glared daggers. Dikal smirked.
“Hmph. Fine. You’re right, Laura. Came too soon.”