The Battle Reignites (2)
Before departing Maherith, Yushin received a heartfelt send-off from his two disciples.
“Master, I wanna come too!”
“This is a massive war against the Demon King Army. It's dangerous. Totally different from scrapping with monsters in the unexplored zones. So stay put in Maherith Palace and wait nicely.”
Yushin ruffled Alonne's hair roughly as he spoke. Alonne pouted, sticking out her lower lip.
She wanted to help. She wanted to fight too. But she knew a newbie like her would just get in the way if she butted in, so she couldn't throw a tantrum. She could only nod her heavy head in reluctant agreement.
“Okay. I'll wait.”
“That's my girl.”
“I'm not a kid!”
Alonne's face flushed red at Yushin's hand stroking her head. Leticia was watching from the side. She didn't want her rival and frenemy to see her like this, so she was mortified.
“She's such a kid.”
Leticia smirked, crossing her arms. She probably didn't mean to, but folding her arms like that made her massive chest stand out even more. Alonne's eyes curved into crescent moons at the sight of Leticia's weapons that she herself lacked.
“Have a safe trip. I'll be praying for your victory, Teacher.”
“Thanks.”
“Because you're our teacher... so... come back safe.”
“Yeah.”
Yushin grinned and replied, making Leticia blush and turn her head away. She'd been warming up to him bit by bit, and ever since seeing the back of the Demon King Slayer heading to the Demon King's castle through the Memory Vessel, her fondness had started turning into something deeper—like love.
A great hero. The slayer of the Demon King. His legendary exploits overlapped perfectly with the brave heroes from her childhood fairy tales.
“Master, lower your head a sec?”
“What for?”
At Alonne's request, Yushin bent down without a second thought, meeting her eyes. Peck.
Alonne's pale cheeks flushed pink as she gave Yushin a quick peck on the lips. A bird kiss—like a bird tapping its beak briefly. After the short kiss, Alonne beamed shyly.
“Wh-what...! Th-this is outrageous!!”
Leticia's face turned apple-red as she covered her eyes with both hands. But she peeked through her fingers. She yelled at Alonne for the sudden ambush kiss. As the daughter of a high elf noble house, how could she so casually show affection to an outsider man? The shame from this utterly common-sense-defying act was overwhelming. A kiss between parents for familial love was one thing, but this was her first time witnessing a kiss brimming with romantic affection between man and woman—it was shocking.
“What's wrong with it? It's just a good-luck kiss. Man, Santander's so uptight. Totally behind the times. Old-fashioned.”
“Wh-what did you say?!”
Leticia clenched her fists and shouted at Alonne. Yushin chuckled at his bickering disciples and reached out, ruffling both Alonne's and Leticia's hair as he promised to return safely.
The war horn blared. The first to loose an arrow from the bowstring was Sabnack. She raised her scrap-iron sword. As its sharp tip pointed to the sky, crimson fireballs tore through the air, plummeting toward the ground.
In response, Bariteon raised Eternal Snow, deploying a frost barrier in the air. The fireballs clashed against the icy wall mid-air, sending a deafening roar echoing across the entire battlefield. Thick steam billowed up. Amid the fog-like mist blinding their eyes, the Demon King Army signaled their advance with drums and trumpets.
“Here they come.”
Yushin bared his teeth. His face was hidden by his helmet, but his voice carried intense tension. Lightning-crackling charge—he burst through hundreds of monsters. Swinging Lightning Sword Karus horizontally, he cleaved through even the demons preparing spells. Demon and monster corpses floated briefly before crashing down in gruesome heaps.
“Sabnack!!”
Yushin bellowed. But Sabnack, who had been visible moments ago, was gone. She'd probably pulled back temporarily or was rampaging on another front. Given the fireballs still raining from the sky, she hadn't retreated to the rear.
“Don't stray too far. Who knows when Sabnack'll show.”
Yushin sliced through a charging demon with spread wings, then called out to Allen and Ardena, who were locked in fierce combat. The two knightesses nodded. They always bickered like sworn enemies, but right now, they were deadly serious.
“Die, all of you!! Die!! Ahahahahaha!!!”
Every swing of Allen's Dragon Pursuer swept away dozens of monsters in an instant. She pulverized them beyond recognition—horned beasts, fang-and-claw brutes, even hulking giants. None could stand against her. Her transcendent strength overwhelmed them utterly.
“No sign of Sabnack.”
Each swing of Ardena's sword unleashed razor-sharp north winds. Was it the blade's enchantment? Adorned with blue gems, her sword birthed wind blades that cleanly bisected demons. El Seed's sword resonated with the energy from her White Lily Scale armor, exchanging and amplifying power several times over. Fully geared in sword and armor, Ardena was incomparable to when she'd fought Allen.
Bwooooooo.
The horn blared. Black-scaled wyverns swarmed from the blue sky above, demons riding atop them. Crossing the fierce battlefield between the Elf Kingdom and Demon King Army, they unleashed a barrage of spells. Their targets: the elf knights on the ground. The demons rained magic bombardment from on high.
“Hahaha! Die!”
“Damn elf bitches, I'll kill you all!”
Wyverns streaking across the battlefield skies. To punish them, the elves launched counter-air forces. Massive eagles soared in—great sword-eagles with black feathers and golden markings. The fierce raptors glared as they closed on the wyverns, striking with precision.
Startled by the sword-eagle ambush, the wyverns flapped wildly to regain balance.
“Sword-Eagle Knights, joining the fray.”
“We've been waiting for payback.”
Elf knights atop the giant raptors hurled mana-charged spears, skewering demons and wyverns alike. The Sword-Eagle Knights were seasoned pros. Mastering eagle-riding arts, they dodged demon spells by a hair's breadth, then drew second spears from their saddles to pierce their foes.
“That's the Sword-Eagle Knights I mentioned last time.”
Ardena explained as Yushin eyed the raptors shrieking like kings of the sky. In moments, they seized air superiority. Even magic-armed demons were helpless against the elf knights on sword-eagles.
“Impressive. Didn't know they were holding that back. Never saw 'em on the kingdom frontlines.”
“The Sword-Eagle Knights were formed specifically to counter the Demon King Army's wyverns.”
While chatting with Yushin and Ardena, she mercilessly butchered intervening demons and monsters. Blood sprayed. Flesh chunks rolled across the ground. Seeing the vanguard slaughtered gruesomely, the demons and monsters finally realized they'd just die pointlessly and started backing away. But Allen wouldn't let prey escape—she butchered them all, clearing the area.
“Told you not to push ahead.”
Yushin grabbed what looked like a demon officer's sword and hurled it forward. Lightning-charged, it rocketed ahead, shredding demons and monsters in its path. Losing no momentum, the thunder sword swept through the demons surrounding Liana before finally halting.
“Yushin!”
Ardena shouted. Simultaneously, a storm gale swept away the piled corpses. The crimson Demon King arrived. Covered head to toe in elf knight blood from her countless kills, Sabnack charged straight at Yushin, swinging her scrap-iron sword.
“Sabnack.”
Yushin stepped forward. Seeing him advance without flinching, Sabnack flashed a savage grin.
“Demon King Slayer!!”
Lightning Sword Karus and scrap-iron sword clashed at full power, unleashing a fierce shockwave that ravaged the battlefield. Dust swirled as they traded a second blow. They briefly crossed paths, but Sabnack spotted Yushin's hurled thunder sword and adjusted. Having eagerly awaited this rematch with the Demon King Slayer, she charged without hesitation.
“Demon King!!”
“That damn wench, still kicking after that mortal wound.”
Sabnack clicked her tongue at Allen, who rampaged unscathed despite the deep gash from her scrap-iron sword. What kind of human was she? Was she even human? Sabnack felt the same deathly threat from Allen as from Yushin. She can kill me. She has the power to sever my immortality. Allen remained an enigma to Sabnack.
“You're sharper than before.”
Sabnack backflipped mid-air, dodging an invisible wind blade. Her red hair whipped. A deeper cut might've taken her head, but she'd anticipated the full attack range, so it hadn't connected.
“Your teamwork's decent. Matched up over two days, huh? Still a bit sloppy though...”
As Sabnack landed from her flip, Yushin swung Lightning Sword Karus. Gripping her hilt two-handed, Sabnack swept him away with a mighty swing. She countered Allen's assault with her greatsword while checking Ardena's strikes.
“Up!”
Allen yelled. Yushin reacted, thrusting Lightning Sword Karus skyward to bat away Sabnack's flames.
“Sabnack!”
Ardena lunged sword-first, locking blades in a standoff. They grappled for dominance. Sabnack bared her teeth at Ardena's unshaken eyes.
“Ardena Valencia. Those eyes still remind me of El Seed.”
“You'll die here.”
“You dare speak of a Demon King's death, elf?”
“No. I can't kill you.”
With that, Ardena swung wide, repelling Sabnack. She fell back. In her place, blue lightning hammered down like an iron mace. Seeing the blazing blue flash, the Raging Flames Demon King hastily raised her scrap-iron sword. But without proper stance, even she couldn't deflect it all. Enveloped in the Demon King Slayer's blue thunder, Sabnack grunted and swung.
“My clothes take another hit.”
Caught off-guard, Sabnack tsked and shed her red coat. Wind whipped fiercely. The discarded coat sailed away on the gust.
“It was a favorite.”
Muttering, Sabnack swung her scrap-iron sword, severing the threatening blue lightning around her. She cleaved the thunder. Staring at her blade's lingering blue sparks, Sabnack murmured, “Sliced lightning. Let's call this Thunder Cleave.”
Yushin's shoulders shook with laughter at the Demon King's words. Allen flashed him a thumbs-up.