What had happened? What forced the horses to fall? Where was Lady Aurora?
Sylvester was looking for answers as he helped the men nearby to stand up. His senses were screaming and telling him there was a lot of danger. But he couldn't understand what it was, as he had already dealt with most of the army of the Duke.
Boom!
Sylvester looked up as a sonic boom resounded in the sky. A curse left his mouth as he suddenly rushed in a direction. "Sir Hans! Felix! Use the air element!"
He rushed to create a big rune scheme on the ground and applied as much magic to it as possible to develop an upward wind. Lady Aurora was falling fast, and Sylvester wished to soften the fall as much as possible.
Thud!
Everything happened so fast, and before Sylvester knew it, she had fallen on the ground, her face looking at the sky. But she appeared conscious and unhurt as she started to stand up.
She said nothing and kept staring at the sky, her brows furrowed. Then, she lowered herself a little and jumped at the same speed she fell.
Boom!
Another sonic book echoed, followed by repeated sounds of blasts. It was clear that a battle was happening in the sky.
Sylvester looked at Sir Hans. "How many Grand Wizards does the Gracia Kingdom have? Is any of them Duke's Uncle?"
"Three! One is the grand-uncle of the Duke from the Queen's side." Sir Hans revealed. "Sir Maximus Linus Gracia—The Eagle—named for his flying talent by using his mastery in Air elemental magic."
Sylvester grunted and looked towards the Duke in the distance, who was also staring at the sky. "So this is why he was so confident about taking the throne. He has the support of his grand-uncle. Sir Hans, you're also a Diamond Wizard. Can you beat that man with Lady Aurora?"
Sir Hans appeared unsure. "Nobody ever knows the exact level of non-clergy Grand Wizards. Lady Aurora is likely level one Grand Wizard, while I… As long as Sir Maximus isn't higher than level five, we should be able to defeat him."
Sylvester nodded. "Good, then go and beat him. I will get the Duke. He's an Archiwizard, and I should be able to get him."
Sir Hans nodded and left with a jump.
Silvester took a deep breath and held his spear tightly in hand. 'I should try and end this battle as fast as possible.'
"Glory to Solis!" He roared, reminding each inquisitor why they were fighting.
"Haaaa!"
Blood-pumped, motivated and thirsty for some battle, the Inquisitors roared and clashed their swords with the Duke's men. The Wizards stayed back and sent a barrage of destructive or defensive spells.
The reality was that the Duke only had some Wizards left at this stage as usually wizards are never sent into the first charge with the knights. But, these wizards were also highly competitive as they represented the best of what the Duke had to offer, his inner circles—and a few remaining lords of the Duchy.
Sylvester only focused on the Duke and called Felix as well. "Let's go! We must get that man to his knees and end this battle."
The two friends rushed forward, weapons in hand. Sylvester remained grounded while Felix leapt into the air, slamming his sword vertically down at the head of the Duke. Sylvester, meanwhile, thrust the spear at the Duke's neck—the weakest part of any armour.
"Duke Daemon! Surrender! Your forces are dead!" Sylvester roared.
"Haha… the ants may be dead, but the real lion lives and fights in the sky. Did you think I'd come unprepared when I knew you had a Grand Wizard among the ranks?" Duke Daemon retorted, ridiculing while blocking the strike from Felix and using magic with the free hand to lift a rock and stop the spear's thrust.
'Alright, he's terrific at fighting.' Sylvester evaluated and changed his battle strategy. He created some gaps and started using magic intensively.
Woosh!
He threw fireballs from his palm first, one after another, and slowly made his way closer and used the spear again.
Shh!
But the spear was just a decoy as he created a spearhead from solidified light just behind the Duke's, ready to plunge in and leave the man on the ground. He didn't care anymore about not killing the man. He just wanted it to end quickly.
"Ha!" The Duke grunted, used his short sword to stop the spear, and instantly ducked, avoiding the light spearhead on his back.
Felix was going strong at it too, being the better-skilled knight. He swung his blade like a master, each one having all his might. But the Duke was easily demolishing all attacks as he'd only tackle with a slanted sword in a way that all of Felix's longswords would just slide off.
It was a sword-art style that relied on deflecting the enemy's strike so that its total momentum was not transferred to the defender. That posed a challenge for Felix, who used the quick style to hammer the enemy with unstoppable heavy strikes.
"Let's see how you deal with this!" Felix exclaimed, and suddenly, his sword's entire blade caught fire, so strong and smooth that it seemed like it was made of plasma. The use of intricate runes on the sword was apparent.
Woosh!
"Ha!" Felix went ahead.
The Duke, however, didn't tackle anymore and instead dodged each strike from Felix masterfully with the slightest movement possible.
Boom!
"Glory to Solis!"
All of a sudden, a loud explosion resounded. Sylvester quickly looked and noticed a maddening scene. As the wizards of the Duke were doing a lot of damage to the Inquisitors, some of the Inquisitor men started using explosive crystals by jumping onto the wizards in a group of three and all exploding themselves at the same time.
They were killing themselves in the name of the god and taking the lives of the enemy wizards.
"Good god! They are crazy!" Sylvester exclaimed and turned back to the Duke as he found another reason to defeat him.
"Duke Daemon, are you sure you want this? Even if you win, you will have the entire Holy Land on your back. Are you sure you want to sit on a throne of ashes?" Sylvester asked the man, trying to reason.
The Duke scoffed. "It's do or die for me, Lord Bard. I never wanted this—but my brother won't let me live in peace. Fifty-eight assassins! That's just how many he sent in the previous month. I know I can't win politically—so this is my answer. I repeat, I didn't kill King Riveria's daughter! I wish no harm to the Church."
Sylvester sighed and took an attacking position. "Your Grace, you're one amazing warrior—too bad we met in such circumstances."
The Duke also nodded and took his position. "And you're possibly the smartest man I've seen among the clergy—I am sure you know a lot more than what you reveal to others."
Ting!
Sylvester and Duke's blades clashed with each other. Sylvester was good as he didn't adhere to any one fighting style. Instead, he believed in copying the enemy and adjusting to the situation. Of course, that meant he'd never have exceptional skills in one style, but he didn't even wish to have one.
Clash!
The sparks flew as the two men rammed their blades. But at the same time, being Arch-Wizards, they used magic to the fullest.
Boom!
Duke tried to punch Sylvester in the stomach.
Bam!
But the punch only touched a strong wall made of solid light magic. And by then, Sylvester had also thrown a punch with his fist on fire.
Shwoo!
The Duke instantly tilted his head sideways, avoiding Sylvester's strike. It all happened at the speed of a second. Both men impressed each other, but the Duke had shown his strength was higher, as was his experience.
Felix also jumped in with his sword, turning it two against one. Sylvester's spear and magic, while Felix's fire sword. The two Sanctum Inspectors were in tune with each other and struck the Duke nonstop, pushing the man further away from the crowded battlefield.
"Ha!" The Duke suddenly kicked down.
The ground started to crack in a small radius around them.
"Felix! Jump back!" Sylvester shouted as he realised the magic was used to turn the ground into quicksand, using fire and earth runes simultaneously. But Sylvester wondered when the Duke planted the rune.
'Unless he has the runes engraved underneath his boots.'
Shhh…!
"What is it now?" Felix cursed and looked up. Something was falling once again.
Boom!
Sylvester and Felix jumped away as Sir Hans fell where they stood, creating a small crater due to the intensity. The man appeared bloodied but not as beaten.
Sylvester helped him up quickly, expecting an answer.
But when Sir Hans shook his head, Sylvester's heart sank.
He glanced at the sky and prayed for Lady Aurora, who was still somehow fighting.
"She's a Wizard—they are stronger than us knights." Sir Hans replied, tired from all the jumping he had done the whole time.
Sylvester rubbed his face in frustration. His mouth felt too dry. But he gathered the thoughts and ordered the man. "You're a Diamond Knight, Sir. Use every ounce of strength in your legs and reach Holy Land up north! It's the closest to us from here—you merely need to cross the river. Bring… someone."
Sir Hans stared into Sylvester's eyes, feeling troubled. "My lord, you are the future of the faith. You won't last a second against that Gracia Grand Wizard. Once Lady Aurora falls—the war is over."
Sylvester glanced at the Duke a distance away and stared into the nobleman's eyes. The murderous aura was clearly visible. "I'm afraid we are out of options, Sir Hans. And… I can't leave all these men here; otherwise, my name will be tarnished. It's all on you now. Please be quick!"
Sir Hans took a long, steady breath. "If I use everything I have in me to the last breath, perhaps… ten minutes."
Sylvester had no idea if he could last that long. In fact, the real question was if Lady Aurora could last that long.
'Ten minutes just to get there? How long will the backup take?'
"I… We will be waiting… Sir Hans." Sylvester breathed out, not really sure in his own words.
Sir Hans nodded and, without wasting a moment, used all his strength in his legs and leapt away, disappearing into the sky. The power of a Knight in high ranks was truly destructing. But sadly, compared to a Grand Wizard at later levels, it was nothing.
With Sir Hans gone, Sylvester blazed to the Duke again and struck his spear like he was dancing. Along with the spear strikes, he nonstop threw sharp, knife-like solid light at the man.
But the Duke danced and jumped, rolled back, turned and twisted easily. The man avoided every single strike that Sylvester threw at the last moments.
"One second?" Sylvester blurted and suddenly stopped.
The Duke jumped a few feet back and appeared confused. "What, Lord Bard?"
Sylvester kept staring into the man's extremely reddened eyes. "One second—that's the limit of your Futuresight, right?"
"..."
Silence resonated, and slowly the dust from their recent manoeuvres settled. Felix appeared shocked by Sylvester's words too, and clutched his sword hard in response.
"Hahaha!" The Duke started laughing like a madman. He threw his helmet away and let his long, blonde hair flutter in the wind. "Finally—You noticed!"
400 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
