Simond tightened the grip on his sword. "Get out of my way or die, pirate!"
York didn't say anything but simply raised her sword. That was when Simond couldn't be bothered to talk again, and they fought.
Meanwhile, Aldred was struggling.
A shell crashed into the ship and exploded a part of the building. The debris fell, and Aldred used that chance to counterattack.
There were four Aldreds now, and they all moved around the dust and debris, making it hard to spot.
"Now!" Aldred rushed at Commodore Alark along with his three clones.
The handsome winged man could not react quickly enough. He managed to block three attacks, but Aldred sliced one of his wings off.
"Ahh! You cut my wings!"
Aldred snorted. "I will cut your balls if I can."
Alark was terrified that Aldred would do what he said. So he turned around and ran.
"Big mistake."
Aldred and his clones used blood teleportation to surround Alark and they pushed their Phantom Doomblade from four different directions.
"How dare you..." The handsome winged man glared at him as blood spilled from his lips. "The winged men will not forgive you for this. They will hunt you down."
"Not if no one lives to tell the tale." Aldred spun and beheaded the man.
"Cih! So that's where you are." Xoros stepped out from the dust cloud. "I will take the ring from your dead body and bring back the princess with me."
"Do you have a need to tell me your reasons? Because I don't even ask."
"It means you have to give them to me or die, you uncultured brutes!"
"How dare you call me uncultured! Let it be known that I once had a full disk with cultured material: Lolicon, milfs, step-sister, 2D girl, 3D girl, and even 5D girl. You name it, I have it!"
Xoros raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Aldred cleared his throat. "Nevermind. Uneducated filth like you doesn't deserve this knowledge."
Xoros grunted like a beast who was about to pounce on its prey. "I will kill you! Bestial Spirit! Give me strength!"
The lion-man roared into the sky, and his whole body burst out with a bloody aura. That was when blood-red armor wrapped around his fur, and scaly vambraces fitted onto his arms.
"I will mince you to pieces, and devour you!" He kicked the ground and rushed forward at high speed.
Aldred almost couldn't react to his movement, before he tilted his head. He couldn't even see the claw attack as blood splattered from his cheek.
Aldred took a few steps back and activated his godly eyes. He didn't have the chance to activate it earlier.
"You have a good battle instinct. I applaud you for that." Xoros glanced at Aldred's clones.
"And these clones... they are as strong as you. But my bestial spirit is powerful enough to fight them all."
"Oh really?" Aldred sneered. "Let me show you something. Blood Lust!"
Aldred and his clones' eyes turned crimson red, and the Blood Lust aura came out from their body. Their hair stood on end, and their muscles contracted, ready for battle, ready to kill.
"What is this power?"
It didn't stop there. The Phantom Doomblade detected the Blood Lust, and its spirit meter went to the maximum while the blade's outline glowed red, indicating that the Spirit Outline was at the highest level. This meant that each attack had the ability to reduce the enemy's level by consuming some parts of their soul.
The maximum Spirit Meter was like special mana that let him perform soul-cutting techniques. These techniques could almost pass through any defense.
Aldred and his clones vanished into thin air, shocking Xoros. And then they appeared around him, with their blades raised high.
"SPIRIT SLASH ONCE!"
"SPIRIT SLASH TWICE!"
"SPIRIT SLASH THRICE!"
Aldred performed three combo attacks, and they paralyzed the lion-man. His body could not move at all in that short time frame, but it was enough for Aldred to execute his final move.
"SPIRIT THRUST!"
Aldred flashed forward and stabbed Xoros' abdomen. He pulled the blade, leaped into the sky, and slammed the blade down. "Ultimate Attack! SPIRIT DOWNWARD SLASH!"
All Xoros saw at his final moment was the terrifying blade touching his skull, and then the sound of countless sharp blades mincing his whole body.
But his body was still intact, and yet lifeless.
Aldred watched a light-green ethereal gas come out of Xoros' body and it got sucked by his Phantom Doomblade. It was the soul of the lion-man.
Aldred took in a deep breath as he could feel his strength increasing.
"NO! BROTHER!" A lion-man appeared from the distance and saw his own brother slowly crumble into dust.
Aldred recognized him. "Parthos..."
He felt slightly bad now. He had met Parthos before and taught him some stuff before, so Aldred could even consider him as one of his students. He was quite a good student too.
"I am sorry," Aldred said.
Parthos fell a tear from his eyes. A single tear before he stood up and glanced at him. "Don't be sorry, Master. He died an honorable death. A warrior must die in battle. I understand that you are merely protecting yourself, but as a brother, I must avenge him."
"You don't have to do this."
"Apologize, Master. I have considered you to be my teacher, and always will be." He flashed forward and thrust his spear.
Aldred stepped to the side, dodging the spear, but the spear suddenly turned into a slashing attack.
The spearhead grazed his chest, but his golden armor completely nullified any damage.
Aldred stepped forward and stabbed. The spear-length blade went through Parthos' body.
Parthos spat out blood.
"I am sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Master. I am honored to die in your hands."
"Do you really have to do this? I can let you live if you leave this place."
Parthos shook his head. "If my brother dies here, then so will I."
Aldred sighed. "Since I consider you as my student, let me give you mercy."
His Phantom Doomblade quickly sliced Parthos' head, and then his clones minced his head until it burst into blood mist.
