Josen who was fighting the two Grain Leaders of Fourth Set and another two Grain Leaders of Third Set was being pushed back. He was strong but fighting four Grain Leaders was extremely hard and stressful.
He didn't even know if he was going to win or not. But everything was decided after he heard his master's words.
He raised his hand and touched the metallic collar around his neck.
'So you've decided to save us, in the end. But I'm going to follow you...?!'
Suddenly, he opened his eyes widely. He stopped moving as his senses flared up. His mouth and hands trembled as if something bad happened.
He glared at the four warriors. "You...! How?!"
"We're winning this war." The Grain Leader from Fourth Set said.
"Is it hard to understand that?" The Tenth Grain Wise Leader asked lightly.
"I don't know what happens but..." Josen gritted his teeth. He wanted to help his comrades but these four warriors were preventing him from moving.
In his perception, two of the remaining executives had vanished. Their mana signatures which were powerful a while ago suddenly disappeared. There were two reasons why. It's either that they escaped or they got defeated by warriors from Athen's Champion.
They should have a great advantage in this war but strangely they were the ones that were getting defeated. Even if the Rebel Army had fallen, the members of Red Matter Association were enough.
So why? No, just like what happened to him. Someone was controlling this entire battlefield.
"Huh?"
Souta's image suddenly came into his mind. He didn't know why but he felt that monster was connected to it.
...
On the surface of Aranhgrad...
Two and a half hours had passed since the war started in this land. Vandal was facing the leader of the Red Matter Association, Avron.
Vandal was full of wounds and his breathing was heavy. He was fighting Avron all this time and Avron even let him rest so that he could fight once again.
The difference in their strength was huge even though both of them were at Seven Shackles Realm.
"Why don't you kill me, Avron?" Vandal asked in a low voice.
"It's a waste to kill you. After all, you're a former friend of mine so I wanted to show you the process of me achieving my goal." Avron said to him. "If you still want to fight, I'll entertain you to the best of my abilities."
"You...!! This is not a game, Avron!"
Vandal gritted his teeth as he slowly brandished his sword. Lightning slowly crackled around the blade of the sword.
[Lightning Blade Enhancement]!!
It was the equipment skill of his red-grade weapon. A skill that adds fifty percent lightning damage to his attack for thirty minutes and it has a cooldown of seven days.
[Great Tortoise Shell]!!
This skill was the equipment skill of his armor. It has an effect that could enhance the user's defense by twenty percent and add an invisible field that could protect the user.
"I will not give up! You're still living in the past! I will wake you up!" Vandal roared before he dashed forward with all of his might. At the same time, he activated some of his combat arts to enhance his strength.
"You can't win just against me." Avron grinned as he bent his body backward. A sword passed above his face and he moved his feet to fix his balance before he punched the sword.
Clang!
Sparks flew out as Vandal lifted his feet and launched a lightning kick. But Avron simply moved his other hand and caught the lightning kick.
Bang!
The force behind him the kick traveled through Avron's body and pushed him several meters away. He felt slight numbness in his hand and he realized that his opponent's attack had a paralyzing effect.
Unfortunately, it only slightly numbs his hand. If it was other people, then they wouldn't be able to move their hands after taking that attack. It would paralyze them for one second and one second was a great deal for people at their power level.
One second was enough for any of the Seven Shackles Realm experts to launch ten thousand punches.
Hmm...?
Avron quickly crouched down as Vandal slashed the air, barely missing his neck. He moved swiftly as he grabbed the right hand of his opponent and delivered a blow on Vandal's chest.
[Demolition Impact]!!
The moment his fist landed on Vandal's armor, lightning spread out as he felt great resistance. Then, he added more force to his punch to blast his opponent away to create some distance.
Boom!!
Vandal's body flew away leaving lightning trails behind. He penetrated hundreds of buildings before his body stopped.
Swoosh!
Avron watched as the buildings collapsed in front of him. He raised his hand and touched his neck. Darkness covered his fingers as he used it to close the cut on the side of his neck.
"That's close... As expected of my friend. You are the only one that has the capability to stop me."
He said in a low tone. Darkness slowly covered his entire body and it slowly turned into black light-armor.
[Darkness Knight Suit]!!
He activated one of his most powerful dark attribute skills. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the pillar of energy coming from the Aranhgrad.
"It's going to start soon. Just a little bit more and..."
He muttered to himself.
Boom!!
Vandal's energy pushed all the rubble around him. He stared at Avron with anger in his eyes.
"Avron!! Fight me!!"
He roared as he activated all of his equipment skills. As a Chief Captain, most of his equipment was red-grade. The lowest grade that he wore was just an orange grade bracelet.
Lightning and wind spread out and it destroyed buildings within a radius of five hundred meters. Everything was cleaned and there was nothing left standing around the area.
Avron looked at him and said, "Very well, I intend to finish this soon. You've cleaned the battlefield so I'm sure that you have prepared yourself."
Swoosh!
Vandal eyes constricted as Avron suddenly vanished. Then, he slashed his sword at his left side and a lightning energy blade flew out.
"Avron, you became someone you hated in the past. I could still remember the time when you, Layla, and I played when we were kids. You said I'm your friend, right? That's why I'm going to stop you from committing anymore sins!"
He clearly felt Avron's presence but the moment he attacked, the presence disappeared completely. Instead, it reappeared behind him.
"I promise in the name of my goddess, Athena, that I will stop you at all costs!"
Vandal kicked the ground as he jumped in the air. Lightning gathered around his sword before it swung it down with all of his force.
Roar!!
The lightning turned into a dragon as it crashed on the floor creating a sea of lightning that enveloped the whole field.
[Descent of the Dragon]!!
Avron crossed his arms as lightning surrounded him. It was attacking every part of his body nonstop. It was powerful as it even penetrated his protective field. Although he was stronger than Vandal, Vandal still had the ability to kill him so he wouldn't let down his guard even for a moment.
Darkness covered both of his arms before he waved it.
[Dark Fissure]!!
Ohm!!
The whole floor quickly turned into darkness before it shot up colliding with the sea of lightning.
"God? Oh, right... It seems that you know little of them."
Avron said as he jumped in the air and threw a punch at Vandal. Vandal gritted his teeth as he raised his sword and blocked the punch.
Bang!
Vandal was pushed back. But he shortly charged at his opponent once again. Every slash of his sword was filled with lightning and wind.
"God? They are quite similar to us. The secrets of attaining godhood. I've achieved it, the secrets of the gods."
Avron said as he moved his body from side to side, barely avoiding the sword that was coming at him. The energy blade shot through and destroyed the area behind him.
At this moment, a quarter of the surface of Aranhgrad was demolished. Even though the battle was intense, the Aranhgrad showed no sign of collapsing. It was only shaking due to the sheer power of the two powerhouses fighting on top of it.
"What are you saying?" Vandal narrowed his eyes. He suddenly felt danger coming from his opponent's body.
He stopped attacking Avron and then he jumped away, to create some distance. His instinct was screaming at him to run away. If he recklessly attacks, there's a huge chance that his opponent would take him down since he had no idea about what was going to happen.
"Let me show you," Avron said and the air around him changed. The temperature dropped instantly as if a storm was about land.
He was standing still but everything felt as if time had stopped. The space started to vibrate as a large amount of mana gathered on the tip of Avron's finger.
He slightly opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Don't lose sight of it."
[Archetype: Spatial Domination]!!
[First Form: Volume Down]!!
The energy gathered on his finger swirled wildly like a hurricane and quietly the space distorted. Everything around Vandal was folded into tiny pieces. It seems that an invisible hand was crushing the entire area.
