523 Eradicate Seven Branches Part 8

"Kill them all." The moment his order echoed in their ears, Artur raised his sword, covering his sword with white light. He leaped forward, swinging his sword toward the elder's neck.

"Spirit Slash."

"Dual Joy Slash."

The elder parried the attack with her own sword art, not losing in the slightest. Artur smiled, knowing this attack was not to kill her but to open a way to Alex, allowing him to fight Raku.

Alex only took out his sword for the time being as he might be found out by them. After all, the iconic sword-spear wielding had been popularized by Putri, so unless it were necessary, Alex would not use it.

A sword appeared in Raku's hand, containing a huge amount of energy. As expected of peerless genius from Joyful Union Sect, a rank 6 Sword would be normal for him. Alex recalled that only around ten percent of Martial Emperors they killed possessed a rank 6 Sword. In addition, the sword also released a wind pressure, the symbol of the Elemental Sword.

The fire on his elemental sword softened a bit, wrapping it with gentle flame energy. Different than one would expect, the fire energy was only in its compressed form while still taking the Spiritual Energy around, enhancing its power even further.

Alex arrived in front of Raku, slashing downwards. Raku also covered his sword with wind energy, but a trace of the same energy as the elder appeared on the blade, hinting Alex what kind of Sword Art he would use.

"Heaven Light Slash."

"Dual Joy Slash."

The red and green light flashed upon the room, illuminating the room in two colors.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows, finding Raku's strength to be the same level as him. On the other hand, Raku was too shocked to see a 1-Star Martial Emperor could have the same strength as him, riling up his pride.

Surprisingly, Alex was the first to make a move.

"Spirit Step, First Step."

His soul stomped the ground, sucking all the Spiritual Energy nearby before channeling it to his hand.

'400 Dragon Strength.'

Alex pushed him back with this new strength before blowing him away to the wall.

"!!!" All elders and disciples were shocked as they could not believe Raku was blown away by a mere 1-Star Martial Emperor. Even in the sect, he could fight 3-Star Martial Emperor alone with his strength, let alone a 1-Star Martial Emperor. This could only mean that the masked Alex had stronger strength than him.

Alex did not care what they were thinking, only focusing his attention to Raku. He was not someone who would go for a cliche, waiting for his opponent to come back while saying, 'You are strong, so take this attack.' Besides, even with the sneak attack, the surprise only lasted for a while before Raku regained his calm. He did not say or act like an idiot in this battle, making him a difficult opponent even for Alex.

These two reasons were enough for Alex to strike him without giving any single opportunity. He raised his sword before striking the ground with all of his power, sending a powerful sword wave on the ground.

"Blade of Conquest."

Raku swiftly raised his sword, stopping the sword wave.

"Kh…" The sword wave was too strong, pushing him out of the house. It was at this moment, Raku made a smart move. He lowered his stance before spinning to avoid the sword wave.

Alex frowned, noticing it was not his real intention. His own sword wave, which was supposed to hit Raku, struck his barrier, creating a massive shockwave on the barrier.

"Fu." He took a deep breath, realizing that his opponent was a real deal despite his character.

"Wind Stimulant." Raku clapped his hand, creating a huge tornado before destroying a pill pink, the same pill that carried pink energy inside it. At first, Alex did not know what the pink energy was, but after knowing the pill, he was sure the pink energy was a strong aphrodisiac.

There was no way Alex would let this giant tornado pass him. His fire started gushing out of his body, dancing around his body. A single wave of his hand made a huge fire tornado, bigger than Raku's tornado.

"Fire Wave Emission."

His Spirit Eyes ensured that no pink energy would pass through his tornado as it engulfed the green tornado. It would seem this was not Raku's realm aim as he started making his move.

"!!!" Alex realized that his target was Artur, wanting to help the elder. If Alex was a normal person, he might succeed in using the tornado as a cover, but Alex had seen through his plan from miles away.

He appeared on Raku's way again, swinging his sword. As expected of the eldest senior brother of Joyful Union Sect, he somehow managed to react despite the shock he got. A giant tornado like that was enough to cover his track normally. Still, it was certain that his opponent was not normal.

As soon as their sword collided, fire spiked from Alex's sword, engulfing both of them in an explosion.

"Boom!"

"Young Lord!" The elders started panicking, but could not do anything. They could only grit their teeth, seeing Raku was blown away to the barrier.

"Bam!"

"Kh…" Raku bit his lips, looking at his left hand that was covered by a little burn mark here and there. He took a glimpse of the barrier and shook his head. Even Alex's attack did not really do anything to the barrier, his attack would also be rendered as useless no matter how hard he struck it. The only way to leave this barrier was to kill Alex, who was supposed to be the Array Master.

Alex did not use his Blade of Conquest again, not wanting it to be utilized by Raku to break his own barrier. He leaped forward, releasing a powerful blow.

"Heaven Light Slash."

"Dual Joy Slash."

The two swords collided again, sending another wave of a shockwave. Although this was only a fight between 2-Star and 3-Star Martial Emperors, both men were the leaders of their respective groups. If one would go down, that side would undoubtedly lose.

"Bam!"

Alex, once again, blew him to the barrier, making him spat blood. He leaped toward him this time, thrusting his sword like using his spear.

"Phantom Trust."

Raku blinked once, seeing Alex's sword somehow get extended. He was wondering if his eyes were playing with him or not but chose to strike that shadow.

"Dual Joy Slash."

It turned out his gamble was right. He managed to intercept Alex's phantom trust in the nick of time. This might be his luck as when he struck the sword, he closed the path toward his head, which was Alex's real target.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows, spinning his sword and changing his target.

"Argh!" Raku felt a painful jab on his left shoulder. It was for an instant, but he realized that Alex's sword somehow moved toward his shoulder. Unfortunately, he could not react and let it pierce his shoulder.

Raku could only let the pain shake his brain, but not his action. He bit his lips, spinning his wrist to strike at Alex.

On the other hand, Alex knew this attack was only to push him away. He did what Raku wanted, leaping a few meters back, except he also raised his sword and thrust the air a hundred times in two seconds.

"Hundred Spear."

A hundred arrowheads made of fire flew toward Raku. Despite his condition, Raku did not let out a single plea for his life. He simply waved his sword, striking the arrowheads one by one.

"Bam Bam Bam!"

Each time he destroyed an attack, it created a loud sound, but like he was unbothered by all of it, he kept striking it. Unfortunately, if he could use his left hand, his movement would be perfect.

Within a hundred attacks, he managed to destroy ninety of them, leaving the other ten to strike his body.

"Kh…" He endured the pain as much as possible, not letting out a single scream. The attack itself managed to put a total of five holes on his legs, three on his arms, and two on his body. Luckily, he managed to destroy all attacks that were coming to his vitals, so as long as he had enough time, he could fully recover from this position.

His hand started shaking because of his injuries, looking at Alex with his fuzzy eyes. Even in front of death, he did not beg for his life as he always believed his life was in his hand, not others. If they wanted to control him with death, he would fight to the death or commit suicide rather than getting humiliated.

It might be because of this, he always treated women badly. After all, they always tried to suck up to him, thinking his life was above them. He hated such guts, making him beat them or even rape them. Of course, with the influence of Joyful Union Sect, all he could think about treating someone badly would be concerned about R-18 things.

This was why when he faced death, he only leaned on the barrier, looking at Alex with fierce eyes.

"Die." Alex swung his sword, finishing Raku with a single blow. Though he was lecherous, as a fighter, he was one worth respect.

Raku knew he had lost and that his life would be over in this instant. He closed his eyes, resigning to his fate.

Unexpectedly, an old man appeared with an arm full of blood as it was cut freshly. The blood was still falling down to the ground.

"!!!" Alex realized this man's presence and struck his sword at him with all of his strength at the moment.

"You Brat, Die!" He swung his sword. The sword carried a huge amount of vitality, coming from his own very vitality. That energy then absorbed the Spiritual Energy around, creating a move that was beyond his imagination. "Lost Vitality Strike."

"Heaven Light Slash!" Alex was not a pushover and immediately struck at his weapon. Even if he could not stop this attack, he only needed to block it and use the energy to send him away.

It was at this time he suddenly heard Jeanne's voice. "Master, Be careful! He is-"

Before she could finish her words, the strike had arrived right on his sword. The heaviness sent chills down his spine, making him sense death. In that split second, he instinctively activated his Spirit Step and Full Throttle, boosting his strength as much as possible.

'This… What is this power? This is not something a 9-Star Martial Emperor could do…' This was Alex's last thought before he was blown away by that strike. It even created a sword wave as a follow-up.

"-A Sword Emperor!"

Alex finally heard the continuation of Jeanne's warning. Unfortunately, the sword wave already sent him to the other side of the barrier, pinning him down. If Alex relaxed his strength a little bit, this sword strike would certainly split him into half. If he did not do anything, he would also be cut as the sword wave kept getting power.

'Sword Emperor?' Alex was bewildered. He never thought he would encounter a Sword Emperor. There was no report about the first elder of Joyful Union Sect being a Sword Emperor, baffling him at this moment. Little did he know the first elder just reached the Sword Emperor Stage, and only a few close ones knew about it.

He noticed that Anna, Jeanne, and Leoz came toward him, albeit they were too late as the attack would not give him enough time to get rescued.

'Kh… What should I do? Teleport? No, this attack would not let me teleport. Judging from the strength, it has enough time to cut me down before the array teleports my entire body… I can only take it head-on.' Alex gritted his teeth, releasing his Pure Fire from his body as well as taking out his spear.

"Heaven Light Slash!"

He already used his full domain, strength, and even Pure Fire, striking the sword wave with both weapons as his last struggle.

"Boom!"

"Young Master (Alex)!"