Chapter 167: Interruption

Howard and Oclen had no idea that Armecolith, one of the most powerful Night Lords, was currently less than a kilometer away from their location.

He had on a black hood and cape and looked like an ordinary man just wandering through the cold desertous terrain. At the same time, not even an iota of Ki leaked out of his body. They had no idea such a powerful existence was coming towards their location.

However, rather than attacking immediately, he decided to watch Howard and Oclen fight. He recognized the Arthraku bands that Oclen was wearing, and didn't want to risk engaging him unless he was sure that he could be killed.

Obviously, he was planning on letting the two of them almost kill each other first, and then he could swoop in and harvest both of their lives. 

'Howard looks just like Demon King Earl,' Armecolith sighed and sat down on the floor. He crossed his legs and smiled while the gentle snow continued to fall and paint the landscape of sand a shade of white. It was beautiful to be watching Howard and Oclen fight to the death while he waited for the proper moment to strike. 'Heh, I forgot what it was like to feel excited. Crushing Howard's skull will be the ultimate payback! This body of mine was supposed to turn out perfect! If not for Demon King Earl interfering, I'd already rule the entire Furnace!"

Armecolith never forgot how Demon King Earl intervened in his first plans to take over the Furnace. He was already injured at the time, but he fought him and the rest of the Night Lords almost single handedly. At the time, he'd even been with three pregnant women, and defended them with ease. The confident look on that bastards face always stuck with him.

"Ugh, the least I can do is take my time with Howard after I kill that other idiot. He literally just exploded 5 Ki Hearts in order to gain that hideous form. What a waste of beauty."

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Boom!

Oclen dodged to the right of Howard's attack, but soon got hit in the chest and the forehead.

He tried to dodge Howard's attacks, but it was like trying to block a bullet with your bare hands. He wasn't particularly fast, he just had impeccable timing!

Howard was feeling the same way against Oclen as the two of them clashed.

Oclen's arms sent out barrages of attacks fused with Ki while both of them seemed to utilize two massive Ki barriers around their bodies. However, Oclen constantly seemed to be getting pushed back. The eyes of life and death really made it almost too easy for Howard to put on a good show. Yet he imagined he had less than 10 seconds left to finish him off.

'He's better than I expected,' Howard parried two attacks with his arms crossed and spun before he kicked Oclen's four arms towards his face. A second later, his sword of the legionnaire clashed with two other arms while a fire silhouette he created blocked three other hands.

It was tough, but possible to beat him.

He laced his fist with Dark Ki before a powerful flame shot passed Oclen's face. The glacier behind Oclen trembled from their powerful attacks. However, Howard had to finish this now.

'10 seconds left until I lose control of the Eyes of Life and Death' Howard stepped to the side of three fists while his Fire Silhouette punched forward. Though Fire King's Embrace was mainly a defensive technique, it could also be used to attack. This was at the stage of the helm, where he could give will to his fire silhouettes. However, it barely packed any power. 

Oclen didn't' even block the attack and instantly hammered Howard in the side of the face. He spun once in the air before his foot slashed into Oclen's cheek. The two of them went flying in opposite directions before they both crashed and rolled against the icy floor.

'So annoying,' Oclen thought, 'I'm losing Ki Hearts! I'm guessing I'll be able to regenerate them, but if i lose another one I'll instantly faint! I have to kill him in one final attack!'

"I'll give it all on this one attack!" Howard activated the silver flame around just the tip of one finger and then instantly used his Dream Ki to protect his hand. It was roughly the size of the wick of the candle, and seemed barely strong enough to kill a fly. However, Oclen instantly felt himself boiling with a mixture of fear and rage. 

He also had a type of Ki that he could use in this form that he'd never tried, but it would almost instantly shatter his remaining Ki Hearts! 

Oclen had long ago reached the S rank, and developed 30 Ki Hearts at various parts of his body out of the maximum 50 he could've achieved. Though this didn't seem that impressive, the usual amount of Ki Hearts someone from the Arthraku created was less than 5. 

However, unlike the Horned that only had one chance to develop Ki Hearts, Oclen could actually steal Ki Hearts from other Authoritarians he captured in order to bolster his strength. As long as he killed Howard before his 10th Ki Heart got destroyed, he could fully recover. He had to focus! He had to kill him now! His mind instantly thought back to all the hours he spent analyzing Howard's silver flame, and he took a deep breath.

'I just need to remove that finger of his before he attacks me. Luckily, I saved my strongest attack.'

Oclen sighed and watched Howard come towards him before he looked at Howard's feet. With each step, each millisecond that passed, he waited until he was six meters away. Onec he was, he had a feeling Howard would step on his right foot and push himself forward.

Though this was only a minor detail, when someone was airborn, they would instantly lose the ability to change direction. He'd planned for this moment for weeks. 

'Remove the Silver Ki Flame and then don't hold back. Cut off his head."

"I think it's time," Armecolith stood up and smiled while the two of them got closer and closer together. "It should take me less than a second to get there. I'll probably arrive right after one of them falls."

Boom!

Armecolith silently shot forward while Howard jumped off the ground just like Oclen expected. However, something seemed odd. Last time, he didn't have that damn smile on his face.

Oclen pushed forward off his back foot and with his maximum strength shot a small burst of Ki into the floor that instantly rocketed right towards the silver flame in Howard's hand.

Though it seemed trivial, Howard instantly seemed to realize his mistake. He only saw one window of life appear in the eyes of life and death. This meant he had only one way to survive! Opening out his arms widely right towards Oclen's incoming mass of energy, he had no choice but to sacrifice his finger in order to let himself get hit by Oclen's fist.

Boom!

Howard shot back and crashed into a mountain before a beam of light shot right into Oclen's frame. 

He could only turn to the side in fear and try to cross his arms before a powerful force shot into his stomach and made the world around him seem to shrink almost instantly. All he could feel was the powerful force traveling through his abdomen. It felt like he was about to die! What did Howard do?"

"Smart kid. Choosing to lose the battle, so I can't kill you," Armecolith looked at Oclen spitting blood on his cape before he sighed and slashed his torso in half. Oclen dropped to the floor in two pieces before he looked over at Howard in shock.

"He-he's Armecolith. The second most wanted person by the Arthraku. Run-run Howard! Run away and warn my father he's alive!"

"You're both dead," Armecolith walked over to Oclen and pulled out a large bone sword out of his black cape.It had a single bone skull on the hilt and seemed to contain and almost unmeasurable aura of death. "However, you, you first," Armecolith pierced Oclen's neck with the sword. "You might tell Howard something. Here, let me make it so you can't talk."