254 Lending a Hand

Upper North District.

On the street outside the Lancaster's workshop, one topless man holding a hammer of fire and one black-robed man wielding a blood-crimson sword was currently having a face-off.

Surrounding them were a few dozen corpses of both Upper District residents and disciples of Bloodfiend Sect. 

The residents were killed by normal sword wounds and having their blood emptied out of their bodies, but the disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect had strangely died from mushed brains after having their heads bashed in as it could be seen from their concaved forms.

Further away, a ring of blacksmiths, city guards, palace guards, and other residents of Upper North District gathered at the scene.

"The Bloodfiend Sect sure is fearsome to have hidden so many disciples in this city for so long. Tell me, exactly what does your sect intend to accomplish with this move of yours? Did you expose yourselves only to kill innocents? Ha, I don't believe it even if you were to say that was the case." Duke Ignis said to the black-robed man, the last 5-star inner disciple in this particular area. 

The other disciples had all been killed by him with a simple smack on the head with his hammer that resembled the weapon of a mythical lightning god, but coupled with his current overall appearance, he was like some god of fire and smithing.

The 5-star inner disciple gave the Duke a nasty look, but it was also wrought with disbelief as he stared down at sword hand that was still trembling from an exchange of blows.

His body was glowing red and bloody mist could be seen subtly oozing from his body.

It was clear that the 5-star inner disciple had activated his secret skill [Burning Blood], yet he had still lost in a contest of strength against Duke when their cultivation was equal. 

It was not evident at the start, but the longer the battle was drawn out and the effectiveness of [Burning Blood] was burning out, it became crystal clear. But how was that possible?

"You, how are you overpowering me? I should be the one overpowering you after using my secret skill!" 

Duke Ignis did not hold much hope that his opponent would answer his question. Thus, he was not bothered. Only an idiot or an overconfident fool would spill their secret objective. 

He shrugged nonchalantly before looking up with a profound gleam and asked, "What do you think is the most important aspect of utilizing an Awakener's elemental ability to optimize their battle strength?"

The 5-star inner disciple was thinking of ways to get out his current predicament. When he heard the Duke's question, he sneered. "Isn't that obvious? It's secret arts." 

Duke Ignis shook his head. He was no longer interested in telling his answer. 

True, secrets arts can help an Awakener unleash power beyond their ordinary means, but it does not optimize one's battle strength. 

Only when control had reached the pinnacle, will an Awakener be able to utilize every ounce of their energy without any waste in the process.

Only when control had reached the pinnacle, will an Awakener be able to compress their power to terrifying levels. 

Fire was destructive by nature and when gathered in large quantities, the destructive power would naturally increase accordingly. But if the same quantity were compressed very densely, the increase in destructive power would be exponential and no longer as simple as one plus one equals two. 

This was the difference between using crude attacks and using a technique, an art, or simply a secret skill. There wasn't much difference between the three.

Going one step further than that, if all that power were compressed into a single weapon that could hold it like the Duke was doing, then they would not be losing any battle strength no matter how many times they attack with their weapon.

On the other hand, the 5-star inner disciple would only grow weaker after the time limit of his secret skill expires.

It seems that all future battles would place great emphasis on the weapon compatibility with the Awakener. At least, that is what the Duke believes.

Originally, Ignis would not have achieved perfect control over his fire element so soon, but the revised [Fiery God Manual] provided a truly clear, effective, and systematic way of achieving it.

"Never mind, let's not waste any more time and get this over with. There are still places that require immediate assistance." The Duke said. 

His wife had rushed home to check on their daughter, but there were three other places in Upper North District that were being attacked by disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect.

The flaming hot hammer was raised with ease, but the 5-star inner disciple dared not to underestimate the crushing weight behind it. He had already experienced it firsthand. It was enough to stun him.

But before the 5-star inner disciple could prepare himself, he was struck with a wave of weakness as his body lost its red glow. 

The duration of [Burning Blood] was over.

"W-Wait." 

The 5-star inner disciple panicked. He was already a disadvantage. Now that his battle strength had plummeted, he would just be a fish on the chopping board.

However, Duke did not stop. The hammer fell and the pupils of the 5-star inner disciple finally constricted with fear. He gritted his teeth and raised his sword to defend.

Time seemed to have been slowed as the hammer grew larger in his field of vision, but before the hammer could make contact, a sudden sharp pain assaulted him, and his consciousness slipped into oblivion instantly.

Boom!

Everyone else only saw that the 5-star inner disciple's head suddenly exploded before a black spear was inserted into the ground in between the Duke and the headless corpse that soon fell to the ground not long after.

"This spear…" 

Duke Ignis paused his attack and inspected the spear. He naturally recognizes a weapon he had forged himself, but looking around he didn't see the person he was expecting.

"Come out, Boy. How dare you steal my thunder?" The Duke raised his voice to the surrounding, but he was not angry.

Leon's laugh soon followed before he jumped from a nearby rooftop and retrieved his black spear from the ground. "You were taking too long, so I thought I should lend a hand, father-in-law." He joked.

"Well, you sure picked quite the timing to 'lend a hand', huh?" The Duke glared at him.

Leon smiled sheepishly before he turned serious and asked, "Where's mother-in-law?"

"She went home to look after the house." Duke answered, before adding, "Alright, we can talk later. I still need to clear out the remaining enemy in the district."

"There's no need for that. I already finished them off while you were busy here. There's only Upper East District and Upper South District left that are still in trouble."

The Duke was speechless. 

This boy was really efficient.

That was what the Duke thought, but Leon wouldn't think so. Before coming, he already took a detour through the Cromwell's villa and the residential area of Aria's parents. 

He also knew that Upper North District would have no problem with the Duke and Duchess around, but he still came to the north first on the off chance that something might go wrong. 

It was his priority to confirm the safety of his close ones first, before helping others in need. He was no saint, though there was once a time when he did aspire to be one.

Nevertheless, he was still quick to arrive and help.

"Then I will go help the next district after I'm done here." The Duke said. 

The bodies of the disciples of Bloodfiend Sect were quickly reduced to ashes, while the other dead bodies were sorted and brought back to their families. The streets were cleaned up to avoid plague and a funeral will likely be held in memory of the deceased.

…

Central District.

A central district didn't actually exist in the Capital. When one talks about the central district, they are referring to the one to two streets' worth of buildings that lay right on the outskirts of the Royal Palace.

For the convenience of meeting the king in the following morning, the general got people to arrange for their accommodation in the closest building that offered such services. 

Currently, the two envoys were staring down at the situation outside from the balcony of a luxurious apartment on the top floor alone. 

The general had already left to eliminate the enemy in the area and quell the chaos.

"Is the Capital of a kingdom usually this rowdy in the Human Domain?" The Supreme Elder asked rhetorically with indifference like the problem outside had nothing to do with him.

Princess Faelyn observed the outside quietly with concern. The occasional screams outside made her uneasy. "Can you help them, Supreme Elder?" She requested.

"No, don't forget why we came here. We are seeking an alliance with humans to get closer to the World Tree, but at the same time, we are studying the strength of humans. If they are so weak that they cannot even handle such a small problem, then there is no need to talk about an alliance."

The eyes of the Supreme Elder glinted with sharpness. If humans were so weak, why do they need to resort to an alliance when they can just take everything for themselves?

At the same time, he felt doubtful. 

The humans of this kingdom were clearly very weak. The Capital could be considered the heart of this kingdom, but he had hardly seen a single person at the latter stages of the Ranked Awakener realm, and he had only felt the presence of one Transcendent. 

Everyone basically practices the same cultivation technique. The only person he could not see through so far was that boy the humans considered their prince.

That person was practicing differently from the rest. He would not forget how Leon blocked Rowan's sharp wind attack with bare flesh without suffering a single wound. That was something only the beasts could do.

"Continue to observe for now." The Supreme Elder said.

Princess Faelyn silently sighed. 

Meanwhile, the other cities and towns in the Crawford Kingdom were experiencing hell on earth. They did not have anyone powerful enough to fend off the sudden attackers. 

Two figures high in the clouds frowned while they observed the situation of each place.

"A lot of people will die if we just watch and not act." One of the figures said.

"Why don't you act then? I only came to watch because I was curious. Personally, I do not care who rules this kingdom as long as they continue to guard against the west. I am just the overseer of the Durham Kingdom, not the Valaran Kingdom. This one is on you. I don't want to get punished overstepping my boundaries." The other one said. "Alright, I need to head back before 'they' realize I am gone for too long."

A-CHOO!

The Durham Overseer sneezed as he left.

"Hmph!" The Valaran Overseer expressed his dissatisfaction with the Durham Overseer's answer, but he soon smiled when he looked down at the city below. 

"I didn't see anything." He said to the distance.

The Durham Overseer heard that and smiled.

It was a phony sneeze, but to the people below, it was like heaven answering their pleas for help. 

A rain of icicles had suddenly dropped out of the sky and impaled all the disciples of Bloodfiend Sect to death.