Chapter 141 - Arrival of Shutra Ignius

"That's the mouth of the cave! Hurry, let's get out of this damned place!" The soldiers were already tired after running for almost an hour. 

The majority of them were at the Divine-Class level, hence, they were incapable of flight. 

Nonetheless, they were still able to run at the speed of a car, or even faster than the latter.

The soldiers were like thirsty camels who had seen an oasis after they saw the cave's entrance.

They can already see the bright light emitted by the glaring sun. And as if injected by stimulants, their running speed increased tremendously at the sight of it.

Chasing behind them were countless enraged Heavenly Winged Guardians. 

These humans actually dared to kill a lot of their comrades! Unforgivable!

Cale's eyes were half-closed and his lips were parted which formed a charming smile. 

He then casually swatted a humanoid beast with his free hand while still immersed in the pleasant sensation brought by the increase in his strength.

His aura was rapidly rising, but no one was able to detect it. And even if they did, they didn't have the luxury of time to care about his sudden breakthrough.

His aura which was previously at the initial stage of the Saint-Class level rose towards the mid stage.

But the increase did not stop. It continued until he reached the very peak of the Saint-Class level.

Cale observed the changes inside his body, and he was pleasantly surprised to sense the big leap in his strength. 

"Amazing!" His complexion brightened and his fatigue from the overconsumption of elemental essence was instantly removed. 

It was like his body was recharged into full capacity!

He then glanced at the thousands of humanoid beasts who emitted bestial roars with a faint smile on his face.

"Let me test it out."

Cale teleported towards the Heavenly Winged Guardians to test his strength. 

His actions surprised the Immortal-Class level fighters. They were the only ones who were able to feel the sudden burst of elemental essence.

They saw Cale standing amidst tens of thousands of angry Heavenly Winged Guardians with the same casual smile on his face.

They thought that he did that in order to buy more time for the soldiers to escape. 

Still, they admired him for that. Even Ciprus who was previously against Cale felt less angry at the latter.

Cale waved his Void Wolf Immortal Sword and slashed the beasts that came near him nonchalantly. 

He was like a meat grinder in the middle of a flock of sheep. His movements were unrestrained and wild, but it still carried a sort of charm.

The soldiers, on the other hand, had already stepped out of the cave. They were gasping for breath while glancing at the cave's entrance fearfully.

In that cave, hundreds of their brothers died. And from the one thousand strong army who came inside, only a few hundreds of them managed to get out of the cave alive.

* * *

The third prince, Amro Doomblade was wearing his imperial attire. He looked refined and handsome as he strolled inside his villa. 

A man wearing fitting black clothes suddenly came in front of him. 

His arrival caused the elegant-looking third prince to produce a distorted evil smile that instantly destroyed his previous image.

"Your highness, everything has been prepared. Our men were already sent to steal the gold and other precious items inside the imperial treasury." The man in black robes spoke in a raspy voice.

He was looking at the man in front of him who had managed to fool everyone inside the Celestial Sword Empire.

Who would have thought that the kind and regal third prince that everyone knew was actually just a mask to hide his true self?

The man in black robes both feared and respected the third prince.

The distorted smile of the third prince became even more pronounced after hearing the man's words.

"Steal? Who told you that we are stealing? We are only taking the things that are rightfully ours." After saying that, the third prince, Amro Doomblade cackled maliciously. 

His handsome face warped into pure wickedness.

The man in the black robes felt the skin on his neck crawl after hearing the third prince laughter. 

'How did the valiant emperor even have this kind of son...' A faint trace of fear was visible in his eyes.

* * * 

Meanwhile, outside the empire's capital city, the battle between the crown prince's army and the second prince's army was still not over.

Thousands of bodies sprawled on the ground with no more signs of life. 

Rivers of blood covered the ground, making it look mournful and scary.

The sounds of blades clashing against each other can be heard ringing unceasingly.  

The crown prince lifted up his Lion's Fury and slashed it down towards an enemy soldier. 

The latter gave a devasted cry of despair before his body dropped on the ground with a dull thud.

The former then glanced at his surroundings with his hazy eyes. He was tired, but he had to remain strong for his soldiers.

They were already vastly outnumbered, so what they needed to do was to overpower the enemies with their skills and battle wit.

Who would have thought that even with his brilliant tactics, their situation did not change? In fact, it won't take long before they will be forced to retreat back inside their city. But if that happens, it will cause massive panic among the citizens. It was also the reason why they engaged the enemies outside the walls.

"F_u_c_k! I'm so weak to change anything in this battle!" The crown prince gritted his teeth fiercely while glaring at the enemy soldiers. 

"Duke Shutra should be here anytime from now. But even with that being the case, would his presence be enough to change the tides of war?" The crown prince mumbled to himself worriedly while killing another enemy soldier.

He felt that even if Duke Shutra Ignius was here, the latter could still not defeat their enemies. 

The crown prince feared that a sect master level figure was present on the enemy camp. If that is so, their chances of winning would not increase. Unless if the three other dukes will help them, or if five of the top ten Adamantine-Rank mercenaries came to aid them.

But the chances of both things happening were close to impossible, especially the former.

The nobles obviously wanted to profit from this war, thus they refused to send their help and merely waited for the right moment.

With that, they will be able to preserve their military forces and also gain merits after fighting with an exhausted army. Of course, they still had to choose which side they will help.

During such tumultuous times, one wrong move will spell their doom. Thus, all the nobles were very careful with their actions.

When everyone was still focused on the war, a burning silhouette can be seen above the sky giving off a feeling of searing brilliance and power.

A middle-aged man with short blonde hair hovered above the sky. He looked rather average, but his sword-like brows and tall nose increased his charm

A solemn look can be seen on his face as he studied the opposing army down below. 

Although they were much weaker in comparison to the Celestial Sword Empire's soldiers, they had the advantage in numbers.

He can also feel multiple auras which were only slightly weaker than him. His countenance became graver by the second.

"Why are the other three dukes not here yet?! Are they tired of living!? This is obviously an intolerable act of neglecting the empire's rules! Those old bastards!" Flames of fury blazed wildly within the man's eyes.

The fire around his body doubled in size as his wrath increased little by little.

"Just because the emperor is ill, you guys can already turn a blind eye on this war? After dealing with these outside forces, I will raze your dukedoms to the ground! F_u_c_k_i_n_g old bastards!"

The man roared in hatred as he held his sword with both hands. A phantom of a burning dragon can be seen materializing as he plunged towards the enemy camp in supersonic speed.

"Roooaarrr!" 

The huge dragon phantom emitted a draconic roar as it opened its gigantic mouth as if it wanted to swallow the heavens. 

The second prince's long blonde hair fluttered wildly along with the wind. He squinted his eyes as he watched the dragon phantom descending towards their camp. His heart palpitated with slight fear, but he remained composed outwardly. 

"Shutra Ignius, you're finally here!"