Chapter 450 - Khaled Diore

Khaled felt his heart seize. Something told him that no matter what he did, it would be impossible to dodge out of the way of this strike.

The White Knight roared at the top of his lungs, unleashing all the Force he had. There was simply no point in keeping anything in reserve. What good was reserve strength if he was dead?

He didn't bother to pull out his glider. At this moment, he didn't want anything slowing his descent toward the ground. In fact, the faster he hit the ground, the better. As for whether he could survive such an impact, he would deal with just a single problem at a time.

BANG!

The sound barrier shattered. Roaring winds shot in every direction, clearing out a path for the released bolt. It felt for a moment as though it was cleaving the clouds with a single sword strike.

Khaled flipped a palm, causing a spear to appear.

He poured all of his Force into it, striking out with all the might he could muster as he fell from the skies.

At the same time, he kicked hard at the air, flipping himself upside down to careen toward the ground even faster.

He hoped that the fact he was falling in the same direction as the bolt along with the fact he was putting his all into stopping it would dampen the strength somewhat. But, reality was cruel.

Though he was correct in his assessment, the diminishment in strength was practically negligible.

Khaled's spear point met the bolt, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets under his strain. In that moment, he could swear that he had never put so much strength into a strike before. But...

His spear point splintered apart like dried weed. The bolt continued forward as though cutting through air, blasting a bloody hole so large in his shoulder that it took his arm along with it.

White Knight Diore paled.

He looked up toward his murderer, his gaze locking onto Leonel's. All he received in return was a plain stare, the same one that told him he was nothing but a data point, the same one that didn't seem to care for who he was as a person.

SHUUUU! BANG!

There was no sound when the bolt shot through Khaled's chest. In fact, it seemed as though the bolt had only flown through another patch of air.

Rather, the huge crashing sound came from the bolt colliding with the ground and leaving a crater that rivaled the impact of a small meteor.

For a moment, there was only a bloody hole. And in the next, Khaled's body imploded, shattering from the inside out into a rain of blood and gore.

Having realized he made another mistake by calling the Ravens to come and protect him, Khaled didn't bother to protect himself in the end, opting to simply stare at the man who ended his life. It was the kind of look only a man dauntless of death could form in his final moments.

Maybe, from the very beginning, Khaled's anxiousness, his panic, his trembling, never had anything to do with the danger his life was in and everything to do with his unwillingness to fail the mission he was given.

Leonel took a deep breath before releasing the crossbow in his Chain Domain and gasping for breath. He coughed several times, his lungs screaming beneath the strain.

"Yip! Yip!"

Leonel's chest heaved as he tried to give the little mink a reassuring smile.

Calculating the trajectory of such a fast bolt hadn't been a problem for Leonel. Others couldn't guarantee such accuracy and could only use these crossbows as siege weapons, but Leonel was different.

This was all to say that the reason for his fatigue wasn't this, but rather his use of his Chain Domain. But, it couldn't be helped, his surfboard couldn't fit such a large, heavy crossbow onto it.

Leonel shook his head, turning his gaze toward where the gliders had disappeared to. By now, they were definitely closing in on the first Barony. Even without the Predator Ravens, that city didn't stand a chance against so many Fourth Dimensional existences.

'... Dammit.'