Chapter 281 17

Meanwhile, in the territory of the Rubelia Kingdom, Azalia, Fornius, and Aghares keep increasing their speed to be free from the pursuit of the Archaic Knight. Azalia didn't expect the Archaic Knight to react quickly and chase after them at such terrifying speed after seeing them flee.

The distance between them and the Archaic was getting closer every second even though they had used their full strength. Azalia gritted her teeth and forced herself to increase her speed beyond her limits.

"Miss, I will fight the Archaic Knight and hold him back for a while. In that time, you go as far as possible with Aghares. At least I can buy a few minutes!" Fornius took the opportunity to convince Azalia to allow him to fight the Archaic Knight.

"Didn't I tell you before!? I will not allow you to fight him! This is the last time I hear you say that. I don't want you to talk nonsense like that again!" Azalia shouted angrily at Fornius. But those words were also meant for Aghares so that he wouldn't have the same thoughts.

Azalia is afraid that the two intend to fight the Archaic Knight, although for different reasons. Fornius wants to fight because he wants to avenge Oillet, while Aghares is because of his loyalty to Azalia and wants to give her time to escape from the Archaic Knight.

"I understand, miss." Fornius gritted his teeth and reluctantly obeyed Azalia's words.

"Where did that person go?" Aghares' panicked voice caught the attention of the two. While Azalia and Fornius were arguing, Aghares focused on the Archaic Knight. Aghares was sure to see the Archaic Knight right behind them. But when he briefly turned his attention to Azalia, the figure of the Archaic Knight suddenly disappeared.

Azalia and Fornius quickly stopped and looked around. They couldn't find the Archaic Knight anywhere. All they saw was a blue sky with clouds.

"What are you looking for?" A man's hoarse voice suddenly sounded from the direction Azalia was heading to escape.

When they looked in the direction the voice came from, they were surprised that the Archaic Knight was already in front of them.

"You... how did you appear in front of us?" Azalia's face turned grave. She knew that they would no longer be able to escape from the Archaic Knight. Azalia quickly took a silver sword from her space storage, ready to fight.

"I didn't make the wrong decision by waiting in the territory of this kingdom and asking the earth dragon emperor to go north to exterminate the other irregulars. I assumed you'd come to this place to retrieve the items in the castle, and I was right." The Archaic Knight did a monologue and ignored Azalia's question.

Previously the Archaic Knight had intended to head north with the earth dragon emperor and his subordinates because he sensed an irregular existence in that direction. But on the way, he felt the power of the world altar fragment inside the castle and faintly sensed Azalia's presence approaching the territory of the Rubelia Kingdom. After that, he gave up his intention of going north and decided to hide in the Earth Dragon Desert.

His wait paid off when the Archaic Knight sensed that Azalia and the others had entered the territory of the Rubelia Kingdom and infiltrated the castle. Since he didn't want Azalia to know his whereabouts and run away, he attacked from a distance and intended to finish off Azalia and the others in one hit. Unfortunately, he failed because of Azalia's sharp senses, and she managed to dodge his attack.

Fornius and Aghares stood next to Azalia in a protective stance. They knew that they would not win if they had to fight against the Archaic Knight. Therefore, they intend to fight the creature and force Azalia to leave the place.

"You, what are you doing!? If the situation is like this, we must fight him together!" Azalia frowned as she understood what Fornius and Aghares were doing. Even though their goals differed, both wanted to fight against the Archaic Knight and give Azalia time to escape.

"You can't, miss. You have to hand that person over to us. Have you forgotten that you still have the responsibility to take our race to a new world to avoid the pursuit of the primeval gods? Besides, you seem to have to speed up the plan since not only the primeval gods are targeting us but also the guardians of this continent." Aghares firmly rejected Azalia's words and reminded her of their primary goal.

Aghares' words made Azalia's body tremble, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on her sword.

"But…" Azalia couldn't accept it even though what Aghares said was true. But before she could reply, Aghares placed a plain white flat crystal on Azalia's back.

"Go to that man's place, miss! I'm sure he can protect you! Goodbye!" Aghares smiled and spoke words that sounded like the last message before death.

The man that Aghares mentioned in his sentence was Ziel. Although Aghares was reluctant, he had to admit that Ziel was very strong and could protect Azalia better than them, and he might be able to defeat the Archaic Knight. In addition, Aghares sensed that Azalia had romantic feelings for Ziel, and he had known it since Azalia returned from the Beast Kingdom.

"Wait, Aghares! you…" Azalia's figure blurred and then disappeared from the place before she could finish her sentence.

Aghares had attached a teleportation crystal to Azalia and forced her to leave the area. The teleportation crystal would move Azalia hundreds of kilometers from that place. Of course, the Archaic Knight could easily catch up to Azalia. That's why Aghares and Fornius stayed there to hold him temporarily and give Azalia time to get out of the Rubelia Kingdom's territory.

"Hmm… great loyalty. But I also have a job I must do, which is to exterminate you." The Archaic Knight said indifferently, and he suddenly swung his sword.

Aghares and Fornius felt a chill run down their spines because the Archaic Knight's sword was too fast that they couldn't even see it.

"Damn!" Fornius cursed and quickly dodged the slash. His eyes opened wide upon seeing the huge scar carved into the ground hundreds of meters long. Aghares was sure that the Archaic Knight was swinging his sword casually, but he didn't think its destructive power was so terrifying.

(What if he slashes with all his might if his casual slashes are this strong and fast?)

Aghares shuddered in fear at the thought of his enemy's true strength. The guardians of the continent were at least as strong as the primeval gods who hunted them in the divine realm.

Then Aghares clenched his fists tightly, and his face was full of determination. He will do anything to prevent him from chasing Azalia. Aghares had to keep the Archaic Knight in that place as long as possible so Azalia could escape safely. But before he could act, a golden laser beam hit the Archaic Knight first.

[Divine Lightning Beam]

Booooooooommmmmmmm!

But the attack didn't even scratch the Archaic Knight's armor. Fornius launched another successive attack as if he didn't care about it. He was wearing the golden armor that was his divine dress. His body was covered in light and sparks of lightning the same color as the armor. Currently, Fornius is in his strongest mode.

"Fornius!" Aghares shouted at his friend, who was attacking the Archaic Knight blindly. He tried to stop him from acting recklessly, but Fornius didn't listen. Aghares realized that Fornius was fighting rashly at this time because his anger had consumed him.

"Stop it, Fornius! We must fight him together! You can't attack him alone!" Aghares gritted his teeth in frustration. No matter how loud he shouted, Fornius ignored him. Just as Aghares approached Fornius to calm him down, the Archaic Knight suddenly moved. He swung his sword the same way he did before.

"Damn!" Aghares clicked his tongue and unhesitatingly joined the attack on the Archaic Knight. Originally he wanted to devise a plan and use tactics against him. Aghares intended to keep him in that place as long as possible. But then he realized that any strategies and tactics would be useless in the face of absolute power.

[Space Bullet]

Thousands of invisible bullets made of space compression shot all at once towards the Archaic Knight. Aghares did that not to injure him but to interfere with his attack on Fornius. But he was astonished that his attacks could be efficiently dealt with by his opponent and even countered.

The Archaic Knight doubled his slashes. His first slash was aimed at Aghares and the other at Fornius.

Slash!

Slash!

"What!?" Aghares and Fornius were taken aback by the Archaic Knight's countermeasures.

(How fast was that slash!?)

Aghares was sure that the Archaic Knight intended to swing his sword at Fornius. But he quickly changed the direction of the trajectory of his slash at him and even gave another slash to Fornius. The Archaic Knight did it calmly like it was nothing to him.

Aghares swiftly dodged the slash while Fornius faced it head-on. Fornius took out his sword from his space storage and swung it with full force towards the attack that came at him.

[Thunder God Slash]

Fornius' lightning aura blade faced off against the Archaic Knight's aura blade in the sky. The clash of the two forces did not occur as Fornius' attack was easily split apart by his opponent.

The Archaic Knight's aura blade continued without losing the slightest power and speed, which made Fornius unable to dodge it. He had no choice but to face the attack head-on again.

[ThunderGod Punch]

[Lightning Sphere]

[Divine Lightning Beam]

Fornius unleashed several of his skills at once to counter the Archaic Knight's aura blade. He knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand the slash with just a full-power strike. Therefore he tried to use what he had to block it. If that worked, Fornius planned to counterattack on the Archaic Knight immediately, and he would make sure that his attacks would hit him heavily. But what he thought didn't go according to reality.

Boooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

"Argh!" Fornius was blown away several meters, and his arm was torn apart. Even though he had used three consecutive attacks with all his might, he still couldn't withstand a casual slash from the Archaic Knight.

(Just how strong is this creature!? I'm sure the guardian of the continent we previously faced wasn't this strong!)

Fornius grimaced in pain while holding his right arm, which he could no longer move. Even though he had cast healing magic, his regeneration was very slow.

"Fornius!" Aghares swiftly approached Fornius while firing another attack at the Archaic Knight.

[Space Blockade]

Aghares compressed the space around the Archaic Knight to restrain his movement temporarily.

"How are you, Fornius?" Aghares frowned upon seeing Fornius' right hand.

"I'm fine. This is our chance to attack him while he can't move. We have to use our lethal skills on him at the same time!" Fornius didn't care about his right hand. In his mind, he was only thinking about his revenge against the guardian of the continent. Fornius at least hoped that he could land his attack and injure the Archaic Knight.

"I understand!" Aghares quickly agreed. Ever since he let Azalia escape, he had been determined to die in that place and buy as much time as possible for Azalia.

Aghares and Fornius unleashed all their strength at the same time. Seven halos appeared behind the two. It was a god ring that displayed the level of their divine power.

[Thunder God Incarnation]

[Void Blade]

A giant of golden lightning and a sword of extreme space compression formed above Fornius and Aghares. The faces of the two turned pale as they used all their divine power in that attack. Fornius and Aghares hoped they could seriously injure the Archaic Knight. Otherwise, then what they did would be in vain.

The golden lightning giant moved his hand and took the sword above Aghares. Then the giant swung it at the Archaic Knight.

[Divine Lightning split the void]

Slash!

[Impenetrable Defense]

A sound was heard at the same time as the golden lightning giant swung the sword. The space around the Archaic Knight split apart. But strangely, the Archaic Knight's condition seemed fine and unaffected by the attack.

"What!?" Fornius and Aghares shouted in unison. Their bodies staggered because their condition was so weak. The two looked like they could fall at any moment because the remaining energy they used to float was slowly running out. In their current condition, they wouldn't be able to dodge or defend against the Archaic Knight's attacks.

But that wasn't something they were thinking about right now because, in their prime condition, Aghares and Fornius weren't even sure that they could withstand their enemy's attacks. Aghares thought about Azalia, who might have fled quite far according to the time he had given her, whereas Fornius felt like a failure as he couldn't even inflict a minor wound on the Archaic Knight.

The Archaic Knight didn't utter a word after successfully resisting the attacks of Aghares and Fornius like it was a trivial matter. He swung his sword again, and a high-speed aura blade shot toward them.

"So, I'm going to die here? At least I managed to save Miss Azalia from him and kept my promise to lord Azael." Aghares muttered and smiled when he saw the attack coming at him.

"I can finally see you again." Fornius also smiled and closed his eyes. But before the attack hit them, a milky white aura blade suddenly appeared and clashed with it.

Boooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

"I won't let you die until you give me an explanation for your actions!" A familiar female voice suddenly rang in the ears of Fornius and Aghares.