Chapter 282 18

Aghares and Fornius recognized that voice very well because the one who spoke was Azalia, who should have run away from that place but returned and saved them instead. They had mixed feelings when they heard it. They were touched that Azalia returned for them but was angry that she had wasted their efforts.

"What are you doing here!? Shouldn't you have gone far from this kingdom's territory!? Why did you even come back!?" Aghares shouted angrily after seeing Azalia approaching them. Even so, his face looked worried about her safety.

They wouldn't be able to create another chance for Azalia to escape in their current state. Besides, the Archaic Knight wouldn't let them do that a second time.

"I will fulfill my responsibility to bring everyone from the divine race to another world, including you! I will never run away and leave you here because it will make me regret it for the rest of my life!" Azalia said with determination. She would never leave Aghares and Fornius for her safety.

"I don't know what you're planning, miss. But with our current condition, we won't be able to help anything. Fornius and I will only be a burden to you. So you better get out of here as soon as possible because we'll use the last resort to fight him and give you time to escape." Aghares couldn't help but sigh heavily after hearing Azalia's stubborn statement.

"What do you mean last resort? You didn't mean to blow yourself up with divine power and sacrifice yourself, did you?" Azalia asked coldly. She felt angry with Aghares' words.

"That is… we have no choice but to do that, miss. Otherwise, we will definitely die here." Aghares smiled helplessly.

On the other hand, Fornius was silent because he was embarrassed by his current condition. Instead of taking revenge on the Archaic Knight, he was battered.

"I understand, but I still can't leave you here! If we have to die, we will die together in the fight against him! I can only apologize to the people of the divine races because I couldn't fulfill my responsibilities. About the world altar fragment, I've hidden it somewhere. I hope one of our races can find it and carry on my responsibilities!" Azalia gripped her sword tightly and faced the Archaic Knight. Her face showed that she was ready to fight to the death against him.

"Alright, miss. Then we will fight with you too! But please hold him for a while and give us a little time to recuperate because we won't be able to do anything with our condition." Aghares quickly agreed to Azalia's words. Even so, his face showed that he was planning something in his mind.

"I understand! Leave him to me! You just need to focus on recovering your power!" Azalia nodded and then charged forward to attack the Archaic Knight.

After Azalia left, Aghares' face turned gloomy, looking at Fornius next to him.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Aghares asked seriously. While talking to Azalia, Aghares gets a telepathic message from Fornius about his plans. After hearing his explanation, Aghares' face darkened as he didn't expect Fornius to suggest such a thing to him.

"I'm sure. So, please do according to what I have said." Fornius answered firmly without the slightest hesitation on his face.

"Alright. The most important thing right now is to quickly recover our strength while Miss Azalia fights the Archaic Knight to buy time." Aghares said in a deep voice. Fornius only gave a slight nod in response. He knew what Aghares was thinking but didn't care because he had made up his mind.

Azalia flew close to the Archaic Knight and was unaware of the secret conversation between Fornius and Aghares. Her face was severe, and she unleashed her full strength.

Azalia was wearing a divine dress in the form of beautiful white armor. Eight god rings appeared behind her and divine power overflowed from her body. Even so, Azalia knew that she wouldn't be able to hold off the Archaic Knight for long. She hoped that Aghares and Fornius could recover their strength as soon as possible.

(I still haven't properly expressed my feelings to Ken. I don't know if I still have a chance to say it to him. That sentence will probably be buried with me forever)

Azalia smiled bitterly, and her face showed a hint of fear. That feeling didn't come from the Archaic Knight in front of her but from a boy who currently filled her heart. Azalia is afraid that she won't be able to see Ziel again. Tears dripped from the corners of her eyes without her noticing. But she quickly regained her senses after hearing her opponent's voice.

"You have care and loyalty to each other. What an amazing thing. But you shouldn't set your feet on the Clorius continent. Therefore, I must eliminate you." The Archaic Knight suddenly disappeared from where he was and reappeared in front of Azalia.

[Lightning Rhythm]

"What!?" Azalia was taken aback but quickly responded by swinging her sword.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

"Kugh! Heavy! Ken's sword isn't even this strong!" Azalia was blown away tens of meters with just a casual swing from her enemy. She had tried to block it by making three consecutive attacks. But she still couldn't resist the slash.

"Your swordplay is decent, but sadly you have to die." The Archaic Knight said nonchalantly and dashed after Azalia.

[Space Blockade]

Azalia tried to lock the Archaic Knight's movements to give her some time to stabilize herself due to the impact of the previous attack. Moreover, she could not keep up with the speed of her enemy, which was far beyond her estimation.

"I won't be hit by the same attack again." The Archaic Knight swung his sword horizontally and cut through the surrounding space.

"That is enough!" Azalia had secretly compressed her divine power into her sword when she was blown away after clashing with the Archaic Knight.

The milky white light condensed on her sword and made the space around her tremble and crack. Then Azalia swung it at the Archaic Knight.

[Space Destroyer]

The white aura blade shot straight at the Archaic Knight and arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye. The space along the trajectory of Azalia's slash shattered into pieces, leaving gaping scars in the sky. It was one of her attack skills that possessed terrifying destructive power. But the Archaic Knight didn't dodge Azalia's attack that came at him

[Impenetrable Defense]

Just before the aura blade from Azalia hit the Archaic Knight, a shield appeared around him. Azalia's attack collided with the shield but only made it tremble slightly and could not even make a small crack.

"What the hell with that defense!?" Azalia clicked her tongue and quickly kept her distance from the Archaic Knight after noticing that her attacks had failed.

"Not bad. You even made my defenses tremble." The Archaic Knight praised Azalia sincerely. Among the three guardians of the continent that had appeared, he was probably the only one who valued and respected his opponents even if he had to eliminate them. He seems to uphold the value of chivalry and does not hesitate to give his appreciation to a strong opponent.

The atmosphere around the Archaic Knight suddenly changed. He compressed the dark blue aura on his sword and swung it towards Azalia.

[Sword Tornado]

The sky darkened, and a gigantic typhoon was created as the Archaic Knight swung his sword. The vortex was not created from the wind but from millions of aura blades that rotated violently. The tornado looked like a walking catastrophe and moved towards Azalia at high speed despite its enormous size.

Azalia's beautiful face sank as a colossal tornado obscured her vision. He could sense a terrifying threat from it. Azalia was about to dodge the tornado, but her body was suddenly pulled into the vortex.

"What's this!? This tornado even has the power to suck in its target!" Azalia gritted her teeth and used all her strength to fight the suction from the vortex but what she did was in vain.

"I can't let myself be sucked into that tornado. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire. In the worst case, I might die!" Azalia racked her brain and looked for a way to escape the tornado. But she couldn't find a way no matter how hard she thought and ended up being swallowed by the tornado.

"Aargghhh!" Azalia screamed in pain as her body was torn apart by the millions of aura blades rotating within the vortex.

"Miss!" Aghares opened his eyes when he heard Azalia's scream. His face panicked when he saw Azalia being swallowed into the tornado.

"Fornius, we have no time to recover our strength. We must immediately carry out your plan with the strength we have now. Are you sure you want to do that? We can still find another way to…." Aghares gritted his teeth and tried to persuade Fornius to give up and change his plans.

"Aghares. I have already decided on this, and I hope you will respect it. This is the only way I have to repay Miss Azalia's kindness." Fornius smiled and said with a face full of resolution.

"But…" Aghares felt that he still couldn't accept the plan Fornius had proposed.

"Stop it, Aghares! Don't you see the current situation? When we have this argument, Miss Azalia might be in danger, so I want you to stop it!" Fornius shouted at the Aghares and pointed at the tornado moving towards them. The Archaic Knight intended to use that one strike to obliterate all of them.

"I understand!" Aghares clenched his fists tightly. He knew that he could no longer change Fornius's decision.

"Let's do it!" Fornius looked at Aghares and signaled to him. Aghares responded with a slight nod.

The two intend to fly close to the tornado and save Azalia from there. But before they could do so, a scream was heard from the center of the vortex.

[Void Blast]

The space at the center of the tornado exploded, causing millions of aura blades to scatter in various directions and ravage the surroundings. After that, Azalia appeared with shattered armor and a body covered in blood.

"Miss!" Aghares screamed and flew towards Azalia. He was worried about her condition after seeing the bloody wounds on her body.

On the other hand, Fornius fell silent in shock when he saw the action Azalia had taken to escape from the tornado's cage. Azalia used her lethal skill at full power and didn't care if her body was swallowed up in the explosion.

"Miss, how are you? Can you hear what I'm saying!?" Agahres quickly checked Azalia's condition. But no matter how often he called her, Azalia didn't respond, making him anxious.

"Aghares! Now it's time to put our plan into action! You must take Miss Azalia as far as possible so you don't get hit by the explosion!" Fornius quickly regained his senses and shouted at Aghares, who was still checking on Azalia's condition. Aghares' body trembled when he heard Fornius' words. Even so, he quickly answered him.

"I understand!" Aghares gritted his teeth and took Azalia away from the place.

The Archaic Knight was about to chase Azalia, but Fornius suddenly appeared and blocked him. Fornius's body was enveloped by a golden light that triggered the appearance of dark clouds that covered the entire area, and thousands of lightning bolts struck Fornius. The light on his body grew thicker, and lightning sparks surrounded him. Then Fornius flew up to the Archaic Knight with a determined face.

"Die!" Fornius screamed like a madman when he was close to the Archaic Knight. Cracks after cracks appeared on his body, and golden light radiated from within. Not long after, his body was entirely covered by the light and exploded.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

The Archaic Knight close to Fornius was also swallowed up in the explosion. The area for several kilometers was covered in golden light with millions of lightning flashing in all directions. Fortunately, the explosion occurred in the sky. If it happened on land, the damage would be unimaginable.

"Fornius!" Aghares gritted his teeth, and involuntarily tears flowed from his eyes.

"Aghares, what happened and why are you crying?" Azalia woke up when she felt the explosion.

"That is…" Aghares didn't know how to answer Azalia's question.

"Where's Fornius?" Azalia looked around but couldn't find the person she was looking for. But before Aghares could answer, a voice suddenly sounded from the direction he was going and made him stop his flight.

"If you look for him, you will never find him because he has blown himself up for you." The one who spoke was the Archaic Knight, and he looked utterly unharmed from the explosion.

"You... how come you're still okay after being swallowed by that explosion?" Aghares said in a trembling voice.

"Fornius has sacrificed himself for me?" Azalia said in disbelief. Then he looked to Aghares for confirmation.

"Is what he said true!?" Azalia asked angrily. But Aghares was silent and did not dare to look at her. Azalia quickly knew the answer, and her body lost its strength completely. She felt sad after hearing that fact.

"Miss!" Aghares was worried about Azalia's reaction. Currently, she has wounds on her body as well as her heart.

"You don't have to worry because I will send you to his place." The Archaic Knight said nonchalantly. He raised his sword and was ready to swing it.

Azalia could only surrender and close her eyes after seeing her death arrive. Aghares also didn't do anything about their current situation as he barely had the strength to move.

"I'm sorry, Ken. If I had known I would die here, I would have spent more time with you and conveyed my feelings properly." Azalia muttered, and regret overflowed from her heart. If she had to tell the truth, Azalia didn't want to accept her current situation. She refuses to die. She still wants to meet the man she loves. Azalia suddenly opened her eyes and screamed deep within her lungs until blood spurted from her mouth.

"Ken!!!"

Just as the Archaic Knight swung his sword at Azalia, a gray light suddenly appeared from above him and dealt a tremendous blow to him.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!