Chapter 295 31

Back to when Ziel left Kalya and the girls in the Aurelia Kingdom, he teleported to a place where he felt the magic he secretly instilled in Azalia. When he arrived at that location, Ziel frowned upon seeing the scene before his eyes.

The majestic Castle of Rubelia Kingdom was split in two, and a vast chasm stretched out, dividing the city into right and left sides. It looked like a disaster had just occurred in the kingdom's territory. The damage and casualties in the incident were enormous. Ziel could still hear the sad screams of the residents and the soldiers.

Ziel checked the surroundings for Azalia's whereabouts. He stopped his eyes in one direction, and then his figure disappeared from that place.

When Ziel arrived at the location where he sensed Azalia's presence, his face sank after seeing the condition of the girl he was looking for. Anger leaked from his body, and his eyes stared intently at the man in full armor who swung his sword at Azalia.

"Archaic Knight..." Ziel said in a low voice that made the surrounding temperature drop. He immediately knew the man's identity because his characteristics were identical to those mentioned in the ancient book he had read. In this way, the three guardians of the continent have revealed themselves to the world.

Gray-colored mana and aura overflowed from Ziel's body and raged like a whirlwind. For the first time, he displayed such a thick killing intent. This happened because Azael's seal was no longer intact and had many cracks. It was only a matter of time until the curse disappeared and Ziel regained all his emotions.

Ziel compressed mana, aura, and spirit power in his right hand to the extreme. He shot down from the sky with terrifying speed toward the Archaic Knight. At that moment, Ziel heard Azalia shout his name.

Ziel didn't know how Azalia had noticed his appearance. He should have hidden his presence very well, and even the Archaic Knights couldn't detect him within a certain distance. But Azalia shouted his name just as Ziel appeared in that place. It was like Azalia knew that he was coming.

The Archaic Knight noticed Ziel's presence as he swung his sword at Azalia. But it was too late because Ziel was already on top of him and swung his fist.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

The Archaic Knight slammed into the ground, creating a big hole whose depth was unknown. The area around the place shook violently from the impact.

But not long after, a pillar of blue light rose from the hole and aimed at Ziel. The light was the gigantic aura blade from the Archaic Knight's slash. Ziel's face became serious, compressed the power in his right hand, and punched the attack.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm!

A massive explosion was created in the sky due to the impact of their attacks. But the Archaic Knight had the upper hand in the clash as Ziel was blown away a dozen meters, and his arm was injured.

Ziel didn't care about the wound because it would heal by itself. His eyes focused on the Archaic Knight that came out of the hole. As expected of the continent's guardian, Ziel's punch did not affect him despite the tremendous impact.

"Azalia, leave this place and go as far as possible. I don't want you to interfere with our battle." Ziel said indifferently to Azalia.

Azalia regained her senses after being surprised by Ziel's appearance. Even though it sounded cold and harsh, Azalia knew the true meaning of her words. Ziel didn't want Azalia to be dragged into their fight.

"But..." Azalia was worried about letting Ziel fight alone against the Archaic Knights. But she couldn't do anything in her current state. She felt pain all over her body just to make the slightest movement. So she couldn't help Ziel fight against the Archaic Knights. Even in her prime, Azalia would only be a burden to Ziel.

"Okay. But please be careful. He is so strong." Azalia clenched her fists tightly and could only say those words to Ziel.

"Let's go, Aghares!" Azalia looked at Aghare beside her and left the place. She gritted her teeth at her helplessness. Azalia repeatedly looked at Ziel because she felt reluctant and anxious to leave him alone. But she realized that there was nothing she could do in that place.

After Azalia left, Ziel took out his white and black swords. He realized he couldn't fight the continent's guardian with his bare hands. What's more, the enemy was very skilled at using weapons.

"You are strong because you can withstand my slash with your bare hands. Can I say that you are the one who defeated the other two guardians? I can feel their presence from your body." The Archaic Knight responded calmly to Ziel's sudden appearance. Instead, he watched Ziel with some interest, and his fighting spirit ignited when he met a formidable opponent.

"If you already know, why are you asking?" Ziel replied casually.

"Ooh, that's my fault. But you seem to care a lot about that woman. Are you sure that you can beat me alone? I am much stronger than the two guardians you killed." The Archaic Knight said, and his figure suddenly disappeared. He reappeared next to Ziel and slashed his sword at him.

Ziel's face changed, and he swung his sword aside. But then he frowned and suddenly twisted his body to avoid the slash from the Archaic Knight.

Slash!

Mountains, land, and even space were torn apart by the slash from the Archaic Knight. Ziel felt that his sword would break if he blocked the attack. It was his instinct in battle, and Ziel believed it.

After seeing the sight, Ziel felt he had done the right thing. Luckily he didn't block the attack with his sword and trusted his instincts. This was the first time Ziel had felt such a terrifying feeling from his opponent.

"You're great. You can even change your movements spontaneously when you feel danger. Your instincts as a knight are extraordinary." The Archaic Knight praised Ziel sincerely. But Ziel just kept quiet and looked at him seriously.

Ziel thought of a way to deal with the Archaic Knights. If he couldn't fight his sword and just dodged, Ziel would be at a disadvantage in that battle. But he suddenly raised his eyebrows after coming up with an idea. Ziel tightly gripped his sword and poured his mana and aura to coat the blade.

Aura and mana mixed and compressed until it formed a thin gray membrane that covered his word. Ziel condensed his power several times to make it thicker and make him feel more confident in a direct clash with the Archaic Knights.

"Now it's my turn. Let me try your swordsmanship." Ziel calmed the anger that arose from seeing Azalia's condition. Even though both are enemies, they are also sword users. Their meeting grew their interest and fighting spirit as a swordsman.

"Come on. Coincidentally I also wanted to test the abilities of the irregulars who had defeated the two guardians." The Archaic Knight said in a slightly excited voice. It was completely different from when he spoke to Azalia. He grinned under his helmet, and his fighting intent soared after sensing that Ziel was the strongest irregular he had encountered during his life as a guardian of the continent.

Ziel's body flickered and disappeared from the Archaic Knight's sight. He reappeared in front of his opponent and swung his black sword casually. Even so, the power contained in the slash was terrifying, considering that Ziel had compressed his power many times into the blade.

The Archaic Knight quickly responded to Ziel's attack with his sword. Although Ziel's slashes were fast, the Archaic Knight was slightly superior to him.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Countless sword clashes occurred between Ziel and the Archaic Knights in that short time. Their movements were too fast to be seen by the naked eye, even for someone as strong as Azalia.

Not long after, their clash ended, and the two kept their distance. The Archaic Knight won in that exchange without the slightest scratch on his armor. Meanwhile, Ziel got several cuts on his body. But it soon healed due to his regenerating ability.

"Ken!!!"

Ziel heard Azalia's worried scream to him. Even though she had already left that place, she couldn't leave him alone and decided to watch the battle from afar to avoid disturbing Ziel. Ziel didn't have time to respond to her anxiety because his opponent had already launched another attack on him.

Clank!

"Ugh! Heavy!" Ziel was pushed back when he clashed his sword again with the Archaic Knight. He felt Azael's swordsmanship wasn't even as excellent as his current enemy. Ziel guessed that the Archaic Knights were still holding back in their first clash and started increasing his strength little by little in this battle.

The swordsmanship of Ziel is inferior to the Archaic Knights. Apart from possessing far greater strength than the two continent guards he had fought, the Archaic Knight's swordsmanship was also sharp and honed.

Ziel didn't want to lose to him and added more strength to his sword to keep up with the Archaic Knights. When he saw a slight gap in his opponent, he felt it was his chance to land a heavy blow. Ziel compressed more of his aura and mana into his black sword and swung at the Archaic Knight.

[Orbit Slash]

Clank!

Ziel frowned as his sword seemed to hit a rigid metal and couldn't even move an inch closer to his enemy's armor. His slash was blocked by the blue light that enveloped the Archaic Knight's entire body.

[Impenetrable Defense]

It was an almighty defense skill that could block physical or magical attacks. The barrier of the earth dragon emperor was nothing even compared to that.

Ziel quickly moved away from the Archaic Knight after discovering that his attacks couldn't hit him. He acknowledged that the Archaic Knight's swordsmanship was far above him but still imperfect and not without gaps. But that weakness was covered by that extraordinary defensive skill.

"It seemed he was a much more troublesome opponent than the other continent guardians." Ziel said in a low voice and wiped the blood from the scar on his neck. Just before he kept his distance from the Archaic Knight, his opponent counterattacked him, and he was nearly beheaded on the spot. If Ziel were even a little late to dodge, he would be dead by now.

Ziel was shrouded in aurora, and armor of the same color formed on his body. His strength overflowed and increased drastically. Not long after, his figure disappeared from where he was.

"Isn't that the power of the nine-headed imperial dragon?" The Archaic Knight said and turned around to meet Ziel's slash from behind.

Clank!

The archaic knights were pushed back in their clash this time. But that was only once because he quickly increased his strength to match or even surpass Ziel.

Ziel clashed swords with him for a while and kept his distance from him again. His eyes turned pitch black and then glowed red. After that, large magic circles appeared on the four sides of the Archaic Knight.

[Absolute Darkness]

N0 v el Next. CoM

[Lava Tsunami]

A black mist appeared around the Archaic Knight and covered his vision. Then a wave of hot lava tens of meters high emerged from the four magic circles and aimed at him.

Ziel knew that he wouldn't be able to win against an Archaic Knight using pure swordsmanship. Therefore he changed his strategy and unleashed a two-layered attack using the power of the nine-headed imperial dragon.

But the Archaic Knights didn't panic when facing the attack. He swung his sword horizontally and slashed at the darkness, lava, and magic circle all at once.

"Impressive! You not only possess the power of a nine-headed imperial dragon but can also use it skillfully. Is it possible that you can also use the power of the Sacred Demonel?" The Archaic Knight said in admiration. This was the first time he had encountered an irregular who could control the power of the continent's guardians.

"You can find out the answer yourself." Ziel shrugged his shoulders and had no intention of answering.

"In that case, you don't need to say it because that power is useless against me. Didn't I already say I am much stronger than the two Guardians you defeated?" The Archaic Knight compressed the blue aura on his sword until the space around him distorted and slashed at Ziel.

[Invincible Blade]

A thin, sharp aura blade shot towards Ziel at a mediocre speed, neither fast nor slow. But Ziel's face changed after he sensed that he couldn't block or dodge the attack. He could only stand still and let the slash hit him and cut him in half from his shoulder to his waist

"Ken!!!!" Azalia's hysterical scream echoed in the sky of the Rubelia Kingdom.