434 The strangest enemies. (Final)
"I see, May peace be your salvation." With these last words, he made a large notch in his palm with his sword.
Even if the others did not know what he was preparing, they also began to prepare for a raid against Askald and the others, guessing that Askald wanted to exterminate them.
But before they take action, Askald's sober voice sounds once again. "Third Supreme Arcane; puppet harvest."
In the second that precedes his words, he drops his sword, soaked in his blood, into the black sea.
Meanwhile, none of their enemies dared to attack the others; each of them was aware of the curse of Askald's territory.
On the other side, Being selected as allies by the owner of the territory, each member of the Askald team was protected by the characteristics of his territory.
One of the characteristics was the reflection of any physical/magic attacks committed by the enemy imprisoned in his domain.
Unlike Alvine, who had been able to reverse the process with disconcerting ease, it emerged from the fantasy for others who were less to have powers similar to Alvine's.
Thus, instead of focusing on the offensive against Askald, Fy gets away from her team and puts as many puppets in safety to prevent Askald or the others from using them to inflict any damage to them.
A solution that proved to be more than effective given the disadvantage they had compared to their opponents.
But against all odds, Askald did not try to take advantage of his territory, nor to order others to attack them. He was there, floating with indifference above the black waters under the dark sky.
Seeing Askald's inaction, Fy frowns. 'I don't know what he makes but it doesn't tell me anything worthwhile. What skill did he just cast earlier? And why doesn't he do anything or order his men to shoot us down by using the other puppets!?' The more she thinks, the more her confusion increased.
In the end, she gives up.
During this time, taking advantage of this short-lived solution, the five most powerful, namely (Zakiel, Shadow, and Heepha) Alpha began to take the necessary measures to collapse the territory of Askald with their own.
Fierce flames with multiple colors, all spectacular but dangerous to each other, began to dance harmoniously around Heepha Alpha.
Meanwhile, Shadow and Zakiel had already half-demonstrated their territories.
On the other hand, with a territory more powerful than theirs, not to mention influencing the territory of Askald, they struggled to keep up their territory.
Being already aware of this fact, they did not wait too long before receiving the support of their fellow beings.
Among them, Fy Gamma and her sisters were the most threatening.
Compared to before, their eyes did not have their previous hesitations and melancholy; perhaps due to their feelings of self-prevention or because they had no choice, as Fy Gamma had previously announced.
However, Zakiel and the other generals alongside Askald no longer wanted to remain inactive when they saw their intentions.
But...
"It's not necessary." As if they had just had a brainwashing, Shadow and the others froze as soon as Askald's voice sounded coldly behind them.
While looking at Askald with confused eyes, Heepha asks. "But, aren't we supposed to finish off these people before they escape from here?"
"Wrong!" Askald shakes his head, refuting Heepha's speculations.
"...Huh!?" It was not only Heepha who was confused, but the others all had stupid and foggy eyes.
Seeing their confusion, Askald smiled slightly. "As I said, any strategist worthy of the name will not accept to be the cause of a loss among his soldiers." He explains briefly.
"But, ...even if they act against their wills, nothing guarantees you that they'll be trustworthy...-
"Heepha, according to you, what's the most important thing between loyalty and the will to serve our lord?" Askald cut her off before she finishes her sentence.
"...I can't choose between these two." She murmured.
"Well, it's impossible to choose. A loyalty without own will is treacherous, just like a will without loyalty is insignificant." Askald immediately gives this answer that nailed the beak of all the others who wanted to put an end to the corrupt.
"They are corrupted, it's true. I would not go so far as to say that I can erase this corruption permanently. But wouldn't it be hypocritical of me to kill them? Should I make the same methodical decision towards you if you...-
"Except me for your respect, they are not like us." Zakiel retorts in a somewhat hasty tone when he sees the territory of Askald weaken as their opponents merge theirs to stand together.
"Zakiel, that's what you're wrong." Askald was blind and deaf about Zakiel's concerns.
"Nothing differentiates you from them. Just like you, they have souls, powers exact to ours, memories that you share with them, and above all loyalty and the will to serve the same being as us. That's all I need to consider someone as my fellow."
"..."
The silence that precedes his words has allowed others to reflect calmly and easily on the meanings of his words.
But even if it was brief, this brief break allowed others to learn something more.
Zakiel sight at his superior while shaking his head. "You are the master of decisions, Monarch Askald." He had no choice but to bow in the face of Askald's will and wisdom after listening carefully to his words.
He then looked around him with dark eyes when he saw the spatial cracks in the territory of Askald. "But if you don't hurry, I'm afraid that...-
"Who are you talking to, Zakiel?" Askald cut him off before he finished his sentence.
The second after, Zakiel and the others were able to notice a strange anomaly in the black sea under their feet.
As the black water gradually turned bloody red, the puppets perched on crosses above the sea slowly sank into the depths.
Seeing this, Fy's eyes became fierce. But a contradictory smile was on her lips as if she was relieved to see Askald prevent them from committing sins that they can never forgive themselves.
'The monarch Askald’s worthy of his rank. I was worried for nothing since he had already prepared the areas in advance.' Even being relieved, her body, independent of her will, always persisted in wanting to prevent Askald from completing his magic spell.
But seeing that she was the only one to charge at Askald to attack him, she immediately understood that the person or entity behind her actions decided to sacrifice her to allow others, who were still working hard against Ashald's territory, to gain a little more time.
It was not only her impression, Askald and the other corrupted people had the same thought in their heads.
'Even knowing that I can reflect any physical or magical attack over her aggressor, this woman still pushes one of the mines to attack me. She has nothing to do with their lives.' Askald had hateful eyes toward Fy Gamma when he saw the latter's suicidal actions.
In reality, the person he hated was not Fy but the person who had fun controlling his subordinates remotely.
Having no choice, he prioritized Fy's life by teleporting fifty meters from her, thus avoiding his scythe, which roared toward his right shoulder.
But unlike him, Fy showed her dissatisfaction by seeing him interrupt his arcane. "What shitty are you playing off!? You can't save everyone! Stop persisting on this path and act for the good of..-
"No one's replaceable!" Askald thundered these words and continued to plunge the puppets into the blood sea.
Fy slams her tongue in a frustrated mood when she hears Askald's words.
In the same second, deep blue lightning began to hiss on her scythe’s blade, buzzing in an unpleasant and threatening singer.
But instead of targeting Askald, Fy's lightning looms over Askald's other allies with thunders rumbling with them.
But contrary to what 'Fy' believed, Askald did not act impulsively as before.
With the confidence he had in his men, he continued to maneuver smoothly.
At the same time, Fy's fierce attack, who booed at Zakiel and the others in fictitious and unleashed form, only hit the vacuum.
Knowing the objective of their monarch, who does not want to lose any of his men, the others did not take the risk of being affected by Fy's lightning, despite their untraceable speed!
--
"Tell me, do you have suicidal or maybe masochistic hobbies?" Standing five hundred meters from a giant tree with leaves whistling harmoniously with icy air, a vampire woman with short black hair smiles at the man with slightly tanned skin and silvery white hair.
His body had severe and fatal injuries inflicted by the woman dressed in a black body sleeve and a jacket above, black pants, and short heels.
Her light clothes were intended to facilitate her swiftness by prioritizing her speed.
The man in question was none other than Randolph, who had followed the woman while no one noticed her, while the others were focused on Alvine's departure.
the same color, goring the void towards her skull.
10:22
Seeing his intransigence, a sigh of frustration escapes from the vampire’s lips.
Randolph did not listen to the sarcastic words of the vampires or back down.
With a simple quick jump, he appeared above the woman with his blue spear, covered with an aura of the same color, goring the void towards her skull.
Seeing his intransigence, a sigh of frustration escapes from the vampire’s lips.
"Stop wasting my time!" Her milky white aura which had traces of redness, burst out of her body, repulsing Randolph half a hundred meters from her.
By her aura alone, she maims Randolph’s left hand, which holding his spear!
Before impacting the ground, Randolph used his gravitational magic to cushion his fall.
"It's impressive to see how much you persist in following this guy; what did he offer you for that?" The woman asks with sore eyes when she sees Randolph's eyes shine with the same hostility.
Although he had just lost his arm, Randolph's eyebrows are not even contracted to testify to his atrocious pang; he was as if insensitive to pain.
But once hearing the woman's question, his expression finally changes into the dark. "It has nothing to do with this bastard; it's for personal reasons." He responds briefly by showing another spear in his left hand.
"Personal reasons?" The woman frowns with curiosity.
Seeing this, a wild smile occurs on Randolph's lips. He took advantage of this brief moment of respite to regenerate his arm and chest, which had a deep notch to the point of perceiving his vital organs through, muttering the [concept of healing] under his tongue.
In just five seconds, all his wounds disappeared on his body, including his forearm, which also pushed an entire arm.
Even if the woman knew what he was doing from the beginning, she did nothing to prevent him.
Now at the top of his shape, Randolph rewards the woman by 'answering' her question. "I just want to see how strong you are."
The woman's face wrinkled at Randolph's answer. 'This guy... despite his low level, I can't know what he thinks exactly. He can fight with so much panache while emptying his mind. How does he acquire such a steel will?' Although she knew that Randolph was not telling the truth about his true motivations, she could not know what he was thinking.
However, Randolph did not care about her foiling feelings.
He positioned himself in offensive mode with a spear pointed at his target as if it were the widening of his arm.
"On the other hand, you are not here for this tree, nor to kill me."
Raising her eyebrows slightly, the woman could not help but listen to him.
"If you were there for this tree, you'd have done your best to kill me. I think you wanted to keep someone away. And since this person is not me, you just spend time with me when you hear that he or she notices you."
“...Fufu, what's the point of telling me that? You are only making your situation worse." Even if she smiled at Randolph, the latter could guess that she was no longer going to let him go just by seeing the savagery of her eyes.
"No one cares, just... let's fight for a real, little girl!"