Chapter 960

Chapter 960

Duke Vlad–no, Helenia’s only disciple, Arumbe–could see that his shards failed to reach his teacher’s arms. This was entirely out of his expectations.

Brod contributed the most to preventing his shards from moving forward. One look at the man, and Arumbe could tell that as long as Brod was alive, he would become a threat to his teacher even if she descended completely to the world.

Arumbe, who was in the form of Duke Vlad, slowly approached those blocking his shards. None of them suspected him. After all, with the current situation that they were in, it wouldn’t make sense for the two empires to fight just because they had been at war before. And because of that, Vlad could freely slash the unguarded Brod’s chest.

Slash–!

Blood spurted out of Brod’s chest. Although it was just one slash, it was enough to inflict a severe injury upon the man. Everything happened so fast that even Minhyuk and Alexander were still unaware of the fact that Brod was already vomiting blood beside them.

Minhyuk, who finally realized what was happening beside them, saw Duke Vlad stabbing the staggering Brod in the abdomen.

Stab–!

Duke Vlad pulled his sword just as quickly and slashed Brod’s body non-stop.

It must be known that Duke Vlad was most likely on par with Brod in terms of strength and power. There was also the fact that a person who was inflicted with a severe injury and was stabbed in the abdomen at the same time would have no way to evade whatever attack came their way. It wouldn’t matter how strong one was; that would still be the outcome.

Thump, thump–

Duke Vlad kicked the stumbling Brod away. With Brod gone in the equation, the shards swarmed and pressed Minhyuk and Alexander harder. The two tried their hardest to stop the shards with their skills, but it was not enough.

The worst part? Minhyuk was forced to an impasse. He could not make a choice. If he ran to where Brod was, then the shards would pour inside the fortress. But if he did not go there, then Brod might die.

Then, at that moment, Duke Vlad shouted, “Finally! The chance to kill the puny emperor and his vassals that go against Emperor Nerva has come!”

Duke Vlad turned to look at the Swords of the Gods. “Quick! Attack the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor and kill him! Stop the shards after killing him!”

The two empires were definitely at war. However, the Swords of the Gods could not move despite the orders that they received.

Minhyuk, looking at the shards still charging forward, thought, ‘That’s so unreasonable. What the hell is wrong with him?’

Did he want to retaliate against them in this situation? That did not make sense at all. Even the Luvien Empire would be in danger if Helenia descended with her full powers in this world.

“Idiots! This is His Majesty Nerva’s chance to rise, sit on the throne, and become the true Battle God. As long as His Majesty Nerva becomes the Battle God, he could stop Helenia even if she came here at full power!” Duke Vlad blabbered, wrapping his reckless and unreasonable actions as if they were for the sake of Nerva.

Then, Duke Vlad walked toward the fallen Brod.

‘No...!’

Minhyuk’s expression grew ugly. Brod was one of the people that he cherished and loved. The thought of something happening to him here broke his concentration for a brief moment. Because of that, his balance broke off, and some of the shards’ attacks hit him.

[Your HP has dropped below 55%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 50%!]

The reason why Minhyuk was having a hard time dealing with the shards was because the Slaughterer’s Absorption could not be triggered no matter how many of them he killed. After all, they were already dead and were only resurrected.

Fortunately, Minhyuk could quickly regain his balance, his sword swinging swiftly to deal with the shards in front of him again.

Minhyuk felt highly disappointed and frustrated with himself at the moment. He wanted to protect Brod but could not even move away from this place.

‘Hang in there, Brod. Just hold on for a bit.’

When Minhyuk glanced back, he saw Brod staggering on his feet. However, he knew Brod as a powerful man, and that one look made him realize that Brod would not be able to endure for long.

Someone standing among the Swords of the Gods stepped forward at that moment.

***

Brod’s entire body felt heavy while his chest and abdomen, which had been cut and stabbed, were burning hot. The strength in his hand holding onto his sword was already lost, and his legs buckled under his weight. However, he did his best to grip his sword tightly and stand up again.

Helenia did not have or want any disciples. However, she accepted Arumbe because he was an unusual man. Arumbe was born into a noble and prestigious swordsmanship family. He was even praised as his family’s greatest swordsman. But surprisingly enough, he was also a genius in magic.

It was not easy for someone to be talented in magic and the sword. It was mainly because magic was complicated to master. However, born as a genius in both fields, Arumbe used both his swordsmanship and magic appropriately and was reborn as a Magic Swordsman. That was right. Not only did Arumbe, or Duke Vlad, possess swordsmanship on par with Duke Ruffiso, but he also had a firm grasp on magic.

Brod, whose entire body was covered with blood, stood up once again. But Duke Vlad? He raised his hand and said, “Bang!”

Boooooom–!

Another explosion sent Brod flying back. The condition of Brod’s body was utterly terrible now. However, despite his battered body, he still stood up with the support of his sword.

I can’t die here. His Majesty will be sad.

“Bang.”

Baaaaaang–!

Brod was sent flying back with another explosion. This time, he vomited a mouthful of blood. Even so, he still stood back up.

“Bang– Bang, bang, bang, bang– Bang, bang, bang, bang.”

Duke Vlad sent Explosions non-stop as if he were just playing with Brod.

The continuous explosions charred Brod’s entire body.

Fwoosh–

Nevertheless, he still raised his charred hands to hold his sword and support his body. Brod, who was forced to kneel with his bleeding and battered body, turned to look back at Minhyuk.

“BROOOOOOOD!!!” Minhyuk shouted anxiously.

At this moment, Brod felt like he was the most pathetic vassal in the world. Not only did he defy his emperor’s orders, but he even made him sad.

Duke Vlad looked like he was finally bored playing around with Brod. He said, “There’s still a lot to be done.”

He needed to kill not only Brod but also Minhyuk and Alexander. So, he raised his hand. A black flame appeared at the tip of his fingers. Hellfire. This was a magic that only a select few mages could cast.

The tiny spark, which looked like a simple Explosion, flew toward Brod with a wave of Vlad’s hands.

Spurt–!

“Hmm...?” Duke Vlad hummed as he felt his blood spurt from his back after releasing the Hellfire at Brod.

Brod, who looked at the approaching Hellfire, felt infinitely sad at the thought of leaving Minhyuk in grief. But then, someone approached him, who had fallen on the ground, and protected him in their embrace.

“Sorry.”

A familiar voice rang in Brod’s ears. This voice belonged to the person who took away his precious comrades and knights—the one who made Brod live with anger toward him for the rest of his life. Brod had made a vow to kill this man one day and make him pay for his crimes. And now, this man, the object of his anger, appeared right before him.

When he moved away from Brod, his left arm had disappeared. It was devoured and melted away by the Hellfire flying toward the man he embraced and protected.

He knew that Brod would not forgive him. He knew that they could no longer be friends, and he knew that Brod wanted to kill him. But perhaps he stepped forward because of the will that his precious and dear vassal had left behind.

‘I hope that you can smile brightly.’

But even though his vassal wished for it, Nerva could not smile or laugh. He stared at Brod before slowly turning around.

Rip–

The most vicious and greedy emperor of the greatest and most powerful empire in Athenae tore his clothes apart. Then, using his teeth, he pulled the cloth and tied the stump left behind on his left arm to stop it from bleeding. Then, he picked up his sword and walked to where Duke Vlad was.