Chapter 285: Gold Kraft
In the midst of the raging battlefield, Zephyr and Athena looked straight at each other.
The atmosphere around them was intense and suffocating, and everyone around them felt like someone was covering their faces with a pillow.
Athena's pretty eyes squinted, and then she kicked up some rocks from the ground. Those rocks flew like bullets through the air.
Zephyr moved his vambrace-covering arm and smacked the rocks off the air. Those rocks were stronger than ordinary rocks, as they had a deep crimson hue on them.
'When she kicked those rocks, she infected her own Kraft into them. If I hadn't coated my vambrace with my own Kraft, those rocks would've shredded through and destroyed my arm. 'What a tricky maiden. She isn't known as one of the most skilled mercenaries for nothing.' Athena started moving. Her feet rapidly covered the distance. She stabbed her sword forward, and it met with Zephyr's blade with a loud clang.
However, Zephyr's eyes bulged wide open as if he got surprised by something.
The small area around him turned incredibly heavy, and his knee buckled under the immense pressure, forcing him down on his knees.
"The Gravity Blade." Athena ethernally said and placed the blunt side of the sword on Zephyr's shoulder.
Zephyr crashed on the ground, flat on his stomach, and felt the weight of the world crushing down on him.
Those from Zestruction who saw it happen were surprised and wanted to go help their guild master, but the gravity around that area was too intense for them to even take a single step forward.
A distance away, fighting the allied forces of Battle Maidens, Digby and the rest of Crimson Hounds didn't have time to pay attention to the ongoings of other fights.
However, they both felt the immense aura of power emanating from their fight. The whole area around the two Grand Lords was inaccessible to anyone else.
Digby smashed his blade through his enemies, carving a path of destruction through the battlefield.
Somewhere else, Knoxx and other newbie mercenaries from the faction fought smaller scale battles with other weaker mercenaries.
There were parts of the battlefield where they couldn't just go. If they did, they might encounter an enemy that they would just die in a matter of seconds.
Thus, they had to carefully plan their movements and choose their battles wisely.
"Damn, Knoxx!" Alan finally reached his friend after having to fight countless enemies. "This ain't working!"
"What do you mean?" Knoxx asked while looking around the battlefield with a heavy expression.
The battle seemed extremely even, but they were running out of stamina.
"This fight might seem even, but we're losing!" Alan said. "The frontline army of Battle Maidens is still standing, and some of their strongest mercenaries have yet to fight!"
"That's why it is our job to carve a path there!" Knoxx pointed to the distance. "See what Digby is doing? He is trying to make a path to there so we can include them in a battle."
"But it ain't working!" Alan said. "Maybe retreat is in order."
"We're just foot soldiers!" Knoxx angrily shouted. "We're in no position to make orders. We listen to orders. Period. And our orders are to keep fighting!"
"Cursed!" Alan swung his sword and entered another painful duel with a member of Battle Maidens.
At the center of the battlefield, the heavy gravity kept breaking the ground.
With a groan of pain, Zephyr rose back to his kneeling position, fighting against the increased gravity that threatened to crush him into the earth.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Athena swung her blade, but Zephyr grabbed the blade with his bare hands and, with a roar of defiance, started standing up.
Soon, he was standing tall and strong, head-taller than Athena.
"Hmm, I see." Athena said with her pretty voice. "It seems I underestimated you."
"Underestimating fellow Grand Lord? I never expected you to be so foolish." Zephyr said
The wind picked up speed and almost unrooted the trees from the ground.
At that moment, a winged shadow flew over the forest with insane speed and headed towards
the mountains of the north.
As soon as the winged shadow flew past, the wind stopped completely, leaving the forest
eerily silent.
A deer jumped out from the bushes, nippled the grass, and then turned towards the sky. It saw
the winged creature flying away, and immediately scurried back into the safety of the trees.
---
The fight kept raging on, but there was strange sensation in the battlefield. It looked like the strongest mercenaries from both sides had stopped fighting.
It was only the foot soldiers fighting, who were usually Mercenarymen to Grandeur-ranked. The wind whooshed from the south, and moved Wrath's short hair side-to-side. She slightly moved her blindfold to hide her eyes even further.
'What's with this suffocating air?' Desire wondered as she touched her throat.
She felt like she had some difficulties with breathing, as if every time she tried to breath,
something was blocking her lungs.
Athena walked back to her soldiers, clad in her armor, and then turned around to look towards
the sky.
"Hmm..." She turned around again, and arrived by her sister's side. "The air is stuffy."
"Yes, I haven't encountered something like this before." Wrath said.
"I have." Athena squinted her eyes. "With King Moriarty."
"..." Wrath lowered her head slightly.
"Has he already reached that kind of strength?" Athena asked.
"No." Wrath said. "However, his strength has increased exponentially. We underestimated
him. Everyone did."
"I thought he wouldn't be able to impact the war in any way..." Athena frowned. "If we allow him to grow further, Zestruction will be incredibly dangerous."
"It'll be up to you whether we will win this fight or not." Wrath said. "Unfortunately, I can't
tell the outcome."
"If I cannot kill some newbie, why the hell have I been training?" Athena said.
At that moment, the wind stopped as if the time had frozen.
A distance away, within heavy clouds, a winged creature soared through the clouds.
"?!" Zephyr turned around and looked over to the sky. "Who?"
The aura seemed familiar, but also unfamiliar because of the strength of the aura. It was the
strangest kind of strength he'd ever sensed.