Chapter 171 Deathly Miasma

“Sumera! Melisande!” He yelled out.

Though he tried to break through to help them, he was shoved back by one of the Unending Nightmare’s avatars.

Shit! He thought.

It was the worst-case scenario; he could sense it–these nightmarish knights, looking as if they crawled from the depths of a void, were powerful, oozing off an abyssal aura from their form.

Still, he was prepared to fight, raising his sword again as the deathly sentinels closed in.

“I’m not done yet…I can still–”

Before he finished, the sound of a door opening sounded out, forcing him to look up, along with even the Unending Nightmare’s split forms as it seemed ignorant to what just happened.

“…That meddling jester…”

“…Trespassing my realm…”

“…I shall confront him later…”

“…For now…”

“…We feast…”

–Finishing each other’s words, the separated forms of the Unending Nightmare spoke in a distorted tone as if the words were gargled from their throats.

“Finally! Looks like we made it to the party!”

A familiar voice called out from above as two figures dropped from a wooden door that manifested in the sky above.

“I’d hesitate to call this a party. Either way, you’re right–we made it.”

The enthusiastic voice was unmistakable to Emilio, and cemented as he saw both of the figures drop onto the ground in fresh form.

“Vandread! Roan! You’re both okay!” Emilio called out in relief.

The dark-skinned man seemed surprised to see the boy, but showed his own relief in the softening of his gaze.

“Emilio, I–” Vandread began to say before stopping himself.

In the man’s mind, he wanted to reprimand the boy for disobeying his orders, but in this moment, seeing him wounded, but still fighting on and surviving, he simply felt proud.

“…You did good,” Vandread told him.

Emilio had to stop himself from crying just hearing such praise, but sniffled as he composed himself, “That’s right!–This thing can manifest your fears and change its form! Watch out–try not to look in its eyes!”

“Got it,” Vandread said.

“Gotcha,” Roan added.

The sentinels dressed in black armor approached Sumera, attempting to interrupt the healing process with an abrasive strike, though were stopped by a flash of red sparks shooting by.

The red-haired adventurer swooped in, repelling the entities with strands of his scarlet electricity.

Red lightning…? Could it be? Sumera deduced.

“You…! You’re Roan, aren’t you?” Sumera recognized.

Roan looked back with a smile, “Guess I’m famous. Just leave it to me; focus on getting the big guy there back in fighting shape.”

“Right,” Sumera nodded.

Meanwhile, as Emilio found himself cornered, he prepared himself to clash with the centermost of the abyssal knights, only to find himself saved from facing that one as something struck it in the back of its head.

As it dropped forward, turning to black gunk, Vandread appeared, standing back-to-back with him.

“Looks like you’ve improved,” Vandread remarked.

“Just a bit,” Emilio replied.

Though what Vandread thought was much more than the simple words he gave, though he wasn’t one to speak outwardly of his thoughts.

If only Julius could see right now how his son has grown in such a short time, Vandread thought.

Without a word needing to be said, they both fought alongside one another as the abyssal knights carved from nightmares attacked. Vandread took two on at once, though he was forced on the backfoot, having to weave through their combined assault with his remarkable swiftness.

Even still, it was arduous even for the seasoned adventurer as the black-clad sentinels wielded a mystical force, allowing the one with a single horn on its helm and a silver glow in the grooves of its armor to conjure black ice that sprouted from the ground like spikes, stabbing into Vandread’s foot.

“–” Vandread didn’t react to the pain, jumping back.

Just as he did, the other of the sentinels followed through, having two horns and a slimmer build, instead having a yellow luminescence between its armor, slashing his blade towards the dark-skinned man. Though Vandread managed to stay out of reach of the sharp steel, contorted skulls manifested from dark energy launched towards him, biting into his shoulder and leg before knocking him back.

“Tsk…” Vandread clicked his tongue as his wounds mended themselves.

More trouble than I thought. So this is the Unending Nightmare, huh? Vandread thought.

–

Emilio faced trouble himself as he had already relinquished his Dragonheart form through exhaustion, being placed on the defensive as he had to jump back just to not be caught beneath the being’s strikes.

There was an unnatural ability possessed by the sentinel with three horns on its helm; it moved with almost a ‘blinking’ swiftness, moving without stepping, leaving afterimages before following with gargantuan blows that sank into the deathly soil.

It took everything he had just to dodge, having to repeatedly manipulate the flow of air around him and his opponent, as well as having to conjure walls of rock to momentarily halt his foe.

One hit from that and I’m dead…! Emilio thought.

“We are Knightmare,” the entity spoke to him, clashing blades against him.

There was quite an amount of strength stemming from the being dressed in spiky, barbed armor, watching him through a shadowy helm that continuously altered its face into different shapes.

“Didn’t ask–!”

Mostly out of instinct, he countered with an unexpected switch into martial arts, rather than bladework as he stepped forward, focusing an innate strength into his knuckles.

It was something etched into his mind and soul as if it was always there: the knowledge on how to conjure the draconic force within him.

As he shot his fist forward, sinking it into the gut of the Knightmare, unleashing a brief flash of azure light before causing the air to howl, sending the Knightmare flying back several meters.

This was–

“Dragon Strike.”

Woah, he thought.

He looked at his fist in surprise as residual steam emitted from his knuckles, surprised at the potency of the new ability. It definitely used a chunk of mana, though it was a reasonable amount considering the result.

Though as he was caught in curiosity with this new skill, he was taken by surprise as the three-horned Knightmare of black and glowing, verdant armor flickered over with its unnatural, horrific speed, causing him to flinch as he raised his arms in a guard.

Of course, this was the wrong move as he should’ve blocked with his sword, however–

As the heavy blade slammed against his forearms, he was surprised to find they weren’t cut off immediately.

There was only a partial cut left on his limbs, only skin deep, which left him dumbfound.

His instincts saved him as the other unlocked ability manifested itself: “Scale Armor.”

There were azure scales on his forearms that had protected him from the attack, though they shattered immediately as the Knightmare withdrew its blade.

“Hm,” the Knightmare simply raised its sword again.

This time, he had the proper capabilities to dodge as he jumped back just as the heavy blade of darkness crashed into the ground.

As he looked up, he found the form of the Knightmare momentarily altering as its helm morphed into an animated skull, plagued with wriggling worms before a breath of miasma exuded from its maw.

“—!?”

It was a Black Plague that was breathed out by the Knightmare’s pestilential head that morphed back to its enigmatic helm.

The dark essence, bearing unknown curses and diseases hung around the figure, keeping Emilio a safe distance away,

I can’t breathe that in. No way, he thought.

He was forced to keep backpedaling as the Knightmare marched towards him, dragging the winds of plague with it.

The fact that it was clearly visible proved to be a double-edged sword; it meant he could actively avoid its range, but it also seemed to spell of its potency that the miasma was able to be seen.

Though with the Knightmare approaching, he knew he’d have to think of a countermeasure for the miasma in the inevitable confrontation.

With that, he drew his catalyst, holding it forward as he summoned a mighty conjuration of wind.

I’ll dispel it and send it away! He resolved.

Though he found himself to be utterly mistaken as the moment he summoned the wind around himself before pushing it outward, the ominous plague overtook his own mystical wind, extending itself aggressively like a disease to the air.

“–?!”

What?!…It’s a trap for wind users?! He realized.

He was enveloped in the miasma, dropping to his knees as he clutched at his own throat, heaving and gasping for air as the plague set in immediately.

There was no amount of magical reinforcement or self-healing that could counteract the primordial entity’s miasma.

What is this? I can’t breathe. Everything hurts. It burns. It itches. It hurts, he thought.

All he could do was hyperventilate, almost clawing at his own throat as it became as dry as a desert; his complexion began to pale as sweat left his pores with an immense fever setting in.

Vandread noticed this amidst his own fight, yelling out, “Emilio–!”

Though he tried, pushing himself to his utmost, it was improbable for Vandread to break through both of the Knightmares as they seemed to be intentionally holding him off from Emilio.

“Shit!…Out of my way!” Vandread yelled, clashing blade-to-blade with both Knigthmares while avoiding the combination of black ice and howling skulls.