Chapter 296 - Appetizer (2)
This wasn’t an illusion of Arthus or a mirage.
Arthus had used smoke to reveal his true form, and when he finally descended on the ground, the three men with burning pain in their backs collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
“Good to see you.”
Arthus didn’t have any companions with him; he had come here alone. His confidence was rather admirable.
As soon as Arthus appeared, Henry immediately shouted, “Get him!”
“Yes, sir!”
Thud!
The Seven Sages quickly got together and placed their hands on the ground, casting binding magic.
“Bind!”
Ptzzzz!
Henry and the Seven Sages acted swiftly like disciplined soldiers.
After they cast the binding spells, chains of mana, each with their own unique characteristics, emerged from the ground beneath their hands and lunged at Arthus. New n0vel chapters are published on
Arthus could see clearly what the wizards were trying to do. However, he didn’t try to evade them in the slightest; he merely watched their movements with a nonchalant expression.
Ptzzzz!
With an intense spark, each unique chain of mana stretched out fiercely and started wrapping around Arthus.
But just when Henry and the Sages thought the chains were about to immobilize him, they dropped to the ground like dead snakes.
The binding magic of the Seven Sages had just failed.
Seeing this, Arthus said lamely, “Tsk, tsk... you still think such magic would work on me?” He looked quite disappointed.
He brushed the dust off his shoulder and was about to turn to face Henry, but just then...
“I’m not done yet!”
Ptzzzzz!
As if tens of thousands of birds took flight at once, a sharp, piercing sound instantly filled the air, threatening to rupture everyone’s eardrums.
Everyone was about to cover their ears at the deafening sound, but before that, they had to close their eyes first.
The reason for that was simple—a bolt of lightning the size of a thousand-year-old tree trunk struck Arthus’ head as he was turning away in disappointment.
Ptzzz!
The lightning lasted for an incredibly long time. Five seconds, ten seconds...
The lightning lasted almost fifteen seconds, and everyone’s eyes were slowly adjusting to the blinding light.
It looked like a waterfall of lightning, but this wasn’t just lightning magic. This was a new 8th-Circle binding magic that Henry had created, which not only had the properties of lightning, but it also completely paralyzed the opponent.
However...
“At least you’re a bit different,” Arthus commented nonchalantly through the murderous lightning.
“...!”
Soon, the lightning stopped.
It wasn't Arthus who stopped the spell, but Henry. After that, Arthus was visible again. He was still alive and well, completely unharmed, but unlike before, he was now smirking, his hands clasped together.
“It seems that you’ve grown within that short period of time.”
Despite his immense divine power, Arthus knew little about magic, so this was all he could say about Henry.
In any case, this was impressive. Seven 7th-Circle Archmages had cast binding magic on him, but Arthus hadn’t felt anything or even blinked an eye. But Henry had been different.
Was it because of the tremendous burning power of his spell? Despite the fact that Arthus was almost a demigod, he had still felt a tingling sensation from Henry’s lightning, although for a split second.
‘Damn it...!’
However, Henry wasn’t aware of that. He merely gritted his teeth as he watched Arthus mock him with his nasty smile.
‘I guess even this amount of power really isn’t enough.’
Having confirmed that not even 8th-Circle-level spells worked on Arthus, there was no reason to continue using spells against him. Any further magic attacks would only serve to demoralize him and the other wizards.
Dark explosions, some larger than others, emerged from the inky wave in the distance. The Union members laughed in disbelief as they watched the explosions fill the horizon.
‘Huh...!’
‘This power is...!’
It only lasted a few seconds.
With a simple wave of his hand, Henry drew a line in the air, and then the black waves that filled the horizon vanished, and the massive vibrations in the ground ceased.
Henry’s complexion didn’t change in the slightest.
Despite the fact that he killed tens of thousands of Chimeras with a mere gesture of his hand, he didn’t show any signs of dizziness or overall weakness from having consumed too much mana.
The Seven Sages were the most surprised.
‘T-this is!’
‘Is this how powerful an 8th-Circle is...?!’
The Sages felt that this power was admirable, but they also envied it; they felt deprived of it. This was the kind of power Henry currently possessed.
Henry dismissed Wisdom and walked over to the three men who were unconscious.
“Saint.”
“Yes!”
At Henry’s call, Saint Irenae rushed over and proceeded to heal the three men. Given how nasty the scars, the cuts, the oozing pus, and the blisters looked on their backs, it was clear that this hadn’t been mere showmanship on Arthus’ part.
In any case, the Saint’s healing skills were the best on the continent, so she managed to heal their wounds in a matter of seconds.
The three men woke up and were no longer panting and sweating.
Henry then asked Valhald, “Are you alright?”
“Ha...”
Valhald just nodded.
One would’ve expected that a knight of Valhald’s caliber would be able to withstand that kind of burn. However, he hadn’t been burnt by an ordinary flame, but by a Divine Flame, its temperature being much higher than that of normal fire.
Even though Valhald’s wounds had been healed, Henry still felt a pang of sadness seeing Arthus’ scars on his back.
Valhald parted his dry lips and said to Henry in a weak voice, “Commander...”
“Yes?”
After Henry had become the commander of the Union, everyone started talking formally to him. This was so that everyone, regardless of their friendship with Henry, would practice proper manners from then onward.
Of course, this didn’t mean that Henry would suddenly stop being formal with his fellow Union members. Henry continued to behave respectfully and politely with everyone around him.
“On my back... Do I still have the scars he left?” asked Valhald.
“Yes.”
“I see... Commander, could you lend me a mirror so I can see?”
Henry summoned a large mirror at Valhald’s request.
Valhald stood in front of the mirror and picked up this sword from the ground. The Saint was alarmed at this and tried to stop him, but...
Gush!
Before she could stop him, he thrust the blade into his back.
Valhald plunged his sword into his own back, which had been marked by Arthus.
Everyone watching was shocked.
However, Valhald wasn’t affected by the stares and continued moving the blade through his flesh, carving himself.
As painful as it was, he thought that bearing Arthus’ mark on his back would be significantly worse than cutting himself. That was why he was hacking away at his flesh without hesitation.
Valhald could finally see Arthus’ ugly scar after carving it out from his back. He was covered in cold sweat, but he didn’t let out a single groan.
He turned to the Saint, who was covering her mouth with her hands in shock, and asked politely, “Please heal me, Saint.”
“Y-yes!”
Henry locked eyes with Valhald, who had stripped himself of Arthus’ vile mark by cutting off the piece of flesh that bore it. He had never seen the eyes of the greatest Knight King on the continent burn with such fierce rage and hatred.