SLICE
The man's body lurched to avoid the blade, yet it wasn't enough to deflect the upcoming strike completely, leading to the sharp blade connecting with the flesh above his earlobe.
Schlkt
"Kughh!..." In his tilted position, the man's eyes caught sight of a woman's figure materializing through the thin air, her hand adorned with a sword, and eyes blazing as she stood in a battle stance.
BAM!
But before he could react, a swift kick landed directly on his chest, the force creating an instant shockwave that centered at the man's hand, which reflexively came up to block, yet the force sent him hurtling a large distance.
SWOOSH
Not losing his focus even after being overwhelmed, the man circulated the mana inside his body to stop his freely flying body in mid-air, swiftly turning his gaze toward the battlefield.
Visibly, the man's pupils contracted as they caught the image of two individuals with intense amber gazes looking in his direction, both wearing white and black masks.
SWISH
"Damn it, what should we do now?"
The man's ears caught the sound beside him, turning his gaze to see his son jumping back, his gaze also fixed toward those individuals.
'Why is he this strong?' Edward, seizing the opportunity presented by the man, somehow distanced himself but found it confusing to look at the black masked man on the ground shrouded in an amethyst aura, standing beside a woman appearing as sharp as a sword.
"Edward, we are cornered. You escape from here; I will stop them," the man realized the severity of the situation, which had been against them from the start and became even more vivid upon seeing all of his soldiers being overpowered by four of the LEGENDARY Rankers—similar to an ant being crushed by four elephants.
'We shouldn't have come here,' the man gritted his teeth, realizing the mistake caused by his son's stubbornness.
Naturally, the moment he knew that Regina and her battalion were present, he decided to retreat.
Not known to many but there are reasons for leaving only a commander and her battalion to protect the whole Devereaux Family while others were outside of it.
There are only four well-known Commanders in the Devereaux army, who are followed by the most numbers of powerhouses, and only Regina was the sole woman among those four who gained the trust of this many Legendary Rankers.
Seeing how she stood beside that young man, it was clear that she had accepted him as her Liege, already aware of her origin from Sword Valley, making things much harder.
If it were just that young man, overpowering him using battleships and every soldier to the limit of exhaustion wasn't impossible, but now it was complicated due to the presence of more power on their side.
The shockwave produced by the aftereffect of force through which Edward collided with the ground instantly broke it like mirror pieces.
"Ugh!....L-leave me!" Edward shouted, feeling an unshakeable force pressing him with his hand gripped behind his back by claws which appeared strong enough to not let him struggle.
"Liege, Should I kill him?" Regina, pressing down Edward with her hand keeping his hands behind, increased the force with her knees, flattening him on the ground, firm enough to not let him move.
"No, We can't kill him," Ryuk, already knowing that even this humiliation must have been indirectly triggering heaven's luck, seeing its apostle getting pressed on the ground but already expecting the extent of things to go, had already prepared a backup.
Naturally, He can't kill Edward or else all the powerful individuals will be after him and he doesn't think Drishti will reveal her complete strength just to save him.
So, instead of killing Edward, he plans to dismantle the support he came with, then proceed to break him mentally, and afterward handle the demon queen—simple.
Initially, his idea was to cripple Abernathy's soldiers, leaving them here to fend off against the Demon Queen's army with their broken bodies.
But now, after realizing the opportunity he has, plans have slightly changed.
Four members of Regina's army had been sent to keep watch on the Demon Army while avoiding the scattered soldiers from the Abernathy family, which was a good plan if it weren't for the presence of Valhale on this continent.
Meaning, instead of sending his own men, Ryuk had used the person holding the title of Legion Destroyer to kill those soldiers from Abernathy family.
Abernathy's plan was to keep Devereaux soldiers away from the capital city busy with scattered flies, and Ryuk's plan was to kill those flies without sending his men outside.
A simple way to accomplish this was to send an old man to bring back thesis while making sure the way leading to that place had several Abernathy members on them.
[Total Death Count (Abernathy Bloodline): 430 --> 320!]
'He is on a killing streak,' Ryuk heard the System's information confirming Valhale's rampage outside the capital, killing all the members of the Abernathy Family, making his work easier in several ways.
Also noticing how Esme's illusion was strong enough to even fool Drishti for some time, he had also utilized it in his favor.
In conclusion,
1. Now no one will blame him or Regina for killing Abernathy members since it was a native of Titanora.
2. By asking Esme to create a camouflage, no stronger beings will see through here until they concentrate more, and even if someone came....
'System, is the artifact working?' Ryuk inquired.
[Yes, Host, the entire Titanora is covered by the Conduit Dome, and energy is being rapidly devoured from outside.]