“Aldred!” Mary shouted and approached him. She lifted him. “Are you okay?”
“I am fine.”
“Your arm…” Mary looked concerned.
“Don’t worry. It will grow back.” Aldred looked at his left arm which was blasted in half, but slowly growing back again.
“My Golden Gear is useless against the attack.”
“Don’t take the shells head-on. You know even a Diamond Rank would feel threatened by a warship.”
His wives then came to him, panicking as they saw his wound.
“I am fine. Don’t worry. Let me make it grow faster.”
Aldred’s arm grew immediately with pale skin.
They all let out a sigh of relief after that.
“We should stay inside. We cannot fight this battle anymore,” Mareona said.
Suddenly, Aldred pushed all of his wives to the side and summoned his golden shield.
A dark orb blasted against his shield and Aldred was knocked eight meters away.
“Simond!”
“Simond?” Mary, Mareona, and Bartrem all looked at the man with the dark sword.
“How did he get this powerful?”
Aldred frowned and his eyes shone. “That sword. I don’t know where he got it, but that sword is feeding his body with power.”
“Aldred, you will die here!” Simond shouted.
“Why do you want to kill me so much?”
“I know your plan to support the Empress. I will not let you give women a place on the battlefield.”
“Why don’t you just let them do whatever they want?”
Simond glared at him. “You wouldn’t understand. Now die!” Simond charged forward and slashed, creating an arc of dark energy that shot towards Aldred.
Aldred’s body was wrapped in majestic golden armor, and a terrifying aura spread out from him. “I am much stronger than before.”
“So do I!”
They clashed against each other, and a shockwave pushed both of them by three steps.
Suddenly, a giant mecha landed on the deck with a loud boom. It aimed its two gigantic guns at Aldred. “Handover the ring, and my army will retreat.”
“The Empress gave me that ring. I cannot give it to anyone.”
“The Empress?” Thinker sent the data to his master. “Order received: obtain the ring at all cost.”
“Fuck!” Aldred thought hearing that the Empress owned the ring would make them retreat, who would know that they were more motivated instead?
Whoever the master was, he had to be one of the top elitists in Duria.
“Get out of my way!” Simond shouted. “He’s mine. And after I finish him, I will destroy you as well.”
Thinker glanced at Simond. His robotic eyes scanned him up and down. “You have an interesting sword. Unfortunately, my master is not interested. Let us work together to take him down. You can have him, and I can have the ring.”
“No. That ring will not be yours. Since the ring is from the Empress, then it’s the property of the Ceraisian Empire.”
“In that case, you are to be eliminated.”
“Try me.”
Thinker fired two missiles at Simond and exploded with a large flame. The robot also fired an electric net at Aldred.
Aldred cut the net, and punched forward, sending a giant fist of flames that enlarged as time passed.
Simond came out of the explosion with his blades devouring the flame. He swung at Thinker, sending out a wave of dark flame.
“Eater Skill: Dark Flame!”
The dark flame engulfed the mechas, but then they saw the mechas floating in the sky.
“Targets locked. Firing all missiles.”
Right after that, Thinker’s large mecha fired hundreds of missiles from its back and they headed straight to Simond and Aldred.
Simond and Aldred cut all the missiles and devoured the flames.
But then, a newcomer landed on the deck. He was the lion-man with defined muscles all over his body and a majestic mane over his head. “Return the princess!”
“What princess? Didn’t you try to kill her before? I will not hand her over to you.”
“Then you will die!” Xoros Goldenbelt rushed at Aldred and pounced.
“You dare!”
Xoros’ body stopped in mid-air, and he couldn’t move a muscle.
And then he was slammed to the ground before he was thrown into the sky.
“Attack him!” shouted Aldred.
Rachel nodded and pointed at the lion-man falling in the sky. She had been trained these last few weeks by Aldred, Stella, and Sophia. With their resources now, it was so easy to make Rachel become stronger than ever before.
“Burning Light!”
ZIIING!
A small streak of light shot towards the sky and pierced through the lion-man.
Xoros widened his eyes in shock, but that shock quickly turned into rage. “Bastard!”
His whole body turned bloody red, and he kicked the air before landing on the deck, sending out a massive shockwave that pushed everything nearby.
He bared his fang before his eyes landed on Kiara. “Princess Kiara… please return to the kingdom with me.”
Kiara stepped back. “No. I don’t know who you are.”
Xoros frowned and he glanced at Aldred. “What did you do to her?”
“I did nothing. It’s you who wanted to kill her.”
“Who told you that?”
“A lion-man warrior by the name Parthos Goldenbelt.”
“Parthos…? He’s my little brother! That fool!”
“Oh, so you ordered your own little brother to kill Kiara? And you want me to hand her to you? Fuck off!”
Xoros grumbled. “You know nothing. I will take her back with or without your consent.”
Xoros rushed on all four towards Kiara, but Aldred blocked his path. “Get out of the way.”
“I will not!” Aldred raised his blade and slashed at the lion-man, but a blade blocked his attack.
It was Simond. “I am your enemy, Aldred. Don’t be distracted.”
That was when a masked person leaped from the sky and attacked him. It was York, the pirate admiral. “I am your enemy, Aldred. You destroyed my fleet!”
“Fuck! Everyone is my fucking enemy!”
Suddenly, an old man with grey hair slowly floated in the air and landed on the deck. “My name is Bishop Horris. Sister Mira, please return and bring our hero candidate with you.”
“Bishop Horris,” Mira replied. “Ivette is here on her own decision, and so am I. So you can leave without us.”
“I cannot do that, Sister Mira. If I don’t bring back the two of you, then I have to destroy this whole fleet.”
And then a tall, handsome man flapped his white majestic wings before he gracefully landed on the deck with dozens of winged soldiers.
“Princess Krista.” He knelt followed by the guards behind him. “Please return home.”
Mary looked at Krista. “Do you know them?”
Krista hid behind Mary’s leg and shook her head.
“None of them wanted to leave, so can all of you fuck off?” Aldred said.
The winged man ignored him. “If that is the case, then I have no choice but to take you by force.”
Aldred sighed. “I am sick of all of you. I will not let them be taken away. I will stand by your path and die fighting!”
He summoned three of his clones, and they stood beside him. He raised both of his arms, and a large portal opened behind him along with shadows moving around as his undead army came out.
“Bastard, if you want to die then come at me!”