Chapter 176 Chapter 94 Carlossti
The sword edge, cleaving down, was instantly stained blood-red. As if treating flimsy paper, it directly severed Claude’s full-burst blood magic and then, in a flash, cut across the Star Rank expert.
Claude’s eyes widened in disbelief. His entire body, split and shattered by this straight cut, dissolved and burned away in a more vibrant blood-red light. The murky, stagnant blood was annihilated, completely obliterating all life force a Blood Race member harbored within their blood!
The blood-red light from the Black Armored Knight’s battle sword swept out simultaneously. The more than ten elite blood knights who had followed Claude, faces filled with panic, were instantly swept away.
Verafia saw “Bloodwind Wings” Yucilaka, with whom she had sparred many times.
The female ranger raised her two short blades. The beautiful features of her face turned in alarm, her red lips parted, and she uttered, “Envoy, Sir…”
Her voice was swallowed by the fleeting shadow of blood-red light. All the blood knights beside her instantly lost their lives, though the ripples in the entire space dissipated.
Verafia’s golden hair, falling to her slender shoulders, nodded slightly. She remained silent, shaking her head slightly. Her lowered, scorching gold eyes swept across her jade-like, fair wrist.
“He’s the swordsman from before… Carlossti!” Ig’s voice finally sounded.
“Perhaps indeed…”
Elishia’s expression became solemn. “Senior Carlossti was originally Duke Oran’s most trusted personal guard. Even if he also… perished under His Majesty’s sacred sword, if, as Miss Verafia has said, this world is actually a manifestation of Duke Oran’s spirit and emotions, then it is natural for him to exist.”
Elishia couldn’t help but glance sideways at the girl who had been very quiet since stepping onto the remnants of this city. Her flawless tender face still held a serene expression. Her large eyes, framed by long, delicate eyelashes, watched quietly.
“If that’s really the case, I wonder at what point in time Senior Carlossti’s spirit and will are fixed… or, do they still maintain independence?”
A voice, clear as frost but somewhat reserved, rang out. Dofiraia tightly grasped her frost-spreading staff, her frost-blue eyes attempting to meet Elishia’s.
All the young girls present fell silent.
Claude, a Star Rank expert who had even utilized Duke Oran’s bloodline power within him, couldn’t even hold on for a moment under Carlossti’s sword.
Even if, in the world constructed by Duke Oran’s final lingering thoughts, Carlossti didn’t possess the power of the Scorching Blood Sword from the Demon Race War, the strength he displayed was undoubtedly far beyond Star Rank, making even Saint Ranks difficult to restrain!
If this long-dead swordsman… if his mind were still fixated on this place, or if he harbored hatred, it would certainly not be good news for them.
“Young Lady…?” Ig tilted his head slightly, looking at the phoenix girl who had been beside him.
Verafia said nothing, merely tilting her face slightly. Her scorching gold gaze beckoned the young man to look.
Ig’s gaze followed the girl’s line of sight.
In the distance, the Black Armored Knight stood still, holding his sword in one hand on the pale ground. Gale wind howled across the metallic markings of his black armor. A few wisps of blood-red light flowed, and the blood-red eyes beneath his helmet still flickered with a sinister glow.
The Black Armored Knight’s armored arm suddenly reached out towards the blood mist where Claude’s body had vanished. Vermilion blood, crystal-clear like red jade, coalesced on his gauntlet. He suddenly smeared it forcefully onto the long sword in his hand, which overflowed with blood-red light!
Around the knight’s body, a blood-red tempest erupted. The eyes beneath his helmet suddenly trembled, their momentary dimness reignited with red. A creaking, metallic resonance sounded from his body, followed by a surging burst of blood-red light.
Even from over a hundred meters away, the fierce wind forced everyone to bow their heads and shield their faces. Ig loudly uttered.
“He’s… smearing Duke Oran’s bloodline onto his sword?”
Suddenly, the Black Armored Knight raised his head. His scarlet blood-red eyes fell. The crimson flames burning on the blood-red sword he had drawn flared.
“You… people of Peka, yet you come to… my Lord’s domain. You rely on… Hels.”
The Black Armored Knight’s voice still sounded rough, but it now carried clear emotion. The knight’s hardened gauntlet griped the hilt of the sword, making a clear sound, and his scarlet blood-red eyes ignited with flames.
Ig felt a sense of foreboding. In Verodia’s words, her grandfather Hels had betrayed Duke Oran, leading to the fall of this near-divine powerhouse under the sacred sword.
Although Verodia was almost certainly weaving a trap to make him and the phoenix girl beside him accomplish certain things, the things Hels had done were likely entirely true!
In this situation, anyone could guess what Carlossti was about to do!
“Everyone, back away!” Elishia’s urgent voice sounded in their ears. The Black Armored Knight stomped his foot, and massive cracks split the ground. His heavy form transformed into a blood-red shadow, tearing through space, landing almost instantly before them!
“Roar!” Ophi gritted her silver teeth, leaping up and transforming into a Frost Dragon. As she unleashed her dragon breath, she swung her frost-ice dragon claws towards the blood-red figure.
“A dragon. It actually… carries Guernhoa’s aura. Are you not, a princess of the Dragon Clan?”
Carlossti paused. His scorching blood-red eyes flickered. He raised his armored arm to block the dragon’s heavy claw strike. The blood-red shockwave erupting from his body struck heavily against the dragon’s long and graceful body. Large patches of scales shattered, blood spilled out, and it let out a mournful cry, crashing heavily to the ground.
“Frost ice fissures, congeal!”
Dofiraia, having preemptively chanted her spell, forcefully waved her frost-ice staff. In the dragon’s breath, not yet fully corroded by flame, large swathes of ice solidified once more. She raised her staff. The hem of her blue-and-gold trimmed mage dress fluttered with her hair. Gritting her teeth, she smeared resolve onto her face.
“Time Freeze!”
The Black Armored Knight’s movements seemed to momentarily falter, as if imprinted on a cross-section of time, but the scarlet blood-red energy instantly eroded it all.
“You bear, Vicena’s aura. And, upon ice, the talent involving time…”
The Black Armored Knight’s increasingly fluent, hoarse voice reached them. Dofiraia let out a pained groan, and a blush rapidly spread across her fair face.
The knight halted his steps, pulled out the sword he had pressed down, and instantly, scarlet blood-red light filled the entire space. All the frost ice shattered, and even Elishia, who had preemptively blocked in front of Ig behind her, was repelled by this single sword strike.
Verafia’s scorching gold eyes gazed beneath the Black Armored Knight’s helmet, at the scarlet blood-red light revealed in the narrow gap.
Carlossti’s metallic battle boots landed heavily before Ig. His blood-red, flame-ignited battle sword was raised high. Towards the boy who had forcefully raised his sword before him, he swung a scorching, brilliant sword strike!
