Chapter 93 |
[EP.93] Striking During Transformation
11 hours had passed since the battle with Agares began.
Without a single break since the first engagement, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order had been clashing with Agares in the darkness.
Naturally, they avoided a direct confrontation.
The power possessed by Agares far surpassed human capabilities.
A disaster.
That’s precisely what Agares, an erosion species close to a calamity, is.
Hence, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order thoroughly adopted a strategy of stalling for time.
“Aargh!”
Looking directly into Agares’s encircling eyes induces confusion, visual impairment, bleeding, panic, among numerous other curses.
Hence, in an attempt to avoid eye contact, the attack went unnoticed.
Creak!
Agares’s body opened, revealing its blood-red teeth, ready to engulf and digest its prey immediately.
Crunch!
Snap!
But before that could happen, two figures appeared in front of the dark tendril.
One was Kraush, shrouded in black flames.
The other was Lilish, wielding a blade of blue aura.
Both of their swords simultaneously sliced through the dark tendril, and the Sky-Piercing knight quickly regained their posture.
“Captain, Mr. Kraush, thank you!”
“Keep your wits about you. Let’s not get caught off guard.”
“Yes!”
Lilish, hearing the knight’s response, struck down another dark tendril with her sword.
Meanwhile, her eyes swiftly followed Kraush, who, like her, had been moving ceaselessly for 11 hours, saving a fellow knight from Sky-Piercing at such a critical moment.
Thanks to him, despite the elapsed time, there were zero casualties among the Sky-Piercing knights.
Something she couldn’t have achieved alone.
‘Surely he’s of peak expert level.’
Where does he keep getting such a level of aura from?
That was beyond her knowledge.
However, one thing constantly nagged at her.
And she knew what this nagging sense was.
Skill
Insight
Her skill, often called Intuition.
She chose this skill just a year ago, on the day of Belorkin’s funeral, after making her decision because the Sword King, her eldest brother and the family’s head, told her directly.
“In the face of world erosion, sometimes it’s a quick intuition, rather than immense power, that keeps you alive.”
It was advice from the Sword King, hoping to prevent any more direct losses to world erosion in the future.
While their inner meanings differed, Lilish agreed with him.
She had planned to acquire the skill when she felt she no longer needed to rely on it after further honing her abilities.
Thus, she chose Insight.
Indeed, Insight proved useful during world erosion.
And today, it activated when she saw the black flames surrounding Kraush.
Instantly, it reminded her of Belorkin’s Ignis.
Confirming with Kraush, she knew she was right.
And now, her Insight was activating once again.
This time, directed towards Kraush.
She intuitively felt he was about to do something dangerous.
“Vice-captain Darvian, how long has it been?”
Kraush’s voice suddenly erupted.
Checking the time, Darvian responded.
“11 hours and 21 minutes.”
As the precise time was confirmed, Kraush exhaled lightly.
Soon it would be 12 hours.
Time to conclude this hellish darkness.
Not just Kraush but all members of the Sky-Piercing Knight Order were aware of this.
Agares had faced other houses besides Balheim.
Those who survived had diligently gathered information on it.
Hence, everyone should know.
Maintaining darkness was Agares’s limit for 12 hours.
‘No, calling it a limit might not be accurate.’
Let’s phrase it differently.
It’s more like Agares deciding it can’t kill with darkness, so it switches strategies.
Screech-
A strange noise emanated from Agares’s body.
Agares is a sentient being.
Though it’s unclear if it can engage in conversation, one thing is certain.
‘It deliberately shows a pattern when facing opponents.’
And looking at the Sky-Piercing knights, it seemed only Kraush knew why.
‘It’s trying to make them complacent.’
By purposely creating a pattern it can be attacked with, then catching off-guard those accustomed to it.
This trap was Agares’s favorite tactic.
Typical of a demonic species.
Its basic mindset was focused on playing with humans.
So, it must be pretending to be a mindless erosion species, even now.
‘Sorry, but.’
Kraush dodged the incoming dark spears and sheared them with black flames.
‘I’m well aware of what you’re thinking.’
Kraush steadied his breath.
The exertion made his chest poke, but it was bearable.
Thanks to continuously absorbing the world erosion flowing from the Demonic Realm.
Absorbing more world erosion than he expended, Kraush was thriving like a fish in water.
However, there was a cost.
Tingle!
The madness he had been suppressing began to flare up briefly, repeatedly.
The influx of world erosion made it hard even for the suppression to keep up.
Grinding his teeth, Kraush forcefully subdued the madness.
His psyche wasn’t frail enough to be shaken by mere frenzy.
Having experienced worse, he was prepared.
‘12 hours.’
When that time was reached, Agares would truly begin to move, revealing its pattern.
‘Hard to say how much the Green Wave has managed to thin the erosion species.’
He could only hope that the sovereign command enhancing Agares’s strength was somewhat diminished.
Shing!
Again, Kraush tore through the darkness and leapt forward.
Amidst the clashing swords, all the Sky-Piercing knights were desperately buying time.
Naturally, Lilish was foremost among them.
She showcased an overwhelming presence, swinging her sword directly at Agares through the darkness.
Agares couldn’t ignore Lilish, raising thousands of bone-like arms from beneath its cloak to block her attacks whenever she approached.
While Lilish moved defensively, effectively drawing Agares’s attention, it allowed the Sky-Piercing knights moments to breathe.
During the heated battle,
“12 hours!”
“Everyone, run to the opposite side of Agares!”
Finally, the 12-hour mark was reached.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a fierce wind pulled all darkness towards one point – Agares itself.
It finally ceased fighting with darkness alone, absorbing everything around it into its cloak.
Therefore, the Sky-Piercing knights quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Conventional attacks wouldn’t work on Agares absorbing darkness; they would be sucked in and crushed.
As everyone fled,
Thump!
Only one person kicked off the ground, running towards Agares instead.
“Kraush?!”
Lilish screamed, witnessing his act, tantamount to suicide.
She hurried to catch him, but it was too late.
Using the suction force to his advantage, Kraush already soared towards Agares at an unstoppable speed.
‘Just a bit more.’
Kraush’s eyes began to redden.
As Annihilation Erosion surged through him, his body heated up.
The single move that could bring down Agares.
He had been enduring, waiting just for this moment.
‘More.’
Steam of heated air escaped his lips as his body reached the limit with Annihilation Erosion.
Raising his hand, Kraush held the Black Hood.
When Agares absorbs darkness, all its eyes momentarily close.
And in that brief moment,
One true eye opens.
Normally hidden by darkness, this was Agares’s real eye, wielding true control over it.
Whoosh!
The moment Kraush activated Black Hood, darkness from Agares was sucked into his grasp.
Agares’s darkness, made using the Demonic Realm’s world erosion, wasn’t truly its own but rather belonged to the realm itself.
Meaning, the mindless darkness of the realm could also be stolen by Kraush.
The darkness surrounding Agares’s abdomen was snatched away by Kraush in a clump.
For the first time, Agares’s real eye was exposed through the darkness.
Red as ruby, it reminded one of an amphibious creature.
It was the first time Agares showed signs of confusion in its eyes.
“Pretty eyes you got there!”
At that moment, black flames and Lioner surged atop Kraush’s Rain Thunder Prime.
Crackle, whoosh!
Focusing on one point,
A ripple spread across the lake of Kraush’s immense willpower.
The eruption, mingling fire and thunder, met with world erosion, spewing black light.
Eventually reaching Kraush’s sword.
Crack!
The moment the black blade burst through Rain Thunder Prime,
Kraush’s thrust was unleashed.
Pugh!
“Gaah!”
For the first time, Agares let out a scream as lightning and black flames exploded together.
Bones resembling a giant’s arms flew out from Agares’s cloak, quickly lifting its body into the air.
These arms then descended towards Kraush, leaving no room to dodge.
“Huff!”
Just as Kraush wrapped himself in black flames, prepared to shatter his body if necessary to split the fist,
Crash!
It was Lilish who blocked the attack.
She shattered the bone arms with a swift swing of her sword, then grabbed Kraush by the neck and flung him backward, extending her sword in a straight line.
Her sword, charged to the brink with blue aura, was enveloped in a storm.
Crushing Slash Sword
When the condensed aura touched Agares’s giant arm,
Only a tiny sound of displacement echoed.
However, the aftermath of Crushing Slash Sword didn’t end there.
Agares’s bone arm started to twist and resonate.
Crack, crack-crack-crack!
Boom!
A delayed explosion shattered the bone arm into pieces.
Lilish’s original technique, resonating aura within to cause an explosion, was still in development.
Partly because of the technique’s aftermath, her sword also cracked.
Despite this, she glared at Kraush with eyes wide open.
Furious at Kraush for not hesitating to rush in at the chance,
“You!”
As she yelled, Kraush gave a brief smile and readjusted his posture.
“Miss Sister, striking during transformation is common sense.”
Agares only reveals its true eye once,
When absorbing darkness.
Kraush knew this, hence his desperate rush.
If its real eye is destroyed, the other curse-bearing eyes cannot open.
Moreover, the most significant factor is that with the eye, the conduit of darkness, damaged,
Agares can no longer freely manipulate darkness.
Proof of this inability is the real bone arms now flailing about.
Normally, those arms’ muscles and skin should have been filled with darkness.
But now, Agares’s arms showed no further transformation.
Unable to manipulate darkness, Agares’s use of its original power was hindered.
A consequence of Agares letting its guard down in amusement.
Had this attempt failed, Kraush planned to give up on directly killing Agares.
Facing Agares with its full body revealed and manipulating darkness is a genuine disaster.
There’s no winning against that – not at the moment.
But the gamble paid off.
Securely.
Realizing this, Lilish’s eyes furrowed.
Instead of scolding Kraush, she turned to the astonished Sky-Piercing knights.
“Sky-Piercing Knight Order!”
She wasn’t about to miss this opportunity.
“Attack with all your might!”
Following her command, all members of the Sky-Piercing Knight Order, their aura blades raised, charged at Agares.
Agares, having finished recalling the darkness, revealed its real bony body from beneath its cloak.
Without the armor of darkness, the original body was nothing but bare bones.
Furthermore, perhaps due to the Green Wave knights exterminating more erosion species than expected,
The power of Agares’s true body, bearing the sovereign command, had significantly weakened.
“Gaah!”
Agares screamed in fury.
Nonetheless, Kraush exhaled and tightly clenched his fist.
“Hey.”
In his hand was Agares’s darkness.
“Let me borrow your curse for a bit.”
Now was the time to use Agares’s curse.
