Chapter 574
Chapter 574: You Will Become a Legend. (1)
Boom!
Ghislaine raised her sword and blocked Aiden’s attack.
His body was pushed back, so much so that grooves formed where his feet had been.
Despite the jarring shock that rattled her insides, Ghislaine smiled.
“Indeed, he’s strong.”
He truly deserved his reputation as one of the Seven Great Powers of the continent. Both his strength and skill had reached a realm of excellence.
Regardless of his personality or the things he did, his strength was genuine.
“I always wanted to fight you properly.”
She hadn’t been able to do that in her past life. That guy always needed to have a perfect vision of his own victory before he’d move.
So she had made ample preparations. First things first, she needed to deal with the priests quickly.
Aiden twisted his face in fury and said, “You will die here, Duke of Penris.”
Boom!
The swords of the two moved at lightning speed. Every time they clashed, shockwaves overturned everything around them.
Yet, the priests endured the shock and continued to attack Ghislaine.
Boom!
Having blocked Aiden’s sword, Ghislaine was struck in the side by a priest. Each time she blocked a sword, she was hit by the priests’ attacks all over her body.
Boom!
After being attacked a few more times, Ghislaine ultimately couldn’t withstand Aiden’s assault and fell backward.
“Hahaha! No matter how strong you are, do you think you can win in this situation?!” Aiden laughed with glee.
If the Duke of Penris was in danger, the enemy’s troops would soon mobilize again. But if he could just wear him down first, a turnaround was possible.
That was the plan.
Boom!
“Eh?”
Aiden involuntarily turned around. A pillar of fire was rising from behind. The mana shield of their allied wizards had been breached.
The wizards of the Army of Atrode had drawn on their life force to the point of going gray-haired. Ultimately, the wizards, having lost all their mana, began to fall one by one.
Once the balance of power tilted, it was impossible to turn back.
“Th-this…”
Aiden couldn’t hide his bewilderment. The wizards who needed to hold on a little longer had been defeated.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Argh!”
Flames erupted from the rear, engulfing the allied wizards. Even those who barely survived the enemy’s retreat were caught up in the flames.
Aiden screamed at them, “Evacuate! Spread out! I said, get out of the way!”
Though he shouted, the Army of Atrode couldn’t properly evade the magical attacks. At this rate, their allies would be annihilated before Aiden could kill the Duke of Penris.
And that would mean his own death.
Aiden’s eyes glowed with a fierce light. His sword reached out toward Ghislaine in an instant.
The only way to survive here was to kill the opponent quickly.
Boom!
Aiden’s sword was blocked by something. He frowned deeply.
“What are you?”
Vanessa had approached and blocked Aiden’s sword with her shield.
“Don’t move.”
Vanessa said with a stiff expression. She was buying time while Ghislaine dealt with the priests.
Aiden’s lips twisted grotesquely.
“Ah, I see your skills; you must be that wizard, Vanessa. But how dare a mere woman block me?!”
To him, women were supposed to worship and uphold the greatest man in the world: himself.
To think that someone who didn’t know their place would interfere by blocking his sword!
Aiden’s eyes gleamed with malice. With the situation already urgent, he couldn’t afford to let a superhuman like her interfere.
He needed to kill the wizard in front of him while the priests and the Duke of Penris were still occupied.
“I’ll show you your place.”
Aiden pushed his sword against the shield, forcing it down.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
His sword, enveloped in blue mana, slowly pierced through the shield.
The shield hadn’t shattered. Astonishingly, it had seemed to rip through an intangible barrier.
Boom!
Vanessa recoiled in surprise. But before she could catch her breath, Aiden swung his sword again.
Vanessa raised her shield, but Aiden’s sword sliced through the magic as if it were mere paper.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Vanessa fell back once more. The shield was useless. A long wound appeared on her shoulder.
As Aiden approached, Vanessa reached out her hand.
Boom!
A massive conflagration of gathered mana shot forth. It targeted only Aiden and spread rather than dispersing outwards.
Even Aiden paused for a brief moment, realizing this was not something to take lightly.
Crash!
He stomped powerfully as his sword extended forward.
Boom!
The flames split apart. The parted flames swayed and disappeared.
The powerful blue sword advanced, devouring the world-melting fire.
Vanessa calmly moved her other hand. Following her gesture, magic circles formed in the air.
Caught off guard and focused on splitting the flames, Aiden squinted in surprise.
“Multi-Spell Casting?”
Multi-Spell Casting wasn’t something anyone could do. Even superhumans required innate talent for that to happen.
Of course, some could forcefully cast two or more spells simultaneously. But that was less about a natural manifestation and more akin to splitting magic apart.
Moreover, doing so consumed several times the usual level of concentration and mana.
Thus, even for a superhuman, they usually avoided fighting in such a manner. They’d quickly cancel spells and use them in succession.
Yet, what Vanessa was doing was not on that level at all.
“Five… Seven… Ten?”
As many as ten spells were being cast simultaneously. Aiden was surrounded by an array of magic cast by Vanessa.
Aiden let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. He had never seen a wizard like this before.
As he momentarily lost focus, Vanessa’s magic surged forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several lightning bolts fell from the sky above Aiden’s head.
Boom!
Pillars of fire rose from the ground. Ice spears shot towards his body. Various other spells were also unleashed.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
In the end, the ground was deeply gouged, and massive boulders covered Aiden.
The spot where Aiden stood was entirely devastated. Concentrating mana in one location had resulted in a destructive power beyond imagination.
A cloud of dust billowed, forming a colossal tomb of rock.
“Whew…”
She exhaled deeply.
Using such tremendous mana was dizzying. Even a typical superhuman wouldn’t be able to withstand such an assault suddenly hurled at them.
Recognizing the strength of her opponent, Vanessa had drawn the enemy’s focus onto herself.
Originally, she had intended just to buy time, but having killed such a strong foe was all the better…
Boom!
The colossal stone that had buried Aiden shattered as he burst forth.
Having suffered significant damage, his head and armor were all in a state of disarray.
“How dare you! You lowly creature!”
Aiden’s eyes still radiated with light.
Gnashing his teeth in rage, he quickly approached and swung his sword.
Although Vanessa moved back the moment Aiden sprang forth, it was just a tad late.
Boom!
Vanessa’s chest was sliced open, blood gushing out.
“Cough!”
She collapsed to her knees, spitting up blood.
Vanessa was already exhausted after using a tremendous amount of mana. She had been continuously engaged in a mana duel with the enemy wizard, pouring what little mana she had left into combating Aiden.
Step, step.
As Aiden slowly approached with his sword extended, Vanessa looked up at him with a dazed expression.
‘How could someone like this…’
She was well aware of the decline in her close combat skills. Originally, her main role had been to fight from the rear with powerful area attacks.
Yet, her destructive power was formidable enough that it didn’t matter who her opponent was. If struck directly, even a superhuman would find it difficult to endure.
And yet Aiden had withstood it. No, it was an exaggeration to say he simply endured. He emerged from that assault with barely a scratch, just a little fatigued.
Vanessa was curious about the reason for that. Where could such incredible defensive strength possibly come from?
“Huh, I didn’t expect to use my vision.”
Aiden opened his mouth with a look of irritation.
“You’re curious about how I was able to block a wizard like you, aren’t you? Just die with that curiosity.”
Aiden was fully enraged. He had suffered greatly from a wizard he had dismissed as trivial.
As a result, he had consumed an immense amount of mana. It was only natural for him to be furious.
He was so angry that he momentarily forgot about the Duke of Penris, who was battling the priests.
Though their encounter with Vanessa was extremely brief, it was enough to showcase her tremendous power.
“There were so many risks like this, no wonder we continually lost in this war. She’s no simple wizard after all.”
Though he had a rough idea of her skills, he hadn’t expected her to be capable of multi-spell casting.
In the beginning, one could only truly grasp a support wizard’s abilities through direct confrontation.
Now it was time to eliminate this risk factor and hindrance.
“Repent for your sins and die while still worshiping me.”
Aiden raised his sword. The knights of Penris rushed in from behind, but they were too far away.
But Vanessa’s gaze was still alive. She looked directly at Aiden and stated, “I will never worship someone like you.”
“Before you die, everyone talks big.”
“No, you’re the one who will die.”
“What?”
At that moment, Aiden’s sword changed direction.
Boom!
The sword that had been flying toward him shattered into a million pieces.
“A sword?”
Aiden’s face froze in disbelief. A sword that had been lying on the battlefield suddenly moved on its own, flying toward him to attack.
Only one person could accomplish such a feat.
Step, step, step.
Ghislaine approached, shaking the blood off her own sword.
As she came closer, Ghislaine wore a leisurely smile.
“Hey now, it’s time for the two of us to settle things, don’t you think?”
Aiden found himself unable to focus on Vanessa, who was retreating. If he attacked her, his opponent’s sword would fly right back at him.
He glanced around. He was so concentrated on Vanessa that he had lost track of the overall battle.
Their allies were nearly annihilated. Magic still sporadically exploded in the backlines, killing fleeing allies.
Most of the enemy forces had surrounded him. Only a few knights rushed to support Vanessa.
And…
“Have they already taken down all the priests?”
Four priests were dead, all with pierced hearts and severed necks.
The time Aiden spent distracted by Vanessa hadn’t been long, yet it was enough for the priests, who should have survived, to already perish.
Even though they had brought along the most skilled priests of the Salvation Society.
“Hah.”
Aiden took a short breath and bit his lower lip.
He wore a face that showed hints of trouble, soon placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed the surroundings.
“Hmm.”
There was no need to rush to a decision now. He calmly scanned the battlefield.
He considered whether he could escape, but it didn’t look easy.
“Thorough, aren’t they?”
The enemy troops were densely clustered, sealing off every direction. In front stood what appeared to be knights.
The wizards were still intact. The Duke of Penris was also well. If he tried to escape disgracefully now, he’d only end up dying exhausted and humiliated.
He absolutely could not die like that. If he was to die, it must be with glory and pomp.
Aiden ran his fingers through his hair and asked, “What, are you all coming at me at once?”
If they pushed in like this, no matter how strong he was, death was unavoidable. Yet, the enemy’s response was surprising.
“No, I’m going to kill you myself.”
At those words, Aiden covered his mouth with a hand and laughed.
Even a fool could be so foolish.
If he had his subordinates drain all his strength beforehand, he could easily kill him—why go through the trouble of doing it himself?
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, why would I bother going through all this trouble? I’m doing this to kill you personally.”
“Ha, ha ha! You’re that confident in your skills, huh? You really think you can defeat me?”
Aiden grinned, twisted in amusement. He wanted nothing more than to shatter that arrogant demeanor.
Ghislaine nodded lightly.
Aiden was somewhat different from other commanders to her. In a way, one could say they had a special relationship.
After all, he had been the one to take her life in her past life. Thus, simply sending his forces to overwhelm him wouldn’t be satisfying.
And hadn’t she always thought about this since before her rebirth?
Ghislaine extended her sword and wore a chilling smile.
“If it’s one-on-one, I will win against you.”
Sadly, she hadn’t been able to prove that in her past life.
Had she not returned to the past… the noble knight would have likely gained fame for having captured the Mercenary King and would have advanced even further.
Now, the time had come to prove she was stronger.
Ghislaine’s sword moved. Aiden, too, drew his sword to face her.
Boom!
The swords of the two collided, and red and blue light burst forth in all directions.
