Chapter 588
Chapter 588: Exterminate the Enemy (5)
By the time Yulien began his pursuit, Leonard had already fled quite a distance.
“Huff, huff…”
Blood flowed from the wounds all over his body, but he had no time to worry about that. With a look full of confusion, he muttered continuously.
“Crazy… did he get stronger in between? How is that even possible? What the hell is that guy?”
He had fought Yulien once before. Back then, he was too strong, and Leonard had no choice but to flee.
Then, when they met again this time, he thought it was a good opportunity. So he persuaded Count Kalmund.
“We need to kill him while he’s alone. Send priests and elite knights.”
Count Kalmund was an excellent commander. He understood how crucial Yulien was to the Allied Forces.
Because of this, Count Kalmund actively accepted Leonard’s opinion and sent out priests and knights.
It was more than enough. Leonard judged that even if Yulien was strong, he could kill him without any issue.
With himself, four priests, and fifty elite knights, they had enough power to obliterate any territory in just one day.
But the result was disastrous.
“How is that possible? What kind of trick did he use?”
That overwhelming force barely managed to hold up against Yulien. Yulien swept through the priests and knights with astonishing skill.
Leonard was left in a state of panic, having no choice but to run away.
“That crazy monster…”
Leonard could only swear continuously. With Yulien’s sudden intrusion, the morale of their troops crumbled into chaos.
In the midst of this, the enemy cavalry charged in, and there was no way to withstand it.
“Can we catch that guy?”
The truth was, with all their forces rushing in, it wasn’t easy for Yulien to face them either. As a human, he couldn’t exert infinite strength.
But Yulien showed no signs of fatigue, even as the battle dragged on. It was hard to sense his restrained mana.
This meant that the opponent had no way of gauging his true condition, making them hesitate or crumble in fear.
“Huff, huff…”
As Leonard was fleeing, he stopped and looked around.
He had hidden himself in a mountain quite far from the battlefield. He had barely escaped by running like a madman.
“I need to hide a little longer and then run far away.”
After all, he had survived. The main force of the Revolutionary Group was annihilated along with the 3rd Corps, but there were still a few scattered survivors across the continent.
“We’ll just gather our forces again.”
Amidst the chaos of war, thieves were overflowing. With his skills, he could rally them together.
Although he would have to give up his ambition of conquering the kingdom and stepping into the limelight, stealthily robbing territories like before wouldn’t be difficult.
After all, he wasn’t just an ordinary person.
“Duke Penris… Prince Turian… let’s not meet again.”
He was cautious by nature and was well-aware of the situation. He realized he couldn’t handle both of them with his abilities.
“Huff…”
Leonard hid himself among the dense trees and rocks. As he sat and caught his breath, suddenly he heard a voice.
“Hey.”
“What!!”
Startled, Leonard ducked and looked around. There was no one in sight.
Then the voice came again.
“Here, here.”
Glancing up slightly, Leonard’s eyes widened. There was a crow perched on a tree.
“A crow…?”
“Well, you managed to escape this far. Ah, it was hard to chase you.”
“What kind of crow talks…”
Leonard immediately shut his mouth. He had seen that plump crow before; it was definitely the one that flew around Yulien.
Thinking back, he remembered that while escaping from Duke Penris, he had once popped a crow while fleeing.
He had also heard rumors that the Ruthania Army had talking crows, which was why their communication speed was extremely fast.
He hadn’t believed it, but now he realized it was true. That immortal crow had been acting as a messenger.
“Are you… chasing me?”
“Yeah, did you really think you could escape me? You’re such an ignorant fool. Can you feel the difference in our strength?”
Dark spoke arrogantly, holding his head high. From the force he exuded, even a legendary demon lord would take note.
Swish!
Leonard pulled out a chain scythe. Since his location was exposed, he had to kill and run immediately.
At that moment, Dark said to Leonard,
“You, become my subordinate.”
“…What?”
“If you kneel right now and beg to be my subordinate, I’ll give you a chance to live. Yulien and Ghislaine are both actually my subordinates.”
“…”
“Both of them would fall over if I told them to. Saving you would be no problem at all.”
Crack!
Leonard gritted his teeth and infused mana into the chain scythe. After barely escaping once or twice, now even a crow was mocking him.
While it was amazing that the crow could talk, that was all it was. Believing it to be some spirit, he prepared to lash out with his scythe.
Behind?
As he reached to lash out, Leonard rolled to the side. He sensed a faint presence from behind.
Seeing this, Dark laughed.
“Hahaha! What? You didn’t even do anything, yet you’re rolling around like that!”
Ignoring Dark, Leonard turned his head. Indeed, behind him stood Yulien.
Yulien didn’t attack. But having been on the receiving end of Yulien’s attacks multiple times, Leonard instinctively dodged the moment he sensed his presence.
‘I can’t believe he caught up so fast…‘
Leonard clenched his teeth. He felt that damn crow was the reason for this pursuit.
He had no chance of victory in a one-on-one. His eyes darted around as he raised both hands.
“I surrender, I surrender. I’ll do anything, just let me live. You know my skills are useful.”
Leonard glanced back quickly and continued speaking.
“That crow promised to spare me. I heard you guys are the crow’s subordinates… I hope you keep your promise.”
At that, Dark rushed over to Yulien’s side and shouted.
“Don’t get me wrong! I was just trying to buy time to catch him!”
Dark was flustered. He had planned to convince Yulien if Leonard offered his loyalty. He hadn’t expected Leonard to blatantly rat him out.
Yulien ignored both Leonard’s and Dark’s words.
Swish!
He drew his sword. Regardless of what might happen, he had no intention of letting Leonard live.
Leonard took a step back and said,
“Hey, I’m surrendering. The crow even said he’d spare me.”
“I refuse.”
The Revolutionary Group had thrown the continent into chaos long before the Salvation Society rose. They had committed numerous plunders and disturbances, causing immense suffering to many people.
So he intended to catch and kill him this time. That was why Yulien had pursued Leonard instead of regrouping.
Without exchanging any more words, Yulien swung his sword.
Slash!
“Ugh!”
Leonard was slashed across the chest as he moved sideways to dodge. Despite having been attacked numerous times, he couldn’t grasp the fundamentals of that technique.
All he could do was barely avoid being completely cleaved in two.
Boom!
Dense smoke enveloped the surroundings. It was smoke produced by Leonard’s smoke bomb.
As he deployed the smoke bomb, he instinctively twisted his body and ducked. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder.
Slash!
“Ugh!”
He was lucky. If he hadn’t twisted, it would have been his neck that got slashed.
From this, he realized something. The opponent could sense his presence, but with the smoke there, it wasn’t completely accurate. If he moved quickly, he might be able to escape detection.
He immediately threw one of his chain scythes at Yulien.
clang!
He knew it wouldn’t connect. It was merely a diversion to escape.
He already had another scythe hooked onto a nearby tree. He pulled the chain scythe, moving his body.
Boom! Boom!
Leonard detonated several smoke bombs. He did this to obscure the direction he was fleeing in.
The more smoke bombs exploded, the thicker the haze around him grew.
He didn’t forget to throw a chain scythe in Yulien’s direction as a precaution.
Leonard had never fought so fiercely for his life before. It was a determination to find a way out of this place.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yulien batted away the incoming chain scythes while pursuing Leonard.
Leonard was indeed an extraordinary warrior. Even when Yulien sensed his presence and attacked, he managed to evade fatal blows by moving quickly.
Especially the smoke was quite a hindrance when facing a formidable opponent like Leonard.
“Huff…”
Yulien took a deep breath while running. First, he needed to get rid of this smoke.
As he raised his sword with ‘willpower’ infused into it, the air nearby shimmered and twisted. Yulien could sense the secret flow of the world hidden within the smoke, something invisible to the naked eye.
Yulien swung his sword.
Vroom!
With a thunderous roar, the smoke began to part.
The haze struggled and resisted as if it were a living being, but it was powerless against Yulien’s determination.
In an instant, the smoke scattered in all directions, revealing a clear world.
Dark, who had been watching from above, muttered.
“Are you a monster?”
As an entity embodying formless energy, Dark understood better than anyone what phenomenon had just occurred.
The naturally occurring phenomena and flow; Yulien had forcibly severed and eliminated them.
“Now that I think about it…”
It was different yet strangely similar to the technique Ghislaine had recently demonstrated. Having shared consciousness among the clones, Dark could see both.
If Ghislaine harnessed the flow of the world, Yulien dominated it by reversing that flow.
Leonard, who was running away, suddenly found his vision brightening.
“W-what is…”
The thick clouds of smoke that had spread everywhere vanished in an instant.
Even if a mage could blow the smoke away, they couldn’t ‘exterminate’ it so quickly.
It was just a brief moment of hesitation, but it was a massive blunder. Yulien had swiftly approached and swung his sword.
Clang!
Leonard barely managed to parry with a chain scythe, tossing the other chain scythe at Yulien.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Two chain scythes and one sword moved at invisible speed. Anyone watching would be left in awe at the level of this high-stakes battle.
Leonard gritted his teeth. His muscles were extremely tense, and his nerves were as taut as a bowstring.
He fought with every ounce of strength he had, tapping into his instincts.
‘I have to survive, just one chance…‘
But Yulien’s sword moved as if it were a living creature, closing in on Leonard.
Clang clink clank clank!
In a flash, a hundred strikes and parries flew by.
The speed and precision surpassed human limits.
Leonard was already much stronger than the priests of the Salvation Society, yet he found himself overwhelmed by Yulien’s sheer skill.
Clang!
As Leonard crossed his scythes to block Yulien’s sword, a glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. He sharpened his focus and aimed one chain scythe at a nearby tree.
The moment he thought it was a chance to escape would be the key to his fate.
Slash!
Time seemed to stop. Yulien’s sword cut through the air, leaving a blue trail behind.
And in the next moment, Leonard’s arm was sent flying through the air.
“Kyaaaah!”
Leonard’s scream echoed. In that fleeting moment of distraction, Yulien’s sword mercilessly cleaved his body.
Boom!
Blood erupted like a fountain.
Fear and despair flickered in Leonard’s eyes.
He knew that it meant this fight was over.
Trembling in pain, Leonard desperately tried to move the remaining chain scythe.
But contrary to his will, his body had already betrayed him.
Yulien’s movements seemed to dominate even time itself. His sword flew toward Leonard’s neck.
Slash!
A distinct red line etched itself across Leonard’s neck.
His eyes widened in shock. Red bubbles foamed at his lips.
Leonard let out a last breath, trembling as he managed to croak out,
“Monster-like guy… You’re not human…”
His voice was a blend of terror, reverence, and deep despair.
Clack.
Yulien sheathed his sword with an expressionless face. His movements were calm, as if he were carrying out a mundane task.
Thud.
With the sword fully sheathed, Leonard’s head fell to the ground.
The once disruptive leader of the Revolutionary Group met his end like this.
Yulien stood there for a moment, gazing down at Leonard’s corpse.
“You’re not human…”
It was a phrase he had not heard in a long time.
He had often been told that as a child by his father and others of the royal family.
Because of his bizarre growth patterns and ominous presence.
Yet even as he recalled the dark past, there was no emotion reflected in Yulien’s eyes.
Like a tool that had completed its task, he left the battlefield with an indifferent expression.
Dark flitted over, eager to flatter him.
“Brother, you were so cool! You’re definitely the strongest in the world, right? Wow, I would have started taking over the world right away. You have this much power but choose not to? You’re really ruthless!”
“…”
As usual, Yulien ignored Dark’s words. All he was thinking about now was joining Ghislaine.
*
“I knew he’d pull it off.”
Ghislaine chuckled as she heard about Yulien’s exploits through Dark.
Leonard had been a pesky thorn in the side even in her previous life. With the battle against the rift being urgent, there was no time to deal with such a stealthy character.
She recalled how that guy had used those openings to grow his forces and plunder many people.
Yulien finishing him off indeed brought her relief.
“Now, shall we deal with the next guy?”
There were various issues that had to be dealt with in the aftermath, but they would handle them together with the Allied Forces in the Sardina Kingdom.
However, there was still someone they had to deal with here.
Clack, clack, clack.
A contingent of troops was marching, dragging someone along energetically.
The one being dragged was none other than the traitor who had acted as a spy in this war.
