Chapter 325: Edward vs Knight Commander II
"Second of Sword: Dancing Shadows."
Edward had suddenly appeared in front of the Knight Commander, his sword raised as unleashed a whirlwind of lightning-quick sword slashes.
The flurry of attacks was executed with pinpoint accuracy and speed, leaving the poor Knight Commander struggling to keep up with the flurry of motion.
What’s more, was that the Malevolent god of Metal who had been protecting him was now occupied fighting the Benevolent gods of Lightning and Space simultaneously, and had no chance to shield him once more.
The man could not even take out any of his healing items as the amount of time he required for that was enough for Edward’s strikes to cut off his head three times over.
"Third of Sword: Storm’s Wrath."
Edward activated the third stage of his technique, harnessing the raw power of the elements of wind and lightning and channelling it into his blade.
A swirling vortex of wind and lightning formed around him as his white aura crackled across his blade.
Each swing of his blade resonated with the fury of a raging storm, the air crackling with elemental power as bolts of lightning danced around the edge of his weapon, empowering each strike and the sheer force of the slashes created gusts of wind that sent the Knight Commander staggering backwards, disoriented and vulnerable.
The relentless storm of destruction bore down on his body, rending his armour like it was fragile glass.
His blade connected with his defenceless body, releasing a surge of lightning that engulfed him whole.
An agonized cry echoed through the battlefield as Edward’s white lightning surged through the Knight Commander’s body, severing the lifeline between body and soul and consigning him to the jaws of death.
Just like that, the Knight Commander who had joined hands with the Malevolent gods for the sake of attaining greater power met his death at Edward’s hands.
"Poor guy, didn’t even get to have a flashback scene about his life. Neither did he get to share his backstory."
Edward remarked as he held up his long sword and placed it on his shoulder, taking a deep breath and absorbing the ambient elemental energy to replenish his own energy reserves.
"Damn, this energy is low quality."
He commented with a hint of distaste in his voice, turning his gaze in Nicole’s direction only to see the girl mowing down monster after monster from atop the back of her spirit mount, her bullet lance now coloured dark red from the blood of the monsters she had killed.
A giant lion-shaped water spirit roared wildly, leaping forward to clash with one of the behemoths while the bird-shaped spirit cried out and released a high-velocity beam of pressurized water that blasted the bodies of countless airborne monsters to bits.
"Well, she clearly doesn’t need help."
He then turned his gaze towards the Malevolent god of wood who was turning a portion of the city into a massive forest that entrapped the Benevolent gods of wind and shadows.
Magic power flowed from his body and into his sword, before manifesting in front of him as a four-ringed magic circle crackling with tendrils of white-gold lightning.
After a few seconds of chanting, he then unleashed a devastating lightning spell upon the small forest of doom, sending arcs of blazing lightning surging through the dense foliage, ripping through the trees and splitting the earth beneath.
In an instant, the forest had been transformed into a chaotic inferno as the flames danced amidst the smouldering ruins.
The Malevolent god of wood, his giant wooden elementalized body towering over the treetops, found himself consumed by the residual energy.
A blinding cascade of lightning engulfed his massive figure, searing through his twisted form with an intensity that surpassed the Marwoots and wooden monstrosities he had summoned.
Helpless against the onslaught, the god was sent hurtling towards the ground, while the forest was reduced to a bunch of smouldering ashes.
The Benevolent gods of wind and shadows took advantage of this opening Edward had created, beelining straight towards the wounded god and unleashing torrents of attacks against him.
ꕥ ꕥ ꕥ
While the benevolent god of wind was swirling the flames burning the forest to create a giant swirling tempest which she launched against the injured god of wood, Layla, Idall, Ayaan, and Esna stood back at the command centre, watching the soldiers and knights fighting the monsters.
Swords and spears clashed with fangs and claws, blood and sweat mingling in the air.
The clashing of metal reverberated, punctuated by the howls and roars of the monstrous opponents.
Men and women fought with determination and slight traces of trepidation across their faces, their bodies being adorned with various scars of battle.
Looking at this whirlwind of violence, containing a grisly tableau of severed limbs and splattered entrails, Layla took a deep breath and declared.
"I’m joining the fray."
She spoke while summoning her Epic Grade Sword in her hand, the sleek obsidian blade gleaming lightly. In her other hand, she then summoned a different weapon, a gun that gave Idall chills just by looking at it.
He looked towards Ayaan who had known Layla the most amongst the Benevolent gods but the expression of shock on his face showed that even he had not seen this weapon before.
"You’re using that? Even with its ridiculous energy consumption?"
"The situation calls for it. We have to deal with them fast or they’d be an annoyance later."
Layla replied, tightening her grip on the weapon in her hand. It had a polished steel exterior, with a sleek design accentuated by intricate engravings and pulsing energy lines.
It was one of Werinbert Boffin’s newest limited-edition creations, something Layla made sure she was the first to get upon its release.
The teenage devil’s energy circuits roared to life and a surge of ether coursed through them, connecting her to this weapon.
She then silently rose it to the skies where the Epic Realm half-gods were fighting each other, selecting three targets and taking aim.
The two parallel extended rails on the weapon crackled with electromagnetic energy as she charged them up.
At that same instant, the Malevolent god of Metal sensed something off and intently turned his gaze in her direction, his blood running cold when he saw the thing in her hands.
His pupils darted around as he noted the weapon’s trajectory, predicting the targets as he dodged one of the Benevolent god of space’s spatial severing attacks.
"UNIT ONE!! GET TO THE GROUND NOW!!"
He screamed out to them, even taking a hit from the Benevolent god of lightning in his bid to warn the half-gods that made up that Unit but it was too late.
**ZZZT!! **BOOOOOMMM!!!!
In a flurry of action, Layla pulled the trigger and the weapon roared to life, brilliant arcs of dark lightning dancing around the rails as three ferromagnetic slugs containing dense ether were propelled forward at supersonic speed.
The projectiles streaked through the air, leaving trails of energy in their wake.
By the time the three demigods who were the targets could react, it was too late.
**WHOOSHH!! **KAABOOMMM!!!
With a thunderous crack and pinpoint precision, the bullets struck their targets, unleashing an explosive force that turned the bodies of the three Inferior stage Epics into a spray of debris and blood.
The sound of the explosion attracted the attention of all the Epic Realm existences on the battlefield, their eyes widening in shock as they saw three Inferior stages perish in an instant.
Silence reigned as Layla slowly lowered her railgun, the weapon still humming with residual energies as she turned her gaze towards Idall and spoke.
"You can join in soon, but Conserve most of your power for the main event.
Also, Esna. I think we’d need that weakening effect soon. Focus on the Elemental gods and leave the half gods alone."
"Okey, dokey."
Esna gave a light-hearted reply as she channelled her racial ability, redirecting 50% of the weakening effect and splitting it evenly amongst the Malevolent gods while focusing the other 50% on the entity beyond the portal of darkness.
After that, Layla jumped down from the elevated platform, into the sea of monsters below, leaving behind the shocked Idall and Ayaan.
The Benevolent god of Light could not help but feel shock and hints of fear towards Layla, not only because of her Railgun but the fact that she realised he had figured out what was wrong despite him not giving any indications of such.
Down below, Layla took a deep breath and switched out the Railgun for a semi-automatic mini version of it, kicking off the ground and dashing towards the monstrosities charging towards her.
"Looking at these things in close range, they are very creepy."
She spoke as she sunk the blade of her sword into the body of one of them, throwing a kick towards the now lifeless corpse before turning around and slicing another one in half with a dark slash of aura.
