Chapter 315: The difference
"Hmm...hmm..." Emma sat on the roof of a house with Nana cradled in her arms.
The morning air was quite chilly, so she had created a barrier to keep the little one from catching a cold.
Though, Nana seemed far too busy admiring the view to care about the weather.
Emma could understand the feeling. She loved the view here as well. Yet because of them, they would have to leave this place.
William had promised her that he would find another valley for them to live in, somewhere similar to this one.
Still, Emma had asked him to find a home a little farther away so they would not have to live under the constant burden of being discovered.
Yes, she knew it was not truly Emma and William that people were searching for. But even so...
"Mm...?" Nana trembled slightly, and Emma felt it too.
The little girl turned toward her and looked up with her large, curious eyes.
Emma didn’t look down at her. Her attention was fixed on the source of the disturbance.
She had sensed several magical presences within the village... from the direction where William was confronting those intruders.
However, the reason for her frown was something else entirely.
For the first time, it wasn’t aether that was radiating so violently.
It was Nyx... and the only person in that group capable of wielding that negative energy was William.
’What suddenly happened?’
She reinforced the barriers. Somehow, she had a feeling William was about to become a little violent.
Soon enough, she would be proven right.
.....
"Hold it there!" Lancelot shouted as he positioned himself behind of Merlin, with Arthur beside him while Merlin maintained her barrier, shielding them from what appeared to be a spell born from chaos.
A spell of destruction.
It was almost absurd. A spell that wasn’t even being actively focused on was generating enough pressure to crush everything in its path.
"I am trying! Gaah!" Merlin cried, pouring every ounce of her energy into resisting the force that seemed determined to erase them from the face of the planet.
She had long been hailed as a prodigy mage, someone who stood at the pinnacle of sorcery.
Yet here she was, being driven backward in a contest of magic.
"Lancelot, pour all your aether into it and support her."
Arthur barked the order as he sheathed his sword and thrust both arms forward, mirroring Merlin’s stance.
Lancelot abandoned any intention of attacking William the moment the spell had been restrained. As things stood, there was a good chance he would never get the opportunity.
Extending his arms, he joined the effort.
The three of them poured every bit of aether they possessed into the struggle, desperately pushing back against the retaliation.
William hummed, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he felt the aether steadily burning away at his Nyx.
Nothing surprising there.
It was one of the most fundamental laws in existence. Nyx and aether were natural nemeses. One extinguished the other. Wherever they collided, neither side could remain untouched.
He could have easily poured more power into the attack and overwhelmed them outright.
But he had made a promise to his beloved.
He wouldn’t overexert himself. He wouldn’t push his body beyond his mortal limits.
So, he decided to end it.
"Let me make it simpler for you."
He recalled the attack.
The Droplet of Oblivion vanished instantly, as though the crushing pressure that had been suffocating their existence moments ago had never existed at all.
The sudden relief nearly made the three warriors stumble.
Then their expressions changed.
Because the pressure hadn’t disappeared.
It had merely changed shape.
A dark dragon wreathed in black flames burst forward.
Its massive body tore through the air with terrifying speed, jaws wide open as it lunged directly toward Merlin, the source of the retaliation.
The mage’s eyes widened.
The construct wasn’t particularly large, yet every instinct in her body screamed danger.
Her years of experience were warning her that being struck by that thing was not an option.
Not even once.
She frantically searched for a counterspell, dozens of possibilities flashing through her mind.
None felt fast or strong enough.
"Stay back."
Arthur stepped forward without hesitation.
His hand shot out, pulling Merlin behind him before she could react.
Golden light erupted from his blade.
With a powerful swing, he unleashed a horizontal slash.
The golden arc collided with the dragon and split it cleanly in half.
Yet Arthur’s expression didn’t relax.
Because the dragon didn’t stop.
The two halves continued flying forward, the black flames writhing wildly as though they possessed a will of their own.
Arthur clicked his tongue.
Then he moved.
His sword blurred.
One slash.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
The blade danced through the air so quickly that only afterimages remained behind.
Golden arcs crisscrossed the battlefield, shredding the dragon into dozens of fragments before the pieces could reach him.
Explosions of dark flames erupted one after another.
The ground trembled.
Even after destroying the spell, Arthur continued swinging, refusing to leave the slightest fragment intact.
Only after the final ember vanished did he lower his blade.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
Sweat trickled down the side of his face.
William raised an eyebrow.
He hadn’t expected the man to still possess enough stamina for such rapid attacks after everything that had already happened.
The battle should have drained him considerably.
Yet Arthur remained standing.
Exhausted, yes.
But still quite fiery.
The warrior slowly lifted his gaze and met William’s eyes.
"Is this all you could do?"
William let out a chuckle.
"Is that some mandatory line you people have to say? I mean, I was merely playing with you. Otherwise, what exactly could have stopped me from attacking you with this?"
As he spoke, he raised his left hand.
A silver orb of blinding brilliance materialized above his palm.
Pure aether.
Not a trace of Nyx could be found within it.
The three of them instinctively held their breath.
Their expressions stiffened.
Until now, they had been able to counter William because he had been using Nyx. Their own aether naturally opposed it.
But if he had attacked them with a spell made entirely of aether...
How were they supposed to retaliate?
For the first time, they truly understood the absurdity of the man standing before them.
Arthur’s gaze lingered on the orb for several moments before returning to William.
Despite the realization, he didn’t waver.
"So your intention is merely to drive us away."
William smiled faintly,
"I promised Emma that I wouldn’t kill any of you unless you crossed the boundary."
The moment those words left his mouth...
Death descended.
It was sudden.
Every muscle in their bodies locked.
The world seemed to darken.
An invisible chill crawled up their spines as though the blade of the Grim Reaper itself had been placed against their necks.
Their instincts screamed.
Run. Hide. And do anything to survive.
Yet not a single one of them could move.
Nothing had actually changed.
William hadn’t released another spell.
He hadn’t taken a step forward.
The only difference was that, for the first time since meeting him...
They had felt his killing intent.
Raw and unfiltered blood lust.
The pressure was so overwhelming that even breathing became difficult.
William’s eyes remained calm as he looked at them.
In a cold voice devoid of the warmth he normally carried, he spoke.
"However..."
"If any of you ever harm my father, then the boundary will be considered crossed."
The silver orb above his palm quietly dissipated.
Yet nobody felt relieved.
If anything, the disappearance of the spell only made his words more terrifying.
Because it proved he didn’t need it.
"So be very careful about how you tread from here on."
Silence followed.
Then William withdrew his killing intent.
Merlin immediately collapsed to her knees.
"Gah..."
She gasped for air, her robes drenched in cold sweat.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she stared at the ground.
Lancelot remained standing.
Only because his body had forgotten how to fall.
His eyes were unfocused, his face completely devoid of color.
For a brief moment, he looked more like a corpse than a living man.
Arthur fared better than the other two, but not by much.
His face had turned paler than a sheet, and the hand gripping his sword trembled ever so slightly.
The warrior slowly exhaled.
Then he looked at William once more.
Not as an enemy or monster...but an existence he would never want to face again.
