Chapter 260: Ryan’s Battle and The Little Prisoner
After everyone appeared high above the demon king Rigal’s castle, suspended in the sky.
Ryan channeled all of his energy and, using his support abilities, rapidly began strengthening everyone present.
Demons, humans, elves, and beastmen alike received his powerful enhancements.
With everyone now buffed, they were finally ready to head toward their assigned positions according to the plan.
...
At the very top of one of the eight towers surrounding the main fortress, the freezing wind howled with uncontrollable fury, violently battering against the thick walls of Kowarre’s castle.
Inside the large, dark room on the top floor, a powerful Abyssal-rank demon watched in complete silence through the large open window.
"It seems the stupid invaders have strategically divided themselves on multiple fronts," the sentinel murmured, resting his hands on the cold stone frame.
"And from what I can see at this distance, they are a large and very well-organized group. Should I be worried about this sudden surprise attack? They clearly plan to occupy the sentinels so that my lord Rigal does not receive reinforcements."
"But, I was ordered to guard that little girl. Could it be the demon king Rohan who came all the way here? If that is the case, I will have to go to Lord Rigal right now to protect him..."
"Are you leaving so soon?"
An extremely calm, relaxed, and fearless voice suddenly echoed behind him, cutting through the sharp sound of the freezing wind entering through the window.
In the gloom of the stone room, a familiar human silhouette slowly took shape.
Ryan was sitting very casually on the ledge of another one of the tower’s windows, as if he had been resting there the whole time, wrapped in his gleaming new combat suit.
Unfazed by the enemy general’s murderous presence, Ryan looked around the place with great care, evaluating his tactical surroundings.
That was the top floor of the great watchtower, the highest point and the tallest structure in the entire area.
Right next to him, just a few meters away in the corner of the dark and cold room, was a wooden bed.
And on it rested the fragile body of what appeared to be a little girl, heavily chained by both hands and feet.
’Could she be asleep?’ Ryan thought, narrowing his green eyes to analyze the prisoner more clearly. ’No. Her breathing is too slow and shallow. She is completely unconscious.’
Ryan did not simply rely on her fine childlike features or fragile appearance to judge her true race. He focused on the strange, dense magical energy that the small tied body emitted into the tower’s cold air.
Even though the mysterious girl did not have any visible pair of horns on her head, she naturally gave off that particular, dark, and heavy energy that only demonic beings transmit.
"It has been a long time since I last fought one of you, the Abyssal-rank generals," Ryan said, breaking the tense silence.
He showed a serene smile on his face, but that seemingly kind expression failed entirely to hide the dangerous, dark, and lethal edge of his gaze.
’Although,’ Ryan thought, slightly expanding his advanced magical perception senses toward the lower levels of the massive tower. ’I also very clearly notice another quite strong presence rapidly climbing up the lower floors of this very place.’
The Abyssal standing in front of the large window did not flinch at the intruder’s sudden and ghostly appearance in his surveillance room.
He slowly turned around, and his eyes, completely cold and full of an unwavering murderous determination, locked onto the figure of the human sitting in the window.
"A simple human? A so-called hero is allied with the scum of the other demon kings?" the Abyssal said with a deep, hoarse voice laden with the most absolute contempt for the mortal race.
"How idiotic and arrogant of you to come here alone, human. You definitely chose the worst tower of all to try and attack."
The large demon brought his heavy hand toward the hilt of his long sword. "This will be very quick. After killing you and tearing your pathetic body to pieces, I will go to the king’s castle to massacre the rest of your useless invading friends."
"Do you really think you can do that?" Ryan replied, looking completely defiant and mocking, without even bothering to get up from his comfortable spot in the window.
The atmosphere in the large room became immensely dense and suffocating in a matter of a split second.
The demon’s overwhelming murderous intent filled every corner of the place, and the constant sound of the outside wind was abruptly replaced by the deafening whistle of sharp metal cutting through the air.
The Abyssal drew his massive weapon with blinding speed, unleashing his most lethal physical combat technique without a moment’s hesitation.
"Fast Sword," the demon murmured with fury.
Immediately, a violent and savage whirlwind of invisible thrusts that broke the speed of sound was unleashed forward, creating a net of destruction.
The brutal barrage of dark slashes completely destroyed the room’s thick wooden furniture, kicking up dust and cutting the stone walls in its path, heading straight for the human’s unprotected neck.
Ryan, however, remained completely motionless in his spot, watching the mortal attack approach.
His cold, analytical gaze remained fixed on the swift back-and-forth of the sharp enemy blades, reading the trajectory of each slash as if everything around him were moving in slow motion.
"With that uncontrolled way of attacking everything at once, you will end up hurting your own hostage on the bed," Ryan said very calmly amidst the chaos of flying wood.
He began to dodge the multiple lethal attacks with almost imperceptible movements, tilting his head, moving his shoulders and torso the bare minimum so that the cold metal would not even graze the white fabric of his clothes.
"Do not worry about her," the Abyssal declared, enraged and completely blinded by his mortal enemy’s absurd and perfect evasion. "By the time that fragile brat wakes up from her sleep, this whole matter will finally be over and you will be a simple bloody corpse on my floor."
With a sudden blinding flash of dark mana, the Abyssal concentrated all his remaining immense energy into his strong arms to launch a single, brutal, definitive slash.
He launched a heavy vertical slash meant to split both the human and the tower wall in half.
The clash of their massive wills and the physical impact distorted the light inside the cold room, creating a large shockwave that kicked up a dense cloud of stone dust and splinters.
But when the curtain of dense dust finally seemed to settle in the room’s tense air, the Abyssal’s deadly blade was stopped dead in its tracks, frozen in space.
The demon’s massive sword clashed violently against the hard blade of Ryan’s chimera sword.
The human was now standing in front of him, blocking the monster’s definitive attack with a single hand and showing no sign of physical exertion.
The lethal Abyssal’s eyes widened, full of absolute and undeniable disbelief at the absurd, unreal brute strength that this simple, average-sized man possessed.
"What is the matter with you?" Ryan provoked, wearing a smile full of cold, blatant mockery, maintaining the solid block with an astonishing ease that terrified his opponent’s mind.
"Is that what you call Fast Sword? It is completely useless against me."
The Abyssal gritted his teeth with intense fury, feeling his immense warrior’s pride trampled, and redoubled the strength and speed of his frantic attacks in a fit of madness.
He turned the entire top floor of the dark watchtower into a dangerous, chaotic vortex of magical flashes and a deafening noise of metal clashing against metal.
Ryan defended against every assault, every slash, and every thrust with flawless, almost divine grace, parrying the demon’s sword as if it were mere child’s play. He looked almost bored by his desperate rival’s pathetic survival effort.
"Well, I admit you are much stronger and faster than the last demon of your rank I faced a while ago," Ryan commented amidst the storm of slashes.
His tone of voice mixed a slight nostalgia for his old combats and a profound disdain for his current, ineffective elite opponent in front of him.
"But even so, you are still not good enough at handling a sword."
While the overwhelming and destructive clash of weapons continued to tear apart the inside of the room, sending bright sparks everywhere.
At the back of the room, on the nearly destroyed wooden bed.
The little demon girl woke up suddenly, startled by the massive roar of the battle shaking the walls.
The heavy metal chains binding her rattled loudly as she peeked out from beneath the dirty blankets, her small body trembling uncontrollably.
With immense, pure fear reflected on her pale, childish face, she watched the two dangerous monsters fighting to the death and destroying her stone prison right before her own eyes.
Comments