Return of the Mythic Bloodline-Chapter 401: Taranis vs Astrid

How could I forget this intense hatred I had been suppressing for these Empire dogs?

I had sworn to myself that I would slaughter every last person responsible for what happened on the Sentinel Line.

After returning from the training with Aruma, I had been feeling empty. But now that I saw Astrid’s face directly, the hatred, that intense emotion that had been missing, crashed over me like the bursting of a broken dam.

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"Wh-where am I?" Astrid muttered as he was freed from the ice prison.

"Th-this is the Ironvale Duchy," he murmured, instantly recognizing the place where he was born and raised.

As soon as he regained consciousness, he felt seven mountainous presences surrounding him from every direction.

His eyes moved, following those presences, finding the leader of each Bane Sect and the ancestor of the Thunderbanes encircling him.

In front of him stood Taranis, clad in abyssal black armor from head to toe.

The only reason Taranis had not attacked Astrid yet was because the max level of the Unshakable Mind skill was keeping him sane even while every drop of his blood boiled with rage.

"Astrid Ironvale, you stand on trial for the crime of participating in the poisoning of the Thunderbanes and the murder of Nathan El Thunderbane," Robert announced, his heavy voice rumbling across the field.

"To prove your innocence, you are hereby placed under Trial by Combat.

In the presence of the heavens, I, Robert El Thunderbane, the eldest man of Hundred Sky Mountain, will serve as the witness to this duel.

You will face Taranis El Thunderbane as your opponent for this trial.

The duel shall continue until only one of you remains breathing. No one shall interfere with this sacred duel until its very end."

Turning his sharp gaze toward Astrid, Robert asked,

"Do you accept the duel?"

Astrid knew the question was merely a formality. If he rejected the trial, he would immediately be attacked by the leaders of each sect, each of whom was far stronger than him.

However, the thought of facing Taranis, the one who had nearly killed the Emperor even while poisoned, did not make him feel any better.

Taking a deep breath, he asked,

"If I win this duel, will the Banes forfeit this war?"

"The duel is only to prove your innocence. It is not a trial for the whole empire," Robert informed him. "If you win the duel, the Hundred Sky Mountains will leave you and your Duchy alone unless you directly provoke us."

"Fine then. I accept the duel."

From his storage ring, Astrid took out a sallet styled steel helm and covered his head. Even though he was at the Level One Eternal Sage Realm, he did not intend to underestimate Taranis in the slightest.

An ominous silence fell over the field, with the only sounds being the bustling wind and the heavy footsteps of both Taranis and Astrid as they moved forward.

In a sudden blur, Taranis vanished from his position and reappeared behind Astrid, launching a fist at his back at blinding speed. Around the knuckles of his hand, a crackling sphere of golden lightning materialized.

"Lightning Bolt Version: Galactic Punch!"

A booming explosion erupted, turning the battlefield golden. A violent burst of wind surged into the air along with Astrid’s body, which was launched away by the impact of the fist.

While he was still in the air, Taranis appeared above him, his sword already unsheathed.

"Lightning Slash Version: Cross Impact!"

A crackling cross materialized from the swing of Taranis’s blade, striking directly at Astrid’s chestplate from point blank range.

His body slammed into the ground like a falling meteoroid, hurling dust and debris in all directions.

"At this rate, the Prince will lose," Titan muttered, clenching his fist. "It was a foolish decision to let him face someone two major realms above him."

The dust slowly settled, revealing Astrid lying on the ground while Taranis stood a few feet away from him.

Astrid rose to his feet without the slightest struggle, as if Taranis’s attacks had not affected him at all.

The corner of his lips curled upward as he asked,

"Is this your current level, Taranis? Your pitiful attacks could not even break through my armor."

There was a cross engraved across Astrid’s chestplate, but the attack had not managed to damage more than the outer layer of the defensive armor he was wearing.

"I was worried for nothing. You have grown weaker, Taranis."

Without responding to the taunt, Taranis rushed forward again using Blink, his sword coming down in a vertical slash.

Tang!

The blade was blocked by Astrid’s arm, which had transformed into a metallic mace. With a casual jerk of his arm, he easily hurled Taranis backward.

"Your attacks are only at the level of a True Sage. You are not strong enough to take revenge for your fallen family."

Astrid’s smirk slowly faded as he realized something. Until now, he had remained on edge due to the chain of unexpected events that had happened to him.

Now that he realized Taranis was not as dangerous as he had feared, his mind calmed, allowing him to remember something important.

"You are here in our territory, which means you must have already claimed the fortress of House Ironvale," he deduced.

His eyes narrowed as he asked in a low voice,

"What happened to my younger brother?"

Taranis raised his hand, his finger pointing toward something far in the distance where the fortress of Ironvale stood several kilometers away, with only its towering structure visible.

With his heightened vision as an Eternal Sage, Astrid followed the direction of Taranis’s finger and saw the severed head of his brother spiked upon a spear beside the flag of the Hundred Sky Mountains, mounted at the top of the fortress.

His body shuddered, his eyes instinctively turning away as he witnessed the horrifying state of his brother.

Veins bulged across his body, and a wave of murderous intent erupted from him, directed straight at Taranis.

"You bastard! How dare you!"

Astrid roared as he rushed toward Taranis at blinding speed, both of his arms transforming into long, razor sharp blades.

The murderous intent radiating from Astrid was strong enough to directly kill a Low Tier cultivator within its range and disrupt the flow of Soulforce within the body of anyone below the Eternal Sage Realm.

However, Taranis remained completely unscathed. Or at least that was how it appeared to others. There was no way to tell for certain since he was entirely clad in armor.

A massive blade of energy, twice the size of Astrid’s arms, erupted from his blade like limbs as he brought them crashing down upon Taranis.

"He is using Sword Aura," Titan muttered, clenching his fists. "I should not have allowed the Prince to fight Astrid. I will step in if necessary, even if it means disrupting the sacred duel."

"You will do no such thing, Lord Titan," Robert said, his voice low and laced with Soulforce so that only Titan could hear him.

"Master Robert, I will absolutely not let anything happen to the Pr—"

"Lord Titan, believe in the Prince," Robert said before he could finish his sentence. "The Prince is stronger than you think."