The Kind of Evil-Chapter 446: All out.
Julius watched the intense battle between Arandil and the others against Kiel. It was the first time he witnessed a battle where one being was against six masters but handled them like children. He finally saw the might and the power of a Fallen Watcher, and he remembered there were many of them in Neva.
"Your Majesty?" Esmeralda stood behind Julius, holding his hand tightly with a few royal guards guarding the hall. "You have been standing here for hours. Should I bring tea and food? You shouldn’t let your stomach empty in this kind of situation," she pleaded as she looked up at Julius.
Julius looked at Esmeralda and the royal guards, they all had the same worried expression. He glanced at the battle outside the palace and outside the city wall. He didn’t need to admit his anxiety and fear because it didn’t matter anymore. He then gave a nod, agreeing to Esmeralda’s plea and suggestion.
Before Esmeralda could take a step, the ground trembled and the sound of buildings collapsing and crumbling could be heard. They both looked outside the window and saw the beautiful capital city was slowly being destroyed and flattened because of the intense battle and the lightning bolts that kept striking the city.
Julius could tell that Arandil was holding back, and he knew the reason behind it. He immediately called one of the royal guards, and whispered something into the royal guard’s ear. The royal guard immediately bowed his head and hurriedly left the hall to convey Julius’ order and command.
"We are being played around like fucking toy..." Crestefan panted, sweat dripping down from his forehead. "I was expecting we could land a single hit on that thing, but our attacks weren’t even enough to chip those swords," he scoffed in disbelief and began to feel exhaustion and soreness all over his body.
"If you have time to waste your breath on talking, you should consider using that breath to swing your weapon," Reynold said and dashed toward Kiel once again to do consecutive attacks with the others.
Crestefan sighed as he looked up at the dark sky and flashes of lightning above the dark clouds. He let the heavy rain pour on his face, washing off his fatigue and sweat before he took a deep breath and released flames all over his armor and spear. The raindrops vaporized before they made contact with his body, releasing steam.
Arandil and Castor were the only ones who never took a breather. They kept attacking in unison, but they knew they couldn’t use all their strength because if they did, the city, the walls, the soldiers, and even Arandil’s disciples would get affected by it. They were being held back because of the situation, and there was nothing they could do about it. However, that thought disappeared when he saw a royal guard standing there in the distance, staring at Arandil and Castor.
"His Majesty has declared! This is a war! Treat this place as a battlefield!" The royal guard shouted his lungs out, hoping his voice was loud enough to reach Arandil’s and Castor’s ears. "An empire can be rebuilt and lives can be made if the future of humankind still exists!" He added.
Those words alone were enough to tell Arandil and the others about Julius’ intention of saying that. They didn’t need to ask or question his decision, and they knew that there would be no more restraint, no more chains that bound them. Reynard and Arnold glanced at each other, nodding their heads as they signaled to the others. In just a second, they began to distance themselves from Arandil and Kiel.
Kiel glanced over their shoulder, staring at the royal guard with their six eyes. The royal guard trembled in fear and collapsed to his knees, feeling like death was standing in front of him and was ready to reap his soul. But then Kiel felt an immense Mana gathered around them that was being absorbed. Kiel slowly looked to the front and saw both Arandil and Castor standing still as the air around them began to swirl around them as if the air was being sucked. Kiel could tell the changes, surprised that those two had been fighting and holding themselves back.
"That won’t change anything..." Kiel spoke, staring right into Arandil’s eyes.
Arandil swung his sword so fast that naked eyes couldn’t see it, a blur in a split second. A slashwave was released and Kiel could barely dodge it when they saw it coming. The slashwave cut the city in half, leaving evidence of the destructive power in that swing alone. Kiel glanced with one of their eyes at Arandil but Arandil had disappeared into thin air, but Kiel’s other eye spotted Arandil above them with the tip of a blade ready to strike them right in between the eyes.
Kiel released a demonic energy, coating the body with it before Arandil’s greatsword hit their head. The moment of impact, everyone was sent flying by the shockwave along with the buildings and the paved roads, flattening their surroundings. At that moment, Kiel felt the difference of Arandil’s power, surprised once again that a human could possess such inhuman strength.
Before the barrier that Kiel made crack, they flapped their wings, pushing themselves back and away from Arandil. At the same time, they felt a killing intent coming from behind them, and it was Castor with his sword ready to thrust their back. Kiel flapped their wings once again and decided to fly above the ground, dodging the attack. When Castor stopped himself from charging, the aftershock pushed all the debris around him, showing his strength and power that could be compared to Arandil.
Both Arandil and Castor chased after Kiel by bending their knees and jumping high into the air. They both released slashwaves at Kiel with all their might, and Kiel were forced to either dodge or block them. While Kiel were busy stopping the slashwaves, one of the eyes noticed that Arandil had disappeared once again. At the same time, Castor had closed his distance and his sword was in range, ready to attack them.
Kiel was forced to use all their six arms to stop Arandil and Castor, but that wasn’t enough. Kiel began to take the fight seriously and used their combined minds and control over their one body. The fight was a blur to everyone’s eyes and they couldn’t see anything but the sound of steel clashes, the sonic boom, and the shockwaves. The battle was in mid-air, and both Arandil and Castor could kick the air into a solid state because of how powerful their feet were.
"So this is our master’s true power..." Mazur looked up and couldn’t even see the movements of Arandil’s hands when he swung his greatsword. "That Castor guy, I have to admit that he’s worthy of being called our master’s rival. At first I didn’t believe it, but now I realize that there are people that are this strong..." he muttered.
"Still, how could someone or those people get this strong? How did they reach this high and become the pinnacle of warriors?" Crestefan asked, shocked by the battle.
"Arandil once told me that there are thousands of people that are stronger than Swordmasters in the East," Reynard revealed. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
"What? That’s bullshit. What’s the point of Swordmaster title if there are so many people that are stronger than that?" Crestefan furrowed his brows and stared at Reynard.
"Swordmaster is just an official title that the Council of Neva bestowed upon them. There are millions of warriors in East Neva who doesn’t care about such titles. You would be surprised if we went there and they treated us like kids holding a wooden sword to them," Reynard responded, trying to see the outcome of the fight.
"Looks like they’re winning..." Arnold narrowed his eyes and saw how overwhelmed Kiel was to deal with Arandil and Castor.
"Not in particular," a man’s voice could be heard behind them.
Everyone turned around and saw Luke and the mysterious man behind him. They knew who Luke was since he was a Weissman, the family of Kingmaker. They were confused that there was still a civilian, especially a Weissman out of all people.
"What do you mean, Lord Weissman?" Reynard asked with his brows furrowed.
"There’s one thing that you all need to know about that demon. They might look overwhelmed right now, but there’s another secret about them," Luke watched as Kiel was being attacked from all directions by Arandil’s and Castor’s consecutive attacks. "As you have experienced, that demon is actually not a combat type but rather the brain. As the brain, that demon can read, learn, and even copy everyone’s movements," he pointed at Kiel and already saw the difference in Kiel’s movements and how to deal with Arandil’s and Castor’s attacks.
Everyone turned around and looked at Kiel, and they began to see it as well when Kiel could predict not only one step ahead but three steps ahead. Arandil and Castor could no longer find an opening, and their attacks no longer hit Kiel. However, Kiel’s ability wasn’t enough to win against those two, and so, Kiel suddenly flew up high into the sky, far enough that Arandil and Castor couldn’t catch up.
Kiel looked at the demon army and was already on the brink of defeat. Without hesitation, Kiel spread their wings and suddenly all the demon army collapsed. The demons’ souls left their physical body and flew toward Kiel, entering the body. Kiel felt the surge of power within them, and that was enough to turn the tide.
"Well, this is good and bad," Luke said and watched Arandil and Castor land in front of Reynard and the others. "The good thing is that that demon won’t be able to maintain its true form for too long because of all of you. The bad thing? That demon will do anything to end things quick, and this is the way to do so," he pointed out, staring at Kiel who was still busy absorbing all the demons and turning them into fuel of power.
