Episode 356 – Master of Aintrier (6)
BOOM-!!!!!!!
A violent shockwave that sent every nerve in Arthur’s body on edge rang out.
Goosebumps raced across his skin the mont he heard it.
A dense, explosive clash—
It was the sound of Reyna and Belin colliding as they roared.
‘The Hyper-Acceleration Counter.’
It seed that the "thing" Lochter had ntioned was now in motion.
His final card.
For Lochter to play that card—it ant only one thing.
Richard’s fifth sword had made its appearance.
The Invisible Sword, Greese. So Richard had finally drawn his hidden blade.
‘Lochter can do it.’
To others, it might seem like a crisis, but to Arthur, it was an opportunity.
A single mont—Arthur had once told Lochter the only chance to kill Richard: the very first ti Richard swung his invisible sword.
That mont would be the first and last chance to kill him.
After the shockwave, silence fell.
‘Did he succeed…?’
The opponent was Richard Volpent—Even with a plan, success was never guaranteed.
Arthur was dying to know the result.
He wanted to turn his head and check on Lochter imdiately, but that wasn’t an option right now.
“…Damn that cursed spell.”
His vision was stained entirely red.
His ears were ringing, his nose overwheld with the stench of blood.
His senses dulled, and the curse that had penetrated his body threw his combat instincts into chaos.
His reaction speed was disastrously delayed.
Arthur recalled the mont Rengua tore a blood-red scroll and chanted a spell.
‘That old bastard had that spellbook…?’
Blood Fog.
Though it blanketed the entire office in red mist,
its only true target was Arthur.
It was a powerful spell imbued with the authority of the vampire of True Blood, Lucas Benjamin,
and was a consumable item from Lord Azonne’s personal collection.
An extrely rare and valuable item—one even Lord Azonne had hesitated to use.
Arthur had never imagined he would entrust it to Rengua.
Unfortunately, Blood Fog was unaffected by Sacred Power.
As a result, Arthur was locked in a grueling fight against the Cleaners.
[Duck, now!]
Reto’s urgent warning rang in his head. Arthur cursed and dropped his head imdiately.
A massive greatsword slashed overhead, lopping off a handful of his hair.
Even though his instincts told him the strike would co at his waist, it ca for his head.
His battle sense was so disrupted that he had no choice but to rely entirely on Reto’s guidance.
With obscured vision, even dodging was difficult.
[Straight ahead, your chest!]
Another warning. Arthur crossed both arms just in ti.
Kwaaang!
A blunt shield slamd into his crossed arms. Arthur staggered back, blood filling his mouth.
Still, he quickly regained his footing.
He raised both fists as Reto instructed, and the advancing attacks hesitated.
Thankfully, the “Doggy” was still wary of him.
[Hold on. The mont you look weak, it’s over.]
“Haah... Haah....”
His breath was ragged.
Fighting two Cleaners while his senses were dulled—
each breath brought a new wound.
If it weren’t for Reto’s warnings and his absurd resilience,
he wouldn’t have lasted even this long.
[They’re moving to flank you.]
“…Sh*t, they’re relentless.”
The Cleaners weren’t rushing in recklessly. They were circling slowly, pressing in to wear him down.
They clearly knew about the Blood Fog and were using it to their advantage.
Arthur slowly stepped back, scanning his surroundings.
‘Where’s Rengua…?’
He’d only managed to survive so far because Rengua hadn’t joined the assault.
‘If he had attacked together with the Cleaners, I’d have been crushed already. Why is he holding back…?’
He couldn’t help but worry about Rengua’s continued silence.
Then—
[Incoming!]
Arthur was covered in blood again. He was enduring wave after wave of attacks.
Perhaps the Cleaners now felt confident in their kill—
their attacks grew more aggressive.
Their greatsword and shield hamred at his body.
If he hadn’t awakened as a Divine Hunter, gained a steel body, and mastered spiritual technique, he’d have already been pulverized.
But even those advantages were reaching their limit.
Crack—!
“Ku—Kugh!”
Arthur was finally slamd into a wall, coughing up blood.
‘Maybe fighting three at once was too much…?’
He had believed that as a Divine Hunter, he could withstand even 5-star opponents—but Blood Fog was dragging him down hard.
Leaning against the wall, Arthur glared at the Cleaners.
Still—he wasn’t giving up.
His limbs were still intact. That was enough.
The Cleaners, however, looked shaken.
“What a goddamn monster…”
“We absolutely have to kill him here.”
“I know.”
Their mission had been to capture Arthur.
Now that he was weakened, they should’ve restrained him with Chains of Judgent and taken him alive.
But that thought was gone.
‘If we don’t kill him now, we’re the ones who’ll die.’
One of their own had already died at his hands.
This monster in front of them was too terrifying to even consider taking alive.
They drew out all their strength and prepared to finish Arthur for good.
Then, in the mont of greatest danger—
[If you want to live, break the wall within yourself.]
Reto’s voice echoed in Arthur’s mind with a cryptic ssage.
“…Break the wall??”
[Break the wall and accept . At the current synchronization rate, it might be possible.]
“What are you talking about…?”
[.........]
A mont of silence. But Arthur didn’t have ti to keep questioning.
The Cleaners surged in, killing intent blazing.
He clenched his fists.
Crack!
“.?!"
The wall behind him suddenly collapsed—
Zzzk zzzk zzzk!
His body fell backward as the nest’s structure crumbled.
The Cleaners’ eyes glead.
They lunged.
“Die!!!”
With a feral cry, their weapons ca crashing down on Arthur—
BOOOOM!!!!
A deafening impact shook the room.
It didn’t sound like a strike landing on human flesh. The Cleaners stared ahead in confusion.
The red mist, the dust swirling through the broken wall—And then, through the settling haze, a single shield appeared.
A thick, square-shaped shield.
Behind it, the eyes of its wielder glead fiercely.
Short in stature, but exuding overwhelming presence—
The Lord of Tobaron.
King of the Dwarves, Dorneth Gader.
Dorneth glanced between the Cleaners and the collapsed Arthur, and then quietly spoke:
“I fulfill my vow.”
At the word vow,
FLASH!!!!!
Blinding light burst from the square shield, and its size swelled enormously, covering Dorneth completely.
The symbol of House Gader engraved on the surface glowed faintly.
“Hrragh!”
With a cry, Dorneth raised his shield and charged.
The Cleaners’ formation faltered.
A contest of strength—Dorneth versus the two Cleaners.
The clash tipped when a powerful voice rang out like thunder from behind him.
“You dare touch my disciple??”
Vwoooooong!
A witch descended from the air, her gaze sharp as blades.
Both fists glowing, power descended slowly—imbued with the might of the Giant Tribe.
An unseen roar.
One Cleaner grit his teeth and instinctively stepped back.
Landing, the woman raised her fists and dashed forward.
Giant Tribe martial art—Quanru.
Natasha the Giant charged between the two Cleaners,
unleashing the strength of Gereflam.
This was exactly the situation Azolett had feared.
Arthur’s reinforcents had arrived.
Kwakwaang! KWAANG!
Explosions rang out.
“...Kugh!”
Arthur, collapsed on the floor, weakly lifted his head.
The sudden collapse of the wall had disrupted everything.
What happened to the Cleaners?
Was he still alive?
The roar in his ears only grew louder.
With senses dulled, he could barely process what was happening.
“3…”
Arthur gritted his teeth and pushed off the floor. He had to get up.
He tried to ask Reto what was happening, but no response ca.
Slowly, Arthur stood up.
As he steadied himself, the haze in his senses began to lift.
It seed Reto was using all his strength to break the Blood Fog curse on Arthur’s body.
Hoo—
As he took a breath, the stench of blood was replaced by a musty sll of dust.
BOOM!
“Graaagh!”
A scream rang out—he could finally gauge the distance again.
His hearing was coming back.
One by one, his senses returned. His blood-red vision gradually cleared.
And there, in front of him—A dark elf with a short pipe stood with her back to him.
Sensing Arthur behind her, she turned and blew out a puff of smoke.
“What? Crying, are you?”
“I’m not crying.”
“Took a while, huh? Damn webs were too thick. And those spider freaks—so many of them. Took so effort to break through.”
Fenry Chaser, Shadow of the World Tree.
Seeing her gave him a strange feeling. It hadn’t been that long—but it felt like ages. He was glad to see her.
“How’s the situation?”
“Situation?”
She chuckled, arms falling at her sides. From her fingers, claws sprouted sharply—
True Blood Oak Claws, her weapon.
She spoke quietly,
“Take a break. I’ll finish this up real quick.”
She vanished into the shadows beneath the floor.
Beyond her, the battle was in full swing.
Natasha and Dorneth were overpowering the two Cleaners.
Monts later, Fenry launched a surprise assault, tipping the tide completely.
They had once overwheld their enemies with numbers— Now, they were being overwheld instead.
“L-Leader!!”
One of the Cleaners cried out for the special ops commander.
A clear sign of desperation.
Arthur turned toward Lochter.
What had happened there?
“Lochter?”
There stood two n, backs to each other, swords still outstretched in the air.
Lochter held his dual blades wide.
Richard’s sword pointed toward the floor as if he had just struck down.
The clash between Lochter’s Hyper-Acceleration Counter and Richard’s fifth sword—the Invisible Sword Greese—had just ended.
“…Kugh!”
The one to fall first was Lochter.
His face twisted in pain, he dropped both swords and slumped down.
Blood slowly spread across his chest. He coughed up blood and collapsed.
In the anti, Richard slowly turned around.
He stood tall—like a victor.
But—
“Wh-what… how…?”
His eyes were dead.
They weren’t the eyes of a winner.
They were the hollow eyes of defeat.
He stared at his sword in disbelief.
Greese, the Invisible Sword.
Despite the na, the sword had a rugged appearance.
Because of that, countless enemies had fallen to it—
never realizing the real blade ca from its hilt.
Thud—
Richard dropped the sword.
Or tried to.
It didn’t fall.
It floated—suspended in air as if hanging.
Puuk!
Clutching his neck, Richard spewed blood. The red spray coated Greese. It ran down the blade, down the hilt, and along the invisible blade beneath the hilt.
Blood splattered onto the ground.
The secret of the Invisible Sword—A hidden, transparent blade beneath the hilt.
The crude sword was a decoy.
“How did you know the secret…?”
“You think knowing your secret is why you lost?”
Arthur answered.
He had checked on Lochter and now looked Richard in the eye.
They had exploited that flaw.
But eventually, Lochter would surpass Richard regardless.
And that mont would co very soon.
“You lost the mont you doubted your skill and started depending on your sword’s abilities.”
“Bullsh*t.”
“This is your defeat, Richard Volpent.”
Arthur summoned the Ring of Blood. He fired a single blue-tinged arrow at Richard.
A small, unimpressive arrow—But Richard couldn’t dodge.
Puhk—
Clutching his neck, Richard’s eyes widened.
His collapsing body had only needed a small push to fall apart.
That final desperate resistance shattered.
Richard crumpled with hollow eyes.
Thud—
His severed head rolled across the ground.
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