Raising his palm, Javier’s aura spiked, the sky bending under the pressure.
His next word ca not as a threat but as a sentence.
"Judgent."
A white barrier snapped into place with a deafening hum, sealing the area in a perfect do. The air shimred under its power. No one could enter, no one could escape.
From the skies above, from the earth below, from every direction, countless massive, translucent white swords materialized.
Their edges glowed with an otherworldly light. They hovered in silence for a heartbeat, forming an inescapable cage around Edmund.
Javier’s palm remained raised, steady and unwavering, aid at Edmund.
"Edmund... this is your end."
When his fingers curled into a fist, the swords descended.
In perfect unison, they struck, again and again.
Thunderous impacts shaking the barrier as the onslaught continued without pause. Each blow tore away corrupted energy, leaving Edmund with no room to breathe or strike back.
Then, with a low rumble, a colossal translucent cube began to form around him.
The "doors" swung open, revealing the nightmare inside: a chamber lined with thousands of jagged crystalline spikes, each glittering like the fangs of so celestial beast.
From the shadows inside, countless translucent hands erged.
They reached for Edmund and the Celestial, wrapping around them with irresistible force. The more they struggled, the tighter the grip beca.
"NOOO!!! I shouldn’t end like this!"
The Celestial hissed, its voice shrill with panic.
It tore itself halfway from Edmund’s body, desperate to escape, but the spectral hands tightened their grip like cold iron, holding it in place.
"What... what is this magic?!" it roared, thrashing as the spikes inside the cube glimred ominously.
Javier’s gaze slid toward them one final ti, calm and cold.
"This," he said, in a steady voice, "is my original magic."
Without another word, he turned his back.
The cube’s massive light-doors began to close, the grinding echo filling the sealed barrier. As the gap narrowed, the struggling and screaming grew more frantic, until the final sliver of light vanished.
With a resonant thud, the doors locked shut.
Both Edmund and the Celestial were gone.
Javier’s knees sank into the dirt, his breath ragged as the aftershock of his magic tore through him.
Damn... Even thinking felt heavy. That technique had drained him to the bone, his mana reserves screaming in protest, muscles trembling from overexertion.
He forced his gaze upward, scanning the area through half-lidded eyes. Maybe... I should just rest a bit and—
"DIE, JAVIER!!!"
The voice snapped him back. Instinct jolted through him as he raised his head, only to see a shadow descending fast.
Kenjirou, the forr sword hero, was there in a single bound, eyes alight with malice. His dark divine sword glistened with an ominous aura, its edge aid squarely at Javier’s skull.
Javier’s hand shot to his side, fingers curling around his katana’s hilt. Steel t steel, but before he could counter, a boot drove into his chest.
Kenjirou’s grin widened, wicked and triumphant.
Javier’s body was flung through the air, slamming into a jagged boulder with a bone-rattling crash.
"Still able to defend, huh?" Kenjirou’s voice dripped with contempt as he stalked forward.
"Well... not for long. Thanks for killing those bastards for . And now..." He raised his blade again, dark energy swirling around it. "...it’s my turn to end your life!"
Javier’s lips curled in frustration, a low growl escaping.
"Ugh... stupid Kenjirou. No wonder that strange aura felt off."
Kenjirou’s smirk deepened, his eyes narrowing with the glee of a predator.
"I was waiting for this mont... for so long!" His voice cracked with anticipation. He lifted his dark divine sword and pressed a kiss to its tainted edge.
"Thanks to this divine sword... and this left arm."
He flexed the limb, dark veins writhing beneath the skin " Not even Gurdan and his Celestial could absorb ."
His grin turned savage.
"And now... without those Celestials in your way, and with you weakened... DIE!"
Kenjirou’s figure blurred, vanishing from sight. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Javier, his sword already in motion, cutting through the air toward Javier’s neck.
Javier’s body scread in protest as he twisted, katana rising in a desperate attempt to parry,but too slow.
The black blade was almost upon him.
Until—
CLANG!
A violent clash of steel rang out, the sound splitting the air. Kenjirou’s eyes widened as his attack was intercepted, and then.
Multiple strikes in rapid succession tore through him, forcing him back with each blow.
Javier blinked, his vision adjusting... and there, standing in front of him, was a lone figure.
Kliatana.
Her blade was still dripping with traces of dark energy she had carved away. She glanced back at Javier, her expression cold but steady.
"Dead?" she asked simply, her voice like sharpened steel.
Javier steadied his breath, his gaze sharpening on the girl who had just saved him.
"You also ca here to kill .?"
Kliatana’s lips curved into the faintest smirk, though her eyes stayed cold.
"Hmph. Talk big for soone who was a heartbeat away from losing his head," she replied, her tone carrying both disdain and challenge.
She rested her blade against her shoulder, tilting her head just enough for her long hair to sway.
"You owe your life, Javier De Armand," she said flatly.
"And I will ask for payback... later."
Her eyes lingered on him a mont longer before turning back toward Kenjirou.
Kliatana took a step forward, placing herself squarely between Javier and the open battlefield. Her eyes, sharp and commanding, locked on his.
"Command your knight to stop attacking my people who have left," she said, her tone more of an order than a request.
Javier, despite the weight of exhaustion pulling at his body, let out a short chuckle. Even weakened, his voice carried a lazy defiance.
"Heh... do you think my knight is soone who kills without rcy?"
Kliatana didn’t waste breath on a reply. In the next instant, her form blurred, vanishing from sight. She reappeared in front of Kenjirou, her blade already in motion.
Slash after slash tore through the air, each strike landing with relentless precision. Sparks and blood sprayed in the flurry, her assault unbroken, her expression one of cold, unyielding fury.
Kliatana ended her flurry with one final, decisive stroke.
Kenjirou’s body crumpled as his head rolled across the blood-stained ground, coming to rest with a hollow thud.
She flicked her blade clean, then cast a brief glance over her shoulder toward Javier.
"I will ask you to pay later."
Javier, still kneeling and catching his breath, narrowed his eyes.
"Why didn’t you kill ? I killed your father."
Kliatana didn’t bother turning around. Her voice was calm, but beneath it lay a deep, lingering bitterness.
"He killed all my brothers... my sisters... my mother, my stepmother... our entire family. The only one he spared was . The others weren’t so lucky. He absorbed them, because of a special skill, so he could grow stronger."
Her steps crunched lightly over the ground as she began to walk away.
"The only reason he kept alive was because I created the Seventh you fought before."
Javier tilted his head. "Oh... but they were weak when they fought ."
Kliatana’s tone sharpened, almost like a blade grazing the edge of his pride.
"Who do you think weakened them?"
( End Of Chapter )
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