Chapter 988: Fist of the Moon (2)

Chapter 988: Chapter 988: Fist of the Moon (2)

Night, Nova’s three moons hung high in the sky embracing the world with purple and blue light. A magical sight, beautiful and serene and for the most part peaceful but roughly two kilometres southwest of Niflheim it was a very different picture.

The blue and purple hue clashed with vivid red, the ground in between the trees littered with dozens upon dozens of dead bodies, some carved by weapons others obliterated by magic either way it was a chilling picture yet at the same time mesmerising.

Frost, Yuna, Findley, Khuno as well as Neve watched this area via the Dungeon menu. Their eyes pried open as far as they could go, their breathing all but stopped so as to prevent interruption. Their hearts thumping with immense and ever growing force as they witnessed the ultimate clash between Rathborne, Cavalish and Baron Glorfile come to fruition.

Rathborne bereft of his shield could no longer endure attacks from both flanks and with a significant wound on his thigh he had no recourse but to double down on his attack.

Wielding his mace with both hands and ignoring the lingering pain shooting up and down his right arm Rathborne raised the weapon on high and loudly bellowed the words [Temple guardian’s judgement]. His ultimate skill that promised to eviscerate all who dared to impede his path.

A large, sanctified temple guardian soon formed behind his back almost indistinguishable from a solid existence. It wore a set of intricate heavy armour and wielded a mace just like himself. It radiated a holy aura just like his previous incarnation, but the pressure exuded along with the sheer weight being invoked by its presence was much greater.

Using such a move with his current state was certainly not easy, he felt his internal energy being sucked dry, turning his muscles into nothing more than false decorations, useless the moment this blow ran its course but at the same time he was enlightened. His death was assured thus his mind couldn’t help but think of his regrets, his choices in life and those he’d be leaving behind.

This acknowledgement of his fate allowed him to momentarily pierce through the barrier between the early stages and mid stages. Power flowed through his body and was immediately siphoned into the holy apparition hovering behind him, growing its strength to an almost obscene level.

Although only a mere sub level, the higher in rank you reach the greater the divide becomes even amongst the sub levels. A mid stage A-rank could on average go toe to toe with two perhaps three early stage A-ranks and come out victorious. They simply had greater reserves, more solid aura and greater depth to their skills easily transforming what would be a small wound into something far more serious.

Rathborne’s skill [Temple Guardian’s Judgement] now wielded the strength of someone at the mid stages and thus poised a far greater threat to Cavalish, the target of said skill.

Alas the man didn’t flinch from this, although he couldn’t force himself into a state of enlightenment his ultimate skill [Envoy of death: reaper’s calling] wasn’t a pushover. A massive reaper defied the holy sanctity of Rathborne’s temple guardian, its chilling, vicious hands turning into deadly three pronged claws. There would be no thousands cuts this time only two, one to sever the body and the other to sever one’s soul, quality over quantity and because of that Cavalish only fell slightly behind his opponent, the victory impossible to tell until they actually clashed.

With Rathborne and Cavalish locked in direct combat, paying no heed to anything else Baron Glorfile was able to move without interruption.

A small prideful smile laced with a growing excitement donned his lips as his old blood started to pump with youthful vigour. It had been quite some time since last time he had to go all out.

’Not bad for a bunch of brats.’ He internally praised before making his own preparations. The Baron may be old and past his prime, but he was a warrior at heart, his heart would never allow him to abstain from showing off his true mettle given the valiant efforts of his opponent.

Time to show the youngsters why you should never underestimate the salt of experience.

"[Martial art: Moonlight burst.] Vast levels of purple coloured energy was released by the Baron, converging heavily across his back, folding over itself like forged metal repeatedly until a shine similar to the moon’s light developed. A few glittering specks at first but soon the entirety of this purple energy sparkled like the primary moon in Nova’s sky, pulsing with power that seemed make the Baron larger than he seemed, akin to a God that didn’t lose out in presence to both the terrifying reaper and the temple guardian in fact he even surpassed them both to a degree.

His strength didn’t jump to the middle stages, but it was clear that compared to Rathborne and Cavalish, Baron Glorfile’s martial mastery and proficiency with his skills surpassed the two of them.

While he failed to break through the A-rank divide even after decades of effort he never stopped training his martial prowess nor his skills thus making him an opponent even those in the mid stages would find difficult to handle let alone someone like Rathborne who apart from this momentary jump was still in the early stages.

Air shaking power radiated from all three of them as their skills rose to the peak and moved against one another.

Rathborne knew the instant he saw Baron Glorfile take a second to ready his skill that he was done for, but he was still surprised by what the old man managed to pull out of the ether. He felt like a child facing off against an adult, as if their entire back and forth so far had been Baron Glorfile merely entertaining his antics.

Frustration, anger but in the end peace, to die under such a skill could be considered a worthy death, his opponent surpassed him, so it was only natural that he’d be defeated.

He actively chose to ignore the Baron after that, his gaze focused on Cavalish as he brought down his large mace, roaring to the point that not a single molecule of air remained in his lungs, he was determined to go out with a bang.

Out of the three Cavalish was suffering the most in terms of mindset, not only had Rathborne targeted him with a skill that surpassed its usual constraints, placing him in great jeopardy even though he himself was using an ultimate skill his ally, Baron Glorfile a man he’d held a small amount of respect for given his age and military service but other than that it was mostly contempt. An old washed up General who wasn’t even at the peak of the early stages anymore, weaker than himself and perhaps even the second in command of their forces Yellow, hardly a threat to their mission or their master but that was merely a misconception on his part.

Not only has he been able to keep up with Rathborne and himself in this battle, but he’s managed to deal more damage and even save him from peril a couple times and now he’s coated himself in a power that’s sending cold shivers up and down his spine.

The old man was strong, scary strong.

Alas such problems could be dealt with later, now his sole priority was to survive Rathborne’s desperate final attack while the Baron obliterated him from the flank.

""DIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!"" Like his opponent he roared out his lungs while stepping forward, claw set to meet mace while fist met unprotected body.

Much transition but the time passing wasn’t even a full two seconds, a blink of an eye and you’d miss the action.

With all eyes staring at the upcoming clash and those involved focusing their all on their opponents there was a sudden rustle in amongst the trees, a movement so graceful and fast that even those at peak B-rank barely registered it, only the present A-ranks could gleam what happened but reacting in time was still beyond them.

Ovaria who was already keeping a close eye on the battlefield as a whole and Yellow who was the strongest after Red caught sight of the shaking trees, their heads rapidly turning as a sense of foreboding filled their hearts.

What they witnessed was a shadow in the form of a person, tall, lanky and wielding what appeared to be short, curved swords or sickles appearing from the foliage and instantly leaping into the sky, their target Baron Glorfile who currently had their back to them and all their momentum moving forward towards Rathborne.

"BARON!!!!" Ovaria screeched in horror while lifting up her staff and immediately preparing to cast interference and protection magic, but the target was far too fast. The second they revealed themselves they were already jumping into the air and arriving right behind Baron Glorfile, their sickles – much clearer now that they were out in the open- wrenched back and giving off a blood red glow.

"[Kamaitachi decapitation]" Command words escaped the attackers lips, the voice feminine and chilling.

Her timing was perfect, the ideal assassination.