Chapter 2181 River of Blades

A group of enemies arrived at the battlefield.

Both Magi and Paladins were among them.

They looked at their fallen comrades, their bodies mauled by the Viper. Their expressions grew dark and ugly.

Then their eyes fell on Adam.

He lay motionless on the ground, his back scorched by the [Fireball]. He had killed many of their comrades, and now he was finally down.

The lead Magus stood to the side, calmly assessing the situation.

"You. You. And you. Go deal with that blue-haired bitch," said the man.

Then he cast a cold look toward Adam.

"The rest of you, put this dog down. He's still alive."

The group split up, while the lead Magus departed alone to deal with a troublesome opponent.

A group of Paladins moved toward Adam. Their eyes filled with hatred. This young man had taken the lives of many of their comrades. They would make sure he suffered a cruel death.

Five Paladins, all Templars, approached Adam's unmoving body.

"Look at this bastard. He killed so many of our brothers."

"Make sure he suffers. I want to hear him scream."

"Don't worry. We'll make him regret ever being born."

Adam remained motionless, completely unresponsive to their insults.

The Paladins grew bolder as they approached him. One of them stepped forward, intending to kick his body.

And then…

Adam's hand turned into a blur.

The Viper shot forward and coiled around the nearest Paladin's legs. Before the man could react, the weapon transformed into a blade.

Both legs were sliced off.

The Paladin shrieked and fell face-first to the ground. And just as he fell, Adam thrust the blade into his throat. The man's screams died in a gurgle.

The remaining Paladins froze for a brief moment before rage overtook their surprise.

"You bastard!"

They quickly spread out, surrounding Adam from different directions. This time, they approached cautiously, keeping their weapons ready.

Adam tried to get to his feet and swing the Viper again, but he simply did not have any energy left. He was utterly spent. Although he still had mana in his reserves, he was completely out of stamina. This had been the most intense battle he had ever fought in his life.

One of the Paladins kicked the weapon out of his grasp. The Viper slipped away from his fingers and clattered across the ground.

Then the beating began.

Boots slammed into Adam's ribs, stomach, and face. The Paladins showed no mercy, venting their hatred on his battered body.

"Die, you monster!"

"Let's see you kill anyone now!"

He tried to weave hand seals, but a kick to the head made him nearly black out.

"Pin him down. Make sure he can't pull another trick!"

They grabbed their swords and thrust them into Adam's limbs, driving the blades through his arms and legs and pinning him to the ground.

Four swords held him in place.

The Paladins stood over him with cruel expressions.

"Now let's see how you escape this, bastard!"

Adam's eyes turned feral as fear began to grip his heart. He could feel death slowly encroaching. He yanked his hands away, slicing them through the blade as he tried to free himself.

"Hold him down! Hold him down!"

"This mad bastard!"

The swords pinning his limbs to the ground weren't enough. So the Paladins grabbed his legs and shoulders to keep him from moving.

One of them mounted onto Adam's back, grabbed a handful of hair, and pulled his head back.

The man retrieved a dagger with his other hand and began his dirty work.

Adam thrashed violently, letting out a guttural roar as the Paladin began to scalp him.

The Paladin continued to saw at Adam's scalp, pulling his hair back and exposing the skull beneath.

In the distance, Moonie was slowly being overwhelmed by her enemies. She could barely hold her ground, let alone come to his rescue.

Is this it?

Am I going to die here?

The fear of death crept into Adam's eyes. His screams grew increasingly desperate, turning into wretched cries as the Paladin continued his work.

Not like this! Not like this!

There was no one coming to save him.

He was going to die.

Then, a gust of wind swept across the island.

It carried with it the faint scent of a river.

Adam's screams faltered.

The distant sound of waves crashed into his ears. For a moment, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Perhaps he was already dying, and these were merely the last hallucinations of a broken man.

But then he saw it.

And his eyes widened.

A river.

A magnificent, endless river had appeared out of nowehere, its beautiful currents sweeping across the island.

Except the river wasn't made of water.

It was made of blades.

Countless sharp blades flowed together in a vast, surging current. They glided through the air as naturally as water through a riverbed, their edges gleaming beneath the light of Myrrandor moons.

The sound they produced was the sound of steel clashing.

The deafening symphony of countless blades filled the island.

In the blink of an eye, the entire island was submerged in this magnificent river of blades.

Every structure. Every tree. Every object. Every corner of the island. And every person inhabiting it.

The Paladins torturing Adam froze. They barely had time to register what was happening before the river swept over them.

Their bodies were severed into countless pieces.

The same thing happened to the enemies surrounding Moonie. The Magi and Paladins who had been overwhelming her were swallowed by the river of blades, their bodies torn apart before they could even react.

But it didn't end there. Every single person who had participated in the massacre tonight was caught in the river.

The City Watchmen who had turned against the guests. The Magi who had slaughtered the defenseless. The Paladins who had mercilessly cut down their victims.

Not a single one escaped.

It didn't matter how powerful they were. It didn't matter how many people they had killed or how strong their defenses were. The river swept through them all.

Then it vanished.

Just as abruptly as it had appeared, the magnificent river of blades disappeared from the island.

The wind died down. The sound of clashing steel faded. And silence descended upon the battlefield.

Adam lay motionless, the swords still pinning him to the ground, but their wielders gone. Nearby, Moonie stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

The survivors of the Gala were no different. One moment, they had been fighting desperately for their lives. The next, every enemy around them had been cut to pieces by a mysterious river of blades.

Everything felt like a dream.

Had they really seen it? Had the magnificent river truly existed?

If not for the countless dead Watchmen scattered across the island, the survivors might have really believed they had been hallucinating.

The Witch of Davos, Emily Damon, was one of the survivors.

But unlike the others, she seemed to have an idea about what might have transpired.

She collapsed to her knees, her dress in tatters and her body riddled with gaping injuries. Her eyes trembled in sheer disbelief, and she whispered:

"Domain Arcana…"

A domain manifested by a Magus or Paladin, where he reigns supreme over everything within its boundaries.

In other words…

Within his domain, he is the Emperor.