Chapter 1162: Cursed Guard [Part 4]

Lux crossed his arms.

Then pulled.

The guard roared as both blades tore through armor seams simultaneously.

He tried to headbutt Lux.

Lux teleported.

He reappeared behind him.

One dagger hooked behind the guard’s knee.

The second stabbed through the calf.

Lux twisted both blades in opposite directions.

The massive demon collapsed onto one knee.

Lux planted his boot between his shoulders. “Demonic Orbs.”

Fifty spheres appeared.

The guard looked up.

“…F*ck.”

“Excellent analysis.”

Lux pointed.

The corridor became hell.

Orbs ricocheted everywhere.

Royal shields appeared.

Explosions shattered them.

One orb bounced from the ceiling.

Another struck a guard’s ass before exploding.

Again.

Lux stared. “…Okay, that one might have been intentional.”

Runa barked a laugh despite herself.

Her opponent used the distraction.

The female guard’s blade shot toward her chest.

Lux’s hand snapped outward. “Telekinesis.”

The woman stopped.

Not completely.

She was too strong for that.

But half a second was enough.

Runa punched straight through her defense.

Her fist hit the woman’s stomach.

The guard folded around it.

Runa grabbed her hair.

Knee.

Face.

The woman dropped.

Runa kicked her weapon away. “Thanks.”

Lux parried another sword. “Date.”

“What?”

“You owe me a date.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m busy.”

Lux twisted.

His daggers crossed.

The guard’s sword became trapped between them.

Lux pulled the blades apart.

The sword shattered.

The demon’s eyes widened.

Lux’s right dagger slashed across his chest.

The left cut his thigh.

Right shoulder.

Left ribs.

The guard tried retreating.

Lux matched every backward step.

His dual daggers kept coming from alternating angles until the demon couldn’t determine which hand to watch.

Left.

Blocked.

Right.

Blood.

Right again.

Parried.

Lux spun the left blade backward in his grip and stabbed beneath the man’s ribs.

The guard screamed.

Lux withdrew it.

His other dagger immediately punched through the opposite side.

Then Lux kicked him away.

The center guard finally roared.

Enough.

Royal power exploded from his body.

The corridor shook.

Crimson energy swept outward in a violent wave.

Lux’s expression sharpened. “Barrier.”

Black-gold energy erupted.

-KRAAAAAASH!

The royal wave slammed against it.

The shield screamed under the pressure.

Runa ducked behind Lux.

Vaelor didn’t.

He was still beating his personal problem into architectural material.

“Vaelor!” Lux shouted.

The former knight finally looked up.

Too late.

The wave hit him.

He flew across the corridor.

His already damaged body crashed into stone.

“F*ck.”

Lux reinforced the barrier.

The center guard laughed. “You think you’re stronger than His Majesty?”

Lux stared through the translucent shield. “No.”

The demon’s smile widened.

Lux continued. “I think I’m richer.”

The guard blinked.

Lux dropped the barrier.

Runa launched herself from behind him.

Her fist crashed straight through the center guard’s defensive formation.

The formation shattered.

Her knuckles continued.

Straight into his face.

His body folded backward.

Lux caught his collar before he could fall. “Hello.”

The guard’s eyes widened.

Lux drove both daggers into the joints of his armor.

One through the shoulder.

One through the side.

Then he twisted and threw the man across the floor.

The fifth guard saw enough.

He ran.

Not toward the exit.

Toward the sealed doors.

Bad choice.

Lux disappeared.

Teleportation folded space.

He appeared directly in front of him.

The guard froze.

Lux’s red eyes glowed. “Where are you going?”

The demon attacked desperately.

Lux parried once.

Twice.

Third strike.

Lux trapped the sword between both daggers.

He twisted.

The weapon flew away.

The guard tried punching him.

Lux ducked.

His left dagger stabbed into the man’s forearm.

His right entered beneath his ribs.

He withdrew both.

Crossed them.

Then drove them through the guard’s chest from opposite angles.

The demon gasped.

Lux leaned close. “No one’s touching that princess again.”

He ripped the blades free.

The guard collapsed.

Silence slowly returned.

Behind Lux, the remaining royal soldiers were either unconscious, broken, or reconsidering their career decisions from the floor.

One was attempting to crawl.

Runa kicked his sword away.

Vaelor limped toward the guard he had been fighting.

The man was barely recognizable beneath broken armor.

Vaelor raised his fist.

Lux and Runa exchanged looks.

Vaelor punched him again.

-BAM!

Runa flinched.

Lux grimaced.

Vaelor lifted his fist.

Lux almost stopped him.

Then he saw Vaelor’s face.

The former knight wasn’t roaring anymore. He wasn’t trembling or fighting blindly. Somehow, that was worse. His expression had gone terrifyingly calm, as if several hundred years of rage had finally condensed into one very simple decision.

The guard beneath him coughed.

Vaelor’s fist came down.

-CRACK!

Silence.

He stood.

Another royal guard groaned nearby.

Vaelor turned toward him.

Runa glanced at Lux.

Lux glanced back.

Neither said a word.

They understood.

Vaelor had held himself back for centuries, not because he’d forgiven anyone, but because Kaelmor’s chains had stolen even his right to choose who deserved his anger.

Now those chains were gone.

Vaelor walked toward the second guard.

The demon tried crawling away.

He didn’t get far.

Vaelor seized his armor, dragged him backward, then delivered one brutal strike.

Done.

The third attempted to rise.

Vaelor’s boot slammed him down.

Another finishing blow.

Then the fourth.

No speeches.

Or mercy.

Just centuries of accumulated hatred finally reaching the people who had helped keep his princess imprisoned.

Runa’s ears lowered slightly.

She didn’t interfere.

Neither did Lux.

Vaelor eventually stopped.

His shoulders rose and fell heavily as he stood among Kaelmor’s dead guards, hands stained dark.

Lux simply flicked black blood from his twin daggers.

No comforting words.

They didn’t have time for either.

The princess was still behind that door.

Lux turned toward it. “Now.”

Runa joined him.

Vaelor followed, quieter now.

Lux crouched before the glowing seals. “We stop hitting the door like idiots.”

Runa frowned. “That was your idea.”

“Yes. And I’ve grown as a person in the last forty seconds.”

[Beginning Royal Seal Analysis.]

Symbols flooded his vision.

Authority locks.

Blood recognition.

Spatial anchors.

Regeneration seals.

And one particularly vicious retaliation formation.

Lux’s smile slowly returned.

Runa noticed. “That smile is never good.”

“For other people.” He rotated both daggers, pointing one toward the formation’s center. “Let’s find the lock.”