664 A SEAL?
The voice came from the sky while Devan was approaching imminent death, and Ilia Perli was sent flying. The soldiers, gobkins, and shadows were still fighting the Skywalkers when they realized that the Calamity Spider was descending.
Amelio and the rest stared at the descending metallic monster and watched runic circles appear on top of it. Then, the voice addressed the Skywalkers fighting against the soldiers and Arthur’s followers.
“Those who came from the other world and followed the Fallen God Amelio,” said the voice from within the airship. “I have been to Alka, so I understand better than anyone on Earth that you have been forced to do this by the calamity. However, you have invaded this place and harmed the citizens. Retreat at once, or the onslaught will begin.”
After that, the voice was quiet. Amelio stared at the sky with a smile before turning toward the Skywalkers. The flying demi-humans were confused about what to do because they could even feel the threatening aura coming from the airship.
“Serpent,” called Amelio, the giant monster standing behind him. It has remained still all this while and has been standing idle. It hissed as Amelio called for it, and the sound made their skin crawl, penetrating their hearts. “Take that down,” said the fallen god while pointing at the sky.
“Hissssss~”
The giant serpent and boss of Avarice dungeon loudly hissed while slithering across the city. Its scales destroyed whatever came underneath it, grinding everything to nothing and flattening the path it took.
“Hissss!” the serpent’s head was as tall as a building and just as wide. Furthermore, the length of its body was over three hundred meters. Its shadow covered the battlefield as it rose in the air to meet the airship.
“What is that airship?” asked Fey with a frown. “It looks familiar, but I haven’t seen it before. It has been hovering over the city for a while, so I thought it belonged to the enemy.”
“It is the opposite,” said Ilia Perli, who suffered the last attack of Amelio. His shirt was torn apart, and his neck was covered with blood leaking from his mouth. “You asked about the wound on his back, right?”
“The wound that is still bleeding?” asked Fey with confusion. “Is it inflicted by the voice owner?”
“It is indeed. That was the only attack that managed to harm Amelio and could not be regenerated. The one who caused it also rose toward the airship, and he is also the current enemy of the world: a world-class criminal!”
“You are no longer needed to entertain me,” said Amelio as he threw Devan toward the two while still staring at the sky. “You are finally back, Silvera!”
“Silvera?” muttered Fey as she caught Devan in time, ensuring he didn’t sustain any serious injuries. “That familiar name belongs to….”
“That is right,” nodded Ilia Perli as he raised his head toward the sky. His back was covered with scars as he looked at the calamity spider and gave a bitter laugh. “Our greatest hope, and enemy, is the nineteen-year-old genius, Arthur Silvera!”
“Isn’t he dead…?” muttered Fey with confusion before she turned toward the calamity spider. “Older brother mentioned that he lost tracks of….”
“Hiss!” interrupted the serpent as it rose to meet the airship. It opened its mouth to gather a purple liquid that had smoke around it. Then, it launched it toward the airship.
“Corrosive poison?” said a voice from above, and a figure was standing on the flying airship. “I have fought you once before, in different circumstances,” said the figure as he raised his arm. “Barrier!”
A barrier appeared after hearing his command, blocking the poison shot that almost covered the entirety of the airship. Instead, the poison began to fall on the ground, burning through the pavement it met and killing the soldiers it touched.
“Is that all you can do, serpent?” said the person who came out of the airship, raising his hand again. “If so, then this is where you die!”
“That is… Arthur Silvera!” muttered Fey with a shaky voice as she managed to glimpse the man’s appearance atop the airship. “He is truly alive… how can this be…?”
“More than anything, wasn’t he just a runic genius?” said Devan as he sat crossed-legged on the ground. “How can he wound a man we failed to take down?”
“It seems that none of you watched the broadcast,” said Ilia Perli. “It saddens me, but this man can never be an ally anymore. He is a criminal that the whole world will start hunting him down.”
“Runic Arrays,” said Arthur Silvera as he waved his hands. “Assemble, aim, and…,” said the sorcerer with his fingers dancing. The runes on the airship began to light up and gather, forming a giant circle. Then, the genius aimed his finger like a gun toward the serpent with a playful grin, “Bam!”
As he pointed at the serpent, light gathered on the circle. When he fired, a light beam pierced below the serpent’s neck, making it howl in rage. The hissing and deep screeches shook the world, but the sorcerer did not seem to notice as he jumped toward the serpent.
“Show me the fruit of your training, Lilo!” shouted Arthur toward the dragon that appeared behind it and raced to merge with its owner. Ilia Perli gaped at the scene where the dragon entered Arthur Silvera’s body and changed it.
A pair of wings appeared on Arthur’s back before scales covered most of his body. His eyes were now of different colors, one violet and another golden. As for his hands, they resembled those of dragons.
“A Draconic Rider?” said Amelio as he stared at Arthur Silvera, grinning, revealing his fangs. “There should be a limit to how much this man can have trump cards. It is getting absurd.”
“I cannot help but agree,” said Ilia Perli in shock. “The Yalen King must be notified of this man’s abilities, or we will end up giving the throne to him in no time.”
“Do not antagonize him,” said Fey as she took out a pin. “He is the man who shall dictate the fate of the world. Please be there, older brother….”
Ilia Perli stared at the pin in her hand and watched it glow. Then, the White Fairy began talking to someone and telling him about Arthur Silvera before their conversation ended.
Turning their eyes toward the fight, they found the airship raining attacks on the serpent while Arthur Silvera dived toward Amelio. The Fallen God retracted his right hand, held it with his right, and waited for the Draconic Rider to arrive.
“Dodge it, Silver Boy!” shouted Devan toward Arthur, but the latter did not listen. Instead, he dived right toward Amelio, who struck again with his fist. This time, it was the embodiment of destruction.
Boom!
The fist broke through the sound barrier when it began to move, making it impossible to be seen. The moment it stopped, the air pressure exploded upward, sending a shockwave that left a deep crater around Amelio.
Devan rushed forward to help Arthur Silvera because the latter’s interference saved his life earlier. However, Arthur suddenly turned into a violet streak of light while passing through the shockwave and diving toward Amelio.
Arthur materialized again when he arrived next to the Fallen God and clawed at Amelio. The attack was not only fast but unpredictable. Three deep marks appeared on Amelio’s forearm, but the man had a grin. Before he could turn into a streak of light again, Arthur was punched in the chest, which sent him flying toward the four defenders.
“Careful!” shouted Devan as he stopped Arthur, whose feet left deep trails in the ground as he slid across the pavement. The scales which received the attack began to fall off while Arthur coughed blood.
“I guess not even a dragon can match Amelio,” said Ilia Perli toward Arthur with a complex gaze. “You still did more than any of us, Arthur Silvera.”
“I achieved my goal, old man,” said Arthur with a smile as he stood up without Devan’s help. “I found a way to not only defeat this man but kill him. First, however, we need to push him to the extremes.”
“Push him to the extremes?” frowned Ilia Perli. “If we corner a mouse, it might become a threat. If we corner a god, even if we can, it might end the world.”
“It might indeed end the world as we know it,” grinned Arthur while wiping the blood from his lips. “But we need to make this man remove the seal holding him back.”
“…a seal?”
“…a seal?”
“…a seal?”
“…A SEAL?”
The three of them asked in unison before Azkavan snapped his eyes open and jumped to ask. Arthur was surprised by the unconscious man jumping, but he nodded nonetheless.
“…did you all think that this was all of his strength? This man has double the stats of the mythical empyrean-rank, not to mention Astra-rankers. If he used those stats, a single punch would flatten Kera.”