Chapter 183: The Red Demon (2)

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Both of them disappeared.

It was as though Asterion's final roar had been the signal for the battle to resume.

They charged straight toward each other.

Both were engulfed in the blazing aura of High Kings.

The black katana collided with the massive sword.

Dozens of strikes were exchanged within mere moments.

The divine sword wielded by the Golden Dawn Knight contained far greater power than Asterion's black katana, but the Uncrowned Emperor compensated for the difference by concentrating an enormous amount of aura along the edge of his blade.

Their auras collided before their swords even touched.

The deafening shriek of grinding metal echoed throughout the hall.

Their feet sank into the ground as both tried to anchor themselves against the other's strength.

The Golden Dawn Knight attacked with overwhelming violence and tremendous power.

Asterion answered with skill and speed.

The spear he had wielded earlier was already gone.

In its place, another sword had appeared, this one possessing a transparent blade.

Weapons the Uncrowned Emperor kept stored inside a rare dimensional artifact, allowing him to summon his personal arsenal whenever he wished.

Only a minute had passed since they entered close combat, yet the two were already engulfed within a whirlwind of swords. Cutting arcs flew in every direction, carving through pillars, floors, and walls alike until the ceiling finally collapsed above their heads, threatening to bury them alive.

Neither of them cared.

They simply continued fighting amid the falling debris.

The Golden Dawn Knight clearly possessed greater raw power. His sword was terrifyingly heavy, and for some reason, the amount of aura at his disposal was several times greater than that of the Uncrowned Emperor.

But Asterion was the superior swordsman.

He was faster as well, and the control granted by his Blessing allowed him to wield his aura with far greater efficiency, easily compensating for the difference in raw power between them.

The two clashed for a long time, trapped in a deadlock where neither could seize the upper hand.

But after hundreds of exchanges, the differences between them gradually began to show.

At first, neither had been capable of landing a single clean hit on the other.

Slowly, however, attacks began slipping through.

And that change did not favor Asterion.

Even when his strikes landed, they crashed against an impossibly durable layer of golden armor.

The Golden Dawn Knight's attacks, on the other hand, fell directly upon the Uncrowned Emperor's body.

Asterion's Aura Armor was powerful enough to reduce the damage, but against attacks of that magnitude, it couldn't negate it entirely.

Little by little, the damage accumulated.

And within only a few minutes…

The Uncrowned Emperor found himself bleeding from dozens of wounds.

"What's wrong, hunter?"

Aldrich's voice slipped into Asterion's ears amid the violent exchange between him and the Golden Dawn Knight.

"Are you already beginning to fall this easily?"

Gradually, the golden cutting arcs overwhelmed the crimson ones.

The Uncrowned Emperor took one step backward.

Then another.

Then a third.

Asterion was slowly losing.

"You boasted so much and let arrogance consume you simply because you possessed power slightly beyond that of your peers…"

Aldrich's voice echoed through the ruined hall.

"But compared to the might of the Golden Dawn Knight, you are nothing more than an insignificant existence!"

SLASH!!!

Asterion suffered a deeper wound this time.

The number of injuries covering his body began increasing at a horrifying rate until the hunter clothes covering his upper body were completely shredded away, revealing flesh bleeding from nearly a hundred wounds.

Asterion's physique was impressive for a man so advanced in age.

But it wasn't made of iron.

At the end of the day, he was still flesh and blood.

His superior skill had failed to give him the advantage.

His swordsmanship was better.

In fact, he had landed more blows on the Golden Dawn Knight than he himself had received.

But his opponent's armor had made all the difference.

Not one of the brilliant sword strikes Asterion had unleashed managed to penetrate it.

Every single one was repelled.

The Uncrowned Emperor remained completely absorbed in the battle, struggling so fiercely to hold his ground that he failed to notice something.

His back had touched the wall.

The same wall that had once been so far behind him was now pressed against his back after the Golden Dawn Knight had forced him across that entire distance.

Cornered... Asterion looked miserable.

His disheveled hair hung over his face, while his battered body seemed almost insignificant before the opponent who had driven him there.

A knight who had continued radiating overwhelming power from beginning to end.

"It's over."

Aldrich declared through the knight's cold voice.

The divine golden sword erupted with an enormous amount of aura.

Then the Golden Dawn Knight thrust forward with tremendous force, piercing through the old man's shattered defense.

The Golden Dawn Knight's sword plunged through Asterion's chest.

Blood spilled onto the ruined floor beneath them.

For a moment…

It truly seemed as though the battle had ended.

After all, that had been a killing blow delivered by a great warrior standing at the very peak of the High King Rank.

And yet…

The old man didn't fall.

"Hehehehehe…"

The Golden Dawn Knight's crimson eyes slowly widened.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The monster looking through those eyes couldn't understand what it was seeing.

The old man standing before him…

Was laughing.

At first, Asterion's laughter was little more than a wet, bloody rattle crawling from the depths of his throat.

Then it grew louder.

And louder.

Until it became a deranged cackle echoing through the ruins.

Blood poured from his mouth with every breath, yet that only made the horrifying scene unfolding before Aldrich even more terrifying.

Aldrich was so stunned by the laughter itself that he failed to notice the strange transformation taking place before his eyes.

Hot steam began rising from Asterion's body.

It was as though his flesh had been forged from a raging inferno.

The blood covering him concealed the change at first, causing Aldrich to realize far too late that the old man's skin had turned crimson red.

The Golden Dawn Knight's senses suddenly screamed.

A tremendous danger was approaching.

He immediately tried to retreat.

But a red hand closed around the blade of his divine sword and prevented him from moving away.

Asterion was gripping a blade containing the power of a High King with his bare hand.

And somehow…

That hand possessed enough strength to hold the sword completely still.

The old man slowly raised his head, finally revealing his face to his opponent.

Burning crimson skin.

Bloodshot eyes so completely flooded with red that not a trace of white remained.

He looked like something that had crawled straight out of hell.

For a moment, even Aldrich could no longer tell which of them was the monster…

And which was the human.

The black katana and transparent sword had completely vanished from Asterion's hands.

In their place, an ancient sword appeared.

Its blade had been eaten away by rust.

And with that weapon in hand, the Uncrowned Emperor fully entered that strange form.

"Did you say it was over?"

Asterion's bloodied face split into a vicious grin.

"What exactly is over?"

His fingers tightened around the rusted sword.

"This is only the beginning!!!"

The crimson monster grinned.

"The gates of hell have only just opened!!"

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The Golden Dawn Knight went flying.

A single swing of a rusted sword, delivered by what should have been a dying old man, blasted him away with overwhelming force.

The Golden Dawn Knight tore through one cathedral wall after another under the sheer power of the blow before finally managing to regain control of himself.

But he wasn't even given time to breathe.

Asterion had already leaped after him.

The Golden Dawn Knight gathered his aura, reinforced his sword, and thrust forward.

Asterion did the same.

Their swords passed beside one another.

Both attacks landed directly.

The impact sent them flying in opposite directions.

The Golden Dawn Knight endured the crushing blow of the rusted sword thanks to his armor.

But the true surprise waited on the opposite side.

Asterion was standing there as well.

Without any sign of injury from the strike he had just taken.

That crimson skin was hard.

Terrifyingly hard.

As though his flesh itself had become armor.

And at that moment, as Asterion smiled at him once again…

The Golden Dawn Knight finally understood just how powerful his opponent truly was.

The Uncrowned Emperor.

It was a title Asterion had only received during the final years of his life, after he had already stepped away from the battlefield.

But during the days when he had still been active…

During the height of his glory…

His true title had been something else entirely.

Asterion... The Red Demon !

The monster who left nothing but dismembered corpses behind, no matter which battlefield he stepped onto.