Chapter 173: Blood and Iron vs. Hell (1)

Where could Master Lloyd be? That question had dominated Javier’s thoughts the most today.

To be precise, that question had dominated Javier’s thoughts for the past twenty minutes. He wanted to find his young master but couldn’t. From the moment he left the count’s manor and his lodging, he sprinted across the plaza and the main road, passing through every alley and opening every door within sight. Javier yelled until his voice gave way.

But Lloyd didn’t answer. All he heard were the desperate groans of the citizens in the streets. His heart grew hastier in those moments because he was forced to overlook them and because of his mission to find Master Lloyd any second faster.

He ran desperately as his heart sped. After some time, Javier noticed mana gathering to one point, and that was the wall that enclosed the city in an ominous manner. The absorbed mana was concentrated in one place. So he rushed there, hoping to find Lloyd there. He ran and ran until he arrived and saw.

“…” It was Cannavaro, the man responsible for this incident. Javier drew his sword the moment he discovered him from afar.

Swish! The sword in his hand glinted coldly. Cannavaro’s eyes widened in fright at the same time.

How is he okay?

Cannavaro’s heart sank when he saw the silver-haired knight that appeared in the distance. From the moment their eyes met, the former’s heart pounded violently, and his instinct yelled danger.

Sure, the wall is not working properly right now, and the mana absorption has been paused… But it was working properly until a while ago. So, the wall should have drained all his mana!

But strangely, the silver-haired man stood fine, collecting his breath slightly as if he’d rushed to get here. And he was holding a shiny sword that was shining brighter than his glowing eyes. The moment Cannavaro realized how dangerous the silver-haired man was—barely a second after their eyes met—he moved his hands at once.

“Hmph!”

His fingers and palms interlocked, and they pulled away again quickly. The mana was then connected, assembled, distorted, and torn according to consistent regulation and arrangement. And then, he pushed it in the air.

Fwoosh! A spatial door opened in front of his outstretched hands. Darkness within darkness. Perhaps the end of another dimension—hell. Something charged out of the door.

Clink! A metal chain composed of 13 links poured out. Each link was as large as a large tree trunk. There was more.

Cruuush! The chain swept through, and everything in the area crumbled to pieces. But it wasn’t because of its force and power. As though the chain could fast-forward time a thousand times, everything it touched became old, corroded, crumbled, and broke. The rocks, the earth, and the carriage… There was nothing left untouched. But Javier didn’t even bat an eye.

“…”

It was nothing. That was Javier’s take on the incoming chain. Next, his sword moved.

…!

There was no sound or flash. It was just a horizontal cut, and everything that charged toward him split in half. The chain and its fierceness were cut in one stroke. Everything the sword slashed and touched emitted a brilliant light.

Crackle! The aura that developed all of a sudden snapped the chain. It swept through the space and added more momentum to its movement. When Cannavaro saw it happen, he immediately turned and ran toward the public hall without looking back once. It was only natural that he did because he knew that he would die if he hovered around this place. That much was clear to him.

Crap! Is that a dragon or something?!

Cannavaro hurriedly opened the door to the public hall as a thought crossed his mind. Is he a sword master? No. Even a sword master was incapable of doing that, which was creating an aura that cut through his strongest dark magic in one stroke right after having his mana drained for nearly an hour inside the wall.

I don’t know who he is, but he’s not just a simple sword master. He may not be a human, to begin with.

Cannavaro couldn’t think of anything else. But his misunderstanding was truly only natural. After all, he was ignorant of Javier’s arrival in the city as Lloyd had kept his visit here unofficial and discreet. Lloyd and his delegation simply joined Lady Namaran and her delegation to get here, and after such a quiet arrival, Lloyd proceeded with the construction right away. As such, Cannavaro never learned that a renowned silver-haired knight lodged in this city worked in his soup kitchen, and came here to execute the former. Although Cannavaro knew nothing of this, one thing was clear. He was in a crisis.

I’m going to lose unless I do something.

Cannavaro had no doubt that he’d be done for. After all, the previous magic was the best he could come up with, but it was sliced in one stroke. No tricks or gimmicks would be enough to overpower the silver-haired man.

Then…

Cannavaro’s gaze moved nervously toward the center of the main hall, particularly to the fallen angel sculpture. It was covered with shamanistic symbols drawn in blood.

“…”

Hell’s Knight. Cannavaro wondered if he should summon it now. But the wall was broken, and mana wasn’t enough. There could be complications even if he summoned it.

But if I don’t summon it right now… I’ll die.

His deliberation was short-lived, and the decision was made in no time. Cannavaro placed his hand on the sculpture, which was all ready for a ritual minus the final activation. Starting the summoning rite was easy, as all he had to do was imbue some mana into his hand. That was enough.

Ziiing!

The bloody symbols marked all over the sculpture beamed with a scary light, and at the same time, a legion of mysterious ghosts appeared and floated around, emitting light as they wiggled, surged, rose, yelled, and convulsed. And at last, the sculpture shrunk and burst.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

Cannavaro was knocked to the ground after one of the rocks that splattered following the explosion hit him. Though his wounded forehead bled profusely, he didn’t even think of wiping it off. He instead looked up and checked the creature he had just summoned.

“Hell’s Knight…”

Psssh… A dark fog flowed down from the marble display where the sculpture once stood before the explosion. A red glow, which came from its eyes, glimmered, and it looked around in one breath and removed the fog on the second breath, finally revealing its form. But there was something off about it.

“What…”

Cannavaro scowled as his gaze hurriedly studied the whole length of the knight’s body. When the dark fog that veiled the creature cleared, Cannavaro could easily spot its defects. It wasn’t riding the Horse of Hell. It lacked one arm and leg. In other words, it was single-armed and legged and without a horse.

“Arggh! What the heck?!”

Cannavaro wrapped and squeezed his head with his hands in despair. I’m doomed! He shouted internally. As expected, it was all due to the mana absorption glitch in the wall. It had failed to sufficiently collect mana, and there wasn’t enough to summon a proper Hell’s Knight.

But still! How?!

All the effort and money he had invested up to this point and his grand plan waiting to be achieved popped into his head. Despair. His legs gave way, and he keeled over. And he looked up at the lacking Hell’s Knight with a disappointed gaze. Just then…

“Did you do all this to summon that?”

A voice rang aloud in the public hall. It was Javier, who was already inside. He was frowning, his steps careful and alert. And his gaze was fixated on Hell’s Knight.

“…”

As Javier stared at Hell’s Knight, it also turned its gaze at him. Blue eyes and red eyes. Their gazes met. The next moment, they were already clashing their swords. They had understood from the moment their eyes locked that the other was an enemy.

Clack! The long silvery sword clashed with the black two-handed sword. The brilliant aura collided with the cursed energy. These contrasting characters initiated an unyielding power struggle, and the moment their swords struck one another, the impact created a massive storm that swept across the whole area. Javier’s eyes widened.

“…!”

Its force was beyond his imagination, and his sword nearly moved backward. But something else was more surprising.

From my hands to my shoulders, my bones are sore.

Javier furrowed as he recalled the clash a moment ago. Right when their swords collided, icy energy traveled from its sword body and entered him, penetrating into his skin as deep as his muscle tissues and marrows. It invaded his system as it followed the veins upward from his elbow. Had Javier failed to rotate the mana circle right after he sensed the invasion and pushed it away with intense mana pressure, his heart would have been seriously damaged.

He’s a powerful foe.

The knight wasn’t just any other strong undead or skeleton soldier. It wasn’t to be taken lightly because it lacked an arm and leg. With only one clash, Javier managed to almost precisely identify its capacity.

It’s as strong as me.

It became clear to Javier that this knight was more powerful than an ordinary sword master like Queen Magentano. There should be two or three of her kind to put up a fight. This meant that if this hellish creature came with both arms and legs, Javier would not stand a chance, either.

But not now.

Javier was certain that he could do it. He could. Convicted, Javier’s blue eyes flashed with fierce determination. His sword became more precise and violent by a notch.

Thud! Twang!

Javier, the knight of blood and iron, attacked his enemy without any mercy. When Hell’s Knight sliced, he whammed from the other side to change the direction upward, and when it tried to defend the attack, Javier stabbed it.

“…!”

Hell’s Knight’s skull jerked violently, and it wondered if all humans on earth were like this man. It was thrown into such confusion as the very first human it fought after landing on the earth was no other than Javier.

“What the…”

It had heard that humans were weak. So, it was convinced that no one in this world would ever be enough to stop it even though it came in imperfect shape and could only harness half of its original power. Unfortunately, its conviction shattered within a minute when its rib was slashed by a sword.

Crash! The long silvery sword slashed through Hell’s Knight’s chest, and the armor and ribs fell to the ground. But of course, Hell’s Knight wasn’t going to stay still and let this human attack so freely.

“…!”

It shouted the language of hell and wielded its sword, creating a cursed shockwave that swept across the whole area in front of it. But Javier didn’t bother to evade the attack. Instead, he simply accepted it head-on.

Swing! Javier started to stab the air at lightning speed with his long sword, the sheer speed turning the sword invisible. Next, he calmly used the mana blast to pierce the shockwaves Hell’s Knight produced. Javier stretched his hands further, aiming at the skull of his enemy. The mana blast was fired and pierced its skull.

Crack! The mana blast penetrated the front of Hell’s Knight’s helmet, digging further into its skull. And at last, it was shattered to pieces.

“…!”

Hell’s Knight’s whole body convulsed now that its head was gone. And a second later…

Clank! Its sword fell from its hand. The entire joint fell apart to the ground like a sand castle collapsing. This was the moment when Hell’s Knight, the very knight from hell who overpowers sword masters, was reduced to ashes.

“What is…”

Cannavaro gaped, his mouth hanging down wide open. He couldn’t even blink. The clash between Javier and Hell’s Knight had involved a complicated exchange of attacks and defenses, but to an untrained eye like Cannavaro’s, it merely lasted a few seconds. As such, from Cannavaro’s perspective, the very creature he worked so hard to summon was ultimately reduced to a pile of bones after only lasting for a few seconds.

Am I… having a nightmare?

Cavannaro kneeled over to the ground as strength left his legs. Gutted, he looked up at the silver-haired knight who was approaching.

“If you had committed a common serious felony, it would be only proper to execute you on the spot,” announced Javier gravely. “But you committed too many crimes, so you must be taken into custody in the palace.”

“…”

The long sword was now pointing at Cannavaro. He gulped as he saw its tip.

Where in the world…

Where in the world did this monster come from? Cannavaro could not believe he wasn’t dreaming as he looked at Javier. That sense of shock and daze was actually understandable. Javier was perfectly fine even when he was currently inside the noctanium wall. And even though it had defects, he was able to easily defeat Hell’s Knight. Even though he saw everything with his own eyes, it still seemed unrealistic.

Is he a dragon pretending to be a human? No, that’s just not possible. A dragon will never intervene in human affairs without reason. If so… If so… Hold on, is he…?

Cannavaro paused. After straining himself to restore composure and racking his brain, Cannavaro remembered something.

Javier Asrahan.

He had heard of the name. Javier was said to be a young sword master that appeared from nowhere and was stronger than the queen. It was also rumored that he was gorgeous with silvery hair, which resembled a constellation. And now, the very monster that was approaching him with a sword in hand fit the description very well.

But what’s he doing here?

There was no way that Cannavaro would not have known Javier Asrahan came to the city. Could it be, Cannavaro mused, that he came here on an unofficial visit? Could it be that he had seen through the revolt in advance? There was no way of answering. But he didn’t despair, for his eyes spotted something behind Javier just when he thought the end had come.

“Haha, ha!”

The corners of Cannavaro’s lips rose involuntarily. A pile of black bone was regenerating on its own and getting back on its feet behind Javier.

Crack… Crack…! The Hell’s Knight’s black skull helmet was restored in no time. And now, its eyes held a glint of more menacing hostility.