Chapter 635: The Plague of War (2)

The Hollow ..Pontiff Sulyvahn.

A knight whose origin was unknown, whose lineage was no one’s guess.

All anyone knew: he appeared from nowhere and drank deep of demon blood—so much that it drove him mad.

His body had never been fit to bear that blood, but he resisted on will alone—until the blood broke him, and he became a monster:

a mindless, superhuman knight who rips apart anything that comes near.

Now the entire Empire had heard his voice ..and felt the weight of his blade.

“Aaaaarrrrrgh! Aaaaarrrrrgh!”

The feral scream carried for miles, the Pontiff a walking nightmare on the field.

Many strong fighters tried to stop him ..to no avail. He butchered them all.

This section of the field was under Gal Varion Sunlight, younger brother of Iris Sunlight ..

a warrior of SS tier.

He was suppressed and crushed when he faced the Pontiff head-on.

Gal had brought several fighters of SS− and S+ ranks, thinking with their help they could pin down that mindless beast.

Reality proved far crueler. The Pontiff slaughtered them.

The battle was so brutal Gal lost an arm when he tried to wound and kill the Pontiff.

From the start, they erred in treating him as human; the Pontiff was closer to a demonic nightmare than a man.

Gal’s overwhelming defeat drew most capable fighters to his side to try and rein the Pontiff in ..

to no effect.

The Pontiff tore about like a rabid dog, carving through soldiers.

From the sky, dozens of ice lances rained down on his head ..but he shattered them all with a single sweep of his sword.

Seris Moonlight was there, wings unfurled as she kept to the air, pelting him with every kind of strike ..no use.

“Stop!”

From afar, someone shouted, sending a sonic wave that stunned the Pontiff for a heartbeat. In that brief opening,

Frost Moonlight lunged, driving his great spear Rimeshard for the Pontiff’s chest ..

but the ice Aura was completely blocked by the Pontiff’s armor, swathed in darkness.

The Pontiff snapped free at once and struck again ..

Frost was too weak to take the blow from that colossal blade, and luckily

he vanished from before the Pontiff as if by magic, the greatsword slamming into the earth instead.

In a blink, Frost reappeared behind him, teleporting to safety.

“Damn it! How are we supposed to kill this thing?!”

The one who teleported Frost wasn’t anyone but the witch Selena, wrath-cursed.

Raising her hand from afar toward the Pontiff, she gathered all her power.

“Aura Amplification: ×30!”

All across Selena’s body, sigils she had carved into her own skin flared to life…

Among the marks, the number 30 burned.

Power multiplied thirtyfold.

That vast force coalesced before the witch as a colossal blue flame, turning every head on the battlefield for a heartbeat—awed that a single girl could marshal so much Aura.

“Burn in hell!” Selena screamed ..

and with her cry the fire swelled monstrously, then shot forth as a titanic beam.

A torrent of flame that devoured everything in its path until it reached the Pontiff, swallowing him whole.

BOOOOM!!!

The blast echoed across the field, pillars of blue fire climbing into the sky in a breathtaking sight.

“Did it work?”

Many asked the same ..only to get their answer when the knight strode out of the flames, dragging his sword.

The blue fire burned over his armor, but did nothing except make him more terrifying.

Pontiff Sulyvahn turned this time toward Selena; her multiplied power had piqued his instincts.

Seeing those red eyes flare her way, fear seized Selena. She stumbled back and grabbed Dawn Polaris, who was near her, shoving him forward.

“Do something, good-luck charm!”

“Huh?!”

Dawn was there too…

Flustered, the “lucky duelist” had no idea what to do.

Selena hid behind him while the Pontiff broke into a run straight for them.

The mad knight’s speed was horrifying; in seconds he was on them.

“Quick! Do something!” Selena shrieked, smacking his back.

That only rattled him more.

“Even if you tell me to ..what exactly do you expect me to do against a monster like this?! He’s SS+!!!” Dawn blurted, sweating, as the Pontiff’s Aura pressure crashed down on him like thunder.

Clutching his sword, Dawn’s face turned to stone.

“Enough of this nonsense ..ready up!”

Beside them stood a short girl with white hair and green eyes ..

a familiar presence: their older former classmate, Ellen White.

She had helped a lot with her sonic abilities, but against someone like the Pontiff, her role was very limited.

Frost gripped his spear, ready to fight, and Seris backed them from the sky.

They were all gifted ..but against a beast like this,

it looked like they were going to be butchered today.

Gal Varion Sunlight watched from afar and tried to aid them ..

only to collapse, bloodied, after being crushed by the Pontiff.

“Damn it…”

Death was closing in fast.

“Come on, Dawn! Do it!” Selena shouted again.

“Do what, you damned bitch?! What do you think I am?!” Dawn snapped back, losing control.

“Huh?! Aren’t you the one who bragged you’d survive no matter what? Why are you acting like a cowardly gigolo now?!”

“It’s not up to me! I can’t control this ability!”

“Then make it happen! You’re out of time!”

While they bickered, the Pontiff had already arrived.

Frost and Seris tried to strike him, and Ellen bought them a few seconds more ..

but that was all they managed, and the Pontiff tore through everything they threw at him.

Charging like an animal, he leapt high and brought his colossal greatsword down toward them ..

a blow carrying the full might of a mindless SS+ knight.

It could easily have killed them both at once:

Dawn was weak, and Selena was a mage.

Even multiplied, her body was as fragile as Dawn’s.

All of it pointed to one outcome if they took the hit ..

death.

Death raced toward them.

“A miracle… we need a miracle,” Selena whispered.

“The age of miracles ended a long time ago,” Dawn answered, the Pontiff’s blade filling his eyes.

On the battlefield, there is nothing but death.

—or perhaps not.

Before Dawn and Selena’s widening eyes ..

and the shock of everyone nearby ..

the Pontiff’s massive sword stopped a few centimeters from Dawn’s face.

A heartbeat later, they realized a jet-black blade had caught it ..and not merely caught it.

SLASH!!!

With a stunning surge of violet Aura, the Pontiff was blasted backward, forced to stab his greatsword deep into the earth to keep from toppling.

He found himself right back where he’d started ..after taking a strike he hadn’t sensed and never expected.

Before Dawn and Selena, he appeared out of nowhere:

a man with long white hair and violet eyes blazing like coals.

After batting the Pontiff away, he turned to Dawn.

“What the hell were you two arguing about with the enemy in your faces?” he asked, baffled by the pair.

They both shouted at once, startled:

“Frey!”

The miracle had come.

“Back up, you two ..things are about to get violent,” Frey said with a wide smile that bared his thirst for blood.

With heavy steps, he started toward the Pontiff ..

and the real fight was about to begin.