Isabella, who had been watching the situation tensely from the watchtower, was shocked.
“What on earth is that…?”
“Uh…”
Isabella turned her head at the irritated voice coming from beside her and flinched.
“That crazy clown bastard!”
There was a sinister glint in his eyes that were previously always playful.
“I knew it!”
He could already guess what he was up to when he saw his wrist was stained black.
But he never imagined that he’d actually taunt a dragon with a ga of ‘catch if you can’.
Llewellyn tensely took out a new magic stone and picked up his bow again.
His face looked like he wanted to blow Arendt’s head off at any mont, but his arrow was pointed at the ghouls that were clutching the knights’ ankles.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew with a loud crash and pierced the ghouls’ heads.
“Sister!”
“Yes yes!”
Isabella answered with a start. Llewellyn picked up another arrow and continued speaking quickly.
“Honestly, I don’t think anyone will die to a dragon in this place, right?”
“Ha, but in that state, isn’t Sir Arendt in danger?”
“Of course it’s dangerous!”
Llewellyn suddenly burst in anger.
Before ti runs out, Nikephoros must capture Arendt and stabilize his magic.
That was the winning condition Arendt had set.
Arendt’s current situation was no different from wrapping gunpowder around his body and lighting the fuse.
Isabella muttered in confusion.
“Why on earth would Sir Arendt do such a thing…”
If he was captured by Nikephoros, he would suffer worse than death.
But even if he didn’t catch him, he would still be eaten by magic and die.
Either way, his life was at stake, so it was a deal where Arendt had nothing to gain.
Llewellyn answered sarcastically.
“Sister, that bastard would never make a bet he could lose.”
“Yes?”
“At the end of this fucking clown show, there is clearly an outco that Arendt wants.”
In case people didn’t believe his words that he was going to kill himself, Arendt took the crazy step of imposing a ti limit on his own body.
Taking this much risk clearly ant that there was a way to repay it several tis over.
“This ans that it is a ga of tag that Nikephoros cannot help but lose.”
Knowing that, Llewellyn and the Knights had no choice but to go along with Arendt’s plan.
Isabella was dumbfounded.
It was ridiculous to gamble his life against a dragon.
‘But you’re saying you’ll follow that without complaint?’
Even though trusting one another is a basic quality of the Knights, this level of trust seed like nothing short of madness.
But there was no ti to think long.
“Anyway, you’re saying we have to protect Sir Arendt? If Sir Arendt is captured, is it okay to assu that we’ll all die at the hands of that dragon?”
She decided to put aside all distracting thoughts and go with the flow.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
As Llewellyn nodded, Isabella imdiately gave the order.
“Royal Knights! Go down and help the Imperial Knights!”
There weren’t many ghouls left now.
The strong entities were being sorted out by the Imperial Knights, and the elven archers were keeping them in check from above, so the Royal Knights could easily lend a hand at this point.
“Yes!”
The Royal Knights, including Neville, rushed down.
The elf archers also began to fire arrows again with anxious expressions on their faces.
Crunch!
Arendt cut down the ghoul blocking his way.
After a brief struggle, the ghoul beca an ice statue and collapsed, but without a second glance, Arendt continued to charge forward.
“Catch that bastard and lock him up sowhere!”
“What the hell is wrong with that bastard! Why is he always like this!”
The curses the knights were hurling from behind sounded surprisingly lively.
It seed like everyone was properly worked up.
“Sir Arendt will live a very long life. I guarantee it. Maybe even longer than I, an elf.”
Zakar, who was moving next to him, said sothing that could be either a complint or an insult.
Arendt responded nonchalantly.
“I guess so. I’ve been cursed at so much that I feel full even without eating.”
“Even knowing that, you still do this…”
The mont Zakar, who was about to shout in shock, suddenly…
Kwaaang!
A trendous explosion was heard from behind them.
They glanced back and saw Nikephoros, who had shaken off Laius, quickly approaching them.
“…!”
The mont he realized that Nikephoros’ gaze was on them, Zakar reflexively pushed Arendt away and lifted his sword.
Kwaaang!
Before he had a chance to glance at his opponent, a strong shock swept through his entire body.
“Huh!”
Nikephoros looked down at the elf blocking him with cold, sunken eyes.
The mont he t the sharp, slit-shaped eyes, Zakar felt a chill run down his spine.
“…”
Instinctive fear stirred within him in the face of the enraged dragon.
But Zakar clenched his teeth.
Nikephoros smiled bitterly as venom began to form in the elf’s eyes.
“Wow… this is pretty good.”
Although Arendt von Eckhart’s actions may have removed the threat of death from his life, it would not have been easy to overco his instinctive fear.
Zakar glared at Nikephoros with sharp eyes.
“Elf Warriors do not back down.”
“How noble.”
Nikephoros burst out in an incredulous laugh, but his face changed to an expressionless mask in an instant.
“Even if I can’t kill you right away…”
Nikephoros easily shook off Zakar.
Overwheld by a force too much to handle, Zakar lost his balance in an instant.
“…!”
And Nikephoros didn’t miss that opportunity.
“Cutting off a leg isn’t that difficult.”
A chilling voice echoed. Sensing the danger, Zakar hurriedly rolled to the ground just as a golden strike flew toward him.
But that strike was blocked by Laius who intervened in the middle.
Kaaaaang!
The power of the Holy Sword and the dragon’s magic collided, and a loud cracking sound tore through the air.
The sword wrapped in pure white divine energy hesitated for a mont, but then soon destroyed the golden sword energy.
“…”
Zakar, who witnessed the scene with his own eyes, lost his mind for a mont.
The remnants of golden magic glittered and scattered into the air.
In the midst of it, Laius stood firm, his Holy Sword held upright as he stared directly at the enemy.
“Is a hero truly a hero?”
Nikephoros shot him a cold, silent glare before bursting into a hollow laugh.
Instead of answering, Laius drew the power of the artifact, the Shadow of the Strong, to its limit, and kicked off the ground.
The ground split open with a crack.
Laius, who had approached Nikephoros in the blink of an eye, swung his sword, imbued with pure white divine power, with a wide arc.
Nikephoros blocked the attack without showing any sign of surprise.
Kwaaang!
The swords clashed, and once again a trendous shockwave shook the air.
Laius said coldly.
“Your opponent is .”
“Sorry, but you can play with later.”
Nikephoros responded with a blank expression and lightly waved the hand that wasn’t holding the sword.
“I was a little annoyed by your crazy subordinate.”
Then, a bright red magic circle appeared at Laius’ feet.
“Huh!”
The mont Laius abruptly kicked the ground and stepped back, a bright red fla shot up as if it were going to engulf him.
Laius, who had been distanced helplessly, raised his head again to look for Nikephoros, but he was already walking towards Arendt.
“Damn it!”
A desperate Laius chased after him, and Zakar, who has also recovered, joined him.
But Nikephoros was faster.
He cast a teleportation spell and was in front of Arendt’s nose in the blink of an eye.
“Got you.”
“Wow!”
When Nikephoros suddenly appeared, Arendt quickly veered off course from the direction he had been running in.
However, it was already too late. Nikephoros extended his hand toward Arendt.
At that mont…
Whoosh!
An arrow shot from sowhere skimd Nikephoros’ cheek as it flew past.
“…”
Nikephoros paused and turned his head in the direction from which the arrow had flown.
He saw the prince with a tense expression on his face, nocking the next arrow on his bow.
The familiar aura of an artifact emanated from him.
It was an object that Nikephoros had carved from his own bones and given to Blake as a gift.
“Fire!”
Isabella shouted.
The elven archers, who had finished preparing for the attack once again, fired their arrows at Nikephoros all at once.
A great number of flaming arrows poured down like rain toward him.
“Tsk.”
Nikephoros clicked his tongue once and waved his hand.
A strong gust of wind swept across the battlefield, and the arrows all fell to the ground, unable to maintain their flight.
It took only a few seconds to neutralize dozens of arrows.
But that was enough ti for Laius to catch up.
“…Unbelievable.”
Nikephoros frowned at the sound of soone approaching from behind.
“You’re annoying.”
Kaaaaang!
Nikephoros turned his back and, without a mont’s hesitation, twisted his sword to block Laius’ strike.
Then he flicked his fingers at Zakar, who was rushing at him from the front.
As a dazzling magic circle appeared in the air, a powerful gust of wind struck Zakar’s entire body, slamming him back to the ground.
“Cough!”
Blood burst out of Zakar’s mouth due to the strong impact.
In the anti, Arendt was running away again.
No matter how fast he ran, it was aningless to the dragon Nikephoros. And yet he wondered.
As he watched his retreating back, he gradually beca less and less at ease.
As ti went by, he began to realize how ridiculous it was to be helplessly played by a human brat.
“Hah!”
Nikephoros, who let out a scoff, suddenly unleashed a flash of light.
Laius, sensing the danger, quickly moved away, but was unable to avoid being caught in the aftermath of the explosion.
“Ugh!”
The intense heat left burns on the back of the hand gripping the sword and the arm supporting it.
His blackened uniform slowly began to turn red.
But Laius had no ti to tend to his own wounds.
He suddenly raised his head and realized that Nikephoros had disappeared.
“Arendt!”
Arendt stopped when he heard Laius’ scream.
The next mont, Arendt saw a golden light shimring before his eyes.
Nikephoros, who had cast teleportation, suddenly appeared right in front of Arendt.
“…!”
Arendt stopped in his tracks.
Instead of a sword, Nikephoros swung a hand with sharp claws and scales at him.
It was a beautiful yet creepy sight.
But there was no ti to lose one’s mind.
“Fuck!”
Arendt stopped the attack by hurriedly grabbing the corpse of a ghoul.
Phew!
The ghoul’s body, already shattered, turned to ash in an instant, accompanied by the acrid sll of burning.
In the brief mont he gained, Arendt forcefully unleashed the Frosty Touch.
“For soone who’s lived for hundreds of years, just because a child teased …”
A fierce cold wind swept around Arendt, as if protecting him, and a sword, frozen white, flew toward Nikephoros.
Kaaaaang!
Nikephoros’ one arm, covered in hard scales, clashed head-on with Arendt’s sword.
The attack was easily blocked, but Arendt paid it no mind and grinned.
“You shouldn’t get genuinely angry. How shaless. Don’t you even care about your pride?”
There was no sign of tension or fear on the apprentice knight’s face.
There was only a blatant sneer and a cynicism that matched well with the Frosty Touch.
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