Chapter 47: A Luxury Buffet!
Kyo’s roar rolled across the battlefield like a lion’s challenge, carrying a trace of pressure that made the air itself tremble.
High above, the Golden Dragon Falcon answered at once.
Its dark golden wings snapped open.
Tens of thousands of feathers turned into narrow golden blades, sealing every path around Kyo.
At the same time, the Abyssal Blackscale Python surged forward like a moving mountain. Thick violet Mental Force poured from its eyes and spread through the air like fog.
The Shadow Fiend vanished between shadow and reality, flickering from one gap to another until its hooked claws appeared behind Kyo’s neck.
Three peak Rank Five beast kings.
All attacking together.
"Hmph."
Kyo raised the greatsword in a slanting arc.
Clang!
The impact rang through the clouds.
Golden feathers collided with black steel and shattered by the thousands. The Golden Dragon Falcon cried out as blades sharp enough to cut diamond broke against that single upward swing.
Kyo did not stop.
He twisted in midair, one hand closing around empty space.
A blazing pillar of Vital Force surged skyward.
Then the sword came down again.
Visible shock waves rolled from the edge and crashed into the Abyssal Blackscale Python’s skull.
Boom!
The earth caved in beneath the force, leaving a pit ten meters deep.
Scales burst from the python’s head.
It was not mortally wounded, but the sheer power of the blow drove its massive body into the ground.
The Shadow Fiend fared no better.
Its claws had not yet touched Kyo when a violent field of Vital Force slammed it away.
Kyo hovered above the battlefield, greatsword resting in one hand.
"That is all you have?"
"And you thought you could enter Norcrest?"
One against three.
Evenly matched.
Perhaps more than evenly.
At the center of the battlefield, power tore through the air.
But along the edge of that clash, Joren had no intention of retreating.
The remaining peak Rank Four commanders had sensed danger the moment the beast kings arrived.
They understood one thing very clearly.
When monsters at that level fought, everything nearby died.
So the lord class Voidbeasts had used the dust and chaos as cover, fleeing the instant Kyo landed.
By now, they were already gone.
Joren watched the direction they had escaped, a trace of mockery in his eyes.
The lords had gotten away.
The beast kings were tied down by Kyo.
But the Voidbeasts below Rank Four had not escaped yet.
"If Rank Four is off the table..."
He ran his tongue across his lips.
"Then I will use all of you to fill the gap."
The system panel opened.
[Bloodstars: 16640]
Joren moved.
[Bloodthirst Frenzy], full release.
[Thunder Dominion], full release.
[Frostgrave Path], full release.
His body became a streak of violet light and crashed into the densest part of the Beast Tide.
Pfft!
A cold crescent of blade light swept through three Rank Three Ironback Berserk Bears.
All three throats opened at once.
[Ding! Killed Rank Three Voidbeast. Gained Bloodstars: 150.]
[Ding! Killed Rank Three Voidbeast. Gained Bloodstars: 160.]
System prompts flooded his mind.
Joren carved through the swarm with brutal efficiency.
Frost spread beneath his feet.
Lower level Voidbeasts froze in place before they could even reach him, their limbs locked to the ground.
Then purple lightning filled the blade.
Every sweep sent dozens of heads spinning into the air.
He moved through the Beast Tide like an endless grinder, cutting a deep red trench through flesh and blood.
Above him, Kyo faced the three beast kings.
Yet part of his attention remained on Joren.
The Aurelian Dominion could not afford to trust raw talent alone.
It had seen too many prodigies.
Kyo had watched them train in academies, display perfect technique, and dominate every spar.
Then battle came.
The blood.
The screaming.
The smell.
Most of them could barely stand.
Others were worse.
Some would sacrifice their own companions the moment danger appeared. Some had even joined the Fiends just to survive.
If Joren had slipped back behind the defense line while Kyo held off the beast kings, Kyo would not have blamed him.
But he would have lowered his opinion of the boy.
Joren had done the opposite.
Three peak Rank Five beast kings were right there, yet he had not backed away.
He was slaughtering their army in front of them.
What nerve.
His hunger for killing was almost stronger than Kyo’s own.
Kyo had no idea where that hunger came from.
But one thing was certain.
Joren would never betray humanity.
He belonged on a battlefield.
"As long as he stays on course..."
"He will become the sharpest blade the Aurelian Dominion has."
Roar!
The Abyssal Blackscale Python tore free from the ground.
Its jaws opened, spewing a stream of condensed nether venom.
All three beast kings attacked again, but none could break through the narrow defense around Kyo.
Below, Joren kept killing.
Hundreds of Bloodstars poured in every second.
His Vital Force thickened until the outline of a furnace began forming behind him, vast and indistinct.
The manifestation of [Helios Furnace Scriptur], drawn out by the intensity of battle.
Something long dormant stirred in Kyo’s blood.
As long as fighters like this still existed, the Aurelian Dominion was not finished yet.
"Die!"
The Golden Dragon Falcon’s dark golden eyes had changed.
The indifference it once held for insects was gone.
Only rage remained.
As a peak Rank Five ruler of the skies, it had expected the battlefield to become a slaughterhouse.
Humans were supposed to scream.
To run.
To die.
Instead, that insignificant Rank Two human was treating its Beast Tide like a luxury buffet.
A humiliation to its authority.
Screech!
The cry split metal and stone.
The Golden Dragon Falcon beat its wings and abandoned its pressure on Kyo.
Its body became a pure golden streak.
The charge tore through the sound barrier and aimed straight at Joren.
A vacuum corridor opened through the air, stretching for a thousand meters.
Even [Spider Sense] managed only one piercing warning.
Too fast.
This was the speed of a peak Rank Five beast king.
Joren had just cut the head from an Ironback Berserk Boar when every hair on his body rose.
Cold ran from the base of his spine to the top of his skull.
No time to dodge.