Azraël set off toward the throne. The empty, collapsed streets of Nozras suddenly seemed to fill with life. It felt strange, because any warrior familiar with the ways of the Rosia Clan knew the attitude of their leader.
But that didn't really stop the warriors. After all, the soul of Nozras resided in combat. Even knowing that the leader of the Rosia Clan cheated by using forbidden techniques wouldn't prevent them from trying to eliminate him.
So, silently, like starving dogs ready to pounce on their prey, they approached Azraël with fury.
Along his path, he saw many warriors blocking his way, each more imposing than the last. All of them wielded weapons larger than those of their neighbors.
Soon enough, several hundred of them stood in his way.
But Azraël was far too angry to play such games…
"Where are you going, leader of the Rosia Clan?"
"And how is that any of your concern?"
"It is said that you rely on external help and that you don't fight like a warrior, but like a voodoo shaman?"
Azraël, his gaze dark, stepped very close to the warrior in front of him and stared straight into his eyes.
"Do you want to face it?"
The warrior's face twisted with rage in response to the clan leader's arrogance.
"You will pay for dishonoring our country."
For an instant, the warrior grabbed the heavy sword on his back—but faster than he could move, a magic circle appeared above his head.
Hundreds of strange, mystical symbols, all perfectly symmetrical, lit up above him—though he could not see them.
"Take th—"
"Aouara Declis."
Before he could even reach him, the warrior was pierced from all sides, as if a laser had shot straight through him. The spell ended a few seconds later, without the man having had the time to make a single move.
And indeed, even though he could not see it, the man had truly been pierced by a laser emitted from the circle.
The warrior collapsed instantly to the ground.
"You…"
Azraël stepped forward slightly. He looked at the other warriors, who had instinctively stepped back after realizing something was wrong.
"What is it? Don't tell me you were counting on him to kill me. Why don't you all come at once?"
The warriors didn't waste another second and charged together toward Azraël.
He then made several circles appear in the air, all blazing as if they were catching fire. The symbols shone with a reddish light, illuminating the battlefield.
Before the distance between him and the group grew too short, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Wha—"
Hundreds of fireballs burst forth from the circles and engulfed all the warriors present. Their bodies were reduced to charcoal in less than a minute before the eyes of the Rosia Clan leader. Weapons melted and fell, setting the ground ablaze, and screams echoed throughout the capital.
Azraël then turned his head toward the buildings at the side. Warriors were watching him from their positions, ready to leap at their prey, seemingly unafraid of the fiery spectacle.
"I see, it won't be easy. But that's okay, you'll quickly understand why you should never have come."
"Hey…"
No matter how many times he tried…
"Aren't you a bit too strong?"
Nathanaël couldn't break through Hammiel's defense.
His sword appeared and disappeared effortlessly. It made things complicated for Hammiel, who had to predict where and when the blade would appear.
However, that didn't stop him from dominating the fight. Nathanaël was pushed back in a contest of raw strength.
'Damn, he's extremely focused. No unnecessary movements and almost no wasted effort. That's the level I need to reach.'
"Watch out, Nathy!"
Without even realizing it, a dagger shot straight toward the middle of his face.
Fortunately, Azraüs deflected it with his club.
"He's not joking, huh? I've never seen a guy this good with daggers. He's different from Zvrag—attacking him as a group would be pointless."
That was true. Nathanaël thought he might actually die here. Nevertheless…
"I'll handle him. That's more my style. You take care of his guys."
Azraüs turned his head toward his friend in surprise. It wasn't like Nathanaël to initiate a fight himself, so it came as a small shock.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"If you want. But they're not easy either. They're all covered in… what do you call it again?"
Nathanaël was momentarily surprised, but quickly realized it made sense. Like Jin, he must have awakened a long time ago.
"Aura?"
"Yeah, aura."
Azraüs then switched his focus to the group, but the moment he left the ground, he was charged at like a bull.
Nathanaël could only watch as he took one of the most powerful tackles he had ever seen. He wanted to help, but he had a bigger problem to deal with.
He then turned his gaze toward Hammiel.
"Hey, how much are they paying you?"
"I am not interested in money."
"Well, at least I tried."
Nathanaël infused his legs with aura, attempting the acceleration of the century. The distance between him and Hammiel vanished in less than a millisecond.
However, Hammiel managed to see it and react in time.
He slightly deflected Nathanael's path, who had gained too much speed to stop suddenly and crashed into a wall, completely breaking through it.
"Damn it. Just how far have you mastered aura?"
Hammiel replied in the same indifferent tone he always used.
"What you call aura has been mastered in our clan to face any enemy. Ever since our leader learned about it, he has used every possible method to train us to face the two of you."
Nathanaël looked toward Azraüs. He could see how badly hurt he was as well. It was probably the first time he had faced aura users, and even if they were physically weaker, aura was simply too great an advantage in combat.
"From the start, you never could have wo—"
Nathanaël accelerated again and struck Hammiel on the right flank.
Hammiel tried to absorb the blow with his own aura but was still pushed back. When he managed to slow down and lift his head, Nathanaël's sword was right in front of his face. He barely dodged it, but at the same time, Nathanaël was already beside him. Hammiel took a violent hit that sent him flying several meters away.
That beautiful combo deserved some applause, but Nathanaël wasn't done yet.
"This one comes from Zvenne."
Nathanaël unleashed his aura throughout his entire body once more. Light burst forth, illuminating everything it touched, nearly blinding Hammiel, who had to partially shield his eyes.
Nathanaël suddenly looked like a star on earth, shining with a thousand flames, leaving no chance for anything else to shine.
Then he slightly lowered his stance and tensed his right arm, copying the Emperor's posture during their visit to the ruins.
The very stance he had used to face the adapted white being that blocked their path in front of the church of Zvenne. That day, Nathanaël had understood the Emperor's strength and his sword mastery, far beyond his own.
He had already tried to reproduce this move against Jin, and unfortunately it hadn't worked. But he knew the attack was devastating and Hammiel wasn't Jin.
When he released the strike, a beam of light several meters high sliced through the air and everything in its path toward Hammiel, who could only cross his arms and take a defensive stance.
The impact was terrible. Instead of a simple cut, the area exploded, sending hundreds of fragments flying everywhere.
After the storm settled, Nathanaël went to assess the damage himself.
"So? You still think we don't stand a chance? See for yourself."
Hammiel was there, standing atop smoking debris, golden dust rising into the sky. His body was damaged, and he looked slightly wounded.
Nathanaël then tilted his head toward Azraüs.
Hammiel, despite his injuries, could only observe as the Ogre's child grinned widely and smashed his club down on everything that moved. He no longer looked troubled, he looked ecstatic.
Even aura users couldn't make the Ogre's son falter.
"Yeah, sometimes it scares me too. But I've got the same thing back home."
He turned back toward Hammiel.
"Listen, I don't care what the book or your master said about us. I'm just going to retrieve him."
Suddenly, in a flash, Hammiel sprang up at full speed, striking Nathanaël's sword with his dagger. The two faced each other at point-blank range, their blades ringing through the area.
He was deeply angry.
"In that case, you'll have to step over my corpse."
Nathanaël smiled.
"With pleasure."
The two of them pushed each other back, the sound of their blades once again echoing through the ruined building.
Nathanaël observed his surroundings and quickly realized that he didn't have the advantage of the terrain.
However, he didn't have time to think any further, because Hammiel was already upon him.
'He's accelerating again??'
Hammiel twirled his dagger in his left hand before attempting to stab Nathanaël, but Nathanaël blocked the dagger with his sword.
"Damn!"
Nathanaël realized that the meticulous man was gone. In his place was someone abusing his speed to find his opponent's openings without even paying attention.
Hammiel vanished and reappeared all around Nathanaël, who could only see him for brief moments.
It was extremely annoying, because even with his enhanced eyes, he often lost sight of the Rosia Clan's second-in-command.
Suddenly, he felt something coming from behind and had no choice but to block it. When he saw what it was, he realized it wasn't Hammiel...but just his dagger.
"Damn!!"
Nathanaël quickly turned around, thinking Hammiel had tricked him by moving in front of him, but to his great surprise, something once again came from behind.
Nathanaël blocked another dagger, only then realizing he had been trapped twice.
"Damn!!!"
This time, Hammiel appeared not behind him, nor in front of him, but above him.
He dodged Nathanaël's sword, who thought he had reacted just in time, before quickly grabbing one of his daggers and stabbing him in the shoulder.
He retreated afterward, his face splattered with his victim's blood.
"So, hero of the outside world. You claim you want to save Nozras with your barbarian friend, yet you can't even save yourself."
It was the first time Hammiel had been sarcastic, and it hurt more than Nathanaël expected.
Nathanaël placed his right hand over his wound.
His radiant aura desperately tried to close it, but this time, it was more serious.
He had already experimented with his regenerative abilities. He knew his aura constantly tried to seal his wounds, allowing him to heal faster. However, this injury had also been inflicted with aura, and it was far deeper than anything he had tested before.
"I never said I wanted to help Nozras… I just want to help a friend save the world."
Hammiel looked at Nathanaël with disappointment.
"Save the world… from those things? You have no chance. Our leader will help us keep Nozras safe and allow some to survive. You and Azraüs should listen obediently if you want to survive with us."
"I need the books to defeat those things."
"As if they would bring you anything. They're not a cooking recipe that will let you beat them. They only exist to state, to show the future and the end, and to plunge people into despair."
"If that's the case…"
Nathanaël took a deep breath before unleashing his aura throughout the entire area. A blinding, brilliant light flooded the eyes of everyone present. Even the clan's warriors were blinded, while Azraüs merely closed his eyes and continued fighting.
Hammiel tried not to avert his gaze, but had no choice but to at least squint.
"You… I was told you were one of the Six. I didn't know the difference in aura between us and you was this great."
Nathanaël didn't even listen.
"If those books represent despair, then we will be the hope that saves the world."
Rosia Clan warriors rushed in as reinforcements, worried about their second-in-command's condition.
"Hammiel, do you need help?"
"Stay out of this."
Nathanaël saw that his wound wasn't closing properly.
He had to accelerate as well.
So he did without warning.
In a flash, a powerful beam of light burst from his sword after a simple vertical strike.
Hammiel barely dodged it, but noticed that the beam carved a massive trail into the ground. If he took that hit, it would be over.
But Nathanaël didn't stop his assault. He followed up with several vertical and horizontal strikes, forcing Hammiel to leap to avoid them.
"I need to get closer."
Yet even as he said that, the blinding light radiating from Nathanaël prevented him from clearly seeing his position. He dodged in every direction, not only blinded by the source but also by the devastating beams ravaging the surroundings.
Suddenly, the light vanished from his field of vision. In its place, a massive shadow appeared on the ground.
He turned around instantly and saw Nathanaël's vertical strike shining straight into his eyes.
Hammiel spat blood onto the ground and was sent crashing backward, tearing through several meters of depth. The building, not yet fully collapsed, still had multiple floors which he passed through without resistance.
Nathanaël was already preparing to unleash the next beam when he saw a dagger coming at him at full speed. A dagger infused with aura.
He easily dodged it, but as he followed its trajectory while it passed in front of his eyes, he realized in horror that it was heading straight back toward him.
It changed trajectory every time Nathanaël evaded....