"Rahhh!"
Francisco charged with all his strength, devoting every fiber of his being to the attack, but he was still too slow for Conquest.
Francisco thrust his chainsword, and Conquest effortlessly caught it lightly in his palm.
Conquest could feel the teeth of the weapon hungrily grinding his armor, but did not feel any pain.
But for some reason, there was a small sensation of his armor taking damage, but he didn't mind, he has many layers of passive protection skills even if his armor was breached.
Recalling something, the charge that General made was faster than any human, Conquest was momentarily puzzled by his own ease in parrying it. However, those doubts quickly faded in an instant. His foe's life would end with a swing of his sword, so there was nothing more to think about.
Soon, only one of them would remain standing.
So, it had been an unplanned charge after all...
Just as a somewhat disappointed Conquest was about to strike, he changed his mind.
Because he had come to realize that the bullet and Francisco's charge were all decoys.
While he had to be wary of Francisco stabbing him with his Chainsword, Trese's other weapon, her war-hammer, smashing was equally as powerful, so that must have been their true intention.
However...
"Surprise attacks ought to be conducted in silence."
As long as they could not erase the sound they made as they ran across the icy field, it could not truly qualify as an unexpected attack. Conquest was puzzling. Was this really worth taking damage? Or was it just a meaningless struggle?
Still, it was true that his foe had now entered his striking zone.
Now that Trese's weapon was within his grasp, there was nothing to fear from him. Only the order in which they died would change. Having decided that, Conquest swung his Odachi.
The blade struck.
Fortunately for the woman, the blade only severed her arm, forcing her to drop her weapon. Before she could hit the ground, Conquest withdrew his blade, planning to attack Francisco.
Spurt!
But just as his blade made contact, he heard the sound of blood spurting. It wasn't coming from Trese or Francisco, but from his own hand where he held the chainsword.
Instinctively, Conquest pushed Francisco away along with his weapon. The moment they parted, a sharp pain shot through his palm.
Confused and startled, Conquest looked down at his hand and saw something shocking.
Blood?
He was... bleeding?
He questioned himself how he was bleeding, because it defied logic. It is not possible as he was protected by his armor, which was designed to withstand Transcendent Tier-3 attacks. If the armor somehow failed, he had multiple layers of passive protection spells on his body that should prevent any breach. Even if they failed, his ultra-speed regeneration should have healed him in seconds.
Yet, they were all bypassed, especially his regeneration isn't healing the wound for some reason.
How?
Just then, as he saw Francisco in the distance, it suddenly dawned on him.
'The artifact he stabbed himself with... I sensed a divine essence within it,' Conquest realized, his thoughts racing. 'And that trace of blood on the blade. I didn't think much of it, but recalling for a moment, it smelled ancient... and powerful.'
To his guess, the small blood on that small blade on the General seemed to belong to a powerful individual with overwhelming divine power. Just a tiny trace of blood, especially over thousands of years old, has the power to even harm a higher-class demon like him.
Before, he wondered why the General coated his sword with his own blood.
Now he understands why.
'His blood was tainted with a kind of holy essence and miracles.'
As he thought of this, he began to piece things together.
'He turned himself into a walking divine weapon.'
For the first time since he stepped foot into his world, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Divine weapons were known to easily slay demons like him, unless of course if their level is higher than it. But seeing himself bleed, he concluded that General Francisco himself might be at a higher level enough to harm Archdemons, possibly even Demon Lords.
As Conquest was lost in thought, he failed to notice that Major General Francisco had thrown his entire strength and body weight into the thrust until it was too late. Before he knew it, Conquest was faced with something that could threaten his life, and he could not stop it in time.
Had he grasped the situation sooner, perhaps there would have been another course of action. But at this short range, he was out of options.
Conquest was so moved that he trembled.
While it had relied on a bit of luck, this was an attack which had required multiple gambles, each of which had paid off. The most important thing was that without Trese, none of this would have been possible.
Trese may not have fully understood Francisco's gambit, but as his lifelong discipline and being a granddaughter to him since she was little, she had placed all her trust in him, to the point of even at the cost of her own limb. That pointless surprise attack and shouting were all calculated to divert Conquest's attention away from the Major General for just that single moment.
And in that single moment, Francisco thrust his chainsword with all his might.
"Truly marvelous-"
Spurt!
Both demons and the remaining soldiers of the 19th Black Armored Division widened their eyes in disbelief. What they witnessed is something that not a human could ever do, something that is impossible.
General Francisco... had impaled the Archdemon Conquest through the chest!
"Holy fucking shit... we actually did it," Trese laughed, though she winced in pain from the intense pain of her loosed arm.
The blow from Francisco had been well-struck, causing Conquest to spat his own blood within his mask. Even if he will be ridiculed by his fellow Archdemons or punished by the Demon Lord, he felt that leaving this scar as a mark of respect for these warriors would be appropriate.
But he had planned for this moment as well.
"[World Splitter]"
Click!
It was just a single faint click that sounded in the surroundings as a deep silence suddenly descended upon the world.
What Conquest used was a terrifying skill that could tore everything within a certain radius apart. This resulting attack could turn Francisco into a bloody mist, though Conquest harbored doubts about its effectiveness against him.
Using a powerful skill on a normal human is overkill, humiliated, and a waste, sure, but to Conquest, this was a sign of praise from the strong to the weak.
Francisco smiled, in the way someone did when he knew full well what sort of fate was in store for him, yet ran towards it anyway. As he did, Conquest unsheathed his sword and-
Whoosh~! Rumble—!
The ground tore apart, throwing dust and rock alike in the air like fast projectiles, and seismic quakes struck the place.
Everything around Conquest was cleanly torn asunder, not even a speck of dust was spared.
However...
"...What?"
Conquest furrowed his brow in confusion, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the aftermath.
Moments before unleashing his devastating skill, Conquest sensed a distortion in space for a split second. Now, surveying the area, he realized that any sign of blood from the Major General and the surviving humans who had been outside the attack's range were nowhere to be found.
In other words, they had been teleported away, and they were alive.
But the question was…
Who helped them escape?
Shifting his gaze to his right, he spotted a figure, whose breathing was increasingly rapid.
Upon closer inspection, the person's hand had a deep split between the thumb and index finger, and their sleeves were stained crimson.
It was clear that the arm was severely injured.
And Conquest knew exactly why.
Because he himself was the cause of those injuries.
"I see you're still alive, elf."