volume 3 - Chapter 194 (1/2)

Chapter 193 – The final moment (10)

Amman was just as surprised at seeing Veronica, but before he recovered his composure, the latter spoke again:

“Your Eminence, you have truly surprised me.”

“I have the same sentiments, Lady Veronica,” he replied with a grim expression.

“Indeed, it’s truly an eye-opener, the supposedly mighty Sword Saint of Ashes joining hands with someone from the Empire.” Andesha glanced at her left arm, finding that Mephisto’s attack was more deadly than it appeared. There was a large wound on it, but she did not seem like she was hurting and merely continued: “Is the defeated dog’s memory so shallow that it has forgotten what the Empire did to it?”

Brendel’s eyes went to Mephisto to see his reaction, but the latter’s expression did not even change a little. It was as if he had not heard Andesha’s words at all.

The youth secretly nodded at Mephisto’s patience.

However, Mephisto raised his head and said one word:

“….. Huh?”

[Is your head in cuckooland?!]

Bremdel nearly choked on his spit, recalling how Mephisto reacted to him earlier when they met for the first time.

The Sword Saint of Ashes, one of the most powerful warriors amongst the NPCs and wors.h.i.+pped by countless gamers, was actually an airhead. Even though Brendel was not a rabid fanboy, he could not help but feel that Mephisto’s image was destroyed in his mind.

Andesha’s expression was one of rage. The color of her face was turning to a particular shade of dark green because of the blood rus.h.i.+ng to it. She did not understand that Mephisto was dense in the head when it came to insults, and thought that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was mocking her instead.

[It has been two hundred years ever since I mastered my Element Power. And I have never been looked down on ever since, certainly not to this degree!]

She felt her blood was boiling as she pointed her finger at Mephisto, half-screaming:

“Mephisto, I heard that you were a genius that comes every one thousand years. The Kirrlutz Empire perceived you as a threat and sent out soldiers to quell the Dukedom of Sutherland. You were fortunate enough to receive the foolish G.o.ddess Marsha’s favor, and yet you did not cherish it but joined hands with your enemies instead! Indeed, you’re certainly gifted, but you are still far away to be my match. The situation where I underestimated you will never happen again.”

Her finger moved to Veronica.

“You should work with me and kill her. That woman is known as the G.o.ddess of Combat in the Empire, and if she dies, it would be a considerable blow to the Empire. Surely you understand this point?”

Mephisto nodded: “Indeed, Lady Andesha, I know it well. But for now, I’m here for your life. As for my enemity with the Empire, I’ll settle it later on.”

“Wretched fool, do you really seek to go against me?” Andesha spoke through clenched teeth.

She had roughly gauged Mephisto’s strength, and as long as she was cautious in dealing with him, there was no chance for Mephisto to reach her. However, even though she wanted to end him, she did not trust Hamir. The filthy worm from the Unifying Guild was very likely to stab them both in the back the moment they did not pay attention.

“There is no number of threats that would change my mind,” Mephisto raised his greatsword and replied, “you ought to know that faltering is the worst thing a swordsman can do.”

Veronica smiled smugly with folded arms and joined in the conversation, even flicking her hair back and formed a beautiful pose:

“Indeed, and you know very well that we humans are all Mother Marsha’s children. We’re unlike the twisted abominations like yourself. You are the biggest enemy before anyone else. Even if Count Mephisto hates us people from the Empire more than he already is, it is still natural for us to exterminate you first, right?”

“Then die! Die! I will make sure every one of you dies!” Andesha went berserk: “I shall let you witness the ravages of time!”

A green boundary formed in front of Andesha, spreading towards the city and forest. Every object that was caught within the expanding light turned into dust in an instant. Buildings that persisted for tens of thousands of years and dated back to the era of the Twilight Dragon were not spared either, disintegrating into fine sand.

The boundary soon reached Veronica and Mephisto, and it was going to swallow them in the blink of any eye. But the green light did not advance and stopped a hundred feet around Mephisto’s body. The rocky paths broke down to reveal the earth beneath them. Vegetation grew rapidly out from the cracks before they withered and the earth eventually turned dark.

But the area around Mephisto retained its appearance without a change at all.

[What?]

Andesha felt a slight chill crawling over her nerves. Mephisto’s control over his Element Power was considerably weaker than hers, and he should not be able to resist her.

“What’s going on?” Faena muttered under the cloak: “How is that d— fellow capable of resisting her Element Power over such a wide area? Is he as strong as Andesha?”

Faena changed the words ‘demon king’ into that ‘fellow’ when she saw Veronica standing at Mephisto’s side.

“….. No, it’s an oppression of a stronger Element Power.” Brendel’s eyes were brightening up: “Andesha’s Element Power, Withering Decay, is some kind of byproduct of the Element Power of Time. At best, hers is an Element Power that affects the physical world. But the World of Ashes is the one of the strongest Element Power that affects reality and changes the Laws within the boundary. It’s also related to time, and just this fact alone renders the Withering Decay factor useless. Time slows down within the World of Ashes, so how is Andesha’s power going to work? Furthermore, the Laws are changed, so the Withering Decay won’t work.”

Brendel did not teach Faena the cla.s.sification of Element Powers. There were six tiers of the Element Powers a person could have.

The weakest tier was hard to detect and was something that anyone could possess as long as they were born in this world.

The next tier was a pa.s.sive Element Power, and an example would be adding strength to the body.

The tier that was in the middle was a visible manifestation of the Element Power, like how Brendel was capable of manifesting a by-product of his Element Power that could freeze things, or Andesha’s Withering Decay.