Chapter 694 - I Now Proclaim You Ruler Over All! (2/2)

Link’s sword pierced Saroviny’s arm. The sword’s tip sank into the battle robe’s fabric, which managed to absorb much of its impact. Link felt as if the sword had plunged into a layer of thick, viscous mud.

Link’s sword had left a deep cut on Saroviny’s arm. To Saroviny, however, this was no more than a flesh wound. She could still fight. Her retaliation would be a hundred times more terrible than what she had received.

Ignoring her injury, Saroviny thrust her sword out towards Link’s heart. Link would definitely die on the spot if he were to take this hit.

Link immediately avoided the attack. However, this allowed Saroviny to turn the tables on him. Realizing that her self-harming tactic had paid off, she decided to continue with it until one of them finally collapsed.

For the next few seconds, Link managed to land a few hits on Saroviny. However, he was now in a precarious position himself as well. The moment he slipped up, it would be the end of him.

Five seconds later, Link had left 18 cuts on Saroviny’s body, which was now completely covered in blood. His sword had also left a hole through her abdomen.

Link was no better himself. Despite his efforts to dodge her attacks, her blade managed to land a few hits on his arms, thighs, and back. His flesh flapped loosely around his wounds. Blood flowed out of them profusely. He could also feel Saroviny’s Abyssal power lingering on his injuries, hindering his body’s ability to heal itself up.

His injuries were evidently more severe than Saroviny’s.

Her Abyss of Despair battle robe had managed to offset the difference between their combat powers.

The duel went on for another five seconds. Both sides had depleted much of their power reserves. Their attacks also became more erratic.

However, Link seemed even more ragged than Saroviny. The latter had decided to focus more on her offense, knowing that her battle robe would be able to reduce the damage she would receive from Link’s attacks.

Two seconds later, the sound of tearing flesh rang out in the air as Saroviny and Link flashed past one another.

When she finally came to a stop, Saroviny’s feet gave way beneath her, and she collapsed to the ground. Her body was riddled with cuts. Link’s sword had left a particularly deep wound through her stomach. Portions of her intestine had been torn apart by it. The pain that now assaulted her entire body was more than even a demon with a sturdy physique like hers could handle.

However, the look on her face was one of ecstasy as she turned around to look at Link.

Link was still standing on his feet. However, he remained motionless like a statue. Seconds later, blood spurted out of his chest. It then flowed down his body, staining his battle robe along the way until it reached the soil beneath his feet.

Link fell to a half-kneel on the ground, with one hand pressed firmly against his chest and one hand holding onto the Ode of a Full Moon sword. His head was limply drooping over his chest.

He was unable to avoid Saroviny’s final attack. Her sword had pierced through his chest and sliced his heart in two. The fact that he was able to remain standing for so long was due to his own sturdy constitution.

“Hehehehe…” Saroviny was now laughing on the ground. Her laughter was punctuated by coughing fits which sprayed out blood from her blood. Though her injuries were severe, it did not change the fact that she had won this fight.

Finally, Saroviny had finally defeated Link, who had been the bogeyman in her dreams for so long.

“I’ve defeated you, Link! Your soul will be enslaved by my father for eternity! Hahaha… cough…” Saroviny coughed up even more blood.

Link remained kneeling on the ground. He did not hear what Saroviny was saying to him.

He was now looking back at everything that had ever happened in his life, from his time on earth to all that he had accomplished during his time in Firuman. Faces of those closest to him in this world flashed before his eyes: Celine, Herrera, Rylai, Gretel, Eliard, Vance, Nana, and even Ferde. Finally, every other face faded into oblivion, leaving only Celine’s before him.

His sight was beginning to blur. He could now feel his spirit leaving his body.

“Goodbye,” whispered Link. There was not a hint of regret in his voice. He was about to die a hero’s death on the battlefield. This was more than enough for him. He was simply passing on into the afterlife before everyone else in this bleak and empty world. As for his soul, he had no intention of handing it over to anyone. He had a plan in place to snuff his own soul out before anyone could lay their hands on it.

Link’s body relaxed, ready for the cold embrace of death.

At that moment, nobody seemed to have noticed the wooden box hanging from Link’s waist. It had been holding the Shadow Divine Fragment all this time. Due to the intensity of Link’s duel with Saroviny, a small crack had appeared on the box.

Link’s blood had seeped into the box through the crack and was now dripping on the Shadow Divine Fragment.

The black crystal skull’s eye sockets started to glow with a black light as it was gradually being soaked in Link’s blood.

At first, a few weak rays of this black light radiated from the skull’s sockets. Then, the light expanded across the entire black crystal skull. It then trembled for a moment. Without warning, the entire fragment evaporated into a column of silver-black smoke which burst out of its wooden container and dove into Link’s body.

In an instant, a jolt of electricity exploded in his head. The fog in his mind lifted, and he was once again back in the world of the living.

An ancient voice boomed out in Link’s mind moments later. “You who would rather die than be someone else’s slave, you whose veins are filled with the blood of a hero, shed off your mortal skin for I now proclaim you ruler over all!”