[Six Folds Flash of Light]
Gazef's sword skill struck true, leaving six trails of light that cleaved through six angels in a single stroke of his blade.
It was an impressive sight that while his men cheered, the Sunlight Scriptures gasps in surprise. As if responding against the rising moral, dozens more angels appeared in motes of light with one of them swooping in and swinging its flaming sword at Gazef.
Gazef defends with [Instant Counter] allowing his body to blur away like mist and retaliate halfway through the Angel's attack.
But his offense continued with [Flow Acceleration], and with fluid and graceful moves, he dispatched two more Angels.
His incredible display of martial arts, gave the men a ray of hope that they may yet live through the ordeal. But the leader of the Sunlight Scriptures was not going to let that happen.
"Well done. However... this is all you can do. Clerics who have lost their angels, summon new ones! Focus your magic on Stronoff!"
"This is bad." Gazef mutters as he took down another angel.
It didn't take long for him to feel that they would soon be at their wits end, if they could not dispatch the clerics themselves.
Cause not only are they outnumbered, they are also ill equipped. His warriors can fight an Angel, but without the necessary equipment or a certain level of enchantment, they cannot hope to destroy any of them. That is not yet including the spell fire that he is dodging and enduring. Forcing him to use even more Martial Arts.
And with another use of [Instant Counter] he felt his muscles strain. It was a martial arts that allowed the user to correct its body in an instant. It could be used to either dodge from an awkward angle or even after the blow was struck, allowing the user to attack a second time. But the use of the Martial Arts is so forceful that the body strains heavily as it moves beyond what it was initially capable of.
[Flow Acceleration] accelerates the nerve functions, increasing one's attack rate. But the usage causes great fatigue in the brain.
And then there is his ultimate attack, [Six Folds Flash of Light]. With every use, his body gets heavier and heavier with only pure determination to not lose driving him forward.
"Bring them all on! Your angels are nothing!"
His fearless shout startled the Theocracy troops, but calmed themselves down with the cool voice of their Captain.
"Pay him no heed." said Nigun. "It is merely the roar of a caged beast. Continue depleting his strength. But don't get too close to his claws."
Gazef glared at the scarred man who was obviously their leader. But the distance between them was just too great for his shaky arms to thread.
"The beast is about to make a break for it. Show the meaning of the word, 'Impossible'."
The man's calm voice aggravated Gazef further. So with a roar of desperation, he charged.
His path was littered with Angels looming over him. But he fought on cutting through half a dozen of them before a hit struck him in the belly, where a magical arrow was sticking out.
Gazef gritted his teeth, and tried to steady his legs, only to feel another spell land squarely on his chest. Making him spit out blood as he rolled to the ground, down on one knee.
"The hunt has entered its final stage. Do not let the beast rest. Order your angels to attack consecutively."
Even though Gazef desperately wanted a moment to recover, the angels surrounding him obeyed their masters and mercilessly attacked him, one after the other.
He evaded the attack from behind, and parried a thrust from the side and used the strong angles of his armor to deflect an angel's charge from above. Gazef wanted to counterattack but he was greatly outnumbered.
As his strength diminished, he was only able to take out one angel due to his lack of stamina to wield martial arts.
His subordinates tried to reach him, each one swinging wildly and in desperation. But if a handful of angels were enough to hold them back, they could not hope to reach him as an encirclement of two dozens of them surrounded Stronoff.
His concentration faltered, and he nearly fell to one knee. He desperately tried to refocus so he could fight. The invisible impacts came again, striking the tottering Gazef. The world before him shook mightily.
'Not good!' he used all his strength to try and maintain his balance. However, it would seem he has reached his limits. The itch of touching the grass spread through his body, and Gazef realized that he had fallen. He struggled to rise again, but his body betrayed him.
"Now, finish him off, but do not send in one angel. Use them all to ensure he is dead."
Gazef gritted his teeth at the man's calm and cold words. He rose to his feet, enduring pain that rattled his bones. Knowing his suffering amounted to nothing compared to the dead villagers.
With blood dripping from the edge of his lips, he roared. "Don't look down on me! I am the Warrior Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom! I am a man who loves and defends his country! How can I lose to bastards like you who stain my country with your footsteps—!?"
"You will die here because all you can do is babble that nonsense, Gazef Stronoff." Nigun answers. "If only you had abandoned these villagers on the border, you would not be dying here. You probably don't know, but your life is far more valuable than even a thousand of these peasants. If you truly love your country, you should have abandoned them to die." he mocked as he looked down at Gazef.
"...what a pointless effort. Truly, you are an idiot. After we kill you, we will then massacre the villagers you saved. All you have done is bought them a fear filled stay of execution." glee sparked from his eyes, which should have angered Gazef even more, yet the man was suddenly smiling widely.
"What's so funny?"
"...you fool." Gazef wheezed out with a wide smile. "In that village… is a man who is stronger than me. His power is unfathomable, but he could take you all out by himself… Trying to kill… the villagers he protects… is impossible for you."
"Someone stronger than the Kingdom's greatest warrior? Do you think boasting like that will do you any good? You truly are an idiot."
"No...you are... your dead men could attest to that." Gazef mocks back making Nigun feel a sudden sense of doubt, which he squashed in an instant and said.
"Angels. Kill Stronoff."
Gazef steeled himself, crouching low as prepares himself to run forward for one last charge. His eyes flickered briefly to his ring before a voice cut through the battle field.
"[Divine Shield!]"
A spherical protection of light engulfed Gazef making the flaming swords of the angels bounced off of it.
In an instant, a giant pile of steel crashed right in front of him. Revealing a black armored knight holding a greatsword at each hand. And with a grunt of exertion, he spun at great speed that only when his twirl ended did the wind exploded from his power.
Gazef's eyes widened as the angels surrounding him were thrown on their backs and exploded into motes of light, some even before they touched the grass.
The battle field froze as the knight smashed his weapons together in a cross in a loud clash of steel. He then proceeded to grind them against each other, their noise echoing across the silence, setting both blades aflame with one in black and the other in blue. And with a wide swipe, he held them aloft, one in each side with his body exposed in prideful display of strength.
Picking himself up, Gazef smiled as he gazed at the familiar red mantle and gilded black armor.
"Momon-dono." he whispered. Relief and gratitude spilling from his lips.
"Apologies for my late arrival. Preparations took more time than we thought it would."
Gazef shook his head. "You are here now..."
Two others landed softly right behind Momon, taking each of his sides. Sera then raised her longsword and mutters "[Widen Magic- Greater Heal]"
Like an echo of white light, all the injured warriors felt their wounds stitch close. And with strength renewed, they immediately reformed around Gazef.
"Captain!" breath out the Vice Captain in great relief. Receiving a nod from Gazef.
"Who are you... infidel?"
Everyone tensed at his cold words and barely restrained anger. But Momonga answered as boldly as ever.
"Greetings, people of Slain Theocracy. I am Momon. A mere Adventurer."
"An adventurer? I see no tag on you...pretender."
"Ah! Apologies. I am an adventurer in the general sense. I am not part of the Adventurer's Guild if that is what your referring to."
"... are you telling me a.. wanderer.. is interfering with Kingdom affairs?" Nigun asks, with his fist shaking in anger as his fingers dug against his palm.
"If your affairs involved butchering entire villages, raping women and children and enslaving those you desire... Then 'YES' I am more than happy to."
The wind grew cold and the air suddenly felt heavy as he spoke, it was as if a pressure was pressing slowly down in their shoulders.
Nigun grinded his teeth at the tone. He felt insulted and most of all, annoyed that someone had the balls to point it out. But with the importance of his duty, he refused to back down.
"This is the will of the Gods, infidel-"
"What a pathetic god..." Momon interrupts, making the entirety of the Sunlight Scripture as tense as a rock.
"...wha-"
"A pathetic god. A god that fails to love the innocent, one that fails to protect the weak, and with the audacity to label his actions righteous when he couldn't even tell what is right from wrong... Pathetic."
"Heretic!!! You dare insult our gods in our face!? What we do! We do for the good of all of humanity-"
"No. Nothing you did was humane. Your are just self righteous fanatics claiming to fight for god... afraid that your actions would bring you far from his grace... so you decided to drag the name of god down with you."
"Kill the heretic!!!" Nigun screeches.
"Stronoff.."
"Hm?"
"Can I count on you?"
"Of course Momon-dono." Stronoff immediately answers.
"Nabe."
"At once. [Mass Teleportation]."
In an instant, Gazef's view shifted from the floating angels to a wide field of grass with several horses feeding on them, tied into wooden poles.
"Wha-" looking around, Gazef questions. "...what just happened."
*BANG! *BOOOMMMM!"
Kilometers away, Gazef and his men turned to see a cyclone of black and blue flames. Swirling with such strength that they sounded like rumbling earths instead of flames.
"... could it be..." his Vice Captain whispers with wide eyes. Eyes he and Gazef shared that then grew into wide smiles.
""Mount up! We ride! For the Kingdom, for the King, and the people of Re-Estize!!""
"""""""Raaahhhhhh!!!!!""""""""