ALL NOVEL Chapter 96
Chapter 96: The End of a Bitter Tether (4)
Boom!
The gates of Amelzen City’s outer walls swung wide open.
Elder Aren, watching, raised his sword toward the sky once more. A slash of aura blade shot upward—a signal for his followers to carry out the “real” orders.
His subordinates executed their orders flawlessly.
“Aaagh!”
“Nooo!”
Screams erupted all along the walls as Aren’s men attacked those around them.
With the gates open and the barrier spells on the walls deactivated, chaos ensued.
In such pandemonium, the guards were unable to defend themselves against trusted allies turning on them.
Aren’s gaze shifted to a loud voice calling out to him.
“Elder Aren!”
It was Elder Marius, his face contorted in shock.
Seeing him, Aren let out a weary sigh. After all their years together, it pained him to now face this man as an enemy.
“How could you…? Of all people, you?!”
“I won’t apologize, Elder Marius. I am simply following the Lord’s orders.”
“Abandoning our bond for power and a chance to rule? You’re nothing but vile filth!”
“I don’t deny the value of our friendship. But loyalty to my lord comes before all else.”
“Are you truly serious?”
“…Yes, I am.”
“Hah!” Marius scoffed.
This was the same Aren who had so recently urged them to attack Martin. And now he spoke of loyalty—Marius found it almost laughable.
Shiiing!
Suddenly—
“Aren Cruse!”
With a shout, a crimson aura blade slashed toward Aren with lethal speed.
‘I can’t dodge!’
It wasn’t just speed. The blade’s unique power compressed the surrounding space, making evasion impossible.
Aren raised his sword in front of him to brace for the impact.
Crash!
“Urgh!”
Aren groaned, his face twisting in pain.
The force of the attack was so overwhelming that he felt as if his body might be crushed under its sheer weight.
Yet he mustered his mana and, with great effort, managed to block the blow.
“You treacherous dog! I’ll make sure you die today!”
“Your anger is understandable, Mateus von Gustin. But I wonder if you can afford to waste time on me.”
Aren managed a sly grin, even through the pain.
Veins bulged across Mateus’ face, his fury boiling over to the point where he felt as if it might consume him.
“Killing you will only take a mo—damn it!”
Mateus cursed and twisted his body as he swung his sword upward.
Boom!
An explosion rang out, shaking the area as cracks formed in the ground below him. With the wall’s barrier spells down, the structure could no longer withstand the battle between two 8th Circle powerhouses.
“Vincent von Igreet!”
“You should thank the young lord. He’s arranged such a pleasant surprise.”
Vincent smirked darkly as he closed the distance with spatial teleportation.
Mateus’ face twisted with rage, contorting into an expression akin to that of a demon.
“I’ve always wondered—if we fought with everything we had, who would win?”
“I’ll cut you down today and throw your head at Martin Adalbert’s feet!”
“That’s fine if you think you can! But it won’t be easy, Mateus!”
Boom! Boom!
With that exchange, the two 8th Circle titans unleashed a torrent of attacks on each other.
Meanwhile, Aren paid them no further attention, his focus shifting solely to Marius, who was now standing before him.
“Surrender, Elder Marius. I’ll ask the young lord to spare your life.”
“Do you think I’d serve that whelp like a dog, even if it would bring about our long-desired goal? I’d sooner die.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“But if I die today, I’ll make sure to take you with me. There could be no worse punishment for a man who abandoned friendship for personal gain.”
“No matter what you say, I will survive. And I will see my vision realized.”
Even if it meant cutting down a friend to do so.
Steeling himself, Elder Aren charged at Marius, launching yet another battle.
—
Fierce battles raged throughout the outer fortress.
Both sides clashed viciously, yet the Adalbert family was clearly gaining the upper hand.
Not only did they outnumber the opposition, but Aren’s actions had sent their morale soaring.
Yet, despite the odds, the Gustin family soldiers refused to surrender.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their loyalty persisted as long as their lord continued to fight with relentless determination.
They firmly believed that if their master won his duel, he could turn the tide.
“Haaahp!”
With a powerful horizontal slash, Mateus’ sword traced a crimson arc through the air, targeting Vincent’s waist.
Vincent countered by swinging his left arm, reinforced with a silver aura blade, to parry the attack.
Boom!
Another explosion echoed as a shockwave rippled outward, powerful enough to tear apart any warrior below the 5th Circle.
Ordinarily, Vincent would have deflected this shockwave using spatial repulsion, sending it back at his opponent. But—
‘Damn him…’
Vincent chuckled bitterly.
Even when he tried to return the shockwave, Mateus used spatial barriers to reflect it back yet again.
Although it couldn’t break through Vincent’s formidable physical defenses, the same held true for Mateus.
While Mateus lacked Vincent’s raw physical durability, his expertly deployed spatial barrier provided him with an almost impenetrable defense.
Thus, in this battle, unique abilities took a back seat.
Here, the deciding factors were pure power and skill alone.
“Hyaaah!”
After exchanging dozens of blows, their swords clashed once more, locking together in a deadlock.
Then, as if waiting for the right moment, Vincent swung his left fist with lightning speed.
Mateus swiftly raised his sword in a defensive position.
Boom!
“Tsk!”
Mateus clicked his tongue.
A punch with the force of a mana cannon blast—unbelievable unless experienced firsthand.
Had it not been for the spatial barrier enveloping his body, both his arms might have been blown apart.
“I’m not done yet!”
Seizing the advantage, Vincent swung his sword and threw powerful punches one after another.
Each strike was devoid of finesse, relying solely on raw strength capable of shattering all but the most advanced techniques.
However, Mateus was an accomplished swordsman in his own right.
He skillfully deflected Vincent’s relentless attacks, his sword tracing countless defensive arcs to fend off each blow, and even managed occasional counterattacks that kept his opponent on edge.
‘This fight… it’s going to take a while.’
‘The problem is that we know each other too well.’
Amid their ongoing clash, both Vincent and Mateus sensed it.
They were evenly matched, and it would be nearly impossible to break the stalemate.
But this was a battlefield.
At any moment, an unforeseen event could shift the balance.
“Mateus von Gustin!”
A familiar, loathsome voice pierced Mateus’ ears.
He knew he shouldn’t, but his instincts betrayed him—he turned his head.
There, approaching the outer fortress, stood Martin.
But what truly seized Mateus’ gaze was Kalain, crushed beneath Martin’s foot.
Crack!
At that moment, Mateus heard a sound in his mind as something shattered within him.
One thought consumed him completely.
He would kill Martin, and make him suffer.
Perhaps, had he been alone, it wouldn’t have mattered so much.
But that wasn’t the case.
“To ignore me and look elsewhere? Quite bold of you, Mateus!”
Slash!
Vincent’s sword, gripped with both hands and charged with a silver aura, struck down with the force of a thunderbolt.
Only then did Mateus realize his error and hurriedly raised his sword to block, but it was too late.
Slick!
The silver blade cleaved through his sword, slicing it in half and severing his arm below the elbow.
“Aaagh!”
Mateus screamed in agony.
Yet, he managed to thrust his left fist into Vincent’s chest, using the impact to push himself back and create some distance.
Then, he turned and charged toward Martin.
Vincent looked on, dumbfounded.
“Is he insane?”
To turn his back on Vincent in the middle of a fight—he couldn’t believe it.
But Vincent wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.
He raised his sword to finish Mateus off once and for all.
However, he stopped just short of swinging.
“I’ll finish him, Vincent,” came Martin’s voice, carried through the air.
Vincent lowered his sword and used his unique ability to respond.
“Are you sure? Even injured, he’s still an 8th Circle warrior.”
“He’s not just injured—he’s practically dead already.”
“True enough. Not that it was intentional, but I’ll admit the young lord’s help landed me a solid hit, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Thank you.”
With Vincent’s permission, Martin grinned.
He kicked Kalain’s limp body to the side.
“Sien, could you take him?”
“Understood.”
Sien responded calmly, lifting Kalain’s trembling form.
She felt his rage-fueled shivers, but her expression remained indifferent as she glanced down at him.
She had long forgotten that this man was once a friend.
To her now, he was merely a traitor—nothing more, nothing less.
“With that burden taken care of… now, what’s left…”
Hum.
Martin drew all the mana he could from his twin mana cores.
Even in his near-death state, Mateus was still an 8th Circle powerhouse.
Unlike his past foes, such as the Crimson Reaper or other clan leaders, Mateus was someone he had never fought before in his previous life.
There would be no room for complacency.
Boom!
Mateus leaped from the wall, landing directly in front of Martin.
In his remaining hand, he gripped the broken sword’s hilt.
“Whether I die here today or suffer every humiliation in captivity, it doesn’t matter! I will kill you and Aren Cruse, Martin Adalbert!”
“You’re the one who betrayed me, so why act like this is my fault? If anyone should be angry, it’s me.”
“Shut up!”
Mateus’ scream was filled with a murderous fury that washed over Martin like a storm.
He resembled a wounded beast, intent on bringing down anyone in his path.
Yet Martin’s gaze remained steady, unshaken.
“If you think rage is your exclusive right, you’re sorely mistaken.”
He remembered it all, vividly.
All he had endured before his return.
The home he had cherished was taken from him.
Everyone he held dear, including Sien, had been lost to the Gustin family.
The grudge that had built up then still lingered, growing deeper with each passing day.
“This is the end of this cursed connection.”
He would end it all with his sword.
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