Kaiden's aura skyrocketed. His black hair turned white as it danced in the air. His body increased in size as it released visible steam from his body. Veins started appearing all over his body.
Most importantly, his aura has gone completely berserk because of the use of two forbidden techniques.
It became so powerful and chaotic that he actually suppressed and surpassed Yumi and the puppet Hawks aura by a large margin!!
"Haaa... *pant*... It's painful but I can feel so much power...! The strength of a Half-Saint! With this, I can protect milady!" Kaiden marveled with his body that was overflowing in his body.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Yumi trembled as she screamed in madness. Her eyes turned bloodshot and her long nails dug her palm.
She was panting so much that her ample breasts were swaying up and down.
"Huh?" Kaiden was caught by surprise.
Yumi had actually lost composure the moment she used Bloodline Ignition, 'Did she just-? No, why would she worry about me? Right now, I need to focus!'
Yumi frantically said, "If you also activate Bloodline Ignition, even a Restoration Pill can't save you! I can't let you die! I finally found "you" after all these years! There's no way in hell I'm going to let you die here! Suppression!"
A nearly-transparent force field surrounded Yumi and those around her. An invisible pressure appeared out of nowhere and pressed down on Victoria and Kaiden.
"So, she finally used 'Suppression', huh? This means she's finally going all out!" Kaiden stated. After a single breath, Kaiden released his aura at full swing.
His aura was suppressed but it was still considerably stronger than Yumi.
"Tch, I could only suppress his power by ten percent." Yumi clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Shockingly, she let out a sigh of relief, "But that's fine at least this way, I reduced the burden on his soul. He still has about twenty to thirty minutes to live. I need to knock him out as quickly as possible to make him eat the pill."
...
Victoria's face became much paler than how it was earlier.
She was trembling so much that she could not even move her mouth to speak properly, "No... please... not you, too..."
"Please be safe, milady. Profound Isolation Barrier!" Kaiden withdrew a scroll from his storage ring and unfolded above Victoria.
"No, don't!" Victoria immediately recognized what the scroll was for and immediately tried to stop its casting.
However, her strength had left her body as she was constantly reminded of the gruesome death of her loved ones.
An instant was all that was needed for the scroll to completely activate. The scroll surrounded Victoria like a dome and strange runes appeared on it.
The scroll quickly transformed into a semi- transparent orange dome that enclosed Victoria!
Kaiden said before taking a step forward, "I will protect you until my last breath!"
"Urgh.." Kaiden sheathed his twin swords and detached the two swords that were stabbed unto him earlier. Then, guiding his burning blood, he burnt the wounds he had closed.
"Since I'm going to die anyway, I'll bring you down with me! HA!" Kaiden assumed his previous stance and locked his vision to Yumi.
With a step, his body disappeared from where he stood!
"Big bro Kai, you can't- Ugh!!" Victoria shouted in desperation. Kaiden's back seemed to have overlapped with Nicholas' departing figure in her memories.
Suddenly, pain started arousing from her chest.
"Again, this pain... Ugh!!" With difficulty, she clenched her chest as she desperately gasped for air.
The pain became more painful with each heartbeat that it made her unable to move. Before losing consciousness, she uttered softly, "Big bro Kai..."
...
"Profound Isolation Barrier, a Rank 4 at that.... A barrier that can withstand even a Half Saint's power. So, that's your trump card, huh? You're afraid that your berserk aura might hurt her." Yumi quickly identified the barrier's function.
"..." Kaiden did not bother to reply as he initiated an attack.
" Stay down, Kaiden!" Yumi spread out her arms and retracted it to back her chest as the strings flowed with the orders she had for her puppets.
The puppets fiercely marched forth and attacked Kaiden from all sides.
*Swoosh* * Swoosh* *Swoosh*
Although severely unstable from activating two forbidden techniques, Kaiden's strength has soared to a terrifying extent.
The two new swords he wielded formed a sphere of swordlights around him that deflected the blades of the puppets.
*Ting* *Clank* * Ting*
While defending from the attacks, Kaiden actually did an unthinkable action for a swordsman engaging in combat. He let go of the two swords that he held!
"?!" Yumi was surprised by this abrupt movement but she will soon find herself dumbfounded the next split second.
Kaiden has quickly sheathed his own twin swords and assumed a sword stance.
Oddly, the two swords did not seem to fall. They seemed to be wrapped with grayish energy which kept them afloat.
Without delay, he shouted, "Four Swords Style: Four Cardinal Directions!"
It seemed as if Kaiden had a new pair of arms with him. While he slashed his twin swords to his front and rear, the two swords that were suspended in mid-air slashed towards his sides.
The four slashes obliterated all that came in its path!
With Kaiden at the center, a deep cross-like crevasse appeared on the main road. The sword scars on the ground reached at least ten meters in length.
The attack also went towards Victoria's direction but due to the Profound Isolation Barrier, the attack was easily blocked.
Hawks and the other puppets were also not able to escape the attack. Four of the twelve were completely annihilated, three puppets either had one of their limbs destroyed while the remaining four were unscathed.
"What?! This strength... He even has the talent to wield four swords at the initial stages of Mortal Severing?!" Yumi did not expect that Kaiden would be this strong after his Bloodline Ignition.
"For attempting to hurt Lady Victoria, you shall pay with your life!" Kaiden dashed with astonishing speed! The remaining puppet tried to hinder his advance by attacking with sword skills!
*Shing* *Clank* *Tink* *Boom*
Hawks took the opportunity to attack after Kaiden successfully blocked the sword attacks of the puppets.
However, Kaiden was no longer the same as he was a minute ago. The power brought by the activation of Bloodline Ignition and Triple Star Burst has multiplied his strength manifold.
"Rest in peace, master... everyone... Four Sword Style: Dual Cross!" Kaiden slashed his twin swords in a cross-like pattern while the two floating swords beside him also followed suit.
*Bang*
Hawks and the other puppets tried to defend, however, Kaiden's power has already surpassed theirs. After briefly resisting his attacks, they were blown into bits.
As Kaiden watched the puppets become swallowed by the Dual Cross, he heard whispers through the air.
"Thank you, Kaiden. I will never forget this debt."
"Protect milady for us!"
"Go slice that bitch into shreds!"
"Everyone..." As he heard their voices, tears uncontrollably came out of his eyes.
The memories he shared with them came rushing back. He had the urge to stop for a moment and pay respects.
However, Hawks voice resounded in his mind, , "You fucking punk! Do as I tell you and let my only niece live! If you're not going to do it, do it for me! Then, take the girl you love to escape from this mishap and let her live!"
A smirk flashed across his handsome face and muttered an answer, "Yes, sir!"
'Amazing! To save her, he brought out this much potential! He... He truly is the "one"!' Yumi inwardly rejoiced when she witnessed such chivalry and valor.
Right now, the path towards the last enemy was on sight. There were no more puppets that would hinder his way.
Determined to end this, Kaiden stepped forwards once more!
In a flash, he quickly reappeared in front of Yumi!
Yumi was now completely caught off guard. Despite using Suppression on Kaiden, she was still unable to foresee the strength brought by Kaiden's sword style.
"Die!" Kaiden ferociously roared as he struck down with all four swords like he did to Hawks and the others. "Four Swords Style: Dual Cross!"
It was also at that moment that a dark shadow appeared in front of Yumi.
His attack, Dual Cross, was also deflected and redirected to Yumi's left.
"Her Mystical Soul?!" Kaiden immediately sensed danger and retreated back.
Following his retreat, several strings came raining down his previous position. The attack quickly demolished the spot he was in into a three meter deep pit.
'How can she still possess so much strength?!' Kaiden was shocked by the power that the strings had.
"Nice reaction, my knight. It seems like I really need to go all out on this one if I want to take you back alive." Yumi said with an adoring gaze. At the end of her sentence, she raised her hands.
"Lady Phantom! Silvernight Threads! Fuse!" The obscure shadow of a woman which was Yumi's Mystical Soul, Lady Phantom and the glistening silver threads of her Avatar combined.
"I have to stop it!" Kaiden tried interrupting the fusion. He jumped into the air. He attacked with yet another finisher, "Four Sword Style: Four Cardinal Directions!"
Like earlier, four sword scars appeared in each direction with him at the center. However, unlike earlier, he executed this skill differently. He twisted his body in mid-air and spun.
Similarly, the four sword scars also twisted and created a spiral of sword energy around him.
Kaiden Original: Sword Sphere!
With it, he rammed himself towards Yumi!
*BOOM!*
The collision caused Kaiden to be blasted far away but he was able to quickly regain footing after he rolled on the ground twice. He looked back and said doubtfully, "Did it work...?"
*Clap* *clap* *clap*
A round of slow applause resounded.
As the smoke dissipated, Yumi's figure was seen. As for her condition, she was essentially unscathed! "Amazing! What talent! As expected of my knight! So as a reward, I shall let you witness my true power."
"Hell Puppeteer." A floating pale lady with a pitch black dress decorated with silver embroidery. Her dark hair was flowing and was blocking some of the moonlight. Her appearance felt as though a devil had arrived.
Currently, Yumi's aura seems to be restored. No, it has spiked! Her aura has surpassed Kaiden once more!
"This is...?!" Kaiden could not believe it. Yumi also has something similar to his Bloodline Ignition or Triple Star Burst.
Then, he suddenly remembered a piece of information regarding Malevolent Magnates, "Essence-soul Fusion?! This is a Soul Avatar?!"
"Correct. I'm surprised that you managed to guess it despite seeing it for the first time. Only Magnates have this kind of power." Yumi had a look of surprise on her face as she admitted and affirmed Kaiden's suspicions.
"But it's a power that can only be unlocked after essence-soul unity. Not even Mystical Barons can do it...! Not to mention, how are you able to summon corpses out of nowhere?!"
"Well, your future master is quite the rare talent. That much is a given. The corpses come from the warriors of the city who tried to defend against the occasional beast tides that happen in this area. I ordered them to gather near me so it took quite some time for them to get here."
"What master?! I'd rather die than betray milady!"
"Hm, well, I just need to beat the very concept to your mind. I guess that's enough time already..."
"What do you...?" Then, Kaiden suddenly realized that there was a dark aura coming from the ground.
He then, soon realized, that Yumi was using the conversation as a distraction and bought time to perform this spell.
"From your expression, it seems that you finally realized. You can struggle, however, it's already too late! Time to face despair, Kaiden!" Yumi said and raised her hands upwards.
"Rise from the depths of hell. I, Yumi Everdark, command you! Become my vassals!"
Soon, approximately a hundred dried out corpses emitting terrifying energy climbed out of the ground. Most of them were at the Origin Palace Realm but there was a group that had the strength of Mortal Severing Realm. Among this group, three of which possessed the power of peak Mortal Severing warriors!
"How is this even possible?!" Kaiden gasped. This was just too much for him to handle. The aura emitted by the undead army was fierce enough to compare to a beast tide.
"Do you see now, Kaiden? No matter what you do, it is useless. Surrender to me and become my knight." Yumi offered.
"NEVER!" Kaiden strongly denied.
"Can't you see the reality? You and the princess are doomed."
"I already told you that-"
Before Kaiden could finish, Yumi pitched in a proposition "What if I told you that I will let your princess go if you come with me willingly?"
"What are you...?" The question caused Kaiden to stump on his words.
"Was I not clear enough? If you willingly cancel your forbidden techniques and swear your fealty to me, then I will let Victoria Cross go. I am even willing to give you both a Restoration Pill. However... If you don't, you will both die here and now. And, you will betray the hope that your clansmen pinned onto you." Yumi clarified.
"You will let milady go...?" Kaiden's mind became a mess. He was torn.
If he continued, they would both die. If he surrendered, at least, Victoria would be released.
She seemed adamant and calm externally but she was actually mischievously thinking, 'Of course, I'm lying when I say I will kill you. You're my knight after all.'
'Damn it! What should I do? Do I surrender? But that would mean betraying the captain, everyone, the clan and most importantly, the princess... If I do fight, it would be nearly impossible. Four Swords of the Myriad Swords is already too much for me. I'm not sure if I can use five swords but Lord Third's technique allowed him to wield nine swords at his peak. I think I can barely do five but it's nowhere near enough to beat that woman and her minions... If milady and I die, I would be too ashamed to face everyone...' Kaiden anxiously weighed his options. He was really pushed into a dead end.
"So, what's your decision, Kaiden? Surrender or die?" Yumi gave Kaiden the final decision. 'Hahaha, he's mine! Finally, I'm one step closer to my dream!'
"I..." Just as Kaiden was going to make a decision, a war horn was heard.
*TOOTOOTOOOOT!!*
"Ha?" Kaiden and Yumi were both confused. They focused their vision to the source of the horn and soon understood.
An army of three hundred men was marching in their direction. The direction that they came from seemed to be from the city.
They were all wearing matching sets of armor with the same territorial insignia inscribed on their shields. The insignia was depicting a cloud rising to the stars.
"The city army?" Kaiden immediately identified the army
. He immediately reassessed the situation, 'With the army assisting, I can fend off the minions... Amidst the chaos, an opportunity may present itself and... allow me to take Yumi's head!'
With that in mind, he once again gained his resolve, "It seems like the heavens has not yet abandoned milady and I!"
However, his hope would soon be shattered after the army stopped and the commander stepped forwards and announced, "I am Micheal Paulson, the army commander of the Soaring Cloud Guards' Purging Army. We ask the Necromancer and the Evil Cultivator to halt your fight, surrender the female you are taking hostage, and leave the territory of Soaring Cloud. If you do so, we shall peacefully resolve the matter. We will only present you a single opportunity for you to comply with this order. If not, then our blades shall be pointed to your throats!"
"What?!" This was not the situation that Kaiden was suspecting at all. He became even more frustrated 'Am I supposed to be the Evil Cultivator? How did they arrive at that conclusion?! Why would the army ask for milady? Did they discover her identity? But without guards, milady could be taken hostage... Damn it! Are we really going to die here?!'
While Kaiden was not fully digesting why he was targeted as well, Yumi was incensed. "Time and time again... Everything is getting in my way of getting my prince... my knight... I have had enough! My undead knights! Kill them!!"