The creature charged toward Zem without the slightest restraint, but Veid was different. A gust of wind sent the prince waltzing through the air, throwing him into a state of utter incomprehension. The man he could have killed at any moment a few minutes ago had just sent him waltzing through the air.
His gaze met Veid's and a pain ran through his hard body, blood passing before his eyes. It was his own blood, two of his severed arms flying in front of him. Veid had cut them off with a single attack, a slash of wind sent with his sword.
All of this had just happened in exactly 10 short seconds, which had turned the tide of the fight. The creature landed on the ground again, screaming in rage before pulling out its full array of attacks. With two arms missing, however, it had fewer attacks, but still came down on Veid.
Each of the wires and swords of yarns was running at him with the purpose of cutting him, in the instant, several barriers of wind were formed. They, which were crossed without difficulty before, were now sending the threads and swords away. The Prince screamed in rage as he saw his attacks unable to pierce Veid's defense. He increased the frequency of his attacks as much as he could, putting more force and speed into them. Unfortunately, nothing helped, as Veid's skin cracked more and more with a green color.
"The roles have reversed, it seems." He declared, still suffering the attacks of the raging creature.
The wind around Veid began to grow exponentially.
"Unfortunately, I don't have much time to waste Finally instead of holding you back, I'm going to take you with me in death." (Veid)
[Time remaining before the end of Brother to the End: 40 seconds.]
Veid propelled himself at lightning speed towards the prince, who in reaction stopped all his attacks to protect himself with a large cocoon of threads. The sword impregnated with the wind element he hit the cocoon which did not let go. The prince had created several thick layers so that Veid would not cut it easily.
The monster wanted to save time, he was clever, he had already demonstrated it several times. And he was demonstrating it again, he had understood that the power Veid was using was limited in time. Otherwise he wouldn't have rushed in like that, plus Veid's skin was peeling off as time went on. So she deduced that she just had to protect herself and wait for him to die on his own.
No matter how hard he knocked, a new layer of threads immediately replaced the damaged threads.
[Time remaining: 30 seconds]
"Till the end eh!" (Veid)
Veid stepped back without missing a beat, raised his sword above his head and concentrated all his mana into it. The sword glowed a powerful green, an aura covering it. This aura only grew larger as time passed, the prince was not going to let this opportunity pass either.
Swords of threads formed, emerging from the cocoon, they twirled towards Veid. Walls of wind, formed, but concentrated on storing mana in his sword. The barriers were weaker and some of the wire swords managed to get through, four swords piercing him.
Two were lodged in his ribs, one in his belly and the back one pierced his right eye. Blood flowed from all the places he had been hit, but at no time did he waver.
"I don't feel pain you son of a bitch" (Veid)
[Painless skill is active: You feel no pain].
In the end, the aura on his sword was gigantic forming a completely green sword almost touching the ceiling.
"Try to stop that!" (Veid)
The sword lowered relentlessly on the cocoon where the prince was, the moment the sword struck. The entire mana aura exploded with a roar, shaking the entire dungeon.
Smoke from the explosion traveled all over the place, but it was quickly dissipated by a green wind. Pieces of wire and rocks ran through the whole place, while Veid's blood dripped onto the ground.
In front of him, the spider prince had lost almost all his arms, he had none left. Also, he had only one eye left intact, his beautiful black carapace being now severely damaged. Purple blood flowing from multiple places and pores.
The two were only a few feet apart now, Veid nearly out of mana.
"Even after that you're still alive, spiders are really tough bastards." (Veid)
[Time remaining 15 seconds.]
Veid began to walk towards the prince with difficulty, who responded by pulling 5 thread swords from his back. Even the sturdy creature was physically exhausted, he swung his swords which were deflected slightly by Veid's wind.
The swords hit him anyway, with each step he took a gash appeared on his already bruised body. Yet he walked towards the prince with a smile on his face, it was the memories he had with his brothers that surfaced. Each of his memories was like a cane allowing him to continue walking towards the prince.
The slashes accumulated, Veid running out of mana, he could not even deflect the blades that pierced him. This repeatedly, despite his body being covered in blood that beautiful smile on his face never disappeared. While his body continued to be torn apart.
Finally he arrived near the creature and grabbed it with all the strength he had left. Memories came flooding back of Veid and his brothers, of sword fights as children. The stories their parents told them at night, the days in the fields. Then a memory of him and his brothers sitting on a mountaintop admiring the landscape this world had to offer.
Veid closed his eyes in peace, smiling, and his body exploded, taking everything with it.
The dungeon was then completed, Veid had done more than hold the monster back, he had killed it. Zem and Élias could not help but feel sadness, their grief immeasurable. The loss of their brother with whom they had grown up and spent their childhood, with whom they had had many adventures. The only thing they were able to recover from him was his golden sword Liberty. His body had completely disappeared without a trace, only the body of the spider was there.
Of course, they had to tell their parents, who were also victims of grief, because Veid was their son. And today they would no longer see his face or his bright smile that characterized him.
After many months of mourning their brother, it was also time for them to keep their promise.
"Zem, I make you leader of the Royal Knights of Sigma because of your many accomplishments as an adventurer." Declared the King with a smile on his face to a crowd.
A crowd that cheered with joy and enthusiasm for this man who had become the man who would protect them.
"So you're sure you don't want to become the vice-chief of the royal knights." (Zem)
"I'm sure, in fact I asked the king to put me in a remote city. He agreed, I will be there as the new commander-in-chief." (Élias)
"When are you leaving?" (Zem)
"Starting tomorrow, there are apparently more and more monster appearances and internal problems." (Élias)
"I see, don't hesitate to call me if you have any problems, we are now knights of the realm." (Zem)
"This is what Veid wanted." (Élias)
"Yes now it's up to us to do what he expected of us." (Zem)
"Yes and what are you going to do with his sword?" (Élias)
"Keep it, but I had it examined and the examiner told me that this sword was incomplete." (Zem)
"Incomplete?" (Élias)
"He told me that: this sword is waiting for its new master and the last two missing fragments." (Zem)
"Could it have something to do with the fact that our three swords came from a dungeon?" (Élias)
"No doubt, but this description and characteristic, did not appear until the death of Veid." (Zem)
"Strange." (Élias)
And so Élias and Zem separated to go about their respective jobs.
------
Back to the present
Zem, who had been looking at Mailie all along, thought again:
"A new master, eh?" (Zem)