"You… How is this possible? Cough!"
The curtains were finally drawn on this life-and-death battle within the fog outside the monastery. A silver flash of light ripped through Peter Kater's body, and all of the distorted paintings gathered around him were torn apart.
Peter Kater had no more means to avert his death. He felt his mana swiftly flowing out of his body, dissipating into the surroundings.
"I never thought… that I would really lose my life here… Hahaha… Brat, don't get too smug… You dared to make a deal with that kind of existence… One day, you'll too…"
Despite having only half a body, Peter laughed at Roel in mockery as he thought about the massive silhouette that he saw earlier, but before he could finish his words, he had already succumbed to death. All that was left on his face was a smile of ridicule.
Meanwhile, Roel was gasping for breath after his massive exertion. He wasn't in any state to listen. He could only feel a searing heat burning his body.
The invulnerability effect was still active for the moment. As the skill counted down to its end, the wounds inflicted by Smiling Mother and the other paintings began to quickly heal up. A surge of dark energy was swiftly rejuvenating his body, nursing him back to full health.
[3… 2… 1…]
[Spell 'Grandar's Promise' has ended.]
…
With the end of the spell, the System's 'Evaluation' was also quickly being updated, and this was the final result:
[Evaluation: High (74)]
Roel wasn't too surprised by the sudden increase in his evaluation.
He reached out to touch his abdomen. Previously, Smiling Mother had left a gaping hole there. Now, nothing remained but a smear of blood on his unblemished skin. His wounds had completely healed up, not leaving even a scab behind.
Is the recovery ability of undead that great?, Roel wondered.
He recalled all of the movies on overpowered zombies he had seen in his previous world, but even they didn't seem so formidable. Perhaps the undead in this world were exceptionally powerful.
"The effects are incredible, but it's just… incredibly exhausting…"
Roel's body wobbled from side to side as he spoke feebly to himself.
Transforming from an ordinary human into an undead and back took a huge toll on the body. Even with his injuries healed, he still couldn't recover from his frail state right away. It felt like his body had been completely emptied out.
With unsteady steps, Roel staggered over to a nearby worn-out signpost that indicated 'Locke Street 42' and leaned against it. He took deep breaths to soothe the discomfort he felt, before turning to look at the monastery with a relieved smile.
It had been incredibly dangerous, but he managed to overcome the disaster in the end and protect Nora. This was enough for him.
"What an irony though. Am I going to be the one to fall ill next once she recovers?"
Roel clutched the signpost tightly with a helpless smile on his face. He gritted his teeth and began staggering his way toward the monastery.
I need to head back and get Klaude to clean up the body, or else it could draw soldiers over…
Halfway to his destination, he suddenly found his vision clearing up significantly. He raised his head and realized that it was already dawn. Sunlight scattered all over the street, brightening the surroundings in an instant.
Sunrise and sunset, these were the times that the labyrinth would rest and reset the maze. It would last for an hour each time around. Looking at his own shadow cast behind him, Roel heaved a deep sigh of relief. He was glad that the long night was finally over.
However, before he could rest easy, he suddenly noticed another shadow appearing beside him.
Someone is behind me!
Roel immediately tensed up once more. He knew that there was no such thing as 'allies' in this land where danger lurked at every corner. So, he unhesitatingly turned around and aimed his short sword at the figure standing behind him.
To his horror, Ascendwing, which had never failed him since he had obtained it, actually failed to injure his target. A metallic reverberation sounded from the blade. Roel stared in disbelief at the dashing, golden-haired man blocking the sword with his long, slender forefinger.
Judging from how the golden-haired man's muscles weren't tensed up, it was apparent that he wasn't exerting himself in the least. At the same time, it didn't seem like he was actively using his transcendent abilities either.
Typically speaking, the sharpness of Ascendwing should have been more than enough to slice a person's finger in two, but that wasn't the case right now.
Roel was shocked by the current situation, but he wasn't confused. Just by looking at the golden-haired man's face, which shared some resemblance to that of the girl currently sleeping inside the monastery, he was already able to figure out the person's identity.
Wade Xeclyde.
The worst-case situation had happened. Both he and Nora were in a terribly dangerous position.
Wade Xeclyde was an extremely powerful individual. One of the techniques that he was skilled in was to focus his strength at a single spot to stop any weapons that were directed toward him. Such a technique was more or less a gimmick, but it was effective in crushing the fighting will of his opponents.
However, the situation was a little different this time around. Just as Wade's finger was about to come in contact with Ascendwing, the short sword seemed to sense something and abruptly retracted its force, allowing Wade to easily stop it.
Needless to say, this bizarre situation piqued Wade's curiosity. He moved his line of sight from Roel's bloodied body over to the sword, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Saint's Blade—Twelve Wings!
There was no question that it was the Xeclydes, inheritors of the Angel's Bloodline, who boasted the greatest knowledge of the Twelve Wings. Due to the nature of their bloodline, they couldn't be hurt by the Twelve Wings. In fact, this feather-like short sword was even used as their childhood play toy.
Wade fully understood the significance of Ascendwing being wielded by the hands of an outsider.
"Who are you?"
Wade turned his eyes back onto the owner of the sword. His gaze was far sharper and graver than it was before, but the person he was addressing appeared to be too tense to speak. Then, he turned his gaze sideward to look at the severed halves of a corpse lying on the ground.
This mana… Origin Level 4? This child managed to kill him?
A slight crease formed upon Wade's forehead. If the presence of Ascendwing created an air of mystery around the identity of the boy before him, the presence of the corpse belonging to an Origin Level 4 evil cultist further deepened it.
Wade had a clear grasp of Roel's strength. The latter was at most at Origin Level 6, having yet to obtain his Origin Attribute. Yet, to be able to defeat an evil cultist 2 levels stronger than himself… This was truly unbelievable, a nigh impossible feat.
Could it be the sword's ability?, Wade wondered.
Meanwhile, contrary to what Wade believed, Roel's mind hadn't come to a halt just because Ascendwing had failed him. In fact, his mind was churning at full throttle to figure out a way to lure this prince as far away as possible from the monastery.
He wasn't certain why Wade had suddenly appeared here, but he knew for certain that he couldn't allow the prince to meet Nora. Everything Wade was doing right now, including inciting this grievous civil war, was to make him the sole successor to the throne. That was the condition he had to fulfill in order for his plan to come to fruition.
Therefore, there was no way Wade could tolerate the existence of Nora. He would have to lure Wade away from here by hook or by crook, but how was he supposed to do so?
The most direct method was for him to lure Wade away by running away from this area. With such thoughts in mind, he turned his gaze to Ascendwing in his hand.
So far, he had already used 'The Unruly' twice today, which meant that he had one last teleportation left. However, given that the maximum distance he could teleport was 50 meters, and that the labyrinth's fog had already receded, there was little doubt that he would get caught straight away.
To make things worse, he was already encircled. There were all sorts of soldiers marching here from all directions right now, be it armed warriors, silver-armored commanders, light-armored archers, or logistical soldiers.
Wade's allied armies.
There were records of them in history, and it was stated that most of them were evil cultists that looked as if they had come from the depths of hell. However, it turned out to be a blatant lie. These soldiers were clearly very well-trained and disciplined, and they were not evil cultists but heretics.
But of course, Roel was in no mood to correct history right now. The emergence of the allied armies crushed the final spark of hope that Roel harbored in his heart. With the maximum teleportation distance of 50 meters to 'The Unruly', no matter where he teleported off to, he would only be leaping into a sea of enemy soldiers.
"Judging from your clothes, you must be from a high-standing noble house. Interesting. I haven't heard of any nobles being conferred with Ascendwing, but yours has already been activated."
Wade looked to and fro between Ascendwing and Roel's stiffened face, and he found himself unable to suppress his curiosity any longer.
"What's your relationship with Victoria?"
While Wade was asking his question, Roel noticed a golden-haired knight rushing over to them. The knight stopped before Wade and bowed to him.
"Your Highness, we have surrounded the area. Our men are prepared to move as soon as you give the command."
"Move in and find her."
"I understand. What about this…"
"You need not care about him. There's no need to take his weapon away either. He doesn't have the strength to fight back anymore. Just find someone to take care of him."
Wade looked at Roel, who was trying his best to put on a strong front despite being on the verge of passing out at any moment, and he chuckled to himself. He decided to keep this interesting boy alive for the time being and question him later.
On the other hand, however, the golden-haired knight was cautious of Roel. He stared deeply at the latter, seemingly trying to assess if Roel would be a threat to Wade or not.
At the same time, Roel began assessing the knight in return. To his astonishment, he saw something that he hadn't expected to see at all.
[Wade's Aide: Felder Elric (Bryan Elric)]