The young lady's eyes constricted into pinholes, tumultuous waves thrashing in her mind with immense momentum.
To someone like her, an Edict like the Sabre Edict on the level of Damian's wasn't anything special. She had seen way more powerful and refined Weapon Edict to actually feel the intense emotion she was currently feeling. Hell, even her black flame was an even more powerful and exalted Edict.
However, what shocked her was the ease at which Damian comprehended it. In spite of the situation he was in, where his wellbeing was deteriorating with the passing of each second, he seemed at ease, and even managed to grasp the Sabre Edict.
While Weapon Edict weren't enough to make her bat an eye, that didn't mean they were weak or easy to comprehend. If anything, they are among the most difficult Edict to manipulate, making it so that, when one finally had them firmly within one's grasp, the strength one could output would skyrocket.
The lady suddenly felt sympathetic for the Draconians. If before, they have an 80 percent chance of defeating and even killing Damian with their Lineage Gifts, now though, that chance has dropped to 0!
*
Damian couldn't describe how felt right now. The feeling of Edict streaming his body was one he hadn't thought would be so satisfying.
He had felt Edict before, or more appropriately, he had felt Edict Essence course through his body several times before, however, those times had been only for a brief moment.
While they did their job of strengthening his being and obviously felt satisfying, it didn't feel much as satisfying as controlling and manipulating said Edict to your whims, it didn't feel as satisfying as being able to pull said Edict from the atmosphere indefinitely.
Damian's laugh reverberated across the whole area, the cadence a booming tremor that shook the trees around. He took a step forward and raised the Light Saber above his head, an especially bright light twinkling at its tip, before it descended.
Before, while every one of Damian's attack had been incredibly refined and sharp, they felt very languid at the same time. He hadn't understood the reason for this feeling at that time. He had swung the blade with everything he got, killed 6 of the 15 Draconians, and yet, he felt as though something wasn't adding up.
But now, he seem to understand. The reason he had felt that way was because his strikes lacked a conduit, a perfect conduit, a conduit by which they could reveal their true strength.
A pale silver light coated his blade as it descended on his first target. The Draconian stood no chance. It didn't even register any pain before he slipped into eternal darkness. The second was the same, then the third, the fourth and the fifth.
In a matter of moments, Damian had suddenly gone from being unable to kill a single Draconian after they began exerting their Lineage Gifts to falling 5 within minutes.
And yet…
"Kill him…!"
"Die!"
"He killed our brothers!"
…they didn't back down.
Respect couldn't help but well up in the heart of Damian. Even in the face of a power greater than theirs, even with the reality of their brothers falling before them, never to stand again, they didn't back down. In fact, if anything, the death of their brothers only seemed to fuel them more.
For a moment, Damian couldn't find it in himself to kill them. Were it not for the circumstances that surrounded their current battle, he wouldn't mind befriending them.
However, from the moment he entered the Spheric Tower and received the Quest, this battle was set in stone. Even if they hadn't pursued him because he killed the son of their Duke, there was the fact that he would absolutely need to go against them so they wouldn't conquer the Southern Human County.
Thus, it didn't matter if he provoked them or not, this battle was bound to happen.
In addition, even if he suddenly chose to leave them alive, would the Draconians do the same? Absolutely not. Especially not when he had killed twelve of their kind, if he included the Draconian he had accidentally killed back in the Draconian Duchy.
Damian abruptly whipped his head to the side, narrowly evading the punch of a Draconian coated in hot crimson flames. He followed that up, however, with a piercing forward, carving a hole in the throat of the Draconian. This was immediately followed up again with two piercing to his sides, killing two Draconians. This left only one remaining.
He suddenly took a deep breath, feeling it was about time he ended this. There was still the threat of the young lady from the House of Etoile after all. Although, he wasn't scared in any stretch.
Damian stood at ease, his golden eyes shining for a split second, before he dashed forward. With just two steps, he was already upon the Draconian.
He raised his sabre above his head, its body lighting in a pale silver glow, affirming the presence of a mystical force that was the Blade Edict. And then, it descended.
The air seemed to freeze, even time appeared to slow to a snail pace, and yet, Damian's weapon continued its journey unimpeded. However, just as it appeared as though the head of the last Draconian would be lopped off, another change took the battlefield by storm.
One moment, Damian's saber was still journeying, free from obstructions, the next moment, it never reached its destination. From a corner of his eyes, if only for a brief moment, he could make out a pair of golden reptilian eyes, pervaded with a thick killing intent, before a heaviness with the weight of five trucks conjoined, barreled into him.
Damian felt the wind knocked out of him as his whole body careened through the air, a line of blood trailing after him.
He grunted silently in pain, his mind going dormant for awhile before he snapped back to reality. He immediately twisted his body while still in mid air, before performing a flip that landed him firmly on his two feet.
He rested both hands on his knees, his breath heavy and haggard. Upon collecting himself, he stood upright to take a look at the new change.
What he beheld was a scene that had him wide-eyed.
She was like a goddess descended from the Heavens. Her crimson-gold hair were long, resting gently on her back as though unbothered by the wind that blew. Her eyes were shaped like slit, and shining a bright gold that felt inviting.
However, at the moment, those eyes weren't inviting, but wafted a dense murderous intent that felt almost suffocating.
"Why? Why did you? Why did you kill them all?!" Her voice could have make out for delicate were it not for the maddened anguish it was laced with.
Damian frowned. Although, he had killed the Draconians, that was only because he didn't have a choice. For one, he needed to stop them from conquering the Southern Human County if he ever wanted to complete the Quest, and with the way the Draconians viewed Humans, he doubted they would just sit their hands and listen to him.
And secondly, the Draconians had clearly targeted him. Although, he wasn't sure if they had been sent to kill him or not, the fact that they had indeed shown a desire to kill him was enough to trigger his ire.
When things were put this way, did this new lady before him had the cheek to ask him why he had killed them?
That said, he didn't reply for a second and only examined her before speaking out.
"Who are you?"