Exerting every ounce of his power, Declar unleashed a fierce strike towards Arlo. However, Arlo agilely sidestepped the attack, narrowly evading it.
This time, Declar's swing created a powerful gust of wind which blew against him but Arlo, being a skilled warrior, managed to evade the attack, sustaining minor injuries.
However, a few of the troop members who were in the path, were forcefully hurled into the rocks, sustaining grievous injuries that crushed their bones.
Arlo's fury intensified, prompting him to dash towards Declar and unleashed a sequence of three strikes.
One to his face, another to his chest and the last, his abdomen. These blows inflicted severe damage, breaking several of Declar's ribs as he was thrown across the open field.
Grunting out in pain, Declar tried to grab his sword which fell by his side, but had one pierced into his hand instead.
Declar gritted his teeth as he endured the excruciating pain.
"Still refusing to surrender, huh? You're quite the resilient one," Arlo remarked with anger in his voice.
He then stabbed a blade through his back, hoping to get a pained response.
"How about now? Still won't scream in pain?" Arlo then twisted the blade until Declar shouted out, unable to hold the pain any longer.
"Tell me, what's the sensation like having a hole through your body?' He asked while withdrawing the blade, his enjoyment evident as he observed Declar's painful grunts, his expression growing darker."
'Doing this isn't my style, but since some of our comrades were killed by him, I guess I'll let him have his fun for a little longer' Nazick thought to himself as he stood back watching.
"Better pray to all the gods in heavens that I don't survive this, because when I do, go wash your necks, I will become the asura that ends you and your clan!" Declar declared through the pain.
"Shut up!" Arlo said as he stepped on the injury he had inflicted on him.
~Aahhhh!~
"Do you want to know why we are after your lives? It's not for a mere position of the Blade fortress master."
"Arlo! That's enough. You are saying too much!" Nazick called out to him.
Arlo locked eyes with Nazick, running his tongue along the blade before speaking playfully.
"Take a good look at him- he's teetering on death's edge. Shouldn't we at least give him a reason for his canine demise?"
Nazick glanced uncomfortably at Arlo before responding. "Let it go. The master is waiting for our return."
Arlo laughed as he pulled on Declar's hair, and he spoke to his face.
"You want to know so bad right? Well I'll tell you. It's because of your bloodline. Blame yourself for having an outstanding bloodline."
Declar was initially taken aback by Arlo's words, but then he realized the reason behind the sudden surge he experienced while battling the Tiger King's troop.
It was the flow of mana that he could feel and manipulate, and it turned out to be wind magic, to be exact.
No one in Lukar's history had ever achieved such a feat.
"Yes that's the expression I have been yearning to see."
Arlo continued as he laughed maniacally.
"Want to know more? Want to know more? Huh? Huh?"
"Since you satisfied the thrill I've been seeking for a long while, I'll tell you one more thing. Do you know why your father hasn't recovered to his prime all this while?"
"Arlo, that's going to far, finish the job already!" Nazick bellowed.
"The job has been boring all this while, boss. Just look at him!" He screamed with an eerie smile, while kicking the wounds on Declar's body.
"The Reformist Confederation Priest that has been treating your father and feeding him pills, do you think it was just pills? Hah! It was poison."
Nazick facepalmed in disappointment.
All this while Declar's anger has been directed towards the Evandros clan thinking they were jealous of the power the Leonidas clan held in the Blade fortress. But no. It was far bigger than that.
The Valor Guardians, a dominant force on the continent, collectively decided to eliminate the Leonidas family from existence due to their perceived threat posed by the family's immense power.
~KEUKKKKK~
'Those hypocrites, to think they were revered as heroes, the so called Righteous 'Valor Guardians', were all two-faced bastards, just to hold on to power.'
Declar, drenched in his own blood, let out a fatigued sigh as he felt a numb sensation in his body.
Meanwhile, Arlo kept kicking him but he could no longer react to pain anymore.
"Huh, that's all? Well, it was fun while it lasted. I made a promise to send you off painlessly. Looks like it's time to keep it. Hehehehe."
He raised his sword up to deliver the final blow but stared down at Declar who had a lifeless look in his eyes.
'Sorry mother, sorry father. Looks like this is it for me. My only regret, was not being able to do more.' Declar slowly closed his eyes, waiting to accept his fate, when a sudden beam of light bolted through Arlo, totally disintegrating his whole upper body.
A bead of sweat formed on the forehead of the remaining troops as they witnessed what happened.
They heard footsteps approaching them from behind, coming out of the deeper part of the valley of death. It was an old man with little to no presence, his beards almost sweeping the floor.
"Who are you?" one of the troop members asked as he charged toward the old man.
The old man lightly tapped his sword, causing a radiant beam of light to emanate from his location, obliterating the charging members of the Tiger King troop.
The astonishing might of the elderly gentleman's celestial abilities left them all in awe.
However, the old man wasted no time, moving as swiftly as light itself to materialize behind another foe, instantly dispatching him to the afterlife with a shattered body.
"What's happening here?"
"He vanished?"
"That's some incredible agility skill!"
"Where did he go?"
Murmurs spread through the troops as they anxiously scanned their surroundings, only to fall one by one.
"Let's unite our strength and strike together," one of the men suggested as they charged in as a group, except for Nazick, who remained entranced.
He was the only one who could recognize the power gap between them and the old man was as wide as the ocean.
"These fools, why are they rushing towards their doom? This isn't just a regular agility skill – he's becoming invisible, as if he was never there—"
"What in the world is that light? It can't be... Is this the prowess of a master who has reached the highest echelons? We're no match for this man; I must inform our master!"
Nazick contemplated fleeing, but his body refused to obey him. All he could do was witness his comrades being annihilated by this unimaginable power.
The elderly man soon materialized in front of Nazick after laying waste to his other comrades.
"Hmm, at least one of them recognized the power gap," the old man spoke in a husky tone. "As a reward, I'll show mercy."
With a swift motion, the old man severed Nazick's four limbs so cleanly that it took him a moment to realize what had happened.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, he crumpled to the earth, unleashing a piercing scream of torment.
"Wha- what have you done? You insane old man!"
"I should've realized sooner; no beasts in the Valley of Death had approach us all this time. Was it because of you?" Nazick mused, panting helplessly on the ground, now limbless.
The elderly man regarded him with disdain and strode away. Soon after, he approached the motionless Declar, his eyes briefly fixating on the unmoving form before his own consciousness slipped away.
"What a pitiable yet intriguing young one; you still possess the will to survive," the old man remarked as he applied pressure to various acupressure points on Declar's body with his index finger. Declar released a profound sigh of relief.
"Your journey isn't over, my boy," he declared as he s
cooped up Declar and moved with the swiftness of the wind, venturing deeper into the Valley of Death.
"Your journey begins now."