After saying that, Seth raised his hand with force, and massive ice blades shot towards Asta and her group.
"Boom…"
As Asta watched the ice blade flying towards her, she gripped the black sword tightly, then crouched on her knees and rushed toward the ice blade. She jumped up and shouted, "We won't abandon them!"
"Flash!"
However, at that moment, a golden light suddenly cut across the sky, breaking through the fog barrier that protected the cloaked man and his group. It pierced through Seth's massive ice blade, embedding it into the ground!
"Tsk! Bang!"
"Boom…"
When the golden flame descended, dust and surrounding fog rose in an instant. Then, a strong wind, centered on the ice blade, blew in all directions!
Caught off guard by the sudden wind, Asta, who was defenseless in the air, was flung back by the gust.
"What happened? What's going on?" Noelle covered her eyes with one hand and struggled to speak against the strong wind.
At that moment, Seth, who was always calm, suddenly lost his composure after seeing this scene. In the next moment, Seth frowned.
A familiar voice to Asta and her group echoed from within the dust and fog.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! If I had known, I would've come along with you. I want to fight; just thinking about it makes my hands itch!"
As the voice finished, Valen's figure slowly appeared in front of Asta and her group. His appearance was majestic, especially with the flaming wings, making him look like an angel.
The villagers witnessing this felt so excited and reverent that they bowed to him and shouted, "We are saved!" "The rulers have not abandoned us!" "The ruler himself has descended to save us!"
At that moment, Valen's system activated and issued a clear sound:
[Ding Ding]
[A special location detected]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Sword of Evret]
[When bound to fire, it will become even hotter, stronger, and sharper]
Seeing this, Magna, Asta, and Noelle immediately showed excited smiles.
In the next moment, they shouted in unison, "Valen!"
After hearing that, Valen also smiled and said, "But it seems I'm not too late to join the fun now!"
After saying that, Valen slowly looked at Seth's group behind him.
However, after hearing Valen's words, Asta suddenly yelled out in frustration!
"Not too late?! I almost died a moment ago, you know?"
Magna: "You scoundrel! If you'd come just a bit later, we'd all be dead!"
Hearing the two's words, Valen could only rub the back of his head and laugh awkwardly.
"Haha, but you're all alive, right?"
As he looked at the three, Noelle couldn't hold back anymore. Then, she shouted at the three of them, "Hey! Now is not the time to be talking about this! The enemy hasn't been defeated yet!"
As soon as Noelle said that, Asta and Magna were taken aback. Then, they glared angrily towards the distant Seth and said with excitement, "Yes! If you hadn't reminded me, I almost forgot!"
Asta: "Alright!"
Magna: "Now it's our turn to strike back. Princess Noelle, Valen! You two are in charge of protecting the villagers; we'll leave them to Magna and Asta!"
Hearing Magna's words, Noelle felt a little surprised. Then, she pointed to herself in confusion and said, "Oh?! Me... I'm going to protect the villagers? I... I…"
As she said that, Noelle couldn't finish her sentence.
Are you kidding? I can't even control my magic power, and you're asking me to protect the villagers? It's enough if I don't accidentally hurt them.
At that moment, Valen slapped Magna's shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't you have plenty of magic? How can you fight them like that?"
"I have the most magic here, so let me handle them! You all protect the villagers together, and I'll be enough to face these four!"
As soon as Valin said these words, Seth, who was watching from a distance, suddenly frowned. The three men behind him sneered with disdain.
"Hmph! Arrogant!"
"Do you think you can defeat all four of us?"
"No need for Lord Seth to intervene, I can handle you alone!"
Seth: "Boy, you'll pay for your arrogance!"
Asta recalled the previous battle with them and said with concern, "Valin! Let me go with you! I can still fight!"
As soon as Asta finished speaking, Valin tapped Asta's head.
"Do you think I don't know you can fight? You've been here this whole time, and I haven't fought with my full strength yet. I don't even know my own limits!"
"So, this time, I want to go alone! I want to see how strong I really am! If you want to protect the villagers, if I can't keep up, then it won't be too late to help!"
After saying that, Valin began to walk slowly toward Seth's group.
"You call me arrogant? Maybe I am, but I have the ability to back it up!" As he said this, the smile on Valin's face disappeared in an instant.
Instead, a serious expression appeared. In the next moment, Valin released his magical power without reservation.
"Boom..."
An intense, oppressive aura spread throughout Suxie Village in an instant. Even Asta and his group felt a deep fear from this magical power!
Valin spoke with pride: "Under the sky and above the earth, there is none and never will be anyone more arrogant than me. I am Valin, I am the flame itself!"
When Valin finished speaking, a weapon appeared in front of him in the form of a blazing flame, gradually transforming into a sword with a shining red blade, radiating intense heat. Valin grasped the weapon.
At this moment, Seth felt an overwhelming magical force from Valin, and his calm expression was replaced with a look of shock.
In the next instant, he frowned and stared at Valin intently, saying, "Are you... the leader of the Black Aetherians?"
Upon hearing Seth's words, Valin smiled and said, "What? Are you talking about me? No, no, I'm not the leader of the Black Aetherians."
"But I'm stronger than the leader."
As soon as he said these words, Valin suddenly opened his eyes, and his breathing pattern changed as he activated Sun Breathing, enhancing his speed with mana, and dashed toward them at full speed, sword in hand.
"Boom!"
"Slash!"
The three cloaked men standing behind Seth shuddered as they saw Valin's figure charging forward. In the next moment, they rushed toward Seth in panic.
They quickly raised their hands and began chanting: "Mist Magic: Mist Illusion..."
Before they could finish, Valin appeared in front of them instantly. Without saying a word, he swung his sword at the cloaked man.
With a sound of flesh tearing, "Sshk!", the cloaked man, unable to react, was split apart by Valin's unleashed magic in an instant.
Seeing this sudden scene, the other two cloaked men trembled. Without hesitation, they clenched their fists and tried to strike Valin in the face.
But for Valin, their reaction speed was too slow!
In the next moment, Valin grinned wickedly and said coldly, "Your speed is far too slow!"
As he said this, his magic book slowly rose, and the pages turned slowly.
Valin coldly uttered, "Chaos Flame Magic: World-Devouring Serpent."
In the next moment, a giant serpent of gray flame appeared and lunged toward Seth and the two cloaked men.
The two cloaked men couldn't evade and were consumed by the serpent, while Seth managed to dodge it, though he suffered severe burns.
"Boom!"
Seth crashed into the wall as he dodged the serpent. Despite his burns and the impact, Valin didn't revel in it. In the next instant, he brandished his sword and rushed toward Seth without pause.
But this time, things didn't go as smoothly as with the cloaked men.
Faced with Valin's relentless attacks, Seth leaped back without saying a word. As he hung in the air, he began chanting magic quickly.
"Ice Magic: Ice Blades!"
Before Seth could finish his chant, Valin had reached the position where Seth had been standing. However, because Seth was still chanting his spell, Valin didn't want to pursue him into the air.
Once he left the ground, there would be no chance to dodge the spell.
Thinking this, Valin scoffed in dissatisfaction.
"Tch!"
Meanwhile, the ice blades created by Seth shot toward Valin at high speed.
In response, Valin swung his sword quickly, shattering all the ice blades into small pieces.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang..."
Immediately after, he gripped his sword again and ran toward Seth, who was about to land.
Seth conjured an ice blade, preparing to fight Valin with his swords.
With every sword strike and spell cast, Valin's excitement grew. This was his first time killing with his power, and he felt adrenaline rushing through his veins.
The longer the battle continued, the stronger Valin became, while Seth weakened.
For the first time, Seth felt fear. He had never seen anyone like Valin, who grew stronger with each battle.
Seth screamed in fear.
"You monster, you just won't die!"
He attacked with all his remaining strength, but to no avail.
Valin was invulnerable to physical attacks, thanks to the fundamentals of the Flame Body spell he possessed due to the Mera Mera no Mi devil fruit.
Valin leaped into the air, raised his fist, and punched the air, unleashing a flaming fist.
"Flame Fist."
Seth, seeing this attack, used a defensive spell.
"Ice Magic: Ice Dome."
A dome of ice surrounded him, but to no avail. It shattered, and a large portion of his body was burned.
Half of his body was burned, and he collapsed on the ground, helpless.
As Seth took his last breaths, Valin approached him and spoke calmly.
"Why did you come here?"
Seth's voice was weak.
"Do you think I'll tell you? You may be strong, but you're not the strongest. He will avenge me."
Valin sneered.
"You think so?"
"Yes, and since I'm going to die, I'll cause as much damage as possible."
Valin's eyes widened as he sensed Seth channeling his life force to cause a massive explosion.
At that moment, Valin felt his magic book rise, its pages turning to reveal a giant tree he had obtained from the book he bought in the library.
A depiction of the giant serpent, Ragnarok, moved in a circular shape.
Seth had completed transferring his life energy into his heart, triggering the explosion.
Asta, Noelle, and Magna ran toward Valin.
But they stopped as a tall, giant shadow appeared.
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