Roman instinctively stepped forward to fight Noah. He knew that no one other than him could battle Noah at this moment.
He clenched his fists that were covered with Captain Karsten's blood.
Noah didn't hesitate any longer and shouted, "Attack now!"
Without any further ado, the Heretical Paladins charged at the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces. Nearly 500 soldiers were charging at a force that held more than 3000 soldiers!
Yet, the one who trembled in terror was the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces. They were tired while the enemy was completely fresh, bustling with energy.
Thus, the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces instinctively responded by switching their formation into a purely defensive formation. They wanted to deal with this charge and surround all these warriors before killing them.
It was an appropriate strategy… Usually.
Unfortunately for them, Noah's warriors didn't fall into the usual category. The defensive formation managed to halt their charge after some seconds.
The Sinyalian Kingdom's forces surrounded the Heretical Paladins. Nearly each Heretical Paladin was outnumbered 8 to 1. Yet, these Heretical Paladins remained calm as ever.
It was as if such a situation wasn't unique to them. Ever since they had begun assisting the Glerian Kingdom's forces against the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces, they had always fought against enemies who outnumbered them greatly.
There were times when they were outnumbered by tens of times. They managed to survive even that situation. So, how could this force intimidate them?
Each soldier of Noah's soldiers fought the soldiers nearest to them and threw them in different directions.
This occurred simultaneously at all points of the formation. After most of the soldiers supporting the battle formation were thrown in different directions, the formation couldn't sustain itself any longer. The formation was instantly shattered!
This was the first time this battle formation had been shattered using such a method!
The morale of the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces instantly plummeted. Under this low morale, the soldiers were battling their exhaustion while fighting the Heretical Paladins.
Even though Roman knew that his soldiers were facing a dire situation, he didn't dare to turn his head.
His eyes were completely focused on Noah. Noah attacked Roman with his Sword Qi.
Meanwhile, Roman countered with his Fist Qi. These invisible energies battled each other in the air.
To an ordinary warrior, the two were stationary. But only Roman and Noah knew that their battle had already begun. And it had been in this state for quite some time.
Roman noticed something. Noah's Sword Qi was even sharper today.
'He had gained even deeper insight since the last time we fought?! How can his ability grow so drastically within a few days?!'
However, he soon realized a possibility. But this wasn't the least bit comforting. If anything, it terrified Roman even more.
'Don't tell me he never had a battle against another warrior with an insight as strong as mine. This means he reached this level through his pure natural talent and hard work! And along with that is the Sword Domain?! He is a monster, through and through!'
Meanwhile, Noah showed a slightly disappointed face. He had thought Roman was like him. He had thought Roman's ability had grown as well during these past few days.
It had grown, but the growth was insignificant when compared to Noah's progress.
'I was wrong. He isn't the one…' Noah thought as his excitement died down.
All this time, he had wanted an opponent who could match him, stride by stride. When he had first fought against Roman, he had a feeling that Roman was that guy.
However, he now realized that his intuition was probably wrong.
'I need a strong rival. The one who can force me to my limits. Boss said that only when I encounter a rival whose growth rivaled my own could I truly grow. Just where will I find this person, boss?'
This question was something even Azaroth couldn't answer. Noah's Enlightened Sword Heart was an extremely rare talent. And very few things in the world could match it.
However, a Prince of Stars lived within the Sinyalian Kingdom. He was one of the few individuals whose potential could match Noah's Enlightened Sword Heart.
In fact, in pure power, it could completely overwhelm Noah's Enlightened Sword Heart!
Noah's Enlightened Sword Heart allowed him to gain insight into the most primitive sword laws.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Stars could connect to the countless stars in the sky. The more stars he connected to, the greater his fighting prowess would be.
To a certain extent, the growth rate of Shun Gordon, the Prince of Stars, exceeded even Noah's!
~~
Currently, Shun Gordon was living inside his City of Vanta. He was developing it, dealing with all kinds of internal issues faced by the citizens.
He still solved multiple cases that the king found troublesome as an Inquisitor. He had never forgotten that case with Edwin Rhodes. He found his thoughts occasionally drifting to that case.
This man's identity was revealed to be a Tyrannical Asura Devil God. The man who committed suicide before confessing anything.
He had personally witnessed that man's dead body. The physicians had confirmed it. And they had burnt his body just to be safe. Even though that man's body was a treasure trove, the king was very adamant about destroying it.
It was only natural for the king to be so adamant. A Demon God was a massive threat for any individual, and this included the King.
Just the experience of a Demon God was something that no one in the Kingdom could match! Let alone the strange abilities known to him.
Shun Gordon just failed to answer a question that had been roaming in his head.
'An Ancient Demon God who has survived the Great War. He returned to life through his totem. Would he commit suicide simply because he was cornered? No. He should have persisted more. There was a strong chance of his survival if he waited for the right opportunity. If he was alive, we would have tried to extract more information from his spirit…'
Shun Gordon suddenly halted his thoughts as he encountered a rather familiar word. He realized that he had missed something…Something crucial. Something staring at him in the face this whole time, and something that fit the puzzle and made sense.
'Spirit… He revived by taking over the body of a young lad as his spirit survived the passage of time in his totem. We accepted his death simply because the physician mentioned that the demonic spirit within the corpse was fading. This indicated his death… No one can live after their spirit has been exposed to the surrounding without any protective talisman.'
'But…But…What if he had strengthened his spirit? What if he had taken over another body?!' Shun Gordon's eyes widened with shock as this terrifying possibility dawned upon him.
'That explains his death! That explains why he would commit suicide! He was trying to find more information about us! Either he found what he was looking for or he decided it was useless and aborted that goal!'
'Who or what was his target? Information from us? His next target? Or about someone among us?'
However, Shun Gordon's thoughts didn't stop there. In fact, he felt as though his mind was suddenly getting closer to a dreadful truth!
He picked up a copy and a feather pen. He began to write a timeline of his strategic and tactical battles against Azaroth.
After he finished writing the entire timeline, he started thinking from the very beginning. This time, with the possibility of Azaroth possessing another body.
The conclusion he reached was absolutely horrifying news to him. He believed that Azaroth had pulled one up over up and had long since escaped the Sinyalian Kingdom.
By his guess, there was a single opportunity for him where he could have crossed the border. At least when Shun Gordon wasn't keeping an eye on him. The moment when he allowed a fake to pass to the Glerian Kingdom in the secret Merchant Union tunnel in Yhord City.
'He could be anywhere now!'
'I need to notify the King about this possibility as soon as possible! A deadly Demon God is free.. He is no doubt cooking up his next plan. He needs to be stopped before he can put his plan into motion!'
