169 Extermination 2

Dunstan clenched his teeth hard; looking at the blue gaseous screen in front of him, he was sure Lucilla could survive it. Glancing at his fellow Commanders from the corner of his helmet, his heart tightened in conflict.

He and the others had been trained to be ready to sacrifice themselves for the Kingdom's glory. However, knowing there might be a possibility that their sacrifice could end up in vain, he was reluctant to bring the other Commanders to die with him.

"Dunstan," the only female Commander called. "We know what you are thinking. So, I will tell you this: breaking the [Blood Link] now, and telling us to leave won't change a thing." She pointed her finger to the direction of their battling subordinates. "We have to hold her back to prolong their lives."

"Ember... I—"

"If we let her roam free, there would be many of our subordinates die." The more she spoke the more passionate she became. "Therefore, even if we can't bring her down with us, we have to injure her so bad, she has to retreat!" She shouted her word in the end.

Dunstan was stunned. Ember's word had awaken him up entirely from his selfish thought. Although Knights had a strong camaraderie, each of them had an honor to maintain; it was something to respect.

If their fellow Knight had determined themselves to become a sacrifice and die in a battle, they couldn't tell their fellow Knight otherwise; doing so means an insult to the said Knight. Therefore, Dunstan had no right to tell the other Commanders to back off.

They had determined themselves to die together with him.

"Pardon me, I got ahead of myself," Dunstan apologized. Exhaling lightly, he straightened his posture, and muttered, "May our death bring victory to our beloved Kingdom." Raising his sword, he shouted, "For Braxtein Kingdom!"

"For Braxtein Kingdom!" The others followed suit.

The blue gaseous layer disappeared at that moment, revealing a fairly unscratched Lucilla who was looking at the Commanders loudly. The Commanders saw that, and as if on cue, all of them dashed toward Lucilla.

Lucilla snorted coldly at the incoming Commanders. "Bugs will always be bugs even if you give them a pride." Extending her hand, Demonic Mana gathered in her palm. "[Mortal Erosion]!" A dark ball of condensed Miasma was formed in the air, split itself in four, then shot toward the incoming Commanders.

Dunstan, who could deduce how fearsome the attack was from its aura alone, quickly sent his Qi Blades at it. A light briefly flashed, and the four dark balls were split apart. "It doesn't disappear?!" Dunstan was instantly alarmed.

"Don't let it hit anything of you!"

"Understood!"

When the four dark balls were already close to thhe Commanders, they utilized each of their mastered Movement Technique, and disappeared from Lucilla's view, successfully avoiding her attack.

"Hmph! Petty trick." Lucilla sneered coldly. Turning her body to the side, she fended off the attack of the Commander whose Aura Ability was [Earth Bender], who had suddenly appeared beside her.

Boom!

The attack didn't stop there though; a pair of earthen hands emerged out of the ground, then grabbed Lucilla's feet, keeping her in her place ... Or so it was intended to. Lucilla easily freed her feet, and raised one of them to kick the Commander whose sword she had just fended.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do that as Ember was already close to split her in two from above. Although she could dodge Ember's sword skillfully, she still received a graze on her cheek; the wind Ember's [Sky Shaker] had influenced was the culprit.

Of course, she could easily heal the graze. However, she couldn't help herself from getting annoyed. Clicking her tongue in irritation, she clapped her hand once, and exploded her Demonic Mana that she had condensed a few moments earlier.

Noticing that display, the group of Commanders widened their eyes. Dunstan, being the fastest Knight in the group quickly headed to the closest Commander from Lucilla, and took the Commander away from Lucilla's vicinity with him.

BOOM!

"Gah! It's corrosive!" Due to saving the Commander that had been the closest one with Lucilla however, Dunstan was hit by the impact of the Demonic Mana explosion. The armor protecting his hand completely disappeared; his skin was burning.

"Dunstan! Here is a Holy Water!" The Commander Dunstan had just saved quickly gave him a small bottle of an ordinary looking water. "It works just trust me!" Although he couldn't see it clearly through Dunstan's helmet, the Commander knew Dunstan was giving him a doubtful gaze.

Splash!

Upon contact with Dunstan's skin, the water quickly glowed briefly before evaporating. Along with its evaporation however, was the disappearance of the injury on Dunstan's hand. "It works?" Dunstan slightly widened his eyes.

Dunstan didn't believe in God; he had thought every member of the Church was just a group of Mages playing around. He had never once requested to be healed by a Priest; he trusted his fellow Knight, the Healers, for that matter.

Therefore upon knowing Holy Water really had an effect, he couldn't help getting surprised. "Well, I guess there is a power in belief." Still, he didn't plan on believing just yet; with a casual shrug, he brushed the miraculous scene he had just witnessed off.

The Commander beside Dunstan shook his head in faint amusement. Although he was not a believer of the Four Great Gods, he still admitted the prowess the people of the Church had.

He quickly put the thought aside, as he, too, didn't have the leisure to muse over the thought; Lucilla's Demonic Mana explosion was finished, and she was already looking at their direction.

Readying his sword, Dunstan became the first person to charge. However in the next moment, he felt his power suddenly increased, and Lucilla disappeared from peripheral vision.

Quickly turning his body with the help of his gracious footwork, Dunstan's eyes quickly widened in bewilderment.

"Wayne!" He shouted in rage.

Lucilla was already in front of the Commander Dunstan had just saved, Wayne, and she had his still beating heart in her hand. "Legion Commander? Hmph! You can't even equip yourself with a good armour. How can you call yourself a Commander?" Disdain was apparent in Lucilla's tone.

No matter how outrageous the word she said, she didn't say anything wrong. Her hand had easily pierced Wayne's armour, taking his heart in a matter of seconds; she had the right to call their armour crappy.

Still, what could they do? They couldn't afford equipping themselves with Vanadium Armour—the close to indestructible armor—like her.

Dunstan gritted his teeth, and utilized his [Warrior of Light]. He swung his sword once, but it was just a brief flash of light in Lucilla's vision. Still, Lucilla could see the trajectory of the attack.

"S-She dodged it?"

Ignoring the bewildered Dunstan, she turned her body graciously, and blocked the attack of the Commander whose Aura Ability was [Earth Bender].

Crack!

The ground below Lucilla cratered, and it was slowly devouring her. "Hoh? You are getting creative with how you use your meager ability." The Commander said nothing, as he merely distanced himself from her.

In that exact moment, Ember appeared from behind Lucilla. Unlike the other Commanders who had swung their sword however, she was pointing the tip of her sword at Lucilla. Parting the air with her Aura Ability, she instantly appeared right behind Lucilla.

"[Sky Shaker: Twister]!" Her Aura Ability instantly took effect. The air on the tip of her sword spun themselves in one direction, creating a small, concentrated vortex. Just like any vortex does, it sucked everything to its center—her sword tip.

Thrust!

For the first time since the start of the battle, Lucilla received a heavy injury. A perfect hole as big as the size of the small vortex on the tip of Ember's head was made in her stomach.

Ember's sword passed through the hole, and she was ready to split Lucilla in two. However, that was the moment she heard a mirthful laugh came out of Lucilla.

"Ha-ha-ha. The only thing of you, Knights, that amazes me from time to time is the simplicity of your ability and the ridiculous effect it has."

Lucilla's hand moved just as fast as a lightning to grab Ember's sword. Her grasp was already strong enough to crack the sword, but she didn't stop there; forcefully infusing her Demonic Mana inside the sword, she successfully shattered it.

Boom!

"Gah!"

Ember was thrown away due to the explosion of the Qi that she had stored inside her now destroyed Sword Relic. "You, humans, really suck at making weapons," Lucilla sneered. Extending her hand, a dark miasma condensed in her hand.

The condensed miasma formed a certain shape, before slowly revealing a unique shaped short sword. Its hilt was red, and its blade color was black with a trail of shining red line on it. It looked like an ornamental sword, but the aura it possessed was fearsome.

"Let me show you what a real weapon is, and how to utilize it well!"

Turning her body around again, Lucilla blocked the sword of the Commander whose Aura Ability was [Earth Bender] with the hilt of her sword. Instead of stopping it though, her short sword easily shattered it.

Boom!

The Qi stored inside exploded. However even before the Commander was thrown away by the impact, Lucilla had already swung her sword at him. Her sword didn't even touch him, but his body was cleanly cut, along with the ground behind him.

Lucilla snapped her finger, and said, "Enjoy your place in the Purgatory." Even before the Commander's bisected body fell to the ground, black fire enveloped him.

"AHH!" Due to Knight's absurd vitality, the bisected Commander was still alive; he could feel all the pain the fire inflicted on his body. Unfortunately, he couldn't end his pain soon by exploding his Core; Lucilla had shattered it earlier.

Upon that display, Dunstan's eyes widened in rage. He strongly kicked the ground to propel himself toward Lucilla in a high speed. He could see Lucilla's eternal smirk that was openly ridiculing his attempt to slay her.

Dunstan didn't care how much Qi he was using in his intended attack; too many of his fellow Knights had died already—he had been powered up too many times. Time seemed to move very slowly when he swung his sword at her.

However right before his sword hit Lucilla's neck, he saw Lucilla's mirthful grin. Only then did he realize the one whose neck he was about to cut belonged to Ember. Alas, he couldn't stop his sword.

Schwing!

Lucilla's visage slowly disappeared from Dunstan's view. In its stead was the face of a beautiful woman with short blond hair. She was looking at him right in his eyes through his helmet with a smile. She was no other than the female Legion Commander, Ember.

"You are not wrong," she mouthed.

Then, gravity did its job; her head fell helplessly to the ground.

Thud!

Along with that was her body.

Staring at the scene with eyes widened in disbelief, a scream of rage came out of Dunstan's mouth in the next moment.

"AAAAHHHHH—"

Unfortunately, he, too, lost the capability to scream in the next moment.

By the time he knew it, Lucilla was already holding him his hair while looking into his eyes with ridicule. Only then did he register the fact that his head had been separated from his body.

That way, eight Legion Commanders lost their lives ... In vain.