Chapter 170: Transcendence (1)
The alter egos of Archbishop Alberich, who were blocking the path of the Knights of Lichtenau, stopped moving all at once.
Understanding the situation, Camilo smiled brightly.
“Looks like Brantley-sama and Heinrich-sama defeated Archbishop Alberich’s main body!”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Professor Valentiano drew back his sword and let out a sigh of relief.
Camilo had just arrived and informed him that Brantley had headed for Archbishop Alberich, but he was unable to follow because of the clones.
“Quickly guide me to where Vice-captain Brantley entered, Camilo.”
“yes… … !”
Camilo took the lead, followed by Valentiano and other graduates.
“Quiet. Is the battle over?”
Valentiano murmured as he looked down the stairs Brantly and Heinrich had descended.
“Professor Angela will arrive soon… Let us go down first.”
Valentiano led the way down the stairs.
And we arrived at a space that smelled like blood.
“no… … !”
Valentiano’s eyes widened.
It was because a corpse was lying on the floor.
Looking at the clothes… Brantley was clear.
“Did Vice-captain Brantly get hurt?!”
“Ha, Heinrich-sama… … !”
Then Camille also screamed.
It was because he found Heinrich lying in the corner.
“Is Heinrich dead too?!”
“Oh no! Heinrich is alive!”
Valentiano urgently checked Heinrich’s condition.
Fortunately, Heinrich was not seriously injured.
“It looks like he lost his mind because he overused his magic like Aernas.”
“Ah, then… … .”
“It won’t affect your life, so move to the rear.”
“All right… … !”
Camilo hurriedly climbed the stairs with Heinrich on his back.
“But vice-captain Brantley died, and Heinrich was like that… … .”
After Brantley lost his life, did Heinrich use his last strength to knock Alberich down and pass out?
Seeing that Heinrich was alive without any major injuries and that Alberich’s alter egos were silent, he couldn’t help but think that way.
“Wait, then where is Archbishop Alberich?”
A huge natural cave came into Valentiano’s eyes.
Even though it was underground, there was a disgusting smell.
“That way is suspicious.”
Valentiano took the lead and headed towards the cave.
But when I realized that the floor was wet, I stopped.
“Could it be the blood of Archbishop Alberich… … ?”
Did Archbishop Alberich go that way while bleeding?
Just in case, Valentiano pulled out his sword.
And the moment I took one more step toward the cave… … .
“Retract your sword, Professor Valentiano.”
A serious voice echoed through the space.
“… … !”
Everyone hastily drew their swords.
But everyone’s hands were shaking.
Even though all the people here are graduates who have gone through prenatal battles.
I hadn’t felt anything until just now, but suddenly a tremendous presence appeared and overwhelmed everything.
“you… … .”
Even Valentiano, a high-level swordsman, had a trembling voice.
Suddenly appearing in the dark… in front of a gray-haired old man.
“you… Are you the Patriarch of the Dark Heaven Demonic Cult?”
“Yes, Professor Valentiano.”
The gray-haired old man was sitting on a rock with his head bowed.
It seemed like a defenseless position, but Valentiano couldn’t move easily.
“I’m sorry, but I want everyone to put away their swords.”
“The sword… Do you want me to reap it?”
“It wasn’t long after I woke up. I want to sit down and rest for a while.”
The Patriarch said in a calm voice.
“If you draw your sword and reveal your intention to live like now… I mean, I can’t relax.”
“… … .”
Everyone was perplexed.
It was because the Patriarch’s remarks were so unexpected.
“Patriarch, you… … .”
Valentiano swallowed and said.
“What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t I just tell you? It’s been a while since I woke up, so I’m sitting and resting.”
“Sit down and rest… … .”
“It is not easy to be active as soon as you wake up. You are quite old, so you should know.”
“… … .”
The patriarch’s relaxed voice left Valentiano speechless.
Now, the Patriarch was using a tone as if he were Valentiano’s senior in life.
“Patriarch… … .”
What am I supposed to say?
After much thought, Valentiano asked again.
“Archbishop Alberich… Where did you go?”
“Alberich?”
The Patriarch tilted his head slightly.
“Alberich… Oh, that guy.”
As he muttered, he raised his hand that the patriarch had placed on his lap.
Then he threw what he was holding in his hand to the floor.
“Okay, I ate.”
“… … !”
What the Patriarch threw out.
that… It was a human sternum.
“When I wake up, I am hungry. I swallowed them all.”
“Second, Patriarch… … !”
“Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t mean that you chewed up human flesh.”
The Patriarch laughed and shrugged.
“I just absorbed all of that existence. It’s so tattered… It didn’t taste very good, I mean.”
“Kuh… … !”
The patriarch’s tone did not change from before.
It was as if a senior in life was chatting with a junior.
But Valentiano felt it keenly at this moment.
That the old man in front of him was more vicious than any villain he had ever met.
“Patriarch… … !”
“Professor Valentiano, didn’t I tell you earlier?”
said the Patriarch in a relaxed voice.
“If you’re revealing that you’re going to live with a knife like that… I will tell you that I cannot rest in peace.”
“… … !”
That moment.
The Patriarch’s outstretched hand grabbed Valentiano’s sword.
It was so fast that Valentiano couldn’t even react.
“Ugh… … !”
Valentiano immediately deployed a sword technique.
No matter how much he was the Patriarch of the Dark Heaven Demonic Cult, he would not be able to hold on to the swordsmanship of a graduate of the highest level with his bare hands.
“… … ?!”
However, it was to no avail.
Before Valentiano’s magic even coated the entire blade… The blade is broken.
The Patriarch had broken the sword with only the strength of his fingers.
“How can this… … !”
“Professor Valentiano, you really bother me. I’m still awake, so I want to rest.”
The Patriarch rose from his seat and leaned toward Valentiano.
“I can’t. To wake up properly… Let your body move lightly.”
“… … !”
The moment he heard that, Valentiano once again deployed his magic.
If, as I said, you are still awake, now is your golden opportunity.
Here, we must launch a full-scale attack and cut down the Patriarch.
“Patriarch… … !”
While screaming, he delivered the best blow.
Valentiano is the highest authority on Eastern swordsmanship.
The ultimate slash, which had been practiced every single day for decades, pierced the Patriarch’s throat in perfect trajectory.
no… I had to dig in.
“… … ?!”
Suddenly, the figure of the Patriarch disappeared before his eyes.
instead… Blood gushed from Valentiano’s neck.
“Keugh… … !”
A deep wound that cannot be completely stopped even with magic power.
No matter how you look… It was fatal.
‘how… … !’
But it wasn’t the fear of death that dominated Valentiano’s mind.
It was a surprise at the speed that transcended common sense.
‘How, at this speed… … !’
Of all the swordsmen Valentiano had encountered so far, Brantly was the most agile.
But the Patriarch’s speed was incomparably faster than Brantly’s.
So far, Valentiano has been completely unaware of the patriarch’s movements.
The Patriarch seized Valentiano’s blade before he knew it, and then tore off Valentiano’s throat.
Despite being a peak-level graduate, Valentiano didn’t react at all.
‘Does it have this kind of speed when it goes beyond the peak? No matter how… … !’
I couldn’t understand it at all.
This was a speed that exceeded human limits.
No matter how well he handled mana, it would be impossible to achieve this speed.
‘How the hell… … !’
Before I died, I wanted to find out the secret of the Patriarch.
Valentiano squeezed out his remaining strength and swung his sword.
However, the mana was concentrated in both eyes, not the blade.
It was to raise the body’s eyesight to the limit and observe the patriarch’s movements.
“Your body is starting to loosen up.”
“… … !”
Chew!
This time, blood gushed out of his chest.
Valentiano watched the Patriarch’s movements with his eyes wide open, but he could not find anything either.
If you find out anything… It was just that the Patriarch had truly become transcendent.
“Professor Valentiano… … !”
Then a voice was heard.
It was the voice of Professor Angela, who arrived late.
“Escape, Professor Angela… … .”
Before the spark of life was extinguished, Valentiano squeezed out his last strength and spoke out.
“The Patriarch is not something we can deal with… … .”
With that last word left.
Valentiano collapsed on the spot, bleeding.
* * *
From noble mtl dot com.
“Professor Valentiano… … !”
Angela, who was running towards Valentiano, hurriedly stopped.
Because they noticed that Valentiano had passed away.
If he was still alive, he would have had to help somehow, but if he was already dead, he couldn’t help it.
“Follow Professor Valentiano’s instructions! All retreat!”
“yes… … !”
Although from a distance, Angela also saw the patriarch attack.
How he mortally wounded Valentiano… Even Angela’s eyes couldn’t see it at all.
‘How fast is that?’
Angela has the fastest speed among the academy professors.
However, with the Patriarch, a speed match would not be established at all.
The Patriarch was so fast that even the expression ‘invisible speed’ seemed insufficient.
“Professor Angela.”
“… … !”
Just then, the Patriarch turned his gaze to Angela.
Those cold eyes gave Angela goose bumps all over her body.
“They say it’s the fastest in the academy.”
The Patriarch began walking leisurely toward Angela.
Angela immediately wanted to hide, but the other Templars were still fleeing through the stairs.
And even if you ran away anyway, the Patriarch would catch up with you.
“I’m still not feeling well… Can I deal with you for a moment?”
“Kuh… … !”
Angela raised all of her mana.
Unleashes Vertinski’s black-sword swordsmanship, which he created himself, and unleashes black blades at the Patriarch.
A deadly black sword stretched out and aimed at the head of the patriarch.
“Hmm.”
The Patriarch did not move a single step from the spot.
instead… launched an unidentified attack.
“… … !”
It was a huge magical storm.
It was similar to the wide-range destruction attack that Aernas had shown at times, but its power was one step higher.
Enormous magical energy swallowed everything around… The underground space began to collapse.
“Everyone deploy self-defense… … !”
Kwak Kwa Kwa Kwam!
The mountain collapsed as if a cataclysm had occurred.
It’s a shame because all the people here now were intermediate or above graduates, otherwise everyone would have been buried alive.
Of course, even those who survived were not unharmed.
Because everyone was affected by the Patriarch’s attacks.
Even so, there weren’t that many victims… Because Angela squeezed all her might to stop the Patriarch’s attack.
“Excellent, Professor Angela.”
“Keugh… … .”
Angela vomited blood.
He blocked the Patriarch’s attack as much as possible by deploying Vertinsky’s black swordsmanship like a shield, but his entire body was in tatters.
“Your swordsmanship has an aspect in common with that of Archbishop Catoleas.”
“what… … ?”
“How about it, don’t you have any intention of turning to the Dark Heaven Demonic Cult?”
“hahahaha… … .”
At the Patriarch’s suggestion, a mischievous laugh flowed from Angela’s lips.
Although Angela was nicknamed ‘the witch’ at the academy, she had no intention of joining the Demonic Cult.
“Don’t talk nonsense, pseudo cult leader… … .”
“Sorry.”
The Patriarch shook his head.
Then, slowly, he raised his hand.
“Then, goodbye with this.”
“Kuh… … .”
Another attack comes at an invisible speed.
However, it was impossible for the current Angela to evade or block it.
Angela closed her eyes, prepared for death.
And an invisible attack towards Angela… … .
“It’s still too early to despair, Professor.”
Wow!
Along with a roar, the sound of enormous energy colliding was heard.
Realizing that someone had defended the Patriarch’s attack, Angela opened her eyes hastily.
“ah… … .”
And Angela realized.
Now, there was a man who was facing the Patriarch with his back to Angela.
“Ahh… … !”
When I first met him, he was just a promising student.
But at this moment… He was the best swordsman who showed a strong backside more than anyone else in the world.
“Sorry for being late, Professor.”
“Aernas… … !”
Ernas Landstein.
He returned to the battlefield to face his worst enemy.