Chapter 348: The King's Decisiveness

When Muria realized that legends were involved, he felt compelled to act despite his limitations. Wielding the Staff of Finality, he summoned the nearest ancient metallic dragon. However, before doing so, Muria had already accomplished a feat that shocked the entire subcontinent.

With his soul power alone, he dared to confront a legend.

Muria's relentless investigation had led him to this legendary figure, which was not unexpected. Provoking a legend by meddling in their affairs and evoking their wrath was quite normal for someone like Muria.

Thus, under the watchful eyes of many intelligent beings, Muria engaged in combat with a duke of legendary second-tier power. Indeed, it was the legendary duke who struck first.

Legends possess a natural sense of superiority over those below them, including human legends when facing non-legendary dragons. Utilizing their absolute power, human legends can achieve feats such as slaying dragons single-handedly. However, when facing dragons of equal rank, humans often find themselves on the losing end.

But Muria broke this norm. Facing a duke with legendary second-tier power, Muria was unfazed. Donning the Sanctus Imperium armor and wielding the Dungeon Halberd, he fought the legend on equal footing.

Having previously skirmished with a subpar legend in the Kingdom of Ob in the Ionia subcontinent, Muria felt no intimidation before human legends.

To him, this duke felt somewhat similar to that subpar legend, albeit slightly weaker, indicating that this duke's legendary status might be somewhat inflated.

Less watered down than those who rely solely on external forces to reach the first tier of legend, this duke was slightly stronger but not by much. It was a case of the "pot calling the kettle black" as all who ascend to legend through external means find their progress on this path stunted, eventually reaching a standstill.

The battle between Muria and the legendary duke initially stunned all onlookers as Muria matched the duke blow for blow, not showing any signs of disadvantage.

In fact, the duke was somewhat bewildered after discovering that his attacks were effortlessly parried by Muria. He had intended to swiftly demonstrate his legendary prowess and regain his dignity, but found himself unable to defeat Muria quickly.

Every swing of Muria's Dungeon Halberd forced the duke to dodge, and his own attacks seemed to cause no harm to Muria. Moreover, striking Muria resulted in painful reverberations through his own body.

On the other hand, Muria, armored in the Sanctus Imperium, felt negligible effects from soul-tier attacks, which he could virtually ignore.

However, legend-tier was different. Even if this legend was somewhat "diluted," he was still a legend, and each of his strikes resonated painfully within Muria's organs.

This damage was still with the Sanctus Imperium armor reducing over ninety percent of the attack power. Without this armor, a single legendary strike could have severely injured or even killed Muria, drastically reducing his combat effectiveness, let alone continuing the fight against the duke.

Thus, the battle between Muria and the legendary duke turned into a war of attrition.

Thanks to Muria's nearly unbreakable defenses and the overpowering force of his exclusive weapon, defeating or capturing Muria became a futile hope for the duke.

And while the duke found no way to best Muria, Muria also couldn't subdue the legend. Legends possess the ability to manipulate space, advancing or retreating at will.

Regarding spells that seal space, it's laughable to think such could be used here. Sealing the space around a legend would require magic from the legendary domain of tenth-ring spells or higher.

If Muria had access to such high-level spells, he wouldn't be hesitating; he would have already pinned the duke to the ground, teaching him a harsh lesson in humility.

Thus, the battle became a stalemate, neither side able to overcome the other. After a prolonged fight, realizing he couldn't defeat Muria, the duke withdrew. The longer the battle dragged on, the more dignity he lost.

After this battle that was destined to shock the entire continent, Muria summoned the Staff of Finality, paying a hefty price of ten thousand elemental crystals to call upon three ancient metallic dragons.

Interestingly, upon learning whose progeny Muria was, the ancient dragons offered him a discount, although free service was out of the question. Even among close kin, assistance could not be without cost.

As Muria summoned the ancient dragons, the Aminis royal family, which had remained silent and inactive during his cleansing campaign, finally could no longer sit idly by. They promptly sent emissaries to halt Muria's actions.

The monarch of Aminis, for various reasons, had allowed Muria to wage war against many nobles on his territory without intervening, seemingly detached from the conflict.

However, the emergence of legendary dragons forced the king's hand. If three legendary dragons

 engaged in battle on his land, the destruction could be immense—potentially leveling lands and cities. Such devastation could undermine his rule as king.

The Aminis monarch sent envoys to request that Muria cease his war efforts. Muria, predictably, rejected this request. Having summoned legendary dragons, he wasn't about to let the matter drop so easily.

A mere human king, Muria not only dismissed his request but also demanded the king provide an explanation.

The king, who had been inactive as Muria began his campaign, finally responded.

He executed the watered-down legendary duke and all the nobles Muria had uncovered, delivering their heads to Muria as a decisive and ruthless gesture.

In truth, the king of Aminis had no choice. He had been content to see his nobles slaughtered by Muria, but he never anticipated that Muria would challenge a legend and summon three ancient dragons.

Under these circumstances, the Aminis monarch could no longer allow Muria to continue his investigations. He gave Muria enough respect by executing the discovered nobles, including the legendary duke, and thereby cutting off all leads.

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