Chapter 21 - The Battle of Lordran (Part 1)

Staring at the monster that was once the Marshall of the Order, Achille used his gift, darkness appeared at his feet and a plain black sword emerged from the shadows next to the patriarch of House Agrece. Holding the hilt of the sword, he spoke with a cold, deadly tone. "Do you think you can betray the Order and get away with it?"

Scratching the tip of the Battle Axe against the ground, Rowan with his head burning with flames and dozens of eyes, spoke, his voice full of compassion and kindness. "I will not escape, all of Lordran must receive the love of the Lord of Light. This dead city will finally have life again."

Just as Achille was about to reply, Rowan's huge body moved. His body was no more than a fleeting glimmer in the air. His figure reappearing in front of the Patriarch of House Agrece.

The golden battle axe causing furious winds to spread out in all directions. Screams of fear erupted from the already frightened crowd.

Achille showed no weakness and swung his sword, colliding head-on with the battle axe.

No Witch or Medium would dare clash with a Special Grade Knight, they possessed the strongest physical strength for a reason.

But Achille didn't care, the profession of the Agrece Hunter, which was called Hunter or Grimm throughout the world, was a physical profession focused entirely on the physical aspect, even stronger than many Knights. The Gift was merely a gift from the Omnipotent and Omniscient God.

Boom!

When the sword and axe came into contact, sparks flew everywhere, the sound of clashing steel spreading throughout the ballroom. The entire Palace of Eternal Night shook as the ground beneath them was torn apart by the forces of both Special Grade Beyonder.

Alastor and Roxane had already retreated along with Tereza and Gregory when their father had summoned his sword, both of them not forgetting his words, which were to kill anything that threatened them.

"This whole ball is a farce, everyone at this ball has been used as bait to get Rowan to show up." Roxane spoke as she hugged her brother from behind, next to her, a fragment of the palace fell from the ceiling along with the dust. "The entrance is blocked and it's likely that the entire palace is locked by a barrier."

Alastor nodded in agreement with his sister's words, their father had used them as bait. There was no anger in his chest over his father's actions, he would have done the same thing if he had managed to keep Rowan in place.

Just thinking about the damage Rowan could cause by continuing as Marshal, he felt that even if everyone around him died, it would be worth it, including his own life.

"Lady Mereoleona is probably outside the Palace right now making preparations to kill Rowan." Roxane looked at all the exits, there were runes and semi-transparent chains locking all the exits in the hall.

In her mind, Roxane could already imagine if the fight had gone in a bad direction, the whole Palace would probably be blown up and everything inside it, including herself and her beloved brother.

Achille Agrece really was a decisive man, who would be able to use his own children as bait to relax the worries of a Herald of the First Light!

"Sister, the witches are somewhere. We have to find them and kill them all." Alastor, despite the deadly situation he found himself in with his sister, there was no fear or even anxiety on his face. On the contrary, he was so calm that he didn't look like he was about to die at any moment.

When the two Special Grade Beyonder started fighting in earnest, this whole ballroom would turn into a bloody hell.

And despite knowing this, he still wanted to help his father get rid of the annoying flies.

Roxane looked at her brother and nodded, she hadn't expected that their mission wouldn't be to kill some occultist, but to kill witches who had fallen to Madness.

"Together." She spoke, looking seriously into her twin brother's eyes.

"I wouldn't ask for anything else." Alastor replied with a small smile.

Dodging the battle axe, Achille turned his body and kicked Rowan in the ribs.

Crack!

The sound of breaking bones was heard as the three-meter body of the Apostle of Purity fell back. But in the next moment, broken bones healed themselves in a mere instant.

"Don't fight the inevitable, Achille, come and join the Light, only then will you be truly free." Rowan spoke, his voice gentle and warm.

Pointing his sword forward, Achille moved into attack position and responded without any hesitation. "I'd rather sell my soul to Lucifer than become a slave to an Outer God." His snake-like red eyes sharpened and he braced himself for the coming attack.

"May the Light guide you on the dark path, Achille." Rowan showed sincere regret in his tone as the battleaxe began to glow, white particles of light seeming to accumulate along the crescent-shaped blade.

Raising the battle axe, Rowan brandished the huge killing tool. Achille saw only a white sun heading in his direction.

Boom!!!

He only had time to use the sword as a shield and the impact came, sending his body flying backwards.

"His blows are stronger than when he was human. His regeneration is far superior, I have to destroy his entire body to kill him successfully." Sliding across the ballroom floor, Achille muttered to himself. His arm was shaking, showing how strong the Apostle of Purity's attack was. His eyes fixed on his enemy without taking his attention away from him.

"Duty always comes before anything else, that's how you taught me, father." Achille murmured, raised his arm and whispered.

"Night of Nightmares."

The world changed with his words, Achille used his Spirituality and forced reality to bow before him. He shaped the world around him as he wished, his Gift, The Embrace of Fear, brought shadows and fear to the entire ballroom in an instant.

Monsters more horrible than human imagination manifested around him. In the background Achille could hear everyone's terrified screams, but he didn't care and imposed his will on the world.

At the same moment, the nightmares wanted to force Rowan into the darkness, pulling at his enormous body, gradually sinking.

"Light is always stronger than darkness." Rowan didn't seem bothered by the humanoid nightmares pulling him into darkness, he looked at Achille with his dozens of golden eyes and spoke, his voice full of compassion.

And the moment his voice appeared, a white light blurred everyone's vision, the nightmares that touched his body were melted by the white light and ceased to exist amid the screams of fear and horror.

A world of light filled half the ballroom, confronting the world of nightmares occupying half the ballroom.

The entire palace began to crumble as the two Beyonder began to fight in earnest, large chunks of the structure falling to the ground amid the screams of the guests.

Alastor knew his father's Gift, manifesting the nightmares in the hearts of all beings, was an extremely powerful ability, but this ability had one great weakness, it didn't discriminate between ally and enemy.

So, at that moment, Alastor was seeing what he feared most in his heart - his sister, dead in front of him, and him unable to do anything to stop it.

Looking at Roxane's lifeless body, Alastor's face turned expressionless, even though he knew it was just an illusion, her lifeless body still made him completely furious.

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