Chapter 21: Coming To The End (Part 4)

The moment the blade was raised, the bloodlight dancing on its blade swelled and condensed, instantly transforming into a massive blood-red blade, over two meters long. There was no trace of the smell of blood left in the air, as all the vital energy, spirit, and power had been concentrated into the blade, leaving not even a hint of the blood scent to escape.

As soon as this blade began to move, the small branches and leaves of the surrounding trees started to break and shatter. Even Master Aiden's white mage robes began to tear and fray under the pressure. This was undoubtedly Asa's full-force strike, with a momentum and power that were flawless. Aiden's body paused, and he had no time to ascend into the air; this blow was simply unavoidable.

For a magician, unarmed and vulnerable, no matter his skill or magical defense, his fragile physical body was no different from a worm under a cleaver when struck by such a blow.

However, Asa was not aiming at Master Aiden with this strike. There was no need to strike someone who was already dead, and so he aimed at the Knight Tamik behind Master Aiden.

The Knight Tamik, like a ghost, emerged from behind a nearby tree. His movements were so quiet that not a single gust of wind was disturbed. In an instant, he appeared behind Master Aiden, swinging his blade with a casual motion. Master Aiden's head was cleaved in two without any resistance, as if the knight had simply swatted a leaf aside. His actions were so nonchalant, as if he hadn't just decapitated a grandmaster in air magic. His eyes were fixed on only one thing: the World Tree's leaf, which had just fallen into Master Aiden's hands.

Not only did he gaze at it, but his hand also reached out toward it. This had always been his true target. The air mage had to die, and since Tamik had noticed that allowing such a person to ascend with the World Tree's leaf would mean certain failure, he took the first opportunity to deal with him. Besides, he had already helped himself by securing the leaf.

His hand was only a few inches away from the World Tree's leaf, nearly touching it, but he had to pull back. For even if he obtained the leaf, it would be meaningless if he was dead.

The massive blood-red blade was now less than three meters above the Knight Tamik. He could feel the countless cells in his face and head beginning to crack and decay under the immense pressure of the blade's momentum. The air around him seemed to collide violently, creating a sound of destruction, fragmentation, and wailing. The killing intent carried by this blow was so overwhelming, so perfectly balanced with power and force, that Knight Tamik was certain that even he, and perhaps even Lancelote, would not be able to land such a blow.

It was a strike that could neither be evaded nor withstood. The only choice left for him was to block it—with all his strength.

A grayish light shimmered over the Knight Tamik's body as his fighting spirit reached its peak. The black fang-shaped longblade in his hand let out a shrill, eerie scream, almost like the agonizing cry of a demon. The blade exhaled a cloud of black mist, transforming into a pitch-black energy blade that clashed with the massive blood-red blade.

Master Aiden's body, still hanging in the air, split silently in half before the blade even made contact. His body, now nothing more than an ornamental piece, split into two parts and flew away. Behind him, the Knight Tamik raised his longblade, gripping the black energy blade tightly, and withstood the impact of the blow.

The clash was not accompanied by a loud noise, but rather a deep, muffled rumble, as though someone had buried hundreds of tons of explosives deep underground and set them off without any outward explosion. Within a ten-meter radius of the collision point, trees shook violently before collapsing into nothingness. The shockwave from the impact sent wood shavings and dirt into the air, raining down silently.

Amid the blood mist erupting in the sky, the black light that once surrounded the Knight Tamik's black fang-shaped longblade shattered into countless fragments, scattering like tangible shards in all directions. Simultaneously, the gray figure of the Knight Tamik was flung away at an even faster and more urgent speed, trailing a spray of blood through the air. This blood did not merely seep but burst violently from his mouth, so much so that it seemed as though the recoil from his spitting propelled his body further into flight.

With a loud crash, the Knight Tamik's body slammed into the massive trunk of a towering ancient tree, sending wood splinters flying like rain. His body slid down from the crater his impact created, landing on the ground in a crumpled heap. Blood spewed from his mouth once more, this time pooling beneath him. The black fang-shaped longblade in his hand now bore faint cracks along its blade.

Struggling to his feet, the Knight Tamik looked toward the distant cloud of dust, blood mist, and wood shavings still swirling from the collision of their blows. The once stoic expression on his face had been entirely replaced by one of fear. He was gravely injured.

He understood that his opponent's strike had come at the cost of severe self-damage—a desperate, full-force attack. He had known it would be no simple feat to withstand such a blow. However, it wasn't until he faced it head-on that he truly grasped the immense weight and inescapable power of the strike. Without hesitation, he turned and fled in the direction from which he had come. He knew that he was no longer capable of continuing the battle. Within moments, his figure disappeared among the ancient trees.

As the blood mist, soil, and dust from the collision gradually dispersed, a staggering figure emerged at the center of the chaos, leaning heavily on a blade for support.

While the Knight Tamik was merely rendered incapable of fighting further, Asa was on the brink of collapse. He could barely remain standing. Earlier, he had stabbed his vampiric fang-blade into his own body, and when he pulled it out, he felt as though his internal organs might be ripped out along with it. Using this self-destructive technique twice in such a short period—especially the last, which was pushed to its absolute limit—left him barely able to remain on his feet.

In truth, Asa had already noticed the Knight Tamik's presence earlier. While the temple knight's stealth skills were indeed exceptional, far more experienced and cunning than his own, Asa's sharp senses still detected his movements. The key giveaway had been Master Aiden's two Thunderclap Bombs earlier. Those thunderous blasts were impossible to ignore—even a pig would have been drawn to the commotion. Asa knew the knight would come and had been vigilant all along.

There was almost no sound or movement detectable, but as a faint trace of blood and a unique killing intent lingered in the air, Asa knew that the temple knight had already snuck closer. Although the battle earlier had ended, the injured Knight Tamik, now brimming with rekindled fighting spirit and killing intent, could no longer completely suppress his presence, allowing Asa to sense his approach.

However, despite being aware, Asa neither revealed any sign of vigilance nor acted prematurely. The reason was simple—someone who believed himself to be the lurking "oriole" was often the best candidate to actually become the "mantis." In this situation, it was clear that Master Aiden would be the priority target for Knight Tamik's attack. Anyone who had witnessed Aiden's mastery of flight magic would realize that letting such a person ascend to the skies with the World Tree Leaf would mean losing any chance of reclaiming it.

Thus, Asa had no intention of being the first to engage with Master Aiden. He allowed Aiden to retrieve the World Tree Leaf, knowing that the moment he acquired it would also mark his death—and Asa's turn to strike.

This was an extremely dangerous gamble. If Knight Tamik chose not to target Aiden, or if the two unexpectedly developed some sort of tacit understanding, or if Tamik's patience proved greater, forcing Asa to act prematurely, it would undoubtedly result in Asa's demise. But ultimately, Asa's gamble paid off. He finally became the "oriole," unleashing his full power in one devastating strike.

Yet Asa couldn't help but admit that the strength of this temple knight ran exceptionally deep—nearly on par with Lancelot. Even with Asa's all-out, carefully prepared attack, it wasn't enough to kill Tamik outright. The knight managed to dissipate and neutralize much of the killing intent and destructive power in that strike. On the other hand, Asa himself was left severely weakened by the recoil and backlash of his technique, to the point where he could barely remain standing.

Fortunately, Knight Tamik chose to retreat, and even more fortunately, this was the Whispering Forest. The increasing energy waves from the Sunwell quickly helped Asa regain his breath. With the aid of healing magic, his body began to gradually recover.

The World Tree Leaf, along with the two jade pieces imbued with sealed magic, had been flung away during Master Aiden's death. Asa spent some time retrieving them, finally letting out a sigh of relief once everything was secured. Glancing at one half of Master Aiden's corpse, whose face still carried an expression of wild ecstasy, Asa muttered, "I did warn you, didn't I? Why didn't you heed it…" With a sigh, Asa shook his head, gave the remains of the continent's strongest air magic master one last look, and turned away.

Ruya had been lying on the ground, her body stiff and paralyzed after being swept away by the shockwaves from the earlier battle. As Asa approached to help untie her bindings, she suddenly leapt to her feet.

"Are you okay? Where's the World Tree Leaf?" she asked anxiously. When she saw the leaf in Asa's hand, along with the two jade pieces in his other hand, her tense expression finally relaxed. However, a complicated and indescribable emotion surfaced on her face. Holding Asa's shoulders with both hands, her body swayed slightly as though struggling with something internally. Then, after some hesitation, her face flushed slightly, and she said with a serious expression, "Thank you."

The sound of flapping wings came from above. Asa looked up to see a winged pegasus descending, encased in a shimmering blue sphere of water. Riding on it were Ayime and a blue-robed female mage.

"Brother Asa!" Ayime leapt down from the pegasus before it had even landed. The watery sphere didn't hinder her at all. She ran straight over, crashing into Asa and wrapping her arms tightly around him, nearly knocking Ruya aside.

The blue-robed mage dismounted as well. With a wave of her hand, the blue sphere contracted with a rush, transforming into a small orb of brilliant blue water that flew into her palm and vanished. Glancing around with a furrowed brow, she asked Asa, "Where's Aiden?"

"One half's over there, the other half's over there," Asa replied, gesturing left and right before pointing further away. "There seems to be a small piece over there too."

The heavy footsteps of deadwood guardians and the bustling voices of elves echoed as they finally found their way to the area, surrounding it.