It had been approximately six months since Wild Tempest killed the lord called the “Noble Blood.” The battle had taken place in the former principality of Archillio, and Wild Tempest had succeeded marvelously in stopping the monster. In the aftermath of that battle, the ruined cityscape had been entirely leveled, becoming a clear, barren plot of land. It was here, in this once-prosperous location, that new blood was about to be spilled.
In the furthest depths of the gaping Abyss, the humans and beasts faced off.
On one side was an army of elemental soldiers, led by a depth-12 beast lord—another Noble Blood. This beast was different than the Noble Blood that Wild Tempest had killed. Although it was, statistically speaking, common for beasts of the same type to manifest from the same Abyss, it was rare for another lord to appear in such a short time frame.
This new Noble Blood appeared to be a beautiful young girl with exquisite silver hair wearing a gorgeous dress. It sat with its legs crossed in an extravagant chair floating above the ground. Its army of more than three hundred elemental soldiers stood below it in formation, awaiting its command.
A group of Seekers assigned to bring the beast down opposed it: four A-Rank Seekers, twenty B-Rank Seekers, and three C-Rank Seekers. Every single one of them was tough and battle-tested. Even then, it was not enough to bring down the Noble Blood. At best, they could only take out the elemental soldiers that stood before them.
The Seekers knew this already. The Association had already informed them that this Noble Blood was far stronger than the last. Killing it would require at least two times the fighting power they currently had. If they fought, they would lose, so they were locked in a stalemate.
“Like frogs, frozen in the glare of a snake,” said the Noble Blood, its shapely lips curling into a cruel grin. “You know you cannot win, yet you brazenly approach all the same. Do not tell me you came here thinking that negotiation was a possibility?”
In response to the Noble Blood’s arrogant faux-politeness, the black-haired Karura leading the Seekers clicked her tongue.
“Damn thing isn’t showing us a lick of respect,” she spat.
The Karura’s name was Sumika Clare. She was vice-master of Pandemonium and commander of the Seeker forces. Sumika reached for the sword at her waist. She was a Longswordsman, an A-Rank Sword Specialist who hailed from Thunderhand Island, a nation in the far east. At the mere drawing of her sword, she could activate countless battle abilities and skills inherent to Karuras. Even then, Sumika could not see a gap through which to strike at the Noble Blood before her.
“I tire of this staring contest,” said the Noble Blood. “Please, die for me already.”
The beast shot them a disdainful grin, then pointed at Sumika and her Seekers as if it were conducting an orchestra. The elemental soldiers beneath it sprang to life.
“They’re coming!” shouted Sumika. “Everyone, prepare for battle!”
The Seekers readied their weapons. Everything was going according to plan. The Noble Blood had underestimated Sumika’s forces and left the battle entirely to her elemental soldiers. Its precognition wouldn’t help it here—even if the beast could see the future, it was only a few seconds ahead. And if it wasn’t ready for battle, it would be slow to react. The Noble Blood was clearly overly confident in its advantage.
But there was one thing the Noble Blood didn’t know—the strongest man in the empire was a part of Pandemonium. His name was Leo Odin, the King Slayer.
Pandemonium’s plan of attack was simple. Sumika and her Seeker forces were decoys—their job was to buy time for Leo to leap out of hiding and strike a killing blow on the Noble Blood while it was off guard. They may have been facing a lord, but Leo was EX-Rank; there was no doubt he could kill it. Still, the Noble Blood had the ability to stop time, so their plan was to slay it before it could.
If Pandemonium would’ve had enough manpower to kill a lord without Leo, they could have set a powerful barrier in advance. Then they could’ve blocked attacks even when time was stopped and then taken the lord down when it ran out of magic. Presently, however, Pandemonium just weren’t that strong.
As long as things went according to plan, Leo would sneak up behind the Noble Blood and kill it in one fell swoop while Sumika and her Seekers were in battle with the Lord’s elemental soldiers.
However, Sumika’s well-laid plans fell to pieces before they could come to fruition.
“What the hell?!”
Her shocked cry rang out just as Pandemonium was about to meet the Noble Blood’s elemental soldiers. Before they could, a lone figure plummeted from the sky and landed between them: a man with a head of golden hair. He wore leather armor that left his arms bare, showing off the rippling muscle adorned with crimson tattoos. His face was covered by a mask made to resemble a lion.
“Leo?! What’s the meaning of this?!”
It was Leo Edin, clan master and King Slayer himself—the empire’s most powerful Seeker.
Leo was supposed to be in hiding, yet he had appeared right in front of the Noble Blood. Sumika’s shock spread like a wave through her Seekers, who were suddenly hesitant. Even the Noble Blood was wide-eyed with surprise.
“Is this an ambush? What use is that if you show yourself first?” asked the Noble Blood, laughing. “Oh, how I detest idiots. You will die with the others.”
The elemental soldiers flooded to Leo’s position. He was completely outnumbered. By the time Pandemonium’s Seekers moved to help, it was already too late—the elemental soldiers had reached him. A collision with forces of this level would leave even an A-Rank Seeker helpless, their life ending in a torrent of blood.
But Leo was EX-Rank. He made no sound and bore no shadow as he launched countless punches at a blinding speed. In an instant, all of the elemental soldiers were decimated.
All that remained in the aftermath was complete and utter silence.
There had been more than three hundred elemental soldiers, each being somewhere between depth-8 and depth-10. All of them had been obliterated, their remains drifting to the ground like snow.
Not a person alive could follow Leo’s attacks with their eyes. Even the Noble Blood, who could see the future, could only catch his movements in fragments; it couldn’t grasp his attacks in their totality. He was so fast that nobody could read his punches. They were the ultimate weapon: flawless, free-flowing, and refined. If Leo were to launch these weapons at the Noble Blood, it would not be able to avoid them. Not even if it used its ability to read the future.
“I-Impossible…”
A cold sweat trickled down the Noble Blood’s cheek. It was a proud beast even if it wasn’t a Valiant, and it was overwhelmingly strong among those in the void. Yet now it distinctly felt fear gnawing at its insides.
“You will—”
“You can stop time, right?” Leo asked, cutting the Noble Blood off. He spoke calmly and easily. Even with the mask blocking his voice, it reached the beast’s ears. “Intriguing. Do it.”
Not a single person on the battlefield could believe what they had just heard.
The Noble Blood could use all magic and freeze time. Because it cost so much magical energy, the beast could not use its other powers while time was stopped, but it could use all manner of other attacks. This made it incredibly powerful. Outside of catching the Noble Blood off guard or using powerful barriers to block its attacks, there was no way to counter such power.
Even then, Leo had casually asked for it, like a person requesting a song at a party. “Do it,” he’d said. The Seekers around him recoiled in despair, and the Noble Blood clenched its teeth as its humiliation warped into a seething rage that brought tears to its eyes.
“You filthy insect!” it howled, voice thick with anger and indignation. “I will have your head!”
As it said the words, the Noble Blood’s body transformed. Batlike wings sprouted from its back, and two curled horns grew from its head. Its once-dainty right arm expanded, growing thick and knotty like a tree. The rest of it was still the little girl from before, but the horrific contrast of its different parts brought to mind a chimera.
The Noble Blood’s transformation was a technique that entailed combining the best possible parts. Unlike the Noble Blood that had faced Wild Tempest—which had simply revealed its true power by growing bigger—this Noble Blood had perfected each of its transformed parts. As a result, its overwhelming true power far surpassed its predecessor and boosted its physical abilities enormously. They were the same Noble Bloods, but they were on entirely different levels—this one was ten times more powerful.
“You will not speak once I’ve reduced you to a heap of organs!”
Even though it boasted incredible strength, the Noble Blood was not so proud as to ignore its most powerful weapon. It drew upon its vast magical energy to rewrite the rules of the very world and stopped time. Then, while everything was frozen, the lord swung its gnarled right arm at Leo. It was an attack that would transform the shape of the earth upon impact, and Leo stopped it easily with his left hand.
“What?! But how?!”
It was unbelievable. Impossible. Time had been stopped. The only thing that could move through this space was the Noble Blood. How had Leo broken that rule?