Chapter 9: The Fall of the Black Armor

Was it truly wise to shout so loudly?

The Black Armor had already noticed them, alerted by the sound.

There was no time to hesitate. Leon Blade gripped his sword hilt and charged without a moment’s thought!

One moment, Naya Trei had just bestowed a Shield of Light upon Ael. The next, Leon Blade had already surged forward!

Just as expected, the Black Armor shot out four tentacles.

Mid-charge, Leon Blade instantly ducked. The four tentacles whistled harmlessly over his head!

He dodged them?

Naya Trei’s heart leaped into her throat.

Even though Naya Trei had warned them about the tentacles’ mechanism before the fight, his reflexes were simply astonishing.

A second later, the tentacles that had grazed past Leon Blade’s head suddenly curved. They darted straight for Ael!

They were too fast!

Ael instinctively raised her shield to block.

The tentacles pierced through the Shield of Light, the Mithril shield, Ael’s armor, and Ael herself, all in one swift strike.

“!?”

Ael coughed up a mouthful of blood. Yet, she was still alive?

Naya Trei immediately rushed to her side to administer healing.

Ael knelt there, looking utterly drained, blood seeping from her entire body. Fortunately, the wounds were not deep enough to be fatal.

The Shield of Light shattered into fragments and vanished. In that moment, Ael knew the Shield of Light had saved her.

As a Paladin, she understood it was a miracle bestowed by Aio upon a priest—a divine protection guaranteed to block one fatal attack. Even the tentacles, capable of piercing Mithril, could not violate that sacred rule!

‘Still, Aio’s Hand felt different than usual…’

‘It seemed to be charging, almost half a beat too slow.’

‘Not just half a beat—it hadn’t even manifested before the attack was interrupted.’

The next second, the tentacles withdrew from Ael’s body. She bit her lip, refusing to cry out in pain.

Leon Blade had already closed in on the Black Armor!

The Black Armor retracted its tentacles, but somehow—Ael’s Mithril shield was still impaled on one!

Consequently, the four long “bandages” dragged along, with the shield tumbling across the ground.

‘Perhaps the Mithril was too light.’

Ael watched. A shimmering silver giant hand descended from above, seizing the tentacle still impaled with her shield!

Under the sudden strain, the tentacle instantly went taut, held fast by the silver hand. It couldn’t break free, unable to return to the Black Armor.

Ael had seized this chance to restrain the Black Armor’s tentacles!

On the other end, the Black Armor was also unable to move!

Just as Leon Blade was about to reach the Black Armor, it raised a fist, ready to meet him.

But Leon Blade abruptly halted, just outside the reach of the Black Armor’s fist!

He hurled the Roaring Light Sword he held!

The blade plunged into a gap at the Black Armor’s neck.

Capitalizing on the Black Armor’s brief paralysis, Leon Blade flashed forward, grasping the Roaring Light Sword’s hilt with both hands. Using it as a lever, he forcefully pressed down.

The Black Armor’s helmet was pried off, flying into the air!

The head was hollow! Truly, there was nothing inside but flames!

The moment Leon Blade landed, he reversed his grip and plunged the Roaring Light Sword into the seam of the Black Armor’s right arm!

The Black Armor’s left hand swung a punch directly at his face, only to be negated by the Shield of Light!

Fragments of light scattered before Leon Blade’s eyes. ‘We must win—! We have to win!’

He desperately pried off the Black Armor’s right arm!

Having disarmed its right arm, Leon Blade fluidly spun behind it, causing the Black Armor’s second punch to miss its mark.

As the Roaring Light Sword slashed down, it left a faint azure trail!

The blade struck precisely into the seam of the Black Armor’s left arm. Was one strike not enough?

In a flash, Leon Blade delivered another strike to the very same spot!

Naya Trei and Ael watched, dumbfounded. ‘What was that just now? Was it a whirlwind sword art?’

In mere moments, the Black Armor had lost its helmet and both arms, while its four tentacles were still firmly gripped by the silver hand Ael had summoned.

Naya Trei, meanwhile, replenished Leon Blade’s Shield of Light.

‘This was already pushing her limits as a priest!’

‘Even if it’s overload, I must see this through,’ Naya Trei thought, empowering her staff with a new ability: Blade of Light!

“Leon Blade! Catch!”

Naya Trei hurled her staff, now transformed into a sword of pure light, towards Leon Blade.

The next second, she collapsed weakly to the ground.

Leon Blade caught the light sword. His dual-wielding style had returned!

He unleashed a cross-slash against the Black Armor’s chest plate, targeting the areas where its head and arms had been.

But he wasn’t finished!

He swung the Roaring Light Sword and the light sword, one high and one low, executing a two-stage horizontal slash.

He spun in place, delivering two more strikes to the same spot!

After six rapid blows, cracks began to appear in the armor!

The next second, Leon Blade gathered his strength, then unleashed a dazzling flurry of consecutive attacks!

The two women watched, utterly stunned. The speed was incredible—

How many times had he struck in that single instant? Eight? Ten?

Their eyes couldn’t keep up, seeing only a chaotic, yet magnificently interwoven blur of sword trails.

Under the relentless barrage of sword techniques, the Black Armor remained in a constant state of paralysis, utterly incapable of retaliation without its arms.

Its chest plate was shredded, sending fragments flying everywhere—until, finally, it shattered!

The Black Armor crashed to the ground. Leon Blade plunged the Roaring Light Sword into the exposed mass of black flames within its chest.

The armor lay still.

The dark flames blackened Leon Blade’s Roaring Light Sword.

They actually won?

Naya Trei scrambled up from the ground, rushing towards him without a second thought.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, clutching Leon Blade’s clothes, desperately searching for wounds that weren’t there.

“I’m fine, though that was quite close. I knew your Shield of Light was active, so I took that punch head-on.”

“You scared me half to death!” Naya Trei exclaimed.

“It’s a good thing Ael restrained its tentacles, otherwise, it would have been much harder to deal with,” Leon Blade said, smiling as he looked at Ael. “My first dodge of the tentacles was pure luck.”

“Hmph, you certainly stole the show,” Ael remarked with a faint smile, crossing her arms.

“Under Aio’s blessing, no evil is unconquerable!”

Ael believed it implicitly.

***

Ten years after the calamity—

The corrupted Nosferatu was the first to be slain…