Read Novel Full Chapter 545: Dark Knight?
Chapter 545: Dark Knight?
The workers of the underground warehouse, who were originally minding their business, became startled as the ceiling above suddenly cracked and broke open.
Their startle eventually led to a paralysing shock as three humanoid individuals fell.
With a rapid spin, the Dark Knight tossed Lillian and Kuro into two separate cargo containers - their bodies flying their cannonballs as their backs crashed into the cold, hard metal containers.
At the sight of this, the workers below quickly dropped what they were doing and immediately ran to the nearest fire exit, their panicked screams resounding.
CRASH!
Lillian’s body crashed into the cold, hard surface, which bent inwards due to the force.
She let out a groan, her mind partially dazed.
"Well, that’s a first..." Lillian muttered quietly. She hadn’t ever been dragged underground before.
With her back stinging with pain, but without much damage, she looked down at her forearms that were, fortunately, protected by her black gauntlets.
If they weren’t, Lillian feared she would’ve gotten away with more than just a throbbing numbness in her arms.
The strength behind the Dark Knight’s punch was comparable to the Jungle Lord’s... Its speed may even be close to the Wendigo’s, as well - or even more...
Pulling herself out of the deep indentation in the cargo container, Lillian fell to her feet before looking across from her, seeing Kuro doing the same.
Unlike her, Kuro’s body didn’t have the sturdiness that a Tier 3 Mage would have.
However, as someone destined to be revered as a Sword Saint in the future, he was born with a far more resilient body. Besides a few bruises and cuts, Kuro’s body was still capable of fighting.
Spitting out a glob of spit and blood, Kuro looked upwards coldly - Lillian doing the same.
With their gazes turned upwards, they followed the quick descent of the Dark Knight, who landed on the ground; a small crater ruptured beneath him as a waterfall of dust and debris fell over it.
Summoning back her shortsword, Lillian moved into a stance - Kuro doing the same as he drew out a rather broad oriental sheathed sword, chestplate, boots, and gauntlets.
The Dark Knight, with a single swing of its arm, swatted away the cloudy pillar of smoke masking its body before purposefully reaching for its longsword tied to its back.
Its eyes were glowing a foreboding red as it gripped its sword; the runes etched into the blades were slowly radiating.
As the magma-like veins on its body crackled with heat, the Dark Knight swiftly swung its blade in Lillian’s direction, blocking the water harpoon aimed directly for its head.
Following that, it raised its longsword and parried Kuro’s strike from its blind spot.
With no intentions of letting up, Kuro swung his unsheathed sword again - Lillian was unwilling to let up as well, appearing in the Dark Knight’s other blind spot.
What ensued was a high-speed battle of clashing swords that travelled across the entire underground warehouse.
Their bodies were thrown, knocked back, and tossed into countless cargo containers, which may or may not have been tumbled over because of them.
With supreme mastery, the Dark Knight juggled and spun its longsword in its hands, enabling it to defend against the combined rapid attacks from the two.
Frustrated, the two backed away from the Dark Knight.
And in that brief moment, Kuro whispered as he eyed the destroyed surroundings:
"The workers here are a liability. My abilities aren’t suited for rescuing the workers around the warehouse, so could I leave that up to you?"
Lillian gave him an odd look before smiling in realisation. He wasn’t wrong; the still unevacuated workers were indeed a liability in this situation.
But that wasn’t the only thing she realised.
’Ah... I remember he was the type of person who didn’t like help. I wonder if this is the side of him.’
Seeing as Kuro was confident in handling the Dark Knight solo for a while, Lillian immediately leapt away.
Thus, leaving Kuro to deal with the enemy for a while, trusting his abilities wholeheartedly.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
Engaging in another fierce clash, the Dark Knight parried Kuro’s swift attack before counterattacking.
Kuro managed to skillfully duck under the swing and retreat, knowing that parrying would do him more harm due to his weaker strength in comparison.
Upon dodging, the Dark Knight immediately moved in to deliver another downward swing at him, chasing after his retreat.
But then, Kuro muttered:
"[Flow Reversal Crush]."
With the air rippling around him like water, the Dark Knight was suddenly met with a deafening pressure clap that - should’ve knocked it back - only momentarily stunned it.
However, that would be corrected the moment the runes on Kuro’s chestplate shone before erupting with a high-speed shockwave - successfully knocking back the Dark Knight 5 metres back.
But.
"That’s just enough."
With a swing of his sword, which began to freeze intensely, the ground beneath his swing erupted with an avalanche of ice, forming a gigantic glacier.
Machinery, metal cargo containers, and including the Dark Knight - all that was in front of Kuro was encased entirely in ice!
Ragged, icy breaths escaped Kuro’s lips. With this attack, he concluded that:
’I must conserve my mana...’
His mana was what was enabling him to keep up with the high-speed enemy, after all. Without it, he would only be left with his senses to survive.
C-crack...
"Hm?"
Shifting his attention back to the glacier, Kuro discovered a webbing of cracks crawling all over the sharp, icy hill.
And not even a second later, the entire glacier shattered into snowy dust as the Dark Knight broke free. It would then swing and stab its sword into the ground.
With seismic energy pulsing through its sword, the ground around the Dark Knight ruptured - exploding outwards as lava erupted from the ground, covering several dozen metres in diameter.
Kuro swiftly leapt to high ground, pulling himself up on a cargo container before feeling himself lifted into the air.
The ground beneath the cargo suddenly erupted upwards with a remote upward swing from the Dark Knight.
Displaying a catastrophic level of damage, the Dark Knight continued its destruction inside the underground warehouse.
With each swing it made, an area would be destroyed, leaving no trace of what it used to be as a blanket of lava began to coat everything.
Lillian, who wasn’t idle the entire time, hurriedly got the nearby workers to safety before quickly joining back into the battle.
Kuro dashed around, dodging the Dark Knight’s destructive attack; his body blurred with immense speed due to the buffs provided by his equipment.
However, that wasn’t to say he was without damage.
Covered in severe burns, which he could only treat with his ice magic, he leveraged his ability to create icy platforms midair and freeze the ground to prevent scorching himself.
Like an elegant ice skater, he slid and glided across the icy surface he created and managed to close the distance with the enemy, who swiftly raised their sword.
With a powerful swing, the Dark Knight swung down, then watched as Kuro dodged out of the way as usual. And when Kuro did, he muttered:
"[Heavy Retreating Stream’s 6th Technique: Retreating Wave Rebound]."
Holding his sword up, the Dark Knight swung horizontally and found the edge of his blade colliding with an illusory shell wrapped around Kuro.
The Sword Genius, instantly clashing his sword against the Dark Knight’s, caused the shell around him to implode - detonating with an omnidirectional shockwave.
BOOM.
Amplified by Kuro’s chestplate, the Dark Knight was knocked several metres back; far more compared to last time.
Kuro would then reappear, slingshotting into its blind spot with the help of his technique.
He would then land the first decisive blow on the Dark Knight.
SKRR!
And with the quality of his sword, he was able to leave a noticeable mark, but only barely.
Kuro’s eyes shone with a brilliant light as he entered the Martial State. Then, without any time to hesitate or spare, he unleashed a flurry of blows.
Employing several other techniques he had yet to show, Kuro’s body blurred around the Dark Knight; his muscles straining as several mirages formed from his movements.
"[7th: Backflow Pressure Strike].
"[8th: Low Ebb Guard Shatter].
"[9th: Drowned Momentum Shift]."
The Dark Knight, enduring all the blows made on its body, raised its sword - managing to catch Kuro off guard, or did it?
"[Pale Spirit Ward]."
Erupting from Kuro’s sword, the spirit in the form of an eastern dragon appeared, blocking the attack that would’ve been fatal and reflecting it back - stunning the Dark Knight.
Upon the dragon’s return into his blade, Kuro immediately raised his sword with fire in his eyes.
Then, with speed imperceptible to the normal human’s eyes—
"[Heavy Retreating Stream’s 10th Technique: Receding Stormfall Cascade]."
—Kuro swung his sword dozens or even hundreds of times in under a minute; his blade flashing in his blurring hands.
And as he did that, a vertical streak of mirages rose behind him like a towering wave, crashing onto the Dark Knight and scattering into a rainstorm of razor-sharp blade mirages.
The Dark Knight’s highly durable body, which was several times tougher than steel, was chipped and slashed repeatedly in short intervals. And the more it tried to follow Kuro’s sword, the more lost it felt as it watched an illusory eastern dragon coiling around his.
With each slash inflicted onto its obsidian body, a thick layer of ice froze over, causing its body to slow down and freeze as its magma-like veins went dark.
Seeing this, the Sword Genius immediately took a step back before chucking his sword into the air.
With determination in his eyes, Kuro flashed his hands out, summoning two identical oriental swords in his hands, followed by another, before swiftly stabbing them into the Dark Knight’s body.
Then, with burning intensity in his gaze, Kuro caught his sword before entering into a stabbing stance.
He then began to chant, each line causing one of the swords to glow:
"The Wind that dances, The Thunder that roars, The Moon that reveals the unseen. May these three harmonies converge into one—[Tri-blade Resonance]!"
Mana swirls began to form around the three blades, forming into rings with pure energy as they slowly converged towards the sword Kuro held.
Gripping his sword that began to clearly resonate with the glowing swords, Kuro stabbed forward with profound strength and speed, which had visibly been increased.
He would then go on to manifest the spirit of his sword, except in much greater size, as the spirit’s body was covered in a white flame.
SHATTER!
The Dark Knight, finally escaping its ice encasing, raised its longsword in defence as Kuro’s blade flashed forward, colliding with a soft, but resounding—
DING...!