6-68 Scarlet Wounds

“Lady Erynthea,” Azaela called out without letting her gaze stray away from the demon in front of her.

“Yes?” Erin responded.

“Don’t interfere, and don’t try to help. You have done enough. This is Ruvan’s business from here onwards.”

“Bollocks, Lady Azaela. Respectfully, bollocks. He is my problem as much as he is yours. What kind of person will I be if I simply dump all of my problems on others and run away?”

“In this context, you will be a sensible person. You can no longer fight in your current state. Retreat, now.”

“I will not.”

“I’m not asking.”

“Neither am I.”

Azaela sighed. The Fox-kin was as stubborn as she had heard. She was too obstinate. Words would not work on her. Azaela had to change her methods. “Aedan, was it?”

Aedan frowned. “Huh? Me?”

“I can tell you’re recovering fast. Once you have recovered enough, I want you to grab those two and run.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Already planning on doing just that from the moment you showed yourself. I’m not as obstinate as our friend here.”

“He will do no such thing!” Erin objected. She glared at Aedan. “You will do no such thing,” she growled.

“You dare to ignore me!” Ivan roared and unleashed a rain of spikes on them, which he shot out from his hunched back.

Azaela splayed her hand open at the rain of spikes coming down on her. A translucent barrier appeared before her hand, large enough to cover her whole body. The barrier completely shielded her from the spikes.

“You think that’s all I have!?” Ivan snarled. His throat glowed a dark red. As he opened his mouth, dark reddish flames spewed out from it. The flames quickly grew into a size that could envelop all four of them.

Without a change in her expression, Azaela produced a flat three-point metal projectile into her hand from thin air. A throwing star. She threw the star at the flames rushing at her. The moment the star touched the flames, it absorbed the space surrounding it, the flames included. When all was said and done, the star was gone along with the flames. Azaela tutted. She didn’t want to do that. That item was not cheap or easy to obtain, and she had a limited supply of them.

“Azaela…” Ivan growled. “Your reputation truly precedes you.”

Azaela raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t be certain, but as time went on, the clearer the High Lord’s conscience appeared to be, as if he was regaining his sense of self, despite him losing more and more of his human appearance.

“However, your reputation will not save you. It will not save anyone. You will rue the moment you step into my path.”

“I have never rued any moment or day where I step into people’s path, and you won’t be any different.”

“Your arrogance shall be your fall.”

Azaela shrugged. “We shall see,” she said and brandished a card between her fingers.

“What tricks are you pulling now?”

“Since my acquaintance is too stubborn for her own good, I have no choice but to make sure our battle shall not be disturbed or interrupted.”

Ivan’s gaze immediately went to Katya, who was watching the entire battle with a gaze of unease and restlessness. “No… You will not separate us!!” He lunged, not at Azaela, but past her. He was aiming for Katya.

However, the moment Azaela released the card from her fingers, the card burst into flames and ashes. Then, the two’s surroundings changed in an instant. They were no longer in a clearing of a forest, but in a vast plain where no trees or mountains could be seen, no matter how far the view stretched.

“What is this?! What have you done!?” Ivan looked around in a panic and rage.

“Don’t worry. This place is just… an arena for the two of us. It shall persist until one of us falls, but it will be to my advantage no matter the outcome.”

“What are you saying?” Ivan glared with narrowed eyes.

“If you die, I can return to the overworld. But if I die, you will be destroyed along with this subspace.”

“What? What kind of unfair terms are those?”

“Terms? They are no terms. It is simply what this place is intended for. To trap evil like you, to make sure that even if the slayer falls, the monster shall fall with it.”

“Absurd!!” Ivan howled. “You mock me with these foul and dirty tricks of yours! I will smash your face in and defile your corpses before your god!”

“Everyone has their dreams, but rarely do they come true.”

“Enough!” Ivan shouted. His body trembled with rage. A pair of appendages sprouted from his back as he grew two sizes. His claws were longer and sharper, and his head turned even more bestial in appearance. There was no remaining trace of Ivan Soze anywhere in his appearance. He had even grown a four-pronged tail that reached up to seven feet.

As for Azaela, she brandished the same pair of weapons as before, a battle axe and a halberd. They were a handy pair for facing off against an opponent of this nature. But this time, a reddish-pink aura enveloped her, a scarlet aura.

“Let’s see how much is true regarding the rumours of your ability and skill, Scarlet Blade!” Ivan thrust out his chest, which opened up into a maw. From the depths, barbed tendrils emerged and charged towards Azaela.

The paladin conjured a shield between her and the tendrils, a metallic shield that was far too heavy and massive for her to wield. The ground even cracked under its weight. She couldn’t wield it, but there was more than one way to utilise a shield. She kicked the shield towards Ivan with all her might. It flew towards him, ramming through the tendrils in its path. She dashed towards Ivan while staying behind the shield.

“Fucking bitch!” Ivan swung his elongated arm at the shield, swatting it away.

Azaela stowed the shield away and cut down the tendrils in her path. The claws came for her, but she dodged them by an inch and severed the arm with her battle axe. As Ivan swung his other arm at her, the shield reappeared before her and blocked the claws. She closed in on Ivan with blank at that moment. She thrust her halbert at Ivan.

However, Ivan had another pair of limbs, appendages that grew out from the back of his shoulders. They came down on Azaela before her halbert could reach Ivan’s head. She had to back away from the reach of those appendages. She didn’t forget to stow away the shield once more as she distanced herself from Ivan.

“Is that it? Is this all you have?” Ivan scoffed. “I must say, it is quite disappointing.”

Azaela knew just the words to say, but she didn’t say them. She wasn’t one to talk while fighting. Words could have a tremendous effect on one’s mentality, but she wasn’t a huge believer in such a method. She much preferred to decide things with her actions. Due to this nature of hers, Azaela charged right back into Ivan’s reach without so much as a grunt.

Ivan responded with a slam of both of his arms, which he had regrown

Azaela cut off the arms that threatened to smother her and threw her halberd straight at Ivan.

“Useless!” Ivan struck the halberd down with his appendages before it could get anywhere near him. “Are you underestimating me?”

With a flick of her hand, the halbert flew back into Azaela’s hand. She continued in her swift approach. She drew a battle axe from above to below, splitting everything in its way. Ivan would have been split in half if he hadn’t leapt away at the last second. Azaela smiled. Her opponent, a demon, ran. Demons were known for their incessant regenerative abilities. Yet, Ivan had dodged her attack instead of taking it. She knew then that his limits were closer than she initially anticipated.

Once more, Ivan unleashed a tide of dark red flames. He drew a wider arc than before, practically covering nearly the entirety around him.

As Azaela was pondering whether she should use the same trick as before, Ivan suddenly plunged through the flames. He sent all of his limbs at her, save for his legs. With her battle axe, she chopped off his appendages. With her halberd, she cut off his arms. However, there was another pair of appendages which grew out from behind his waist. She noticed them too late, or so it seemed to be to Ivan, not in actuality for Azaela. She kicked off the ground, twisting and flipping in the air, and landed right behind Ivan.

“Slippery bitch!” Ivan cried and swung his remaining appendages behind him, but he found nothing, only the empty air. Then, his two appendages came flying off from his waist. Azaela had hidden beneath him, beneath his appendages that were large enough to shadow her. Their sizes became Ivan’s weakness. Ivan yowled and swung at Azaela with his newly regenerated right arm, which he had prioritised above all of his other limbs.

Azaela raised her battle axe and took the full brunt of the claws’ strength. Her feet carved a bit into the soil, but she stood her ground.

“No…” Ivan gasped. “This is not possible.”

Azaela said nothing, but her gaze told Ivan everything. She was greatly unimpressed by his strength. She pushed back and plunged her halberd into his right shoulder.

Ivan stumbled back, howling in pain. Grabbing the halberd with his left arm, which he had just grown back, he struggled to yank it out. Before he could, the halbert glowed a deep, vibrant red. Ivan knew what was going to happen. “Devious bitch!” he shouted and the halbert exploded.

Azaela summoned the shield and hid behind it to escape the falling bits and pieces as a result of the explosion. She stowed it away after the rain of flesh stopped and strode towards Ivan.

“That does it!” Ivan growled and lunged at Azaela. A quarter of him was missing, blown away and apart, but he continued with his assault, fuelled by rage.

She parried his upper appendages with his battle axe. She summoned a greatsword and deflected a blow from his claws. She leapt and flipped over his lower appendages that aimed for her legs. She then countered with a full swing from both of her weapons, unleashing a burst of energy waves at Ivan. There was barely any distance between them. There was no way for Ivan to dodge the energy projectiles. He could only endure it with a cry and a shout. Meanwhile, Azaela pressed on with her attacks.

Seething through the pain, Ivan retaliated with frenzied lashing of all his appendages, even though they had barely regenerated fully.

Azaela used her shield to take the full brunt of the flurry. When she sensed the rhythm slowing, she withdrew it and retaliated with her own flurry of attacks. She sliced through his attacks like a storm of blades, leaving Ivan no choice but to take to the skies.

Ivan lost his upper appendages, and a pair of wings took their place. He soared high into the air, further than any of Azaela’s attacks could hope to reach. She had her Aura Blades, but they were slow, and he would have much time to dodge them even if they came in droves.

“What now, Scarlet Blade!?” Ivan taunted. From here, he could keep raining down his spikes on her. She could dodge, but her constitution would fail her before his spikes would run dry. This had become a battle of attrition.

With her gaze as impassive as ever, Azaela simply pointed her greatsword at Ivan.

“If you are trying to appeal to my sense of honour, you don’t need to bother.”

“You do realise that if I die, you die too, don’t you?”

“If you die, yes. But what if I only leave you half dead? Better yet, what if I turned you into my thrall and had you dispel his domain?”

“And you think I can dispel this domain?”

Ivan laughed. “Is there a reason that you can’t? I refused to believe such a spell has such stringent conditions. I won’t kill you. I doubt you’ll die that easily given who you are, Scarlet Blade. You will live on as my mindless thrall. Now, surrender or die.”

“It seems I’m the one being underestimated here,” Azaela said and held her breath. The scarlet aura around her grew. Then, she kicked off the ground and leapt straight into the air. She leapt high, higher than what Ivan had expected. She leapt to his height with a single jump.

“No… this is absurd.”

Azaela brought her weapons together and swung them down in a cross, cutting the stupefied Ivan into four pieces.