BXBX NOVEL Chapter 254. Divide and Conquer (4)
Chapter 254. Divide and Conquer (4)
The Palace of Divide was located in the capital of Pittsburgh.
In the Palace wrapped in the disquieting darkness, a white-haired man stood on the terrace.
As he stood there admiring Pittsburgh’s view, someone walked out from the shadows. It was Pierrot Mask.
“Old man, I don’t think this is the right time to be leisurely enjoying the scenery.” The white-haired man that had just been called old, Skull Mask, slowly nodded.
Although Pierrot Mask continued calling Skull Mask “old man” like he used to, this old man no longer deserved such a title. Though his hair was still white, with his infamous mask no longer obscuring his visage, he actually had the face of a handsome young man.
All of the homunculi stationed at the towers had been defeated. The ones who destroyed the towers would soon flock here.
Listening to Pierrot Mask, Skull Mask snorted at the ridiculousness of what he uttered. “Who knew that at the very end, Crow Mask would have made such a foolish decision.”
Skull Mask was convinced. With the precision the Allied Forces exhibited, only taking out four of the numerous towers spread across Divide, he knew that Crow Mask had betrayed them. It had been half a year since his capture, but the information he gave the Allied Forces was still pertinent.
Pierrot Mask slowly approached him and asked. “So, what’s your plan now?”
“We’ll use the transcendental chimeras. Take them and intercept those bastards.”
The Allied Forces’ condition for victory was to destroy the source of power in the basement of the Palace of Divide. In the end, they were bound to gather in Pittsburgh.
If one knew how the enemy was going to move, coming up with a strategy for defense was easy.
Skull Mask planned on engaging them after he concentrated all of the troops in the country within the capital.
The Allied Forces had infiltrated the Kingdom of Divide with very few individuals. Though they were powerful, with extremely skilled individuals amongst their ranks, Skull Mask wasn’t worried. If their invasion force was locked in combat with every troop in Divide, they would be easy to take care of.
The problem was if the Allied Forces’ troops gathered before his reinforcements reached Pittsburgh.
To solve that problem, Skull Mask had sent the homunculi to the towers: to delay the arrival of his enemies in Pittsburgh.
The homunculi that boasted such incredible battle prowess had merely been used to buy time. Skull Mask didn’t expect a single homunculus to be able to succeed in defending a tower against such an enemy. He had never underestimated them.
To him, a homunculus was now nothing more than a weapon that could be produced whenever he needed another. They had come up with a strategy that could fend off the enemy using the minimum power required to do so.
“I’ll take care of the rest.”
Pierrot Mask sensed that Skull Mask had an ace up his sleeve, but he did not press for more. Through experience, he had learned that he would not get an answer anyway.
He nodded calmly as he replied. “Well, sure.”
Pierrot Mask disappeared, cloaking himself in the darkness just as he had done when he showed up.
Skull Mask turned around again and looked outside the terrace.
Staring at the ever so silent Pittsburgh, he muttered.
“This will be your grave.”
* * *
In the mountains that overlooked Pittsburgh, the Valkyrie landed in a canyon.
As long as they could no longer conceal themselves, approaching the city with the airship was an act of suicide. Regardless of whether the Aurora System was functional or not, it was impossible to break through the capital’s defense.
Desir’s squad did a final check after invoking concealment magic. Some checked their spell calculations while others polished their equipment.
In Pram and Raphaello’s case, they sparred. Thinking of it as a warm-up, they exchanged blows without any intention of causing each other harm.
“You’ve improved a lot since then.”
Raphaello spoke, visibly satisfied as he swung his sword sideways.
“Your basic control of aura is perfect. Especially your ability to gather aura! I have nothing to point out.”
It was only a light spar because they could not risk using up their strength before an important battle, but Raphaello had recognized Pram’s progress from this demonstration alone.
“I heard you’re being called the Silver Light Swordsman nowadays?” *CLANG*
Sparks flew as their swords clashed.
Although it was true that Raphaello was not using his full power, Pram was still able to easily counter the Sword Grand Master’s blows.
“The title is more than I deserve.”
Raphaello, who had been casually chatting up until now, as though he was not in the midst of sparring, suddenly turned serious.
“I’ll be the judge of whether you’re deserving of it or not.” “Pardon?”
“Hit me with it. Your Silver Light.”
They were awaiting an important battle. Pram could not help but be flustered when told to showcase his power during a light battle meant for warm-up.
However, Pram could not help but wonder if anything he said would deter Raphaello, the man known as the greatest shield.
“I’m coming.”
Pram stepped forward and executed his special move: a stab. Silver aura was fired at the speed of light.
Raphaello extended his sword. At the same time, his aura enveloped it and started spinning.
*CRREEEAAK*
A bizarre sound rang out. The moment the spinning aura and silver line collided, the silver lines of light were snagged by the wheels that had appeared.
Their trajectories were distorted. “Ah.”
In the next moment, Raphaello’s sword was held against Pram’s face.
The battle had ended in an instant. The result was Raphaello’s overwhelming victory. As Raphaello sheathed his sword, he spoke in admiration.
“Really, to think that a move as simple as the stab could be so powerful. You’re impressive, Pram.”
Those were not just empty words. He had not originally intended to invoke his wheel defense but ended up doing so subconsciously.
He had known instinctively that he would not be able to block the attack otherwise.
“So you invoked your aura in a spiral after accumulating it to its limit. Impressive. I didn’t know she’d be this good at teaching others.”
As Raphaello spoke with a chuckle, Pram nodded.
“If Lady Swan hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been able to get to this point.” Swan Katarina.
One of the strongest people chosen by Hebrion Empire’s Emperor.
After being severely wounded in her confrontation with Icarus, Swan had lost consciousness for over two weeks.
Between her injuries and how hard she pushed herself, Swan had lost the ability to use aura, and eventually retired from the Royal Guard.
There was no doubt that losing something that she had worked on her entire life was unbearably devastating.
‘If Desir hadn’t lived up to Swan’s expectations, then she may have regretted her choice until the end.’
Swan had not changed. She openly said that it had been her choice and that she had no regrets. On the contrary, she declared that she would continue working for the Empire as she had done so far.
Of course, she could no longer fight on the front lines, but her King-Class skills and experience had not disappeared. She may have stepped back from the front lines, but she was still an important figure in the Empire.
The first thing Swan did, after declaring that she would continue working for the Empire, was take on several students. And the first person she took in as a student was Pram.
Pram was already very talented. When Swan started instructing him seriously, he started improving at a faster rate than ever before.
He had been able to inherit Swan’s aura accumulation technique that she had relied on so heavily.
“Is she still the same?”
“She hasn’t changed. She always gets drunk at the tavern after training.” “Oh, how I envy her.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Raphaello’s lips.
“The reason why she can stay so relaxed must be because her student has improved so much.” “… … but I lost.”
Hearing Pram muttering to himself, Raphaello could not help but chuckle, A young teenage boy was mad that he had lost to a Sword Grand Master.
“I’m sure I could count the number of knights that can produce the same power as your Silver Line on one hand, even across the entire continent.”
That was how powerful Pram’s blow had been. However, to Raphaello, that was it. “However, no King-Class swordsman would lose to an ability like that.”
Raphaello pointed towards Pittsburgh, the capital of Divide. There, a King-Class knight called Brepon lived.
Pram, not understanding what he meant, let out a murmur. “Why… … ”
“The fact that your weapon will thrust at a very high speed is already a well-known fact, along with your nickname, ‘Silver Light Swordsman’. The silver light is definitely threatening, but it comes with the weakness that it carries aura and follows the trajectory of a stab.”
He continued.
“The technique of stabbing is simple without any changes in its execution. It may even be too simple, and it’ll be extremely obvious as to where your light is going to strike. Higher-level knights will be able to read it, and against King-Class opponents, it’ll be completely useless.” Though harsh, pointing this out would be extremely helpful for Pram’s future battles.
In Pittsburgh, where they were headed, many prestigious knights had gathered, including Yeniceri and even Biryonde.
They were all respectable knights. There was no way they would easily be fooled by techniques they already knew about.
“But doesn’t every skill have a weakness?”
“That’s where the difference between Bishop-Class and King-Class becomes evident.” Raphaello pulled out his sword and created a wheel. Soon, the number of wheels increased little by little before turning into a chain.
“You have two options. Either learn how to compensate for your ability’s weakness, or advance it to the point where it can’t be dealt with, even if you know how it works. Only then can you truly say you’ve reached the King-Class.”
Raphaello, having honed his rotating aura wheels to its limit, had reached the point of using it not only for defense, but to attack as well. That was why he was able to hold the titles of the ‘Empire’s Greatest Shield’ and Sword Grand Master at the same time.
Raphaello withdrew his aura from the sword and gave Pram a pat on the shoulder.
“Pram, I’m looking forward to what kind of answers you’ll come up with. And I’m sure Swan is of the same mind.”
There was not a single knight that would not be pleased hearing that the greatest knight of their generation, a Sword Grand Master, had high expectations for them.
Lighting up, Pram responded. “Yes!”
Right then, an alarm rang out. It was the signal to gather up.
Preparation time was over, and it was finally time for battle.