Chapter 156: 104

Chapter 104: Compulsion of Death

Those who were calculated and cunning would always have an advantage over the naïve and oblivious, and victory often went to the most meticulous planners.

Larwood's domination over Kaiba in their battle was a caricature of the entire battle taking place at large.

Even though Kaiba had trained very conscientiously and had made large strides as a martial artist, and he possessed exceptional defensive prowess, it was very unfortunate for him that his opponent was Larwood.

Larwood had been able to somewhat keep up with Jeff during the Pillow Sword Tournament, so he naturally knew how to slowly chip away at Kaiba's defenses bit by bit.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the army of Fooz was being dominated by the Atlas Empire's forces, and the soldiers of Fooz had no better course of action other than to continue to send more troops onto the battlefield.

However, with the support of the magicians in the sky, the soldiers of the Atlas Empire were completely unstoppable, and they were carving through Fooz's ranks with ease.

The disparity in the number of casualties being suffered by both armies was quickly piling up. At this point, the Fooz army only had around 40,000 troops left, while the Atlas Empire's army had only lost fewer than 5,000 men. At this rate, this battle was going to reach a conclusion before noon.

Kaiba was panting heavily as blood flowed down from the corners of his lips. His cheeks were throbbing intensely, a sign that his stamina was about to run out, but he didn't relax his grip around his silver spear in the slightest.

In contrast, Larwood's breathing was even and smooth, and he was watching Kaiba like a cold and calculated hunter surveying his prey.

"You've fought for long enough, let me take over here." Chase had been observing their battle this entire time, and he suddenly stepped in, positioning himself between Larwood and Kaiba. "As the commander of our troops, you can't just dedicate your attention solely to a one-on-one battle."

In reality, Chase was telling Larwood to spare their old friend.

Larwood faltered slightly upon hearing this, and the killing intent in his eyes gradually faded.

Kaiba cast his gaze toward Chase, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

Chase swept his gaze over the dozen or so profusely bleeding wounds on Kaiba's body, and a complex look appeared in his eyes. If the wound on his neck were even half an inch deeper, then he would've already been a dead man. Furthermore, there was a wound on his leg that was aimed straight at the major artery there. Similarly, if that wound were even slightly deeper, then Kaiba would've bled out in seconds. Chase was too mediocre a martial artist to definitively determine whether Larwood was actually trying to end Kaiba's life. He could only make an educated guess according to what he was seeing, and the more he saw, the more his heart sank.

With Chase stepping in, Larwood didn't say anything. He took a glance at the two of them, then rose up into the air to fly to another part of the battlefield.

"I didn't think that he'd be so strong," Kaiba said with a wry smile as he wiped the blood from the corners of his lips, and even as he was speaking, he was still panting heavily.

"He really would've killed you if I hadn't stepped in," Chase said as he watched Larwood's departing figure.

"I know." Kaiba didn't doubt Chase's statement in the slightest.

"Is it really worth it just for a woman?" Chase asked.

"It's not just for her," Kaiba replied with a faint smile.

"Then what are you doing this for?" Chase asked.

Kaiba cast his gaze toward Chase, and he seemed to want to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end.

He didn't think that Chase would understand anyway.

However, right as Kaiba rose up from the ground, Chase heard his faint response: "I'm doing this so I can live as a brave man for once."

He stood rooted to the spot as he watched Kaiba fly away into the distance, and he couldn't help but wonder whether he had ever truly understood those around him that he had once deemed to be the closest of friends.

He couldn't help but think back to his conversation with Larwood prior to the commencement of this battle, and it seemed to him that Larwood had a far better understanding of their friends than he did.

...

As soon as Kaiba returned to the Fooz army's ranks, he discovered that he was already too late.

Unwilling to watch the state of the battle continue to deteriorate, Gwen had already begun chanting the incantation of a devastating spell by the name of Compulsion of Death.

As was common knowledge, practicing magic involved taking and converting matter from the surrounding environment. The amount of matter that could be taken and the rate at which it could be converted was dependent on the magician's abilities. Of course, there were also magicians like Lana, who used arcane spells to help her increase the amount of matter that she could gather and accelerate the conversion process. However, arcane spells worked by taking the converted matter energy and injecting it into the caster's body before being released. In other words, prior to the release of the spell, the caster's body would have to act as a vessel for the matter energy converted by the arcane spell. Only a grand magic mentor with exceptional mental fortitude like Lana could take in so much arcane energy at once. If an average magician were in her shoes, there was a very good chance that they would've been killed on the spot in the instant that the arcane energy flooded into their body.

As such, arcane spells were only explored by advanced magicians or grand magic mentors. In the world of magic, the subject of whether arcane spells could cause permanent damage to a magician's body had always been a subject of contention. Hence, for safety purposes, most magic academies chose not to include arcane spells in their curriculum. However, seeing as Professor Hawk had bestowed that copy of "The Origins of Arcane Spells" upon Erwin, it seemed that he belonged to the camp that was of the opinion that arcane spells were harmless to the magicians casting them.

However, arcane spells were far from the only spells that used the caster's body as vessels.

The spell that Gwen was preparing at this very moment was one that treated the caster itself as a body of matter energy, a vessel that was filled with energy. In the instant that the spell was unleashed, the caster would become a part of the spell.

This was the most extreme of forbidden arts in all magic, and essentially, the caster was igniting themselves like a firework. Unfortunately, not everyone could turn themselves into a sentient body of elemental matter like Theresa.

Gwen wanted to unleash a spell capable of turning the tide of the entire battle, but she didn't possess the magic power to accomplish such a feat, so this was the only course of action that she could turn to.

This was a display of Gwen's determination. She had decided to use her own life force to decimate the enemy before her.

Despite the gravity of the decision, she hadn't hesitated in the slightest before making it.

In her eyes, this was her duty, and it was her defiant final stand.

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A boundless expanse of greyness was beginning to converge toward Gwen.

Her own body was also beginning to turn grey, and soon, it was becoming more and more difficult to make out her figure amid the murky greyness.

A martial artist of Aiden's caliber was naturally able to clearly sense the surging elemental matter all around him, and he immediately raised his head, casting an incredulous gaze toward the center of the vast expanse of grey energy.

Never did he think that Gwen would be such a fiercely determined character, and to him, this was the biggest surprise that had emerged in this battle thus far.

...

What had appeared in the sky was a grey sun that wasn't giving off any light. There were dark azure rays of light rapidly converging toward a speck of bright azure light at the center, and that was the only source of light within the grey sun.

Situated at the center of that speck of bright azure light was none other than Gwen, the woman who refused to bow her head to fate.

Kaiba looked on with a stunned expression as the fierce wind swept through his hair, and the tip of his spear was trembling incessantly.

He could sense just how much power was contained within the center of the grey sun, and he could even sense her single-minded determination.

In that instant, a hint of dejection welled up in his heart.

In the end, she's still all alone. I may be physically present, but she's still all on her own, Kaiba sighed to himself.

All of a sudden, a streak of light hurtled through the air and rapidly arrived at the scene.

It was none other than Aiden.

As the commander-in-chief of the Atlas Empire's forces, Aiden naturally couldn't just stand by idly and watch as Gwen unleashed such a devastating spell.

A loud clang rang out as Kaiba's spear clashed with his halberd, and in that instant, he knew his mission.

This was the last thing that he could do for her.

"Piss off! You're no match for me," Aiden said as he took a glance at Kaiba, then forced him back with a sweep of his halberd before flying directly toward the center of the grey sun.

"Ha! You're staring death in the face and you don't even know it!" Kaiba wasn't backing down in the slightest as he thrust his spear directly toward Aiden's back.

This was an attack unleashed with all of his remaining power, and he had eliminated any option of retreat for himself.

Aiden's brows furrowed slightly as he sensed the spear piercing toward him from behind, and he was forced to react.

However, he didn't choose to take the attack head-on. Instead, he sidestepped the attack with ease, allowing Kaiba to pass right by him.

His crushing speed advantage over Kaiba was being put on full display here.

Before Kaiba had a chance to arrest his own moment, he was struck by a vicious knee to the stomach from Aiden.

As a result, he immediately threw up a large mouthful of blood and was sent flying back over 20 feet.

A martial artist of Aiden's caliber didn't require all those fancy techniques. Instead, brute power more than sufficed against an opponent far weaker than himself.

Aiden turned to Kaiba with tightly gritted teeth, and it was as if he were looking at a dead man.

Meanwhile, Kaiba was clasping his own stomach with an agonized expression, and more blood was gushing out of his mouth, but for some reason, there was a smile lingering on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" Aiden asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

Kaiba wiped the blood from his lips with his wrist, offering no response to Aiden's questions as he thrust his spear forward once again, this time aiming for Aiden's chest.

However, there was a severe power gap between the two to begin within, and Kaiba's cause certainly wasn't helped by the fact that he was severely injured. Before his spear even had a chance to reach close to Aiden, his own chest had already been impaled by Aiden's halberd.

Kaiba was gripping tightly onto the shaft of Aiden's halberd while still striving to plunge his spear toward Aiden with his other hand.

However, his efforts were completely futile.

In his final moments, Kaiba turned his head and cast his gaze toward the center of the grey sun with a hint of longing and passion in his eyes.

To his surprise, Gwen was looking right back at him from the center of the speck of bright azure light, and he could see that she was shedding tears for him.

In the final moment of his life, he had finally managed to break down the walls around Gwen's heart and claim a spot there.

On the battlefield down below, Chase was looking up at Kaiba with a film of tears in his eyes. In that instant, he felt like he finally understood what Kaiba had said about living a brave life for once. The candle that burned twice as bright always burned only half as long, but perhaps it was better that way.

Larwood was also looking up at his close friend, and in the instant that he lowered his head, a hint of frustration and remorse flashed through his eyes. He knew that he should've ended Kaiba's life himself rather than leaving it to someone else.

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