Chapter 93: 2-42 Apostles

Azaela and her team were close but they were greeted with grave news by her scout’s familiars. The small villages and settlements around Green Scar were also facing an imminent attack from the monster horde. These villages weren’t targeted specifically but merely collateral as a result of the horde splitting up. The horde was huge and they weren’t attacking in a single file, a behavior unexpected from monsters. They were flanking the town of Green Scar from all sides. The villages would be trampled by the horde as it advances.

Against Lucan's suggestion of letting those villages be and focused on their main course, Azaela split her team up, each Paladin would be responsible for defending each flank. Azaela herself would proceed onwards, to the main force of the horde. Though she had questions regarding her companions’ characters but when it came to their combat prowess, she had the utmost confidence in their supremacy. They rode through a small valley smothered in lush green. This was where they split in their path. Azaela watched her companions depart until their figures were swallowed up by the abundant trees and distance. She prayed silently for their safety and success.

Azaela didn’t doubt her companions’ strength but anything can happen. There were plenty of abilities or magic in this world that ignores the level system. Considering they were up against an enemy of aberrant nature, her worries weren’t unfounded. She was also aware that she was being lured further away from The Singularity. She had no doubts this was another scheme of the Necromancer but she was the only one present that could fend off the horde. Quinteburgh had the merchants’ personal army should the Necromancer launch a similar assault on the town. The small town of Green Scar, on the other hand, was completely defenseless. Their borders weren’t meant to fend off a monster horde. As merciless as the rumors had painted Azaela, she wasn’t one that lacked any compassion. She didn’t know how those rumors started but she had little time for rumors.

Azaela wasn’t worried about her pace. The road after the valley was neatly paved but even so, the persistence of nature quickly found its way back to the path. Had Azaela’s mount been a horse, her pace would be considerably slowed but she was riding a Tyrux. It didn’t have hooves but talons. The slight undulation on the road was no issue for it. If the rider was ever more dexterous, a Tyrux could easily traverse from branches to branches across trees. But that would be too demanding for a Tyrux.

Azaela began encountering some monsters which strayed too far behind the horde. A sword manifested in her hand and she made quick work of the monsters. For the monsters which were out of her reach, she threw a three-point star-blade, which also manifested into her hand out of thin air. The star blade traveled in a radius around Azaela, dismembering and decapitating all monsters the star blade passed through. Once the sword and the star blade had done their work, the two weapons were swallowed by the space around them.

None of the monsters dared to approach Azaela and Azaela herself didn’t bother with the monsters that seemed to lose all notion of joining the horde. Her mission wasn’t to cull the horde but to merely fend them off or dissipate the horde. All in all, she was having a relatively smooth journey and none could hinder her advance.

Until a certain figure stood in her path. 

Azaela pulled on the reins and forced the Tyrux into an immediate stop. The Tyrux didn’t resist the sudden command as it too could feel the individual in front of it was a threat of a high degree. The Tyrux was taking steps back from the individual standing in its path. Despite being a carnivore, the Tyrux was shaking like a cornered mouse in front of a cat.

Azaela hopped off her mount and sent the Tyrux away. With the individual in front of her, the Tyrux would only become a liability.

“Name yourself, stranger,” Azaela demanded as she pulled her hood down, revealing her short hair of a brilliant red. She pierced her scrutinizing gaze at the stranger with her emerald-green eyes.

“Auriver Dusktride,” replied the stranger. He was a burly man of rough features and dark skin, standing over eight feet. He sported a clean-shaven head and the pair of horns on his forehead made his race even more evident. He was donned in a clerical robe that wouldn’t look out of place amongst a battlefield.

“And pray tell, for what purpose does an Augur of the Dusktride Clan like you to come standing in a Paladin’s path?” Azaela asked.

Auriver chuckled with a sneer. “I was compelled,” he answered.

Azaela spared no breath to entertain the Augur’s poorly concocted reason. What’s more, she felt a dark aura emanating from him. “Are you the Necromancer?”

“Necromancer?” Auriver raised an eyebrow. “Ah, you mean Ba’al. In that case, I am not the Necromancer but I do know of him. We’re in a fellowship, sort of.” 

“So, you’re admitting yourself to be an accessory of his offence.”

“How imprudent. I have no hand in this conundrum he has created. However, I do have a hand in helping him gather his army but… this wasn’t the plan. He wasn’t meant to attack a few insignificant human settlements with our painstaking hard work.” Auriver made an exaggerated sigh. “He has strayed from the plot.”

“Regardless, you’re still an accessory. Therefore, you are under arrest in the name of her eminence, Ruva.”

“Still… I guess this isn’t all bad. He did manage to lure a champion of a divine to me. This unaccounted change does have its silver lining.”

“Champion of a divine...”

“Surely you know what I’m talking about, Scarlet Blade. I am very much like you too.”

“I see. So you’re an apostle too,” Azaela said and unclasped her cloak, letting it fall to the ground, revealing her slender tunic underneath. The fabric of her tunic was so thin that her skin was almost visible under the right amount of light. However, that appearance of hers didn’t last long as a suit of black metallic armor with a shade of red manifested over her body, including her head.

“Apostle, champion, emissary, whatever. We’re both the divines’ chosen. We are obligated to fight one another, no?”

“No,” Azaela answered sharply. “But I will be shirking my duties as a Paladin to let such a dangerous individual like you walk free.”

“That’s the spirit, Scarlet Blade!” Auriver bellowed joyfully. He smashed his fist together. “Come on, give me your all.”

Azaela didn’t have Appraisal but she could roughly gauge her opponent’s strength and level. She surmised Auriver’s level to be around the range of the lower eighty, same as her. It wasn’t common to find an individual of such a level but she wasn’t arrogant to think individuals of a tremendous level were a blue moon. She was well aware of the off-chance that many concealed their true power and level.

Auriver thrust out his glowing right fist and a stream of red energy shot out. Azaela summoned a shield into her hands. The energy stream collided with her shield, pushing her back but not making even the slightest dent on her shield. When the stream dissipated, Azaela appraised the damage done to her shield before tossing it away and letting the space swallow it. Auriver fired off another stream of red energy but this time, Azaela simply waved her hand and the energy stream disappeared into thin air, much like all of her weapons.

“Clever of you,” Auriver praised. “To think that would ever be someone who would think of storing magic away.”

Azaela offered no response and took out a chain hook this time. She threw the chain hook at Auriver but it missed. Azaela tugged on the chain and the chain itself shortened at a thrilling speed, pulling Azaela close to Auriver.

The Augur quickly attempted to dodge but Azaela reached him before his massive figure could retreat out of the Paladin’s range. She brandished a sword in her hand as she reached her target. She swung but her blade left only a mark of her attempt instead of drawing blood.

Auriver snickered. “Surely that’s not your finest blade, Scarlet Blade.” 

Azaela stowed away her chain-hook and sword and produced a greatsword. Auriver eyed her curiously and just waited patiently for her next move. 

Azaela imbued the greatsword with Arcane Edge and began swinging at Auriver with one hand. He dodged the first swing but was forced to take the second swing due to their speed difference. It didn’t cut through his skin but the pain was still there. Auriver was greatly surprised at Azaela’s physical strength. He thought her to be a speed and tactic-reliant fighter but that wasn’t all she was.

Auriver stopped dodging and stood his ground. He retaliated by bringing down a flurry of fists at Azaela. She wasn’t fazed by the sudden change of strategy from her opponent. She took out the same shield from before and let it absorb all of Auriver’s assault. She parried his last punch with the shield and thrust the greatsword at his chest. The blade didn’t penetrate his skin but it was enough to send him plunging back.

Auriver recovered his bearings quickly but Azaela was already in his proximity. He swung his fist but Azaela slid under his punch. Arriving behind him, she had already switched out her shield and greatsword with a battle axe, sending the giant blade down on his back. 

His whole body caved into the ground but as expected, even the such a huge blade didn’t manage to leave a scar. Azaela didn’t stop there. She brought down her axe again but Auriver turned around and grabbed her axe. “Not so fast,” he snarled.

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Azaela let go of the axe and the weapon disappeared like all of its predecessors.  

Auriver took this opportunity and kicked at Azaela from where he lay. His kick was heavy but much too slow for Azaela. She swiftly dodged the poor attempt and drew out a pair of short swords. Auriver pushed himself back to his feet and blocked her flurry of attacks with his arms raised. None of the blades managed to even scratch him but he was still forced to take a step back. 

“That does it,” he growled.

He predicted where her blades would land and reached out, grabbing the two blades with one hand. Before Azaela could retreat, Auriver sent a punch that finally landed on her. She flew and tumbled across the ground before grazing the soil to a stop. A trail of blood was spilled.

“Your strength is commendable but no better than mine. Your speed is the only advantage you have over me,” Auriver gloated with a scoff.

Azaela got to her feet slowly. She was visibly hurt by that one punch and the recovery of her bearings was wobbly. Nevertheless, she pushed herself to her feet. She lifted her visor, wiping her lips of her blood before closing it back up. “It has been far too long since I last witnessed my own blood. This is… thrilling,” she said with a smile as she looked at her blood-stained hand.

“It won’t be just your blood but your guts too,” Auriver said and shot off like a cannon with a kick off the ground. He flew straight into the Paladin.

Azaela tried to dive away but Auriver’s sudden burst speed caught her off guard. His fist glowed bright red. He sent a straight at her. He missed but his fist grazed her cheek. His second punch came but she deflected it with her arm. He punched again but he missed completely this time. Adapting to his new speed, Azaela was slowly regaining her advantage. He threw a wide hook but Azaela raised her leg and trapped his swinging arm under her foot. She followed up with a knee right into his face. He fell back but he reeled himself back in and threw another hook. Azaela caught his hook and used his momentum to toss him away. He ended up tumbling across the ground.

Auriver got to his feet without a moment lost. His eyes had not the slightest notion of losing the fire. His fists glowed red again and he thrust both of them out, a bigger stream of red energy was fired. Azaela did the same thing and waved both of her hands, and the stream disappeared. 

“This is preposterous,” Auriver said, calmly. “To think even a skill of that mass could be stored away like a mere item.”

“The preposterous one is you. You’re around my level but your skills and abilities are not much to write home about.”

Auriver chuckled. “It certainly isn’t anything special but no edge has ever managed to draw my blood. It seems our fight is coming down to a matter of endurance.”

“Is it now?” Azaela muttered dryly. Unperturbed by the futility of her strikes, her gaze remained ever vigilant and resolute. She drew a saber with a long and curved blade with a hilt that curved in the opposite direction of the blade. Her breathing slowed. The rise and fall of her chest steadily came to a still. She drew air into her body. The blade of the saber glistened with a vibrant red.

“A new trick, finally!” Auriver commended with open arms but his expression curled in the next second. “Huh!?” he blurted out as Azaela disappeared from his sights, leaving a trail of a fading scarlet glow.

Azaela reappeared to Auriver’s right but if it weren’t for the disturbance of the wind, he would never have known. She slashed and Auriver raised his arm in defense on the beckon of his instinct. The slash drew a cut across his forearm, a shallow cut but a cut nonetheless.

“Impossible,” he muttered to himself in disbelief.

Azaela slashed again.

Auriver raised his other arm to block the attack. A patch of blackness spread over his left arm. Azaela’s blade bounced off against the black patch. The black patch shrunk back into nothing. Azaela lunged again before he could offer a remark. He trained his gaze on Azaela’s blade. His neck, chest, and waist grew a patch of blackness which all deflected a blow from Azaela’s blade. But he failed to perceive the blow aimed for his thigh. By the time he realized, Azaela had drawn a long cut across. He sent a kick at her way but she had already withdrawn out of his reach.

Only then, Azaela breathed out and began gasping for air when she was within a safe distance away. The scarlet glow faded from her saber and scarlet vapour oozed out through the gaps of her armor.

“I see… Scarlet Blade. So that’s where your moniker stems from. I will admit, it’s beautiful but it’s a shame such a beautiful thing won’t be around for long.”

Azaela held in her breath once again. The vapour stopped oozing out and her blade glowed scarlet. She disappeared from where she stood and only to reappear behind Auriver. The Augur turned around swinging his fist but Azaela was long gone. Sensing movement to his left, he swung, but he missed again. A cut appeared on the left shoulder. This pattern reoccurred a few times. Auriver could only vaguely guess where Azaela would reappear but each time, he would either misjudge or mistime his retaliation. 

Although Azaela was finally drawing her opponent’s blood, Auriver nevertheless had the toughest defense she had ever encountered. It wasn’t just his skin but in all likelihood, every fibre of his body bore the same power of defense. Azaela wasn’t using a spell that increases her speed or strength but a mere trick and skill that showed the mastery of her body and magic. By holding her breath, she was able to compress her magic power, making it far denser than it should be, greatly enhancing her strength and speed. Then, she transferred the compressed power into her weapon. She had amazing control of magic but the awful truth was that she never had an affinity with almost any Magic Art. She was forced to compensate for that weakness with creative uses of her limited arsenal. Still, her understanding and mastery of magic led her to become one of the most feared fighters across the continent.

This trick of hers bore a significant weakness of its own. It was dependent on how long she could hold her breath. She would need a few seconds of rest in between her flurry of attacks. Auriver caught on to this weakness of hers.

He waited patiently for the moment her movement began to slow for even a bit. When she did eventually begin to slow down, Auriver pounced on that window.  

Azaela dodged the grasp that came for her arm but she failed to dodge the punch that followed after the grasp. She crossed her arm, resorting herself to the strength of her armor and body’s endurance. The punch caused ripples to form in the air as Azaela was sent flying through the forest, demolishing the trees, razing the ground, and raising clouds of dust and smoke.

On the bright side of things, Azaela was now closer to the town of Green Scar than before. And she also obliterated quite a number of monsters as she was sent flying. There were still quite a number of monsters in the vicinity but not a single one made a move. Even though they had a defenseless-looking female knight struggling to get to her feet in front of them, the level difference caused the monsters to flee instead.

“I’m curious, Scarlet Blade,” said Auriver as he strode towards Azaela like he had all the time in the world. “As the chosen ones, we are all bestowed a gift from our patron god. This impervious body of mine is the gift. What about yours? Why aren’t you using it? Do you think I’m not worthy of your Goddess’ gift?”

“Gift...” Azaela laughed. She pushed herself up to her feet with trembling limbs. “You called it a gift? Then tell me, what has this “gift” taken in exchange for that invincible body of yours?”

Auriver was silent and his face grimaced.

“It’s no gift, Auriver Dusktride. It is a piece of divinity. No matter how small, us mortals are not meant to hold such power. It would only destroy us.”

“Don’t push your insecurities of your worth unto others, Scarlet Blade. I am chosen. I am worthy to hold such power. What has been taken from me in exchange is nothing but a small price to pay.”

Azaela scoffed. “It’s no gift if one has to pay for it.”

“Enough, I will hear no more of your deceit. If you won’t use it, allow me to convince you,” Auriver said and bent his knee. He gathered strength into his legs as he squatted lower down.

“By the grace of Ruva...” Azaela muttered as she realized Auriver’s intention. Instead of stopping him, she ran from him.

Auriver then jumped far and high up into the sky until he reached the clouds. Once he reached the highest point of his jump, he kicked the air into ripples and launched himself straight back to the ground.

On this day, a quarter of Green Scar was razed and demolished into an empty crater.

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