Free Web NovelChapter 41: The Battle of Ancients
With a loud clang, Malakai’s shadow blade ricocheted off a black steel knight’s weapon, sending the enemy’s blade flying through the air. Following up on the opening, he dashed forward and brought his sword down, splitting the knight clean in half and killing it instantly.
"And that makes seventy-six," he chuckled, tossing the freshly harvested essence core onto a large, growing heap.
He turned his head slightly. Standing in front of him were thirty-four more black steel knights, each brandishing their weapons and ready to strike.
"There are just more and more of you every second. Don’t you think it’s about time you give up?"
Clang!
In a flash, half of the knights dashed toward him while the others flanked to the side to surround him.
Malakai raised his hand, pulling the shadows off the surrounding walls and reshaping them into a heavy-headed halberd. He pivoted his leg into a low striking stance and lunged forward in one fluid movement, the black marble floor creaking under his immense weight.
Blam!
He unleashed a devastating sweep, cleaving right through the front line of knights. Not wasting a single moment, he dissolved into a shadow, slipped beneath their feet, and materialized right behind them to strike at their flank.
The ensuing battle was nothing short of a joke. Malakai’s speed and strength were on an entirely different level compared to the black steel knights; they were just monsters waiting to be slaughtered. No matter how hard they tried to coordinate and outnumber him, it was all for naught. As time bled away, over two hundred black steel knights were cut down.
Eventually, the mechanism controlling them ground to a halt. The city returned to its normal state; the shifting walls reverted to their original locations, and the remaining knights dispersed, returning to their usual patrol routes.
"Finally done," Malakai said, a blissful smile returning to his face as he rested his weapon casually over his shoulder.
Click!
"Oh?"
In front of him, the pathway lit up with soft, glowing blue lights, guiding him deeper into the living metropolis. Malakai walked with his usual lazy stride, caring little for the city’s sense of urgency.
Eventually, he made his way to the exact center of the metropolis. There stood an ancient and complex structure housing a strange, rotating black-and-green cube entity. As he approached, the cube came to life, its body segments opening and spinning in a slow, mechanical sequence. Every second, a loud mechanical click rang out as it turned, its shifting movements resembling a tesseract.
Nearby, the five paladins that guarded the major districts were slowly swallowed up and reabsorbed into the main structure of the core. After a few minutes of watching, the cube finally stopped, clicking firmly into place.
Below it, a lone figure rose out of the ground. Malakai’s smile wavered for a second as the entity’s body solidified into a humanoid structure.
Standing before him was a tall, breathtaking woman. However, she wasn’t a real living person; she was more akin to a living statue. Her skin was a uniform, smooth marble white, and her eyes were like celestial gemstones that glowed a beautiful emerald green. Long, silky black hair fell past her shoulders, accented with a vibrant aqua. Her ears were short and pointed.
She possessed a striking, full-figured physique—a slender waist leading down into curvy hips, thick, rounded thighs, and powerful legs. Her arms were tailored, long and muscular. She was built like a warrior goddess of speed and agility.
Malakai’s face contorted into a frown. This shape, this exact form... it was that of Natalie Silver, the Flowing Silver. She was a figure who was said to have absolute dominion over the battlefield during the Great War. Even as old and knowledgeable as Malakai was, he only knew of her appearance through ancient legends; she was a mythical figure compared to him.
How was this place able to replicate her? How old was this city, and what had truly happened to the people who used to live here?
Malakai’s thoughts were cut short as the marble figure was wrapped in writhing black tentacles. They slowly shaped themselves into sleek battle armor before sliding down to her hand, where her legendary sword began to manifest.
Yín Quán (银泉) — Silver Spring.
It was a blade rumored to move with such terrifying speed and grace that it looked like flowing water made of solid silver. Her weapon was a shining silver, embroidered with black steel running through the very middle of the blade. Malakai realized with absolute certainty that this wasn’t a mere construct made from the city’s standard black steel. This was the real, legendary Silver Spring.
An eight-foot-long (243cm) blade wielded by a woman of her stature gave her an insane radius of attack.
"Ha," Malakai chuckled bitterly. "No wonder you were a nightmare in your time. A person would be cut down before they could even get remotely close to you. How did a city core manage to get its hands on a weapon like that?"
Of course, she didn’t answer. Instead, she raised her weapon and settled into a flawless, lethal fencing stance.
Following her lead, Malakai wrapped himself in his own shadows, creating a reinforced armor that covered him from head to toe before shaping a long, composite blade out of darkness. While he was highly confident in his fighting abilities, he wasn’t an idiot. She was at Rank 2 just like him, and against a skilled duelist wielding a legendary weapon, a single mistake would be devastating.
Right as Malakai readied his posture to attack, his senses flared. He could suddenly perceive everything in a massive radius again; the life stones were no longer blocking his demonic instincts. He was back at full strength, but that also meant the core was no longer holding back, diverting all of its ambient energy to strengthen the statue of Natalie Silver.
Being sliced in half wouldn’t kill Malakai instantly, but it would drain a massive amount of his essence and eventually tire him out to the point where he would start to bleed. Just like him, however, she wouldn’t bleed either. The only way to win this was to smash her completely apart or destroy her core.
That was much easier said than done, as she would most likely possess some sort of rapid healing factor. Still, it couldn’t be infinite; the city still needed to maintain its external barrier, or face the risk of being overrun by outside forces.
