Dark Lord of Tartarus - Chapter 35

Chapter 35






A cold wind blew crawling on their skin and small specks of dust from the ground flew with it. Rays of light from the setting sun touched the ground and everything before it. Faint warmth came from the bright sun as the heat of tension began to escalate. Cold, as well as severe glare, came from both sides as their bodies began to stiffen in order to prepare to act.

A black blade from a dark angel's hand gleamed from the setting sun's light. None may have been able to see this dark angel's eyes, but one would be able to feel his evil glare and murderous intent. That said, this angel stood looking all calm and unworried as though there was nothing that could threaten him.

Heavy and careful breathing can be heard as the valiant warriors from the order faced a powerful foe but stayed strong in the belief of accomplishment. The belief of winning. Foolish it may seem, but they didn't think of it as such. They believed and confident they will triumph against this one, besides, escape would only be nearly impossible or possibly be already impossible.

Every single one of the Order closely looked at the opponent before them. Some felt determination, some felt willingness, some felt anger, some felt anxiousness, and some felt fear. Sweat popping out of their pores, their forehead beaded with sweat because of the tension of the upcoming fight.

Vincent looked at the dark angel then back to his allies to make sure they are ready to engage on his command. They look all prepared indeed, however, he only observed the one near him – the ones beside him – and not on the ones behind him, that said, he assumed everyone is willing to engage. With that in mind, he gave the order.

"ATTACK!"

Vincent shouted so loud which shook the silence so that the people can clearly hear his words.

After hearing Vincent's orders, everyone immediately took action. The ones beside Vincent charged first including Maya, Zoey, and John.

They all ran towards the dark angel, however, they were not foolish enough to just charge in without a plan.

Everyone which was left behind including Vincent began to open fire to the angel, they left a gap in the middle so it was alright to open fire, and they do not need to worry about hitting an ally. To be precise, there were six men left on the back providing support and covering fire.

Bullets and magic particles came flying towards the angel, however, Vincent was surprised at what happened to those things. The bullets simply fell to the ground just before they could touch his armor and the magic particles disappeared, it's not only him that was surprised in this but also his allies. However, Vincent immediately realized that it must be because of a protective spell, with that fact in mind, it is possibe the spell can be broken. There are two ways to pass through his defenses, one is to let the spell dispel itself because defensive spells have durations, the other is to break it by simply keep firing at him.


Thus, Vincent decided to keep firing, if they're lucky, the angel's defenses might dispel in a short moment, however, they don't know exactly when it will dispel, so all they could do was fire their weapons.

As they fired at the angel, the ones rushing forward began to go cast some spells. First, one of them used his own powers.

"[Earth Wall]!"

A wall made up of earth rose from the ground in front of the angel and it was so close to him that it almost hit his face. This was a way to hold the opponent from attacking, the opponent would need to move away from the wall or destroy the wall in order to engage. However, the angel stood still.

At the same moment, another member of the order cast his own magic upon the angel which was behind the wall and was unable to see the caster.

"[Blazing Sphere]!"

A giant circular body of flames conjured atop the dark angel. The size of the sphere of flames is capable of consuming the angel whole, and a normal person caught by the flames will be turned to ash.

The caster moved his raised hand downward, and with it, the giant sphere of flames descended upon the angel. As expected, the flames consumed the angel whole also including the wall but of course, the wall would not easily be destroyed.

Everyone halted their action to see the effects of their attacks. The flames kept blazing for several seconds, so they expected that could at least done some damage. After several seconds, they saw movement within the blazing sphere. With it, the wall broke into pieces, and as the flames dissipated, they saw the angel standing unharmed, there was not even a single damage on his armor nor a burnt on his wings which shocked everyone.

In contrast, the angel looked like he just casually slammed the wall which was also surprising. The wall was one of the strongest defensive magic they could use, and that strongest magic was destroyed in one hit.

After that, the angel began to take a step. As John saw that, he immediately cast his enchantment magic on his shotgun. When he did, he instantly fired at the angel before he could make his move. He was at the range that could clearly hit the angel, so he needs to shoot now.

When he fired, the several shotgun pellets were leaving trails of electricity, and those trails looked so thick and strong, one could think that even one pellet would be enough to make a person die from electrocution.

When the pellets hit the angel, small electrical explosion popped out from every pellet. However, just like before, the shots were ineffective.

Immediately after that, the angel made his move. And his movements were so fast that everyone barely managed to follow him and this made some exclaimed along the lines of "He's fast!".

Then, as they barely did follow him, they saw that the angel has already reached the one who cast the earth spells.

As the caster saw that the angel was already before him, he frantically moved backward away from the angel. In a bit of panic, he cast several spells to at least slow the angel down.

"[Earth Pillar]!"

A pillar instantly rose up right in front of the angel. However, like it's nothing, the angel swept off the pillar and it broke into pieces. At this moment, the caster began to panic even more.

"Stay away! [Earth Spikes]!"

The caster once again frantically cast a spell and three giant spikes rose from the ground pointed at the angel. These spikes were so large that it would be able to impale the entire body of a person and its edges were so sharp like it would simply pass through a person's skin smoothly and without any issue.

These spikes rose and hit the angel, however, before the edges could touch his armor, the edges broke. At the same moment, the angel waved his sword and destroyed the remaining parts of the spikes clearing his way.

The caster's eyes went wide for a moment as he seen something that was not easily be believed, however, now was not the time to contemplate about anything else, what's important at the moment is to save his own life.

This caster's name is Jack Meras, he lived with his family in a single house. In that said house, there lived his Mother, Father, and two siblings. His little brother was still a grade 10 student and the little sister was a grade 7 student. They lived a simple life and lived in a simple house.

His mother was only a housewife, in the past, the mother planned to find a job to help the family but was not able to because the father including Jack didn't allow her to. As for his father, well, his father was ill and was no longer able to do any hard works, if he does do any hard work, it would endanger his life. With all that said, Jack is now the only one to support his siblings' education as well as the daily needs of his family. Jack does have a job and the company was under the Order. However, what he gains from there was barely enough to cover for everything. Fortunately, the company gives support to members of the order and that gives the help to make everything enough for his family's needs.

His family relies on him, his the only they could rely on. That is why, he must try to survive and live through this – no, he must survive, he must live, he must see his family again.

If he knows they have a chance to win this, his thoughts would have been different. However, that was not the case, he felt they have no chance of winning, right from when the angel began his approach.

With other spells in cooldown, and some are not going to be effective against this monster with dark wings, he has no choice but to defend himself. His magic is not focused on offense but on defense, so he doesn't have a lot of offensive spells. As his defenses are the most powerful, then that is all he could use.

"[Earth Wall]!"

He cast that spell again for it has already finished its cooldown.

A wall blocked the angel's way and also blocked both of Jack's and the angel's view from each other.

"This is getting more annoying."

The angel said.

Then the angel slammed his fist on the wall, and in an instant, the strongest defensive spell broke apart like it was nothing. And shortly after that, the angel already has Jack within his reach, and with that, he extended his hand and plunged his blade on his chest.

"Auh…"

Jack released a sound as the blade pass through his chest and pain with it. However, the pain he felt and the blade in his chest was not his primary concern nor did he think about it. Instead, what was inside his mind was the family he so cared about.

As he thought about them and as blood coming out of his chest and mouth. Images of his family that he cared so much flashed through his eyes. With it, tears began to come out of his eyes.

"…I-I'm s-sorry…"

He quietly stated his apologies. Apologies in not seeing them again and them not seeing him again, apologies in not being able to support them anymore, apologies in leaving them behind, apologies on failing their expectations on seeing each other again.

With his last words were his last breath, and then his eyes closed.

"No!"

Zoey from behind shouted.

"Jack!"

John shouted.

"You damn bastard!"

Maya said.

The angel pulled his blade from their dead comrade and his lifeless body fell to the ground.

Then the angel turned to his next target, which is the second caster. The angel began to approach the said caster.

Seeing the angel was approaching him, he frantically took several step backs. As he did that, the angel quickly got close to him which shocked the caster in the sudden event.

"Stay away!"

The caster said and he instantly used his magic in hopes to push away the angel. He pointed both his hands to the angel and with it a continuous wave of large flames came forth from his hands and devoured the angel whole.

However, in the middle of the chaotic flames, a voice sounded out.

"Haha! That will never work on me!"

The caster shrugged in the shocking moment. The angel was entirely consumed by the flames that could be thousands of degrees and could easily turn any living being to ash. However, this angel spoke out like those flames were no bother at all, like he didn't feel any pain at all. Of course, this has already happened previously but that was before everyone else attacked, but now all of them engaged this angel so his defenses should have already be broken right now. But this angel sounded like his unharmed.

Hoping to do more damage, the caster stepped back then he rotated his whole body around. With it, the wave of flames followed the motion leaving a rotating wave of flames. And as he did the 360-degree turn, both the wave of flames hit the angel once again.

However, as both of those waves of flames hit him, the angel was only casually walking paying no heed to the flames that was hitting him. As like before, his armor was not even scratched nor burnt.

As his attacks apparently ineffective, he decided to fall back – or it could be said, to stay away from death even just for a few meters. He jumped back and cast flames from his hands and extended forward, with it he flew backward. He used the flames as boosters to quickly get away from the angel.

And a few seconds he got back on the ground. However, before anything else, the angel made his move.

"You won't get away that easily."

As like before, the angel rushed forward and instantly had the caster in his reach.

The caster is Kevin Wester. He lived a wealthy life. His family ran a big business that was established and worked hard by his parents. In the past when he was still young, Kevin himself, his older sister, and parents lived an average simple life. His parents were running a small business that was just enough to support their daily needs and education. It took several years for their business to drastically improve and became prestigious.

Then as their company developed, they eventually got a partnership with a company that was under the New Dawn Order. Because of his exemplary magical talent, Kevin was noticed by one of the members of the orders, and eventually got invited to join the order.

Even though they have a big company to manage with both his parents managing their main business and his older sister managing another business, they were still close to each other. When they have the time, mostly they all hang out together and go to different places. They all loved each other.

They went through hard times together, they worked hard together, they help each other. Thus, none of them would want one to vanish from this world. If they could, they would live forever in happiness, even if one is to have another family, they still won't leave each other. No one would want anyone to feel pain of grief and sorrow, especially to one's family.

Now, an angel comes to take his life. However, he still wants to see his family, that's why he must fight. But, can he really live through this?

He thought at first, they have a chance against this lone enemy. Now, however, he has seen this angel's invulnerability, even to his fullest potential he has yet to damage the angel. Thus, he has come to the understanding that they will never be able to beat this angel.

As he thought that, he has craved to live through this even more. He would have been willing to die for the sake of the world if they have a chance of triumph. But now he knows they will never win this battle, so all the effort he can give will all come to waste. So now all he could do is hope and pray to survive and get to hang out with his family once again.

The angel readied his hand to swing. Kevin looked at his blade and thought when that touch him it will be his death. He could try to blast the angel with flames, however, he thought and judging from before, his flames will have no effects whatsoever. Even if he could try, the blade would still reach him.

Kevin tried to step back, but it felt so heavy. Perhaps it was because it was fear, still, he forced himself to take a step. However, all he could do was a small step back and the angel still has him in his reach.

Amidst all this, someone approached the angel. It was a woman equipping metal boots whose name is Zoey Autrech.

Zoey leaped towards the dark angel's right arm which was extended to prepare for a swing. With it, the angel's arm's motion seemed to have come to a halt.

"Take this!"

As Zoey's right foot was stepping on the angel's right arm, she jumped with it she forcefully stepped on the angel's face and with it giving her the force to fly to the direction towards Kevin.

She immediately grabbed Kevin when he was at her reach and immediately ran away, she ran so fast, so much more than a normal human being would run. Well, that is because that's her gift. Using magic with her feet.

When Kevin and Zoey finally got away, another held the angel before he could make his move.

Now, another woman stabbed the angel by the neck. This woman was never been then before, but suddenly she just appeared out of nowhere and had already stabbed the angel on the neck.

This woman was Maya Resonov. She strongly stabbed the angel's neck, that's because the neck is always one of the most vulnerable parts when wearing a full plate armor and there will always be a little gap in between the helm and the armor. And Maya got her blade in the gap.

However, there was something that shocked Maya and something she couldn't understand.

"What is this?!"

She pushed the blade harder towards inside the gap, however, the blade wouldn't move any further. It was as though something was blocking her blade, something like a barrier of some sorts.

"If that won't work, then what about this!"

Maya pulled out the knife and pointed her magic powered submachine gun right in the gap on the neck of the angel. And she fired at almost zero distance. Sparks of magic particles shone as magic was spitting out of her weapon. However, even though at almost zero distance and endlessly firing, nothing seems to be happening. Her weapons seemed to have no effects.

What kind of defensive magic does this guy have?!

Maya thought.

Then the angel spoke.

"That won't work. No matter what you do, you won't be able to hurt me."

When she felt the moment was getting dangerous, she immediately fell back. As she did, the angel swung his blade, fortunately, as she jumped back, the blade didn't hit her. When she got her feet back to the ground, she vanished.

She turned invisible. That is her gift. Not only she can use invisibility magic, but she is also light on her feet and movement that made her difficult to notice.

When Zoey got a distance away from the angel, she let go of Kevin.

"Thanks, Zoey."

"You're welcome, now get to a position and – "

"You won't escape from me that easily!"

A shout rang out and in instant something happened to Kevin.

As Zoey witnessed this, her eyes widened. Not only that, but she was also shocked.

A giant blade flew out of nowhere and impaled Kevin in the chest. The blade was so large that it was it was able to occupy half of his stomach.

Everything looked so slow as the blade impaled him. Blood splattered on the soil, puzzlement in the sudden occurrence.

Kevin slowly looked at the blade which suddenly pierced his body. He held the blade as though he wanted to push it out, however, he could never do that anymore. The pain and loss of blood and shock caused him to lose his strength – to be short, he was dying.

Weakened, he started to fall on his back, however, he didn't fully fall to the ground. Because of the edge of the blade hitting on the ground, he was still on his feet, and his body leaning above.

As he was losing his life, he thought of his parents and sister. And with his dying moment, their smiles flashed before his eyes. At that moment, he realized he doesn't want to die.

"P-please… I don't w-want… to…"

His eyes closed, and his arms dangled. He died, even though he doesn't want to, even though he was trying to live. However, no matter how much willpower he puts into the will of living, he still died.

"W-what? Where did that sword…"

Zoey said as she was shocked in the sudden event. For a moment, she kept staring at the impaled body of her comrade trying to understand what just happened. But, thinking about that for the moment is not important.

She rushed to the impaled man and checked on him.

"Kevin! Hey!"

When she tried to some sort of waking him up, there was no response. At this moment, she had concluded that he is now indeed.

Once again, she pondered about what happened and tried to make an understanding. Shortly, she realized that there was only one man that can do something like this, someone that could kill without hesitation.

Zoey turned to look at the dark angel. She saw that the angel was still holding his sword, in that case, then where did that sword which impaled the man came from?

She carefully observed the angel in order to understand, however, no matter how much she analyzed him, she wasn't able to come to a conclusion.

Amidst her contemplation, a voice came to her ears that gave her the information to help her understand.

"Zoey! He can shoot a sword from his hand!"

Those words came from Maya. However, Zoey couldn't fully believe what she heard. She couldn't see anything from where this giant sword could have come from. If it is not physically possible to keep or hide a sword, then there could only be one word to perhaps give an idea.

Magic?

That word came within Zoey's mind. It could only be the logical explanation in this. However, with that fact, there is still something that couldn't be understood by Zoey – in actuality, it's not only her but also the others. It is the fact that what the angel did was conjuring a physical object.

There is a way to create a physical object using magic. However, that was only limited to small objects and for a big object, the caster must keep the object within his hands. That said, this angel contradicts all of those facts. He created a sword and it stayed in existence and he didn't even keep holding it. If he can do something like that, then how did he managed to use creation magic that way? How did he learn creation magic to that level? How powerful is this angel to be able to cast magic on that level? Those questions appeared on Zoey's mind as well as the other members of the order.

However, no matter how much they question, they will never get the answers to each of their questions.

Even when those questions are within their minds, they will still need to fight.

Zoey drew her dual submachine guns and prepared herself to engage.

"You'll definitely pay you monster."

Zoey pointed all her magic-powered weapons and opened fire at the angel. While doing that, she ran around the angel with great speed that a normal person would not be able to do.

Not only her, but the rest also continued to engage the angel.

Countless magic particles hit the angel, multiple natural elements came forth to eliminate the enemy angel – wind, ice, lightning, water.

The wind moved in great speed and when it hit its target, it could cut like a blade would. And a great deal of wind was crashing upon the dark angel which no matter how much wind he was still unscathed.

An enormous wave of ice came crawling towards the angel, as it got near, razor-sharp spikes grew in an instant and hit the angel. Numerous sizable icicles also came flying to attack the angel. However, all of those were still ineffective, the razor-sharp edges of the wave of ice merely broke before it could touch the angel's armor, and the icicles simply shattered into pieces.

Strikes of lightning came from the caster's hands. Continuous flow of lightning and continuous strikes of lightning came hitting the angel, the amount of energy was so great that it blew off a small part of the land. However, the angel merely stood there nonchalantly, like there was nothing bothering him whatsoever.

Not only that, but there were also numerous lightning enchanted bullets flying towards the angel. The electricity was so clear to see even though the bullets were moving at considerable speed. However, all of those were ineffective.

Loads amount of water turned to wave with sharp edges and were flying towards the angel in great speed which although water it could easily cut flesh with ease. Then a ray of boiling water came forth towards the angel. However, none were effective. As the remains of the water splashed towards the ground, they disappeared before they could touch the ground, that is because those water were made from magic. Just for the record, some people could also take control of any existing water around the person to a limited amount, depending on the level of the caster.

Every attack went so well. However, amidst the attacks, blades flew from where the angel stood – well, to be precise, the blades did come from the angel.

The caster of wind magic was shocked, so shocked as he saw a sword coming towards him. He wanted to move but it was so sudden and he was so shocked to react in time in order to evade the blade. He could use his magic, but it was so obvious that he won't make it in time for the sword flew in fast speed. Unable to react and move in time, the blade pierced his body. For a few seconds, he fell to the ground and died.

Following that, the caster of the lightning element saw a sword coming to him. In response to that, he used both his hands as cover and at the same time he released a blast of lightning, and the blast blew off the sword stopping its approach. The caster felt relieved as he saw the blade fall to the ground, however that feeling was taken away in an instant.

As the fallen sword touched the ground, another sword was already approaching the caster and he failed to notice it. As a result, the sword pierced his body even though he has lightning protecting him, it would seem his defense was not enough to stop the sword. However, it was not over yet, another sword pierced his body again. At this moment, he now felt the pain caused by two swords that pierced his body. With the swords pierced through his body and loss of blood as well as pain, he fell to the ground and died.

Immediately after that, the caster of water magic quickly saw a sword flying towards her. In an instant, she sprouted a ton of water right below the moving sword, the force of the water was enough to stop the sword. And the sprouted water stayed into existence and it turned into a large wall-like form. This was a form of defense from the caster's magic, the wall of water is enough to block a powerful fire attack from one of her comrades, thus she expected the wall to stop any approaching swords.

Amidst her comfort, however, a blade suddenly got through the wall and shocked her. The blade was fast, so fast, she could never react in time to block that or anything. Also, the fact that the blade easily got through the wall added her feeling of shock and the slowness of her reaction.

The blade got through her wall of water because the blade flew in considerable speed, and the sharp edge greatly helped in getting through the wall. After all, the wall is not that strong compared to the angel, also the wall is only water, so it's not solid enough to block a sword shot by this angel.

Unable to defend herself, the sword struck her. In an instant, another sword passed through the wall and again struck her. With the blades pierced her body, she fell to the ground and died.

It didn't end there.

The dark angel has yet to stop his shooting swords attacks. The angel may have only casually standing there and waved his arms around shooting swords, he was still so dangerous even though he was only shooting swords around. And every dead person only escalated the danger everyone felt. Especially when everyone witnessed that the other's defenses were rendered useless, worthless.

Zoey witnessed three of her comrades slaughtered. She may have felt rage within her heart as she can only watch them die, she didn't let her emotions get the best of her and calmly watched out for anything.

Then, she immediately noticed a blade shot towards her – to be precise, the blade was ahead of her as she was running it was as though the blade was calculated exactly on where it should be pointed and headed. Fortunately, she noticed the sword.

She immediately stopped both her feet and because she was running at fast speed, she slid with both her feet moving against the soil and stopping her movement. However, she would still get hit if that was just all the force of her halt. Thus, she fell her body and with it, she laid her hand on the ground and tried to get all the force she needed to stop. Her hand may be hurting as she did that, survival is still the first priority in this situation, so the pain does not matter.

Even though her body is almost on the ground, the flying sword may just still hit her, that's because the swords were large almost look like a large greatsword – no, it is exactly that. Thus, the only option she has is to stop.

In a few seconds, she has finally stopped, however, she held her breath. When she managed to stop, the blade almost touched a bit of her feet, it was looked like an inch off. When the large sword has finally passed by, she let out a sigh of relief.

However, she instantly realized she shouldn't relax just yet. She immediately stood up, and instantly she looked at the direction where the angel is, and as she did, she saw another sword – this time a normal sword. And the flat side of the sword was facing the ground and the sharp corners facing the sides.

She quickly dashed forward, however, that was just a normal sword, and that means the sword is faster than the previous one and she noticed it as the blade cut the right side of her body.

"–Agh…"

Fortunately, because she evaded, the cut was not deep, although she was still bleeding and currently losing blood. In reflex to the cut she got and also to stop the bleeding, she immediately placed her hand on the wound.

Then again immediately she saw another sword headed towards her – to be precise, the sword was approaching towards her back and was headed towards her in a way similar to the previous one. Thus, she immediately moved opposite the direction where she was headed. She did successfully stop. However, she was still cut again at the back-left part of her body. The cut was quite deep, but she'll survive.

As though not to give her a chance to breathe. Another sword came flying towards her and now the sharp edges are facing the ground or are now on vertical. With all the evasion she has done and barely had any rest as well as the wounds that hurt and the bleeding, will she able to dodge this one? No, she can't, and Zoey realized this herself.

She has grown weak after everything, and her loss of strength caused her to slow down her movements a lot. Now that the angel changed the way he shoots his sword, then the angel knows that she has lost strength, it was as though this was the angel's plan all along. For her to get tired and lose a lot of strength. That said, that means she couldn't dodge the sword fast enough which is moving at great speed.

Will this be her end? Is everything over? Will this be her final moment? Questions like those crossed her mind as she felt everything was moving in slow motion. Like time itself slowed just for her to think about different things before her life is taken.

When demise was halfway on her, everything around her seemed to be shrinking like her life. However, halfway, the flying sword seemed like it was pushed away from its way direction and as that happened there was a little spark like how it would be when both metals clash.

As the spark happened, someone suddenly appeared. The person clashed her knife against the flying sword. In the powerful impact, her knife also flew off her hand as well as pushed her a little. Of course, the impact was painful, but it's nothing that she can take, what was important is that what she tried to save is safe.

"—Maya?!"

"Zoey, keep running!"

Maya – the one who saved her – told her Zoey to keep running. If she keeps running, she may lose a lot of blood in the process. However, if she doesn't, the angel might attack her again and might finally hit her. Thus, the better option will be to run, plus she might have another chance of survival. Besides, she won't die quickly from the wounds she currently has and once it's safe her wounds can be treated quickly with healing magic.

With those in mind, she began to run.

Maya returned her sights to the dark angel and grabbed another knife from a sheath on her thigh. The knife could help her block a sword just in case if there's another one coming. A flying sword could be taken out when attacked on its side and put if off course whether it's heading towards Zoey or herself. Although a blade coming towards herself will be difficult to handle, she can still manage, either dodge or find a way to stop the blade.

"Stop interrupting, will you?"

After the angel said that, he immediately moved his hand in a swiping motion. And with it appeared what caused Maya to widen her eyes in shock. Also, at that moment, she began to breathe shakily and her heart to throb more than before.

"W-what…"

Numerous black color themed knives suddenly appeared before him as he moved his hand. The group of blades covered a large area, and if used to attack that could mean it could damage a large area. Or perhaps, all of those blades are for Maya herself. With that in mind, how can she escape from all of those knives, there was like hundreds of those pointed in different directions in front of the angel.

Then immediately after all the blades had appeared, the angel moved his hand forward, and with it, the blade instantly flew forward towards where they were pointed. Zoey was in the middle of everything, now how would she escape from it?

If she tried to run, she would still get caught up in it. If she doesn't run, then she would take all the blades head on and that would mean absolute death. Then the option to have a higher survival rate would be to choose the former option. And Maya instantly chose that option as hundreds of blades began to move.

She prepared her knife, that's because she can use the blade to block any blade that may hit her vital parts. Then she began to run to have a better chance to evade any approaching blade, even though there are hundreds of those knives and evading them would be near impossible, it wouldn't hurt to try.

As she began to take a step, shots of lightning enchanted bullets came storming and took out a lot of the blades coming towards the direction where she was going to run. However, there was still a lot of those blades left.

The blades have gone close to Maya. Some blades would definitely hit her, no question about that. Thus, all she could do to survive is parry any blade that would surely hit her on the vitals.

A blade was moving towards her head, right between the eyes to be exact. Thanks to her years of training, her reflexes will be enough to handle things like this. When the blade was within her reach, she instantly parried off the blade heading towards her head.

But, instantly after she did that, a blade has scratched her left shoulder. Fortunately, she was moving so the blade only passed by her. However, immediately, she noticed another blade coming straight towards her heart. Her left arm may have a scratch on the shoulder, that was nothing, she could still parry the incoming blade quick enough. Thus, she quickly parried the incoming knife, however, instantly after that a blade had struck her right leg.

However, she did not give a lot of thought into it. Instantly after the blade struck, she saw a blade coming straight towards her throat. Thus, she instantly parried the incoming blade, however, before she could notice, a blade had already struck the right side of her chest.

It was painful, but that was not the time to give in to the pain. Another blade was coming straight into her left eye, thus, in an instant, she parried the incoming knife. However, as she did that, a blade had struck her belly and that was where she really felt the pain. Because of that, her movements slowed down, and before anything else, a knife had struck her right shoulder.

Then immediately after that, a knife struck the center part of her chest, then her left leg and again her belly and both her shoulders again. That was the last of the blades, however, several knives had struck Maya, blood coming out from her wounds and blades remained pierced on her body. With all the damage she received, she slowly fell to her knees as every little movement she made caused pain in various parts of her bodies.

Blood dripping from the knives which struck her body and blood crawling down her body and began to stain the land. Everything around her looks so blurry even though she was only looking on the ground. Her body began to weaken as her body seemed to desire to lay on the soil and her eyes seem to almost want to close. However, she will be able to live a short while.

The angel moved his hand as though preparing for a swiping motion – or to be precise, it was just how he would shoot a sword. When Maya watched him, she began to feel that it was the end, one small blade would suffice in killing her.

However, amidst everything, a large thick wall of ice appeared between Maya and the angel. In a second, Maya had already known where the wall of ice came from.

To keep the angel from attacking Maya who was gravely wounded. John immediately attacked the angel right after the wall of ice appeared. John threw a grenade enchanted by him to the angel, the grenade physical hit the angel and the angel turned his head to look at the grenade the had hit the ground.

Then immediately after that, the grenade exploded. Explosion engulfed the angel, however, it was not an explosion alone. Along the explosion of flames, there was also an explosion of electricity with it. That was because the grenade was enchanted by John's lightning enchantment.

Thus, it's not flames that will consume the target alone but also the element of lightning, so not all target will be able to survive if one does survive, he would be greatly wounded and would be in the brink of dying.

However, amidst all the smoke that covered the angel, a sword suddenly emerged from the thick smoke. The said sword was headed towards John. For a second, John shrugged in surprise.

Fortunately, John has the reflexes to properly react to this. He instantly moved aside. When he did, the sword went pass him by an inch. However, immediately after that, another sword went flying towards John. Having to notice it, John instantly moved his himself aside to dodge the incoming sword.

However, this time, the blade could hit him, thus he used his shotgun to parry the blade from its side. In the process, his weapon broke apart, however, that was a worthy sacrifice in order to save his life, after all, it was just an object. The sword was merely pushed a little but broke its momentum and thus saving his own life.

Immediately after all that, multiple rays of golden light barraged on the angel. Then instantly after that, the angel was encased in ice in an instant. Then suddenly, there was a chain of light that went unto Zoey, Maya, the caster of the ice element and lastly unto John.

When John was hit by the light, he felt energized, like his energy was back to full. John knows whose magic that exactly was. Well, not only him but also the other members of the order.

When the chain of light touched Zoey, her wounds began to heal and she felt fully restored and she felt like she can run in full speed once again.

As for Maya, the pain she felt from various parts of her body began to ease. Knowing whose magic that was and knows what the purpose of that ray of light was. She pulled out every single knife that stabbed her body, it may be painful, but it was nothing that she can handle. Besides, the healing magic eased the pain. Then when she had pulled out every single one, her wounds began to heal and she felt restored.

"Hm… light? Interesting, it's kind of like her."

The angel said as he turned around to look at the source of the barrage of light.

Vincent cast his spells unto his allies. Some of his allies had already been killed which angered him. He didn't expect for his allies to be taken out just like that.

He thought that he could have healed all the allies before they died. However, before he could send a chain of healing, they died almost in an instant or perhaps even in an instant, so he couldn't save them. Perhaps his anger is not only pointed at the angel but also into himself for not being able to save his comrades.

He failed in supporting his allies which were supposed to be his role for being a holy magic caster. Although he is the highest level among them, he was still the best option in terms of supporting the team. Perhaps he really did just fail in being the support, but why is that? Probably because everything happened so fast, or probably because the opponent was just overwhelmingly powerful.

After everything Vincent had witnessed, he realized that staying in the rear just won't do anymore. Right now, his comrades need more firepower, so the only option now is that the ones in the rear must go in the front lines and engage the enemy. As the highest level in the group, even Vincent alone to go in would be enough, besides, it's important to have people in the rear to attack the opposition.

I could do more to help directly attack the angel in the current situation. Then I will have to use my weapon.

Vincent cast away his magic rifle and reached something on his waist. He held the hilt of his sheathed sword and pulled it from its sheath.

What revealed was a blade with ravishing embellishment. The blade shone brightly as though the blade was newly made. The central part of the blade has the color of gold and with it some kind of writings from ancient times.

The exquisite hilt flawlessly connected with the blade as though it was done very carefully. The blade was emanating some sort of holy aura which was apparent with the bit of golden light shining on the whole blade.

The sword is called the Sword of Salvation. The sword was passed down for generation within Vincent's family – the bloodline of the Spero family – and was created in the time when the world was in the brink of destruction. The sword was created unknown centuries ago and was one of the strongest weapons created in that time. It was the matter of destruction so the people of the past would need powerful arsenals to fight against powerful creatures.

And this sword was created by the finest blacksmith and during its creation, it was imbued with holy magic by several powerful mages. The sword is one of the most important and powerful relics in the world and must not go into the wrong hands. Now, it seems there was no choice but to use the sword if they are to win in this battle. Nevertheless, they will have a better chance if everyone attacks the opposition.

"Guys, we'll go in and engage."

"…Alright."

"Right."

"Roger."

Every single one of them discarded their weapons and charged towards their enemy.

"Head on. Haha, fine then!"

The angel said and he positioned his hand in order to wave his arm. However, before he could shoot a sword, he was suddenly engulfed in ice in an instant.

Still, the angel immediately broke the ice. Fortunately, as the ice broke, one of the people from the rear which is a fast a runner was already close to the angel.

The man instantly cast his magic.

"[Perfect Clones]."

Two perfect clones of his appeared on both his sides. One of the clones took daggers on both hands to use as weapons. The other took two magic powered pistols to use as weapons. As for the original, he had the choice of whether use both daggers he has or the two pistols, in the end, he chose to use a pistol and on the other hand a dagger.

In contrast, he could have not discarded his weapons, however, if he didn't and kept carrying that around he would lose mobility and he would be an easy target.

One of his clones, the one with the daggers, advanced forward first. The angel swung his sword, however, the clone parried it with its daggers. It could be seen the clone itself was exerting a lot of force just to block the angel's sword.

As that happened, all the ones that have range arsenals as weapons fired at the angel. Of course, they were trying not to hit the clone.

The right hand of the angel was holding the sword, and his left hand was free. Thus, they should be wary of that hand for he might try to shoot a sword from it.

As the clone blocked the angel's sword, Zoey jumped above the angel and landed a downward kick on the angel's head. However, the angel was still unharmed. Her kick was powered by her magic which can be determined by the glow of her metal boots and a small explosion like occurrence as she hit the angel. However, it seems that was not yet enough.

"Tch! How hard is this guy's defensive magic?"

Zoey said after she retreated back after hitting the angel.

"Wow, this clone is a bit tough. But not tough enough."

The angel pushed his sword and with it, the clone didn't withstand the sword as it blocked. The clone was cut in half by just the angel giving more force than before. As the clone was cut in half, it disappeared.

Right after the clone disappeared, the other clone took charge and engaged the angel, the clone approached the angel until they were both at almost zero distance. The clone pointed its gun on the hand of the angel which was holding the sword, and the other pointed at the angel's head. Then immediately the clone opened fire the two guns simultaneously.

"Seriously? Haaah."

The angel said and immediately he grabbed the clone by the throat. Instantly, he crushed its throat, then the dead clone vanished.

They were merely using the clones as a decoy or to buy time, that is the reason why the caster kept sending the clones in. After all, he can just summon another pair.

And he did summon another pair.

"Not another two again."

The angel said, he immediately approached the caster in great speed. As the caster saw this, he was greatly shocked and took a big step back. However, that did not give him a large chance to survive though.

The angel already had the caster within reach in almost in an instant. Then the angel plunged his sword on the caster's chest – to be precise, on the caster's heart. It seems the angel wants to make sure that his targets are dead. And the caster did die.

The angel let go of the sword which was still pierced through its victim. And immediately, as the angel let go, he conjured another sword.

Immediately as the angel conjured another sword, Vincent was now close to the angel. Vincent instantly swung his sword. However, before Vincent could fully swing his sword the angel also swung his sword towards him.

The force of the angel's swing was so strong that his action of swinging became a block. Vincent got blown away a few distances as the angel's sword impacted unto Vincent's sword. The shock the sword received crawled unto his hands and the force made Vincent's hands ache.

The good thing was that he was using both his hands in holding the sword. If that was not the case, the sword would have blown off from his hand and he would have severely injured or worse, he would have died. Even though he was suddenly blown away, he still got his balance and managed to stay on his feet as he stepped back on the ground.

Immediately right after he returned his feet on the ground, he cast a healing spell on the one was just attacked by the angel.

"[Healing Ray]."

Even though the person still had a sword pierced his body, Vincent hoped that his healing spell would help in the survival of the man. The spell he cast was a high tier one, so he thought it will be effective.

However, when the ray of light hit the body, nothing happened. This could mean that the man was already dead.

Dammit.

Vincent could not heal him right immediately when the sword was plunge on the man because the angel was right next to him. He thought that when he won't attack, the angel would just strike him down. So Vincent thought that the better option was to attack the angel and as he holds back the angel's sword he would heal the man. However, he never expected the angel's strength would be to the extent that he would get blown away.

Shortly after that, large vines began to wrap around the angel. Mostly holding both his hands.

Then as though everyone knows what to do next, the one with ice magic prepared himself to cast a spell. Right before he could do that, John called to him.

"Let me enchant your magic."

John quickly extended his hand to the man and cast the enchantment.

Electricity then began to appear on the man's hands. The man immediately cast his magic.

A large wave of ice with some electricity on it came approaching the angel. And shortly, the angel was engulfed whole by ice with lightning effects. The ice was enchanted not only by lightning effects but also the ice's strength, so the ice is much harder.

However, they know that ice won't hold the angel for long. Thus, the ones who were going to attack quickly rushed towards the angel.

Vincent immediately rushed towards the angel as the ice engulfed him. Then a few seconds, the angel broke from the ice, though he only broke the upper part so his lower part is still inside the ice.

As that happened, Vincent quickly swung his sword at the angel, however, the angel blocked his attack. Then immediately after that, the vines returned to entangle the angel again.

After that, a member of the order quickly grabbed and held the angel's left arm. The man that was holding the angel's left arm used his magic. His veins started to glow red for a moment and immediately after that, it seems the angel's struggle has lessened.

The man's magic is that he can increase his physical strength. And it would seem his magic is just enough to hold the angel's arm. But is that really the case?

As Vincent and the angel's swords were clashing together, Vincent's sword shone with golden light. Then the angel's sword seemed to be taking damage, it was starting to have little cracks to where the part Vincent's sword was hitting.

The angel was probably surprised because he shrugged a little.

The one holding the angel's arm and Vincent seems to be doing fine. But that doesn't mean the others would do nothing.

John cast his enchantment magic on the caster of the vines. Then the vines which were entangling the angel began to have lightning effects on it. After that, John grabbed his pistol and opened fire exactly at the angel. Of course, his weapon was enchanted.

Then Maya – while invisible – approached close to the angel. Then she suddenly appeared directly in front of the angel. As that happened, John enchanted her weapon.

She pointed her submachine gun at the angel's neck where there was a little gap, and she fired on point black range.

Zoey ran to the angel and she did a jump kick on the angel's back. She did jump kick and downward kick multiple times and continuous. Then she used one of her best spells.

As she decided to use the spell, John enchanted her boots.

"[Breaking Impact]!"

She cast that spell as she was above the angel. Then her boot glowed and she kicked with all her might as she descended upon the angel. The impact gave off a great blow of the air and a blinding light.

The spell she used would be enough to easily break a bunker, whether metal or cement. Thus, she and the others expected that the angel's defenses have been broken, and a little hope or rather prayed that at least the angel's armor was damaged.

However, their prayer failed.

Right after Zoey returned to stand on the ground, she saw the part of the angel's back where she hit, and there was no damage whatsoever which caused her eyes to widen in surprise and puzzlement. After all the effort, nothing she or everyone else have done was effective. How could something like this happen?

As for Maya, she was still shooting. However, even after all this time, even at point black range, her weapon seems unable to get through nor damage anything.

Three spears made of ice suddenly hit the angel's back. Those spears were supposed to be one of the best piercing magic attacks, however, even those spears just shattered before they could touch the angel's armor.

As those spears were ineffective. The person with the ice element cast another wave of ice towards the angel's back. This time the edge of the ice wave had sharp edges. However, just like the recently, the sharp edges shattered.

How is this even possible? All of the attacks they made, are all ineffective. Not even a mere scratch.

"You have good teamwork. I'm impressed, it's nice to see something like this for once and a while."

Those words came from the master of the dark angel. As the members of the order heard him, they instantly looked at him perhaps because of reflex. Like how would someone look when they are called or when there is noise or someone is talking.

Then the man continued.

"However, it's time for you stop playing around. We have used too much time. I want to go home. So, end this now."

The angel was also looking at the man and then he responded.

"As you wish, my lord."

Then the angel turned his head to face the people in front of him – or specifically, at Vincent. And the angel said.

"Oh well, you heard him."

The angel said in a joyful manner, one could imagine he must be smiling behind the helm.

Suddenly, the ice on the lower part of the angel broke. Immediately, everyone's guard escalated.

"You have an interesting weapon."

The angel said to Vincent.

Then the angel instantly extended his hand and because of the Vincent was pushed back.

Immediately after that, the angel turned his head to face the man who was holding his left hand.

"You're starting to annoy me."

The angel gripped the man's head all of a sudden and he lifted the man up like it was nothing.

The angel casually moved even though there were vines entangling him. He acted like there was nothing holding him at all.

The man struggled to get away. He tried to push off the fingers that were taking hold of his head. However, even with his strength, he doesn't seem to be even twitching the fingers that are holding him. He tried so hard to the point he held his breathing to give all the strength to his arms. However, nothing seems to be working.

"Die."

A long blade instantly rose from the ground which impaled the man in an instant. The blade overlapped his back and there was a bit of flesh from the insides of the man sticking on the blade.

There was an expression of shock left on the face of the man. However, shortly after, his expression changed to that of a dead person.

After that, the angel let go of the man – or it should be said corpse.

The angel looked around the vines that were entangling him.

"I don't like my wings being entangled, especially like this. It feels uncomfortable. Anyway, in respect of your brave and warrior-like efforts in fighting me. I will now fight you seriously. I will let you witness more of the abilities which I possess."

Immediately after he said those, the vines behind him that was entangling him was suddenly cut in pieces. Just like how it would be when a vine was cut by a blade, but this time looked like numerous blades struck simultaneously in an instant.

As the angel expanded his wings after the entanglement, what everyone saw caused their eyes to widen at the same time felt more anxious.

It was so shocking, they could not easily believe that he could do something like this. How could he have an ability like it?

The angel's wings have fully changed, totally different from before. Before, his wings didn't look harmful, but this time, it is – no, it was more than harmful. This time, he could be described as deadly.

Instead of feathers that supposed to be what his wings are made of. Now, it was totally different. Wings were supposed to be soft and smooth, but now it was the opposite.

The feathers of his wings had turned into blades. Each and every single one of his black feathers was changed into black blades. Somewhat similar to a knife – each and every feather has changed similarly to blades of a knife.

And those blades looked so sharp that it seems one gentle touch will easily scratch one's skin or can even make one bleed a lot even though from a small scratch.

The angel raised his sword and took a look at it.

"It's damaged."

The angel quietly said, and after that, he cast aside the sword.

Then, another sword appeared on the same hand that was holding a sword.

"Alright! Let us finish this!"