Chapter 599 Let's end this, shall we?
Carcel's eyes widened at Will's move, and he quickly rushed behind the looming dark orb heading towards the numerous people bound in chains below.
"You bastard!"
He cursed, but Will chased after him and grabbed one of his legs tightly with a smirk. Carcel kicked and struck violently with his other leg at the man, his panicked gaze fixed on the orb moving dangerously closer to the chained individuals below.
Amidst the crowd, fear gripped those who could perceive the looming threat, with the air buzzing with anxious voices. Elizabeth and Old Hal's faces turned grave when they saw the dark orb. Without hesitation, they got ready to burn a portion of their strength to halt the dark orb's advance. They knew they would lose strength, but saving so many lives was more important.
However, before the orb could reach the crowd, a flickering portal appeared in its path. The portal expanded and swallowed the orb before vanishing into thin air.
Carcel let out the breath he had been holding as he watched the orb disappear, then glared at the man gripping his leg with a menacing look.
Will was taken aback as he witnessed the portal consuming his attack. He intended to intercept the golden haired man's strike, who glared at him with fury and swung his blue spear at him, but before he could act, a familiar voice filled with pure coldness and rage reverberated in his ears.
"I thought this was our battle? How dare you target those uninvolved."
Kyle was seething. If he hadn't acted in time, the dark orb could have harmed Yue or his friends who were bound below. He didn't care about anyone else life and cared only for them; how dare this bastard threaten his loved ones.
Ceano passed in mid-air when the silver-haired man he was engaged in a fierce battle with vanished suddenly. He scanned the area to find his opponent, but as he rushed toward Kyle, who was floating behind Will, the silver-haired human under his and everyone's eyes mercilessly and swiftly grabbed Will's right shoulder before tearing the latter's whole arm away from his body with a dark expression. Immediately, a cold aura that could freeze anyone below the pseudo-divine rank spread out from Kyle's body as blood painted his clothes.
Will let out an agonizing scream and instantly lost his balance mid-air. Under the countless eyes, his bloodied body crashed into one of the hovering stages in the middle of the towering walls as the man wailed and screamed in pain.
Carcel's eyes widened at the brutal scene as he looked at Kyle, who displayed nothing but pure anger on his face.
Blue flames erupted from the silver-haired man's body, completely freezing the arm he had torn from Will's body before the ice scattered into shimmering particles.
There was an eerie silence in the air. No one dared to speak; even Ceano was dazed at the scene he had just witnessed.
The hushed stillness was abruptly shattered by Kyle himself as he released the spear in his grip with a cold chuckle, his eyes ablaze with anger and a haunting familiarity that Ceano recognized.
It was a dark void the second shadow general had witnessed before in the eyes of the only person who had the strength to command him and potentially end him within a mere second.
Ceano jolted when Kyle tilted his head toward him. The anger in the human eyes was vanishing, replaced by a growing void with a touch of darkness.
"I should have put an end to both of you much sooner. It's my own doing that this battle has dragged on for so long."
As Kyle's words dissolved into the air, the spear hovering beside him vanished, and a gleaming golden sword materialized in his grasp. The air quivered as he clenched his fingers firmly around the hilt.
"Let's end this, shall we?"
He vanished from his position, and in the next instant, his gleaming sword clashed with Ceano's blade. The quivering air surrounding them hushed as their weapons met, but unlike earlier when Ceano effortlessly deflected Kyle's strikes, this time his golden eyes shook in realization as he felt the immense power behind human's attack, far surpassing anything before.
The second shadow hand clutching the blade trembled as he met the piercing gaze of vivid green fixed upon him.
A sudden realization crept into Ceano's mind that he might lose. However, his golden eyes burned with fury as this understanding dawned on him.
He was adamant about not accepting defeat from a mere divine rank human! Nor would he run away! As one of the formidable shadow generals, feared by all, he was determined to eliminate this human and show him the gravity of provoking someone of his stature.
As their blades separated, a small crack echoed through the air, sounding like steel fracturing, and the voice came from the blade in Ceano's hand. The second shadow general gazed down at the curved blade in his hand, which had endured countless battles unscathed by his side, now tarnished by a crack.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to look at the golden sword in Kyle's hand. Just one ordinary strike from the human's sword had cracked his blade. Did this mean that the human's primary weapon was a sword all this time?
'Then how did he gain such profound insight into the art of the spear? If he has mastered the spear to such an extent, how much has he mastered the sword, which is his main weapon?'
This question was echoing in the minds of everyone who saw Kyle's attack. But before anyone could fully wrap their heads around the fact that Kyle's sword had put a crack in the second shadow general's blade, a sharp aura started to swirl around his sword.
Kyle's eyes were locked on Ceano. When he said he wanted to end the battle, he meant it. A faint murmur echoed in the air as he quietly spoke and unleashed the third strike of his sword art, then disappeared from his spot...
"Ethereal Voidbreaker slash."
However, he didn't head towards Ceano, who was prepared for his attack. Instead, he vanished towards Will, who had regained his composure and was regrowing his missing arm while fighting Carcel.
Ceano's eyes contracted when he didn't face the anticipated attack. This time, without hesitation, he vanished towards Will, but how could he mimic the speed of instant teleportation?
The atmosphere in the arena quivered as Kyle materialized before Will. His blade shimmered with such potent spiritual energy that it sent shivers down even the highest-rank individuals present. Even Elizabeth and Old Hal weren't certain they could evade unharmed from the impending assault Kyle was about to unleash.
Will, who suddenly saw the silver-haired human appear in front of him, tried to jump backward at full speed in mid-air. His torn arm hadn't fully regenerated yet, so he knew he couldn't fight Kyle head-on.
The dark energy in the air enveloped his body completely in a protective shield, but unfortunately his body couldn't evade the attack. With a swift and precise swing, Kyle's sword sliced through the air and hit Will's body with a speed akin to light.
Instantly, a rift of light and spirituality, capable of obliterating anything in its way, trailed the trajectory of Kyle's sword.
The air around the blade trembled with shockwaves reverberating in all directions. The deafening noise of the attack caused everyone's ears to ring, followed by a blinding light that shook the whole arena and enveloped Will's body completely, rendering him unable to even shout.
Intense energy surged through the atmosphere, creating a surreal moment where the boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary blurred. The luminous rift expanded on Will's body, and then, as if it had never existed, everything vanished into Kyle's sword, which didn't even sustain a scratch despite enduring such a powerful attack executed by its wielder.
A muffled, anguished cry filled the air as Carcel and everyone else within the arena turned their gaze to witness the chilling sight of the aftermath of Kyle's brutal attack. Half of Will's form had dissipated with the blinding light, the remaining half was also a grotesque sight with exposed bones jutting through shredded flesh.
As the echoes of the attack faded, an eerie stillness settled over the arena, broken only by the soft rustle of displaced air.
Kyle glanced at Ceano who was frozen in his place because, just like Elizabeth and Old Hal, he also sensed that Kyle's attack not only damaged Will's body but also severely wounded his soul.
Ceano's eyes locked with Kyle's as the human raised his hand and, with a sinister grin, flicked his fingers. Instantly, spiritual energy surged from his body, and Ceano's golden eyes dilated when the faint rustle of something snapping echoed in the silent air... He had heard this sound many times on the battlefield.
It was the sound of someone's soul being forcefully torn from their body, and he realized with a shuddering breath that the person whose soul was separated from his body was none other than Will.
Kyle's eyes stayed unfazed as blue flames burst from his body, fully enveloping Will's form and turning it to ice before the ice scattered into particles. He had separated Will's soul from his body and also erased his consciousness, but he didn't want to leave behind any part of the dead man to ensure he could come back to life.
"One dead, one more to go."