Chapter 997: Battling the Imperial Guards alone
"You there, you're next!" Robin finished his mocking laugh and pointed at one of the Imperial Guards. Raising his spear above his head with both hands like a cudgel once more, he prepared to unleash the same attack without a doubt!
"Me?!" The stunned imperial guard froze for a moment before abandoning his assault on the formation and swiftly raising his sword. BAM!
In the next instant, the scene shifted before his eyes. Robin's crazed face was suddenly mere inches from his own, and an overwhelming force bore down on him from above.
"Arrgh!!" Though he had anticipated the attack and braced for it, it didn't spare him from its consequences. His sword buckled under the sheer might of the spear, smashing into his head and drawing blood. But that was all- he survived with no major injuries.
"You'll regret choosing this lord as your target!" the imperial guard snarled, pushing the black spear aside with a powerful swing of his sword. With a swift motion, swoosh, he brought his blade down at an angle, aiming to cleave Robin in two.
But BAM!—one of Robin's silver blades barely intercepted the attack, giving him enough time to retreat. "Damn it!" Robin growled in frustration.
"Where do you think you're going?!" emboldened by his apparent ability to face someone claiming to be a Planetary Emperor, the Imperial Guard pressed forward with relentless aggression.
Each of his blows bent the Black Space Spear, its material clearly unsuited for prolonged close combat. Time and again, Robin relied on his silver blades to narrowly evade death against the level 47 imperial guard, the metallic gleam from clashing over and over slicing through the air.
However, something else became evident: the ten silver blades darting around the battlefield like rabid hounds had started to slow down!
"Look at that!" another Imperial Guard shouted, drawing his brothers' attention. Though the guard fighting Robin was now on the winning side due to the interference of three silver blades, the skirmish was dragging on far longer than expected.
"That black spear is far too weak for direct combat," the Marshal declared, his eyes gleaming with newfound clarity. "And Robin Burton can't control more than one silver blade at a time without drastically reducing their speed and dominance. This is our chance!" Raising his voice, the Marshal barked, "Surround him and attack from all directions using your epic weapons! He's nothing more than a paper tiger. Everyone else, destroy the formation!"
"Yes, Marshal!" Ten of the nearest guards to Robin sprang into action, their morale restored, and a fierce determination to eliminate the Planetary Emperor blazing in their eyes.
"This is bad!" Robin muttered as he hastily retreated, summoning all 14 of his remaining silver blades to assist him. Even so, they were much slower and couldn't entirely block the incoming attacks. These guards were the elite of a Middle Planetary Belt Army, each trained to handle extraordinary foes. A single flying blade with this kind of force wasn't enough to overwhelm any of them.
"Argh!!" Robin grunted as several strikes landed directly on him, blood seeping through his golden robe, staining it crimson.
"Don't hold back!" the Marshal roared, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "Destroy that formation!" Activating his blood fully, the Marshal unleashed a devastating attack on the Sky Shield Dome, the impact resonating with a deafening bzzzzhhh.
"This is dire!" the rune masters and others below watched the unfolding chaos in horror, their expressions frozen in dread as the situation spiraled further out of control.
The formation was depleting its energy crystals at an alarming rate. It could no longer sustain its defense at this pace. Only 10% of its original density remained hovering back and forth trying to stop as much attack as it could but still some overwhelming shots managed to pass, struggling to repel the guards and the Marshal but now they could come much closer than before. It was evident that the formation wouldn't last another full minute!
"Ah, damn you, soldiers of the Great Serpent Empire, damn you to hell! You may destroy the portal today, but I will rally my army and return to slaughter you all! No one can stop me! Aaaahhh!" Robin shouted, blood pouring profusely from the corner of his lips. Under the immense pressure, he began retreating, even ignoring some of the damage he received in the process- it was clear he intended to escape.
"Don't let him get away, we have a chance that might not come again!" the Marshal bellowed, trying to seize the opportunity to press the advantage. They had already cornered the young Planetary Emperor, and killing him would end the war. "You there, assist your brothers!" He quickly dispatched ten additional imperial guards.
If 11 imperial guards had managed to corner him so thoroughly, 10 more would surely be enough to finish the job!
But... "Hoooorryaaaa!!" Robin's energy surged as he began recklessly burning his abundant life force. "I will leave, and no one will stop me!"
"Damn it, he's serious! He's burning his life force like mad. Does he not value his own life?!" "Don't kill yourself, you scum! If you want to die, at least let me take your head first!"
The 21 guards launched a frenzied assault, but Robin continued retreating, gaining more distance with each passing second. The immense boost from burning his life force made it inevitable he was moments away from escaping entirely!
"Haha, the space portal is mine!!" A triumphant cry erupted from behind. The Sky Shield Dome's coverage had dwindled to a mere 1%, leaving the space portal exposed. One of the guards had burned Durger's Blood wildly, enveloping himself in a layer of purple mist as he streaked toward the space portal like an arrow.
"Hahaha! Hey, Marshal, make sure to note in your report that it was I, the 339th grandson, who---" Swoosh!
"...Huh?!" The old Marshal, already watching the 339th grandson, froze in shock, his mouth agape. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
For a fleeting moment, a glimmer of silver darted toward the Imperial Guard's head. In the next instant, the guard stopped mid-sentence. His weapon slipped from his grasp as his lifeless body descended through the gap in the dome, landing near the space portal with wide,
vacant eyes.
He was dead.
"..." The Marshal and the remaining imperial guards halted their attacks, stunned into silence. Without exception, they all turned their gaze toward Robin. What they saw was
beyond belief.
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The twenty-one Imperial Guards around him-brothers, uncles, grandsons-all fell simultaneously, their bodies collapsing lifelessly. Each stared blankly with wide, astonished eyes, unable to comprehend their deaths, No, most likely they didn't even know they were
dead.
As for Robin Burton, only two silver blades hovered near him now. The blood and exhaustion that had marred him moments earlier were gone, replaced by an aura of annoyance. He ignored the guards entirely and looked in the direction they had come from, visibly irritated. "Where has that bastard gone now? I can't believe he almost let me escape!"
Then, glancing upward, he shouted, "Rocky, I need a favor, I am willing to use my refinement
percentage!"