Chapter 525: 525

Martina and Kael did not waste a second after Rein fell. They moved at once, rushing forward to deal with the swarm of abyssal monsters that kept pouring through the shattered capital.

Elliot had already taken the front line. His blade rose and fell again and again, cutting through twisted limbs and black flesh. Just as a group of monsters tried to surround him, two sharp slashes swept across the battlefield.

Kael’s sword carved a clean path through the creatures, and Martina’s blade followed, severing claws and heads in one smooth motion.

Elliot glanced back at them and shouted over the chaos.

"We can’t go on like this. We should escape and let Sir Ramos and His Highness the Grand Duke deal with it."

He blocked a lunging beast and kicked it away before continuing.

"We will just lose lives if we stay here."

"Fair point," Kael said while cutting down another monster.

He turned to Martina briefly. "We should shield them. Your Highness, order them to fall back."

Martina nodded sharply. Without hesitation, she thrust her sword into the ground and released her aura. A powerful ripple spread outward, pushing back both monsters and soldiers alike.

"Everyone fall back!" she shouted. "Retreat to the portal. Leave them to us."

The Imperial Knights looked at her and immediately obeyed. They began pulling back in formation. The abyssal monsters rushed forward in wild pursuit, shrieking and clawing.

Kael stepped ahead and swung his blade in a wide arc, clearing a path and forcing the creatures back. Elliot joined him, holding the line while the remaining troops retreated.

Even while the mental pressure crushed her mind, Martina forced herself to move.

The screams around her were getting louder as the abyssal monsters recovered faster than the human soldiers.

"Stand up!" she shouted hoarsely, though her voice trembled. "Don’t stop moving!"

Kael staggered but did not fall. He shook his head violently, then slapped his own cheek once.

"Damn it... this is disgusting," he muttered.

A group of abyssal beasts lunged toward the retreating Imperial Knights, who were still disoriented from the mental shock. Some stumbled. Others dropped their weapons while clutching their heads.

"Not happening," Kael growled.

He stepped forward and swung his sword in a wide, brutal arc. The blade cut through three monsters at once, black blood spraying across the shattered stones. He followed with a kick that crushed another creature’s skull.

Elliot forced himself upright as well, his face pale but determined.

"Hold the formation!" he roared at the retreating knights. "Shields up and move!"

He dashed ahead and slammed his sword down, sending a wave of energy that knocked a pack of rushing beasts sideways. Two monsters tried to leap past him, but Elliot pivoted and cut one down while driving his shoulder into the other, smashing it into the rubble.

Martina pushed herself to her feet, her vision still pulsing red at the edges.

A massive abyssal creature charged straight toward a wounded knight who had fallen behind.

Martina’s eyes sharpened.

She blurred forward.

Her sword pierced clean through the creature’s throat, and she twisted hard before pulling it free. The beast collapsed at her feet.

"Move!" she barked at the knight. "Get to the portal!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" he shouted, scrambling away.

More monsters surged forward, shrieking and clawing through debris.

Kael and Elliot stepped in sync beside Martina.

Kael slashed high, Elliot cut low, and Martina struck straight through the center. Their attacks overlapped, creating a wall of steel and force that held the creatures back.

The ground shook as bodies piled up before them.

Behind them, the Imperial Knights finally regained order and began pulling back in proper formation.

"Almost clear!" Elliot shouted.

"Good," Kael said through clenched teeth. "Because I don’t feel like babysitting while that thing stands over there."

Martina glanced briefly toward the crimson figure in the distance, then tightened her grip.

"Hold the line," she said quietly. "Just a little longer."

Together, the three of them fought shoulder to shoulder, carving a path of blood and broken limbs while the last of the Imperial Knights retreated toward safety.

As they fought, Martina suddenly felt something was wrong.

She looked upward.

Her breath caught.

In the distance, above the ruins, a new cloaked figure had appeared. He stood in midair, facing both Ramos and Ruth alone.

"Huh?" she muttered.

"What the hell is going on?" she snapped, turning toward Elliot.

"Do you know him, Sir Elliot?"

Elliot narrowed his eyes, studying the figure carefully.

"No. I don’t know him," he replied slowly. "And he doesn’t look ordinary. The way he is managing to take on both of them..."

Even as he spoke, Ramos and Ruth moved together. Water and lightning collided in a combined strike that tore at the cloaked figure.

The cloak ripped.

For a brief second, the man’s face was revealed.

Bluish hair.

A calm and handsome face that looked almost unreal.

Martina’s eyes widened so much they hurt. She turned to Elliot in disbelief, and his expression mirrored her own.

"Isn’t he the—"

She never finished the sentence.

Something exploded inside her mind.

"Aahhhhhhhh!"

A violent pain burst through her skull. Her vision turned red. She dropped her sword and grabbed her head with both hands, collapsing to her knees.

"Kurrghhh!"

Around her, screams erupted.

"What is this? Aaaaa!"

"My head! It’s splitting!"

"It’s a mental attack!"

Martina forced her eyes open through the pain. The world around her was chaotic. Sir Elliot lay on the ground nearby, twitching and clutching his head. His teeth were clenched so tightly that blood ran from his lips.

The abyssal monsters were even worse. They slammed their heads into walls and the ground, howling in agony. Some rolled on the broken stones, tearing at their own faces as if trying to rip something out.

The battlefield had turned into a sea of suffering.

And at the center of it stood one man.

He did not move.

He did not shout.

He simply stood there calmly.

Crimson aura wrapped around his body that flames around like waves of flames. It did not burn outward wildly, but it pulsed and expanded slowly, growing heavier with every second. The air around him warped under the pressure. Even the rain seemed to evaporate before touching him.

Martina stared at him through blurred vision.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest seeing the source of all this.

The one standing in the middle of the misery and screams.

The man whose crimson aura kept rising and rising, swallowing the battlefield in a silent, suffocating force.

It was none other than her betrothed, Kael Veydrin.