Cryptus's small skeleton body had stretched out into a tall one, over six feet, clad in flashy knight's armour with a dark metallic red cape trailing down his back.
The armour had a big gap across the abdomen, showing parts of his skeleton chest — and the main core inside, burning like fire, a malevolent green.
A long broadsword appeared in his hands. One swing, and Ashford split in two.
"Hmmm... Was he really a warlord? Or are all warlords this weak?" he said, more to himself — but his angelic, idol-like voice had dropped into the heavy, gravelly tone of a demonic warrior.
All three sub-branch Holy Knights were frozen in pure shock, their faces pale and sick with fear.
Before they could decide whether to run or attack him together, Cryptus just turned, raised a hand, and slowly curled his bony fingers.
"Crush," he whispered.
All three felt an invisible hand close around their hearts at once, squeezing hard.
In the blink of an eye, they dropped to the ground. Dead.
Cryptus turned to check on his subordinates but his gaze landed on dead Ashford— and he stopped for a second. Ashford's body had changed. The blue hair was gone, his height had sunk a little, and he looked nothing like the man from a moment ago.
Cryptus wasn't surprised. He knew what warlords really were: dead beings brought into vessels through some process.
He ignored it and turned to his subordinates. They had all woken already — some on their knees, none of them looking up.
"Are you all alright? It's me, Cryptus. Stand up," he said.
"Sir Cryptus?" one female demon said, her eyes fixed on his feet. "It's good that it's you, but could you hold yourself back? Your presence is too heavy."
"Ohh, my bad." Cryptus took a step back, only then realizing.
He calmed his overflowing mana and pulled back his killing intent, though he kept the transformation on — the whole war was still ahead, and it would surely come in handy.
After a few minutes of rest, he led his group in the same direction as that intense bloodlust, to see whether things were fine or not.
Meanwhile, in Dreadhaven, in one of the royal palace's guest rooms, the archangel Raphael and the primordial demon Osiris lay on their own beds.
Osiris sat up at once, eyes snapping open, scanning the room. He only saw Raphael still lying there, the red blindfold still over her eyes.
"Hey, are you awake? Is something happening here?" he asked.
Raphael's body lay still, as if truly deep asleep — then her lips moved.
"A battle. A big one. It seems angels are here because of me." She sighed, guilt creeping into her voice.
"No, I feel the opposite. It feels like one of the hellborn is here. I felt a hellskull — a really, really strong one," he said.
"A hellskull is here?" Raphael asked, trying to sit up, but she couldn't manage it.
"Maybe the people of hell are here to finish me off," he said, his tone turning serious.
"To finish you off? Aren't you a primordial demon? Why is hell after you? What did you do?" she asked, pressing for answers.
Osiris ignored her. He slid off the bed and slowly walked to the door.
"I need to take a look first," he said, and left the room.
Meanwhile, A short way off, Xao knelt on the ground, her jaw already knitting itself back together, eyes fixed up on Reiza.
Reiza's eyes had lost all reason. She was like a beast gone berserk.
She drew her fist back and swung at blinding speed. All Xao could do was squeeze her eyes shut.
BAM!...
The ground cracked under the sheer force of it, trees bowing away like a tornado had torn through.
But oddly, Xao felt no pain. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself completely fine.
"Huh?" She looked up again — and there was a figure standing between her and Reiza.
It was Lunatic.
She had caught Reiza's punch, her feet gouging into the dirt just to hold the line. It showed exactly how brutal even Reiza's ordinary punch was.
"Did she finally lose her mind?" Lunatic asked.
Before Xao could answer, Reiza pulled her fist back for another, harder blow.
But before it could fall, her pupils dilated and her hand froze in mid-air.
"Lunatic?" Reiza asked, confused.
She saw Xao on her knees and jumped straight to the worst.
"Wait — I didn't do something outrageous, did I?" she asked, stepping back.
"Y—" Lunatic started, but Xao cut in fast.
"No, nothing. Thankfully Lunatic was here and you came back to your senses in no time," Xao said, her voice a little too quick.
And in a way, it was true. Reiza had only held her unique skill for a short stretch, so its side effects hadn't had time to bite. She'd snapped back in under a minute.
"That fat guy is defeated. What now?" Xao asked.
"I was going to hit their main base and destroy that portal," Lunatic said.
"That's good — really good to do that as well. How about we attack together?" Xao asked, looking between Reiza and Lunatic.
Both nodded firmly. No personal rivalry, not with things this serious.
"Miss Reiza... are you safe?" A shout rang out from nowhere, snapping all their heads around.
Cryptus's figure pushed out of the bushes, several demons trailing him.
He saw them and relief spread across his bony face.
"Ohh, you're safe. Miss Lunatic and Xao are here too," he said, walking over.
All three of them snapped to high alert.
"Hold it right there. Who are you? Never seen you before," Reiza said, eyes narrowing.
"Ohh, it's me, Cryptus. My subordinates can vouch for me if you don't believe it," he replied.
"Wait — Cryptus? Is that really you?" Lunatic nearly shouted, never having imagined the little, cute skeleton could look like this tall warrior.
"Haha... just a transformation to boost my power," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, it's good you're here. We're planning to destroy that portal — how about you come with us?" Xao asked.
Cryptus nodded at once. "You took the words out of my mouth," he agreed.
With that settled, Reiza, Xao and Lunatic set off for the mystviel main base, Cryptus and his subordinates falling in alongside them.
Far off on another stretch of the field, Baron and Li Feng were locked in a grinding fight with Thomas, one of the main branch Holy Knights.
With his unique skill, Q&A, he'd already stripped a large chunk of their strength and vitality, leaving them at a disadvantage. Their strikes landed slow and heavy, their shoulders sinking, their breathing coming in ragged pulls.
But Vesna's healing and buffs had washed over them now, and they were holding their ground again.
"Five hundred consecutive slashes," Li Feng whispered. He unseated his blade, and sheathed it again in one clean motion.
In an instant, five hundred slash waves tore through the air toward Thomas at once.
Thomas's face twisted, teeth grinding, and he twisted away on pure reflex, slipping through the gaps. But it wasn't over — Baron came up from behind, boots slamming the dirt as he leapt onto him.
He swung his huge broadsword, meaning to split Thomas clean in two. Thomas snapped a shield barrier up over his right hand and caught the blow.
The ground shuddered beneath them, dust jumping off the surface. But Thomas still carried a share of both their strength, and he held, arms braced.
Neither of them meant to give him a second of breathing room.
Li Feng was already at his side, blade half-drawn, eyes flat and cold. "Thousand consecutive slashes," he whispered.
Thomas's eyes flew wide. He threw himself sideways, trying to slip as much of it as he could. Dust and debris plumed into the air, swallowing his vision, grit catching in his mouth.
When it cleared, Thomas was still on his feet — but fresh cuts and gouges raked his body, red seeping through. Li Feng had the speed and the edge, but it came at the cost of force, so the wounds stayed shallow.
Li Feng and Baron stood side by side, silent, watching him, blades loose and ready.
"Still silent? Cat got your tongue?" Thomas shouted, chest heaving, spit flecking his lip — and again, nothing.
They'd already worked out his game. Whatever tricks he pulled, they refused to say anything.
"I can feel my strength coming back. So it really does have a time limit," Li Feng thought, relief loosening his shoulders a little.
A few more minutes and the advantage would swing fully back to them.
Thomas knew it too. Sweat beaded thick across his forehead, his jaw working, the pressure grinding at him.
"I already died once at Auren's hands. I'm not dying a second time," he muttered to himself under breath.
Then, out of nowhere, he started hopping in place, rolling his shoulders and eveb streching , his whole posture blooming with fresh confidence.
"You two pissed me off —Now face my ultimate attack!" he shouted, planting his feet wide.
"Take this—" He pulled both hands back, winding up for an all-out strike, his eyes hard and fixed.
Li Feng and Baron planted their feet and stepped back, bracing themselves for whatever was coming, muscles coiled.
Then Thomas spun towards his back and bolted for the main base of mystviel where Vladimir and the large portal was.
"Lord Vladimir, save me~!" he screamed, legs pumping, cape snapping behind him.
Li Feng and Baron stared at each other, caught flat for a heartbeat.
"Kill him before he can use his skill and drain more power from others," Li Feng finally said.
Baron nodded, grunting, and chases after him, Li Feng right alongside. Even though despite being faster than Thomas, the war and the endless stream of mystviel soldiers kept snagging the chase — a spear thrust here, a body thrown in the way there — slowing them at every turn.
But neither had any thought of letting him go, even if it meant chasing him all the way into the enemy's main base.