Chapter 93: Ancestral Spirits (4)  

Adonai’s arrows were all terrifying weapons.

But then a hand grabbed them and crushed them.

“Stay back.”

Aquilla took a step forward, obstructing Vikir and Aiyen.

She had dispatched the eight Deathknights who stood in her way, and now she was about to face Adonai, the final pinnacle, the supreme of the Ballak.

Adonai, the Old Era’s leader, and Aquilla, the New Era’s leader.

These two twin pinnacles, each at the pinnacle of archery, were now locked in a timeless battle.

Vikir became tense.

It’s not every day that you see a fight between two absolute powers, master-level aura users who have reached the Supreme realm.

A battle of this magnitude was not common even during the Age of Destruction, when the heavens and earth were turned upside down on a daily basis.

“……What will happen?”

“It’s not worth even asking.”

Aiyen next to him responded to Vikir’s question.

With a determined expression, she opened her mouth.

“My mom never loses.”

Aiyen’s words were confident.

But reality was starting to show otherwise.

Kararak-

Aquilla raised her massive bow and pointed it directly ahead.

A powerful arrow was fired after the thick bowstring was pulled back under tremendous tension.

Boom!

Aquilla fired a silver aura at Adonai.

The solid aura flew like a silver arrow, piercing the black aura emanating from Adonai’s body.

[…….]

Adonai launched an immediate counterattack.

His combat instincts were so strong that they were permanently imprinted on his dead body.

…Boom!

The black aura emanating from Adonai’s body exploded like steam.

The earth around him cracked, releasing sulfurous gas, and the black aura emanating from Adonai’s body was black with sulfur, as if it were hell’s flames.

They ascended into the heavens in a maelstrom, and soon the vast expanse of sky was shrouded in dark clouds.

Toward these dark clouds, Aquilla unleashed a barrage of silver flashes.

Silver flashes and black trajectories ferociously devoured each other.

It was so fast that even Aiyen, a novice Graduator, and Vikir, a high-tier Graduator, could barely keep up with it.

“‘Aquilla, the speed of your bow rivals that of Adonai.”

“My mother’s archery skills are world-class, and I don’t just mean in terms of accuracy.”

Quite literally, these two living myths were giving future generations of warriors a real lesson.

The battle between Aquilla and Adonai is one of precision.

The basics of anticipating your opponent’s movements and placing your arrows on a predictable path, while more advanced techniques such as spinning shots that take advantage of the air currents in which your opponent’s arrows are flying, and parabolic shots that cause arrows to shoot out of nowhere from above or to the side, are effortlessly executed.

…BANG!

As Aquilla ducked her head, a black arrow flew out and snapped the back of a log behind her.

…Boom!

As soon as Adonai leaped upward, a silver arrow embedded itself in the sandbar he was standing on, sending a tsunami of sand in all directions.

An all-out battle of attrition.

…… But as time passed, it was Aquilla who was losing ground.

Spot!

An arrow from Adonai grazes Aquilla’s side. The black arrows were slowly, steadily squeezing the air out of Aquilla’s lungs.

But it wasn’t a matter of skill.

It’s because Aquilla needs the limited tools of arrows, and Adonai doesn’t.

Sometimes, like Adonai, Aquilla would simply concentrate her aura and send it out without an arrow, but it was so mana-draining that she couldn’t use it except in a moment of great urgency.

Adonai, on the other hand, thanks to the negative energy he draws from Hell, can shoot out solid aura arrows of 100% purity.

“……Even the direction of the wind is unfavorable.”

Vikir frowned.

Adonai had his back to the wind, and Aquilla was facing it head-on.

The winds of the jungle seemed to be favoring Adonai’s arrows, giving them more power, while Aquilla’s arrows were halved in power.

The difference is becoming increasingly visible in Aquilla’s body, which is becoming increasingly covered in scars.

Adonai’s arrows were also imbued in madam eight-legs poison.

Tsutsutsutsuts……

The wounds on Aquilla’s body turned black.

Her complexion was growing pale in contrast.

Ping-ping-ping-pingFurthermore, Aquilla’s arrows had suddenly begun to travel in an unexpected direction.

The wind caught her arrows and sent them flying in all directions, never reaching Adonai.

It was almost as if the entire jungle was guarding Adonai. Was he truly the God of the Jungle?

Vikir was perplexed. What could he do to turn the tide?

Aquilla would lose at this rate, and all of Ballak’s warriors would be swept away by the Death Knight hordes.

“…… Should we start with Aheuman?

Yes, but doing so would necessitate breaking through Adonai’s immovable iron wall.

Aheuman had also not withdrawn all of his Deathknights but was instead concentrating his efforts on controlling several Named-class Deathknights, including Adonai.

Ballak’s warriors are fighting against other Death Knights who are only slightly if at all, deterred by the sprinkling of salt.

“Someone needs to go get the rest of the town’s warriors!” At this rate, we’ll……!”

Vikir shouts urgently.

Aiyen clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Shhh. We’re almost there.”

“……?”

Vikir’s eyes narrowed.

Aquilla was getting tired, her arrows flying in strange directions with the headwind.

Adonai, on the other hand, still going strong.

Where in the world did she think she was winning?

But Aiyen, who is a better archer than Vikir, seems to see something else.

Aiyen. She’s watching in awe as Aquilla performs a miracle.

“I see it. I do. I see what my mother is seeing.”

“……?”

Vikir could only shake her head.

Then.

It happened suddenly.

…Boom!

A mysterious arrow flew out and lodged in the center of Adonai’s back.

A single, authentic arrow twitched.

It came from an unexpected direction, from behind, not from below, not from the latitude, not from the side.

[……?]

Adonai paused for a moment, surely only one person could be behind him, Aheuman?

But.

Pfft!

Another arrow flew right back at him, hitting him in the back of the head.

And then another.

-Beep, beep, beep!

A huge number of arrows began to fly in from behind.

“Ugh!”

Aheuman flattened himself like a bug on the ground.

Several of the arrows flying from behind tore into his backside.

“……!”

Vikir looked up, his mouth half open.

Only now did he see the identity of the arrows coming from behind.

They were the blind arrows Aquilla had been shooting at him a moment ago!

Pipipiping!

Another hail of arrows from behind. Still aimed at Adonai’s back!

Whizz, whizz, whizz-!

The fierce wind was carrying Aquilla’s arrows back to Adonai.

Only then did Vikir realize the cause of the anomaly.

Aquilla’s arrows weren’t flying in the wrong direction.

They seemed to have taken a wrong turn, only to surge upward in a whirlwind that raged across the jungle, only to spin around in a full circle and return to where they came from.

Like salmon running up a waterfall back to the place where they were born.

To the center of the black vortex that Adonai is creating, to where the wind begins!

…Puck! …Puck! Quack!

Adonai’s exposed back was instantly transformed into a hedgehog.

After bouncing twice in the wind, the arrow became even more powerful than when it was originally released and struck its target.

Aquilla’s arrows, which could pierce rocks and logs, didn’t completely penetrate Adonai’s powerful body, but they still managed to make a good dent.

Boom!

Another arrow landed on top of the one in Adonai’s thigh.

Only then did it manage to pierce Adonai’s thigh, causing him to stagger and fall to his knees on the ground.

Aquilla looked up, his complexion weary.“Great Ancestor, if you were still alive and in good spirits, you would not have made such a simple mistake. It saddens me.”

Aquilla sent the last arrow flying toward the crippled Adonai.

A blind arrow struck him in the back and a sighted arrow in the front.

Adonai was unable to dodge Aquilla’s final shot.

Pfft!

An arrow halfway to the back of his head and another halfway to his forehead.

…Boom!

The two arrowheads meet at a single point.

Thud-!

Adonai fell to his knees.

The myth of a previous generation yielded to the myth of a new era.

“…….”

Aquilla looked at Adonai, kneeling before him, head bowed.

It didn’t really feel like a victory.

Aquilla was at the peak of his powers now, and the Adonai he had just faced had already died of old age and was no longer in the process of being resurrected from the dead.

Moreover, he was a corpse, lacking even basic intelligence, let alone a living mind, so it was hardly a proper match.

“If only Adonai had had the strength of his prime…….

Aquilla shook her head. She could only imagine the horrible consequences.

Then.

“Kaaaaaah!”

A muffled scream.

Aheuman was struggling with Adonai’s corpse.

The battle was lost, as the Death Knight made from Adonai’s corpse had fallen.

The few remaining Deathknights gathered around Aheuman, and a far greater number of Ballak warriors surrounded him.

“Now die.”

Aiyen glares at Aheuman with disdain.

But.

Aheuman’s gamble was not yet over.

He has lost almost all of his life and mana, and is crippled from the waist down, but he still hasn’t let go of his will to live.

“Don’t come!”

Aheuman gathered Adonai’s body and the bodies of the other ancestors together.

He grabbed a handful of blood from his hands and mouth.

“If you come near, your ancestors will be tainted with my blood!”

Aheuman’s threat made everyone, including Aquilla, pause for a moment.

Superstition held that a soul tainted with the blood of a traitor would be unable to enter the warrior’s paradise.

In his final moments, Aheuman had relied on this small superstition to blackmail the others.

At this rate, the souls of the warriors would never be able to go to paradise, not to mention they would have been tricked by him.

The fact that he was so skilled in witchcraft made the situation even more dire.

“…….”

Aquilla raised her bow, but Aheuman was cunningly hiding behind the bodies of his ancestors.

Thus, all the warriors were unable to act rashly.

For if they did, they might not be able to honor their ancestors forever.

Just then.

“Stand down, everyone.”

Vikir’s voice rang out.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Vikir, who was raising his bow and aiming an arrow.

The arrow, however, was pointing in the wrong direction.

“……”What are your plans?”

Even Aquilla, who had just used the wind to make an incredible hit, appeared perplexed.

But Vikir was certain.

“First, get to a higher elevation.”

Vikir’s final piece of advice was this.

Both at the same time.

PING-!

Vikir’s bow arrow flew in a parabolic arc.

It landed where the logs were stacked on top of each other, the vines tying them together.

…Pow!

The vine was snapped by Vikir’s arrow and fell to the ground.

Then there’s that.

Snap – snap – snap – snap.

The heavy logs began to move in unison as the vines snapped one by one.

The things on the other side spill out when the wooden barrier dam, which was held in place by vines, collapses.

Chhhhhhh.

It was the waves of a salt river full of melted white salt that swelled during the long rainy season!