"Ding!"A black claymore flew through the air, severing all of the vines around the magic s.h.i.+eld before stabbing firmly into the ground.
"T… Tian Du!"
Gajeel stared at the black claymore, and an indescribable sense of horror welled up from the bottom of his heart, causing his hands to tremble involuntarily.
"Argh!!!"
The forest troll immediately withdrew all of its vines with a cry of anguish before turning toward the street with horror in its eyes.
The orc also wore an expression of shock and horror as he took a couple of steps backward, shaking his head as he struggled to keep himself from going insane. "I-impossible! He… He died three years ago! There"s no way he"s still alive!"
The name of Mag Alex had once been heard throughout the entire Norland Continent, and it symbolized invincibility.
He had slain the most powerful orc warriors, and even the most fearsome demons fled from him like terrified children. Even the giant dragons that dominated the skies weren"t safe from his fearsome claymore. This was a name that struck fear into the hearts of all powerful beings on the Norland Continent.
Thankfully, he"d been killed three years ago.
On this very same street, they had personally witnessed him fall to the ground.
As partic.i.p.ants in that a.s.sa.s.sination, they could still clearly recall how they"d broken all of his bones and severed all of the tendons in his arms and legs, and then cast curses on him with magic. Even if he wasn"t dead, he could only be a disabled man for life.
However, he had appeared once again.
Tian Du was the claymore that only Alex could wield, and its reappearance heralded the return of its legendary wielder.
The boundless horror surging through their hearts was even colder than the heavy rain. On that night, a dozen or so 10th-tier beings had been gathered to kill him, only for half of them to be slain in the process. They were very lucky to still be alive.
The horrific events of that night were still fresh in their memories; they had paid an extremely heavy price to bring him down in the end.
Gajeel was still convinced to this very day that all of them would"ve died had it not been for the fact that Alex"s half-elf baby daughter had been abducted.
Irina looked at the claymore, and her hand slowly relaxed around the black ball. She was naturally filled with elation, but also a sense of suspicion. He"s even learned to say things like this during the past three years? Looks like I have to seriously interrogate him and see just what kind of people he"s met during these years. Also… is he back to his full power now?
"Kill her first, then we"ll join forces to kill Alex! There"s no way that he could"ve fully recovered." Gajeel forced himself to calm down before letting loose a ferocious roar. Even though his hands were still trembling, he raised his saber into the air before bringing it down on Irina once again.
The orc and troll also recomposed themselves, following which the troll let loose a roar of rage, and the countless branches on its body all transformed into sharp spears. Meanwhile, the orc"s fur suddenly turned a vibrant red as he rushed toward Irina in a maddened frenzy.
Even if Alex were still alive, there was no way that he would ever make a full recovery from his injuries. As long as Irina died, the three of them would surely be able to take down Alex together.
Right at this moment, a black shadow appeared over 100 meters away. In the next instant, it had plucked the Tian Du sword up the from the ground before instantaneously appearing in front of Irina.
"Looks like you want to die." Mag turned his gaze toward Gajeel before swinging his claymore through the air.
The burning saber in Gajeel"s hands lit up the entire sky with scintillating crimson light, creating a much more formidable sight than Mag"s inky black claymore.
However, even though the black claymore wasn"t traveling very quickly through the air, the s.p.a.ce in its front was beginning to crack open.
The saber and the claymore clashed with a resounding clang.
Despite how much more formidable the saber appeared, it was sliced in half without being able to offer up any resistance. The top half of its blade flew through the air, stabbing firmly into a wall over 100 meters away. Meanwhile, the half of the saber left in Gajeel"s hand crumbled into countless metal shards.
Mag then swung his claymore through the air, and all of the incoming spear-like branches were also reduced to splinters, with not even a single spear managing to pierce through his defenses.
"Die, Alex!"
The orc that had transformed into a berserk red ape raised a ma.s.sive club high above his head before bringing it down on Alex.
Aside from the contrast in skin color, the main difference between humans and orcs was that the latter could go into a berserk state, allowing them to take on the form of a ferocious beast for short periods of time in some cases.
The orcs were renowned for their insane and brutal strength. They didn"t require any technical prowess, as they could drastically enhance their strength through evolution, and then crush their enemies without any resistance.
Their violent and brutal fighting style was certainly very befitting of their personalities.
Carter was the great elder of the Red Ape Tribe, and also one of the 10 great elders of the orc race. Even though he was ranked quite low on that list, he was still devastatingly powerful in battle.
He"d never witnessed Alex in action until that stormy night three years ago, where he saw one powerful being at the pinnacle of the 10th-tier after another fall to Alex"s claymore.
Alex was supposed to have been permanently disabled, yet he had appeared here once again.
The orc wanted to flee for his life, but that wasn"t an option, as the success of this mission was vital for the future of the orc race. Even if he were to die here, the Red Ape Tribe would still be one of the 10 major orc tribes for the next 500 years.
As such, he was an expendable, but he didn"t want to die.
He swung his black metal club through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake. The club appeared to be quite ordinary, but even the s.p.a.ce before it was being compressed and cracked.
There weren"t many powerful 10th-tier beings on the Norland Continent, and a race with more than 10 of those beings could be referred to as a powerful race.
Among these races, the one with the most 10th-tier beings was the giant dragon race, which was why they stood at the pinnacle of the continent.
Even the elven race only had less than 10 10th-tier magic casters.
The weakest goblin race and the dwarven race, which was more focused on craftsmans.h.i.+p, had less than five such beings each.
10th-tier beings were widely recognized as the most powerful beings on the Norland Continent, and this attack was the most fearsome one Carter had ever unleashed. He had reached the maximal degree of his berserk form, and sacrificed everything for pure power and explosiveness.
This one club strike seemed to be capable of crus.h.i.+ng the entire heavens.
"p.i.s.s off."
Mag glanced at Carter before swinging his black claymore through the air.
His attack was also an extremely simple and primitive one. He didn"t use the sharp blade of the sword, choosing to attack with the flat side of the claymore instead.
The seemingly indestructible metal club was bent like a twig before snapping in half amid a flurry of sparks.
The flat side of the claymore continued onward, cras.h.i.+ng directly into Carter"s body, and causing his furry barrel chest to completely cave in!
The sound was like that of a mallet striking a sheet of leather.
Carter"s howl of anguish only rang out for a split second before it was abruptly cut off, and he was sent flying like a kite with a severed line.