Chapter 869 Eye-For-Eye
"You knew that I was your cousin," said Lyle as he stared down at her. Tears fell from her eyes to roll down her temples. Ivory opened her mouth, coughing blood and trying to say something to him. "I know the truth already."
"I… "cough"… see," said Ivory with a weak smile. She raised her hand toward her wrist, grabbing a short sword strapped to her belt. Then, she gave it to Lyle before saying, "from… Averie…"
"You can keep this sword and fight me with it after the fight is over," said Lyle as he stopped her. Ivory was too weak to respond and rose to stare at the Light Emperor.
His throne had been destroyed, and his arm was bleeding. Although Ivory failed to strike his neck, he made the emperor bleed. As the troops saw the red human blood, all of them cheered. Ivory did more than just a wound. She raised hopes among the rebels.
"I have ten thousand knights, not to mention the fallen beings," the emperor grinned. "If you think you can win in my domain, then dream on. This will become your grave, Ivory, alongside every traitor!"
"Confidence is quiet, while insecurities are loud," said Lyle as he walked toward the emperor with his translucent sword. "This is the end, unjust emperor."
"Insolent brat!" shouted Duke Delano as she rushed forward to strike Lyle down, but the latter jumped and stepped over his shoulder. Then, he soared toward the emperor with winds carrying him.
"He could use his ability?" muttered Duke Delano with confusion as he stared at the wind gathering beneath Lyle. He tried to throw his spear at him, but Vruckrus" armored arm caught it. He grinned before his artifacts started glowing, and he yanked the spear from Duke Delano"s hand and slammed him with his fist.
"Give our leader the time he needs!" shouted Vruckrus, and the battle began. The rebels rushed toward the knights and the fallen beings, clashing head-on. Finally, chaos descended on the plaza, and the citizens had to huddle back in fear.
Lyle soared toward the platform and swung his sword at the Light Emperor. His attack was sharp without any unnecessary moves behind it, but it didn"t carry any strength behind it. Thus, the emperor caught it between his fingers.
"Is this the strength behind your revenge, Lyle Mantra?" said the emperor with a smile. "I already knew about your involvement in the rebellion, but you disappeared right as I was about to arrest you."
Lyle realized the reason behind Ivory"s visit, which prompted him to leave the base before it was too late. She must have heard about her father"s plan to entrap Lyle, so she rushed to warn her cousin.
"This is the weakness of Iliosians," said Lyle with a smile as green flames appeared on his sword. "Blinding arrogance can kill its owner, Joseph."
The emperor realized that something was amiss and hurried to jump backward. However, the green flames exploded, and the sword pa.s.sed through the emperor"s fingers, cutting them cleanly before aiming toward his head.
Since the Light Emperor dodged, the attack couldn"t behead him. So instead, it grazed his face, slashing his eye and forehead after severing his fingers. The emperor almost fell off the platform and had to use his artifacts to stabilize his body.
His fingers were gone, and the blue flames still ate at them. Joseph the Strategic howled in pain as his face was eaten away by the green flames. However, the same flames are mirrored on Lyle"s body in a chilling scene. However, he did not flinch even as his skin turned to charcoal.
"What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this?"
The emperor kept howling as the flames ate his body, and he could not absorb them. Lyle stood there with his green sword, staring at the emperor, using his strings to absorb the flames.
"This is my resolve for revenge, Emperor of Light," said Lyle while standing there, one of his eyes bursting with flames. "These flames cannot die until their target is dead."
"There is nothing that I cannot absorb!" roared the Light Emperor as he tried to extinguish the flames, but it was futile. Lyle kept advancing toward him with his sword. "Keep away!"
"If I had known you would be this pathetic, I would have taken your head in your sleep," said Lyle with his hand and face burning. "We will suffer the same fate, Dog Emperor."
"You… I see," said the emperor as he calmed down, looking at the flames covering Lyle"s hand and eye. "You are sacrificing your body to kill me. If you die, then these flames will disappear!"
"That is right," nodded Lyle as he stared at the emperor. "But… do you think I would die before killing you?"
The Obsessed Knight rushed forward with unstoppable speed and otherworldly swordsmanship. For a second, the emperor did not see a man but a demon of hatred. Then, instead of attacking, he chose to run and jump off the platform and retreat.
"You are not running away," said Lyle as he jumped after him, but something jumped at him from below. It was a fallen being full of agony, howling as it tried to latch itself to Lyle. The emperor grinned with triumph, but Lyle was unfazed.
The knight changed targets midair and stabbed his sword at the fallen being, piercing through his skull. Despite no attacks working on it so far, since everything sank into a bottomless abyss, the blade cracked his head.
As the vessel was gone, the fallen being shrieked as it returned to nothingness and dissolved. Lyle kicked the air, and the wind propelled him higher toward the Light Emperor, who was watching with fear.
"How can this be?" muttered the emperor as he saw his fallen being, the immortal monster he wanted to win with, get taken down so easily. "There is someone other than the creator who can eradicate the enders?"
"Not a person, but a weapon," said Lyle as he raised his translucent sword to strike at the emperor again. "This blade holds the last of the origin pillars, making it one of the strongest existences in this world."
"Impossible!" roared the emperor as he brought his fists together, slamming them against empty air to create a shockwave that separated them. As he absorbed more mana, the emperor was far stronger than any Astra-ranker.
Lyle was sent flying back to the platform, and he stabbed his sword into the floor to stop himself. He knew that the emperor wouldn"t be killed easily, but after the evolution of his astral blessing, he could give up his life to kill his enemy.
Thus, he was about to rush again when several swords flew over his head and stabbed the platform in front of him. They surrounded Lyle in such a fashion that they became a prison, but he slashed them apart with his sword.
Another armored knight stepped on the platform, meters away from Lyle. The two stared at each other until she took off her helmet and stared at him with confusion.
"What are you doing, Lyle?" asked Layla as she stared at him with rage. "Are you throwing away your life for this?"
"Is this not what you have always wanted? You thought I betrayed the orphanage and Zonas, but here I am, proving the opposite," said Lyle as his body burned with relentless flames. "Step aside. I"m running out of time."
"I am not going to because you are running out of time. Stop this madness. We can take down the emperor without having to sacrifice our life. This is not what I wanted."
"I don"t give a f.u.c.k about what you want," said Lyle as he tried to walk past her, but she sidestepped to block him. "There is no other way to win than this."
"There is, and it doesn"t involve you killing yourself out of guilt. I can use my blessing to fight, and we can push him into a corner. We all have…."
"Out of guilt?" interrupted Lyle with a cold smile. "You think I"m doing this for my selfish reasons, huh? Do you know the amount of damage the emperor has done to the citizens?"
Layla was silent, and Lyle scoffed. He walked past her by pushing her aside, but the emperor had already gained enough time to recompose himself.
"Your people don"t believe in you, Lyle Mantra," said the emperor with a smile as he floated higher. "However, I am different. Many are supporting me and waiting for a chance to prove themselves."
As he finished his words, a shadow crept behind Lyle. It was another dark creature that oozed darkness, but Lyle also sneered and destroyed it. However, a shadow jumped from behind it. Erin Voldor was surrounded by chains pulsing with blood as he tried to stab Lyle"s heart with his sword.
"Die!"