Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Ignatius flapped his flame wings when an even stronger force came crushing down on him.

What heavy pressure!

The overwhelming weight that descended upon his body kept him in place, preventing him from flying away.

Gritting his teeth, Ignatius released more mana to control his flame wings, but it was to no avail.

“Just give up. Once you are inside my gravity domain, escaping is impossible.” Remondin shook his head.

“Give up?” Ignatius laughed coldly as if he’d heard the funniest joke.

With a mocking grin, he suddenly snapped his fingers.

Remondin felt something was amiss, but it was already too late when he realized what had happened.

The ground beneath his feet suddenly caught fire and this roaring flame quickly enveloped his entire body.

Remondin’s skin turned red at the sudden exposure to the extreme heat. To protect himself, he hurriedly covered his body with a thin layer of mana which acted like a barrier that stopped the flame from touching his skin.

However, despite this layer of protection, he could still feel the unbearable heat from the scorching flames.

He intends to clash with my gravity domain?!

The golden flames enveloped the area around them, looking like a miniature sun, blazing like an inferno.

Under the intense heat, Remondin was forced to use a portion of his mana to protect his vital organs. This made his gravity domain significantly weaker.

The drop in the pressure gave Ignatius some room to breathe.

I now have the upper hand, but using my mana like this places a huge burden on my energy core. I cannot maintain my flame domain for very long.

He could only hope that Caecus would take the opportunity to attack before he ran out of mana.

Don’t fuck this up, Caecus! Otherwise, all of us would be done for!

…

While the two Venerables were fighting, there was an uprising inside the city.

Marlon and the heads of the aristocratic houses gathered their subordinates to attack the Astanian troops.

They timed their attack perfectly while everyone was focused on the Venerables’ battle.

“Kill them all! Open the gates!” Marlon roared as he charged on horseback with thousands of cavalrymen.

Surprisingly, they realized that the road was unusually empty.

There were no Astanian troops stationed in the streets. It was like they had suddenly disappeared.

Confused by the situation, Marlon raised his hand with a deep frown, signaling his troops to stop charging.

Strange… Where are they? Why is this place empty?

Up ahead was one of the city’s main gates.

They just had to cross the street and they would get to their objective. However, Marlon felt a sense of foreboding. It was as if something was gripping his heart and could crush it any moment.

I don’t like this feeling…

He looked around, trying to sense if there were enemies hidden somewhere, but he couldn’t detect anything unusual.

“General, we are close to the gates! We should take this chance while there is no one around!” One of his subordinates exclaimed.

Hearing this, Marlon hesitated. “Hold on.”

“There is something strange about the situation. Why would they leave the main gate unprotected at this crucial moment?”

Unbeknownst to him, one of the people behind him, revealed a mysterious expression beneath his helmet.

Slowly, he took out a dagger hidden underneath his armor and threw it towards Marlon.

Whoosh!

The unexpected attack caught everyone by surprise.

Just when the dagger was about to hit Marlon’s head, a figure suddenly appeared to block it for him.

Clang!

“General, be careful!”

Marlon was stunned. He didn’t expect to be attacked by someone on his side.

He felt betrayed.

With a furious look, he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the attacker. “Who are you?! Lift your helmet!”

Everyone drew their swords and glared at the attacker.

The culprit remained calm in the face of their death stares. He lifted a hand and reached out to his helmet.

After he took off his helmet, everyone gasped in astonishment.

“You are…”

“Sir Redden?!”

Marlon immediately recognized the other party.

It was Redden, one of Alaric’s direct subordinates, a Transcendent Knight with unparalleled might!

He hadn’t fought with Redden before, but the latter’s aura was so strong that he was intimidated by it.

“Get back, all of you!” Marlon shouted to his men, but before everyone could react, Redden suddenly made his move.

He brandished his sword in one circular motion.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, all the cavalrymen around him had their heads detached from their bodies.

He was so quick that they only realized what had happened when the headless corpses fell off their horses.

“Kill him! Avenge our comrades!” The warriors were furious when they saw their friends getting killed.

“Wait!” Marlon wanted to stop them, but his voice drowned in the midst of the cavalrymen’s loud battle cries.

In the next moment, something unbelievable happened.

The tens of cavalrymen who had charged towards Redden were slaughtered mercilessly with just a few strikes of the latter’s sword.

His armor was drenched in blood, but his face remained utterly cold.

This time, the cavalrymen finally realized that they couldn’t overpower him with numbers alone. Only Marlon and the few Transcendent Knights could fight him.

Sensing their gazes, Marlon gritted his teeth and raised his sword into the air. “Transcendent Knights, we are close to the main gate! We just need to kill this man and freedom will be ours! Kill him!”

As soon as he gave the instruction, he kicked his horse’s belly and roared with a face filled with determination.

“Die, Astanian bastard!”

Several Transcendent Knights followed right after him, brandishing their weapons with heavy force.

Looking at the approaching cavalrymen, Redden narrowed his eyes.

A strong surge of mana gushed out of him as he stimulated his energy core.

He then moved like a mirage and slashed out his sword in several directions.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Khshk! Khshk!

Marlon was shocked by his abrupt increase in speed. He hastily lifted his sword to protect himself, but the force behind Redden’s attack, sent him flying off from his horse.

What unbelievable strength!

(In case you didn’t know, Redden is the former Vice Commander of the Dragon Guard who once served the emperor of Astania. See Chapter 324 for reference.)