Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

848  Chapter 848- The Knight Captain's last struggle

Heck, even Burg who knew how powerful those sword slashes were, understood that it was already a miracle that Alvara was able to keep standing after taking one head on. If she took another one on top of that…

"No, Guard commander dodge it"

He hurriedly called out. He tried to will his body to move forward; however, his body refused to obey him at his moment as severe pain shot out through every inch of his body. It was obvious that he had already exceeded his physical limit and abused his body until it had to even shut down his pain receptors.

With nothing he could do, Burg could only watch as the sword cleave through the air and drop down on the head of the Guard commander.

"Brother, I will be going ahead. But don't feel sad, this was not your fault"

A rare beautiful smile appeared at the last moment on this woman who always kept a tight mouth and refused to show much emotion on her face.

At that moment, just as the sword was about to drop down on her, a peculiar phenomenon that Burg and the others didn't expect occurred. The swinging sword of the former Knight Captain came to a stop just inches away from the body of the guard commander.

ROARR… at the same instant, the Perfect Tainted Commander gave a bestial howl and started behaving peculiarly. Its crimson eyes which were hidden by the greyish black miasma, started flickering wildly.

What's more, its form also deformed causing the dense savageness covering its body to weaken and strengthen intermittently.

ROARR… another savage roar came out of the throat of the former knight captain. Through this time, one could feel traces of sadness and pain in his voice.

"This…" Alvara and Burg were stunned.

What was going on? Why did he stop all of a sudden?

 From what they could understand from the wildly distorting figure of the former knight captain, it appeared that he was struggling. A sign that never appeared on his person before that.

Why would it appear now? Just as that thought popped in their heads, the answer to it naturally arrived as well.

If there was one thing different about the current scene, it was that it was Alvara who was standing in front of the former knight captain. Given the fact that the former was the little sister of the latter, the struggle that the former Knight Captain was going through could be related to that.

Did he come to his senses? Burg couldn't help but wonder. A faint hope surged inside his heart. He did not know what the enemy did to him to turn him into an appearance that was neither a beast nor human.

However, given the tenacity and willpower of the knight captain how could he allow himself to be controlled by the enemy?

Similar thoughts also surged inside ALvara's heart. She who was closer to the man himself, could see the fierce struggle inside his eyes clearly.

"Brother, are you there?" Unable to hold herself back, she cried out.

At that very instant, the struggle inside the eyes of the perfect Tainted commander increased and for a second there, she actually saw gentleness and lovingness that she had seen many times previously in the eyes of her brother, surface in those crimson beast like eyes.

[Al…var..a… you… ha…ve.. finally… grow..n… up].

Gasp… Alvara gasped, holding her mouth with her hands. This voice… there is no way she would forget it. Her brother was alive inside that thing.

"Brother you are alive. H-how can I help you?" she hurriedly asked, panicking as she looked at his figure.

 In contrast to herself, the distorting greyish white figure remained calm. He looked at Alvara with a trace of care and warmth before saying in a somewhat regrettable tone.

"Listen well Alvara, you cannot save me"…

"This…no, I will definitely save you" the latter cried tears streaking down her face.

"Don't be stubborn at this time Alvara. I understand my body fully well. I am no longer me. The body you see is nothing but a shell that is being controlled by this revolting gooey energy. Even at this moment, it threatens to consume my consciousness. Before I completely get consumed, you must promise to kill me" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Perfect Tainted Commander, no, the strongest Knight Captain in the history of the kingdom, Cyrus Skyler requested. His eyes begged as he looked at his sister, there were traces of grief in them as they saw the hideous wound on her.

Facing his request, Alvara was completely lost. It was one thing if it was before; however, now that she knew a trace of her brother still remained inside that body, a part of her found herself flustered and unable to decide.

On one hand, she wanted to save her brother but on the other, she knew that doing so would put the rest of her teammates in danger.

The thing that happened with Brett, she didn't want to repeat it again. At this critical point in time, she found herself unsure of what to do. Just when she was lost unable to come up with an answer, she felt the magic being cast by Marba suddenly come to a stop.

There could only be one meaning for the latter to stop casting her magic at this moment and that reason was that it had come to a completion.

Alvara's body trembled intensely when she realised that. The three of them would contain the former knight captain while Marba conjures her most powerful magic. From the beginning that was their goal.

As Marba was the one with the highest firepower among their group, she was the only one who could finish him off with certainty. Now that her magic was completed, telling her to stop would run contrary to their plan.

She couldn't do that to her teammates. Especially while knowing that once the last remaining consciousness of her brother gets consumed by whatever that thing was inside his body, they would be like sitting ducks waiting to be butchered in front of him. She has to make a decision.

Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Cyrus shouted— [Alvara!!]. His shout woke the former up. She finally bit her teeth and gestured at Marba to release her magic.

 At that instant, the air crackled with energy. With a swift gesture, Marba combined the elemental forces of flame and earth, weaving them together into a powerful amalgamation of magic that shimmered with intense heat and primal strength.

A wave of searing flames erupted from her outstretched hands, engulfing the battlefield in a blaze of fiery intensity. The ground trembled beneath her feet as molten earth surged forth, twisting and writhing like a living entity.

In the sky, columns of flame danced and twisted, casting flickering shadows across the scorched earth below. The heat was so palpable that one could feel their skin burning up.

That was not all, as of spurred by the might of the magic, thunder rumbled in the sky. Bolts of lightning crackled and danced inside the dark black clouds, their jagged arcs illuminating the battlefield with blinding bursts of light.

Their rumbling noise appeared as the sound of the fury of the magic that was about to take shape.

Marba stood resolute, her eyes ablaze with determination as she channelled all of her mana and mental strength into the magic. The resulting phenomenon was a sight to behold.

Columns of flames transformed into fiery tendrils intertwined with swirling eddies of earth. First, these wisps of flame began to coalesce, dancing and flickering in the air as if they were actual living beings.

They twisted and twirled, forming intricate patterns that appeared almost like a dance. Little by little as the flames grew in intensity, it took on the form of a fierce, roaring dragon, its scales gleaming with an indestructible light.

At the same moment, the wiggling earth beneath Marba's feet seemed to have grown increasingly intense. Cracks split the ground open, revealing molten rivers of lava that flowed like veins of liquid fire.

From these fissures came out a gigantic hand that slammed into the land. Seconds after another hand came out and slowly the figure of a towering golem could be seen rising up from inside the fissure.

Its intimidating form and massive size was hewn from the very bedrock of the earth itself. When the gigantic golem took a step, the ground shook with the force of its immense power.

"Amalgamation Magic- Flame Magic Mastery… Tremor Magic Mastery… [Inferno Crucible]"

With those final words from Marba, it was as if the missing piece in a puzzle was complete, the two magic started combining together.

The flames and earth converged, they merged into a singular entity, a towering colossus wreathed in flames and encrusted with jagged rocks. Its eyes blazed with an inner fire, and its every movement sent shockwaves rippling through the air.

This amalgamation of two intermediate elements of flame and earth was like a force of nature unto itself, a living embodiment of elemental power.

[Inferno Crucible], this was the strongest magic that Marba a level 482 Arcane Conflgration Mage could dish out. In fact, this was her first time conjuring such a powerful amalgamation magic and the risk of failure was quite high.

Neverhtless, even while enduring the tearing mental strain, the despair of failure and the fear of death looming outside, she continued to forge ahead until she finally achieved success. Now it was time she unleashed its might.

Check out the Fandom, the character's sketched are out. You can show your love by giving points to them.

ViciousPepper