Chapter 28

  Firo Fieren’s restraints were suddenly released.

  Standing up, he yelled, “I won’t betray my clan!”

  In an instant, he ran over to the nearest sword fighter.

  Although all of the sword fighters were Sword Spirit and above and should have been able to avoid him, Firo Fieren wasn’t weak either. He too was at the beginning of Sword Spirit and in his moment of desperation, he had a sudden burst of sword energy. That was why he was able to grab the weapon of the unsuspecting sword fighter and slit his own throat.

  Sounds of surprise erupted from the crowd and at the same time Ren Fieren yelled, “Nooo!”

  He pushed everyone over as he frantically ran to Firo Fieren.

  Sitting on the ground, he cradled his dying son in his arms.

  Everyone watched as he held Firo Fieren’s trembling hand, hearing him gasp for air, mouthing the words, “I'm sorry,” until he took his last breath.

  Ren Fieren closed his son's eyes, his body now trembling. A moment later, he went into a rage, glaring at Drakkel with intense fury, “You villain! How could you push him this far?!”

  Drakkel wanted to feel sad about it. But at this point he couldn’t. He couldn’t feel bad about things that weren't his fault.

  “He did this to himself,” he answered in a cold-hearted and uncaring tone. “If only he had spoken instead of insisting on going out this way…

  What do they say? ‘A man who blames others has a long way to go on his journey’. Ren Fieren, instead of sitting here blaming me, maybe you should travel a little more? Then, maybe you’ll see who's truly to blame for all this!”

  “You demon! I’ll kill you!”

  Ren Fieren, who none had seen fight, had taken out his weapon, a retractable bo staff made of meteoric stone.

  The weapon was beautiful. With a golden design of a dragon winding around the staff, its elegance glowed like the sun in the cold and dark winter atmosphere.

  Using this staff, he charged at Drakkel.

  As his weapon collided with Drakkel’s finger imbued with sword energy, Drakkel finally knew what his sword level was. Yes, in just a little bit, he would reach Sword Epiphany.

  “What are you all doing?! Help him!” Katar Kazilik yelled.

  With that, the disciples got over their doubts and charged straight at the demon army.

  “Some of you go and take our prisoners back.” Drakkel told the demons. “The rest of us will follow after you later.”

  At his command, Enzo and Tifu’s figures were taken, no one even bothering to chase after them.

  Soon after, all the main clan leaders went after Drakkel at once.

  Not having to worry about others, Drakkel was finally able to focus on battling. With 6 swordmasters fighting him, he managed to evade their attacks and even get in a few hits here and there.

  But with all his attention used up on the nearly continuous attacks, even if he wanted to kill them, there would be no opening. If he attempted to sweep them away and escape, that was blocked off by their sword energy shields as well.

  He looked to the side and saw that the demons weren’t faring much better. After all, this was the Sword Summit. It wasn’t just any Sword fighter here, but the best from all the clans including most of the sword masters in the Empire.

  The demon lords were busy fending them off so Drakkel was without support. As Drakkel fought the main clan leaders off, he finally felt someone approach him from the side.

  Rilian Adore was helping him fend off their attacks.

  “So the Golden Blade has chosen this?” asked Rubiella Thorne. “Fine! I’ll take you on!”

  Rubiella Thorne separated Rilian Adore from Drakkel and continued to fight him on the side while Drakkel was left to fight off the five other clan leaders.

  Drakkel had told the demons to kill no one before they left, so the three demon lords he brought and the two lieutenants who came with them were fighting off hostile sword fighters while trying not to kill. Meanwhile, their enemies didn’t do the same.

  Drakkel blocked Lorian Adore'a great sword sweep and pushed back Katar Kazilik's Glaive throw.

  Dodging and brushing off the other attacks, his mind was also occupied.

  Now that Rilian Adore had taken on Rubiella Thorne, he could kill the remaining Sword Clan Leaders and escape. But dealing with the consequences of that decision would end any chance of redemption for his clan.

  As the sounds of battle reverberated all around him, the clan leaders came at him together with their most powerful sword skills.

  He managed to block them, but in the end he was the one pushed back.

  Landing on the ground, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

  “Had enough, Demon King Drakkel?” Katar Kazilik asked.

  Drakkel wiped the blood from his mouth and grimaced.

  “Let's use our sword skills again! He won't be able to block them if we use them a second time!” Lorian Adore shouted.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  The clan leaders charged up their weapons for another strike. But at the same time, Drakkel felt his heart tug in a certain direction.

  He looked back at the presence from the side. Gazing towards it, he saw something strange.

  It had a blank expression and uneven ears, with one tilted in an awkward position.

  Its hooves stood sturdy and although it looked unaware, it somehow leaked resolve.

  Staring at it for a bit longer, he saw large amounts of drool gather at the edges of its lips and begin to leak out of the corners of its mouth.

  Could it be the same donkey?

  He didn’t have time to finish his thoughts as the donkey suddenly began to glow with a yellow light.

  The battle going on around him slowed and the Clan Leaders hesitated.

  Some surrounding sword fighters also backed off in preparation for the possible new threat.

  When the light abated, what was left was a pitch black sword, seeming to be made out of the same material as demonic artifact Leolold.

  “What are you doing, everyone?!” Lorian Adore shouted. “Don't let him grab that sword!”

  The leaders who were hesitating before now jumped forward with their charged up attacks.

  At the same time, the sword flew into Drakkel’s hands. Upon contact with the sword, Drakkel felt his energy surge.

  The attacks that were headed for him were easily thwarted. With only one sweep of the sword an immense line of demonic energy headed towards the leaders, dissipating their attacks and forcing nearly all of them back a great distance.

  After this, Drakkel looked down at his hands and smiled.

  He had reached the middle stages of Sword Epiphany.

  He looked back up and saw that someone managed to slightly resist his attack.

  Who it was, was no surprise. After all, Drakkel had felt it.

  Because he wanted to deal a blow to the man who had been trying to hide his sword prowess for years, he loudly said, “So you’ve reached Sword Epiphany, Ren Fieren?”

  The people fighting didn’t dare to stop, but from their small hesitation, Drakkel knew they all heard.

  He laughed, then confidently addressed the demons who followed him while still glancing at the Sword Clan Leaders. “Time to go.”

  At his signal, Fargos threw down a smoke bomb that engulfed the area in a semi-thick fog-like gas.

  In all the confusion, he had some demons gather Rilian Adore while he took someone who had been making trouble in the background all this time.

  He had his doubts about this character and so he grabbed him with haste. However, the clan leaders weren’t weak. They cleared the dust and debris from the air before Drakkel and his group had the chance to escape.

  Now, they had one additional person in their hands.

  At the same time, after looking around, they found that some of the sword fighters from the weaker swords clans were gravely injured or nearly dead.

  “Sword Master Fil Tor!” Someone cried out.

  At that, Drakkel's face fell just a bit.

  Another voice shouted, “He’s dead!”

  Drakkel frowned.

  He knew his demons hadn't killed anyone, yet someone still died.

  “You monster!” yelled Katar Kazilik. “You killed a Sword Master and kidnapped Lorian Adore's assistant while we were distracted! And it was a Sword Master of Swordsmith Villa as well! You already killed Firo Fieren. Was it not enough for you?”

  “Katar Kazilik!” Drakkel yelled. “You didn’t notice that my people were holding back? If we were fighting seriously, more would have died! And you dare say that I went out of my way to kill one of you when I could have killed you all? What sense does that make?!”

  Katar Kazilik’s face scrunched up in anger, “How could I presume to know the intentions of a great Demon King like yourself? Who knows what you have planned?!’”

  Drakkel really wanted to laugh! This man would make up anything!

  “Forget it.” He said. “I didn't kill Fil Tor, but I know you won't believe me. There is no need to waste my breath. Speaking of that, you should save your energy for those who need you instead of spouting falsities!”

  After saying these words, Drakkel and the demons swiftly left the place, but as expected they were being closely followed by sword fighters.

  In response, Drakkel used his sword energy to tell Rilian Adore, Drion, Fargos, Riyuk, Mi’kel, and Alish that they needed to split up. They traveled across the river by boat in order to conserve their sword energy. However, now, they had no such reservation. With one swipe of his sword, Drakkel destroyed the boat as they passed it along with all other boats docked at the port.

  Afterwards, the group hopped across the waters using their sword step.

  Aided with Mi’kel’s smokescreen, they were quick and made it across the vast expanse of water in only a few minutes.

  Many sword fighters lagged behind, but the clan leaders that followed were still on their tail- especially the one who had just made it to Sword Epiphany, Ren Fieren.

  Once they reached the land, they split into four groups. Leading the main group was Rilian Adore and Drakkel with almost 25 demons.

  As for the other three, they were each led by Fargos, Riyuk, and Drion and held nearly the same amount of demons.

  Because Fargos was of the stealth and reconnaissance force, he didn’t need the aid of the lieutenants to get away.

  However, Riyuk and Drion weren’t so lucky. Mi’kel went with Riyuk’s group and utilized a smokescreen to hide their presence as they made their way to one of the many entrances to the underground tunnels.

  Meanwhile, Alish’s power was different. Like Illa, his power was illusion based. However, he was Fargos’s lieutenant and his ability was weaker. If someone were to see past his illusion, it would instantly drop, so they first had to find a quiet area to cast it and then blend into the crowd of a nearby inner city or town.

  Then again, there was no need for any of the Demon Lords to worry. Drakkel’s force had actually dragged most of the main force of Sword Fighters to his location.

  Most Sword Fighters desired either one or both of two things: fame and renown, and to be the strongest in the World.

  So, when faced with the choice between a Demon King and lesser demons, whether it was for one reason or the other, who would still care about the small fry?

  When Drakkel noticed that only Ren Fieren was keeping up with them now, he smirked.

  After traversing such a great distance, the man had to be tired. At this point, it would be easy to lose him.

  Drakkel turned around and headed straight for him telling his forces to continue to retreat.

  Rilian Adore tried to turn back as well but was carried along by several demons.

  Because he expended so much of his energy fighting Rubiella Thorne he wasn’t able to resist for long and found himself swept away.

  As Drakkel stood on a tree branch facing Ren Fieren, he knew he had to make this battle swift or reinforcements would arrive.

  “You killed my son! Why couldn't you leave us alone? Why did you kill Fil Tor as well? What have we done to deserve your ire?!” Ren Fieren asked, full of grief.

  Drakkel decided not to answer. Even if he did, what would he say? Saying something would be admitting wrongdoing and saying nothing would be seeming heartless. In the end, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whether he talked or not, he would still be the enemy, so why talk at all?

  Ren Fieren gathered all his energy into a strike and aimed it at Drakkel but Drakkel dodged it right before it hit him.

  Then Drakkel used his sword step to get right in front of the man and hit his stomach with the dull edge of his blade.

  With this attack, Ren Fieren flew back a few feet.

  He had caught himself, managing to land on a tree and correct his stance.

  With his stomach throbbing in pain, he held it with one hand and prepared for the next attack with the other. However, when he looked up, Drakkel was already gone.