两男一女的双龙挺进

\'H-how could he?\' As she wrestled with her thoughts, she noticed something... something was different about the runes glimmering in the air. They were purer, more precise, filled with an energy that made hers appear inferior in comparison.

"You little bastard," Helen whispered. "What did you do to me?"

Nox didn\'t respond immediately. His midnight eyes were still fixed on the symbols that were growing brighter with each passing second. His silence and the intense light radiating from the runes made the others grow more restless.

This was even more so because, during the time Helen had conjured the bloody pillar, the glow hadn\'t been this intense.

\'J-just what is he doing?\' The tough-looking youth thought, the rune casting a blinding, ominous red glow across their faces. It seemed as if the runes had a bewitching effect, as they momentarily forgot to activate their skills.

At that moment, as Nox flicked his wrist, the final sigil burst into life, and a deafening hum filled the air as hundreds of bloody weapons materialized—blades, spears, and chains swirling in a chaotic vortex, causing a storm of dust to rise into the air.

The surge of energy pouring out from the runes slammed into the others, forcing them a couple of steps back. Within the swirling vortex of weapons, Nox was levitating at the center, exuding a terrifying presence.

Those lightless eyes were staring down at the others as though they were insignificant humans. Though they could hardly see anything because of the intense glow emitted from the storm of crimson blades, those eyes stood out like a sore thumb.

Helen stumbled backward, her eyes widening even more. "This is indeed my skill, but why... why is it so powerful and different? All these weapons at once! Heavens!" Helen\'s breath caught in her throat, and she struggled to breathe, her eyes widening and her expression turning pale with each passing second.

\'This aura... could it be an ultimate skill?\'

Though she had never seen an ultimate skill in action because of their rarity, this was the only thought that came to mind! She had felt the aura of advanced skills before, and it was several times weaker than this skill!

Helen\'s thoughts raced. Now she was beginning to doubt herself—could it really be that Nox had this skill prior to the tournament?

"Run! We need to run!" The tough-looking youth\'s breath caught in his throat as he shouted in a panicked voice. The crimson blades were circling Nox in an intricate dance, as if they recognized him as their master.

"Run! Cowards!" Nox\'s voice boomed out from the vortex of crimson blades. They didn\'t know if their eyes were playing tricks on them, but Nox\'s voice was much louder and more powerful, like that belonging to a monarch, causing shivers to run down their spines.

"So beautiful!" Wendy couldn\'t help but exclaim as she saw this powerful sight, her eyes filled with admiration.

A strange light twinkled in Nyx\'s eyes as well—a sense of pride washing over her in the moment.

"Tsk, the commander and show-off are like five and six." Rab exclaimed, his lips twitching, yet even his eyes were filled with admiration and reverence.

Nox\'s dark hair fluttered in the wind, and his midnight eyes gleamed with cold, unyielding focus. Every movement of his fingers sent gusts of shockwaves rippling through the vortex, adjusting the orbit of the weapons.

"You can run," Nox calmly stated, his demeanor standing in stark contrast to the chaos around him. This... this further unsettled everyone. He then added in a cold tone filled with mockery, "But how fast can you run?"

Those seemingly harmless words, spoken as mere threats, stopped all those about to flee. For a moment, they forgot they weren\'t going to die and started trembling.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, several blood projectiles shot out toward the swirling vortex. From the corner of his eye, Nox spotted Helen with her arms extended, a faint rune flickering in front of her. Her eyes were filled with defiance.

Nox felt a pang of admiration in his heart; he saw a lot of himself in Helen. That day, he had also been relentless, even though Hendrix had seemed like an unbeatable foe.

"I\'ll remember you," Nox thought silently to himself as he flicked his hand. To the shock of the blonde girl, as soon as the incoming blood weapons hit the vortex, they immediately merged with it.

"Ho—"

Swoosh!

The rune shimmering in front of Helen dissipated, and her eyes widened, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gazed down at the bloody spear that had impaled her stomach.

Helen forced a smile as she slowly faded into sparks of white light. As she disappeared, her words lingered in the air.

"So, this... this was my purpose all along."

Nox was confused as he heard what she said but he didn\'t think too much and turned his gaze toward the tough-looking youth, who was peeing his pants and trembling.

"I-I\'m sor—" he tried to work his jaw, but his words were cut short as a a barrage of bloodied projectiles streaked toward him.

He summoned a shield to deflect the barrage, but the bloody projectiles shattered the shield effortlessly, as though it wasn\'t an obstruction in the first place.

"This will be a warning to all of you! Inside and outside," Nox\'s voice boomed as dozens of swords pierced the youth. A razor-thin spear impaled his legs, followed by a curved dagger embedded deep into his shoulder.

"Argh!!!" Painful screams filled the air.

Before the youth could make any unnecessary movements, bloody chains wrapped around him, tightening with crushing force. Then two massive blood axes materialized above his head. With a flick of Nox\'s wrist, they descended, cutting through the air.

Shink!

"Never mess with a Cromwell," he finished his sentence. Without waiting for the axes to pierce the unfortunate youth, Nox turned to the others.

Before they could react, the blood weapons turned toward them, and a storm of blades and spears flew through the air, piercing one after another. No weapon missed its mark. Heads rolled, bodies collapsed, and blood sprayed across the battlefield.

Outside, the other towns had solemn expressions as they witnessed their kind being massacred. Meanwhile, the Cromwells were jumping and jubilating, both on the duchy grounds and in the barony...

But instead of smiling like the others, Nathan\'s face was grim, because... because Hendrix had yet to appear on the fighting platform like the others.