The battle dragged on for hours. The knights held their ground, slowly advancing under the leadership of Oliver, who fought with all his might at this point, trying to pave a way that would allow them to get to the gate.
The only way they would be able to win this was if they destroyed the gate; otherwise, there would be no other way. The demonized would simply storm out more and more, and soon they would be exhausted.
Oliver gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to allow the deaths of more men here, he had to stop it. He closed his eyes, using all seven circles of his spirit zone, and the moment he did, the entire battlefield became his own.
He could sense every movement of mana, every heartbeat. He could predict movements before they even happened. His body generated so much lightning that the weaker demonized were killed just by getting close.
This was once Oliver Von Grave that fought battles alongside the three dukes, the Oliver that earned him the praise he had gotten.
He looked up, eyes bright with lightning. Boom! He shot forward, a trail of flames following his legs. The demonized tried to scurry away, but they couldn’t. He hacked down one after the other, giving his all to ensure that not a single demonized got through him.
The knights watched in awe, shocked by the power that one man was showing. In all their lives, they had never witnessed a show of power so magnificent.
They gritted their teeth and clenched their weapons. Men and women alike, they let out a resounding roar, running up to bestrow the demonized. With one move from Oliver alone, the battlefield had shifted in their favor.
But Oliver was struggling. Handling his full power was no easy task, it took a heavy strain on his old body, and it was only a matter of time before the momentum would have to be dropped.
But until then, he would keep cutting. Every thrust was perfect, every slash refined to a state of no mistake. His movements were like an energetic dance, yet it flowed beautifully.
After getting rid of the demonized that surrounded him, he looked up at the incoming ones. There was no panic, nor was there fear, just a soft smile.
He pointed his sword forward. "Thunder Dragon," he called out, then pulled his hand back and thrust.
The lightning wrapped around the sword and exploded out the moment he stabbed. It took the form of a dragon’s head, terrifying and massive, it ripped through all the demonized in front of him, leaving nothing, not even ashes, behind.
He didn’t stop there. He took one leg to the back and raised the sword up. He slashed down. "Lightning Slash!" he called out, releasing a massive lightning arc. It tore through the demonized.
He followed up with more and more attacks, left and right, releasing more lightning arcs that tore through all of them. The demonized couldn’t even get close, they were destroyed before they could.
But after a few minutes, he couldn’t keep it up, so he stopped and lunged forward again. He managed to hold off the demonized for another two hours and reduce the losses that the knights and adventurers faced.
But he was running out of strength, and his attacks no longer had the force they had before. The only hope was that they were closer to the forest and closer to the goal.
The sun had gone over to the other side and was slowly setting. Oliver knew they would lose if night came. He began fighting savagely, wanting to end this as fast as possible, despite how impossible it was.
"Do you really think you can do this alone?" Oliver heard a voice he hadn’t heard in a while. He looked up and saw him coming from the sky, a massive sword in hand, Dark.
He landed with a bang. As his feet touched the ground, it caused a tremor. Oliver looked at him. He smiled. "It’s been far too long, Dark," Oliver said.
"It could have been longer," Dark replied. He brandished his sword, and blood-red flames covered it. Then he swung at the demonized. The sword got longer and flexible like a whip. It cut through the demonized and burned them into ashes.
The sword stayed long. It curved midair and continued ripping through all the demonized. When it finally retracted to normal length, it had killed more than twenty demonized.
"I’ve always forgotten how terrifying your ability was. You are a battle mage without comparison," Oliver said.
"That was true in the past. But with that Quin boy and a lot of new people, my strength pales," Dark said.
"Tsk, the younger generation can never compare to us. Maybe that Quin, but the others are wannabes," Oliver said. He looked back and spotted two figures he knew.
"Did they come?" Oliver asked.
"Yes, they did. Your son has a sweet tongue, he managed to convince her easily," Dark said.
"That’s good. Let’s get to that gate, then," Oliver said.
Dark nodded. He raised his sword up, the flames burned brighter. He pointed it forward, the red flames burned hotter. He lunged forward, leaped into the air, and slashed down. A large arc of flames shot down. It hit the ground, and all the demonized there were immediately burnt to ash.
He stretched out his hands, and metal spikes formed in the air, and one below his feet, keeping him afloat. He fired all the metal spikes, tearing through all the demonized like bullets.
He formed another one and attacked. The demonized tried to get to him, some leaped into the air, trying to reach him, but he shot them down before they could.
Oliver turned to the knights who were standing there, shocked at the presence of Dark and how he was destroying the demonized.
"What are you all standing there for? The battle has only begun! So march forward and take down all of the enemies!" Oliver roared.