Kren’s eyes turned darker. "So that’s it. You locked onto me, and the faction backing you wanted me dead and the ruin destroyed. I see. This is not something simple at all."
The man smiled, his lips splitting to the jaw, and his voice grew harsh and distorted. "Someone knew that I would possess this body and lay a trap for me in advance. Tell me, who’s the person?"
I moved my finger, and it twitched. I kept my breathing smooth while my eyes remained on the two alchemist Knights, but my attention was on the three Knight ranks, on Emily who’s holding the soul drainer.
"Don’t be stupid, we both know I won’t tell you that. But won’t it be a shame if you take all your secrets to the grave? Tell them to me, I’ll make better use of them," Arvas said.
Kren pretended as if he was thinking about it, his head tilted to the side. "You make some kind of sense. So I’ll tell you three things. One, I’m not going to kill you; in fact, I’m here to guide you. Two, you’re already a dead man. Three, you can’t kill me because I don’t have a body."
Kren grinned. "And oh, the invisible, odorless poison you’re circulating around won’t kill me."
I stopped breathing immediately when I heard that. And following that, two of the workers collapsed, blood pouring from their mouths and noses.
"Ahahahahaha. Got me," Arvas said. He lifted his sword, and all the fire in it condensed to the tip, glowing a red inferno. The temperature quickly climbed, and he slashed down, red flame washing over the room toward Kren.
A wave of fire rose up, licking away the air, and crashed down on the man like the tide. The attack ate through his lightning shield like a piece of paper and rolled around Kren, washing over him.
Kren cried out as he burned, his flesh blackened and cracked, bubbling in some places. scream was swallowed by the heat of the fire that melted the ground beneath him. Bits of ash fell to the ground, blown by the hot air.
’That’s... it?’ I was stunned. Isn’t that a little too fast and one-sided? Kren didn’t even have time to react!
I wasn’t the only one feeling the same. The Knight ranks were looking at each other in stunned surprise. They began to back away from Arvas, who was looking at his now plain sword in surprise.
But a smile turned his lips up, and his eyes flashed with victory. He looked at the workers, me, and then at the Knight rank. "Well then. I guess it’s time to kill."
I swallowed and threw my essence around my body with increased intensity. My heart felt like lead in my chest, heavy with dread. If Arvas came after me, I was sure of death.
But luckily for me, Arvas faced the Knights first.
He reached behind him and brought out a bottle with a green liquid. He smashed it on the ground with another bottle of red, then added another one that looked like monster’s vomit. Within seconds, nine bottles had been smashed into the ground, creating a pool that rippled with twisting green essence that reminded me of sickness.
A green fog rose up into the air, curling around his limbs.
"Hughhhhh... that’s it." I watched in horror as Arvas inhaled the green gas. His body rippled, green veins outlining his head, his eyes turning sickly green. His skin dried out, and as I watched, he lost weight, turning into nothing more than a skeleton.
He flashed yellow teeth and raised swollen fingernails. "Yes. The battle form of alchemists. I call my own, The Plague!"
The three Knights swallowed and flinched away. Every alchemist Knight has a battle form called Elixirion. It’s something they had to prepare themselves, something that’s attuned to their bodies and tastes, or the technique they had in hand.
It’s also one of the things they used to maintain equal ground with other Knights.
Lim and Etan moved forward, blocking Emily from view. They began to smash their own potions and then inhaled it. Lim grew twice his size, with hands that stretched like rubber. Hard black bones grew out of the back of his hands like needles, and he formed a punch with the spikes jutting out.
Etan’s skin turned glass-like, shiny and reflecting everything around him.
Arvas chuckled. "Impressive. Our Nyxori association did live up to their names by giving you some impressive techniques. You, Lim, your body is imitating a non-living creature, rubber that couldn’t really be hurt, and each of those spikes contains enough venom to kill ten men.
"And you, Etan. You have created a battle form that messes with probability, making small changes to benefit you. It can even be called good luck. And your body can reflect attacks back to the opponent.
"This makes me shiver for your growth and what terrifying prodigies the Nyxori are keeping. They’ve sidelined me for so long that I can’t really tell.
"But all these are nothing compared to mine. The organization behind me gave me a technique that’s even more powerful. And don’t forget the rank difference. Will you really fight me?"
I didn’t mind the chatter because I was gaining more and more control over my body. At the same time, I was gaining first-hand experience from this. In short, every Knight Order has its specialty and shouldn’t be looked down upon. They were all capable.
Lim and Etan didn’t say anything.
Lim crouched, sucked in a sharp breath that sucked in a lot of air, and puffed up like a ball. Black hard spikes grew out of his front body, the one that faced Arvas.
He deflated with a short gasp. The spikes flew forward like a rain of doom. But immediately, as they got close to Arvas, they rotted away and turned to dust.
Arvas chuckled. "I said, it’s time to kill."