A Demon's Journey

Roman understood that the reason behind the Captain's strength surge wasn't merely morale. It was because he had burnt his life force.

His attack had already begun to devour Roman's life force as well. Since he was bound to lose his life force, Roman felt that he should put it to better use.

Thus, he had a dangerous notion in his head.

The idea involved willingly burning his life force and converting it into his Fist Qi. He was sure that it would be strong enough to easily overcome this Flame Dragon!

No matter how strong this technique was, it couldn't devour his insight.

He burnt just a bit of his life force and the results were astounding! A massive hole appeared in the Flame Dragon.

The captain's flames waned eventually as the Fist Qi managed to completely overpower him!

"This is the end!" Roman yelled, making sure all his soldiers heard him.

And sure enough, his soldiers did hear him. Along with the Glerian Kingdom's forces! Roman began shouting, "Hyaaahhhh! Ahhhhhhhh…!"

He tried to break free from the captain's Bear Lock while yelling. Roman's veins bulged out of his head, neck, arms, and legs. It was clear that he was relying on the strength of his entire body to break free.

After a few seconds, Roman had managed to open the captain's arm. Roman knew that if he stopped resisting even for a moment, the captain would once again have a tight hold over him.

However, during that moment, he would have a small window of opportunity!

If he could take advantage of that opportunity, this battle would be over!

'I am rather fond of such gambles,' Roman thought as he suddenly stopped resisting the captain's Bear Lock.

Instantly, the captain's arms tried to hug Roman strongly. It was so fast that the eyes of the soldiers couldn't even see his movements.

However, what occurred even faster was Roman's left fist piercing the captain's stomach.

This forced the captain to stay still. Even he couldn't move his body after incurring such serious injuries.

Roman snorted and pulled out both his arms of his body.

The captain finally felt his heart's absence. Blood leaked from his mouth as his eyes lost the last bits of life in them.

His death was a heavy blow to all the Glerian Kingdom's soldiers. The soldiers seemed to have regained their consciousness from their crazed state.

Tears ran down their faces as they shouted worriedly, "Captain Karsten!"

Captain Karsten's body hand moved slowly. It tried to punch Roman's face.

Roman stood there, letting the punch land on his face. The punch landed so softly that Roman didn't even feel it.

Even though it was a harmless punch, it aroused all of the Glerian Kingdom's troops and drove their feelings into complete turmoil.

Some were angry, some melancholic, and some had a devoted look on their faces. They wished to join Captain Karsten!

He wasn't just a commander or a leader. He was their elder brother! He was family to them!

They had shared misery and joy together. He had taken blows for them and each one of them felt that they owed him their lives.

Not just this life. He had saved them that even if they fought for him for 7 generations, it wouldn't be enough!

Yet, this figure now stood immobile at his position.

Roman had a rather respectful look on his face. He knew that this opponent's experience was countless times greater than his own.

If the two had an equal number of soldiers, perhaps he would have triumphed Roman. No…If Roman hadn't burnt his own life force to gain that sudden power boost, he would have lost.

Roman turned his head and observed the faces of the Glerian Kingdom's soldiers. He was startled to see their expression retain that same crazed look. No… The flame in their hearts was burning even greater.

'They will die! They can launch just one final attack and they will die after burning so much life force. They should realize it. Yet they are doing it.'

Roman turned his head and stared at Captain Karsten 'What amazing charisma he has. He is a generational talent. If he had grown even further and become the General, the Sinyalian Kingdom would have encountered some serious problem then.'

"Halt!" A sudden shout resounded in the entire battlefield.

This battlefield was filled with warriors that held somber looks and crazed expressions. They had stopped their battle because the Glerian Kingdom's army's commander had died. Typically, this would make the enemy army lose all their morale and give up.

However, they were witnessing something amazing. These soldiers hadn't lost their morale. They were ready to launch one final attack.

Yet, a shout so loud that it was heard by all soldiers resounded on the battlefield.

They all cocked their heads in the direction of this shout and saw a little kid standing there. Behind him stood hundreds of men. It was a rather small force.

When counted, they were merely 500 soldiers.

Yet not a single Sinyalian Kingdom's soldier dared to underestimate this group. They recognized this group.

It was the damn Heretical Paladins team!

Even Roman showed a startled look. He never expected the Glerian Kingdom's camp to send the Heretical Paladins here! In fact, the Glerian Kingdom's top brass should have identified that their forces were caught in a trap.

Either they should have sent very large reinforcements to aid Captain Karsten's forces to retreat, or they should have refused to send any reinforcements.

However, they had actually released the Heretical Paladins?! This was most probably the strongest group within the Glerian Kingdom's forces. They were actually shoving it in the Sinyalian Kingdom's trap?!

And this had greatly messed up Roman's plans!

He had no idea Noah would appear here. He clearly remembered Noah's strength. Even without his Sword Domain, he was a fearsome opponent whose strength wasn't the slightest bit below Captain Karsten, who had burnt his life force.

"The Heretical Paladins are here. All of you, retreat now," Noah's cold voice resounded in the surroundings.

The Glerian Kingdom's soldiers immediately regained their composure.

However, before the soldiers could move from their spots, Noah added, "Take Captain Karsten's corpse along. He deserves a burial of the highest respect after that battle. The warrior who refuses to fall even after death."

Noah held a lot of respect for Captain Karsten. During his time in the Glerian Kingdom's camp, he had interacted with Captain Karsten many times.

Captain Karsten had a rather straightforward character and no matter who met him, they would become fond of his excited and honest personality!

Most of the Glerian Kingdom's soldiers began to cry. The soldiers nearest to Captain Karsten immediately moved to pick his body.

Roman didn't stop them. In fact, not a single Sinyalian Kingdom's soldiers moved from their spot.

On one hand, they were showing respect for Captain Karsten. Even though he was an enemy, he had deeply imprinted his existence in their minds! It would be a crime to say there weren't Sinyalian Kingdom's soldiers who didn't admire Captain Karsten's valiant and heroic figure!

On the other hand, their attention was completely focused on the Heretical Paladins. They were all exhausted but Noah's group was fresh. They were radiating a dense fighting intent.

Noah observed the Glerian Kingdom's soldiers clear the battlefield as they retreated while taking Captain Karsten's body along with them.

"I, Noah, thank you for this mercy. I will ensure that word reaches the Glerian Kingdom's forces," Noah spoke.

The Sinyalian Kingdom's soldiers were startled to hear those words. They were internally delighted.

However, some caught onto the hidden meaning within Noah's words.

Noah spoke that he would ensure that the word reaches the Glerian Kingdom's forces, yet he wasn't turning back. Instead, he had begun to step towards them.

This made them realize that a battle was imminent.

"Now that the formality is over with.. Let's start our battle without any further ado," Noah spoke, pulling out his sword.