Iron Blooded Hound

Chapter 92: Legends Collide

A Balak legend who waged war against the Realm as a lone warrior.

A legendary figure who struck fear into the hearts of even the Realm's greatest Swordmasters, unleashing terror across the continent. The Bowmaster, the most powerful archer to ever live.

She is Adonai.

Since the history of Balak began to be recorded, Adonai, the archer known to be the strongest, appeared before Aquila, who was far from knowledgeable.

With short silver hair, dried skin, sagging lips, and teeth clearly visible.

Each time the dark cloak enveloping the body swayed, the massive bow slung on the back was revealed.

It was a bow unlike any other, with a pointed tip and emitting a brilliant dark hue.

It had a peculiar appearance, resembling two insect legs bent and connected.

"...."

Vikir paused, staring at the Adonai before him.

It had been a long time since he'd been this close to an Expert-level being, a being that touched the heights of the Supreme.

The power emanating from Adonai was as wild and fearsome as Hugo Baskerville's.

Perhaps because he was a Death Knight, it felt even more so.

"... ... This is Adonai the Archer.

Feared by the realm, legend of the savages.

It was a strange feeling to see a figure I'd only heard about in jungle folklore.

But my wonder was short-lived.

The next moment, Adonai raised his extraordinary dark bow.

There were no strings or arrows on the bow.

Yet, as Adonai grasped the air with the hand opposite the one holding the bow, a cold current formed a faint string from one end to the other of the bow.

It resembled an insect spinning a thread.

Sssssss... ...

Incredibly, the dark air currents connected tip to tip of the bow.

Adonai snapped his fingers once, then released them.

At once, an arrow made of aura was conjured and nocked on the bowstring, also made of aura.

Quack!

Adonai pulled and released the bowstring, and an arrow of dark air shot out.

"...!"

Vikir squinted his eyes.

The speed was so fast that even Vikir, a Development Graduator, couldn't see properly!

It was only through half instinct and half luck that Vikir managed to deflect the arrow by extending Satan on his wrist as far as it would go.

Boom!

Adonai's arrow flew off course, redirected by Vikir's sword, and pierced a hole in a massive log.

Crunch! Quack!

Not only did the pierced log crumble, but the cliffside rocks behind it also disintegrated with a booming crash.

It was something truly awe-inspiring, as if they had been shredded by countless blades.

Adonai's arrows were monstrous creatures that wreaked havoc on their surroundings with just a glance.

Facing them head-on would be unbelievable.

"...Hmm."

Vikir frowned and drooled.

Despite the apparent diversion, his wrist was steady and his arm trembled.

Beyond the torn muscles in his forearm, he likely fractured his wrist bone.

The liquid aura on Satan was also in tatters.

Adonai's strength arrows had the density of incredibly hard solids, the domain of an expert.

No wonder it couldn't be overcome by a Graduator-class liquid aura.

Even.

Tsutsutsutsuts... ...

The log felled by Adonai's air began to wither and die.

The poison was potent enough to kill a giant tree that might have lived for centuries in an instant.

Vikir's attention was drawn again to the massive dark bow that Adonai held.

At first glance, it appeared incredibly large and long, yet it was sturdy and light, almost weightless.

Pointed at both ends and sporting horn-like spikes in the middle, it seemed like two insect legs fused together.

Vikir recognized its identity immediately.

"... ... The remains of Madame Eight-Legged.

When I met Madame Eight Legs a day or two ago, I confirmed that all eight legs were attached, so it was likely made from pieces of her body before shedding her skin.

This reminded me of something Aiyen had once said.

"'Adonai was the only one who could stand toe-to-toe with the Madame of the Eight Legs. Now that you're a young Balak, honor him. And take pride in being his descendant.'

Adonai remembered that he had dueled Madame Eight-Legged and emerged victorious.

The bow was crafted from her remains, and her wicked toxic aura was infused into the bow itself.

The fearsome dark bow likely retained its poisonous power long after Adonai died and was buried with her.

"I'm in trouble."

Vikir clicked his tongue.

He was facing a Swordmaster, or perhaps even a more challenging Bowmaster.

The Death Knight's flaw is that he attacks wildly and indiscriminately, which close to others can leave him open and vulnerable, but... ... .

Poof! Pow! Quack quack!

In a long-distance battle, it becomes a unified offense.

Adonai unleashed a barrage of aura arrows.

Dark solid airs, even toxic ones.

They tore through Vikir's dark liquid aura, shredding it.

Vikir loaded his strength onto Satan and swung it wide.

Baskerville Eater.

Six teeth traced a darkened path of blood, but still, it was pushed back.

Even a fighter of the Graduator's caliber would be weak against an expert.

A liquid cannot defeat a solid.

However, the reason Vikir was still alive was due to the protection of the Styx River, the strength and mana regeneration of his body, and the power of the beast that the enchanted sword Satan was sealing.

"...! ...! ...!"

Vikir was putting on weight with Oxbear's sacroiliac spell, allowing him to withstand Adonai's arrows without being knocked back.

But even the six hook hits from the Baskervilles were not enough to stop Adonai's arrow onslaught.

Each of Adonai's arrows was stronger, harder, and more numerous than each of Vikir's teeth.

Moreover, the aura of her bowstring and arrows never wavered or diminished.

Adonai was just unleashing an endless barrage of the overflowing evil-layered energy characteristic of Death Knights.

Boom! Crackle! Puck! Puck!

Concluding that a head-to-head fight was impossible, Vikir swung his blade sideways to deflect the arrows, but was nonetheless steadily being pushed backward.

The massive mana reserves of the Graduator were already running low.

The strength emanating from Lucifer was crackling like lightning whenever it came into contact with Adonai's air.

Indeed, even his shaking wrists informed him that he was at his limit.

There were many bad news reports coming from all over his body.

'... ... Going on like this, I'll be a sitting duck.

Vikir tried to move quickly to maneuver, but Adonai was faster than Vikir.

Closing the distance would be impossible as the arrows would fly like mad, and opening the distance would be suicide against a Bowmaster-level archer.

A sneak attack might have worked, but there was no way to win a head-on battle.

Of course, I don't mean how to win, but how to survive.

'... ... I need to kill Ahheman first.'

But with Adonai standing firmly in his way, that was impossible.

All of Balak's warriors fired arrows as one, but they were all hindered by Adonai's cloak and the body of the dark bow.

Just as Vikir was in the midst of instinctively suspecting.

...Puck!

There was a kick to Vikir's cheek.

"Slave, move aside!"

Aiyen extended her long legs and pushed Vikir's head away.

Pow!

A dark blaze of light flew in a dark direction to where Vikir's head had been just moments before.

...PIT!

A long, thin cut appeared on Aiyen's calf.

Meanwhile, Vikir wiped the blood off his forehead and spoke.

"Thank you. Better to die from a concussion than an arrow."

"No time to rest, here they come again!"

Aiyen reached out and grabbed Vikir by the scruff of his neck.

An arrow of dark aura struck the ground where Vikir's groin had been just moments before, tearing a deep hole.

"... ... You're not holding back either. So much for the pride of the male."

Vikir sneered at Aiyen's narrowed eyes.

"'Not so fast. To the great Adonai."

"For now, you're just Ahheman's puppet. Once you achieve perfection."

Aiyen swiftly loaded arrows into her bow.

Twelve arrows flew at lightning speed, aimed at Adonai.

Then, they broke off into different directions, each aimed at a different part of Adonai's body.

But.

Puff-puff-puff-puff-puff-puff!

With a flick of his hand, Adonai caught each of the ten arrows coming from ten different directions.

Woof!

As if that wasn't enough, he clenched his fist tightly, shattering all ten of the arrows and making them disintegrate.

"... ... Your hands must be huge."

Aiyen gritted her teeth as she saw the arrow fragments falling to the ground behind her.

Then, Adonai raised his dark bow.

The pinpoint focus was clear. Vikir and Aiyen before him.

Boom!

With a sound like a cannonball being fired, a sharp vortex shot out of Adonai's dark bow.

It sliced through the air around them like a spinning blade.

Destruction and speed, undeniable and relentless! Vikir and Aiyen prepared for battle.

Then.

Boom!

Someone redirected Adonai's dark power blast with their bare hands.

Kwagigik! Boom!

The wildly spinning blade air was shattered by pure strength.

Adonai's aura arrows turned into dark air currents and dispersed.

"...!"

Vikir and Aiyen looked up, wide-eyed, at the being that stood before them.

A warrior, dripping with blood from torn hands, yet standing without hesitation.

Tribal leader Aquila. Fox of the Evening.

She stood here as the representative of the new era against the representative of the old.

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