Dark Continent

Kingdom of Azzaroth.

Year 760 of the Human Calendar.

"AKH!"

A 27-year-old man with a 1.89-meter height, black hair, and sparkling blue pupils like the blue sapphire gem color was seen wielding a 2-handed sword in a diagonal direction.

He looked elegant, his white armor layered with gold stripe patterns, with the material of the armor made of the strongest iron in the entire world, Adamantite.

Screams of pain, black blood spurting uncontrollably, and body parts strewn from the monsters' bodies began to fill the land where he stood on the battleground.

"How is the situation there?" asked Beatrice Sieger.

A beautiful, 25-year-old woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, 1.74 meters tall, with a fairly open and simple armor that made it easy for her to move her entire body.

It made her agility increase. She released arrows at the ogre monsters, who managed to pass through the sacred sword knight's first barrier.

"Wait a minute, I'm preparing the spell," Mark Frederick replied.

With the magic wand he stuck on the red ground, Mark's two palms seemed to be clasped before his chest, bringing up a reddish-colored magic ball with a strong mana flow, causing strong gusts of wind to surround him.

"How long until it is ready?" asked Beatrice, known for her chatty behavior.

"Thirty seconds!" replied Mark.

"Tch! Make it faster, or we won't be able to go out for drinks tonight!" pleaded Beatrice.

"I'm working on it," stated Mark.

The man in the front line began to jump far back, the clatter of clashing armor creating a distinctive sound that no longer bothered the three -it had been noisy at first.

"We're trapped," the man announced.

Not only him, but Beatrice also looked the other way, to the right. Thousands of troops were running ferociously, creating a tremendous ground-shaking rumble.

Now, not only were ogres attacking them, but monsters with shorter body sizes were also entering the battle- the goblin race and some hobgoblin.

"What are we going to do?" asked Beatrice, worried.

"It's ready!" affirmed Mark.

The man with the sword and Beatrice reflexively looked back, seeing third-level fire magic ready to be unleashed by Mark.

Anyone who got hit by the attack, their body would instantly burn to ashes.

But it was different with Beatrice and the sword knight man. To avoid Mark's magic attack, the man stuck the sacred sword into the red ground of the battlefield.

Beatrice took cover behind the man, hoping that Lerasil's sword skills could block the third-level magic attack Mark would release.

[Heavenly Magic: Circle of Inferno]

Mark became the center of the magic spell created. He dropped a dense red ball containing a large amount of mana downwards, creating devastating flames everywhere.

Beatrice managed to survive, taking cover behind the sacred sword knight. Lerasil managed to hold Mark's inferno flames from hurting them, a light blue protective dome appearing and protecting the two.

The fire was fierce, hot, and unstoppable, burning the entire enemy army in that place without exception.

Their bodies were burnt to ashes, blown by the wind in all directions, causing visibility to be limited.

After about a minute of the fire roaring, Mark deactivated the magic. The flames began to extinguish, giving Beatrice and the sacred sword knights a chance to leave the dome of protection.

"Terrible magic," Beatrice revealed.

The woman stood up from her crouching position, walked out of the dome, and watched as a striking difference occurred.

The ground had turned from red to black, full of dust from the ashes of the burning corpses of the monsters.

Mark pulled out the wand stuck on the ground and walked up to the Sacred Sword Knight, "I have my suspicion of them, Avery."

The man with the sword, Avery Romarich, turned his head to the side just as Mark stood beside him, "He's probably nearby, huh?"

"That's right. There's never been such a large attack on us before," Mark replied.

"The closer we get to Jommon, the more difficult the battle will be," stated Avery.

A loud roar echoed through the sky as the three gathered at the spot.

The sound was loud and clear as the black dragon continued to flap its wings as it approached the battlefield.

Avery looked forward, as well as Beatrice and Mark. Their eyes saw clearly the arrival of the new monsters, two figures they didn't recognize.

Realizing the dire threat about arriving, the three prepared; Avery raised Lerasil's sword, Beatrice tightly held the bow and arrow, and Mark pointed the wand forward.

"Get ready. The dragon race is more troublesome than ogres," Avery replied firmly.

Beatrice and Mark nodded. Among the three people, Avery was the one who had the most experience on the battlefield, either against other kingdoms or the demon race.

The black dragon landed roughly on the battlefield, creating a violent shock and a strong gust of wind pushing anything nearby.

Avery managed to withstand the strong winds by sticking his sword deep into the ground.

"Despicable humans!" screamed the dragon, its voice harsh and heavy with bright red eyes.

The two monsters seemed to be of different races: a dragon and a harpie. They were also different sizes, large and small.

Avery squinted, looking up at the giant dragon 20 meters tall. Avery and his two friends had no idea who the dragon was; it wasn't written down in any records.

Harpies stood beside the black dragon and looked at the battlefield, seeing it was empty without a single body of the Azaroth Kingdom's troops remaining.

"They've killed the ogre race troops, Your Majesty," Harpies stated.

"What, Your Majesty? Don't tell me it's-"

"Right!" interrupted Avery, agreeing with what Beatrice had just said.

"When all its soldiers have been killed, the King will appear," Avery concluded.

"So, it's the Jommon we're looking for, huh?" Mark smiled, happy with a heart full of excitement.

Although the three humans were much smaller than Jommon, they were unafraid. The three were confident that their strength could defeat the black dragon.

Jommon began to launch his attack, bursts of high-temperature fire shooting forward. He intended to defeat Avery and Beatrice, while Inoth - the harpies - tried to defeat Mark.

"Die, you bastard human!" threatened Jommon, continuing to spew the fire.

Avery and Beatrice dodged, and Avery became Jommon's target, freeing Beatrice from the attack. The archer woman drew her bow and released arrows at the Jommon.

[Heavenly Arrow: Golden Comet Thrust!]

One arrow shot swiftly at Jommon's abdomen and part of his hand, but Jommon's dragon scales managed to reduce the effect of Beatrice's arrow attack.

"Damn, its scales are strong!" complained Beatrice.

Avery nodded, continuing to sprint and zig-zag to avoid the monster's attacks.

The speed of Avery's body annoyed Jommon, who thrust both wings forward, creating two cyclones of blackish-colored winds rushing forward.

The force of the cyclone's pull caused Beatrice to have trouble keeping her balance. The woman was sucked into the cyclone's center and kept spinning at high speed.

Realizing one of the three humans was already trapped inside the typhoon, Jommon planned to shoot fire in large, high-temperature bursts into the typhoon.

This would cause a typhoon of fire and burn anything in the typhoon's center. Avery knew of the threat, so he ventured forward to interrupt Jommon, who wanted to spew fire.

[Heavenly Sword: Swing of Divine Light!]

Lerasil's sword flashed brightly in blue as Avery's footsteps advanced forward. From Lerasil's sword, a shadow of a giant sword appeared, preparing to strike at Jommon's body and thwart the plan to burn Beatrice.

Avery's strategy worked. Jommon's attention was drawn to the side, seeing Avery with a light blue sword running toward him.

"I'll kill you, lowly human!" shouted Jommon.

The black dragon directed his attack to burn Avery instead. The man with the blue sword swung his sword skill forward, clashing with Jommon's blast of fire.

"HYAAAA!" screamed Avery.

He continued to grasp the sword with both hands, unwilling to lose to Jommon's attack.

The battle of the two great powers created an unimaginable explosion; Avery's body bounced far off the rocks, his armor half-damaged by the blast.

BOM!

The explosion was powerful, causing the two typhoons that had been charging to begin shattering. Beatrice, trapped inside the cyclone, was finally freed but failed to avoid the explosion.

She was thrown far back, with severe injuries on the right side of her body. As Avery watched his friend being injured, his heart burned with rage as his face turned red, eyes glaring at Jommon.

Not only Avery and Beatrice were affected; Jommon was also. The dragon scales on some of his body were shattered, revealing gaps in his body that were no longer protected.

"Damn you, human!" snapped Jommon, again roaring loudly as if screaming in pain.

Elsewhere, Mark managed to defeat Inoth, but there were consequences. He was badly injured in the fight, his left hand severed as Mark's body leaned helplessly against a boulder.

"Now... it's just you and me!" declared Avery.

He picked up Lerasil's sword again, standing tall with his mouth spewing blood. Avery pointed the sword forward, ready to kill Jommon to end this war.

"I WILL NOT SURRENDER!" screeched Jommon, again bursting out powerful flames with a wide range.

Avery prepared, reactivating Lerasil's sword skill. Avery's main goal was to kill Jommon and create peace in this world.

[Heavenly Sword: Blessing Sword of Punishment!]

Avery's body felt a powerful force being absorbed into him, the power of light and the blessing of Lerasil's divine sword.

He managed to block Jomon's blast of fire by pointing the tip of the sword blade forward.

Jommon grew increasingly enraged. He thrust both wings forward blindly, creating a massive typhoon in large numbers to attack Avery.

"Who the hell are you?!" snapped Jommon.

"I am death to you!" shouted Avery.

With powerful footsteps, Avery jumped high enough that Jommon couldn't keep up with the velocity of the torrent of fire from the black dragon's mouth.

Avery's position was before Jommon's eyes, both hands seemingly holding the handle of Lerasil's sword.

In one thrust of the luminous sword into Jommon's head, the black dragon rebelled and roared loudly, its entire body radiating light blue.

"You will die, and the world will find its peace!" declared Avery.

"AAAAKH!"

"I curse you!" threatened Jommon.

"You will spend eternity suffering as I have!" continued Jommon.

"Curse?" asked Avery, curious, eyes narrowing.

BOM!

To his surprise, Jommon's body exploded like a firecracker. The explosion was so massive and powerful that it created a 30-meter-high mushroom shadow of smoke.

Mark saw the incident and ran over to the fainted Beatrice. He protected Beatrice from the impact of the explosion.

[Heavenly Magic: Protective Wall of Light]

A layered wall of light appeared before Mark, trying to protect Beatrice and himself from the direct impact of the explosion. Mark shouted loudly to bring out the best he could do.

"HYAAAA!"

But Avery had a different fate. He felt an intense heat searing through his body; his mind was distracted by whispers and screams of mysterious agony, and both arms as well as legs were convulsing.

[Warning!]

[Divine Curse has been activated]