Chapter 47: The Battle of Setia (Part 3)
On the land littered with the corpses of magical beasts, the katana and curved blade clashed once more.
Then the two figures separated, and a few impatient magical beasts from the crowd rushed up, adding more bodies to the mound of corpses around them.
Brian was covered in wounds deep enough to expose bone.
His blood had already stopped flowing—he wouldn't survive the battlefield even if left alone.
The Bowel Hunter's clothes were in tatters, but her body appeared unscathed.
However, that was only on the surface.
Brian had already noticed—each time she resurrected, she became weaker.
By now, her speed and strength were barely different from an ordinary woman's.
Looking at the opponent before him, Brian could only feel fortunate.
Fortunate for her intense self-destructive tendencies.
After she severely injured him with her second life, she could've chosen to retreat.
Brian had already lost the ability to leave the battlefield.
But instead, she chose to stay and continue their fight to the death.
"One last life."
"Is that so... This is probably my final strike too."
In warrior fashion, they exchanged names.
Then, Elsa lunged at the immobilized Brian, and Brian swung his final slash.
Neither had the strength left to defend or dodge.
Brian, thanks to the katana's length, struck first and killed Elsa.
Brian leaned on his blade, watching the approaching magical beasts.
His Divine Protection was frantically warning him of the impending danger, but he could no longer move.
In the next moment, Brian was devoured by the beasts.
A massive body, fists the size of a child's head, dense and gnarled muscles wrapping his frame—and most notably, eight powerful arms.
The man before them had a body seemingly made for battle. With black-and-white hair and orange eyes, black pupils, and blue skin, he exuded the pressure of a battle demon.
This was Kurgan—the Empire's legendary War God.
More precisely, it was a corpse soldier made from Kurgan's body.
At this point, Winston was already panting lightly, but even the tireless corpse of Kurgan wasn't faring well.
Four of his eight arms were twisted into grotesque shapes—that was Winston's achievement after over 20 minutes of fierce combat.
"Even though the Evil Dragon rampages across the land, you're no longer the man you once were... and I'm no longer in my prime.
We both can't break through our limits in this epic tale.
Unlike Lord Sword Demon, who reached the Heavenly Sword Realm during the Silver Flower Dance at Pinquetart... what a pity. I truly envy the Sword Demon who got to fight you at your peak."
Indeed, Winston felt nothing but regret.
After twenty minutes of battle, he had only lost stamina.
Kurgan, when alive, was defeated by no one other than the Sword Demon who reached the Heavenly Sword Realm.
Winston could sense just how terrifyingly powerful Kurgan had once been—perhaps even stronger than Winston at his best.
To others, having a weakened enemy was something to be thankful for.
But to someone like Winston, who yearned for worthy opponents, it was a letdown.
Even in a crisis like this, he would rather face the War God at full strength.
Whether he became a corpse under his enemy's blade or whether the opponent became a whetstone for his growth—it would all be beautiful to him.
Better that than an easy solution to a crisis.
"Winston Tien, seeker of martial perfection."
Kurgan said nothing, but the fighting spirit emanating from his body was the best response.
Winston moved.
He appeared in front of Kurgan, dodged his powerful straight punch, used killing intent to make two of Kurgan's hands guard against an imaginary strike from the right, and then launched a perfect uppercut with his full strength.
The War God clearly didn't want to go down easily—or more accurately, didn't allow himself to.
His distorted arms stacked in front of his face to form the strongest shield.
One last intact arm raised the butcher's blade high and brought it down.
The War God's aura told Winston—this wasn't just a corpse attacking.
Even when alive, Kurgan would've struck just like this, offering up his own limbs for mutual destruction. T
hat determination moved Winston—but also made him feel even more regretful.
Winston's right fist bent in an unbelievable way, like a flexible snake.
It curved around the strongest shield, evaded the War God's peak slash, and snaked its way to the War God's chest.
Finally, the "snake" revealed its killing intent.
The serpent punch only reached Kurgan's chest—about 2.2 meters high—but that was enough.
In the next instant, Winston unleashed a collapsing punch with his full might.
The force shot through his arm into Kurgan's body, instantly destroying the War God's heart.
"Beau—tiful."
The unparalleled War God spoke for the first time, crossed his arms over his chest, and his upper body began to slowly turn to dust.
"Thank you."
Winston showed no joy.
He knew his blow wouldn't have worked against the true War God.
The real War God would never be misled by something as simple as killing intent.
Looking off into the distance where wind clashed with black flames, Winston stretched his muscles.
"A Sin Archbishop who can defeat a War God... Let me see your strength."
He leapt from the wall and headed for the next battlefield.
.
.
.
Time returned to a few minutes earlier.
Capella let out a piercing laugh.
The massive black dragon suddenly transformed into tens of thousands of rats.
If the opponents were heavily armored guards, this trick wouldn't have much effect.
But against lightly armored mercenaries and maids, this attack was essentially a death sentence.
Even battle-hardened mercenaries realized the danger.
Those who could still use magic unleashed their last scraps of mana.
They counterattacked with their proudest techniques. Though they killed countless rats, it made no difference—the horde kept coming.
The rats gnawed at them. Even the strongest mercenaries screamed in agony.
"Al-Fura!!!"
Just as the rat swarm was about to swallow everyone, a fierce gale crushed them into pulp.
"You filthy rats! What do you want with Ram's sister!?"
It was a maid surrounded by violent wind, with pink hair.
"Big Sister…"
"Are you ready, Rem?"
"Yes."
"Then leave the rest to me. Protect Rem."
"Ow, ow, ow! Are you a sadist?! You want to [unspeakable, colorfully obscene insult], you trash!"
The black dragon roared in fury, while the pink-haired girl, now with horns, swung massive blades of wind.