NOVEL NEXT Chapter 523: Scream of Penitence
It was the painting of the tragedy that happened two decades ago. Madam Locraine sighed as she watched the portrait of the Azure King standing on the bodies of the Adventurers who tried to march inside its Palace.
"Why are you still looking at that?" the Holy Crow sighed. "It won't help with your anxiety if you keep looking at it."
"I just can't shake the feeling that something is going to happen to them," Madam Locraine sighed. "Tell me, Alexander Crow. Am I being obnoxious?"
"Just Alexander is fine, Madam Locraine," the Holy Crow sighed. "And no, fear is found in every single one of us."
"Even you, Just Alexander?" Madam Locraine leaned closer. She placed the painting away and dragged her chair closer to the old man in white. "Do you feel fear?"
"Of course," the Holy Crow said, irked by what the woman has been calling him. He placed his tea at the table and sighed again. "It is a feeling that is inevitable especially when you are good. You have conscience, you have fear."
"Oh," Madam Locraine sat upright. "Well then, should I assume that they can win this?"
"And trust is for the good," the Holy Crow said. "When you are good, you can trust, but when you are evil you are only afraid."
"But you said that only good people feel fear?" Madam Locraine frowned again. "You are confusing me, Alexander."
"Madam Locraine, when you are good you fear for your loved ones," the Holy Crow clarified. "When you are not, you fear because of the people above you. They are two different things."
Madam Locraine sighed, taking a sip of her coffee as she sat restlessly. "Then what should I feel right now?"
The Holy Crow leaned closer and smiled, "Faith."
"We're here," Zeus announced. He walked inside the tent that the two were in. "I brought Gasha, James, Alice, and Yvonne with me."
"Does the League have to participate in this fight?" Yvonne asked. "You can handle this, can you? You're all very strong."
Yvonne was the guild master of the League of Nobles and Royalties after their previous guild master died at the middle of the Eastern war. She took over the guild and has created policies that prevented it from being exclusive to nobles, renaming it as only 'League' and omitted the rest.
Even when most of the members of the League looked down on her because she came from a smaller house, Yvonne was objectively powerful. She was an Adventurer who completed seven months Conquests, four in fact of those and several more raids.
Her leadership skills were enough for her to gain the title of guild master, thus catapulting their name to the higher ranks of the nobility.
"I believe in your power, Yvonne," King Leonardo said. He too entered the tent. "While Johnson is still recovering, you are the most fit to be here."
Yvonne pursed her lips and shrugged. "I guess I am here now after being dragged by a chariot. I don't have any other choice."
"Good," Leonardo said. "Then, we help them win this battle."
"This is the Azure King," the Holy Crow smirked. "This is a war on its own."
–
"This is impossible," Lance growled. "How can it handle all of our attacks at once? And with just one swing of its sword."
"The Excalibur is giving it too much power," Frederick said. "If we can somehow get it to let go of that sword, then we will have a higher chance of winning."
"Then…" Elliot raised his sword beside him, right on the eye-level. "I'll make it let go of that sword. Hasty Aspire times fifty!"
He launched himself off of the ground. He swerved in the air, avoiding the attacks of the Azure King and crashed his boots on the giant's chest. He prepared to swing his sword at the forearm of the King, using all his brute strength.
"Hasty Aspire times two hundred!" Elliot screamed. He walked around the Azure King's shoulders before he slammed his feet on the collarbone area of the King and strike his sword at the arm.
The sound of metal clanking on the ground echoed the silent courtyard. They all watched as Elliot continued to bolt down, landing on the ground with his sword piercing the ground with the leftover power from his attack.
"H-He did it," Lance stuttered. "He did it!"
"This is a fight for our lives," Elliot said. "The Excalibur is no more. Maybe we can do this now."
Frederick was silent. He didn't look okay, as if there were words that were lodged in his throat that he couldn't speak. He watched the people around him smile, hope filling them. He opened his mouth and was about to say something but it was too late.
When everyone had gotten their composure back, they didn't waste any more time and launched their attacks toward the Azure King. The King did not have the Excalibur, surely it can't defend itself.
That was what they were all thinking, but they were proven wrong.
The Azure King looked up to the skies and suddenly released a deafening screech. It also ejected a powerful force that forced them to be thrown away. All of their attempts on any attack was disarmed in a glimpse.
"What?" Elliot couldn't believe his eyes. "How is that even possible?"
–
Madam Locraine watched the portrait. She was still feeling odd about everything. There was something that wasn't right and she might know what was causing it.
"Are you okay?" the Raven Justice, who just arrived asked.
"Yes, I am Christopher Charlemagne," Madam Locraine said. This made the Raven Justice look at her menacingly. "But something about this–"
The screech reached their tent which was ways away from the Palace. It was so loud and powerful that it shook the very tent they were in.
Madam Locraine lost her balance and accidentally touched the painting. Everything flashed before her very eyes.
The Adventurers were winning. After they saw the Azure King at the hallway, they regained their composure and launched a series of planned attacks at it. After this, the Azure King shrunk which made them lose their composure again.
But a man led them to their apparent victory. The man used all of his strength to detach the Azure King's hand from the rest of its body.
The Adventurers cheered, thinking they have the upper hand. They lost their fear and faith filled them. It was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. There was hope for them now.
One moment they were all trying to defeat the Azure King, and the next was a blur. A one man massacre happened at the very hallway that they were on.
Blood flooded, screams echoed, and death filled the air. The Azure King collected the corpses and made a mountain out of it where it stood above and screamed.
"Scream of Penitence," Madam Locraine gasped. "That was the Scream of Penitence. It's the last moment before the Azure King goes berserk."
"What do you mean, Madam Locraine?" the Raven Justice asked. He was helping her stand right because she was losing her balance, the strength left her legs.
"They're all going to die," Madam Locraine cried. "Everyone in that Palace will be killed."