Way of the Knights

Chapter 196 - Dragon?

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If there's anything that could severely threaten any soul forms brought back by evil hands aside from Light Laws, it would definitely be Lightning Laws.

Unbeknownst to many, the Ghost Race exists. They are a terrifying bunch of beings, capable of directly attacking one's soul. Just by a mere touch, they could claim lives like it was nothing. They are inherently dangerous but their existence is solely subjugated by the Heavenly Laws - nature, per se.

And like any other races, they too are capable of strengthening themselves. They developed a unique way of cultivation that, only their race could use. There were even a time when the Ghost race was once arrogant and one to unify all under their banner.

It is a mystery as to why they failed to do so. After all, their numbers were surely staggering and they're extremely powerful. Some records shown that they offended someone they shouldn't, and this individual called upon the Lightning Tribulations to rain down on their home, causing mass destruction and even threatened to wipe them out.

There's also some versions of this story in which, this mysterious individual placed a curse on their race in exchange of his life. The curse will take effect once an individual from the Ghost Race reached a certain threshold of strength. Once the curse was activated, tribulation clouds will descend and rain down punishment to the said individual. It was said that many from the ghost race failed to transcend these tribulation, thus turning them into nothing but specks of dust scattered in the wind. Ever since then, the succeeding generations of the Ghost Race developed an existential fear of Lightning.

***

Old Lee's face was cold. In his right hand, a thin and long spear made out of lightning appeared.

Raising his hand ever so slightly, he threw the lightning spear upwards. With a blinding speed, the lightning spear passed through Morel's Windwall and flew on top of the marching souls.

All eyes were glued on the lightning spear. Suddenly, Old Lee clenched his hand and the lightning stopped at the peak of its trajectory. It was then divided into several bolts of lightning that rained down upon the ranks of the marching souls.

Any soul that was hit by those lightning screamed in agony, they writhed and groaned in fury but despite their cries, the lightning did its job and erased them from this mortal plane. Some of the lightning bolts were aimed at the Devil Prince but he managed to defend himself by summoning that bone barrier out of nowhere once more.

Despite being able to defend himself, the Devil Prince wasn't so jubilant about the current situation. This is the entire reason why he wasn't able to beat Old Lee even once. It is because his Laws directly countered his.

While the Devil Prince somehow managed to be enlightened at the second stage of Death Laws, Old Lee's affinity and understand towards Lightning Laws was enough to shut down majority of his tricks. In terms of speed, he couldn't compare, in terms of lethality, he also couldn't compare. Old Lee bested him in every single possible way, which in turn made him helpless about the old man.

However, it is also clear for all of them that they've spent at least half of their energy reserves by now. Throwing out this explosive attacks consumed a decent amount of their energy, if it weren't for the fact that the Golden Knights' priority is to make sure that Alastair won't come out of this place, then this battle would've been more explosive.

That being said, Alastair is still the Devil Prince. He wanted to destroy, he wanted lay waste in this kingdom that brought nothing but pain and bitterness to him. He vowed that sooner or later, he will get what he wanted.

Gazing at the division between him and his old comrades, Alastair snorted. He clapped his hands and the thick aura of death rose once more. The whole underground district shook once more, the Golden Knights felt the intensity of the Death Energy that Alastair is emanating and braced themselves.

Suddenly, the black aura coming off of the Devil Prince took shape. White matter condensed in a visible speed forming what seems to be a huge bone. This process didn't stop there, the rumbling of the underground district intensified and the condensation of the bone became faster. Eventually, bones of varying sizes appeared, the bones arranged themselves in a manner that didn't resemble a human.

It entity it formed was a bipedal creature. It stood about 70 meters tall, it was made out of pure bones. Its skull was somewhat similar to that of an alligator but with horns, it also has a long spine, a pair of bony wings that has claws with it and wingspan that barely reached both ends of the whole underground district. On top of this, the creature was surrounded with black, pulsing flames that emanated a thick stench of death courtesy of the Devil Prince's influence.

"Is that…" Morel swallowed hard, finding it difficult to continue his words.

"Unbelievable." Leona uttered with her face grim.

"A Dragon! But how!?" Old Lee said with difficulty.

Yes, what stood before them, a creature of mass destruction. Something that they only seen records of but never met, not until now. A Dragon. Or least, it used to be. Now it is nothing but a skeleton of its former glory. Nevertheless, it is still a Dragon.

*Roar!*

The Dragon opened its maw and let out a piercing roar. The sound it carried were enough to shatter the eardrums of a mortal. To some extent, the Golden Knights who bore the full burnt of its roar, felt their Energy Shield fluctuate with how fearsome that roar was.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Alastair's hysterical laugh echoed in every corner of the underground district. If one looked at him closely, one could see that he was pale and clearly weakened, but Alastair could hardly care about his weakened state. Instead he felt a sensation of deep satisfaction upon letting loose of this creature. His eyes shone with a crazed light as he stared at the creature. He raised his hand and roared:

"Go! Ruin and destroy! Kill! Leave none alive! Hahahaha!"

The madness contained in his voice made the Golden Knights shiver. They knew that Alastair was mad but they weren't expecting him to be this mad. Their faces turned incredibly solemn, they took out their weapons and prepared to intercept, what probably the most difficult enemy that they will ever face.

Morel roared in anger, his spear swept in all directions, carrying waves upon waves of sharp wind currents that threatened to sever the joints of the dragon. Leona followed suit by blasting one orb of condensed fire after another towards the dragon. Old Lee also moved, his hands turning to a blur, he chucked a condensed lightning towards the dragon.

Due to the size of the dragon, there is no way that it could evade the combined attacks of the three, yet in truth there was no need to.

Even though they utilized their laws and combined it with their attacks, none of them managed to even leave a scratch on the bones of the dragon.

With their expressions turning incredibly somber. The Golden Knights kicked into full drive and stopped holding back. They didn't care about the damage, what's more important right now is to bring this creature down before it escapes and lay waste on the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Devil Prince watched the spectacle before him. He broke into a mad cackle here and there, he mocked the so-called strength of his old comrades. Glancing at the dragon that he summoned, his heart was filled with confidence. It seems that the destruction that he wanted will finally happen, god knows how long he had been waiting for this chance.

The Golden Knights tried everything they could. Every technique in their arsenal was used, every treasure that they could use had been released, however despite their efforts, they were rendered helpless by the Dragon.

As time goes on, fatigue eventually crept up with the Golden Knights. No matter what they do, the rampage of the Dragon was unstoppable. They already sustained damage from its attacks, they were bleeding all over, some parts of their Golden Armaments are ruined or destroyed, it was also getting more and more difficult to breathe.

Only the stubbornness kept them hanging. No matter what, even by the cost of their lives, they must take down this threat.

They watched as the Dragon flapped its wings, it opened is maw wide and inhaled sharply. Their eyes constricted, the Golden Knights hurriedly erected an energy essence shield around their bodies but their weakness didn't allow them to create a strong one.

Just before the Dragon spit out whatever it is that's on its mouth. An astonishing scene suddenly happened.

A gentle, warm and comforting light shone. It compassed not only the entire underground district but the entire kingdom in fact. The light shone so bright that it almost fooled everyone, making them think that it was daytime already.

Still stunned with the sudden emergence of the brilliant light. A soft, feminine and gentle voice was heard all over the Kingdom. It spoke the following word:

"Smite."