Chapter 320: The Breaking Bow

But this does not mean the end of everything.

Ryan's body suddenly exploded into countless fragments of light and shadow, his presence seemingly vanishing from reality as Egil's killing strike cleaved through nothing but cold air.

This was the first time Egil had witnessed such a bizarre phenomenon. Before he could react, a sword ablaze with white flames, radiating a pale blue light, pierced through his chest from behind.

"Die, chaotic scum!" Ryan's icy voice rang out from behind Egil. The Chosen Champion of the Lake Maiden unleashed his full power, withdrawing the long sword of the Avenging Goddess from within Egil, and striking once more at the shoulders of the Tyrant Chosen Champion.

The blade of the Avenging Goddess tore a massive gash across Egil's shoulder, exposing stark white bone and flesh to the air.

"Hmm, indeed a formidable attack. Is this an illusion?" Egil chuckled, "Now it's my turn."

As he spoke, Egil turned around, the King of Skarlings unleashed a punch comparable to a cannonball, blasting Ryan into the sky. Ryan flew over twenty meters before crashing awkwardly to the ground, his organs in turmoil, and his chest searing with agonizing pain. Relying solely on his indomitable will, he stood, his chest armor caved in.

Just like Ulysses, Ryan made the same mistake, fixating on Egil's silhouette. To him, Egil, with a heart pierced, could not possibly survive.

He was wrong. As everyone watched in shock, Egil's wounds began to rapidly heal under the blessing of the Tyrant, taking longer due to the formidable power of the Avenging Goddess, but undoubtedly recovering.

Ryan broke into a sweat.

Such attacks are ineffective too?

How can I defeat such a formidable enemy?

"Oh my! Even that attack didn't work?" Teresa, observing the duel between Ryan and Egil, exclaimed in disbelief. Any mortal suffering such severe injuries would die instantly.

"It didn't work." Calder, his eyes red, watched as Egil's wounds healed one after another, his voice thick with sorrow: "The damage Ulysses inflicted should have killed him a dozen times over, but this demon always recovers, then continues to attack, and in the end, Ulysses fell."

"What kind of enemy is this?" Sir Armand, the Grail Knight, solemnly said.

"Ryan won't lose, he absolutely won't," Sulia commanded her army surrounding the last of the barbarian forces, her confidence in Ryan unshaken. The female knight continued to order: "Keep attacking!"

"Yes!" The army of knights pressed the attack towards the barbarian forces at the coast.

The champions' duel resumed swiftly, Ryan once again clashed with Egil, his sword of the Avenging Goddess repeatedly inflicting cuts, yet Egil always healed anew, Ryan found himself in a grueling battle: "Damn! What formidable power! How can I defeat him?"

"My champion~" At that moment, the ethereal voice of the Lake Maiden echoed in Ryan's mind: "Ordinary attacks won't defeat Egil. Ulysses was defeated in this way."

"My lady, how then shall I vanquish this formidable foe before me? I have tried all methods." Ryan took deep breaths, his body already worn from previous battles, and his warhammer shattered by Egil.

"You must find a way to decapitate Egil; that is the only way to kill him... I'm sorry, my champion, to aid Ulysses I had already used my power, I cannot assist you much now." The Lake Maiden continued, "Defeat Egil, Ryan. He has trespassed on my lands, eliminate this vile creature completely!"

"Decapitation..." Ryan squinted his eyes.

The flames of the Avenging Goddess blazed fiercely.

"What's wrong, lowly southerner, scared? You may beg for forgiveness, plead for my mercy, and I, will twist your head off your neck!" Egil saw Ryan's hesitation, still strong, still fearsome, approaching with his infernal war axe, like an erupting doomsday volcano.

Such a formidable enemy, enough to make any opponent despair.

But this is chaos.

"For my lady!" Ryan unleashed his full power again, and he and Egil engaged in a fierce battle, their clash akin to mythic gods at war, completely destroying the coastal area where they stood, previously a beach of broken rocks, now transformed into a crater, continuous explosions and flames and lightning devastated the area, yet their battle raged on.

After another exchange, Ryan was forced to retreat, sustaining injuries at two locations, Egil at five.

"You are more capable than Ulysses, your head is more valuable." During a brief respite in the fight, Egil, with five healing wounds, continued to clash swords with the Avenging Goddess, sparks flying. He could feel Ryan's strength.

Very powerful.

The knight before him was truly formidable, a more valuable prey.

While Ryan was contemplating more.

His strength was not enough to decapitate Egil, perhaps Anglaron could manage it in such a fierce battle, but Ryan couldn't. Each time he attempted to decapitate Egil, the Tyrant Chosen Champion would disrupt his movements with his frenzied attacks, forcing a grapple.

This way, defeat was inevitable. Each bitter struggle with Egil slightly injured him, draining his stamina. Continuing this way, Ryan would eventually be decapitated by Egil like Ulysses.

I can't die here, after dealing with him, I still need to go back to my territory to get married! Ryan clenched his teeth, his thigh injured, his shoulder bleeding from an axe cut, his chest scarred by axe marks.

Ryan lacked the ability to heal rapidly. Seeing this, he immediately took out the elvenberry wine gifted by the wood elves. The clear liquor he drank, the acorn sap of the Epoch Tree and the Waters of Life, brought him strength, his body beginning to recover, wounds starting to heal.

The berry wine wouldn't always be effective; he could only drink it once, until his body completely overcame the resistance, which might take months... or years.

Meanwhile, Ryan recalled the teachings of Anglaron on how to kill the current Tyrant Chosen Champion, the former Tyrant Demon Prince's words surely had merit.

"My brother, anger is a power, it makes us strong, allowing us to unleash more powerful attacks." By the river Shinon, Anglaron had said to Ryan.

Anger is power.

"But, while anger gives us strength, we aren't always able to control it well. Most people are driven by anger, not understanding what they are doing or should do, merely fighting on primal instinct, which means you are controlled by anger, rather than controlling it."

"When you have controlled your anger, then use it, gather it, turn it into your own power, then harness your anger, drive your power, and chop off the enemy's head in one fell swoop!"

This was Anglaron's teaching.

Ryan immediately attempted this; he charged forward, his exquisite swordsmanship and phantom-like figure turning into a blur of motion. Egil's crimson might surged in waves, and Ryan made another attempt to decapitate him. Egil chuckled coldly.

Blood God's power!

The dazzling blood-red axe cyclone pushed Ryan back again. After a fierce battle, Ryan sustained another wound on his shoulder, and Egil was also wounded on his wrist and waist.

As always, Egil healed all his injuries.

"Ryan, my champion, you will die if this continues," the Lake Maiden's voice echoed in Ryan's mind, urgent and caring: "You must find a way to kill Egil directly, or you will fail like Ulysses, you cannot die, Ryan, I will not allow you to fall like this."

"I understand, my lady, I'm looking for an opportunity." Ryan maintained his calm, infusing his anger into the Avenging Goddess, keeping his mind clear.

"Egil's limitless self-healing comes from the Tyrant's blessing; we currently have no way to dispel this blessing, but Ulysses's failure still leaves us valuable experience," the Lake Maiden said to Ryan. "Have you noticed that Egil always waits until after an intense fight to start healing his wounds?"

"That's right," Ryan realized, his eyes suddenly lighting up: "I understand now, Egil can't fight and heal at the same time."

"Exactly." The Lake Maiden continued: "Too many people have already died in this invasion, too many lives lost, but the damage they caused will never disappear, we can't let Egil return to the northern wastelands with his sons of darkness, Ryan, you need to unleash enough damage in one go to make Egil stop to heal himself, then seize the opportunity when he releases the Tyrant's blessing to decapitate him!"

With that, Ryan suddenly felt the Grail sigil on his body light up, the Lake Maiden blessing him, aiding his recovery.

"My lady?"

"Let's not talk too much, Ryan," the Lake Maiden softly said: "Eliminate our enemy!"

"Alright, no need for further words." Ryan gripped the long handle of the Avenging Goddess.

He had a plan now.

Let it begin!

The battle continued, and Ryan's method of attack changed.

He no longer dodged, no longer cautious, instead, an unprecedented force of anger gathered throughout his body. The sword of the Avenging Goddess, ablaze with white flames, resembled a rampaging dragon. Ryan, not hesitating to trade blow for blow, the sharp blade sequentially slashing deep enough to expose bone on Egil's neck, chest, shoulder, abdomen, and thigh.

In return, the Chosen Champion of the Lake Maiden was also bathed in blood, Egil's infernal war axe having drunk Ryan's blood five times.

"It's not over yet!" Ryan, his face ferocious, his eyes bloodshot, gripped the Avenging Goddess with one hand while raising the other, launching a powerful psychic storm.

Five thick bolts of psychic lightning struck Egil, causing the King of Skarlings to emit a series of agonizing screams. He crossed his war axe over his chest, resisting the force of the psychic storm.

"Crack!" The five-second psychic storm ended, Egil shattered the lightning entwined around him and released a roar like an ancient beast, ready to charge at Ryan.

"It's not over!!" What appeared before Egil was a silver spear of light.

The silver spear, thrown from Ryan's hand, turned into a rain of destruction, flying straight towards Egil.

"Do you think you can defeat me like this? Do you think you can kill me?" Egil took a deep breath and then spun in place, releasing his signature move.

Whirlwind Slash!

"Ding ding ding~" The light spears were continuously shattered by the Tyrant Chosen Champion's Whirlwind Slash.

Ryan panted heavily, a series of frantic strikes, releasing psychic energy continuously, many wounds on his body bleeding. He was nearing his limit.

As the Whirlwind Slash ended, the blood-soaked Egil stopped. He looked at the light spear stuck in his arm, indifferently pulled it out, the Tyrant Chosen Champion fully enraged. He aimed two axes directly at Ryan's neck and chest, vowing to decapitate him right there.

But Ryan was even more frenzied, recklessly clashing swords with Egil twice more. This desperate posture earned Egil's deep respect. This was the duel of champions, this was the epic battle!

The Tyrant Chosen Champion had pursued such duels all his life, and now he had found it.

Yet Ryan was already at the end of his strength. When the sword and axe clashed again, Egil could feel Ryan's power waning. Clearly, even the Lake Maiden's Chosen Champion, the Grail Knight, was reaching his limit.

Grail Knights are indeed powerful, but how much blood can they shed?

He could never understand the superiority of the northern gods, he could not comprehend the glory and supremacy of the Tyrant. Since this was the case, he would grant him a dignified death. This man was a hero, Egil truly respected his strength from the bottom of his heart. He respected this opponent.

After a few more rounds, Egil seized the opportunity, kicking Ryan away. Ryan landed not far off, seemingly unable to get up for the moment.

"Ryan! No!" Seeing this, many in the knightly army cried out in despair. Teresa and Veronica tried to use magic to support Ryan but were desperately blocked by the Chaos Wizard Chakoy, who turned himself into ashes to create a firewall preventing the two witches from getting close: "You shall not~ approach!"

"No, impossible!" Sulia, fighting in the crowd, noticed Ryan's downfall. The female knight shook her head repeatedly: "It's impossible, Ryan won't lose."

Everyone else was too far away.

"What a pity, you were truly excellent. I will cast your head in gold, to be cherished forever." Egil suddenly felt somewhat despondent. Since arriving in Bretonnia, he had killed several Grail Knights, killed Ulysses, and now he was about to defeat the Lake Maiden's Chosen Champion Ryan.

There was nothing left to linger for. He should return to Skarlings.

With that, Egil's wounds began to heal automatically.

"Not! Yet! Done!" Just when Egil's attention was momentarily diverted, Ryan had already risen from the ground. He pulled out a long firegun from his space ring.

This was the weapon given to him by Earl Albert of Mjodenhaven, the rune blunderbuss—Banish Demon Golden Flame.

"What?"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Ryan pulled the trigger, the firegun spraying a wide swath of buckshot and flame, enveloping Egil's body.

The healing of the wounds was interrupted, the Tyrant Chosen Champion screaming as he retreated. Egil's body was covered with over a dozen wounds, bleeding profusely, hit continuously by the shotgun, reaching his physical limit. He knew he had to heal his wounds immediately or he too would die from excessive blood loss.

Egil quickly created distance from Ryan, retreating nearly ten meters, a safe distance. As long as his wounds healed, Ryan would be utterly defeated.

Egil began to channel the Tyrant's blessing, healing his wounds.

At this moment, Ryan's heart was utterly still. The flames of the Avenging Goddess still burned as he felt his body nearly empty, but he knew he still had a task to complete.

He had never bowed to chaos, not since he arrived in this world. In Norden, in Mjodenhaven, in Marlinburg, in Bretonnia, he had never bowed to chaos.

"So, one more time, shall we?" Ryan whispered to the Avenging Goddess.

Only the roaring white flames and the trembling blade responded.

Anger, is a power.

So many lives had already been lost in the barbarians' assault. The northern part of the Duchy of Leonnaise was now a wasteland, with at least a hundred thousand dead, towns turned to scorched earth.

Thousands of knights had died defending their homeland.

Grail Knight Ulysses had also fallen here.

Egil and his horde must pay the price!

As rage burst from Ryan's heart but was controlled by his intellect, channeling from his limbs into his heart, the power he had lost surged back within him, roaring tirelessly.

The Chosen Champion of the Lake Maiden exploded into countless shards of light and shadow.

The distance of over ten meters between the two vanished in an instant as Ryan's figure appeared right in front of Egil, who was still healing his wounds. In Egil's pale pupils, he saw his own reflection and the panic therein.

"No... you're a knight, how could you possibly..."

"Die, demon!"

With endless fury, the Avenging Goddess traced a silver arc through the air, its blade once again piercing Egil's armor, entering the Tyrant Chosen Champion's terrifying body from the shoulder to the neck, the sharp blade slicing through flesh and severing his cervical spine.

The head of the Tyrant Chosen Champion flew from his neck, Egil only felt his vision rise from the ground, floating in the air.

"This... this can't be... I actually..."

"Thud~" The great head landed, rolling a few times on the coastal shore, the body of the King of Skarlings collapsed thunderously, dark red blood gushing, his wounds no longer healing.

Egil-Steilbjorn, the King of Skarlings, the Tyrant Chosen Champion, who had dominated the northern wastelands for centuries, saw his saga end, a grand epic closed with a period.

"No! No! No! My king!"

All the barbarians present wailed grievously, the Scarlet Guard all removed their helmets. These Chosen Warriors of chaos tore at their hair, slicing terrifying wounds on their faces and chests with their blades, letting copious blood flow, ensuring that Egil's death was not shrouded in tears. The glory of a warrior could only be celebrated with blood, not tainted by tears.

With Egil gone, Skarlings lost its king, and without a warrior like him to lead, the tribe was undoubtedly doomed to disintegrate and gradually decline.

A trail of blood stained the land by the coast, the severely wounded Ryan picked up Egil's head. The Chosen Champion of the Lake Maiden lifted the head of the Tyrant Chosen Champion high into the sky, his roar piercing the heavens, echoing in the subspace.

"Only!"

"a"

"Man!"

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