Blood-Red Commander Igris (2)

Hei Xuan, despite being in an excited and motivated state, did not directly attack Igris, because she knew from her intuition that had been honed from various battles, this blood knight in front of her was very strong.

Therefore to maximize her chances of winning, she summoned her war horse by whistling.

As Hei Xuan whistled, a dashing and powerful horse came out from within her shadow, the horse wearing dark black heavy iron armor with purple stripes. 

She then immediately climbed onto the horse which whinnied vigorously.

"Bai Xuan!" She shouted before patting the horse which instantly whinnied loudly and bolted towards Igris.

Bai Xuan nodded her head, the Xuanyuan Sword in her hand shrank into a straight sword but increased in number to 6.

Each of the swords hovered around her as if controlled by telekinesis and emitted the aura of natural elements such as fire, ice, lightning, wind and so on.

She straightened her two index and middle fingers like an ancient Shenzhou warrior before then setting up a fighting stance while looking at Igris with a serious expression.

She was tasked to attack Igris the moment his attention was distracted by Hei Xuan.

Igris held his sword with one hand before darting toward Hei Xuan without a care in the world even though his opponent was using a battle stance full of fierce flames and powerful armor.

*Clang!*

The two of their swords instantly clashed creating sparks and it was not just once but several times in less than a second.

Although Hei Xuan had mounted the battle horse and gathered momentum from the speed, she was still unable to push back Igris who was directly facing her attack head on.

Even more so because Igris' sword gave rise to a completely destructive thunderstorm making it a little difficult for Hei Xuan, even slightly damaging the Colosseum building.

*Swoosh! *

Igris' movement suddenly changed, he immediately somersaulted horizontally and at the same time swung his sword which instantly created a thunderstorm that made Hei Xuan jump backwards along with her horse.

"Damn! This knight is so strong!"

Igris then turned his head to the side where he stared at Bai Xuan who instantly controlled the flying sword to attack him with an unpredictable directional path.

Each of her flying swords slid into Igris's blind spots, moreover Igris couldn't pay much attention to her because Hei Xuan's actions always disturbed him.

Igris now had to adjust his focus to simultaneously parry and dodge Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan's attacks while thinking of ways to counterattack.

Unfortunately, the two of them did not allow him to think about it and attacked him relentlessly.

Well... This was not surprising since the three of them were technically not living people who needed to eat, sleep, or care about stamina.

They were undead-like creatures but more sophisticated because they were influenced by a mysterious power that reached the realm of abstract concepts.

Therefore, there was no such thing as a battle of attrition where the three of them would try to drain each other's stamina because they would not feel tired at all.

Kouro who was watching their battle was eating Popcorn with focus. According to his perspective as a spectator, Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan were in a passive state.

Although alone, Igris seemed to have more combat experience compared to the two of them.

This could be seen from his sword techniques which were truly outstanding.

'That sword skill... At least [Grandmaster], no, maybe more than that?' He tried to estimate Igris' level of swordsmanship.

In the next few minutes, although the three of them fought very fiercely, they were cautious of each other and observed the opponent's attack patterns to look for an opening.

*Swoosh!*

Several of Bai Xuan's flying swords shot out at high speed as they cut through the wind, but Igris only had to raise his sword to parry and dodge the attacks.

*Clang!*

"Heh!" Bai Xuan smiled.

The flying sword that Igris had parried hit the other flying sword changing its trajectory and instantly shot through Igris' thigh.

Igris' movement was halted for less than a second, but it was enough for Bai Xuan to instantly [Charge] at high speed towards Igris while turning her greatsword into a huge spear.

*BAM!*

*Swoosh!*

Igris was instantly thrown away at high speed until it crashed into the wall of the Colosseum and perforated it.

The two of them did not put on a happy expression seeing their attack succeed but a calm expression.

"That blood knight is really strong... Moreover, holding the values of a knight... He is both a formidable and honorable opponent." Bai Xuan said.

Hei Xuan nodded in agreement, but just then, her eyes widened followed by her pupils seeing Igris' sword darting towards her.

*Stab!*

Her warhorse instantly stood up letting the sword stab him instead of her master.

Hei Xuan instantly fell down in a cold sweat, she stared at her warhorse with a complicated expression watching it slowly disappear into the shadows.

The warhorse was not permanently dead but it only took some time to summon it back.

She took a deep breath before standing up, then she along with Bai Xuan saw Igris' sword that fell on the ground suddenly hover before flying towards the hollow wall where Igris was thrown.

"That knight also has the power of Telekinesis?!"

From behind the hollow wall, under the dark shadows, they both saw Igris with his eyes behind the protective helmet shining brightly before picking up his floating sword.

'No... That's not telekinesis... But something similar to the Dominator's Touch ability!' Kouro thought with a raised eyebrow.

'How is that possible? No... Considering that ability came from the system... Indeed, it's not too surprising that creatures created by the system also have it...'

...

How long had he been waiting for this?

Igris had long forgotten the reason he fought.

In this place... Which to the naked eye was only full of ruins without any vegetation including animals.

Facing it all for so long that he was tired of counting made him turn into a soulless puppet.

He was just standing in this Colosseum, alone losing his sense of the flow of time.

'I'm tired...' As this thought appeared like a small bubble in his mind.

The immediate thought of being heavy as if a boulder was standing on top of his head made his consciousness blur and his memories slowly fade away.

But that then changed with Kouro's sudden arrival.

Igris' dark and empty eyes only for a moment shone brightly,

"Igris!" The voice of someone who sounded familiar flashed through his mind making him instantly come to his senses.

He also felt his sword that had long lost its meaning because it had lost its reason to fight suddenly buzzed telling him that....

The heir has arrived...

'Show me... Are you worthy of being my reason to fight again?'

...

Igris looked at Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan who were setting up a fighting stance, he looked at them with bright shining eyes before darting out at high speed making the first attack.

*Swoosh!*

He raised his sword and was about to swing it vertically which was instantly countered by Hei Xuan with her light green glowing greatsword enveloped in the wind element.

*Clang!*

*BOOM!*

The terrifying thunderstorm from Igris' sword was instantly repelled by Xuanyuan Sword's wind element creating a supersonic impact that created a tornado storm.

The ground they stepped on seemed to crumble and even the Colosseum suffered some cracks due to the overwhelming impact of their attacks.

If not for Kouro creating an invisible wall to withstand the impact of their attacks, the Colosseum would have collapsed because it could not withstand the impact of the three of them fighting.

Kouro watched this fight with an interested gaze, he felt that this Igris had an ace up his sleeve that could turn the situation around easily.

"Haa!" shouted Hei Xuan.

The three of them fought fiercely, it could also be that Igris was starting to run out judging from how he used his sword cleverly, always separating Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan.

The fight lasted for about ten full minutes and then with their swords held together creating sparks, Hei Xuan and Igris looked at each other.

"You are an honorable opponent, blood knight. I really want to know your name, but alas..." said Hei Xuan.

*Swish!*

A flying sword suddenly appeared from behind Hei Xuan and shot straight towards Igris' head.

It was a surprise attack from Bai Xuan who was making an opening for Hei Xuan herself.

Igris wanted to jump backwards to avoid the surprise attack, but couldn't because there were 5 other flying swords heading towards him at his blind spots.

He then made the best decision for himself, he sacrificed his right shoulder, left hand and left chest letting those body parts be pierced by the flying swords before jumping away.

For the first time Igris finally suffered significant damage from the two of them.

"That knight... He doesn't hesitate to sacrifice his body parts in order to survive..." Bai Xuan muttered.

Igris pulled out the floating sword that was still stuck in his body without flinching once.

The wounds left by the sword visibly began to regenerate very quickly before healing completely.

"TsK! Since that Knight is also the same as us, we must attack his vital points such as the head or heart quickly, otherwise, he will regenerate again!" shouted Hei Xuan while clicking her tongue.

The two of them transformed their swords into greatswords again before setting up a fighting stance and enveloping their swords with all five elemental auras creating a dark purple color.

Igris felt his premonition of danger ringing, he immediately raised his head and set up a fighting stance looking at the two of them.

He held his sword with both hands and raised it in line.

His sword which every time it slashed could bring forth a fierce thunderstorm seemed to be suddenly enveloped by some kind of thin dark aura.

"Shadow Flame!"x2

Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan instantly swung their swords with all their might, spending every ounce of their energy to replicate Kouro's attack form.

The impact of the attack was definitely several times stronger than Kouro's attack when he first demonstrated the attack.

*SWOOSH!*

Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan fell helplessly to the ground as they ran out of energy.

Blinding light filled the sight of all of them.

Igris could be sure that the attack could instantly kill him and crush him into dust even though this was not the first time he had seen the attack.

"Take this, Igris! Shadow Flame!"

A familiar voice again sounded in his mind.

Just for a moment a very vague memory flashed through his mind.

His hands trembled for a moment, not from fear of the two of them attacking, but a sense of nostalgia that rose within himself even if only for a moment.

Sensing that their attacks were about to hit him, Igris immediately focused and did not seem to be fazed at all.

He still steadily maintained his posture before swinging it slowly, no, despite the seemingly slow speed, Igris' sword directly hit both of their attacks.

*Swoosh!*

Then something miraculous suddenly happened, both of their attacks were suddenly absorbed into Igris's sword, making the sword enveloped in blazing purple flames.

"What?!" Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan shouted with shocked expressions.

"What kind of technique is that?" muttered Kouro in confusion and curiosity.

Igris then raised his sword high before swinging it vertically creating a 'Shadow Flame' mixed thunderstorm slash.

The attack created a blinding light before creating a huge explosive impact that destroyed part of the Colosseum despite being protected by an invisible wall.

*BOOM!*

Facing the attack, of course Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan were instantly defeated in a crushing blow, their bodies crumbling into dust with nothing left, fortunately as long as Kouro had SP, they wouldn't die completely.

A few minutes later, it could be seen that Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan's bodies began to regenerate at high speed before returning to normal.

They both currently sat weakly with sour expressions staring at Igris.

"We lost..." said Hei Xuan with a bitter expression.

She was sad that she could not ask Kouro for a favor, but she felt even sadder that she was not strong enough to fight side by side with Kouro with her current level of strength.

On the other hand, under the flying dust and smoke coming from the remaining purple flames, with the red cape and tassel behind his helmet fluttering loudly, Igris raised his head and looked at Kouro with bright shining eyes.

Seeing his gaze, Kouro smiled slightly, he gave the popcorn in his hand to the shadow warrior next to him before jumping down.

He first approached Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan and comforted them.

"No need to be sad about losing, you guys have fought well. There's still time to continue growing stronger."

They both nodded their heads with wry expressions in response to Kouro's words and then stood up before retreating to safety.

They knew that Igris openly wanted to challenge Kouro to a duel, so they wanted to see the duel even though they knew...

Igris would lose badly.

Kouro walked leisurely towards Igris before stopping a few meters away from him and then stretching a little.

"Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've moved my body... Then I hope you won't disappoint me, Mr. Igris."

The last time he fought the Herrscher of the End in another world already months had passed and also when entering this Dungeon he never directly fought and let his shadow army including Hei Xuan and Bai Xuan to act.

He then set up a fighting stance without holding a weapon at all.

Basically he wanted to fight Igris with his bare hands.

Seeing Kouro not using a weapon, Igris was originally going to drop his sword to be fair before being stopped by Kouro.

"You don't need to do that, I respect your decision to fight fairly against me, but it's not necessary."

Kouro smiled before saying without hesitation.

"You are not my equal."

Although it sounded very arrogant, it was a fact, if Kouro was serious now, he could defeat Igris with just a wave of his hand.

As if understanding Kouro's words, Igris simply stared at him before assuming a fighting stance while holding his sword with both hands.

A hazy memory again surfaced in his mind after Kouro said that, but he realized that this was not the time to try to dwell on that memory.

As a Knight who had experienced countless battles, according to his intuition Kouro's words were neither a boast nor an exaggeration.

Him not being equal to Kouro was the truth.

Thinking of this, Igris subconsciously held his sword very tightly, he planned to bring out all his strength in the first attack!

"Come forward, sir knight, I give you the first chance to attack me."

Right after Kouro said that, Igris in the blink of an eye instantly appeared in front of Kouro, making both of their clothes flutter from the impact of the wind, his sword seemed to have been enveloped by a thick dark aura.

Igris quickly made a stabbing motion straight towards Kouro's chest, but when his sword was only a few centimeters away from piercing Kouro's chest.

Time suddenly stopped, no, it suddenly slowed down in Igris' perception.

He saw that Kouro punched the tip of his sword until it cracked and shattered into pieces before punching his chest.

'I remember...'

A long-buried memory flashed through his mind.

From that memory he saw a man, no, a young man, although he didn't know what his face looked like, he did remember that the young man was his master.

'Master has white hair...'

For the last time, Igris looked at Kouro and his former master's appearance instantly overlapped with his.

'Ah... Master... Has returned.'

*BAM!*

Igris instantly shot into the wall of the Colosseum and perforated it several times before finally coming to a stop after being embedded in the ground with Kouro's fist marks on his chest emitting billowing smoke.

*Ding!*

[You have defeated 'Blood-Red Commander Igris']

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

Kouro only briefly glanced at the system notification before his eyes before stared at his bloody fist, no, judging by how the flesh and skin had disintegrated to expose the bone... It was clearly a severe wound.

Fortunately with his vitality and Herrscher's authority, the wound healed without a trace after a few minutes.

'The sword technique that Knight used was special... Although it's faint, but I can feel it...'

Kouro raised his head to stare at Igris' corpse with a serious expression.

"A technique that can negate and cut through concepts... I didn't expect it to actually exist... "

...

Igris sensed that he was in a boundless darkness.

There was nothing he could see, feel, or hear, only empty silence.

Even so he felt very comfortable and at peace against this boundless darkness, as if he was back in his mother's womb.

Just as he wanted to stop his thoughts and was about to close his eyes to accept the silence, a memory suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Igris... Sorry... I don't seem to be able to fulfill that promise... But... I'm sure there will be someone who replaces me, no, surpasses me in every way... I hope you get to meet him... And see that promise realized."

Igris instantly came to his senses, he knew the reason he was here, he now remembered his reason for fighting!

To protect and guide the new heir to fulfill the promised day!

A mysterious force suddenly called out to him, making him immediately open his eyes.

What he saw first was his new master.

Igris consciously knelt down respectfully.

Kouro smiled wryly at the sight of him immediately kneeling respectfully.

"Stand up, I'll call you Igris. I hope my aspirations are in accordance with your soul and code of conduct as a Knight."

Igris immediately stood in line with Kouro.

His appearance has now completely changed, his blood red armor has been replaced by a dark color with a bright purple aura, his tattered cloak had also turned into a dark shadow cloak.

Igris looked up at Kouro and his blue eyes instantly shone brightly.

'This time... I will not fail to protect you.'