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The Excalibur.

The one sword known as the Sword of Divine. The sword that had been embedded deep within a stone for more than a thousand of years. That's the legendary sword that was currently being thrown towards Emery.

It was so unexpected that Emery froze for a moment.

As soon as he received and grasped the sword, Emery heard someone speak directly into his mind. The sword spoke to him!

"Wield me"

Together with the words, Emery could also perceive the sword's evident animosity directed toward the figure in front of him. He was confused by such an extreme reaction from the sword.

Seeing that Artio's condition was far from good, Emery knew he didn't have the luxury to second-guess what and why. He needed to act swiftly and leave the questions for later.

Swiissssshhhhh

With just one swing, the dark sphere - the magus' proudest ultimate defense - was cut open like slicing a cake. In that split second, the confident look on Hades' face crumbled down, as his mind was at shock, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"That sword!!" He screamed with a mixture of both anger and fright, as he pointed his finger at the gleaming sword in Emery's hand. "Caliburnus!!!"

Emery, on the other hand, would certainly not let this golden opportunity go. As soon as he saw Hades' defensive spell split apart, he immediately cast [Blink] to instantly close the distance between them and proceeded to swing the legendary sword one more time.

Clank!!

Alas, the magus was able to parry Emery's attack aimed at his chest with his staff at the last moment.

There was a slight blast of wind occurring as the two artifacts clashed against each other.

Even though his attack was blocked, the fact Hades used his staff meant the magus had finally let Artio go from his grasp. The bear, now freed from the suffocating pressure, fell to the ground with its breath ragged. Even so, it seemed the huge beast still had the will to fight, despite knowing its current strength was limited.

Emery subconsciously let out a smile of satisfaction when he saw the fire burning fervently in the bear's eyes. It was also at this moment that a voice resounded into his mind again.

"Wield me!!"

The voice's weighted tone quickly made Emery return his attention to the fight, making him realize he could still lose his life any time. He quickly cast [Blink] again, appearing in the air above Hades before delivering a downward slash toward the other party's head.

Unfortunately,

CLANK!

A familiar sound of objects clashing with each other rang in the air, telling Emery that his attack had once again failed.

Emery's [Blink] spell was certainly unpredictable as it allowed its caster to appear essentially anywhere as they pleased. However, the problem was the speed that Emery could exert with his physical body even with his maximum battle power.

Afterall the one enemy facing at the moment was a magus. A cultivator that has passed through the limit of the human body and become an immortal. The man was faster and stronger than him.

Hence as soon as he reappeared, the magus could easily follow his movement and block his advance.

"Again!" said the voice in his mind. This time, Emery didn't even bother to blink again, as he decided to put all the strength he could muster into this one swing.

Emery was determined to proceed with this 'all-in'. because he understood that their already disadvantageous and precarious situation would only continue to worsen the longer the fight went on.

He grasped on the sword's crystal handle with both of his hands before proceeding to use his one and only sword battle art technique.

[Heroic Strike]

"TAKE THIS!"

SWIIIISSSHHH!! A strong gust of wind materialized, as the Excalibur in Emery's hand shone brightly and crossed the air, towards Hades.

The magus, who sensed the grave threat coming in his way, immediately reacted and once again blocked the sword with his staff.

Clank!!

Emery's attack to end the magus' life had failed again.

However, before Hades could even retaliate, he can hear a strange peculiar sound from his staff

Crackk!!

A faint crack suddenly appeared on the staff's surface. In that split moment the magus was willing to do whatever in his power to stop Emery's attack.

But it was too late

The crack quickly spread to all parts of the staff and the next moment, it shattered into countless pieces.

"NOOOO!!" Hades screamed in agony as his hands lost their grip on the staff. Instantly, he utilized the full extent of his [Gravitational Push] to send Emery and Artio flying a few meters away.

Emery, who was blown away, immediately recovered mid air as his feet securely landed on the ground. He turned his eyes toward the magus, to see what the other party tried to do next.

It was apparent the magus was devastated to see his precious staff destroyed. In fact, Hades seemed to be talking to himself while occasionally letting out a deranged laugh. It seemed the pain of losing his staff had consumed him with madness.

A crazy, bordering insanity look was seen on his face as he glared at Emery.

"You will die!!You will all die!!"

At the same time when the staff was destroyed, Emery could feel something changing within his surroundings. He was about to use his [Spirit Reading] to find out what it was exactly when Arthur approached him from behind.

"You did it, Merlin!!" He said excitedly, "You did it!!"

Emery stared at the excited man with a confused look. He was still unsure about what he just did that gave such joy to the other party until Arthur explained the matter.

Arthur explained the sword had been talking to him and how it awakened with strong determination to destroy the accursed staff - the one in Hades' hand. Hence Emery just helped him succeed in that.

While Emery was still trying to process Arthur's words, Klea descended from the sky giving him the news that the undeads that were attacking the castle were crumbling apart.

Hearing that, Emery quickly tried to confirm through [Spirit Reading], which quickly gave him an affirmative. It seemed the reanimate spell Hades used was broken following the destruction of the staff, and with it, the thousands of undead.

With this, Emery no longer needed to worry about the situation in the castle. Evidently, the magus in front of him was the only opponent left. And with Excalibur in hand, he wasn't afraid.

He tightened his grasp on the Sword of Divine and brandished it towards Hades as he said, "Give up now, Hades. If you do that, I am sure your punishment will be just."

The reason Emery didn't immediately attack and opted to ask for surrender was that he was cautious. After all, even a rat could mount a severe last stand, let alone a lion such as Hades.

Moreover, killing the other party, a Nephilim who was the caretaker of Earth might not be the wisest idea. Not now anyway.

Hades, however, didn't seem to hear his words as he went on a rampage, screaming loudly and wildly as he pulled out another weapon. It was a spear with two sharp blades in its top end, making it look like a fork at first glance.

When Hades swung the spear around, Emery could sense the weapon was also a high grade artifact. In fact, it gave off a stronger sensation when compared to the staff.

"You shall pay for what you've done!!"

The magus appeared to have lost his reason and was ready to fight once again.

Emery was ready, he can feel the sword gave him the power to resist the magus.

To be continued