Realm Lord
Chapter 120: The King (4)

Chapter 120: The King (4)

The Ancient King’s blade sang through the air as he pressed his renewed assault, each strike flowing seamlessly into the next like a deadly symphony. Dark ichor continued to weep from his wounds, staining the pristine marble beneath his feet, yet his movements showed no sign of the damage he had sustained. If anything, the injuries seemed to have awakened something primal within the ancient ruler—a savage fury that had been dormant for far too long.

Arthur’s shadow armor rippled and reformed around a fresh gash across his shoulder, the living darkness working to seal the wound even as he parried another devastating blow. His enhanced reflexes were all that kept him alive as the king’s ancient sword carved through the space where his head had been moments before. The shadow-wreathed blade in Arthur’s hands felt heavier with each clash.

"He’s adapting to our patterns!" Arthur shouted over the ringing of steel against steel, his voice strained with effort. Sweat mixed with blood on his face as he deflected another strike that would have opened him from shoulder to hip. "Switch positions!"

The warning came just in time as the king’s blade swept low, forcing Arthur to leap backward. But the ancient ruler had anticipated this, his free hand already moving in a vicious uppercut that caught Arthur beneath the chin. The impact sent the him stumbling, stars exploding across his vision as he fought to maintain his footing.

Aziel moved like living lightning, electricity crackling around his form in brilliant arcs that painted the throne room in stark white illumination. His spear became a blur of motion as he launched himself at the king’s exposed flank, the weapon’s point wreathed in dancing electrical energy. The weapon punched through the king’s guard, scoring a deep wound along his ribs that sent more dark ichor spattering across the ancient stones.

But the king’s retaliation was immediate and brutal. His elbow slammed into Aziel’s solar plexus with the force of a battering ram, driving the air from the lightning-wielder’s lungs. As Aziel doubled over, gasping for breath, the king’s knee came up to meet his face. The sickening crack of breaking cartilage echoed through the chamber as Aziel’s nose shattered completely this time, blood streaming down his face to mingle with the electricity still dancing across his skin.

Lara struck from behind, her twin blades seeking the vulnerable points between the king’s shoulder blades. Both weapons found their mark, sliding between whatever supernatural protection the ancient ruler possessed.

The king spun with inhuman speed, his sword carving a horizontal arc that forced Lara to bend backward in an impossible arch. The blade passed mere inches from her face, close enough that she could feel the malevolent energy radiating from its edge like heat from a forge. Before she could recover her balance, the king’s free hand shot out, fingers wrapping around her wrist with crushing force.

Lara’s scream of pain cut through the chaos as she felt the delicate bones in her wrist grind together under the king’s grip. Her twin blade fell from nerveless fingers, clattering against the marble with a sound like a funeral bell. Desperation gave her strength as she lashed out with her remaining weapon, the blade finding purchase along the king’s forearm. The healing magic tried to work, but the damage to her wrist was too severe to be completely negated by such a shallow wound.

Kay’s roar of fury shook the very foundations of the throne room as he witnessed his comrade’s agony. The massive warrior’s enhanced strength surged through his frame as he hefted his war hammer above his head, the weapon’s enormous head catching the light like a falling star. With a sound like thunder, he brought the hammer down in a devastating overhead strike aimed at the king’s skull.

The Ancient King was forced to release Lara, using both hands to catch Kay’s hammer at the moment of impact. The collision sent shockwaves through the air, cracking the marble beneath their feet and sending spider webs of fractures racing across the throne room floor. For a moment, the two titans stood locked in a contest of pure strength—Kay’s superhuman power against the king’s ancient might.

"Now!" Kay bellowed through gritted teeth, every muscle in his massive frame straining against the immovable force before him. "While I have him!"

Arthur and Aziel moved as one, shadow and lightning converging on the trapped ancient ruler from opposite sides. Arthur’s blade swept toward the king’s neck while Aziel’s spear thrust toward his heart. Victory seemed within their grasp—two killing blows delivered simultaneously while their enemy was locked in place.

But they had underestimated the depths of the Ancient King’s power.

With a sound like reality tearing, the king’s strength suddenly doubled, then tripled. Kay’s eyes widened in shock as his war hammer was not just pushed back but actively driven upward, lifting his feet from the ground. The ancient ruler’s muscles bulged beneath his robes as he channeled power that had slumbered for centuries.

The king’s ancient sword moved in a blur of motion too fast for mortal eyes to follow. Arthur’s shadow blade met it halfway, the collision sending both warriors sliding backward across the slick marble. Aziel’s spear thrust was deflected with contemptuous ease, the weapon’s point scoring nothing more than a shallow scratch across the king’s robes.

But it was Kay who bore the brunt of the ancient ruler’s awakened fury.

Still holding the war hammer above his head, the massive warrior was completely exposed when the king’s blade began its deadly work. The ancient weapon moved with surgical precision. The first strike took Kay’s left arm at the shoulder, severing bone and muscle with horrifying ease. Dark blood sprayed across the throne room as the limb fell to the marble with a wet thud, Kay’s fingers still wrapped around his hammer’s handle.

Kay’s scream of agony echoed through the vaulted chamber, but even as shock and pain coursed through his system, his enhanced constitution kept him conscious. He tried to step backward, to create distance between himself and the ancient nightmare before him, but the king was relentless in his pursuit.

The second strike took Kay’s right arm at the elbow, the blade shearing through bone like parchment. The war hammer’s massive head crashed to the floor with a sound like thunder, its weight cracking the marble where it landed. Kay stared in horror at the stumps where his arms had been, dark blood pumping from the severed arteries in rhythmic spurts that painted the floor in spreading pools of crimson.

"Kay!" Lara’s voice cracked with anguish as she watched her comrade’s mutilation, her uninjured hand pressed against her broken wrist in a futile attempt to stem her own pain.

The Ancient King’s response was swift and merciless. His foot lashed out in a kick that caught Kay in the center of his chest, the impact lifting the massive warrior’s feet from the ground despite his considerable weight. Kay’s body flew through the air like a broken doll, his armless form spinning end over end until he struck the far wall with bone-crushing force.

The ancient stones cracked from the impact, hairline fractures spreading outward from the point where Kay’s body hit. The massive warrior slumped to the floor in a heap, his head lolling forward as consciousness fled his ravaged form. Blood continued to flow from his severed arms, forming an ever-widening pool beneath his still form.

Arthur, Aziel, and Lara stood frozen in horror for a heartbeat that lasted an eternity, their minds struggling to process what they had just witnessed. Kay lay broken and armless against the wall, his life ebbing away with each drop of blood that fell from his wounds.

The Ancient King stood amidst the carnage he had wrought, his sun mask reflecting their shocked faces like a mirror of despair. Dark ichor from his own wounds mingled with Kay’s blood on the marble floor, creating patterns that seemed to writhe and shift in the light. His ancient sword dripped with fresh crimson.

The battle raged on, but the tide had shifted dramatically. Three warriors now faced an ancient nightmare, and their strongest ally lay dying against the throne room wall. The king’s hollow-eyed mask tilted slightly as he regarded the remaining fighters, and though no expression could be seen behind the golden facade, his posture radiated savage satisfaction.