Chapter 229 - Father & Daughter's Choice (3)

5

Up until that point, Azell’s party couldn’t understand Atein’s attitude. However, they were able to decipher Atein’s intention through the information given to them by Kayalia.

Why hadn’t Atein been more aggressive in defending the waypoints to the Road of Emptiness?

He needed the death of the Dragon Demon King worshippers, who were contracted to his cause. They were connected to the Great Darkness, and their deaths were necessary in advancing his plan.

This didn’t mean that the Road of Emptiness wasn’t important either. However, Atein didn’t plan on fighting whole world like he did in the past. Atein was going to use the souls of the Dragon Demon King worshippers as a resource to create a massive magic ritual. That was much more important to him.

“We still have to destroy all the waypoints.”

Kairen spoke. He knew Atein’s intention, yet he decided that they should continue their plan of destroying the waypoints.

“It might be best to give the appearance that we are obsessed with destroying the waypoints. It’ll give us legitimate cover until we decide to attack them.”

Anyways, they needed to destroy all the nearby waypoints before they could destroy a pillar of Darkness. If they want to invest fully in a battle, they had to eliminate the possibility of being hit from behind.

“The only problem that remain is which pillar we should destroy first…….”

The Great Darkness was being propped up by 12 pillars, and they had destroyed three of them.

Moreover, Azell’s party knew the location of all the nine remaining pillars. Carlos hadn’t known all the location, but the missing information had been filled in by Kayalia.

Azell spoke.

“The most vulnerable one is located within the Balran forest.”

It was where they had lost Yuren, and in the end, Atein had be able to reseal the Tree god.

However, Azell’s party had been able to destroy all the defenses that had been placed around the seal of the Tree god. According to Kayalia’s information, Atein hadn’t been able to restore the defense yet.

Atein could have started restoring the defense after Kayalia’s authority to view information was revoked. However, a defense of that nature couldn’t be put up in a short amount of time.

“It mean they’ll guard it more securely with troops.”

“Isn’t it better to hit a different place?”

“No, we have to hit that place. They’ll tolerate losing waypoints, but they can’t afford to lose pillars. We’ll clear the nearby waypoints as fast as possible to set up the attack. Let’s keep pushing before they come up with a new countermeasure.”

Kairen continued to make plans in his head. He had been frustrated up until that point, because he hadn’t known what Atein was planning. He would be able bloody Atein’s nose with this time around. Kairen let out an evil smile.

6

Count Lakadi of the Rios Kingdom.

His nickname was the Count of the Thousand Swords. Bakard Lakadi was a Dragon Demon, and he had been working as a member of the Guardian Shadows for a very long time. He garnered respect from the royal family of the Rios Kingdom, and he was known as being one of the legendary figures of this era.

In many ways, his career was remarkably similar to Kairen’s career.

He was a Dragon Demon, yet he was a lord of a human kingdom. He had lost his parents to the Dragon Demon King worshippers, so he had joined the Guardian Shadows to get his revenge. He hadn’t learned any forgotten techniques, yet he was one of the subject of caution for the Plain of Darkness.

Of course, there were differences. He had three other Dragon Demon siblings that were in the Guardian Shadows. They were named Sarah Lakadi, Eileen Lakardi and Jierens Lakardi.

“I’ve talked couple times with you through correspondence, but…..”

He was the oldest of his siblings, and he was a count. However, he looked to be in his mid 20s. There was a scar made by a sword on his cheek, and he had long thick brown hair.

He was an 80 year old Dragon Demon, yet he was basically at his prime.

“This is the first time meet you face to face, marquis Azell Karzark.”

He wanted a handshake. Azell spoke as he shook his hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, count Lakadi. I’ve heard about your many exploits.”

Azell’s identity had been revealed to everyone within the Guardian Shadows. After Carlos passed away, the command of the Guardian Shadows was given to Kairen, and he had chosen to reveal the important truths to the members. The members of the Guardian Shadows had put their lives on the line to fight the Dragon Demon King worshippers. They had the right to know the truth.

However, this didn’t mean everyone believed the information.

Azell asked in a playful manner.

“Tell me the truth. Do you really believe that I’m Azell Karzark?”

“In truth, I’m on the fence right now.”

Bakard Lakadi was truthful with his answer. It might have been believable to those that had traveled with Azell. It was asking too much for strangers to believe his claim. They had no frame of reference. Bakard Lakadi continued to speak.

“Your identity is hard to believe, and many stories related to you sound implausible. I do know that Atein and the Dragon Demon generals have been revived. Yes, I think I can believe that the archmage Carlos made the Guardian Shadows after exiting from history. However, anything beyond that is pushing my limits.”

Bleak and gloomy truths were overflowing in this world. The news that the hero Azell Karzark had revived in this era was like a ray of hope.

“It doesn’t sound believable, but I want to believe. At the very least, I will treat you with respect as the marquis of Karzaark.”

“You are honest.”

“You’ve given me techniques. This is just good manners for what you did for us. I don't’ care what your identity is. I’ll never forget your good will.”

Azell had conversed with Bakard Lakadi, because he had wanted to give Bakard the forgotten techniques.

It was way less effective than teaching it to him. Azell and Laura taught them how to deal with the hidden techniques, and it had increased the abilities of the members of the Guardian Shadows.

The Lakadi siblings were ones that showed exceptional growth amongst the members. Their team was made out of two warriors and two magicians. Even high ranked officers of the Plain of Darkness couldn’t defeat them easily. They were quite a fearsome party.

Sarah Lakadi, who was the third sibilling, asked a question after she listened to their conversation.

“Why are you insisting on fighting with us? Moreover, you insisted on coming alone.”

She looked to be around the same age as Bakard. She was an haughty looking beauty.

“You’ll be hard to find a group like us. We don’t need your help.”

The members of the Guardian Shadows knew that Azell’s party was achieving incredible results. They were constantly being kept up to date with information about Azell party’s progress.

However, the Lakadi siblings didn’t really need much help in carrying out their tasks.

Of course, the information regarding the target, and the support from the ghost-like figures of the Guardian Shadows were valuable. However, once the battle started, the four Lakadi siblings did most of the heavy lifting, and they achieved great success in battle.

So why did Azell go out of his way to help them?

If the entirety of Azell’s party had come, the siblings might have been excited at the prospect. Maybe, Azell’s party might have been planning on luring out a Dragon Demon general. However, Azell had come by himself.

From the perspective of the Lakadi siblings, they were a bit offended. It felt as if they were being told that they were unreliable.

Azell spoke.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not here, because we thought you would have trouble in this battle.”

“Then why?”

“I wanted to witness your skills with my own eyes.”

“Hmm. Does that mean you came here to verify our skills?”

Bakard asked him a question. Azell nodded his head.

“It is as you’ve said.”

“What is your reasoning for doing this?”

“We are fighting all over the continent. However, at some point, there will come a time when we’ll have to concentrate our power in one place. I’m choosing members that’ll participate in that battle.”

“Interesting. It has been awhile since we’ve been evaluated by someone else. However, you do realize that we’ll be doing the same to you?”

“Of course.”

It seemed Bakard wasn’t offended after hearing Azell’s goal in coming here. However, his attitude would change drastically if Azell didn’t show his ability and competence in this battle.

Azell didn’t plan on hiding his skills.

‘I wonder if Laura is doing well.’

Laura and Arrieta were traveling towards the Albatan forest. If he counted the time they would spend there, it would take them around two days to get back.

The party wanted to use that time efficiency, so they decided to check up on the skilled members of the Guardian Shadows with their own two eyes.

Azell had come by himself to check up on the Lakadi siblings. Their party was very well balanced. Kairen, Leticia and Kayalia went to check on the other candidates.

“Well, let’s….”

Azell usually didn’t wear a helmet, but he wore one that completely covered his head. He also didn’t wear his normal White Dragon armor, and the long sword on his hip wasn’t the Dragon sword.

He was trying to hide his identity from the Dragon Demon King worshippers. He wanted to evaluate the abilities of this party. This was why he would be put in a bind if Almarick suddenly made an appearance. The fight with Almarick had to go according to Kairen’s plan. The perfect stage would be prepared at a later date.

“Shall we start?”

Since Laura wasn’t here, he couldn’t use his Extreme Extinction to destroy the waypoint at the beginning of the fight.

Azell let the siblings dictate the battle as he ran into the battlefield.

7

When attacking a waypoint, one had to go out on an all out attack. As more time passed, there was the danger of the enemies sending reinforcements.

If the reinforcement was led by a Dragon Demon general, the fight would end as a failure. At that point, they would have to extract themselves from the battle.

Their goal was to end the fight before the third support force could arrive.

When the battle started, a single Guardian Shadow usually kept an eye on the waypoint as a lookout. If enemy support troops appeared from the waypoint, they had to immediately make a decision.

Despite using these precautions, many members of the Guardian Shadows had died.

Fortunately, their losses had decreased in recent days. It was, because the Plain of Darkness weren’t sending any high ranked officers with their reinforcement.

“We’ll break through them in one fell swoop. Please don’t fall behind.”

Two of Lakadi sibling were high ranked Dragon Arts practitioners, and the other two were high ranked magicians. Each sibling possessed great ability, and they’ve been working together for a very long time. This was why the power of their teamplay was truly powerful.

The first to jump in was Bakard.

He knew it would be hard to evade detection from their enemies using the Concealment technique. This was why he immediately used the Instantaneous movement to appear within the midst of his enemies.

After being attacked numerous times, the Dragon Demon King worshippers became much more adept at searching out their enemies. Moreover, they were much more prepared for a fight now. A distance of 100 meters had to be traversed if Bakard and his siblings wanted to ambush the Dragon Demon King worshippers. It just wasn’t a feasible to pull off the attack before they were noticed.

The Dragon Majin warrior on patrol easily blocked Bakard’s ambush attack. The patrol had three members. Another Dragon Majin attacked Bakard, and the magician activated a spell as he looked at his surrounding.

Kah-ahng!

Bakard blocked the frontal attack with the shield in his left hand.

Pah-jee-jee-jeek!

Afterwards, Sarah Lakadi clashed with the enemy magician with her magic. Sparks formed in the air. However, she wasn’t the only magician in her party. Jierens Lakadi was the youngest sibling, and he sent out a spell towards the enemy magician and warriors.

Puh-ung!

A mental wave bomb detonated, and it messed with his enemy’s senses.

Bakard had already expected this attack, so he was unaffected. The two enemy warriors faltered, and Bakard took advantage of this opportunity.

Kwah-jeek!

Bakard was locked swords with a warrior. He kicked the midsection of the warrior.

Shweek!

He used the rebound to change his stance, and Bakard’s sword took off the head of the other warrior.

The female warrior Eileen Lakadi moved a beat later as she chased after the warrior that had been sent flying by Bakadi’s kick. She brought down her steel mace as she ended his life. Afterwards, Sarah and Jierens worked in tandem to kill the magician.

‘They are amazing.’