Lord of the Truth

1057  Fighting the two marshals -1

"Ha... ha... ha..." Marshal Xanox ran as if his life depended on it—and it likely did.

Several pieces of his epic, assembled armor set had fallen off, and others were cracked. Blood poured from his nose and mouth in large quantities, and his limping gait suggested something was seriously wrong with his leg. Yet he kept running, weaving between buildings and rubble in a desperate attempt to hide.

But his frantic escape was short-lived.

"Found you!"

"Kiiehh!!" Xanox felt as if a thunderbolt had struck his heart in terror the moment he saw that familiar face. "Kiiikk!!" Without waiting to see what would happen next, he turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

If leader Kiri or Queen Tao were present and saw this man —the mountain they once thought insurmountable, the shadow that loomed over their hearts— fleeing in such a pitiful state, they would never have believed their eyes. One hundred percent, they would have dismissed it as a dream or an illusionary attack.

"Stop running already, you slippery scoundrel!" Richard slammed the ground with force and changed his trajectory to pursue Xanox again.

If this were an open chase, Xanox might have escaped by now. He would have flown in a straight line, speeding away until one of them ran out of energy—something that could take weeks. But this time, escape wasn't an option. His mission was to remain within the battlefield's perimeter, preventing the immediate activation of the spatial portal. This forced him to zigzag in crescent-shaped patterns and constantly seek cover.

This wasn't the first time they'd used such tactics. There had been multiple battles against the Ghassan Empire near major spatial portals where the generals of the Destruction Pit Planetary Empire employed a device to disable the portal's functionality.

The difference was that their generals typically carried this device as a badge of dominance, striding through the battlefield with unshakable confidence. They stood tall, their figures almost statuesque, arms crossed as if daring the entire world to make an attempt at seizing it. The sight alone was often enough to crush the morale of any opponent.

Xanox had believed today would be no different. When he activated the device, he had stood proudly behind His Majesty Pythor, his laughter echoing across the battlefield. He was the unyielding shield of their empire, daring anyone, even the heavens, to challenge him. But…

BAAAM!

Out of nowhere, a colossal boulder cloaked in searing green flames struck him from behind with the force of a falling star.

CRAAACK!

"Arghhh!!!" Xanox cried out in pain as his body jerked forward uncontrollably. Instinctively, he flung his elbows backward in an attempt to stabilize himself, but the impact had already taken its toll. The last remaining piece of his legendary back armor—the pride of his battle-worn gear—had cracked and shifted violently. It dangled precariously as if one more strike would send it clattering to the ground.

"Finally, I've got you!" Richard's voice roared through the chaos, filled with both triumph and relentless determination. His boots slammed against the rubble as he pushed off the ground with raw, unrelenting power. His body became a living projectile, hurtling toward Xanox like a blazing meteor, hands outstretched to snatch the dark blue pyramid—the key to their mission.

Swoosh!

"Hold it right there. Remember me?"

Out of the corner of Richard's vision, a shadow emerged with terrifying speed. It was Marshal Lacros, closing in fast. His battered frame belied the sheer strength he carried as he lifted a massive wall of rubble from the ruins around him. With a guttural roar, he brought it down with devastating force onto Richard's head.

BAAAM!

The impact was deafening, the ground trembling beneath the sheer weight of the rubble. Richard's body was thrown off balance, sent tumbling uncontrollably as he crashed against the ground.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Each collision with the earth echoed like thunder, shaking the battlefield until, finally—

BAAANG!

Richard's trajectory ended with a brutal crash into the wreckage of a toppled tower. The already unstable structure groaned under the strain before collapsing entirely. Chunks of stone and steel buried him beneath a mountain of debris, temporarily halting his pursuit.

From his vantage point, Marshal Lacros smirked, his breath heavy but victorious. "Hey, you good over there? I stopped him for now—take a breather!" he called out to his comrade, his tone laced with a false sense of ease.

Yet, Marshal Xanox didn't pause. He didn't look back. His feet pounded against the ground with relentless urgency, Shaaa, Shaaa, as if the grim reaper himself were nipping at his heels. He knew all too well that this temporary reprieve wouldn't last. Richard wasn't someone who stayed down for long. Every second he gained was borrowed time, and he intended to use every bit of it to stay ahead.

Rumble

Indeed, the debris of the fallen tower began to tremble, and then—BAAAM!—each piece flew off in a different direction like meteors, revealing Richard beneath it. He glared at Marshal Lacros with seething anger. "You again... Time and time again, you meddle where you don't belong. Do you really want to go before your brother?"

Twitch Twitch The veins across Richard's arms and legs began to pulse erratically, and even his neck twitched involuntarily. More than an hour had passed since the battle began, and throughout, he hadn't stopped using the power of the Flame of Life for even a second —forcing his body to consume energy it was never meant to handle.

"Haha, and who can make me go? Come and get me if you can!" Lacros stepped back, clearly unwilling to engage in a direct fight.

The first few times he had tried fighting Richard head-on to ease the pressure on Xanox and give him a chance to find a better hiding spot, Lacros had been utterly beaten, tossed left and right. His wrist was still broken, along with several ribs, and a few teeth had been knocked out in those split-second exchanges.

Let people mock his pathetic appearance after the war all they wanted. He didn't care. Today, if he didn't stand in Richard's way, he might as well have run in the opposite direction of Xanox!

As for the purple mist and the secondary corrosion law? Both he and Xanox had stopped using it after the first thirty minutes of combat. That green flame burned through it like it was nothing!

"...It seems I won't be able to catch the other runaway with you jumping in my way every time. You know what? Why don't I just focus on you first? I'd love to see if your friend will come to help you." Richard sneered with irritation and began moving slowly toward Lacros.

Clatter Clatter

"Hmm?" Richard raised his head slightly. The atmosphere around him shifted abruptly. The overall pressure and sense of danger intensified to an alarming degree. As he glanced around, his furrowed brows relaxed, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no..."

The wall had been breached, and the army of the Great Serpent Empire was flooding in, destroying everything in their path.

Above, General Sakaar had gone berserk, initiating a massive slaughter that he himself might become a victim of. A squad of soul creatures under his father had rushed to engage the invading army. His father, meanwhile, had begun his confrontation with Pythor, and the ground beneath them trembled violently from the clash.

And finally, out of the corner of his eye, Richard spotted his brother, Caesar, struggling to fly toward Sakaar. His face was pale, covered in wounds, and he looked as though he would be killed the moment he reached the battle above.

The world has gone mad in a matter of a second!!