Chapter 342: The Absolute Monarch
The Golden Deer charged towards Rui.
It channeled Lightning into its legs, using the ground’s recoil for an ultra-high-speed movement. A normal Seeker wouldn’t be able to react. But—
The instant the Deer’s horns were about to hit, Rui’s figure vanished.
The Yellow King was surprised by this, stomping its feet and looking around.
It didn’t understand what had happened, but suddenly the Deer’s neck exploded. Following that, its right foreleg, back, and hind leg exploded.
It didn’t take any damage. Even so, the Deer retreated warily.
“As expected, it’s tough… Even direct hits can’t break the Magical Barrier, huh?”
Before anyone knew it, Rui had circled behind the Deer. The Yellow King slowly turned around, glaring at the enemy before it.
It lowered its body slightly, unleashing a terrifying amount of Lightning from its horns.
The ground in a straight line evaporated. Naturally, the Yellow King thought the enemy had been annihilated as well, but once again, its neck exploded.
It turned its gaze sharply, and there stood Rui, Katana in hand.
“I’m glad you’re smaller. This way, I can land slashes directly.”
The Deer tried to attack the smiling Rui, but something fell from above. A strong impact ran through its body, and the surroundings burst apart.
The Golden Deer staggered slightly and looked up at the sky.
There was a human floating in the air, looking down at it.
“Hey, don’t just play with Rui. I’m here to be your opponent too!”
The Deer roared, releasing countless bolts of Lightning from its body. It would obliterate everything in one go.
That’s what the Yellow King thought, but it noticed thin flames surrounding it. It tried to escape immediately, but the flames spread in all directions.
“You can’t suppress ‘Fire’ with ‘Lightning’, you know. It seems easy to catch you.”
Albert floated in the air, raising his right hand towards the Yellow King. He slowly clenched his open hand.
Responding to this, the ‘Birdcage’ surrounding the Deer began to shrink.
“Drawing Burst.”
The flames surrounding the Deer exploded like a raging fire. The ground was blown away, and the flames rose as a giant pillar of fire.
Rui, who had distanced himself, stared at the pillar of fire, Katana at the ready.
Akito and Albert, who were in the sky, also watched the scene below. Everyone knew. The Yellow King couldn’t be defeated by this much.
Even so, they couldn’t help but hope for some damage.
The pillar of fire swayed, and a shining Deer emerged from the flames. There were no injuries on its body.
It simply stood calmly, turning its gaze to Rui in front of it. It kicked the ground repeatedly with its forelegs, letting out a piercing cry.
“Ugh!”
Rui covered his ears with one hand, grimacing and taking a step back.
It seemed quite angry. Rui readjusted his Katana, facing the Yellow King with a sense of tension.
“You two! The stalling is fine now. Let’s retreat too!”
Albert shouted from the sky. The aircraft carrying Yuma must have escaped to a sufficiently safe zone.
If that was the case, any further fighting was meaningless.
They had to escape quickly too. But would this monster let them escape so easily?
Anxiety flashed through Rui’s mind. But they had to try.
“Hold on, my legs…”
The Golden Deer in front of him lowered its body slightly, releasing a large amount of plasma from its body.
The countless plasma were dyed black, taking the form of Dragons and flying in all directions.
Lightning Magic at a level that would kill instantly if touched. Rui used Godspeed and ran with all his might. Seeing the Lightning Dragons rising into the sky, Akito also decided to escape.
“I can’t deal with this anymore!”
Dodging all the approaching Lightning Dragons, Akito cut through the sky at high speed. The Lightning Dragons also headed towards Albert, but the strongest Seeker showed no signs of panic.
“Oh dear, I didn’t really want to do this, but…”
Albert clapped his hands together and slowly separated them. Then, a small Fireball was born there.
Albert pushed the Fireball forward.
“Atomic Bomb.”
A flash enveloped the surroundings. Albert, who had caused a small nuclear explosion, was blown away by the impact.
Even though he had deployed a powerful Magical Barrier, it was a method that wouldn’t leave him unscathed.
However, it was also a trump card that would surely steal the enemy’s sight and allow him to escape.
As the smoke from the explosion cleared, the Yellow King looked around. But there was no sign of the enemy.
They escaped—the Yellow King understood that, but it didn’t chase after them.
The Golden Deer turned on its heel and walked away slowly.
The Yellow King knew that it was the absolute monarch. Therefore, it didn’t engage in unnecessary hunts.
It only slaughtered the enemies that came towards it.
The Deer was enveloped in light and disappeared from the spot.
◇◇◇
“Is it safe this far…?”
Akito, who had stopped in the air, glared at the distant land. He had flown quite a distance, but there was no sign of the enemy pursuing them.
Akito pointed the tip of Gae Bolg west.
To search for Rui, he sped through the sky. Relying on the faint Mana he felt, he searched for about ten minutes and saw something in the Wasteland.
Looking down from above, it was Rui, lying sprawled out. Akito approached and called out to him.
“Are you okay, Rui? Are you alive?”
“Ah… Akito.”
Rui opened one eye slightly and looked up at the sky.
“I used too much of the Dark Knight’s ability. I won’t be able to move for a while.”
“Can’t be helped, I guess.”
Akito descended to the ground, picked up Rui, and straddled Gae Bolg. In a style similar to a witch riding a broom, he floated up again.
“For now, let’s look for old man Albert. Then, let’s think about what to do next.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
The two wandered in the sky for about an hour but managed to find Albert. He was walking along the desolate land.
What was surprising was the location. Fifty kilometers away from the Yellow King.
More than twice the distance from where Akito and Rui were.
In other words, Albert had evacuated the furthest.
“Old man, how did you manage to escape to a place like this? I was a little worried, thinking you had been defeated.”
Albert chuckled at Akito’s words as he descended from Gae Bolg.
“Well, maybe it’s the wisdom of age. When I meet a strong opponent, I make it a point to escape as quickly as possible.”
“That’s not a line I’d expect from the strongest Seeker.”
“I’m glad you two are safe. Shall we talk about what to do from now on?”
The three discussed what to do from now on. First, guided by Albert, they decided to go to the air force base where Yuma had been taken.