Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Everybody was pondering the option when Alvara spoke once again.

"I know I am asking too much, if possible I would have liked to stake my life in the line instead of Marba. However, I see no other option to take this man down. I know I am being selfish but I don't want to see my brother being manipulated to kill his own people anymore. Of course, we will go with this plan only if Marba herself agrees".

The mage Marba who was at the back of the formation, clutched her staff tightly. Her face looked pale and her body trembled ever so slightly. Clearly, she was nervous when such a large responsibility was put on her shoulders. Nevertheless, the girl put up a bright smile and nodded her head.

"Haha, don't worry about me, I will do it. Just like you, I want Sir Cyrus to rest too. He was someone noble and helped orhpans like us to walk the right path when we were young. If it's for him, then even if it costs me my life I shall help set him free".

Her words made Burg who usually stuck close to her the most, to bunch his brows. His mouth opened and closed as he looked at the determined girl next to him. In the end, he was unable to say anything and could only clench his shield tighter.

His movements might have been slight; however, they didn't go unnoticed by Alvara. She turned towards Marba and reassured, "There is no need for you to give your life. I promise you that we will keep him contained until you complete your spell".

There was a faint smile on her face.

"It looks like you have some plan, Guard commander. In that case, allow these old bones to aid you. Although I might not be able to handle the former knight captain, I still take pride in being a seasoned adventurer" Brett the old assassin spoke brandishing his knives.

"Alright everyone, get into position. We shall take down the knight captain who is being manipulated by the enemies and reduce the burden on the princess who is fighting to take out the head of the enemy army" Alvara hurridly cried out when she saw her brother move once again.

BOOM… cracking the ground as he moved, the knight captain now a perfect tainted commander utilised his high stats to appear in front of them. The greyish black sword in his hand was swung downwards and a powerful blade aura was released.

The blade aura was more than ten feet long and was sharp enough to cleave through an entire mountain.

"Haaaaa!!" at the same moment the sword was swung down, a mighty roar sounded and Burg carrying a large shield with one hand, stood in front of everyone.

CLANG… a low dull noise rang out followed by intense sparks as the force behind the blade aura pushed Burg dozens of meters. A deep ditch formed under his feet and sounds of his bones breaking could be heard.

In fact, his face looked so red that it wouldn't be surprising that he burst many veins in the process. Yet the force behind the blade aura was yet to diminish. Nevertheless, like a stubborn bull, Burg refused to budge down.

Finally, just as he was about to be blown away, he threw away his sword and grabbed the shield with both of his hands. What's more, he also lowered his centre of gravity and tilted his shield until his posture was exactly like the knight captain when he defended.

Finally, after a fierce struggle, the blade aura came to a stop and was deflected upwards just as it was about to cleave his shield in half.

"If you are a protector, just focus on defending. There is no meaning for you to hold a sword, all you need is a shield. As long as you master it, you can protect everyone and anyone who is behind you"

"Knight captain do you still remember these words that you said to me when we met for the first time after I got recruited as a royal knight?" Burg looked at the former knight captain and grinned.

Though his words did not evoke any emotion from the man who was no different than a cold emotionless machine right now. The latter simply extended his sword upwards, frightening mana mixed with peculiar greyish energy gathered at the edges.

"No, you don't"

Just as he was about to swing his sword once again, Brett pounced out of thin air and attacked the wrist of the knight captain thus stopping him from unleashing that devastating sword slash once again.

It was not only Brett, Alvara who followed soon after, chained her attacks with Brett. Her powerful skills, combined with the abilities of her rare class rained down on the knight forcing him to defend continuously.

By the time the tainted commander could deal with all those attacks, Burg recovered from his injuries and stood before him once again. The group repeated the tactic, keeping the knight captain busy.

Meanwhile, standing at the far back, Marba raised her staff and started casting. Whoosh… winds began to brew as a large amount of mana gushed out of her body. Like a twister, the mana from Marba was dense enough to take form and even affect the environment.

With every chant that she spoke, the dense mana agglomerated towards her staff. The large core stone released a bright glow as threatening fluctuations spread all around the surroundings.

Like ripples on the surface of a lake, these fluctuations were visible to the naked eye. The natural mystical energy present in the surrounding immediately fled when it came in contact with those ripples.

If the precursive effects was already this strong, one would have to wonder how powerful the magic was.

"This destructive aura… it has clearly surpassed the intermediate magic. No, could she be trying to conjure amalgamation magic of two intermediate tier elements?"

Brett who was busy containing the knight captain, muttered under his breath feeling the magic slowly take shape.

"Haha, that lass has grown" he laughed.

Something like casting amalgamation magic and that too of two intermediate tier elements wasn't something that the previous Marba would even think of. Yet the current her was trying to achieve just that.

This showed how much she had grown both in terms of level and mentality in the past few months. In fact, it was not only her who had shown growth, all the people in the group had broken out of their previous shells and had become more powerful and resilient.

Like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, they had undergone a metamorphosis of sorts. As could be seen from the way they fought and coordinated together. Each and every skill they used was effective enough to increase the damage of the others while leaving no opportunity to exploit.

"Let's keep mounting the pressure. If Marba is able to successfully cast that magic, it will surely take down this tainted commander" On Cynthia's shout the ferocity of the group's attack increased.

If they could sense the changes in the mana in the surroundings, then it was also possible for the former knight captain they were entangled with to also sense it too.

Knowing such a powerful attack was about to come, there was no way, he would let her complete it. As they had expected, the dead eyes of the knight captain suddenly shone with a beast like ferocity. The entire atmosphere around him changed and his attacks became even more berserk.

"Kuh" Burg grit his teeth and endured the relentless attack that came raining down on him. By now he had already lost all sensation coming from his arms which felt like two blocks of concrete that were extremely heavy.

Yet even though he bled and suffered inhumane pain in the process, he did not move away from his place. The reason being that as a tank if he moved from his place, then it would put his teammates in danger and especially that girl who was currently in the midst of conjuring her most powerful magic.

Compared to the responsibility she shouldered, the pain he suffered was nothing.

"Knight captain you are not going anywhere"

Giving a deep growl like that of an injured beast, Burg activated one skill after another. His skin turned crimson and his body ballooned increasing to a size of a small mountain in the blink of an eye.

Sensing the changes in him, Alvara also activated her most powerful skill. [ThornBloom Blade Dance] a rare skill that has perfected to the ancient tier.

The sword in her hand danced, releasing peculiar sword glows that stayed in the air without disappearing even after a while.

[ThornBloom Dance], it was a technique that combined elegance with lethal and deadly strikes. Every movement and arc, manifests a whirlwind of slashes that mimic the graceful yet lethal movements of blooming thorns.

With each strike of the technique, it appeared as if it were a thorn springing forth from the earth, swift and unstoppable.

Alvara's movement looked like a dance, the air crackled with power, and the sound of steel slicing through the atmosphere was akin to the rustling of leaves in the wind. Her blade moved with fluidity and speed, leaving behind a trail of shimmering arcs that glint in the light like petals catching the sun.

From afar, the Thornbloom Blade Dance resembles a beautiful yet perilous dance, Alvara moving with such grace and precision that it is almost mesmerizing to behold.