"A-as your knight... of course..." Kaiden suddenly felt like he got too caught up in the moment and let his emotions slipped.
"HOW DARE YOU FLIRT IN FRONT OF ME, KAIDEN!" Yumi was livid. She was starting to lose patience seeing as how close she is to her goal!
"ROAR!" As if representing Yumi's anger, the giant Sabertooth King quickly reached Kaiden and pounced on him!
Kaiden couldn't step back since he had Victoria behind him so he could only move forward!
"The Profound Isolation Barrier can hold up the attacks of the other zombies! I just need to stop this beast and kill it!" He blocked the Claws the undead Sabertooth King with the two swords in his hands.
*Boom*
The great strength of the Sabertooth King pushed him downwards and created a crater under them that was one meter deep. It even made Kaiden bleed in the mouth a little.
"Aaarrrghh!!! " He momentarily pushed back the gigantic Sabertooth King by pushing his two handheld swords forward. Then, he used his other two swords to initiate another attack!
"Four Sword Style: Quadruple Storm Piercer!" Kaiden thrusted his swords forward!
This attack pushed back the Sabertooth King several steps! It created four deep wounds to the Sabertooth King! But wounds were something that did not hinder an undead. So it only continued to pounce towards Kaiden as it recovered its footing.
Kaiden also did not want to let up so he pushed forward in order to land the finishing blow.
"GRRR!" The Sabertooth King once again attacked in blinding speed! This time it with a bite! Using its main weapons, those two sharp incisors was said to even pierce through steel castle walls like it was paper!
*BOOM*
Kaiden was able to quickly dodge the devastating bite. That single bite shook the ground as it created an even larger and deeper crater! It was no over five meters deep!
"If that hit me, I would have died." Kaiden had no choice but to retreat as he found himself in the crater once more.
"I need to beat it quickly before my time runs out!"
The Sabertooth King tried biting down again but Kaiden narrowly evaded by hitting it in his right jaw causing the trajectory of the attack to change.
Its large body turned to slam against Kaiden but Kaiden skillfully used his swords on the rotting flesh and was able to create a tunnel to evade the body slam.
Once he pierced through the body of the Sabertooth King, he was met with the tail that bashed him into the ground!
*Crash*
"Bleurgh!" Kaiden coughed up blood from the impact. He used the rebound of the impact to once again attack the Sabertooth King!
The two powerful entities were stuck in a deadlock as Kaiden was slowly causing a lot of damage over time but the Sabertooth King is unbothered with these wounds and is landing attacks against Kaiden every few clashes.
"Hm?"
In those exchanges, Kaiden then noticed that it had some serious fractures in its inner jaw, neck bones, and its ribcage. Probably from when it was hunted and killed when it was still alive.
'I could take advantage of that when it bites down..." From this, he thought of a very risky plan but it could quickly finish off the Sabertooth King.
'Its risky but I have no choice but to gamble!' Kaiden quickly came to a conclusion.
Without waiting for Kaiden to recover, the Sabertooth King bore his fangs and tried to bite Kaiden's weapons!
"Now!" Kaiden was waiting for this moment. He jumped and lunged forward towards the biting Saber tooth King!
"Four Sword Style -" He once again did his previous move Four Sword Style: Quadruple Cloud Piercer as it had the piercing power necessary to pull this off. But this time he made it focus on a single point rather than having it spread out in different directions!
There was something that he noticed when the Sabertooth King bites. Its inner jaws became exposed and it aligns perfectly with the fractures of the neck if you view it from the front when it bites down.
So Kaiden planned to jump in the moment the Sabertooth King was gonna bite and he planned to attack all the fractured parts from the inner jaws to the neck all the way to the ribcage so he could destroy the Sabertooth King in one fell swoop.
The only problem is the timing since the problem was not only the biting strength but also its biting speed which was really fast.
If Kaiden timed the jump wrong, he could easily die from the biting strength of the Sabertooth King.
'Its the only way I can defeat this beast quickly!' So he set aside all the doubts he had for this plan and executed it.
Noticing its prey lunging itself towards its mouth, the undead Sabertooth King also bit down ferociously!
"What is he doing?!" Yumi thought that Kaiden suddenly became suicidal and she was already going to signal the Sabertooth to stop its attacks.
However, before she could do that, Kaiden went in and to boosted his speed by double jumping using his two flying swords as footholds in the air. He further boosted himself with his already berserk Innate Energy!
*CHOMP* *BOOM*
The heavy bite of the Sabertooth King created a deafening sound as it created sonic booms from the force and speed of the bite!
"-Sky Piercing Cross!"
At that exact moment, three explosions occurred within the Sabertooth King's body! Its mouth crumbled, its neck erased and its ribcage in shambles!
Kaiden managed to successfully defeat the Sabertooth King in one motion!
"He managed to defeat an undead Sabertooth King alone in that short period of time?" Yumi could not help but be shocked.
While it was only a Mortal Severing Beast, mystical beasts are generally stronger than average cultivators in the same realm simply due to their constitution. This is why it would take a group of average cultivators to raid an ordinary mystical beast just to hunt it. This would need time, strategy and coordination of attacks as well.
This was also an undead Sabertooth King which did not have any fear from physical wounds and persists regardless of wounds inflicted in combat. Yet, Kaiden did it in only a few minutes.
"He is a genius! He has the boldness to also carry over such daring move despite its dangers! Just because he has someone to protect! He really is a knight of knights!" Yumi praised Kaiden again and again as he became more desirable in her eyes.
====
Immediately, Kaiden turned back and fended off the undead zombies and beasts that were trying to break through the Profound Isolation Barrier that was keeping Victoria safe. Since it could even withstand attacks from a Half Saint, the efforts of the beasts were futile.
"Begone!" He sliced another batch of undead with a horizontal sweep of his swords which created an overwhelming gust of wind that blew the hordes of undead in front of him.
In addition to the zombies being sent over to them, Kaiden also had to deal with the onslaught from the Hell Puppeteer.
Beside it, several vortices made from Hell Threads were being made! In the center of these vortices, arrow-like weapons formed from the twisted hell threads were being manufactured.
"Hell Arrows!" Yumi signaled as those arrows were shot from their respective vortex and their target was the Profound Isolation Barrier!
*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*
Like a barrage of attacks, these hell arrows were raining down on the barrier without targeting Kaiden.
"It isn't targeting me?"
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Once they hit the surface of the barrier, it would create thunderous sounds and the Hell Threads would scatter after every impact!
But the resilient Profound Isolation Barrier remain unscathed despite the continued onslaught of someone from the Peak of Mortal Severing. It remained true to its capabilities of being able to even withstand attacks from a Half-Saint!
"Why is she continuing something so futile? Is she trying to whittle down the barrier? But that would take her ages to do so." This left Kaiden in confusion as to the reason why Yumi was doing something that seemed pointless.
Only Yumi knows the true objective of the onslaught she was doing while she watched on with a smile.
===
Inside the barrier...
Strangely, no sounds of the attacks were passing through the barrier. It was a strange effect where everything was isolated except for the sound of the one who activated the barrier if they ever wish to speak with the person being protected by the barrier.
But the onslaught of the Hell Arrows were still a terrifying sight to be hold.
However, the princess inside was not even paying attention to what was happening outside anymore as she contemplated the words that Kaiden just said.
Kaiden's words resonated into Vitoria's mind and heart. His words touched her heart as she burst into tears. She felt warmth and love from the way Kaiden looked at her.
At the same time, she remembered the words of kindness of her mother and the acts of assurance of her father. She remembered the times that her mother would hug her to sleep and the times when her father skipped on clan affairs and helped her train to keep her company. Her parents were always with her and comforting her.
She also remembered the times she was travelling with her escort group. The reprimanding of her Uncle Hawks for going out without permission. Kaiden always catching her trying to go off on her own but ends up accompanying her to where she wants to go.
The gossips of Erca and the other girls as she got interested in their love stories and them giving advice to her about love.
The antics and tomfoolery of Koma and the guys as they tried their best to make her laugh.
The idle talks along the journey and the peaceful dinners along the bonfire while they talk about the journey ahead.
These memories kept flooding back to her as she felt more and more loved. But the more she remembered these memories, the bitter she felt because they were no longer alive except for Kaiden.
Coincidentally, she was hearing vague voices from everyone who just passed on as small flickering lights surrounded her .
"Thank you for checking in on my back always, milady..."
"Thank you for always letting me know and letting me eat the will berries we found because you know they are my favorite..."
"Thank you for being patient with me and waking me up despite being a sleepy head..."
"Thank you for always caring for us..."
"We love you..."
'He's right... Maybe I have been to blinded by my own insecurities and thoughts to see it.... Maybe they really did it because of me...' Now, she felt like she was too absorbed in her own insecurities and fears that she shut off everyone. But she was starting to see it as she heard these voices, their warmth and feelings were giving her the strength to live!
"I'm sorry... Thank you... Big bro Kai... everyone...."
It was all Victoria could mutter as she sobbed yet this time it was different. She was crying from gratitude.
====
Kaiden could hear the sadness in her voice as he glanced back for one second after obliterating the foes in front of him. He saw that her eyes were warmer yet still filled with tears. It was no longer clouded by self-blame and despair.
He thought that he had to at raise up her spirits more, "We all risked our life to save you because we believe in the future you represent. You are the most talented genius that the clan has ever seen. Captain would often brag about how you would usher in a new era of prosperity because your talent and your demeanor. People bow to you due to strength but people follow you due to character! A future where you lead us with your strength and kindness, that is what I believe you could bring. Not simply because you were the daughter of the Clan Head but because you are the person that you are."
"Big Bro...." Victoria's tears were continuing to rush down as she was overflowing with emotion from the encouragement that Kaiden gave her. She was realizing that it was true.
"I should be the one getting all this love and attention from you, Kaiden!" Yumi began to sound more and more jealous as she could see the warmth that she has sought for all her life!
'Why can't anyone love and protect me like her?! What does she have that I don't?! This is all so unfair!' Yumi crazily shook her head out of spite as she used more power to summon undead beast this time!
It could be seen that she was really at her limits. She has summoned more than ten thousand undead troops already so adding more was causing some immediate backlash. She is currently bleeding from her nose and blood is also dripping from the corners of her mouth. Despite that, she was pushing herself to summon these beasts
"Colossal Bison! Titan Taurus! Crush that bitch!" Yumi called forth two more large beasts that arose from two directions.
"I WILL HAVE YOU, KAIDEN" Yumi seemed completely deranged as she said that.
One to Victoria and Kaiden's left and the other to the right.
"GROOOWL" The Colossal Bison trumpeted.
"GRAAAAAAARGHHH" The Titan Taurus also roared at the same time.
Kaiden roared as he pushed back the enemies once again as two long vertical sword slashes flew towards the two giants, "Four Swords Style: Twin Towers!"
The attack while pushed back both and wound them but it only served to anger these beasts.
"Everyone died knowing that! So live, milady! Live for us so we can rest knowing that we helped pave the way for the future of the Clan!" Kaiden passionately shouted as he continued with his onslaught.
But at that moment, Kaiden's body started to weaken.
"Bleurgh..." Kaiden threw up some blood after he slashed another zombie. He knew that at that moment, his body gave up on him.
"Not yet!" As he push through and kept on slashing the undead monsters in front of him.
The impressive aura that he previously had was rapidly fading. His skin was slowly cracking and these cracks were spreading throughout his body. It seemed like it was coming from the inside
Pieces of the cracked skin were starting to fall off as it showed you dry and darkened muscles. He was also bleeding profusely from these wounds.
"No... not like this..." Kaiden begged as he felt like his voice was also waning. Cracks were starting to appear in his face as well. But it was to be expected he was abusing his body with two berserk techniques.
Now, his body has reached its limits and he was now rapidly losing power.
"I can't die like this... Not until I make sure Victoria is safe..." Kaiden tried to fight it but he really did not have any strength to fight left.
Yumi noticed this and immediately moved! "Now!"
Hell Threads from the Hell Puppeteer immediately wrapped around Kaiden and restrained him as he tried to resist. These came from the scattered threads from the onslaught of the Hell Arrows!
"Hell Threads - Binding Cocoon." Yumi uttered.
This was the true objective of Yumi's onslaught earlier. To make Kaiden drop his guard in the last possible moment and then imprison him in these Hell Threads.
"Argh!"
" I figured you would not be able to continue outputting such crazy berserk power any longer so I needed to wait for a moment where your aura waned so I can capture you." Yumi's expression twisted into an unsettling smile.
"Suppression!"She raised the power of Suppression to its maximum. Now, Kaiden's aura has been completely shut down by Yumi!
"Let... me... go..." Kaiden tried to resist more but more and more Hell Threads binded his body and it was now forcing his mouth to open.
"Finally, I have you now!" Yumi rejoiced as she ordered the Hell Puppeteer to force feed the True Restoration Pill to Kaiden.
Yumi smiled beautifully with the twisted happiness apparent in her eyes, "First order of business is to heal you. I can't believe how reckless you are to the point your body is breaking down..."
The True Restoration Pill immediately activated upon ingesting and it was enveloping Kaiden's body with warm light-green aura. It was stopping the cracks around his body to spread and it seemed to even undo the cracks bit by bit.
"But I guess that's to be expected from my Knight." Looking awfully happy with her self, Yumi rejoiced as she ordered the Hell Puppeteer to bring Kaiden closer to her.
But she observed that the state that Kaiden was in was far worse than what she originally thought. His Life Force was weakening at a subtle rate. This was thankfully mitigated by the True Restoration Pill but even the True Restoration Pill that she has cannot fully heal Kaiden.
'He really was a few seconds close to dying already. He pushed himself that far for her!' Yumi's eyes flickered with awe and happiness as she recalled how knightly Kaiden was.
'Thankfully the True Restoration Pill that I have is of very high grade. It cannot heal him completely but it should at least keep him from dying.'
'Now, finally, he is mine!' Yumi's heart was full of glee as she thought while she reached for Kaiden, 'Now, will he be able to save me from my despair...'
Suddenly, a sound of something breaking was heard from afar!
*BOOM*
With beams of light accompanying this breaking sound, a voice resounded, "I will save you!"