Asura in Arknights

Having experienced his first embarrassing defeat, the knight no longer used all his strength when swinging his sword. The enemy before him was not the subterranean monster he usually faced, allowing him to unleash his brute force without restraint.

This is an enemy that even he must face with caution.

The knight immediately turned the hilt of his sword, changing his stance as he swept it horizontally towards Li Ang, who was standing to the side. However... the knight did not know that this was exactly the opportunity Li Ang had been waiting for.

Although Li Ang did not understand swordsmanship, he could tell from some of the knight's movements that he was very uncomfortable fighting one-on-one against an enemy of his 'small' size, which was his most fatal weakness.

Faced with the greatsword attacking again, Li Ang neither dodged nor avoided it, but instead took the initiative to meet it head-on.

Before the greatsword could gain speed, Li Ang stepped heavily onto the tip of the greatsword, using the knight's blade as a springboard to leap into the air.

The knights were acting on the Queen's orders to capture Adele; there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides, so...

"Die."

Below was the knight's unguarded head.

Chapter 54 Probably because I like you.

Pulled by gravity, the tip of the cane landed on the knight's head without any obstruction.

With this, Li Ang used almost all his strength, and the knight's helmet deflated instantly, like a tomato that had been stepped on. A foul-smelling liquid slowly seeped out from the gaps in the helmet, making Li Ang's stomach churn.

The knight's movements also stopped.

ended.

With one hand bracing against the knight's shoulder, Li Ang flipped over and landed on his back, letting out a deep breath.

An overwhelming sense of exhaustion surged through every cell of his body. Li Ang desperately wanted to collapse into bed and sleep. These were definitely the two longest days of his life.

Fortunately, it's all over now. He and Adele have successfully escaped, and the strongest pursuers have been dealt with. Even if the Twin Queens wanted to send more people, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint their current location.

Adele shouldn't have gone too far. As long as they follow the direction she left in, they'll be truly safe.

Leon was now completely relaxed. He shook his head and prepared to go find Adele, who had just left.

However… he seemed to have overlooked a detail: the headless body of the knight behind him did not collapse limply, and he did not even loosen his grip on the greatsword.

The sound of whistling wind came from behind.

"cough--"

Li Ang felt a sweet taste in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged up from his stomach.

What just happened?

It wasn't until his body crashed heavily to the ground, his fingers filled with tiny pebbles, that Li Ang realized he had been knocked away.

But... how is this possible? How could that knight still be alive?

Li Ang clearly remembered that his final, devastating blow had completely shattered the knight's head.

No one can survive without their head, which is why Li Ang subconsciously lowered his guard, giving his opponent the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Feeling the excruciating pain in his lower back and abdomen, it seemed as if even his perception of the world was tinged with a faint crimson hue... This was the most severe injury Li Ang had ever suffered.

Fortunately, Li Ang's senses saved his life. Just as he was about to be cut in two, he managed to avoid the most fatal part.

Clutching the wound on his lower back tightly, Li Ang managed to stand up with the help of his cane.

Ahead, the knight's tall, headless body began to move. He dropped the greatsword that had nearly cleaved Li Ang in two and strode heavily toward Li Ang's location.

Blood kept flowing from his abdomen, soaking Li Ang's clothes on his lower body. The blood loss took away Li Ang's little remaining strength, and now Li Ang didn't even have the strength to take a step forward.

"Hey, hey, hey, you can still move without a head? Did you just step out of some horror movie for a cameo?" Li Ang said with a wry smile.

Of course, the knight who lost his head also lacked the 'mouth' organ to answer Li Ang's question.

The scene before them resembled something out of a horror movie: a headless monster, still capable of movement, relentlessly pursued the protagonists.

Is this the kind of monster that Letania calls a knight? Or is the knight before him just an exception?

Something's really wrong with this country. If it happened once or twice, it would be one thing, but three times in a row the enemies have been in this terrible state. Li Ang couldn't help but suspect that there might be something wrong with the country's leadership.

Tower sorcerers who transform infected individuals into mutants, witch king worshippers who cultivate fungi within their own bodies, knights who can still move freely even after losing their heads... Is something wrong with this country?

Perhaps due to the lack of visibility, the knight couldn't locate Li Ang immediately. Maybe he lost his mind along with his head, as he was frantically waving his arms in an open space not far ahead. However, this situation wouldn't last long, as the two weren't far apart.

Breathing in the air deeply, the abdominal pain had lessened under the influence of the surge in adrenaline.

Although he still didn't have much strength left and couldn't escape, Li Ang had regained some of his ability to fight back.

This was his final blow.

The world seemed shrouded in a faint crimson hue, as if the entire world were ablaze.

The first Originium ring was activated, and the light was distorted here, blooming with a faint yet brilliant rainbow light. Then came the second and the third. At this moment, all the Originium particles under Li Ang's control were ignited. His body was like the eye of a storm, continuously plundering massive amounts of Originium energy from this world.

At this moment, Li Ang's entire body was covered in rainbow light. Although this dreamlike light looked beautiful, it concealed a deadly killing intent.

Such a massive source energy reaction finally alerted the knight. He slowly turned around, and after confirming Li Ang's location, he rushed towards it.

At this moment, after more than ten seconds of charging up, Li Ang's strongest attack was finally ready.

In normal combat, the enemy would never give Li Ang so much time to prepare his ultimate move, but in the current situation, facing a monster that has lost its mind, Li Ang has enough time to prepare his Originium Arts.

"Go."

Li Ang stopped accumulating energy and unleashed this hopeful final blow.

A nearly five-meter-high 'rainbow' appeared on the earth, advancing forward with unparalleled momentum.

Faced with Li Ang's last-ditch effort, the knight, who had lost his mind, did something that even Li Ang found crazy. He didn't dodge or evade; instead, his gauntlets surged with Originium energy as he desperately grabbed the rainbow.

His action seemed so powerless in the face of 'Rainbow,' which was almost twice his height.

The knight had exhausted every last bit of strength from his body; his bulging muscles nearly shattered his armor, yet he still retreated step by step, propelled by the rainbow.

The gauntlet that had come into direct contact with the rainbow let out a mournful cry of despair, followed by the ground beneath his feet. When the knight's last foothold crumbled into pieces, his resistance finally came to an end.

The rainbow passed through the knight's body without any obstruction, cutting him in two neatly from left to right.

With two soft thuds, the knight finally fell to the ground.

"Surely he should be completely dead by now..."

Li Ang also plopped down on the ground with a thud. If he still wasn't dead, there was nothing he could do.

Lying flat on the sand, Li Ang felt an irresistible wave of drowsiness wash over him.

I'm so tired... I should be able to rest for a while now... Adele, you'll find me, won't you?

Gradually, Li Ang's consciousness sank into an absolute void.

In a daze, Li Ang seemed to hear the sound of a car engine next to his ear.

Who is this person? Adele? Or new pursuers? But Li Ang is too tired right now to muster any strength to check the situation around him.

After a while, Li Ang felt something cold touch his abdominal wound.

A faint voice whispered in his ear, "Leon...why are you working so hard?"

Oh, it was Adele... Well, that's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, Li Ang's reaction was several beats slower than usual. Upon hearing Adele's low mutterings, he blurted out a sentence without even thinking.

"Perhaps it's because I like you."

"..."

"...Huh?"

Chapter Fifty-Five: Aftermath

Night quietly descended upon the earth.

After waiting for a long time without any news, Alvin finally couldn't help but take Lynn with him and take the initiative to search for the knight's whereabouts.

The two searched the wilderness for hours before finally finding their knight's trail. Although they were both well-informed tower sorcerers, they were still shocked by what they saw.

A huge ravine, about one meter wide but over a hundred meters long, suddenly appeared on the ground, and the body of the knight they were searching for was scattered at both ends of the ravine.

The knight's corpse was in a terrible state; his head was missing, and the high-strength alloy armor he wore seemed to have served no purpose. His body was neatly split in two, with his internal organs spilling out everywhere.

"How is this possible? The knight... is dead?" Alvin's legs trembled slightly. He didn't even need to squat down to confirm; he could already tell that the knight was dead.

Looking back at the exaggerated chasm, Alvin murmured, "Such powerful magic..."

"That's why I said that the Agor man is not simple. If I had acted rashly back then, I might have died." Although Lynn said this, he was also extremely shocked.

Lynn's earlier statement was merely an excuse for his inaction; when he heard the knights had already set out, he was prepared to accept punishment.

But unexpectedly, his words turned out to be wrong in the end.

They both knew Adele Nauman's information; she possessed Originium Arts related to fire, which was why the Queen's Voice sent the Willard Knight, who was most effective against fire.

Given the strength of Willard's armor, even if he stood still and kept the little girl still, it would be impossible for him to cause any damage.

The problem now clearly lies with the Agor who fled with Nauman. Look at this spell that's powerful enough to tear the earth apart... Lynn has completely lost control of the current situation.

The death of a knight... is a major event even in Letania.

Whether the Tower will cut its losses in time and abandon the pursuit of Adele Nauman and the Agor, or send out a stronger force to wash away its shame with the blood of its enemies, even Lynn couldn't say for sure how things would develop in the future.

A silent atmosphere filled the space between them. After a long while, Lynn finally spoke, asking, "Senior Alvin, what should we do next?"

Alvin slowly stood up, his face extremely grim. "Go back and report this to the Tower. This matter is beyond our scope of handling."

After saying that, Alvin pointed to the two mutilated corpses on the ground and said, "Also, come and lend a hand and take this corpse back."

"It should still be useful after some repairs."

……

A secluded and quiet little bar in Brandenburg.

Professor Valcke and the old headmaster sat facing each other in a corner booth, silently drinking the wine on the table, neither of them intending to speak first.

They were all waiting for news.

Suddenly, the old headmaster's expression froze, and he clenched his wine glass tightly, as if he had heard some extremely shocking news. He glanced at Valcke across from him with a complicated look.

Meanwhile, Valcke was almost completely drunk, only knowing how to keep pouring alcohol into his mouth, and didn't notice the old headmaster's little action at all.

"Alright, stop drinking. The message has already been sent over."

The old headmaster pressed down on the hand holding the wine glass in Valck's hand, while Valck just stared blankly at the old headmaster with a bewildered look.

With a sigh, the old headmaster said, "It seems I have to congratulate you this time; your students have successfully escaped."

Upon hearing this, Professor Valcke immediately tossed his wine glass aside, his eyes instantly regaining their clarity.

"They escaped?" Professor Valcke shouted.

"Keep your voice down." The old headmaster covered his ears and said with some helplessness, "However... it seems your student has made a big fuss. This time, a knight has actually died."

"The tower will definitely not let this go."

"It's good that you escaped...it's good that you escaped..." Professor Valcke patted his chest, his brain automatically filtering out the old headmaster's last sentence.

A knight died? What does that have to do with him? As long as Adele manages to escape.

Seeing Professor Valcke's reaction, the old headmaster didn't know what to say.

"Alright, let's not talk about that now. Let's talk about Mr. and Mrs. Nauman."

Professor Valcke patted his cheeks, trying to clear his head. "Go ahead and speak."

“You probably don’t know where to start your investigation yet, do you? I do have a lead,” the old headmaster said, spreading his hands. “But before that, I need you to sign an agreement.”

"What agreement?"

Professor Valcke immediately became alert, then suddenly said, "You're also from the Tower?"

He might be a little slow-witted, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. The fact that the old principal could produce so much hidden information speaks volumes.

However... at least the headmaster didn't reveal Adele's situation to the Tower, otherwise they wouldn't have had a chance to escape.

Upon hearing this question, the old principal did not answer directly, but simply smiled and said, "Do you believe that I have been able to sit in this position for so many years without any connection to those above me?"

Professor Valcke remained silent.

"The Tower found some interesting clues among their belongings, but they don't have the manpower to go abroad to search for them right now. If you agree, I can contact them and put this matter in your hands. Of course, I will also keep your position at the school. All of this... as long as you agree to a few small requests."

As he spoke, the old principal pushed a pre-prepared agreement in front of Professor Valcke.

"You should know how difficult it is for one person to investigate this kind of thing. You should think this through carefully. The Tower doesn't have a direct conflict with you in this matter. If you miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to get the Tower's support next time."