Chapter 251: It is Time...

The bombardment to the front was causing the shadow armies to have a hard time breaking through.

The Commander didn't give other directives and allowed the shadow forces to keep on moving.

"Let's see how long those mages can keep this up." The Commander observed. His expressions grew sour as he could see that the surviving Champions were doomed to die as they faced the Coven.

"They are... vampires?!" One of the Champions next to him exclaimed.

"It seems that they are not a group of Holy practitioners. There is a darkness within them that does not only sping from the artifacts that that boy wields." The Commander frowned. Once more, his expectations were proven to be false. It wasn't just Kyros's bizarre suit that created the darkness. He then gave a closer inspection at Martha. He thought that Martha was just a special case as someone who cultivated in the assassin's Path. 

At that moment, the enemy Champions behind Kyros were finally killed.

"Impossible... The Lizard Sovereigns weapons and armor...!" The giant shadow lizard died as he saw both Reptilia and Gojirrah launch an attack together and kill the large lizards with spikes.

Gojirrah and Reptilia both had curious expressions. They could tell that the weapons they received from the Temple weren't normal. It had exceeded the gears of all Champions in their kingdom.

"Lady Reptilia... Who is the Lizard Sovereign?" Gojirrah asked.

Reptilia shook her head.

"This weapon... is too overpowered..." Gojirrah glanced at the sword he had.

"I felt... my blood increase. It should be reacting to the small dragon blood that Lord Kyros made us take." Reptilia observed.

On the other side, the rest of the Coven managed to defeat the Champion they fought.

The collaboration of their attacks improved. Hunter drew the enemy's attention while the rest began to harass them. The weakest among their group was actually Grugnyr, who has yet to develop his Path of Combat.

But even with that, the team managed to perform remarkably well. Their weapons were strong, and managed to stand against the might of the Champion. They all had a Dark sword and armor, which were called Dread Sword and Dread Plate Armor. The power of darkness was somehow magnified, and their Blood Swords merged well with the sword making it barely reach Champion level!

Grugnyr and Avary had some of their limbs chopped off, but they managed to kill the Champion in that exchange. 

"You... are not humans...!" The Champion realized as he died. The group was reckless and didn't mind losing a limb or two in that attack, and in the short seconds that passed, they managed to kill them.

The Dread Swords were stabbed in, and finally, Scarlet rushed in and delivered the last stab. She had been at the back supporting the team with her magic.

All of them began to devour the darkness. When Kyros absorbed all the creatures they had killed, the level of several Coven skills increased, and Dark Devourer had even grown by several levels.

The dark body of the Champion could resist all the swords devouring his soul and succumbed.

"We did it! We killed a Champion!" Avary laughed as he managed to make an attack. His sword was the attack that led to the Champion's demise as his Blood Sword devoured the soul of the Champion.

Only then that most of the Covens realize that their current power level was closer to Champions.

"Everyone. Retreat. We've killed the Champions and the Siege Cultivators! Quickly!" Kyros shouted out loud.

[Oration activated.]

[Deception skill acquired.]

The group began to retreat, but Kyros stayed behind and guarded the back as his allies retreated.

The dragon Commander frowned as he saw the group retreat.

"Why are they retreating? Did they attack just to kill the Siege cultivators?" One of the Champions next to him asked.

"It seems so. I get it now. They were worried that their defenses would fall if they kept resisting. Lord Commander, shall we send our forces?"

The dragon commander continued to contemplate the possibility.

"The Temple should have a way of defending itself. But they didn't want to waste it. So they went in and used the power of those two Shield Experts. They may assume that what they see before them is the bulk of our army..." The Commander concluded.

"Hmm. Fools! Shall we attack?"

The Commander remained silent, but he was cautious. It seemed too easy. He prepared a certain artifact just in case but then issued the command.

"Go."

The command to charge was issued, and the controlled dark shadows raced towards the Temple.

The living Champions rushed as well. It was the first time that living beings that were not made of the darkness attacked.

Kyros and his group were quickly moving to retreat. He saw the attacks of the enemy and smiled.

"Martha, now!"

A portal appeared, and Kyros jumped towards it.

Kyros was teleported at the opposite side of the area and was in the middle of the army of darkness.

"[Time Haste]!" Suddenly, Kyros channeled his time magic. It was more potent and controlled compared to his reckless usage. The time that moved faster was only limited to his body, and with great speed, he flew towards the armies and reached the deeper parts of it.

At that moment, he released the fullness of his dark energy and turned it into holy energy.

"[Skotos Eis Phos]!" 

It was as the sun was being born at the center of the battlefield.

A powerful, terrifying, Holy light flashed very quickly.

"What?!" The Champions was startled.

The Commander threw the artifact in front of him, and it zoomed right in front of some of the Champions.

BOOM!

The massive light exploded out, and the cries of many shadow creatures was heard once more.

The living champions saw the light and began to use their defensive powers.

"AHHH!" The one at the very front was a Lizardman champion, but even though he was alive, he was a Dark Dependent cultivator, and the purest light was lethal to him.

"NOOOO!" Another champion saw his defenses breaking.

BOOM!

At that moment, a massive transparent avatar that took the form of a purple dragon appeared and blocked the light.

The Commander could still see the figure of Kyros, who was releasing the energy.

"Chase him before he teleports!" The Commander ordered at the Champions near Kyros, who was protected by the dragon avatar.

The light ended, and Kyros retreated with a portal appearing.

Two Champions, an orc, and a human necromancer, used their force and magic energy to cross the distance.

Right before they could catch Kyros...

"[Time Haste]!" Kyros activated his Time spell once more and made all the Champions move faster than the three of them entered through the portal.

As the two Champions entered the portal, they found themselves in the Separated Realm.

The two panicked as they realized what that world was.

Kyros had Kyriacho's power to resist the Separated Realm as he had already experienced its full power. But these two were not of Kyriachos's power and felt their minds suffer grave attacks.

Puff was in that realm and began to attack the two.

The portal closed, and the Commander saw it all. Even the realm inside the portal. As the portal appeared closer, he was able to sense what was inside.

"Quick!" I'm running out of energy!" Martha's pained cry could be heard.

[Acting activated.]

[Deception activated.]

The portal closed.

The Commander realized that he was fooled. It was all part of the plan to kill more Champions and the army! He then realized why Kyros was the leader with his massive powers of creating pure light.

"It is time for us to use that magic! Everyone! Charge! They are weakened! Do not give them time to recover!" The Commander roared as he crushed a strange purple rock that summoned terrifying darkness from the portal and flooded the ground.

"Champions! Follow me!" The Commander began to flap his wings and move.

Meanwhile, in the Temple...

Kyros had appeared, and the two Champions that followed them were on the floor, dying.

The swords of the Coven drank their blood.

"This should give the Temple a lot of energy. We kill the Commander and offer it to the group. Then, coven, defend the Temple. We will be initiating our attacks. Oh. And Mechiel, drink from the blood of the necromancer. His blood will be of use to you and might just help you break through the Dhampir limit." Kyros also instructed.

"Ye-Yes!" Mechiel ran and bit the necromancer.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of the mages shooting at the approaching army could be heard.

"The Commander is on the move!" Demerus warned.

"Alright, gang. Let's move out!" Kyros smiled.

Aron and Mezal rode the flying carpet, and Martha was flying on the small dragon.

"Follow my lead, guys!" Kyros flew to the sky and could see the dragon Commander flying towards them with the Champions following closely. The army's movement was so fast that it was actually moving at the same speed as the flying group.

Darkness had enveloped the ground and made their charge several times faster.

"What a skill!" Faye exclaimed.

"Indeed! Master Kyros, you do have something to fight that, right?" Triona asked with a worried expression. The dark army used the strategy very effectively. If it was any other kingdom, the revelation that they could move this fast and use it at a critical moment could easily kill a kingdom that revealed all its aces.

"Their speed is because of the creeping Darkness. This Temple has Holy Grounds. It won't breakthrough. And as for the moving Commander, relax." Kyros smiled.

"Everyone, strike a terrifying pose and make it look like you are about to make a powerful attack! It is time for us to finally make our attack!" Kyros gave the orders.