CHAPTER 72: CLASH

Aszer’s eyes burned with fury as the weight of betrayal sank deep into his core. His chest heaved, and his ki swirled around him like a raging storm, making the very air almost unbreathable. The ground trembled beneath his feet.

"You’ve all chosen to betray me!" he roared, his voice dripping with venom. "Then you will all die together!"

His ki flared brighter, rippling outward in a force so suffocating that the soldiers stumbled back, their lungs seizing. The pressure alone was enough to crush weaker men. In a flash, Aszer’s spear lashed forward, a streak of death slicing through the air as soldiers were cut down where they stood, their bodies collapsing like autumn leaves torn from their branches.

The air filled with the sickening sound of steel piercing flesh, of screams strangled into silence.

"Fall back!" Aric commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.

"Retreat!"

Yrsa’s eyes narrowed, sharp and resolute, as she turned to her legion.

"Pull back! Now!" she barked.

There was hesitation, for the first time fear flickered in the eyes of her soldiers, but her command could not be defied. They obeyed, withdrawing slowly, their gazes darting toward the towering figure of Aszer, who stood like a god of war.

Aszer’s laughter rang out, cruel and mocking, echoing across the battlefield. "Do you even know who you stand before?" His gaze swept across them. "Do you understand the power I command?"

Aric unsheathed his blade with a metallic hiss, the sound almost calm in the crushing tension.

"He’s quite the yapper, don’t you think?" Aric quipped, a smirk tugging at his lips as he glanced at Yrsa.

Yrsa chuckled darkly, gripping her massive axe tighter.

"Quite."

Aszer’s smile vanished, his eyes flashing with lethal fury.

The fight erupted with a thunderous clash, like gods themselves locked in battle.

Aric lunged first, his movements a blur, a streak of silver flashing toward Aszer’s throat. But the King of Byzeth was faster.

His spear spun like a tempest, knocking the blade aside with such violent force that the impact sent a shockwave through the air.

Aric staggered back, but only for a breath. His shadow steps blurred him forward again, his form flickering like a phantom, never still.

Yrsa charged next, unleashing a guttural war cry, her axe cleaving downward in a deadly arc.

The sheer force of her strike split the earth, but Aszer slipped aside with unnerving grace. His spear countered in a blur, and Yrsa barely managed to parry, sparks spitting from the clash.

Aszer’s spear thrust forward, lightning-quick.

Aric deflected it with the flat of his blade, though the impact rattled his bones. He was outmatched in sheer power, that much was certain, but he was not yet beaten.

His swordsmanship flowed like a dance, every motion precise, every strike calculated. Aszer swung again, a vicious horizontal sweep meant to cleave him in half, but Aric ducked low and countered, his blade carving a shallow gash across Aszer’s side.

Aszer grunted, more in surprise than in pain. Blood seeped from the cut, but it was minor.

"Impressive," he sneered, "for an ant."

Before Aric could respond, Aszer’s spear came crashing down like a thunderbolt. Aric barely raised his sword in time, the strike reverberating through his arms and nearly tearing the weapon from his grasp.

His muscles screamed as he slid backward, his boots scraping across the dirt.

Yrsa roared, seizing the moment. Her axe thundered down with brutal force, the sheer weight behind it unmatched.

Aszer lifted his spear to block, but the titanic impact forced him back, his boots gouging trenches in the earth.

Yrsa pressed harder, her axe a whirlwind of destruction, each swing heavy as a mountain.

Aszer’s eyes glinted with malice. His ki surged, his spear glowing with killing light. He lunged at Yrsa, blindingly fast, and though she twisted to avoid it, the spear tore through her armor, grazing her flesh and drawing blood. She grimaced, but stood unbroken.

With a primal scream, she lifted her axe high. As it fell, the very air froze, and the weapon flared with a cold, spectral light. A colossal projection of the axe manifested, roaring forward like a tidal wave of destruction, crashing down toward Aszer.

But Aszer did not yield. With a roar, his ki exploded outward, his spear colliding with the phantom axe in a clash that split the earth. The shockwave blasted outward, the ground quaking beneath their feet.

In the next instant, Yrsa was hurled back, her body smashing through a building with bone-shattering force. She lay motionless, blood trailing down her brow.

"Crap!" Aric’s shout tore through the stunned silence.

But there was no time. Aszer’s gaze locked onto him, and with a single stride, the King of Byzeth was upon him.

Aric barely managed to raise his sword as the spear lunged for his chest. Aszer’s assault crashed down like a storm, each strike a crushing hammer that drove Aric backward until he was pinned against the shattered wall of a ruin.

Desperation blazed in Aric’s eyes. Then—an opening. He darted aside with shadow steps, his blade whipping toward Aszer’s exposed flank.

But Aszer was faster still. With a snarl, he twisted, his spear shaft catching the blade.

In the same breath, he drove the weapon forward, impaling Aric clean through the stomach.

Pain ignited through Aric’s body, fire ripping through his nerves as the spear lifted him off his feet. His sword slipped from his grasp, clattering to the stone. His blood ran down the gleaming spearhead, dripping onto the earth below.

Aszer’s eyes gleamed with savage triumph as he raised him higher, like a predator savoring its kill.

"Your speech was fitting," he sneered, venom dripping from his tongue. "But you, too, will be nothing more than a corpse on this field. A forgotten prince, destined to die in failure."

Aric’s vision dimmed, the world dissolving into shadow. The pain dulled, replaced by a creeping, icy numbness.

And then—in the void—he heard it. A voice.

The same one that had spoken before he died in his previous life.

"Is this the fate you wanted?"

Everything went silent.