CHAPTER 63: DUKE ARGON

Towards the south of the continent, was the Samaran desert, stretched across a huge area, from the border of the Edo, Magallan and Holy kingdom Aravila to the seas on the two ends of the continent.

A few kilometers away from the Edo kingdom to the west and the forest of corruption to the south, on one of the sand dunes in the desert, two wizards in red robes were standing a few meters apart from each other.

Their hands were lifted up parallel to the sandy ground, and two runic magic circles were in front of them, formed just above the sandy dune.

They activated the runic circle and it started vibrating, releasing intense sound waves towards the ground, leading to the sand bouncing up and falling down below from the dune.

At a distance from the sand dune, a team of fighter mages and wizards were standing above the sand in a formation.

Four wizards at the front and five fighter mages at the back, and one fighter mage, with long black hair and dark skin, defined jaw and clean shaven face, wearing steel boots and armguard, along with a leather armor over his chest, stood alone on the sands between the team and the two lone wizards above the dune.

His was holding a greatsword, wide and rectangular in shape vertically inserted in the sand. A runic magic circle spinning around the sword releasing shockwaves.

Suddenly the ones present there, their ears perked up, soft sounds like of a sandstorm rolling in could be heard.

Slowly as time passed, the intensity of the sound increased, the sound waves released by the wizards on the dune paled in comparison.

The ground then started shaking, sands drifted and slid down from top of the dune. Tremors could be felt as it was getting hard for the ones standing on the loose sand to hold their ground.

The warrior with the geratsword opened his eyes wide, he felt danger approaching and jumped back from his spot.

SCREECHH!!!

Just then the sands parted where he stood earlier and a giant sandworm came out. It’s giant circular mouth of about thirty meters in diameter, lined with multiple rings of sharp, crystalline teeth, resembling Fairbairn knives.

It was a peak nightmare class beast, Samnud.

"Harden the ground and cast the barriers!" he screamed at the wizards at the front.

Four runic magic circles appeared on the ground, intense heat released from them, turning the sandy region in between the dunes into glass.

The two wizards on the dune above had stopped releasing the sound waves when the beast had appeared. They channeled mana again and waved their hands, a transparent film of barrier started forming around the Samnud.

The warrior with the greatsword immediately rushed ahead. His greatsword sliding on the ground, parting the sand along the way. He jumped and moved inside the barrier before it sealed both of them inside.

The Samnud screeched and tried to move inside the sands again, but as the ground had hardened into glass, it struck the solid surface and slipped, sliding a few meters along the ground.

The warrior moved towards the tail region of the worm, he covered his sword with mana and swung it towards its body, striking its body with the flat part of the sword.

The force of the hit pulled the rest of the Samnud’s body out of the sands and onto the hard glass floor. The wizards immediately sealed the hole, turning the sands into glass.

The Samnud was now left vulnerable on the slippery surface, it tried to move but its body kept slipping, unable to hold its ground.

The warrior channeled mana into his feet and he rushed forwards, skating along the glass floor with his sword stretched backwards ready for a swing.

The Samnud slipped again as it tried to move, struggling and screeching out loud. He didn’t miss this chance and swung the sword. the sword struck its side and slid along the hard exoskeletal skin. Sparks flew out, but its body remained safe without a cut.

The warrior clicked his tongue upon the failure and started rushing back again. A brown runic magic circle formed over the region between the blade and the hilt. Stones started covering the whole blade and at the edges it became so sharp that it seemed like a freshly sharpened metal blade.

Mana covered the sword and he swinged again. This time the sword hit at the tail end and passed along the body surface to the mid region.

"Arrghhhh!!!" he screamed as more mana passed onto the blade. A long horizontal cut appeared on the Samnud’s body as black blood flowed out of the cut.

It screeched in pain and started wriggling, causing huge movements. In its intense wriggling, the tail moved towards the warrior. As the tail suddenly arrived, he couldn’t react in time and moved his sword towards the front.

The tail hit squarely on the blade and he was blasted away, sliding along the glass floor and stopping after hitting the transparent mana film.

He felt a ferrous taste in his mouth, he then spit the blood out. His face twitched as fury rose inside him, he channeled mana as it started covering his whole body. He was about to release the spirit form when a voice came from the distance and he stopped immediately.

"Stop!!" a huge seven foot tall man with a muscular body, covered in a full body red armor made of wyvern skin said.

He was in his fifties and had a long braided brown beard and long brown hair tied into a ponytail. A huge longsword was rested on his shoulders as he walked towards the sealed battlefield in slow steps.

He was the strongest duke in the empire, Duke Argon Dragnos.

"Release the barrier!" he said in his deep and raspy voice.

The wizards immediately removed the barrier without wasting a single second. He then swung his mana clad sword forward.

An energy arch of red mana moved out from the sword, moving fast through the air towards the Samnud.

It was screeching and wriggling when the sword mana arc split it from the middle. Blood splashed out on the glass floor and its body separated into two and fell hard on the floor with a thud. Sending a wave of tremor and his body devoid of any movement.

"Master! I apologize, I couldn’t deal with it alone." the warrior bowed as the man reached near him.

"You did well Navajo! You could have killed it with some time anyway! But I stopped you as it’s not been long since you reached the fourth circle and haven’t mastered the spirit form fully! Try to get yourself familiar with your strength, know your limits, that’s the way to improve faster!" Argon said.

"I understand master! I’ll do better next time!" Navajo bowed as he apologized.

"Good boy! We don’t have much time, let’s move fast!" Argon smiled as he patted his back.

Just when they were about to move ahead. Chirping sounds fell on their ears. A green translucent bird made of mana came flying towards Argon.

He extended his arm and the bird landed on his palm. It then transformed into a rectangular film where letters started appearing. It was an encrypted message send from a long distance directly to him.

Mana flowed out of his finger on the film and the words rearranged themselves into the original message.

Argon read the message and slowly a smile spread on his lips. He then laughed out loud, surprising Navajo and the others.

"So the Gandolfs are getting restless! Let’s see what is this that you’re offering, claiming that it will pique my interest!" he grinned in amusement.