After Shirou cut him in half with a sword, the Northern Emperor Aubel fell into a bloody pool, motionless. Even though his muscles twitched slightly for a short time, the light had already left his eyes, showing that he was dead.
"How can this be?! This is impossible... Aubel! Wake up! Aubel! How could you die? How could you lose?!"
Darius yelled in disbelief when he saw Aubel's death.
For him, the Northern Emperor Aubel was the strongest card he could control. Aubel's death was like having both arms cut off.
While Darius was going crazy and even becoming insane, everyone else was surprised that the mighty Northern Emperor could be killed so easily.
Everyone looked at Shirou with fear, even more sure that he was a terrifying being on the level of the Seven Great Powers.
The nobles of Darius' faction were uneasy, their eyes often looking toward the Second Princess Ariel. They had not expected Ariel to have such a strong card in her hand. They began to wonder if it was too late to switch sides.
As for Ariel herself, she was just as surprised as everyone else.
She never thought that Shirou would be so strong. She was happy and surprised at the same time, her thoughts in a mess.
Of all the people there, only Shirou remained calm.
The death of the Northern Emperor Aubel did not bother him much.
Even though Aubel had done nothing to him, this was a battlefield. There was no right or wrong, only the choice between life and death.
Shirou chose life, and he chose to let the people he cared about live. To do that, he had to kill all of his enemies!
Now, Shirou would not be unsure of himself. He would never doubt the sword in his hand, and he would kill all enemies who stood in his way!
"Master! Master Aubel!"
Many people were in despair because of Aubel's death, but only Nakuljad was sad.
Nakuljad already hated Shirou for killing his brother in the past.
Aubel, who had guided him to become the Northern King, had always tried to help him, teaching him not to be blinded by hate and to learn to control the real sword.
With Aubel's help, Nakuljad was starting to come out of the darkness and learn to let go of the hatred in his heart.
But now, the person who was both his teacher and like a father had been killed by Shirou.
With such a deep hatred, Nakuljad no longer hesitated. Even though Shirou had cut off one of his arms, he charged at Shirou like a madman, his face full of hatred and madness, desperate to stab the sword into Shirou's body.
But that was clearly impossible.
Even if Nakuljad had not lost an arm, he would not have been able to hurt Shirou at all.
"Clang,"
The moment the swords clashed, Shirou easily knocked the sword out of Nakuljad's hand.
But even without a sword, Nakuljad did not back down. He jumped at Shirou almost crazily, trying to bite Shirou's neck with his claws and teeth.
Faced with this, Shirou no longer hesitated and stabbed his sword straight through Nakuljad's chest.
"Stab!"
As blood splattered, another Northern King died at Shirou's hands after the Northern Emperor.
Nakuljad did not seem to die right away. He stared at Shirou with blood-red eyes, as if trying to burn Shirou's image into his mind.
"Why... why can you kill them without changing your face?!"
"Because I want to protect the people I want to protect."
"Heh... hehehehe... Then I curse you, I curse that all the people you want to protect will die horribly, I curse that you will never be free and will struggle in hell forever! Shirou Greyrat, I will wait for you in the world below, I will curse you forever, ahhhhh!!!"
Nakuljad let out a desperate curse at the end, then his eyes quickly lost their color and he died a horrible death, along with his brother and teacher.
"..."
Shirou closed his eyes silently for a moment.
After a short silence, when he opened his eyes again, all the doubts and uncertainties had disappeared, leaving only a firm idea - to save the people he wanted to save, he would kill everything that stood in his way!
Even if he became a demon, he would not care!
On the execution ground, with the Northern Emperor Aubel and the Northern King Nakuljad dead one after another, of the remaining two Northern Kings, the Northern King Vita was unconscious, and the other Northern King, Isis, had no will to fight.
The people of Darius' faction looked at each other strangely. They had all realized that First Prince Gravel's faction was no longer a match for Second Princess Ariel's faction. Because Gravel and Darius were still there, they would not switch sides in public, but their restless hearts were about to burst.
"Damn it, damn it, ahhhhh!!!"
Darius was going crazy.
The deaths of the Northern Emperor and Northern King had driven him almost insane. He thought desperately, trying to find a way to change the situation.
But before he could think of a good solution, Shirou had already turned his attention to him.
A long, long time ago, Shirou had tried to kill Darius once. He had even used the Servant Emiya form, but he had still failed and let Darius live.
Now, Shirou would naturally not let Darius go again.
Whether it was for the safety of Ariel and the others, or simply to kill this evil man, he would not hesitate to let Darius die!
"Snap!"
Shirou raised the Dragon King Sword in his hand and swung it without even looking.
An amazing sword energy exploded in his hand and shot straight toward Darius!
"Eek!"
The sword energy that Shirou casually swung with the Dragon King Sword was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper to ordinary people like Darius. Even the strongest magic tool would have a hard time blocking it.
Normally, Shirou's sword would have ended Darius' life and left him without a whole body.
However, Shirou's sword energy was blocked after all.
The one who blocked the sword was none other than the current Water God Reida Reia, who had never stood on Darius' side but was always hard to ignore.
"Sorry, this guy can't die yet."
The current Water God said this and stood up from her seat.
A small body, skin covered with deep wrinkles, holding a beautiful golden sword that she used as a cane.
Even though she looked like a dry old woman, no one in the Asura Kingdom dared to look down on her. In fact, in the eyes of many, the Water God Reida was more important than the King of the Asura Kingdom.
After all, in this world, great power can always affect reality more than wealth or status.
The king's command may be able to move an army, but a god can destroy an army alone!!
Darius was able to do as he pleased in the Asura Kingdom not only because of his position as a high-ranking minister, but also because of a favor he had done for the Water God in the past. As long as the current Water God was alive, no one could kill Darius.
In other words, to kill Darius, you had to defeat the current Water God!
This was an impossible problem.
But for Shirou, even an impossible problem had to be solved. Before coming to the Asura Kingdom, he had prepared himself to face the Water God Reida!
This battle was destined to happen.
Even if it meant fighting the Water God, he would never back down!
"Snap!"
Shirou did not say anything extra. He stuck the Dragon King Sword into the ground, his cold expression clearly showing his oath to fight.
The Water God Reida did not attack right away. She said quietly, "Your name is Shirou, right? A long time ago, I received a letter from the Sword God Gahr Farion. He asked me to teach you the Water God Style, but I never thought we would meet in such a situation."
"I can't help it. I have to kill Darius."
"Yes, I'm not blaming you. I'm just sorry that we couldn't meet in a better place. After all, I was also looking forward to defeating the Dragon God Orsted."
The Water God Reida spoke in a calm tone, but even though she seemed calm, Shirou could always feel an unavoidable and terrifying pressure coming from the old woman.
The Water God continued, "But it's okay. As the saying goes, practice is the best teacher. If you can beat me in battle, you will surely understand the meaning of the Water God Style. And if you can't even beat me, then you might as well stop here, because you won't be able to challenge Oersted anyway."
As she finished speaking, the Water God Reida held the golden sword and walked down from the platform step by step.
As the old woman stepped on the ground, the sounds around them became quieter and quieter, until everything was silent. You could almost hear everyone's heartbeat...
"Tap!"
The next moment, the Water God did not swing her sword or even make any extra movements, but all the swords in the hall made strange noises, as if they were shaking or resonating in a special way. Some military officers had to grab their weapons tightly so that the swords hanging from their waists would not fall off.
Seeing this, Shirou's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
This was not the first time he had fought a god, but it was the first time he had truly faced a god at full power.
Before, whether he was facing the Dragon God Orsted, the Sword God Gahr Farion, or the Second North God, they had not seriously used their full power.
Later, although Shirou had defeated the current North God, Alexander the Third, Alexander was only the North God in name. His actual strength had not reached the level of a god at all.
Because of this, the Water God in front of him was the first real god Shirou had challenged!
Just standing there, the aura she gave off was so overwhelming that it made it hard to breathe, not to mention that the Water God seemed to have opened some kind of field that caused all the swords in the area to shake strangely.
Even the Dragon King Sword projected by Shirou was shaking strangely under the influence of the Water God. He had to hold it tightly to keep the weapon from getting away.
However, although the Water God's pressure was strong, Shirou was not afraid. He faced the pressure of the god-level strongman and walked straight forward, gripping the Dragon King Sword tightly.
"Tap."
"Tap."
The Water God and Shirou moved toward each other.
Their movements were not fast. In fact, they were very slow, as if they were walking step by step, at a pace even slower than a stroll.
Until the distance between them got closer and closer.
The moment they reached a certain point, Shirou and the Water God acted almost at the same time. Their speeds were so fast that everyone around them could not keep up at all. It was like they had teleported!
"Boom!"
The clash of swords instantly erupted the next moment!
The execution ground was instantly covered by an amazing storm. The ground cracked, the chandeliers shattered, and a huge hole appeared in the ceiling.
In the center of the storm, Shirou and the Water God clashed at an amazing speed. Their swords seemed to have clashed hundreds of times in an instant, but they were so fast that it was as if they had only clashed once.
"Just like Gahr said, you have a talent for learning the Water God Style."
The Water God Reida said calmly.
The clash just now was like a simple warm-up for her. She did not show any extra emotions and her face was as still as water.
In contrast, Shirou's expression was clearly full of pressure.
Although he had known how terrifying god-level strongmen were, the brief battle just now was far beyond his imagination.
Because he realized that the Water God had not used any style techniques. She had simply used the most basic sword movements, which were as good as his Longsword of Light at full power.
Sword skills are connected.
Although the Water God had never mastered the Sword God Style, her sword skills had reached a level where she could be said to be a master. It was easy for her to suppress Shirou, who was only at the Sword King level, in terms of speed.
This was clearly different from the Third North God, whom Shirou had fought before. Even if Shirou defeated the Third North God and gained the title of Great Power, it would still be difficult for him to deal with the Water God's moves.
Because compared to the Third North God, who relied too much on the Dragon King Sword and lacked skills, the Water God's skills were a real god-level, and could even be said to be one of the best among the gods.
At least Shirou no longer dared to be careless. He deeply realized just how terrifying the opponent he was challenging was!
This was destined to be a death match where he had to risk everything!