Ekzykes roared in disbelief and agony, unable to comprehend how a knight had so easily sliced through his thick scales, even severing an entire wing!
As it happened, Adula also flew closer. This Glintstone Dragon clamped the Moonlight Greatsword in his jaws and slashed horizontally, nearly cutting Ekzykes in half!
Ekzykes's eyes widened. Enduring the intense pain, finding himself in a desperate situation, he lashed out with his tail whip, clashing with Adula's moonblade!
His tail was severed by the moonblade, but he managed to survive by tumbling through the air, crashing to the ground in a panic!
With only one wing, he could no longer fly. He could only watch as he plunged into the Rot lake.
Fwoosh——
Niđhöggr chased after him like an arrow, landing deftly on Ekzykes's dragon head.
The Rot lake grew larger and larger in his field of vision, but before Ekzykes even touched the ground, he felt the presence of the man standing atop his head in the air.
If it had been an ordinary person, such a negligible weight would have concerned him not at all. But after the instant strike from the Dark Moon Greatsword, he understood that a god of death now stood upon his body!
Tremors hadn't even time to spread through his body before Niđhöggr's Dark Moon Greatsword had already pierced through Ekzykes's dragon skull.
The cold, dark moon aura flooded in from his jaw!
Ekzykes's maw was half open, and his pair of staring dragon eyes instantly glazed over.
His entire draconic body lost its life force. He became a meteor-like mass, crashing heavily into the Rot lake, sending a wave of corruption surging and plunging into a deep crater!
Niđhöggr had already flown back to Adula and only then retracted the flames of the Hundredfold Scar.
Adula had also lifted him back into the sky to avoid being touched by the wave of corruption rising below.
"Level up! LV145 → LV146. Obtained: Ekzykes's Decaying Roar."
After a long while, when calm had been restored below, Niđhöggr landed on Adula, setting down right in front of the veteran commander, Niall.
Niall was still slightly stunned, but instinctively used his war banner to summon a whirlwind, shaking off all the Scarlet Rot that had gotten inside.
He had thought that even with this Carian Knight joining the battle alongside the Glintstone Dragon Adula, it would take considerable effort to defeat Ekzykes. He had even been prepared to summon a large number of banished soldier spirits for support.
But he never imagined that, in the span of a few exchanges between the knight and Adula, Ekzykes would lose a wing and a tail, and then plummet to the ground in disgrace.
The knight had slain Ekzykes in mid-air, rendering all of Niall's ground-based preparations meaningless.
Niall didn't understand who this knight was, and just as he was processing how he had killed Ekzykes with two strikes, he saw Adula land before his eyes, allowing him a clear view of the greatsword in the knight's hand.
Was that...?
Wasn't that the Dark Moon Greatsword?
After all, his lord Radahn was the eldest son of the Carian Royal Family and Ranni's brother. As an experienced subordinate of Radahn's, how could he not recognize the legends surrounding the Dark Moon Greatsword?
Furthermore, this Carian Knight could ride on the back of Lady Ranni's guardian dragon...
The meaning was perfectly clear to Niall. It meant this knight was the consort whom Lady Ranni had acknowledged and proclaimed to the world.
Adula lowered his head, and Niđhöggr dismounted.
He sheathed the Dark Moon Greatsword, approached Niall, and introduced himself: "I am Niđhöggr, the Blade of the Lunar Princess."
So it was true!
Niall knew his guess had not been mistaken.
However, he asked as cautiously as possible, "I am a veteran commander of Lord Radahn's—Niall... What are your intentions? More precisely, what does the long-absent Lady Ranni desire?"
"I know that General 'Starscourge' Radahn is somewhere nearby..." Niđhöggr said, stopping mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly snapping towards a certain direction.
Startled, Niall looked in that direction but saw nothing.
When he turned his head back in confusion, Niđhöggr was gone, and only Adula remained, idly yawning.
---
Behind a building far from the Rot Lake, a figure darted out and fled into the shadows.
"He was that sharp? I got just a little closer, and he spotted me with a single glance... That guy is probably that Niđhöggr everyone at Junction is talking about now... I was wrong..."
The figure scurried along, about to cast a concealment spell on herself, when she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulders, and her whole body was instantly pressed to the ground!
Oh no!
The startled sorceress turned her head and saw that it was Niđhöggr who had caught up to her, holding her down.
She had been careful enough. She never imagined that from such a great distance, not only would her location be detected, but she would be immediately apprehended by the other party. It was simply unbelievable.
Niđhöggr looked with interest at the female sorceress he held pinned.
A glintstone witch's hood, a robe of Raya Lucaria Academy, a fondness for going barefoot... This was Sellen, the "Witch" he had been seeking for quite some time.
Unexpectedly, this Sellen had taken advantage of the changes in the world at Junction to break free from her magical imprisonment and regain her freedom. Now, she had rushed all the way to the Empire of Yoda ahead of him, though he didn't know why.
Niđhöggr slowly released Sellen, confident that he had fully demonstrated his power, and Sellen should not try anything foolish again.
Sellen saw that Niđhöggr had let her go. It was a bit strange, but she still got up, dusted herself off, coughed, and regained a semblance of dignity.
She hadn't easily changed out of this outfit—the witch's garb and Raya Lucarian robe provided an intelligence bonus. So, standing before this Carian Knight, she certainly couldn't hide her background from the Academy of Magic.
However, regarding her true identity, Sellen believed she could still try to mislead him. It would be best to make the knight believe she was just an ordinary sorceress from the Academy.
But before she could concoct a lie, Niđhöggr was the first to reveal her identity:
"Sellen, the 'Witch of the Heretical Arts,' a sorceress imprisoned by Raya Lucaria Academy and a pupil of the primeval sorcerer Azur... So, here you are."
Sellen was surprised. She hadn't expected the other party to recognize her at a single glance.
Niđhöggr calmly explained, "There are few female sorcerers at Raya Lucaria Academy. Not to mention, we learned you had escaped from your seal, and you are the only female sorcerer who would appear outside of Junction."
Sellen was a little irritated.
But she sensed she would be no match for this Carian Knight, who had just slain Ekzykes while wielding the Dark Moon Greatsword. Since she had been exposed, she resigned herself to her fate.
Sellen said coldly, "I know you, Niđhöggr. You planted the golden tree, have gathered considerable power at Junction, and helped the Carian Royal Family reclaim Raya Lucaria Academy."
"Hmph... I simply wished to study the origins of glintstone sorcery and had no desire to be questioned by Junction, so I consciously left. But I never expected you would catch me."
"Never mind. It seems this is my fate. Do with me what you will."