Nobilis of War novel Chapter 40

William went crazy when he saw his little brother killed by Darren's blade. Unable to control his fury, he charged at him.

Darren didn't expect the sudden burst of power. He just pondered at the possibility of using the blade and the sword at the same time. Everything just came out without him meaning to.

'I just got into the Spirit Realm and my body is still changing. If I hadn't used my sword skill and blade skill at the same time, I couldn't have killed the two martial artists who had been in the Spirit Realm for a long time!' Darren thought to himself. Even he was shocked with what happened.

He almost used up all his internal forces for the blade and the sword because of that massive blow. He was like a used gun running low on ammunition. What would he do if William, who was at the third stage of the Spirit Realm, attacked him?

Even though the odds currently weren't at his favor, Darren still wasn't very worried. Because he just graded up to the Spirit Realm, and there was still plenty of spiritual energy entering his body. He still had enough if he needed to defend himself.

Strong spiritual energy was filling him up quickly. He did his best to manage his newly absorbed spiritual energy. With it, he nourished his meridians and made a lot of internal force of blade and sword.

"Pffft!" Darren coughed blood out from his mouth.

The internal force of the blade and the internal force of the sword were fighting with each other, tearing his meridians apart. He could feel his meridians breaking one by one.

Darren couldn't imagine anything worse than what was happening right now. This could kill him! There was nothing left for him to do but fight for the chance to live.

"I want you dead! You have to die!"

William was now insanely angry. His eyes were bloodshot because of his rage. His vital energy of the third stage of the Spirit Realm exploded to every corner of the Life and Death Valley.

Darren stepped back.

In the blink of an eye, William was in front of Darren with the tip of his blade pointing towards him in a dangerous way.

The fact that William was currently overwhelmed with emotion worked for Darren as he could not focus on the fight one hundred percent. If not, it would have been impossible for Darren to dodge his blows.

As he avoided his blows, he absorbed his spiritual energy.

"It hurts..." Darren's body shook because of the pain. It was so painful it almost made him faint. Finally, after what felt like a century, he gathered enough internal force in his body.

"Profound Nine Sword Skills! Grand Thirteen Blade Skills!"

He used the blade and the sword together again.

Rumble!

The power of the blade and the power of the sword filled the whole Life and Death Valley like huge wave of water washing over it.

"You have to die!" William didn't even care to dodge. He just went after Darren like a madman.

He brandished his blade with a massive aura around it and rammed it straight towards Darren.

Rumble!

With another loud sound, the ears of the disciples above the valley who were in a lower realm than the Spirit Realm all started to ring. For a moment, it seemed like they lost their hearing ability.

Everyone was stunned into silence. Whether Darren was still alive or dead was beyond them!

A person who was at the ninth stage of the Primary Realm first killed a disciple who was in the Spirit Realm, and then got lifted into the Spirit Realm himself. After that, he killed two other disciples who were in the Spirit Realm. Now, he was fighting with another strong martial artist who was at the third stage of the Spirit Realm!

This was unbelievable! If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they never would have believed this! They had never heard of anyone as talented!

The chaos drew the elders' attention. They all went to where the two were fighting.

First to arrive was Thomas. In his opinion, Darren was bound to die. But at the same time, he felt curious as to how the turn of events would play out so he came to see it with his own eyes.

Unfortunately, though, the Life and Death Valley was covered in smoke. It was difficult to make out what was happening.

"Elder Thomas, what's going on right now?" Cody, a first disciple of the School of Sword Skill, asked with his eyebrows knitted into a frown.

"He won," Thomas simply said with eyes filled with disbelief and wonder.

"What do you mean by 'he'? Who are you talking about?" Cody asked impatiently. Even though he was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm, he still couldn't sense what was happening in the valley. Only martial artists as skilled as the elders could sense the situation there.

"Darren," he replied.

Cody's eyes widened in shock after hearing Thomas' words. Not that he didn't believe his elder, it was just so hard to believe what happened. Stunned he stared intensely down the valley even though he still couldn't see anything.

A little while later, the smoke subsided and everything became clear once again.

In the Life and Death Valley, Darren vomited blood very badly. He had one knee on the ground and he used the sword and the blade to support his body. He was clearly badly injured. What people did not know, however, was that this was because of the opposing internal forces inside his body.

In front of Darren was William's bloody, dead body.

Alan, who heard the news and rushed there, also saw it. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he couldn't say a word.

"Huh. It seems that the disciples of your School of Blade Skill are not that good!" Thomas said to Alan in a cold and snarky way.

The corners of Alan's eyes twitched, but he was at a loss for words. After thinking for a moment, he finally replied, "It seems that you are quite proud of this guy, Thomas. From what I see, he's about to die, anyway. Don't forget Hanson in the legendary. It's said that his strength soared once. For a short moment, nobody could beat him. But his power was short-lived. He used the sword and the blade at the same time. He is bound to die. How long do you think he will live, anyway? Haha."

Alan finally found a way to retort back, feeling less embarrassed.

"Cody, bring Darren here," Thomas commanded to the disciple that stood beside him. He ignored Alan's remark completely.

"Yes, sir," Cody nodded and immediately jumped to help Darren.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. A beautiful arrow that shone various colors was shot towards Darren.

"What?"

Seeing the arrow, even Thomas' expression changed. He could tell from the power of the arrow that it was shot by a martial artist of the Mysterious Realm.

"Watch out, Darren!"

Cody quickened his speed but a strong force pushed him back, stopping him from going closer. He turned his head and found that it was Thomas who stopped him.

The look on Darren's face suddenly changed when he saw the arrow coming after him. His eyes widened in shock and despair. He felt like he was going to die and he didn't even have the courage to dodge.

"Whoosh!"

But as it turned out, the arrow was not aimed at his head. It flew a few inches away from Darren's ear leaving a bloody trace on his earlobe.

"Hahaha!"

Suddenly, a young man appeared out of nowhere. He laughed out loud and walked to stand beside Darren.

He extended a hand and gently patted Darren's face.

"I'm just playing with you. Don't be so afraid of me, kid," the young guy teased as he looked at Darren with playful eyes. He looked like a random street thug.

"That's Jerome Bei of the School of Arrow Skill. I heard that he just got into the Mysterious Realm a few days ago. He has also killed a powerful martial artist who was in the same realm as him!"

"Oh, no wonder he's that good. It's said that his talent is at the level two of the Black Degree. And when he was seventeen, he came across a book of extraordinary arrow skill. Also, he often goes to the Mysterious Spiritual Pool. That's why he is so strong."

"Oh yeah, you are right. With that speed, I bet he can best the elders in no more than thirty years!"

All eyes were on the powerful young man at that moment.

When Cody wanted to help Darren, he was pulled back by Thomas' vital energy. That was because Jerome was simply too strong. Had Cody gotten any closer, he would have been seriously injured. So of course, Thomas had to save him.

As for Darren, he wasn't in a very good situation. He was already very badly hurt because of his fight with William. Now, with Jerome covering him with his own aura, he started to sweat all over because of the pain that consumed him.

Shame!

That was the strongest emotion Darren felt at that moment.

"Enough, Jerome!" Cody said as he walked up.

"Long time no see, Cody. You are still in the Spirit Realm? What a shame. You are almost thirty and you still haven't progressed much. You don't get to talk to me like that, you loser!" Jerome Bei said arrogantly.

"You!" Anger rose in Cody's heart. The sword on his back moved. He wanted to fight with Jerome so badly to make him regret his words.

"Enough, Cody! Take Darren back to the Sword Mountain," Thomas commanded. As he spoke, he used an invisible sword intent to attack Jerome.

This shocked him as he did not expect the attack. He backed up a few steps and immediately shot an arrow out. It exploded in mid-air but he was still sent flying by Thomas' blow.

"How dare you attack a young disciple, Thomas!" the elder of the School of Arrow Skill remarked as he looked at Jerome with a distressed expression.

"Oh? How can you be so sure that it was me?" Thomas didn't plan to admit that it was him who attacked Jerome on his disciple's behalf.

"You!" The elder of the School of Arrow Skill couldn't find a way to argue back. So instead, he said, "Why would you attack the best disciple of my school for a loser? I won't let this go easily, Thomas! Wait till the next Five Schools Competition! You will regret what you have done today. Let's go, Jerome."

In Life and Death Valley, Jerome glared at Cody with hateful eyes. "In the next Five Schools Competition, I will make every member of the School of Sword Skill kneel in front of me!" he declared.

Then, he walked up to Darren. "As for you, loser, I hope you can live 'till the day I kick the School of Sword Skill's ass. Do you want to know why I did all this? It's because you were too arrogant for my liking."

With these words, he laughed and left, following the elder of the School of Arrow Skill.

When he was gone, Darren struggled to stand. He couldn't support himself anymore. He was both hurt because of the opposing internal forces inside him and the pressure brought about by Jerome. Under all the pain, he blacked out.

But before he completely lost his consciousness, he managed to silently vow to himself, "I will make you kneel in front of me like a petty dog when I get stronger. One day, Jerome!"