Nobilis of War novel Chapter 50

Stunned, Alison stared at Darren with wide eyes.

But the very next second, she shrugged the thought off her head. With a disappointed face, she mused internally, 'No, it can't be him. Darren entered the Ilmen Sect only half a year ago! It would be impossible for him to reach the Spirit Realm in such a short time and then to dare to fight with a top-level diabolic beast. I have to be mistaking him for someone else!'

"Alison, what are you doing? Hurry up and find a place to hide. Don't get him in trouble," the young man reminded the maiden in a daze, wondering why she was taking so long.

"Got it," Alison replied, snapping back to her senses. Gingerly, she followed her companions with her head down.

This was like a nightmare for her. She kept regretting in her head, cursing herself. 'My self-will not only cost so many guards their lives but also harmed my uncle and brother...'

"I'm so sorry, Uncle, Dale; I'm the one to blame for all this," Alison uttered, breaking into a crying fit as the three of them sat down behind a huge rock.

"Come on, Alison, this isn't a time to cry. We should just look around and see if we can be of any help to him..." Toby Yun said, comforting her.

Top-level diabolic beasts were extremely powerful and strong. Even though he knew that the teenager's battle strength was par excellence, he was afraid he could still get hurt. He watched the fight between him and the beast intently with heart beating nervously. He was on his tip-toes, ready to come in handy if a critical moment occurred. After all, he had reached the sixth stage of the Spirit Realm.

"He is so young. Perhaps his father is an Elder of a big sect," he said, his eyes fixed on the young boy.

Toby was an experienced man. He was convinced disciples as talented and young as Darren could only be so strong if they came from big sects.

"Uncle Toby, I think I've seen him before," Alison said uncertainly, finally stopping her sob.

"Really?" the two exclaimed in surprise, their eyes lighting up.

"Alison, when and where did you make an acquaintance with such a promising young man?" Dale asked, inwardly pleased.

"Yes Alison, how did you come to be friends with such a genius? Which sect is he from?"

Toby asked in confusion, his eyes darting between Alison and the young boy.

Alison looked at the boy again. With a wry smile, she lowered her head and spoke, "Never mind... I was mistaken."

"Come on, Alison, tell us his name," Dale persisted. He was keen, for he didn't want to lose the opportunity of being friends with such a talented lad, even though the chances appeared to be slim.

Alison hesitated for a moment, and replied, "He looks a lot like Darren from the Chu Clan."

Dale heaved a sigh as soon as Alison gave out the name. "No, no. It can't be that guy. I've heard rumors about Darren. And even if the rumors are true and his talent has reached the Black Degree, I don't think he'd have become as strong as this lad is. Looks like you really did get it wrong," Dale said with a look of disappointment.

"Yes, I agree with Dale. That lad of the Chu Clan has just been in the Ilmen Sect for half a year. It is impossible for him to have gotten as strong as this young hero in such a little time. The best he could do is reach the Spirit Realm," Toby voiced out his thought.

"Oh, by the way, the Chu Clan is going to select their Chief tomorrow, and their Chief Elder has sent an invitation to our clan. I will take the two of you with me tomorrow," he continued further.

"Great. I heard Darren will be back and will fight for the position of the chief. I'd like to see how much this so-called genius with the talent at the Black Degree has progressed in just half a year," Dale responded.

All of a sudden, they heard a loud explosion. Hurriedly and secretly they got up and peeked in the young boy's direction, who they didn't know was Darren. Alison was not mistaken. Sadly, she didn't realize it.

"Oh man! Can you believe he broke the flood dragon's scales!" The three of them looked at the scene flabbergasted, their mouths open in awe.

...

But the black flood dragon was now pissed. It heaved hot breaths from its nostrils right at Darren.

'This diabolic beast hasn't reached level nine yet, ' Darren guessed, looking right into its eyes.

After fighting with it for a while, he had surmised the real strength of the dragon easily.

Despite that, he couldn't dare to underestimate it. A level-seven diabolic beast could match a human master at the eighth or ninth stage of Spirit Realm; and as much as he had observed, the Land Flood Dragon was easily at or above level eight.

While he tried to calculate its capacity, the flood dragon started to growl in anger.

Now, it lifted its heavy claw and rested it back down, creating an overwhelming effect, forming cracks in the ground. The impact spread all around them, shaking both the land and the mountains.

"That's amazing!" Darren said out loud in shock and exclamation.

He was forced to take several steps back due to the aggressive force he felt acting opposite him. It was as if the cracks pushed him back with their extending length.

"Looks like the beast is angry!" he murmured under his breath.

A red glow came off from the scratches between its scales. Its eyes were bloodthirsty, seeming ready to take on anyone and anything that came in its way.

A loud screech filled the air all around them as it raised its claw again.

Furiously, it pounced at Darren.

"Oh, you want to play? Well, I'll be serious too then!" Darren said with a gleaming ferocity in his eyes.

Darren drew his sword and displayed the eight moves of the Profound Nine Sword Skills in a flash. In no time, the battlefield got enveloped in sword shadows like an eerie supernatural show!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of collisions rang loud and piercing. Wherever were the sword shadows, there was blood.

A voice filled with rage and reluctance resounded.

Slowly, the shadows dissipated, leaving the dragon lying on the ground heavily wounded with most of its scales broken.

"The sword skills he used were formidable!" remarked Toby, staring at Darren with a sense of amazement. He was appalled by the terrific moves he had exhibited. "Looks like this lad has reached the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm!" he added.

Darren stood studying the dragon calmly. Suddenly taken aback, he said, "It is still alive! What a pity that I failed to master the last move of the Profound Nine Sword Skills perfectly! I could have killed it with those nine moves together!" Darren said calmly, looking down at the brutally injured beast.

"Alright, alright. Let me show you the power of my blade!" he continued with a small, confident smile.

He waved his blade at the flood dragon a whole of twelve times. Each move contained such enormous power that it could shake a mountain.

The blade shadows hit the diabolic beast, piercing through its thick skin.

The dragon could now sense a danger of getting killed. Out of the blue, it let out several shrieking growls, and soared into the sky. Its body gave off a red glow as blood poured out of its body like rain.

"Hey! Now that's not sporty! Off you run away!"

It was Toby who spoke. Panicking, his voice was a little too high and reached Darren's ears.

"What happened?" Alison and Dale asked at the same time, baffled at Toby's sudden outcry.

"That's Demonic Blood Skill! This is one of the top secret skills among the diabolic beasts. It's much more powerful than any of our superior martial skills," Toby explained, looking at the red glow that the flood dragon gave off.

Darren furrowed his eyebrows detecting the spooky aura that the beast had exuded.

The moves he had made were strong and effective, but the dragon had withstood them.

The flood dragon now fell abruptly, creating an impact so large that it made Darren collapse as the ground beneath his feet shifted.

With a sad and painful shriek, the dragon's form suddenly changed.

Its body split into nine bodies, each exuding the red, overwhelming glow full of invincible power.

"What the hell!" Darren was compelled to unleash his divine sense to check if the beast had created an illusion. To his surprise, it hadn't. 'It really has got nine bodies! And each one of them is supremely strong!' he thought, stunned at the new discovery.

Darren got flustered. Clutching his sword and blade tightly, he gathered all his internal force, preparing to land a fatal blow at the beast.

He exerted the Profound Nine Sword Skills and the Grand Thirteen Blade Skills to the fullest. At that very point, the land and the sky seemed to shake up completely, as if someone held the planet and shook it incessantly.

The formidable sword's and blade's internal forces came at the flood dragon with full rigor. But instead of dodging the attack, it stretched its nine large claws.

The whole of Barren Wasteland started to tremble! The collision of the two terrifying forces caused an almost hundred meters deep hole in the ground. The dust engulfed the space around them.

"How is this possible?" Darren felt like he was being crushed under a large mountain, his breath becoming more and more laborious. Meanwhile, his body convulsed in ridiculous pain. He looked at the flood dragon in the chaos and found it dashing at him with five bodies!

Alison, Dale and Toby too would have been covered in the dust completely if Toby hadn't gathered his vital energy to protect them.

"This is not good." Toby's face changed, seeming to be in a deep worry. "What should we do?" he said. "The young hero is going to get killed," he finished after a pause. His eyes screamed of terror as he gulped down his dry throat.