Chapter 276: A New Addition (1/2)

Ed heard the lament and wailing of Arthur's saber. His eyes burned and filled with tears, and his legs darted forward to his father's side; his hand looking through his Inventory for a Healing card. Yet, halfway through, he felt a major force collide with the side of his face. His eyes scrambled in their sockets while his brain bounced inside the skull. Next thing he knew, Ed was lying on the ground, dirt, and blood covering his face. he stood up slowly and gazed at Johan, who had struck him from behind.

He as well had a face full of tears and lament.

Ed knew that his enemy wouldn't give him the chance to save his father. He knew that no matter how close he got, he would never reach his father in time. Thus, left with no other choice, he deviated from his original plan, and shouted, with all the strength his lungs could give, ”MERRY, SUIKA!”

His two healing experts immediately left their respective missions and darted to Ed's side. Suika was already on her way alongside Emilia, but Merry was shocked as she saw the two figures of Arthur of Dawlish. Her wings flapped harder and faster as she gleamed through the air with a heavenly glow.

Even Erykytos, whom she was fighting, gave no choice. He stood still, gazing at the faraway figure of his bloody son. Raikou and Sieg both stood still, unwilling to make a move while Erykytos didn't.

Ed looked at the two of them, despair and anguish filled his face as he begged them, ”Please, save him!”

It was the first time anyone had seen Ed make such a face. They couldn't believe it. They felt their hearts burn as they saw their master, their friend, their companion suffering through such torment.

Ed switched his attention back to Johan; the two of them locked eyes. The feelings they harbored inside their hearts burned stronger and brighter. They charged at each other and exchanged blows, stronger than ever. Their collisions caused an explosion, which pushed rock and air away and twisted the space around them itself.

Johan's eyes shone, as he pulled a second sword from his spatial ring. It was a double-edged sword, each edge was colored differently. One was red, while the other was deep blue. The red side burned in crimson flames, hotter than a thousand suns, while the blue side crackled with lightning.

Ed could feel that the weapon was at least a Mythical grade sword.

Johan charged forward and swung down at Ed, who had no choice but to block the sword with a Haki clad Shusui.

Ed took the full brunt of the blue side and felt the lightning seep into his bones, stunning him completely. Then, he felt a burning pain in his solar plexus, as Johan drove his foot there. Ed was thrown hundreds of meters away. If not for his many layers of defense, he would have gotten gravely injured.

Ed got up to find himself under a barrage of flaming wave attacks. He quickly brought out Muramasa and absorbed all the fire into the sword, which shone in a deep scarlet color. He targeted Johan and swung his blade, causing a pillar of flames to emerge and chase his enemy. The pillar burned and melted anything that came into contact with it, and left behind a rail of lava.

However, such a basic attack was easy to dodge, as Johan maneuvered around it and struck down on Ed once more. Ed was getting beaten one-sidedly. His body was burned and electrocuted, and his skin was cut and bruised.

He couldn't keep going on in such a way, so he contacted his system. 'Use Berserk once more!'

The system wanted to remind Ed that his body wouldn't handle the stress, but it knew that words were useless at the moment. Either he uses the skill, or he dies.

Ed's aura exploded as Berserk broke his limits once more. It kept growing from the initial Immortal Establishment level 7 all the way to level 10. He now had the same cultivation level as Johan.

Johan was stunned as he could feel the sudden inexplicable change in Ed's aura. He failed to react in time to Ed's slash, which felt like a mountain hitting him in the face. Johan was blown away, further than Ed's earlier flight, and collided with a small hill in the distance.

Ed wanted to give chase immediately, but intense pain filled his body's every cell. He felt some of his bones break under the pressure of his aura, but his Ki kept his body whole. He grits his teeth and jumped forward, failing to notice the system's notice which sounded, 'Acquired Pain Resistance level 1'.

Since Ed was late to follow with his attack, Johan had already gotten up. A deep gash crossed his face and made him look strikingly similar to his grandfather, Erykytos.

The two locked swords, and now that their level was equal, the result was even more terrifying. The whole world seemed to reach a stop each time they clashed. The ground trembled under their pressure, and the skies shook in fear of their wrath. Ed's veins were punctured in dozens of places, causing him to be filled with blood from head to toe. His Regeneration worked hard, but it was catching up to the number of injuries he sustained.

He withdrew his last sword, Ame-No-Murakumo and equipped all three of them. At once, Ed activated his strongest trump card, the Asura technique, which allowed him to duplicate himself. Three faces and six arms; Ed looked like a menacing war deity.