Chapter 56 Angering him into madness
The fragment skill was countless times more powerful than the one Malouf had used earlier. Being struck by it head on, Vandal would undoubtedly die.
Boom!
"Blerrrrgh!"
However, at that moment, Malouf's expression changed from sick satisfaction to enraged disbelief.
His blade had struck a blue shield instead of Vandal's skull. The shield instantly shattered from the impact, but it was enough to block the sword's momentum. Vandal leapt backwards rapidly, confusion on his face. He had prepared to block with his engraved chains, but even he knew he would not have come out unscathed, especially since he was unsure of how powerful the attack was and did not know the full capacity of the chains. Instead, the shield was something he had taken out from the space ring at the last minute to fight back.
Vandal noticed Sabine walking slowly as if she were deeply injured. She was coughing up blood.
"You think you can save him? Let's see how many strikes you block for him before you kick the bucket!" Malouf said as he charged up another attack.
"Sabine!" Vandal realized she was the one who had blocked the strike for him. Terror set in as he saw how pale she looked. She walked forward toward Vandal before collapsing.
"Hahahahahaha!" Malouf laughed cruelly.
Vandal ran toward her and, before she could completely fall, he caught her in his arms. Her pulse was weak, her heart beating feebly.
"Please hold on. Hold on," Vandal said gently. Nothing else mattered to him in that moment, not Malouf, not his group, not the echo remnant, not the Jade Infinity Crystal.
"I... I will... be fine... I just... need... to rest," Sabine managed to say. Vandal hurriedly remembered he had a parcel of healing medicine left. Taking it out, he took the two pills and shoved them into her mouth. Unknown to him, Malouf had already finished charging his blade and launched another vicious attack at Vandal's kneeling back.
"You can die together with her," Malouf cackled like a madman drunk on bloodlust.
The echo remnant suddenly increased in speed, smacking Jaclynn away and heading toward Vandal too, like a homing beacon.
"Why is it coming after Vandal? Vandal, look out!" Yazmeen yelled. She was seriously puzzled why it seemed not to be interested in them but had gone after Vandal. That was when it hit her. The echo remnant had only been going after one person all this while. Sabine. Thus, it was not Vandal the echo remnant was going after, but Sabine in Vandal's arms.
I can't die here. I have to do something. She can't die. She will live. She won't die because of me! Vandal's iron will screamed. He looked up and made a solemn vow to get them out of this mess. With resolve, he finally activated his left eye. Suddenly everything seemed slower, clearer, more decipherable.
"We won't die here. You will be the one to die!" Vandal finally spoke as the savage stab from the echo remnant came down upon him from the front. Its outstretched fingernails looked like daggers shrouded in bloodlust. Malouf's strike came at him from the back. He suddenly stood up.
"I have to get the timing right." Vandal took deep breaths and focused on the exact moment the attack would reach his back. He felt the heat and the change in the air movement as the echo remnant's straight dagger like hand stabbed through the air.
In one smooth motion, he sidestepped at the last moment, causing the attack to crash into the echo remnant. It instantly became severely wounded as it screamed. Black, hot blood splashed from its chest and solar plexus. A deep gash that left space to see to the other side was visible. The wound was gaping as the echo remnant staggered backward, weakening. Its side that was torn open caused its arm on that end to hang down loosely. In that moment, Mael sent a well placed lance that stabbed into the back of its head, cutting off its screaming. It soon fell to the ground and dissolved into a foul liquid.
"No!"
Malouf coughed blood this time. He was so furious because he had used his strongest attack, yet was still unable to kill Vandal.
After all, in the battle today, he had been injured by Vandal, and his brother had been killed by Vandal. Even using his consecrated echo weapon, he still failed to kill Vandal and instead lost a hand.
To the extremely egotistical Malouf, this was simply a disgrace, an enormous humiliation that he could not possibly tolerate.
Unfortunately, he did not have enough energy left to launch another attack, so all he could do was stare at Vandal in helpless rage. His eyes were bloodshot. He never expected his scheme to backfire so spectacularly.
...
"I did it," Vandal said to himself calmly. He could not believe he had dodged two simultaneous fatal attacks at close range while carrying a severely injured Sabine.
Faced with an opponent who was three levels above him, his eye played a huge part in his survival, even though he knew he was walking a fine line each time he used it.
"Thank God. She is stable." Vandal listened to her breathing and noticed it was steady before turning to look at the injured and severely weakened Malouf.
"It seems that this fellow's status in the Resonance Council is not low. Otherwise, why would he have such a powerful weapon and be followed by other disciples?" He remembered the two men who had joined to ambush him.
"I need to get out of here." Vandal carried Sabine and walked away.
"She will recover. She is tough. Are you not carrying the Jade Infinity Crystal?" Yazmeen said. She tried not to let her feelings of jealousy at seeing Vandal carry Sabine get in the way of the mission or reading the room regarding what had just occurred.
"Take it and bring it. Let us leave this place. I do not want to stay a minute longer."
"You should die." Mael formed a light lance and was about to throw it when Vandal stopped him.
"He most likely holds a high position in the Resonance Council. Everyone saw us go in with him. If only we came out, news will travel far of us murdering a member of the council, and we will be in even more trouble," Vandal spoke to Mael softly.
Malouf stared blankly, watching them go, sitting in a pool of his own blood.
"I think he is no longer sane," Jaclynn remarked as she looked at Malouf one last time before she went with them.