The majestic heavenly sword left the scabbard, and its powerful aura spread further, sweeping across the entire battlefield.
Zayden felt powerful.
His eyes reflected the brilliance of the sword.
At that moment, he felt like he could fight infinitely. He could fight anyone, even those much stronger than him.
He lifted the sword toward the sky and turned to look at some of the cultivators who were trying to approach him.
The moment he pulled out the sword, the free interference zone that had been protecting the sword disappeared, allowing anyone to approach him.
There were some among them who had reached the seventh stage of cultivation.
Zayden’s eyes glimmered as he tried to unleash one of his sword techniques.
Splitting Void.
He created a powerful slash using the sword horizontally.
A powerful arc of sword energy was unleashed, flying with incredible speed toward the approaching cultivators.
The incoming cultivators widened their eyes in shock because they could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within the slash.
They knew that Zayden was only a peak fifth-stage cultivator, but the attack he unleashed now had already reached the power of peak sixth stage!
"Evade!" one of the seventh-stage cultivators shouted to warn everyone.
But even without him shouting such a warning, those who saw the incoming attack would do anything they could to evade or defend themselves.
Unfortunately, not all of the people approaching had enough time to evade or defend themselves.
The sword energy mercilessly cut through more than ten people at the sixth and fifth stages. Those who could defend themselves were pushed back, with some even having their defensive measures completely destroyed.
Even one of the seventh stage cultivators had his legs severed, while another had his fingers chopped off as his defense shattered.
The sword energy could only be stopped by the combined effort of several seventh stage cultivators in the back.
They united their strength, using their own elements to stop the sword attack.
The people who saw this were truly astonished.
Prince Devron’s eyes glistened. His gaze showed not only surprise but also a deep, hidden feeling that only he knew.
Zayden looked at the result of his attack, and he was truly stunned.
’This is truly a powerful sword! It could enhance my attack power by more than half,’ he thought.
But then he felt a weakness wash over him, making him frown.
’The sword uses too much of my energy and stamina with only that one simple technique. It looks like I’m too weak to hold this sword.’
"Attack him! Don’t give him any time to attack again!"
Zayden’s thoughts were cut off by the shout of the eighth stage cultivator who was, at this moment, attacking him.
The others also did the same.
They realized that the situation had already become extremely dangerous!
The sword was already in the hands of the Vermion Empire faction, so they needed to make sure to snatch it!
"Use the escape talisman, Zayden!"
Prince Devron shouted at Zayden, which made Zayden decide that it was no longer the time to play around.
He knew that he would surely die this time if he stayed here.
Suddenly, a talisman covered in runes appeared in his hand, and he quickly crushed it.
"He will escape!"
The enemies trying to reach him became even more panicked, but there was nothing they could do to stop him.
The others from the Vermion Empire faction hindered them from reaching Zayden, making sure that no attacks could reach him.
Zayden’s figure was quickly engulfed in light and instantly disappeared from the battlefield.
Zayden then appeared in the middle of an area filled with many trees. According to the prince’s explanation, the talisman had brought him to the forest region near the Abyss.
’If this is Ardun Forest, then that way should be the Abyss of Undying Light.’ Zayden thought as he looked toward a certain direction.
’I wonder why His Highness made me appear in this place?’
Although he felt strange about it, he pushed that thought aside and then looked at the sword in his hand.
To be honest, he felt tempted to take the sword for himself.
The powerful sensation he felt at this moment as he touched the sword was truly refreshing, especially when he unleashed his sword strike.
’The temptation of this sword is really strong, and I can feel it... This sword is still not in its true form. It’s still sealed.’
Zayden gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Well, what am I thinking? I’ll only bring trouble if I take this sword for myself," he murmured, understanding his own limits.
He knew that the moment he took the sword for himself, he would become the target of many people.
He basically did not have the power to hold them off.
Although he was one of the greatest geniuses in the empire, he was still just a small character in the vast Valdam Continent.
There were countless others much stronger than him who could easily kill him.
Only powers at the level of the high nobles at the very least, or even the imperial family, could hold this sword.
Zayden then sheathed the sword and released a deep sigh.
"What a pity, but well, at least we could finally end the war with this sword."
With the sword falling into the hands of the Vermion Empire, there was a high chance that their dream of uniting the entire continent would finally come true.
Zayden was also among those who believed that the key to achieving true peace across the continent, and preventing any war like this from happening again, was the unification of the continent.
All this time, the strained and hostile relationships between nations and factions across the continent had been caused by their differences in views regarding many things.
With unification, all forces across the continent would fall under a single command.
There would be no war without the highest command, which would obviously be under the emperor.
Zayden sat beside one of the trees and waited. He had been ordered to stay in this place until Prince Devron himself came to him. The prince would lead the empire’s troops to retreat first before meeting him.
Zayden released another sigh, trying to release all of his tiredness.
He closed his eyes with the sword still in his hand. A soothing wind swept across his face and through his hair.
For the first time in years, he felt relieved.
He smiled to himself as he then took out something from his storage ring.
The ring allowed him to store many things, as it contained a subspace where he could keep his belongings.
He took out a piece of paper and slowly opened it.
His smile grew warmer as he saw the writing on it, along with a picture of two figures.
A beautiful woman and a baby.
The woman had long blonde hair and blue eyes. Her gaze was directed toward Zayden, showing joy as she held the baby in her arms.
An adorable baby with green eyes just like his and black hair.
Although he had already read the contents of the paper and looked at the picture countless times, he never grew tired of it.
’After this, I could stay with Aria for a long time. And I could finally see my daughter, Mira.’
He released another sigh, and this time, his expression looked regretful.
’I feel bad for not being beside her when she gave birth. I have to make it up to her with lots of affection. Maybe we could visit some places for a vacation with Mira?’
He chuckled. His heart felt light and warm at this moment. He was already imagining himself together with his small family again.
He could kiss his wife and finally hold his first child in his arms.
Shiinngg!
His thoughts were disturbed by the sudden appearance of a light nearby.
He opened his eyes and saw the light change into the figure of Prince Devron. Then, a few other lights also appeared and took shape, forming several other figures.
All of them were known to him, and he quickly stored the letter from his wife in his storage ring before standing up.
Prince Devron looked at his surroundings, but the moment he looked at Zayden, he put on a smile.
"Your Highness." Zayden greeted the prince with a bow as the prince walked closer to him.
Devron nodded.
"Good work, Zayden. You truly did it. You managed to take the sword," he said, his gaze falling on the sword in Zayden’s hand.
"Let me see the sword."
The prince ordered him, and Zayden gave the sword to him without hesitation.
Although there was some reluctance inwardly, he firmly handed the sword to Devron.
Devron finally took the sword and observed it with an amazed gaze.
The sword slightly trembled in his hand, but he did not feel any disturbance.
He unsheathed the sword and looked at it in greater detail for a moment.
He then looked at the sky and, with a quick motion, swung the sword toward it.
At that moment, a space rift appeared in the sky!
The space itself was cut open, revealing the void behind it!
Zayden and the others who saw it felt their hearts tremble.
The heavenly sword in the hands of a seventh-stage cultivator like Devron could cut even space with a single strike!
It was like an eighth-stage strike!
Devron smiled as he saw the result of his attack and nodded in satisfaction.
He sheathed the sword again and released a sigh of amazement.
"What an amazing sword. I could feel its power overflowing into me," he commented.
"But... this sword consumes a lot of stamina and energy. Even though I didn’t unleash any technique and only performed a simple slash, it still took a considerable amount of both."
Devron smiled again at Zayden and patted his shoulder.
"It is because of you that we could obtain the heavenly sword. Our empire truly owes you a great debt."
Zayden smiled slightly as he lowered his head.
"This is only my duty, Your Highness. This is for the glory of the empire and to achieve true peace."
Devron nodded, still wearing a smile.
"Thank you for your service, Zayden. Now you can rest..."
Stab!
"For good."
Zayden’s eyes widened as he looked down at the dagger stabbed into his chest.