Chapter 155: Fighting the Demonized Griffin

KREEE!!!

Sensing the fighting spirit inside Regis’s eyes, the strongest demonized griffin let out a screech.

KREEE!!! KREEE!!! KREEE!!!

The other demonized griffins followed one after the other.

"Are you sure about this, Boss?" Uncertainty could be seen in Killian’s eyes.

Regis looked at him and smirked, "What? Aren’t you looking for action since our recent days have been quite boring?"

"Pfft!!" Alaric almost failed to hold his laugh at his words.

Killian blushed as he looked at Regis, "B-But this is different! We could die– No, I think we’ll really die!"

"So? Don’t tell me this is too much ’action’ for you?"

"Ugh, please stop."

Killian glanced at the flock of demonized griffins above, ’Has he gone crazy? Are we really going to fight that!? But he unsheathed that special dagger of his again.’

He knew that even if they hadn’t reached the Two Star Realm, they were already quite strong and could even cross realms to fight those stronger than them.

However, it was only the thing when they were fighting one or two opponents.

And even then, it depended on what kind of opponent they were facing.

For instance, the rock elemental that they had encountered a while back had obvious weaknesses and it was only at the Peak Stage of the Two Star Realm.

Added to the fact that it was alone.

Whoosh—

A subtle sound of something cutting through the air suddenly echoed while Killian was thinking.

"Watch out!!" Aurelia shouted as her eyes widened in horror.

Pandora and Alaric were also overwhelmed with shock at what they saw.

At this moment, one of the demonized griffins that was flying above suddenly dove down towards their group.

The speed of its descent made it look like a blur in the sky.

They didn’t even have the time to brandish their weapons when they saw the glowing red eyes of the demonized griffin near them.

It was at this point in time where everything suddenly stopped.

It was as if someone had hit the pause button.

"Haaaa..."

In the world where time has stopped– where the world itself stopped– a childish sigh resounded.

"Seriously, how can we be so unlucky?"

Regis played with the crystalline dagger in his hand, tossing it lightly as he assessed the situation before him.

The Shard of Tinateria was just a shard of the broken holy sword.

However, from the outside, the only special thing about it was its iridescent glow.

If it weren’t for that characteristic, then it would just look like a dagger-shaped crystal with its ’handle’ being covered in high quality cloth.

And in terms of sharpness, it was on the level of kitchen knives at most.

However, there was one characteristic that made it extremely extraordinary– to the point that it seemed out of this world.

It was the fact that it was the only thing that Regis could use in this state.

That was right.

From the moment he noticed the demonized griffin’s dive, he immediately used his most special aura art.

The only elemental aura art he had: Lux Aeterna.

Staring at the claws of the demonized griffin that seemed to want to tear them apart to shreds, Regis shuddered.

"What would have happened if it succeeded..."

He couldn’t even begin to imagine what they would look like after being shredded to pieces by the demonized griffin’s claws.

"Anyways, I can’t maintain this aura art for long so let’s get to work."

Regis muttered to himself as he lightly caught the Shard of Tinateria in a reverse grip.

"Let’s have a few practice swings first..." He then didn’t waste any more time as he struck the demonized griffin’s claws with his iridescent dagger.

Shiiik—

"As expected..." A smile bloomed across Regis’s lips as he looked at the claws that had obviously been detached from the demonized griffin.

It still hadn’t fallen to the ground as time was still frozen.

His iridescent dagger went through the claws like how a hot knife would cut through butter.

He didn’t feel the slightest bit of resistance..

During his time as an adventurer, he also did extensive research on his abilities.

After all, he wholeheartedly believed that understanding oneself was more of a priority than understanding one’s enemy.

And through this, Regis was able to discover just how overpowered his aura art was.

"I can only maintain it for less than a minute, but it’s worth it."

Regis spoke under his breath as he continuously swung his iridescent dagger at the demonized griffin.

His thorough study of Lux Aeterna allowed him to discover some of its capabilities.

The first one he discovered was the fact that time wasn’t frozen– he was just too fast to the point that it seemed like so.

The second one was the fact that, like light, he won’t be able to touch anything while in this state and therefore, not be able to attack others.

Of course, with the sole exception of using the Shard of Tinateria.

In short, he was able to become light itself through this aura art.

And finally, the most important thing he discovered— something he wouldn’t even have a clue of if not for the Shard of Tinateria in his hand.

It was the fact that any of his actions in this state would be tremendously magnified in speed.

’One’s power is the product of many variables. However, it could be simplified to two components: speed and strength’

’The two are complementary in each other as one of them could greatly affect the other which will result in more power.’

’Light, on the other hand, is the main power of Lemetina and her believers.’

’It is the most dignified, holiest, and most sacred element out of all the worldly elements. Furthermore, it was also the fastest.’

’However, the only accessible thing that is remotely the closest to the speed of light is lightning. And even then, it was still like a drop in the ocean in comparison.’

It was some of the pieces of information that Regis had found from reading books all over the Corelli Fortress— mainly the libraries of the Gladius Family, Temple of Light, and the Alchemy Hall respectively.

’This means that even if I lack strength compared to this demonized griffin, with the enhancement of the speed of light; the gap between us would close accordingly.’

Regis thought to himself with a confident smile.

Although the speed of light is not accessible to other people– even those of the Temple of Light believers– he was different.

After cutting the demonized griffin’s claws, he proceeded to slice its body into multiple parts.

And lastly, he changed his grip on his iridescent dagger and struck its temple with the blunt end of the Shard of Tinateria’s handle.

Up until now, he had spent ten seconds in this state.

"I think this is good for now. I just need something to boost their morale."

Regis thought to himself as he glanced back at his companions.

Their expressions that were still that of shock, anxiety, and fear had become frozen along with time.

He didn’t kill any other of the demonized griffins in order to save up his aura.

***

Pandora, Killian, Aurelia, and Alaric’s eyes were still with a myriad of emotions as they helplessly stared at the sharp claws before them.

However, in the next instant, something that they didn’t expect happened.

SHIIIIIICK— TOOOM!!!!

Blood suddenly gushed from different parts of the demonized griffin’s body, essentially separating it into numerous sections.

It didn’t end there as the monster’s body suddenly shot towards the side like a kite.

"Wha..."

Alaric couldn’t even finish his words while Aurelia remained speechless.

It was their first time seeing something as strong as a demonized griffin being killed in an instant.

The brutality of its execution added further to their shock.

Meanwhile, Pandora and Killian glanced at each other and saw the similar knowing look in their eyes.

"He did ’that’ again..." He whispered, to which she nodded.

Nevertheless, the shock still hadn’t left Killian’s eyes, "Even though I already knew from the moment he unsheathed that peculiar knife.. I still didn’t expect it to work..."

Since the two of them had been working with Regis for well over a year, they had witnessed his growth.

They were also the first to witness the fruits of his hard work.

Of course, it wasn’t the first time that they had seen this ability of his.

"No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing..." Killian muttered absentmindedly, to which Pandora nodded again in agreement.

They didn’t know how his ability worked and didn’t bother to ask their leader since they respected his secret.

Furthermore, they gave up guessing a long time ago since they couldn’t even begin to fathom such a strange ability.

They only had an inkling that it had something to do with their leader’s strange affinity.

The only thing they did know was whenever Regis unsheathed that iridescent, crystalline dagger of his, all hell would break loose.