Chapter 621: One Sword to Decide the World

When the Roaring Knights had been reduced by Liszt to a third of their numbers, then ambushed by the Coral Island Knights charging from both flanks, Liszt's Magic Eye clearly saw the mana gathered by Marquis Raging Waves from his knights—now thin and scattered, losing its former grandeur.

At this moment, the Marquis, boiling with rage, had no retort.

Liszt could keenly sense that the man might already be considering retreat, only held back by the Roaring Knights still charging forward, unwilling to abandon his own order.

Yet when Liszt drew his bowstring once more, three arrows shattered a sky knight in an instant, giving Lee William a chance to recover.

Marquis Raging Waves could endure no longer. He fully realized that this furious offensive had already collapsed into defeat.

"Roaring Knights, heed my command—Retreat at once!" With a roar brimming with resentment, the Domain Knight clad in golden armor took up the rear himself, attempting to buy time for his knights' withdrawal.

Boom—

At the Marquis’s order, the knights, already terrified by Liszt's relentless arrows, wheeled around instantly, abandoning their charge and retreating in frantic disarray back the way they came. The stalemate collapsed—the Roaring Knights routed, the Coral Island Knights in pursuit.

But the Coral Island Knights had suffered heavy losses in repeated charges and were too depleted to capitalize further.

They could only watch helplessly as the enemy knights fled into the distance.

However.

While the knights could escape, Marquis Raging Waves could not. After retrieving his Swift Shadow Bow and seeing the Roaring Knights begin their retreat, Liszt wasted no words. Swinging his Skycleaver, he dove straight at the Marquis, engulfed in advanced fire Dragon Aura.

Cloaked in flames like a battle mantle, he unleashed his charged technique—Scorching Sun Thrust: "Think you can flee without my permission?"

His momentum was unstoppable, like a meteor striking the earth.

Marquis Raging Waves did not retreat. Still wielding the weakened mana of his knights, he swung the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword, conjuring a colossal surge that collided violently with Liszt's fireball form.

Boom—!

Flames and waves devoured each other, scattering in all directions. The sky split—fire scorching one half, rain deluging the other, while steam rose from evaporated water and unquenchable flames flickered amidst the downpour.

Rebounding from each clash, the two fought midair, swords flashing relentlessly.

At first, the Marquis's impure water-attribute mana held its own against Liszt's refined fire-attribute Dragon Aura. But as the flames steadily consumed the tides, the Marquis soon found himself encircled by fire.

The Roaring Knights had already retreated far behind.

With the knights' mana now distant, his Domain Aura weakened uncontrollably once more, leaving him powerless against the Dragon Aura's encroachment. The tables had turned—from overwhelming Liszt, he was now being overwhelmed himself. After a few reckless exchanges, the Skycleaver Greatsword, its edge riddled with gaps, had already split his golden armor.

Were it not for the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword's unyielding hardness, which chipped away fragments of the Skycleaver with each clash, Liszt would’ve carved him apart without mercy.

Any strike that drew blood was art.

Clang—!

Another sword clash, and the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword sheared off another piece of the Skycleaver's blade.

Exploiting the opening, the Marquis shouted, "Stand down! Name your price for Deborah’s ransom!"

Liszt gave no reply. With victory in his grasp, he wouldn't let the Marquis escape with mere words.

Glancing at his Skycleaver, now one strike from shattering, he steeled his heart. Focusing every ember of his Dragon Aura, he poured it all into the greatsword. Gathering every ounce of strength, he raised it overhead in a sweeping arc, intent on splitting the Marquis down the middle!

Seeing this,

the Marquis Raging Waves’ eyes turned crimson with fury: "What wrong have I done to you?!"

Cursing under his breath, he had no choice but to hastily raise the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword overhead to block Liszt's all-or-nothing attack.

Yet he miscalculated again—Liszt's move was merely a feint, with the real target being the hilt of the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword.

*CLANG!*

The Skycleaver Sword shattered into two pieces, completely destroyed. However, the burst of Dragon Aura energy successfully blasted the Marquis' hand, forcing him to drop the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword.

Realizing he had been tricked, the Marquis ignored the injury to his hand and lunged for the falling sword.

Liszt gasped for breath—this last move had drained much of his Dragon Aura. But his plan wasn’t yet complete. Gritting his teeth, he once again drew the Swift Shadow Bow, notching a mana-charged arrow.

Three arrows streaked through the air.

Then another three.

The ultimate technique of *Multiple Arrows*—"Phantom Barrage"—was unleashed, targeting the Marquis’ path. This archery technique was so perfected that it almost never missed. This time was no exception. The six arrows traced unpredictable trajectories, hammering into the Marquis with deadly accuracy.

Though the golden armor resisted penetration, preventing the arrows from fully piercing through, the explosive Dragon Aura blasted the Marquis hundreds of meters backward.

The next second, Liszt plummeted downward, intercepting the free-falling Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword.

The moment he gripped the hilt, a bone-numbing cold shot through his veins, momentarily stifling his fiery mana.

*"Is the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword forged from an ice dragon’s bones? It doesn’t seem very compatible with my fire-attribute mana. Still, the weight and size are good—especially this asymmetrical design. It suits my taste perfectly!"* He landed, gripping the sword.

With a quick glance, he was captivated by its striking appearance—crystalline, gleaming, and bizarrely shaped, demanding attention. Such a high-profile weapon perfectly matched Liszt’s flamboyant persona.

He attempted to channel his fire-attribute mana into it.

The Grand Sprite weapon offered minimal boost to fire-attribute mana, yet the speed and fluidity of energy flow far surpassed that of the ruined Skycleaver Sword. Though not perfectly attuned to fire, it was more than capable of replacing his lost blade.

Weapons themselves had no innate elemental affinities—only materials that influenced mana conductivity.

As a Grand Sprite weapon forged from dragon bone, the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword’s "resistance" was far lower than the Skycleaver Sword’s—even for fire-attribute mana.

Combined with its sturdiness and the unknown special properties granted by Grand Sprite essence, this sword swiftly became Liszt’s ideal weapon.

He looked up and saw the Marquis, blasted away by the arrows, made no move to reclaim the sword. Instead, the Marquis merely threw one last glare at Liszt before gathering the four surviving sky knights and fleeing, escorting the remnants of the Roaring Knights away from the battlefield of Riverheart Keep.

Even the ransom for his nephew, Deborah, seemed no longer worth discussing.

Liszt remained where he stood.

He did not pursue the powerful marquis.

Unfamiliar with the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword and with his Dragon Aura running on fumes, killing the marquis would be difficult even if he caught up. Moreover, slaying a major lord like the marquis would cause an uproar—while the Kingdom of the Eagle had many marquises, the death or capture of such a figure could draw the attention of dragon knights.

Before seizing the Iron Mountain Mine, it was best not to attract too much attention.

Gripping the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword, he mounted a warhorse brought by one of his knights and rode off slowly. *"Time to regroup, learn from this fight, and prepare to take Iron Mountain Mine!"*