Death Heir's Devouring System
Chapter 52: The Clash at Twilight

Chapter 52: The Clash at Twilight

The sun was about to set; soon the Golden Lands would be enveloped by the impossible to see through darkness. Azrael wasn’t going to continue his flight in the middle of the night. What kept him alive was his line of sight, if that sense were blocked, he struggled to imagine how he could put up a fight if an enemy decided to ambush him.

Just when he was thinking about where he should spend the night, a scream caught his attention.

He grimaced, his gaze shifting to the north—the sound had come from the ruined kingdom territory.

Going there wasn’t advised, especially alone and when night was about to descend.

’But the scream sounded human... And no one sane would scream like that in the middle of nowhere unless they were about to die.’

Since Azrael had Cinder with him, he reassured himself he could fly away should something truly catastrophic happen.

So he decided to go near the source.

The farther he flew north, the clearer the screaming became. It wasn’t one that pleaded for help, but a panicked one. Like death was already more than certain.

Picking up the sounds of fighting, he narrowed his eyes, focusing ahead.

Four Chosen, two wounded severely, while the other two were struggling to hold their stand against an abomination.

A monster with an appearance similar to a horse, shrouded in a dark robe that both concealed the true shape of its body and allowed it to blend perfectly with the ground, charged at them.

One of the uninjured Chosen raised a wall made out of the earth, while the other shot with her bow.

However, the projectile bounced off the horse’s body, while the abomination passed without a problem through the wall.

Azrael frowned, this was a fearsome monster, no doubt... And that wasn’t even counting the being that rode upon its back.

A knight clad in armor as black as the darkness itself. In one hand, the abomination wielded a greatsword longer than Azrael was tall, while its other hand gripped firmly the reins it was using to control the horse-like being.

Before engaging, Azrael used [Inspect].

Name: [Knight]

Race: [Duskguard]

Danger Level: [Savage]

Corruption Rank: [Tainted]

Two things stood out—the rider and the horse-like creature it was riding were regarded as one entity. And second, this abomination was far too powerful for him to handle.

He could probably defeat a Tainted monster should it be classified as Feral, but a Savage one was a different matter altogether. It not only possessed a staggering amount of Corruption energy but would also be able to utilize it very effectively.

’I should turn back,’ he thought, yet his mouth refused to give the order to Cinder.

A small doubt entered his mind—these two Chosen, who were busy fighting the Duskguard, were able to keep it at bay. So him entering the battle should, in theory, tilt the tides of battle in their favor.

Charging in was a risk, his mission was to bring Chosen back to the base, not to save every dying soul he came across.

But would he ever get stronger if he ran away every time a battle wasn’t entirely in his favor?

His gaze dropped to Truth Seeker—the armor continued to glow faintly with its crimson color, demanding its thirst for blood to be quenched.

With a sigh, Azrael flicked his finger, calling forth Gravebloom. His hands took firm hold of the scythe as he rose to his feet on Cinder’s back.

Letting out a screech, the beast descended from the skies like a falling star.

When Azrael judged the distance right, he tensed his legs to the limit, veins bulging all over his skin as he jumped.

’Let’s test this armor to the limit,’ he thought, sure that falling from such a low altitude wouldn’t harm him.

He dispelled Cinder the second he jumped—both because he preferred to keep the Remembrance secret for as long as possible and because, if the worst came, he could summon it again and take his foe by surprise. In simpler terms, he was keeping it as a trump card.

His scythe tore through the air, its swing carrying the full momentum of his fall.

Just when the Duskguard was about to carve the bow-wielding woman in half, Azrael fell on the monster.

The Tainted creature, true to its threat, managed to sense the attack at the last moment and raised its greatsword to defend.

A thunderclap echoed across the entire area. Grass and leaves swayed from the impact. The clash had produced such a powerful shockwave that the legs of the horse-like monster buckled, unable to withstand the weight.

Azrael gritted his teeth. The shock that rippled through his body made his bones ache—but nothing was broken, so he pressed on.

Calling forth Mother Needle, he stabbed the knight in the head.

Sadly, it didn’t have the desired effect. Unlike the Unworthy Knights, the Duskguard didn’t have a flower blooming from its skull, so it wasn’t a weak point.

A heartbeat later, the abomination recovered from the surprise attack and swung its greatsword toward Azrael.

He moved, putting both weapons in front of him in a defensive stance.

The edges of his vision blurred as he was sent flying several feet backward.

Before the Duskguard could charge at him, an arrow from the bow-wielding woman he’d just saved interrupted the creature’s advance.

Azrael’s eyes quickly swept across the area, locking onto the less injured Chosen. Leaving the other two to keep the monster busy for a few seconds, he approached the wounded woman.

In a flash, he called forth the miraculous cigar, lit it, and shoved it into her mouth.

"This heals," he spoke coldly, staring straight into her eyes like death itself.

"You have half a minute. Get better and join the fight—or I’m leaving you all to die."

Wide-eyed and unsure how to react, the woman gasped. Just a few seconds ago, she had been screaming from pain and fear, sure that her squad was about to be wiped out, only for a man to descend from the sky and come to their aid.

Her fists clenched with determination, the edges of her eyes tearing up. She wasn’t going to waste this chance. With a nod, she ignored the aching pain all over her body as she took the deepest puff her injured lungs allowed her to.

’I hope she’s one of the ones who actually knows how to fight.’

Ensuring that the woman understood just how serious he was, he charged at the Duskguard monster.

Sensing his approach, it raised its greatsword, ready to meet the Death’s Heir head-on.

Azrael had to end the battle fast, not just because more threats could arrive, but because daylight was fading. Once the sun completely disappeared, fighting the Duskguard, an enemy that blended with the darkness itself, would become impossible.

His gaze shifted momentarily, landing on the girl who seemed to have control over the earth.

A single glance was all he needed to make his intent clear.

In the blink of an eye, the earth beneath his feet surged upward, propelling him forward.

Using that brief moment when he was face-to-face with the entity riding the horse, he gritted his teeth—

And struck.