The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-448

Chapter 448: The Fall of the Usher Family (8)

The demon lord, who had the appearance of a giant bird, spread his four massive wings.

With the flamboyant appearance of a peacock, his body was covered in eyes, ice, and frost, looking as if he was armored.

In a large eye socket, numerous blood-red eyeballs were clustered, each emitting a strange light, and his long, sharp beak was filled with teeth.

The third corpse. ‘Ice Peacock’ The Ice Lord Andrealphus.

A key figure from the era of destruction, a vanguard of the demon army that inflicted immense damage on the Human Alliance, had finally revealed his true nature.

[A water attack, huh. Clever, but…]

Andrealphus shook his enormous wings and soared into the air in an instant.

A long tail feather made of ice and frost left a white trail in the sky.

[It’s useless against me.]

As Andrealphus said, a bird flying in the sky is unaffected by water attacks.

It could have turned out differently if there had been more water, but due to the severe drought, the water level of Lake Lakedock had dropped significantly, preventing Madeline from being destroyed.

[What can you earthbound creatures possibly do? Hohohoho-]

Andrealphus ascended high into the sky, mocking everything below.

Neither water attacks, formations, nor encirclements had any meaning against Andrealphus, who ruled the sky.

Even the blood-soaked jade flowers stretched their vines but couldn’t reach, and the improved Eight Trigrams Formation by Marquis Sade lost its effect.

“A bird boasting just because he can fly. Eh-”

“Funny.”

Marquis Sade and Major Orca stepped forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A Whip and a club extended with terrifying force, creating a storm of aura.

[Ridiculous. Hohohoho-]

Andrealphus easily dodged Sade and Orca’s combined attack.

A flying-type demon freely soaring through the sky.

Attacks from the ground were mostly futile against Andrealphus, who could effortlessly ascend to dizzying heights and then descend in a flash.

“Miss!”

“Are you alright!”

“What in the world is happening…?”

Some of the knights from the Brainwashed Divine Archer Squad gathered around Bianca.

Bianca quickly took control of the situation.

“Divine Archer Squad! Pull yourselves together and take down that monster!”

Bianca grabbed her bow and arrows, aiming at Andrealphus.

The knights of the Divine Archer Squad, though dazed, also prepared to shoot.

However, even for the marksmen of the archer squad, hitting Andrealphus moving at incredible speeds in the sky was a daunting task.

[Hohohoho- No one can catch me when I’m serious… UGh!]

But Andrealphus’ self-praise was short-lived.

Whoosh!

Vikir, who had been lying slanted on a dead tree by the cliff, leaped up.

Vikir jumped to an unbelievable height.

It was as if he defied gravity!

‘All that time spent in the gravity chamber at the academy has paid off.’

In the blink of an eye, Vikir reached right below Andrealphus and unleashed the Baskerville 8th Style.

…Flash!

A black sun roared violently.

Crack!

Terrified, Andrealphus quickly halted his flight and twisted his body to escape in a near-vertical trajectory.

Vikir had to be content with tearing off one of the demon’s wings and a leg.

[Kaaaargh! You wretched creature dare…!]

Andrealphus’ eyeballs turned even redder.

Finally, the demon began to exercise his innate powers to the fullest.

Boom!

Dark blue magic circles formed around Andrealphus.

Eventually, they twisted and tore open a dimensional portal, revealing massive chunks of ice.

Hail. But these were far too large to be mere hailstones.

Enormous chunks of ice, almost akin to drift ice.

Glaciers and icebergs over 10 meters in diameter began to pour down like countless raindrops.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The ground was instantly devastated.

Those below couldn’t even dream of attacking Andrealphus.

Swoosh—

Vikir swiftly raised his head after slicing through a massive chunk of falling hail.

Andrealphus sneered with his lips twisted as if declaring that he would never descend to the ground.

[From now on, I will never give you an opening! Die crushed under this hailstorm! Hohohohoho—]

Andrealphus summoned hailstones with determination.

House-sized chunks of ice continued to fall.

Camus, who had been smashing the hailstones with fiery-hot iron stakes, spoke irritably.

“This is annoying, isn’t it? We’re just getting hit unilaterally. If he runs out of magic, he can just fly away.”

“I agree.”

Dolores nodded in agreement with Camus.

She was frustrated because her holy shield was ineffective against physical impacts like hail.

Sinclaire, who had been extracting gold from the ground to create barriers, was also showing signs of fatigue.

“Brother, we can’t hold out much longer. Five minutes at most.”

That was indeed the case.

As the hailstorm continued, the Night Walkers were growing increasingly exhausted.

In this situation, Andrealphus drove in the final nail.

[…Should I just open the ‘Gate of Destruction’ now?]

Everyone’s expressions turned to confusion at those words.

Andrealphus burst into laughter.

[If I let my remaining magic run wild, I could open the Gate of Destruction, albeit imperfectly. I’d lose my life in the process, though.]

“…..”

Vikir silently gazed up at the sky.

Seeing Vikir’s gaze, Andrealphus spoke mockingly.

[It seems you’re the only human here who understands my words. I don’t know how a mere human knows about the Gate of Destruction… but don’t worry. I’m not planning to open it just yet.]

Andrealphus closed his mouth with a snap.

[Why would I push myself to open the gate when I have such an advantage!? Hohohohohoho!]

Once again, countless hailstones began to fall.

[Once you’re all gone, I’ll join forces with my remaining two allies to safely open the gate! Eventually, I’ll cover the entire world with demons! In a world overflowing with trash craving power, it’s such an easy task!]

Andrealphus spread his remaining wings wide.

And amidst the storm of hail that seemed to engulf the whole world, he continued to scorn and mock his enemies to the end.

[Die, you trashy humans! Everything you’ve done is worthless and in vain! I will make it so myself…!]

At that moment.

“Are you that confident?”

Vikir’s mouth opened.

Despite the dire situation, he stared at Andrealphus with unwavering eyes.

Andrealphus looked down at Vikir with the gaze of a cat watching a caught mouse.

[What nonsense are you spouting?]

“Are you really that confident? I’ve learned that overconfidence often hides anxiety.”

[Hohohohoho— Anxiety? Me?]

Andrealphus laughed incredulously and continued.

[What in this situation could possibly make me anxious? You all crawl on the ground like insects, while I reign from these lofty skies, unleashing hail. Although I lost a wing and a leg due to a moment’s carelessness, that’s nothing—a few hundred human children and I’ll be as good as new.]

“Is that so? But I still see a glimmer of anxiety in you. If you’re truly that confident, prove it.”

[How dare a worm like you provoke me with such triviality…]

As Andrealphus began to turn his head dismissively, Vikir shouted.

“‘Who can kill me?’”

[…!]

The words Vikir uttered were the same ones Andrealphus had once said to Bianca.

‘Who can kill me? Say this three times, and I’ll acknowledge your courage. I’ll even open the mansion doors for you. Surely, you’re not afraid?’

Looking directly at Andrealphus, Vikir continued.

“If you can say this three times, I’ll acknowledge your confidence. I’ll accept defeat and kill myself. Surely, you’re not afraid?”

[Hmph! What does it matter if you worms accept it or not? …But I admit, this is amusing. If your goal was to capture my interest and buy time, you’ve succeeded.]

With a sneer, Andrealphus turned to Bianca.

But the situations between Andrealphus and Bianca were different. Their powers and circumstances were so vastly different that they couldn’t be compared.

Thus, Andrealphus shouted for amusement one last time.

[Who can kill me? Who can kill me? Who can kill me?]

The arrogance and confidence of someone in an absolute position of power.

Andrealphus boldly shouted from the center of the sky.

At that very moment.

[…Huh?]

As soon as he finished the last phrase, Andrealphus experienced something strange.

Flick—

Suddenly, his vision in the left eye went black.

Numerous eyes lost their function all at once.

As Andrealphus tilted his head in confusion.

…Boom!

With a delayed explosion, Andrealphus’ head snapped forward.

Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—

His face shattered, eyes burst, and the left side of his skull was completely blown off.

An archer shot with terrifying power had blown out the back of his head.

[Aaaargh! What—what is this!?]

As Andrealphus screamed in shock, Vikir’s mouth opened.

“I didn’t just set this up to catch you.”

It was true.

The unleashed water stream had swept through the marshlands and cleared away the mist and aura of red death that had been surrounding the Usher mansion.

And then.

A figure stood proudly on the sharp tip of the collapsed mansion’s roof.

A gaunt frame, a deathly pale complexion.

But in those deeply sunken eyes, the same brilliance as before shone.

Roderick. Roderick Usher, the head of the Usher House.

The master archer of Usher stood with his bow and arrow aimed at the sky.