Chapter 800: You Can’t Protect Anyone With A Shield [Part 1]

"Demon Slaying Arts: Third Form..." Cairo roared. "Crimson Requiem!"

The future Heaven’s Sword unleashed three crimson slashes that trailed across the sky, headed toward Reverse Alex.

The man narrowed his eyes in response before unleashing three flaming slashes to disperse the attack that was aimed at his blind spot.

"You’re so old-fashioned, Cairo." Reverse Alex sneered. "In this day and age, what kind of person would still announce the name of their attack? Are you a kid? Or are you so kind that you’d inform your enemy about the slash aimed at their back?"

As soon as he said that, he was forced to dodge Charles’ attack. The latter had suddenly appeared to his right and unleashed a punch covered in dark flames at point-blank range.

It was also then that Alex’s hammer collided with the side of Reverse Alex’s body, sending the latter flying... or so he thought.

At the last second, Reverse Alex had used his sword to block his attack and used that momentum to gain distance from his three opponents.

"We can do this all day, and none of you can still hit me," Reverse Alex said with confidence. "But I know how stubborn the two of you are... As for you...Who are you, Charles Lambert? I have never met or seen you in the past. Where do you live?"

Earlier, Charles had introduced himself as Nessia’s lover, and Reverse Alex didn’t like that.

In fact, he already planned to send someone to look for Charles in his world and make sure he would cease to exist.

That was also why he asked where the young man lived. Knowing would narrow down the areas his subordinates would have to search.

Of course, he wasn’t aware that the Charles of his world had already died long ago due to the fate that he wasn’t able to escape.

"I will always be by Nessia’s side," Charles replied. "I don’t like the way you look at my woman."

"Funny. I also feel the same." Reverse Alex sneered back.

Now that Reverse Nessia had finally accepted him as her lover, the mere thought of a man having feelings for the Nessia of this world made him very angry.

He had wanted to gouge out Charles’ eyes since earlier, but Alex and Cairo kept on getting in his way.

Granted, he wasn’t fighting at full strength yet, believing that doing so was beneath him.

However, he also understood that the stalemate would only continue if he didn’t become serious.

Sensing that his counterpart’s aura had started to change at that moment, Alex summoned more shields and regrouped with Charles.

Cairo also understood that he alone would not be able to defeat their opponent, so he also moved to assist the two young men.

Suddenly, Reverse Alex took a single step and vanished from where he stood.

A moment later, the sound of a sword and shield clashing against each other rang across the heavens.

In that short period of time, Alex had equipped his armor set that reflected any damage he received from his opponent.

Reverse Alex flinched as a percentage of his attack was reflected at him. The fact that his weak counterpart had hurt him, albeit a little, annoyed him a lot.

"You cannot protect anything with your shield," Reverse Alex stated.

"Very funny," Alex replied. "I just did that, didn’t I? Does it hurt?"

This was the same set that he had used when he saved Vaan from Willow, who had taken over his body back then.

Although he sounded calm on the surface, he actually felt great pain inside. The attack Reverse Alex had unleashed earlier was quite heavy.

"You don’t understand because you haven’t met the Hounds of the Aetherion Empire yet," Reverse Alex said with irritation. "You still haven’t faced off against the Shield Breaker. That is why you will never be able to protect anyone with a shield!"

As if remembering something that made him angry, the blue flames that surged from the sword intensified out of nowhere, turning the surroundings into a blazing inferno.

If not for the fact that Svalinn’s specialty was blocking flames, Alex would have already found himself in a very deadly situation.

"You can’t protect anyone with a shield!" Reverse Alex roared.

Even though the flames weren’t able to break past his defenses, Reverse Alex’s attack that relied on brute strength sent Alex flying backwards.

Fortunately, Cairo caught his disciple and helped him recover his balance.

Reverse Alex had already set his sights on Charles and had attacked the latter while Alex and Cairo were away.

Even so, Charles wasn’t a pushover. Despite their disparity in rank, he was saved by his power to blink away and evade the deadly attacks meant to take his life.

With that, Alex and Cairo hurried to attack Reverse Alex in order to give Charles some breathing room.

Soon, the battle of the four intensified, but Alex and his team were now being pushed back.

It was clear that Reverse Alex had decided that he had already wasted enough time with them and was now going for the kill.

Although his counterpart’s words about the Shield Breaker still hung in Alex’s mind, he had no leeway to think about it right now.

After all, Reverse Alex’s attacks were now growing in power and intensity, and his shields could no longer block them.

Blood sprayed across the sky as Reverse Alex’s sword eventually broke through several layers of shields, managing to leave a deep cut on Cairo’s left arm.

The Catkin backed off in response, while Alex and Charles moved to push their opponent back.

Unfortunately, Reverse Alex was too strong. The two of them were the ones who ended up being pushed back.

A powerful kick soon landed on Charles’ chest, sending him crashing toward the barrier protecting the city.

Blood spilled from the young man’s lips due to the powerful impact. Then, he lost consciousness and fell toward the ground.

"Charles!" Alex shouted and commanded several of his shields to catch his falling friend. At the same time, he braced himself to clash with Reverse Alex, who was hell-bent to erase Charles from this world.

At that point, he could feel it.

The madness that was starting to take hold of his counterpart’s consciousness. This was also the reason why Reverse Alex wasn’t fighting too seriously earlier.

Of course, this state was something that Alex was very familiar with.

It was called Oathbreaker Mode.

And for some reason, Alex believed that the reason his counterpart had become like this was due to one of his oaths being broken.

Perhaps this was also why Reverse Alex had repeatedly told Alex that he couldn’t protect anyone with a shield. From everything he had mentioned so far, Alex believed the Shield Breaker might have played a role in his counterpart becoming an Oathbreaker.

Though, regardless of his counterpart’s circumstances, he couldn’t possibly watch him kill Charles.

"Shield Charge!" Alex roared.

His body then turned into a white comet that clashed against the blazing blue comet out to end Charles’ life.

The two pushed each other back for a few seconds before Alex was eventually blown away, crashing against the barrier before falling onto the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.