Chapter 111: Bonds Running Wild

Before the agony she expected could arrive, a warm current spread through her body first. Then came a deafening clang that exploded beside her ears. The violent shockwave whipped her hair backward and pressed her ears flat against her head.

Vivi opened her eyes in a daze. Standing in front of her was a broad, dependable back she knew better than anyone else’s: her lord. Wrapped in blazing gold-red flames, he appeared before her without hesitation.

Ever since she had joined him in Veli City, she had lost count of how many times she had watched that figure charge fearlessly ahead. He always fought on the front lines, and the ideals and convictions he carried had gradually become the shared aspiration of everyone who followed him.

As long as he was there, as long as Nolan stood with them, any problem could be solved. That had become the unspoken consensus within their little team.

And in truth, Nolan had never disappointed them. She had seen him protect countless people and bring them hope.

But this time, the person shielded by that steadfast back was her alone. By himself, he had blocked the shadow of death that threatened her. Just as he had once led her out of the bleak life that should have awaited her in Veli City.

“I’m not dead… I can still stay by Nolan’s side…”

The warmth filling Vivi’s heart far surpassed the warmth in her body, leaving her momentarily lost in thought.

The instant Nolan saw Vivi locked onto by Divine Judgment, he immediately activated Radiant Sun Charge again the moment its cooldown ended. Truthfully, he had no confidence he could stop the “Spear of Certain Death.” But he was not recklessly charging in without a plan. He still had one final trump card: Unyielding.

The streak of gold-red light and the pale blue spear aura arrived before Vivi at almost the exact same moment.

Nolan’s target was not the gray-armored warrior. It was Vivi.

The moment Radiant Sun Charge connected with an ally, its damage substitution effect and five-hundred-percent defense increase activated instantly.

The golden force field, the earth-element shield automatically generated by Mountain’s Resonance, and Nolan’s monstrous defense stacked together as all three layers activated at once.

Switching Mountain’s Resonance into its longsword form, the weapon he handled best, Nolan swung upward in a sharp arc to meet the pale blue stream of destruction head-on.

Clang! The shriek of metal grinding against metal was so piercing that everyone instinctively covered their ears.

Nolan felt an indescribably terrifying force slam violently into his sword.

Crack!

The earth-element shield formed by the Guardian’s Battle trait shattered in less than half a second, exploding into countless motes of elemental light.

Mountain’s Resonance seemed to sense its master’s desperate determination to protect at all costs. The runes along the blade lit up, and golden clusters of light followed the sword’s trajectory as surrounding earth elements surged forward one after another, wrapping around the cavalry lance and slowing it down.

Under the combined effects of the earth-element gravity attachment and the slash Nolan unleashed using the techniques of Falling Star Sword, the pale blue lance of destruction veered slightly off course.

But the “Spear of Certain Death” was not so easily stopped. This was already the limit of what Nolan could accomplish.

The cavalry lance screeched against Mountain’s Resonance. Even after breaking through the defenses, it lost none of its momentum. It merely shifted away from its original target, Nolan managing only to divert it from Vivi’s heart before it drove savagely into his right shoulder, whose defense had been massively enhanced by Radiant Sun Charge.

Thud!

Transparent dragon-scale patterns shimmered faintly across Nolan’s powerful upper body. He had tested it himself before; even Bronze-rank warriors could not cut through his skin.

Yet before the unstoppable spear tip, that defense meant nothing. It pierced straight through him.

A searing pain exploded from his shoulder, so intense that his vision went black for an instant. His body’s self-preservation instinct nearly forced him unconscious on the spot.

But he still did not retreat even a single step.

Summoning every ounce of strength in his body, Nolan transformed Mountain’s Resonance once more into its greatsword form and rammed it firmly against the gray-armored warrior’s chest. Using his own body as the barrier, he forcibly stopped the fatal strike in place.

All of it happened within one or two seconds.

Vivi stared blankly as Nolan gripped the enormous greatsword with both hands, desperately holding back the pale blue cavalry lance. The deadly spear tip had already pierced through his right shoulder, crimson blood dripping slowly from its razor-sharp point. Less than ten centimeters separated it from her throat. But it had stopped. Nolan had stopped it with his own body.

Watching the man shield her from death by taking the attack head-on, Vivi felt as though an invisible hand had seized her heart and squeezed until she could no longer breathe. Tears burst uncontrollably from her eyes.

She had suffered endless baseless discrimination within human lands. To survive, she had hidden herself within the gray underworld for so long. Never once had she experienced someone protecting her so desperately, so recklessly.

“N… Nolan…” She choked on the words, unable to say anything more.

“Wait!”

Grinding his teeth, Nolan forced the words out toward the gray-armored warrior. His voice trembled slightly from the pain.

The events unfolding inside the hall differed greatly from what he remembered, leaving him uncertain whether this real Vaughn Continent had diverged from the original details.

But the moment he saw Divine Judgment, he finally confirmed the figure’s identity.

“Snap out of it, Heavenly Judgment Knight!”

The instant the title “Heavenly Judgment Knight” left Nolan’s mouth, the gray-armored figure—whose overwhelming aura had been filled with destruction moments before—suddenly trembled. The crimson light in their eyes flickered.

They had been about to withdraw their lance and strike again, but their movement abruptly stopped. Their gaze settled on Nolan.

The violent clash from earlier had left blood pouring freely from Nolan’s upper body. At that moment, translucent silver-white dragon-scale patterns shimmered across his skin more clearly than ever before, gleaming like crystal beneath a faint glow. Blood flowed from his right shoulder while an ancient, majestic aura radiated from his body.

That aura…

The killing intent in the Heavenly Judgment Knight’s eyes faded slightly, replaced by deep confusion.

Their mind had remained dormant for far too long, leaving everything in chaos. Fragments of the past drifted like shattered glass, impossible to see clearly yet sharp enough to wound.

All memories should have vanished into nothingness. Then what was this sense of familiarity…?

Their low, hoarse voice sounded again, though this time uncertainty tinged it. “Someone… from the Dragon Legion?”

So it worked. Calling out their title had reached them.

Nolan did not understand why mentioning their title had triggered such a reaction, but at least communication now seemed possible.

At this point, he was certain the Heavenly Judgment Knight’s previous state had been one of total mental chaos, driven only by combat instinct and a single lingering obsession. That was why they had attacked without hesitation.

Enduring the agonizing pain in his shoulder, Nolan stared directly at them and spoke slowly, word by word. “Calm down. We are not enemies.”

The Heavenly Judgment Knight said nothing. They merely watched Nolan in silence, as though trying to judge whether his words were true.

Nolan reached out with his left hand, grabbed the lance still embedded in his shoulder, and yanked it out violently.

Thud! The lance was ripped free from his flesh by sheer force.

“Ugh!” Nolan let out another muffled groan of pain as his body shook uncontrollably. The tearing agony was unavoidable, but at least he no longer had to endure the wind blades wrapped around the lance.

His health had already dropped to a dangerously low level, less than one-fifth remaining.

The Heavenly Judgment Knight made no move to stop him. Instead, they stepped back twice, lowering the lance diagonally toward the floor.

“Nolan!”

Finally snapping out of her shock, Vivi rushed forward without caring about anything else. She caught his swaying body from behind before he could collapse.

Frantically wiping away her tears, she stared at the horrifying wound in his shoulder, her chest aching so badly she could barely breathe.

“You… how are you?” Her voice quivered with sobs.

“I won’t die that easily. Don’t be afraid.”

Nolan planted his sword into the ground and coughed. The motion tugged at the wound, forcing another sharp hiss of pain from him.

Vivi supported Nolan against herself, shielding him behind her before abruptly turning her head toward the gray-armored knight.

Her black dagger was gripped in reverse before her chest, like a mother tiger protecting her cubs. Even knowing full well she stood no chance against them, she would never allow anyone to hurt this man again.

The man she treasured most.

Even if it cost her life.