From Deadbeat noble to Top Rank Swordsman-Chapter 101: The Fall

Leon felt weightless.

Not the weightlessness of flight—but the kind that comes after impact, when the body forgets how to move. His face pressed into the cold dirt. His arms didn’t respond. The pain in his back screamed louder than thought.

Somewhere above him, the battle continued.

Screams. Magic. Roars.

Then—footsteps.

Heavy. Measured. Getting closer.

The creature.

His vision swam as he lifted his head. Just enough to see its legs.

The beast stood over him.

It didn’t attack.

It looked down.

Its voice slid into his skull again, more whisper than command.

"Not broken. Not yet. That is the danger of you."

The air thickened.

Leon tried to move. Tried to speak. Nothing.

Then—light.

Not from the creature.

From the sky.

A spear of silver-blue fire tore down from above, slamming into the creature’s back. It staggered. Roared. Turned.

Above them, descending through the clouds, came a figure.

Armoured. Cloaked. Radiant.

The Fifth Seal.

Aelia.

She hit the ground like judgment.

Waves of pressure flattened the terrain. The creature reeled back, and for the first time—retreated.

Aelia didn’t speak. Her blade was already drawn.

"You waited too long," she murmured, kneeling beside Leon.

Her hand touched his shoulder. Warmth flooded him. Pain dulled—not gone, but distant.

Leon coughed. "You came."

"Late," she said. "But not too late."

Behind them, the others regrouped. Mira crawled toward Leon. Alden supported Tomas. Elena stood still, her gaze fixed on the creature now pacing like a caged god.

"Can you fight?" Aelia asked.

Leon pushed himself up. Gritted his teeth. Nodded.

She offered him her hand. He took it.

Together, they turned.

The creature watched. Curious.

Then it spread its wings.

And the sky split again.

The second phase had begun.

The second phase began with silence.

A silence so complete that even the wind dared not stir.

Then, thunder without sound—air displaced by force alone—rushed outward as the creature launched skyward. Its wings carved trails through the clouds. Lightning arced in their wake.

Leon steadied his stance, the pain in his back roaring with each breath. Aelia stepped ahead of him, her cloak fluttering behind her like a banner.

"This part," she said, eyes still on the sky, "is worse."

The creature arched in the heavens, then dived.

A comet of ruin.

Aelia moved.

She leapt—not to dodge, but to meet it halfway.

Their clash erupted midair. No ground beneath them, no sky above. Just two forces colliding with such violence that the clouds fractured. Wind exploded in every direction. Stone lifted from the battlefield and hung there, suspended, before falling like hail.

Leon raised his arm, shielding his face. Mira pulled him back, her expression pale.

"She’s fighting it alone?"

"She has to," Elena said. "Only she can match its full speed."

Above, Aelia and the creature danced through the sky. Her blade glowed with burning light—cutting arcs into the air. The creature fought with claws and wings, tail and teeth, bending its form like smoke around each blow.

And still—it pushed her back.

Not from strength alone.

But from pressure.

From something deeper.

Tomas, clutching his side, looked up with a grimace. "She’s not winning."

Leon didn’t answer.

He was already moving.

His legs wobbled. His vision blurred. But his grip on his sword was steady. He walked forward, ignoring the pain, the warnings, the blood trailing behind him.

"Elena," he called, "ground it."

She blinked. "What?"

"Now."

She didn’t argue. She stepped forward, raised both hands, and slammed them down.

Magic pulsed.

Runes lit the battlefield in a wide ring around them. A massive circle. Old. Forbidden.

Gravity magic.

The creature’s wings faltered mid-sweep. It stuttered. Slowed.

Aelia didn’t hesitate. She struck once—twice—driving the beast downward with the force of a falling star.

It hit the ground like a meteor.

The shockwave knocked everyone back, even Leon. He rolled and rose in a single motion.

And charged.

The creature growled, wings twitching, one bent and torn from Aelia’s strike. Its head turned just in time to see Leon closing in.

His sword glowed—not gold this time, but white-hot.

He slashed.

The blade cleaved across the creature’s chest, leaving a searing mark. It howled.

Then retaliated.

Leon was flung backward, crashing through a shattered column. He coughed, staggered to his feet.

Aelia landed beside him. "You’re insane."

"I know," he muttered.

Together again, they faced the beast.

The creature rose slowly now. One wing limp. Blood—not red, but shimmering silver—dripped from its wounds. Its eyes locked on them both.

Then it opened its mouth.

And unleashed the light again.

This time, it didn’t aim.

It flooded the battlefield.

A wave of energy, blinding and absolute, surged in all directions.

Leon covered his face. Aelia threw up a barrier, but even that cracked under the weight of it. The others dove for cover.

When the light faded—

Half the ridge was gone.

Just gone.

A crater where men and stone had once stood.

Leon looked back.

Mira and Alden had barely survived behind a wall of ice Elena conjured last second. Tomas was bleeding again. Callen wasn’t moving.

The cost was rising.

The creature roared again.

But Aelia stepped forward.

"No more," she said.

Then raised her blade.

It wasn’t just her sword now—it was something more. A shape carved from divine fire. The full strength of the Fifth Seal.

The sky responded.

Storms gathered. Wind howled.

Leon turned to the others.

"This ends now."

And together—they charged.

Aelia surged ahead, light trailing from her blade in radiant arcs. Leon followed, legs stiff, body aching, but purpose clear. Elena raised both arms, summoning a storm of frost that coiled around the flanks, forming a second wave. Mira and Alden flanked right, arrows ready, their pace steady despite exhaustion.

The creature didn’t wait this time.

It lunged.

One wing, fractured but still deadly, swept the field—catching Alden mid-step. The boy slammed into a broken slab and didn’t rise. Mira screamed, loosed three arrows that exploded on impact.

None pierced.

Leon ducked under the wing and slid, driving his blade toward the creature’s midsection. He struck—but shallow. The skin was thicker here. Denser.

Then claws came.

He twisted aside, just enough to avoid being torn in two. Aelia landed above, cleaving down across the creature’s extended limb. The cut flared with golden light.

The creature bellowed, stepped back.

Only for a moment.

It lashed out with its tail—cracking the earth as it swept the ridge.

Tomas intercepted it.

He’d climbed atop the rubble, both blades held high. He struck the tail as it passed, driving one sword deep, anchoring it. The creature snarled and jerked, but Tomas held on—yelling as his arms trembled.

Leon saw it.

And moved.

He leapt, using the tail as a ramp, sprinting up the slick curve toward the beast’s shoulder.

The others reacted instantly. Mira cast a spell into the ground—binding roots burst from the earth, tangling the creature’s legs. Elena added ice, freezing joints in place.

Just long enough.

Leon reached the top, blade raised.

And drove it deep.

Right into the back of the creature’s neck.

The scream was deafening. Not from pain—but from shock. From fury.

Leon held on as the beast twisted violently, bucking, thrashing. His blade tore free, coated in silver blood. He slammed it down again. And again.

The creature surged upward.

Aelia met it mid-rise.

She dove from above, blade extended.

Their attacks landed at once—Leon from above the shoulder, Aelia from the front.

For the first time, the beast stumbled.

It crashed to a knee, wings flailing.

The light in its chest flickered.

Then—burst.

A dome of pure force exploded outward.

Leon was thrown through the air. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, his body tumbling across stone and ash. Everything rang.

He didn’t black out—but he wanted to.

His limbs twitched. His sword was gone. Vision hazy.

Footsteps again.

Heavy.

Measured.

But slower this time.

He forced his head up.

The creature limped toward him.

Neck bleeding. Wing shattered. Eyes dimmer.

But alive.

Still coming.

Leon reached for his blade.

His fingers barely scraped the hilt.

The creature raised a claw—ready to finish it.

Then came the flash. freewebnoveℓ.com

Aelia’s sword pierced its back, driven deep by both hands. She held it there, shouting a word Leon couldn’t hear. Light surged from the blade, spreading through the creature’s form like veins of fire.

The beast howled.

It turned, slashing wildly, catching Aelia across the chest.

She fell.

Hard.

Didn’t rise.

The creature staggered again. Smoke rose from its mouth. It tried to take another step—

But the light within it flared.

It cracked.

Its torso split, just slightly—lines of golden-white tearing through black skin.

Leon reached his sword.

This time, he held it.

And stood.

Shaking. Barely upright.

But standing.

The creature faced him again.

No speech this time.

No pressure.

Just a final step forward.

Leon didn’t wait.

He ran.

The world slowed. Every ache screamed. Every heartbeat counted.

He drove the sword forward.

Straight through the wound Aelia had left.

The creature’s eyes widened.

It reached for him.

But its claws never closed.

Its body froze.

Then—crumbled.

Not into ash. Not into dust.

Into shards of black and silver.

The battlefield was silent.

The storm died.

The sky cleared.

Leon dropped to his knees, breath gone, body broken.

But he didn’t fall.

Not yet.

Not until he was sure it was over.

Not until someone else moved.

Mira called out. Elena ran toward Aelia. Tomas knelt beside Alden.

And Leon—

Just breathed.

Alive.

For now.

The silence didn’t last.

Not in a place like this.

It started with Elena’s scream.

"Aelia!"

Leon turned too fast. His body protested. He stumbled and crawled, dragging himself across the fractured stone.

Aelia hadn’t moved. She lay on her back, her cloak torn, armour cracked along the ribs. Blood soaked into the dirt beneath her. Real blood—red, thick, still flowing.

Elena reached her first. She dropped to her knees and pressed her hands against the wound. "She’s bleeding out—she’s not healing."

"She should be," Mira muttered, arriving just behind.

Leon finally reached her side. He stared at her face. Pale. Still. Eyes half open, unfocused.

"No," he said.

His voice barely sounded like his.

"No—Aelia."

He pressed a hand to her chest. "You’re not done."

She didn’t respond.

Tomas limped over, his armour dented, face bruised. He knelt beside them and shook his head. "She gave it everything. Whatever’s left in her... we have to pull it back now."

Leon turned to Elena. "Use the crest."

"What?"

"The crest she gave me. The Fifth Seal."

"You’re not linked to it," Elena said. "Even if I channel it, it could burn you both."

Leon didn’t blink. "Try anyway."

Elena hesitated only a second. Then reached for her spellbook, flipped to a marked page, and began chanting.

Mira moved beside Leon, checking Aelia’s pulse again. "She’s fading."

"I know," Leon whispered.

He reached down, gripped Aelia’s wrist. "Stay. I don’t care how strong you are. You’re not allowed to leave now."

Light gathered around Elena’s palms. She pressed both hands to Aelia’s chest.

A sigil formed. Circular. Blazing.

The crest of the Fifth Seal pulsed once—then sank into Aelia’s body.

A breath hitched in her throat.

Then silence again.

Her fingers twitched.

Leon leaned in. "Aelia?"

Her lips moved.

Just a whisper.

"Still here."

He nearly collapsed in relief.

Elena slumped backward. "She’s stabilising. But that crest nearly tore me apart trying to settle."

"She’s alive," Mira said. "That’s enough."

They sat in that ruin a while longer, none of them speaking. The creature was gone. Truly gone. But the damage remained. Bodies. Smoke. Heat. Scars in the earth—and in them.

Leon didn’t let go of Aelia’s hand.

Not for a long time.

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