Whether it was Frenzied Burst slicing through the air, or merging together into a giant grape, these were not abilities those things should have possessed, yet they had done it all the same.
Add their unexpectedly vast numbers and the eerie way they tracked the dragon flock, and Nolan could not help feeling that something was wrong.
Florissax leapt up, the Flowerstone Gavel drawing a huge arc of light through the air.
An Aging Untouchable several meters tall was sent flying by the blow, the force of the strike cracking the giant's body in an instant.
Nolan swung the Dark Moon Greatsword backhanded, and the storm crushed the bloated monster to pieces, finishing off this rather frightening-looking thing.
In the end, though, these creatures only looked intimidating. In Nolan and the others' eyes, the Aging Untouchables had neither speed nor strength.
Simply put, there was nothing to fear.
They slipped past the Aging Untouchables' attacks as if dancing through waves, sometimes ducking, sometimes leaping, the yellow flames often passing within a few centimeters of their bodies.
But in the end, the ones that fell were always the Aging Untouchables.
Only after this battle did the Flying Dragons truly understand how terrifying Nolan was. A human body was a fragile shell, yet in Nolan's hands, used to its absolute limit, it made the Flying Dragons' own bodies look unbearably clumsy.
Nolan did not merely have no openings. He made every opening appear on his enemies instead.
Nolan was simply a figure wielding the Dark Moon Greatsword, yet the invisible sword wind turned the narrow forest into a wide-open clearing.
The Aging Untouchables were reduced to dark yellow chunks of flesh. In an instant, even the downpour of blood was scattered, and the Abyssal Woods at the bottom of the valley were shrouded in thick yellow blood mist.
Without the humans and Ancient Dragons, the Flying Dragon Army would already have been broken apart by the Aging Untouchables.
They were secretly relieved that their choice had been right. The Old Lord had been killed by the New Lord, but weak dragons were meant to be killed by stronger dragons.
Only the strongest dragon could ever become Lord.
The New Lord was human, but his bearing was unquestionably that of a dragon.
Nolan carried out a dance-like slaughter, his sword wind pure and unstoppable.
Even ordinary slashes were a grave threat to the Aging Untouchables. After several swings in succession, the space around Nolan seemed to turn into a vacuum.
The last remaining Aging Untouchable continued forward, driven by an empty will that had been indifferent to life and death from the start.
It staggered ahead, then only when it was extremely close to Nolan did it leap up like a hunting beast and attack.
Melina instinctively turned her head. Florissax, unable to react in time, hurled a lightning spear and shattered half of the Aging Untouchable's body.
Yet with only half its body left, a mass of fire suddenly burst from the severed torso. Its whole body shot into the air, and its glowing head grew brighter and brighter.
Melina and Florissax had both overlooked one thing. This creature was never a normal living being to begin with.
Its existence was entirely different from the lives commonly found in the Lands Between. It was more like a cluster of fire or light.
The humanoid black body was only a crude outer shell hiding the monster's true nature.
In the final instant, Nolan did not even look back. He casually raised his sword beside him and sent it into the Aging Untouchable's body.
Using the force of its own charge, the blade sank through the center of its head and cut through its entire body.
Nolan turned the blade, grinding apart the flesh clinging to it. With a slight twist of his wrist, the storm swept through the mangled remains and ended the frenzied creature's performance.
They had repelled this latest wave of attacks, but it would not be long before the yellow grape monsters closed in again.
The entire forest had already been swallowed by blood mist. Even the aftershocks of that frenzied tide could reach the Flying Dragons in the sky, bringing a pressure that bore down on the mind.
Standing in the gradually thickening fog, Nolan flicked his hand and shook the blood from the Greatsword.
Nolan and the others stood in the center of the forest, neither advancing nor retreating. This was the true Forbidden Zone of life.
Mist coiled around everyone's noses. The yellow blood mist flickered like tongues of flame, and the remains of the Aging Untouchables seemed to have seeped into the very air.
They could feel the mental agitation as well, but at this level, it could not even be called a disturbance.
Nolan stroked the Goddess's hair on his back, glanced at Melina, and exchanged little with Florissax.
He did not think that killing Bayle had made them companions.
"How do you feel? Should we stop?" Trina carefully sensed the connection between Lord and Goddess. She found nothing unusual, but still could not help asking with concern.
"I feel good. I'd even say I'm feeling better and better. This might sound frightening, but I really do like the feeling of killing them." Nolan licked his lips.
This was the first time since coming to the Lands Between that he had felt such a pure desire to kill a certain kind of creature.
The feeling of killing them was like the heavens and earth opening for the first time, like all things beginning to divide. Put plainly, it felt incredibly satisfying.
"You absolutely cannot get addicted to the feeling of killing people. Nolan, you must never turn into some deranged villain!" Trina hurriedly said.
"It's not like that. I just feel the Frenzied Flame being reshaped, so it feels exhilarating." Nolan smiled. "I imagine if they killed me, they'd feel the same way."
"So you really did 'eat' the Frenzied Flame?" Melina raised an eyebrow. Her gaze seemed to take on a faint edge of danger, the look of a Frenzied Flame killing machine.
"Can you stop looking at me like that? If your eyesight is bad, come closer and look properly. Take a good look. Do you see any changes in me?"
Nolan looked at the girl so close at hand and could not help feeling that this woman had no conscience.
"You seem changed, but also not changed." Melina looked him over again and again, then muttered softly, "Besides, I don't want to look at you that way either."
"Well, that's the same as saying nothing. Who knew a little dummy like you had learned to speak in riddles? But I hate riddling people who refuse to talk properly." Nolan tapped Melina on the head.
"Don't go randomly copying your mother. That woman just doesn't know how to communicate with people. You're already dumb. If you keep overthinking things and ruin your brain, you'll really turn into a block of wood."
"I'm not dumb." Melina touched her forehead. It had been a long time since they had talked like this, but saying it somehow made her strangely happy.
Trina pursed her lips, but still said nothing.
The Dark Moon Greatsword spun once in Nolan's palm before he planted it in the ground.
He gave everyone present a reassuring look, then placed both hands on the hilt and stood motionless, as if seated upon a throne, waiting for someone to arrive.
He was welcoming a challenger, and clearly, only another Lord deserved such solemn treatment.
They all heard the faint sound of footsteps. A frail figure revealed its hunched form among the bowed subjects.
The Aging Untouchables suddenly became especially quiet, because the thing they had been preparing to welcome had finally arrived.
"That is?" Miquella murmured.
"Looks like it," Nolan said, his expression still calm, unchanged.
Within everyone's sight, on the far side of the vast army, there was a staggering figure. An old man, weathered until he seemed lost in the mortal world, came walking over the backs of his subjects.