Terra Nova Online: Rise of The Strongest Player - Chapter 482: Chaos

Chapter 482: Chaos

“I’d take you seriously if it were your grandfather fighting me here today instead of you–” Ben taunted, his voice dripping with authority as he aimed to remind Thalion that despite their present status as equals and master warriors, Ben’s experience in combat far surpassed his own.

Then, before Thalion could react or respond with a domineering statement of his own, Ben seized the moment, making the first move.

[ Mirror World ]

With a flicker, a dozen clones of Ben materialized, filling the corridor with shadows.

Thalion hesitated, momentarily thrown off balance as he struggled to determine which figure amongst all the clones was the real Ben Faulkner.

His instincts screamed at him to strike, but he knew that he needed to confirm his target first, or else his strike would be for naught.

“Come!” Thalion said, his voice cutting through the silence as he challenged the advancing figures.

Ben’s clones charged forward as one, forcing Thalion into a relentless assault as each time his sword met a clone, the illusion crumbled into dust, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

1… 2… 3… 11.

Thalion’s blade danced through the air, cutting down the fakes with precision, until only one Ben Faulkner remained…. As then without hesitating, Thalion unleashed a powerful sword projection.

[ Silent Impact ]

Thalion’s blade moved with deadly silence, cutting through the air as it carved a path of destruction. But as it reached its target, the final Ben dissolved into fog, allowing the attack to continue on its path unopposed, as it smashed into several pillars behind the illusion, before finally losing momentum.

*CRASH*

*THUD*

The impact echoed throughout the castle, a loud declaration that a fierce battle was underway.

The Royal Guards and Virex Corps were alerted about the ongoing confrontation at this moment, with dozens of them rushing towards the medical wing at this precise moment.

“Where are you? Just where are you hiding?” Thalion bellowed, his frustration bubbling over as he tried his best to sniff out where Ben Faulkner was hiding but failed to find him.

At this point, the poison had spread all over his body, slowing his movements down significantly and covering him in sweat from head to toe, as slowly but surely Thalion was feeling the poison tightening its vice over his body.

Then, suddenly, from the shadows of his blindside, Ben emerged, moving with lethal intent towards Thalion’s neck. But Thalion had already anticipated this, as at the same moment that Ben attacked, he spun around, unleashing his strongest move in one swift motion.

[ Mountain Splitting Slash ]

Thalion had expected the previous clone to be a decoy, and he was right. He knew that Ben Faulkner was too smart to just stand like a dummy in front of him, so he already assumed before unleashing [ Silent Impact ] that he was shooting a blank.

However, he went ahead with the act anyway as he wanted Ben to feel as if he had already unleashed his attack and did not have the mana to instantly conjure up a second one.

Then, as he sensed the faintest movement behind him, he reacted instantly, bringing his blade down with immense force, aiming to cleave Ben’s body in half, and to his absolute surprise he succeeded in doing so as well.

*SPLAT*

Blood splattered across the walls, a gruesome testament to Thalion’s accuracy as Ben’s body seemed to split in two, but in that same moment, Thalion felt the sharp sting of daggers piercing his flesh—one in his neck, another in his forehead, and the third embedded deep in his heart, as although he managed to kill Ben, the old man seemed to have managed to kill him too.

“Kek—, see you in hell, old man,” Thalion managed to rasp out, his voice barely a whisper as he crumpled to the ground, lifeless, while Ben’s motionless body lay beside him, both warriors fallen.

“Oh my god! They died! Commander Thalion and Ben Faulkner both died! The two of them fought a duel to the death!” exclaimed a medical wing worker, his voice trembling with shock at the sight before him.

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ben’s body began to convulse, and a series of explosions erupted, triggered by the bombs in his Assassin’s belt, as although Ben’s real body looked deader than dead, being cleaved in half, for some odd reason the bombs in his belt seemed to activate by themselves, blowing the corridor to smithereens.

*KABOOM*

The entire corridor shook violently, debris and body parts flying as flames quickly engulfed the hall.

“Run! Run!” the Chief Healer shouted, urgency filling his voice as he pulled his team back into the safety of the medical wing.

“Get away from here, now!” He said, as he stopped looking towards the bodies and focused on saving his own life.

By the time the commander of the Virex Corps, Jake, and a dozen high-ranking royal guards arrived at the scene, it was too late. The corridor was in ruins, the fire having consumed any evidence of the battle and both bodies were reduced to charred remnants, leaving nothing behind but ashes and unanswered questions.

Now, there was nothing left to do but extinguish the flames and secure the area, as they tried to piece together what had transpired in this deadly clash.

*********

( A few moments later )

A few moments later as Jake tried to interrogate the chief healer and his staff on what just happened, he struggled to get coherent answers from them, as everyone seemed to be in deep shock.

“So then, strategist Alaric tried to poison Ben Faulkner, but he made him swallow the same poison… and then Alaric confessed to knowing the name of the poison, and then Ben Faulkner asked if Commander Thalion was carrying one vial himself too–” A staff member said frantically, as Jake tried to calm him down, and to get him to speak some coherent sentences that made sense.

It took a while, but half an hour later he got the full story by piecing together the knowledge of all eye-witnesses, however, two glaring questions still remained?

Firstly, the reason behind the betrayal of Chief Strategist and Commander Thalion remained a mystery?

While the second question that presented itself was the location of Lin Mu? As somehow during the fight between Thalion and Ben, she seemed to have disappeared.

In reality, there was a third and more important question, which was whether or not Ben Faulkner was really dead? However, with so many witnesses to his death, everyone seemed to be convinced beyond doubt that the legendary Assassin had already met his end.