At the North Territory, a thunderous boom echoed in the sky before the skeleton soldiers were crushed into powder.


    Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. Then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Arlo and An, instantly petrifying them with fear.


    "N-Nash? How did you...?" Francis also looked at Nash, puzzled.


    "Senior, leave this to me," Nash said as he gathered the Nirvana Fire in his hand and cast it toward Arlo and An.


    The two were so gripped with terror that they could only hide beside Ace.


    "Lord Ace, please deal with this boy."


    "Oh? Are you afraid of him?" Ace asked.


    Arlo and An reluctantly lowered their heads.


    "Yes, my lord. Please take action. We are no match for him."


    "Understood. Step back," Ace replied and walked forward slowly.


    "Who are you?" Ace asked.


    "I''m the son of the North Territory Warden andmander of the Celestial Dragon Squadron, Nash Calcraft."


    "Oh, I see. I''ve heard of you," Ace said calmly. "I heard you''re a major obstacle to our ns. It seems I''m quite fortunate."


    "Fortunate? What do you mean?" Nash asked, puzzled. His eyes were fixed on Ace, who was approaching him continuously. This man had the same dark energy as Zaafea, but unlike Zaafea''s which was sharp with hostility, Ace''s dark energy seemed devoid of any enmity.


    "Fortunate that I can get rid of you here and now!"


    Ace''s bone sword extended rapidly in a bizarre manner, reaching right in front of Nash.


    Nash used his true energy to defend himself, then grabbed the bone sword and pulled Ace into the sky.


    Countless swords then went flying toward Ace, but instead of defending himself, he allowed the swords to pierce through his body.


    "This guy... Is he just pretending to be a master? No, something''s not right," Nash muttered to himself as he looked at Ace.


    His blood was ck.


    It flowed out, and as it devoured Nash''s sword, it corroded itpletely.


    Enveloping himself with the dragon soul once again, Nash sped his hands together. He made the surrounding spiritual energy surge into his body. "Return of Infinite Swords!"


    Nash transformed everything around him into swords, covering the earth with countless des.


    "Let all be des!" he roared, and everything became a sword. Nash brought his arm down and pointed directly at Ace.


    "Cut!"


    The swords converged on a single point and shot toward Ace. They formed a storm of swords under Nash''s guidance, the des tearing through the sky and reducing Ace to dust.


    However, things were not so simple. As if having consciousness of its own, Ace''s blood coagted and reformed into Ace''s likeness. "Not bad. That was a decent strike," Ace said coldly.


    "Is that so? Then try this!" Nash challenged. Forming a hand seal again, Nash dispersed the surrounding spiritual energy before gathering celestial power from- above and demonic power from below into his hands. Thebination of these two forces produced a pitch-ck spear.


    "Shura Soul-Eating Spear!" As Nash grasped the spear in his hand, a host of evil spirits and souls materialized around him.


    "Say yourst words," Nash said, pointing the spear at Ace.


    "Oh? Shura? I see!" Ace was immediately excited. "I say, no wonder I feel so exhrated today. Hahaha! So this is the reason."


    Hearing Ace''s cryptic ramblings,


    Nash thought he had scared the man senseless. Then, wielding the spear, he directed the host of spirits to charge at Ace as if to devour himpletely.