Bound To The Dead: The Deceptive Class-E Farmer-Chapter 77: The Blessed and The Cursed

The three were already repositioning.

Kaltros moved first. Tall, slim, with pale skin and silver hair tied neatly behind his head. His face showed no emotion, eyes cold, calculating. His long coat fluttered as he raised both hands, ready to cast again.

Silveth appeared to his left, almost dancing.

A wiry man with messy blond hair and sharp green eyes that sparkled with thrill. His black armor was light and close-fitting. He spun his twin daggers between his fingers, smiling like a predator.

Gromma stood to the right, grinning wide.

A mountain of muscle with wild brown hair and iron armor that looked stitched together from battlefield scraps. He spun a giant spiked ball on a chain, too heavy for most men to lift.

They charged again. All three.

This time, there were no gaps. No mercy.

Silveth blinked to Isaac’s left.

Gromma roared from the right.

Kaltros raised both hands, the air turned sharp and white.

A storm of ice spears rained down.

Isaac kicked off the ground, straight into Silveth’s path.

Clang!

Steel met steel as he blocked a slash mid-air.

Silveth’s grin widened. "Faster than before."

Then he vanished, reappearing behind Isaac.

But Isaac was already turning, his fingers letting go of one sickle mid-spin.

"Hopper. Now!"

A burst of black locusts erupted from the blade, clouding the air.

Silveth cursed and backed off.

"Argh—nasty trick."

Isaac didn’t wait.

He landed and dove low, sliding just under Gromma’s incoming chain.

Whoosh!

The chain passed so close, he felt the wind tear past his ear.

Isaac rolled, came up near Kaltros, and pressed the attack.

The ice mage didn’t blink.

"You’re predictable."

"Good," Isaac replied.

He slammed a foot down, causing the ground beneath Kaltros to crack and rise.

Earthen spikes shot up.

Kaltros leapt, forming a frozen barrier mid-air.

Isaac lunged in, following with a rising slash...

Boom!

The ice wall held.

Then Kaltros’s palm lit up with cold.

CRACK!

A blast of frozen wind sent Isaac flying.

He crashed to the ground and skidded across the dirt, biting back a groan.

Before he could fully stand.

Flash!

Silveth reappeared. One dagger aimed for his neck. The other, his stomach.

But Isaac’s sickles caught them both in a clean cross block.

Sparks flew.

Steel groaned.

Silveth’s face was close. Still smiling.

"You’re fun."

The trio regrouped across from him.

Kaltros stood in the center, quiet and unreadable.

Silveth licked a small cut on his cheek.

Gromma let his chain spin again, heavy as ever.

Isaac stood alone.

He exhaled slowly...

Then smiled.

"Still not enough." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Isaac tightened his grip on his sickles.

The three across from him were bruised, cut, and breathing harder.

But they were still smiling. Still ready.

A ripple of heat washed through the battlefield.

Isaac’s eyes flicked to the side.

From the distance, through the smoke and ash, a fourth figure walked forward.

His cape burned faintly at the edges. The ground under his boots sizzled. His eyes, amber like dying coals, were focused straight on Isaac.

General Lander.

He stopped just a few paces behind Kaltros and the others.

His hand rested on the hilt of his flaming sword, still unsheathed but burning softly.

He looked calm. Almost bored.

"You’re stronger than I expected," Lander said, voice smooth. "You even made Silveth get serious. That’s rare."

The other three didn’t turn, but their bodies shifted slightly.

They knew what was coming.

Lander sighed, tilting his head.

"Watching from the side isn’t fun anymore. And clearing those insects..."

He glanced back toward the swarm still circling the outer field, "Too easy. I need something... better."

He looked back at Isaac, smiling now.

"So, if you don’t mind..."

He drew his sword. Flame surged up the blade.

"May I join this little match?"

The fire swirled softly, casting a red glow on the dirt.

Isaac wiped a bit of dirt from his cheek. His breath was steady again.

He looked at the four of them.

Three S-Classes.

Now, an S+.

He smiled.

"Sure," he said, rolling his shoulders. "The more, the better."

Lander didn’t wait.

As soon as Isaac gave that smirk, the general burst forward, his cloak trailing like fire.

The other three moved in sync.

Gromma charged from the right, swinging his wrecking chain.

Silveth flashed to the left, blades already in motion.

Kaltros raised both arms, ice formed in the air, then rained down in a tight storm of spikes.

Lander leapt above them all, sword raised high.

"Let’s see you survive this."

Isaac moved.

Fast.

He dipped, spun, slid between Gromma’s chain, parried Silveth’s strike, and vaulted backward through Kaltros’s ice barrage.

But Lander dropped from above.

"Flame Shock!"

A wave of fire exploded downward.

Isaac crossed his sickles and took the hit head-on.

BOOM.

The four attacks met, fire, ice, blades, and steel. The battlefield cracked.

Smoke covered everything.

The air trembled.

When the dust cleared...

Isaac stood.

Steam rose from his body.

His sleeves were torn. Bruises marked his arms and jaw. But no blood.

He looked up, eyes calm.

[Warning: Energy Level 38%]

He exhaled once. Then smiled again.

Lander narrowed his eyes.

’That... wasn’t human.’ He thought.

The other three were already wounded.

Silveth’s coat was ripped.

Kaltros’s left arm was cut.

Gromma’s breath came heavy and sharp.

They backed away slightly, just a few steps.

Isaac tilted his head. "I’m getting bored."

He rolled his neck slowly.

"Time to end this."

His grip tightened on the Twin Sickles.

A black shimmer spread across his arms, corruption marks crawling back to life.

The air grew heavier.

The three wounded elites felt it first, like a pressure crawling up their spines.

Isaac’s smile turned sharp.

"Try not to die."

Isaac didn’t hesitate.

The moment his words left his lips, he launched forward, Twin Sickles glowing, black markings crawling up his arms. The air cracked from his speed. His eyes locked onto Silveth first.

End this now.

But halfway through...

The sky opened.

Not with thunder. Not with fire.

But with light.

A blinding white beam, narrow, precise, like a sword from the heavens fell down from the dark clouds.

FWOOM!

It struck directly where the four Class S fighters stood.

A deafening impact exploded outward. Isaac’s eyes widened, too late.

The shockwave slammed into him like a wall, throwing his body across the field.

He crashed hard, dust and dirt scattering around him.

Everything went quiet.

Only the hum of energy lingered.

Smoke covered the battlefield again, swirling in slow motion. But it didn’t last.

One by one, their shapes became clear.

The four stood upright, still in formation. But something was... different.

Silveth opened his eyes first. His aura pulsed, faster than before.

"Hah... what... is this?" he muttered, flexing his hand. Sparks danced across his blades.

Kaltros blinked, holding his chest. "My body... is lighter."

Gromma grinned wide, no words, just the sound of chain cracking in his grip.

Even Lander glanced at his arm. His flame was no longer red, it burned white.

None of them understood it.

But all of them felt it.

A power that wasn’t there before. Quiet, divine, and terrifying.

Isaac stood up slowly, brushing off the dirt.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the glowing four.

Their energy was no longer the same.

It was bigger. Wilder. Refined.

He clenched his jaw.

That light...

He remembered it.

When he fought Geoffrey, back in Bulcan. Right before everything changed.

It was the same.

Exactly the same.

’It’s not their power... Someone gave it to them.’

Isaac stayed silent for a moment, gaze unreadable.

Then a thought passed through his mind, a quiet, heavy question.

"...Is Heaven helping anyone who fights me?"