Bai Shi charged toward Godrick's army.
The storm continuously propelled his body forward—faster, faster, and faster still.
Bai Shi crossed his twin swords before him, wreathing them in terrifying wind blades.
As his charging speed skyrocketed, the storm swirling around his blades spun ever faster.
Soldiers who tried to stand before Godrick were utterly obliterated.
Those who attempted to dodge to the sides were sucked into the tempest, ground into a pulp, and flung away.
In this way, Bai Shi transformed himself into a drill, carving a bloody path straight through the ranks.
A small hand on Godrick's shoulder brandished a warhammer, and a purple light flashed across it.
Godrick then slammed his great axe into the ground again, and shattered stones were drawn to the axe head by the purple light, clinging to its surface.
Ash of War: Cragblade.Bai Shi finally understood why Godrick carried so many weapons.
He didn't intend to attack with those weapons, but rather to use their Ashes of War.
An ordinary person has only two hands; no matter how many weapons they carry, switching between them would be inconvenient.
Only Godrick, with his massive body and numerous small hands, was different.
Carrying a few extra weapons was effortless for him and, in fact, greatly increased his strategic flexibility.
He could activate an Ash of War with a small hand, channeling its magic to enchant the main weapon held by one of his larger ones.
Godrick raised the rock-covered great axe to block Bai Shi's path.
The tip of Bai Shi's sword met the great axe, and the storm relentlessly ground the stones upon it into finer and finer particles.
Godrick's other hands were not idle. They fired crossbows at Bai Shi, but every bolt was deflected by the storm surrounding his blades.
While shooting, Godrick used another Ash of War—Troll's Roar.
As Godrick let out a great roar, Bai Shi was sent flying back.
Bai Shi adjusted his posture in mid-air and landed steadily, but he instantly felt as if he were being targeted.
Following that sensation, Bai Shi saw that one of Godrick's hands was clutching a blood-stained Finger Seal.
The seal was now shimmering with a faint light.
In the next second, balls of intensely burning fire burst forth from the seal.
Incantation: Catch Flame, cast rapidly and continuously.
Bai Shi didn't use the storm to disperse the flames, merely dodging to the side.
Looking at the smug Godrick, Bai Shi smiled.
Godrick had really given him a little surprise.
This incantation was certainly not one Godrick knew himself.
Catch Flame was an incantation of prophets who foresaw ill omens, and Godrick had no connection to them whatsoever.
Did this mean Godrick could use the incantations or sorceries of those he had grafted?
In any case, Godrick now had a wide array of moves.
This was good. Otherwise, if he wasn't even as strong as Morgott's projection, the fight would be no fun at all.
Bai Shi pressed forward again, launching Storm Blades to chip away at Godrick as he went.
During his charge, he took a moment to analyze Godrick's strength.
Although he had grafted the limbs of a troll and gained a massive body...
...his strength was only marginally greater than Morgott's projection. It wasn't enough to completely overwhelm Bai Shi.
As for the Ashes of War and incantations used by his smaller hands, they would only pose a real threat if several could be unleashed simultaneously.
Godrick swung his great axe, easily deflecting all the Storm Blades.
Seeing Bai Shi actively courting death again, a contemptuous expression appeared on Godrick's ugly, old face.
"Kneel!"
Godrick raised his golden great axe high and then slammed it down.
Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers scattered. They knew this move.
Their lord became too frenzied in battle; if they didn't flee, they risked getting caught in the attack.
A wave of energy traveled through the ground, creating an earthquake-like tremor that was accompanied by a shockwave.
Before the first shockwave could subside, Godrick slammed his axe down again, unleashing a second, far more powerful shockwave.
The surrounding stone ground was shattered and overturned, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
But the move did not achieve the effect Godrick had anticipated.
When the dust settled, an unscathed Bai Shi appeared before Godrick once more.
And his twin swords were already swinging.
With a spray of blood, Bai Shi severed two of the hands near Godrick's legs.
Though he didn't know what Ashes of War the weapons on those hands held, cutting them off was always a good idea.
Godrick's great axe swept down diagonally, the crossbows on his body fired continuously at Bai Shi, and a barrage of sorceries and incantations rained down upon him.
Bai Shi struck Godrick's axe with one of his swords, instantly knocking it off course.
The great axe landed beside Bai Shi, sending shattered stones flying.
With his other sword, he lopped off another of Godrick's hands—one that was holding a staff. The incoming projectiles were all blocked by the storm.
Just as he thought.
As Bai Shi had expected, Godrick's own martial skill was weak.
He relied purely on the physical prowess from his grafts to overwhelm his opponents; otherwise, there would be no need to carry so many Ashes of War.
Godrick could afford to miss countless times. As long as he landed a single hit, an ordinary opponent would have no chance of turning the tables.
This was why Godrick was the weakest of the demigods, and not just in terms of raw power.
His strategy was completely ineffective against the other demigods.
His raw power was already inferior to theirs, and with this kind of strategy, he couldn't even manage to seriously injure them.
"Damn you, you scurrying fly!"
Godrick grew even more enraged.
He could clearly sense that this man wasn't strong; a single hit would be enough to render him powerless.
Yet the man just kept flitting about, and he couldn't land a blow.
Godrick couldn't help but recall his battle with Malenia.
It had been the same then. He couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes and was ultimately beaten so badly he had to kneel and beg for mercy.
Would he be defeated by a Tarnished? Impossible!
If I can't touch you, then I'll just burn you and everything around you!
This was a combat method Godrick had long considered, and now that he had acquired a dragon's corpse, he could finally use it.
"Stop him!"
Godrick shouted, then ran quickly toward a certain location.
He was going to the grafting chamber to graft the dragon's corpse.
"Hmph, trying to escape?"
Bai Shi slashed repeatedly with his twin swords. The soldiers couldn't slow him down for even a second.
However, a figure lunged at Bai Shi's back.
Bai Shi reacted quickly, spinning around to block with both swords, but was still pushed back several steps by the immense force.
The attacker landed, and Bai Shi got a clear look at his identity.
A Crucible Knight.
"Tarnished, I will not let you pass."
A deep voice emanated from within the reddish-copper armor.
Hearing the voice, Bai Shi realized this was not the Crucible Knight from the evergaol.
Bai Shi's gaze passed over the knight before him and settled on a tower in the distance.
Another Crucible Knight had landed on the tower and was slowly folding his wings.
The Crucible Knight on the tower, observing the battle, was Red—the one who had escaped from the evergaol.
It was he who had summoned the other Crucible Knight.