Chapter 52

Chapter 52. Rescue (2)

Mitchell quickly left the area and disappeared into the dark, deep forest.

After finding a suitable place, he hid himself and opened his last potion.

He used it to stop the bleeding from his wounds.

Enemies were searching for him from all directions.

But keeping his body in the best possible condition was also important.

Once the bleeding had mostly stopped, Mitchell moved again.

I should absorb souls first.

Continuous fighting had emptied a large part of his Aura Hole.

Other people would have needed to sit down and circulate their energy.

Mitchell only needed to absorb souls.

That gave him a much better situation.

Mitchell used his concealment technique and slowly approached the enemy.

Three.

He first approached the martial artist at the back.

With one hand, he covered the man’s mouth.

With the other, he cut his throat.

The man collapsed without even reacting.

Mitchell immediately rushed forward and stabbed through the back of the middle martial artist.

Only then did the martial artist at the front realize they were being attacked.

Before he could even turn his head, Mitchell took a dagger from his clothes and threw it.

The dagger buried itself in the man’s temple.

The entire group had been wiped out in an instant.

Mitchell calmly looked at the fallen enemies.

Then he stretched out his hand and absorbed their souls.

Afterward, he disappeared into the darkness again.

Screeeeeech!

While searching for the next enemies, Mitchell converted the souls into energy.

His Aura Hole filled.

Perhaps because their ranks were higher, the amount of energy converted was far greater than from bandits.

He had broken down only three souls.

Yet his Aura Hole had already recovered a considerable amount.

Considering Mitchell was now 6th Rank, that was a large amount.

Mitchell was satisfied.

He dealt with the next group one by one in the same way.

How many martial artists had he killed and how many souls had he taken?

Then—

BOOOOM!

A powerful impact echoed from the place Mitchell had occupied earlier.

[Tsk, tsk. Getting angry and acting like that only reveals his position.]

“He must know nothing about tracking.”

[It was similar in the past too. The more skilled martial artists became, the more they used trained trackers to chase magical beasts and monsters. Usually, they thought it was better to focus on their own martial arts than waste time learning tracking. That’s why I became even more famous. I was highly skilled not only in martial arts and tracking, but also assassination and formations.]

In the end, Calian’s explanation turned into praise for himself.

Still, Mitchell had benefited greatly from such a master.

Mitchell gave him a thumbs-up and continued walking.

There shouldn’t be many left.

Mitchell remembered how many enemies there had been at the beginning.

At most, only several should remain.

Wanting to cause a little more damage, Mitchell moved to find another group.

Then he frowned.

[They’re gathering together. Looks like the other side isn’t completely stupid.]

They had used the locations where Black Wind members died to estimate Mitchell’s position.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they found him.

“As long as none of them survive, I can use my real martial arts, right?”

[You think that’ll be easy? That Edgar fellow doesn’t seem easy either. Even if you’re at the same rank, he has far more experience.]

Calian was right.

Mitchell had only recently reached the 6th Rank.

There was definitely a difference between him and Edgar.

Still, Mitchell had something he trusted.

“But he probably hasn’t fought many people like me.”

Dark Swordsmanship itself had become rare.

And the Sword of Death was one branch of it.

Naturally, it was difficult to fight against.

The first time Mitchell fought Edgar was the same.

Even though the difference in level had been large, Mitchell had still caused trouble.

“Like with the Wild King, you’ll make up for my lack of experience, right?”

[You brat, are you planning to work your master to death for free—?!]

Mitchell began moving before Calian finished.

He headed in the opposite direction from Edgar.

Moving silently, Mitchell immediately cut the throat of a Black Wind martial artist.

“It’s him!”

This time, everyone was nearby.

Even though Mitchell attacked quietly, they immediately noticed.

All the Black Wind members around rushed toward him.

This is my chance.

It was a chance to greatly reduce their numbers.

Mitchell moved backward while waiting for them to gather.

Then he glanced to the side.

Edgar, who had been farthest away, was rapidly approaching.

Mitchell met his eyes.

Then he smiled.

“Fall back!”

Edgar seemed to sense something.

He shouted loudly.

But—

Hummmmmm.

Heaven-Breaking Flash formed entirely from Sword Aura was already complete.

Mitchell swung his sword.

The gathered Black Wind members collapsed one after another.

Their chests were split wide open.

It was obvious they had died instantly.

“You bastard!”

Edgar shouted furiously.

Mitchell ignored him.

He absorbed the souls and rapidly converted them.

Screeeeeech!

Edgar frowned after seeing it.

His expression looked as though he was trying to remember something.

But Mitchell did not give him time to think.

He rushed forward with his sword.

Not one of them can survive.

Mitchell’s martial arts were extremely distinctive.

Even if Edgar did not recognize them immediately, he might eventually remember.

Mitchell worried the remaining Black Wind members might escape while he fought Edgar.

So instead of Edgar, Mitchell targeted the remaining Black Wind members first.

Slash!

Two more fell instantly.

At that moment, a huge saber headed toward Mitchell.

Mitchell raised his sword and blocked it.

The attack contained tremendous energy.

Mitchell was sent flying into the air.

But even that had been part of his plan.

His true targets were the remaining three martial artists.

BOOOOM!

Heaven-Breaking Shatter flew through the air and tore the three Black Wind members apart.

Mitchell landed.

He immediately used Spirit Absorption and summoned the Possession.

“...?!”

Edgar’s eyes widened beyond words.

“Don’t tell me... You’re that brat from Runei?”

Mitchell did not answer.

Instead, he took off the mask and threw it away.

“Haa. That’s better. Moving around in a mask is more uncomfortable than I expected.”

“...Your name was Mitchell, wasn’t it?”

“You remembered.”

“Then were you the ones who freed the dwarf chief too?”

“Yes. I went there myself and brought him back.”

Edgar frowned at Mitchell’s answer.

If Mitchell was telling the truth, the dwarf chief was alive.

“I thought he died after falling from the cliff.”

“He almost did. We barely saved him. Anyway, are you done asking questions? I answered because I thought you’d be curious on your way to the afterlife, but I’m a little busy.”

Mitchell pointed his sword at Edgar.

Edgar gave him a cold smile.

“So you were hiding your strength at the time? Fine. Even better. Reaching such a high rank at your age deserves praise, but you revealed your sprout too early. I’m fortunate I can break it before it grows.”

“That’s all well and good, but be careful. You should think about your age. You might throw out your back trying to break me.”

The conversation ended there.

Mitchell immediately formed Heaven-Breaking Shatter and launched it.

He had already used Heaven-Breaking Shatter earlier.

So Mitchell decided there was little point keeping it as a hidden weapon.

As expected, Edgar did not even try to block Heaven-Breaking Shatter.

He moved aside and dodged.

Tap-tap-tap!

But Mitchell did not rely only on Heaven-Breaking Shatter.

He immediately rushed forward and swung his sword.

Heaven-Breaking Flash formed from Sword Aura came down while releasing powerful waves of energy.

This time, Edgar created Sword Aura and blocked it.

CLANG!

A sharp sound rang out.

Mitchell immediately pulled back his sword and swung repeatedly.

He wanted to press forward while he had the advantage.

“And this is all you had after running your mouth?!”

But Edgar was not an easy opponent.

He swung his enormous saber.

A violent wind blew.

Sharp blades of wind began forming.

The sword wind made of sword energy shredded the nearby plants and trees while expanding outward.

It was only sword energy.

But it was extremely dense and layered.

Mitchell’s martial arts focused on compression.

Edgar’s martial arts focused on overlapping attacks.

On top of that, it also contained the principle of the Heavy Sword.

Damn it. Two principles at the same time.

Wind and weight together.

That was probably why Braxton had survived as a prestigious martial family.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Mitchell pushed away the sword wind and advanced one step at a time.

But the closer he came, the denser and faster the sword wind became.

Sword energy brushing past him opened wounds across his body.

Mitchell covered himself in energy.

That prevented severe injuries.

Even so, blood covered his entire body.

Realizing he could not continue like this, Mitchell retreated.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Naturally, Edgar did not simply watch him escape.

As Mitchell retreated, Edgar advanced.

Mitchell tried to use the recoil from blocking the sword wind to create more distance.

But Edgar kept following to prevent that.

[Careful!]

A heavy Sword Aura attack came through the storm.

Even while rapidly swinging his weapon and creating sword wind, Edgar attacked whenever he saw an opening.

This was the difference created by experience.

Mitchell hurriedly raised his sword and blocked the Sword Aura heading toward his waist.

CLANG!

It was sharp and powerful enough to send a chill down his spine.

But thanks to the impact, Mitchell was pushed outside the sword wind.

Mitchell felt cold sweat on the back of his neck.

He bit his lip.

I can’t get close.

Once Mitchell created distance, the violent sword wind disappeared.

But the moment he attacked again, the same thing would happen.

One of Mitchell’s strengths was shaking and crushing an opponent’s spirit whenever their swords crossed.

But because of the sword wind, that ability could not work properly.

While Mitchell wondered what to do—

[Remember the realization you gained this time.]

Calian suddenly spoke.

Whenever Mitchell faced danger, Calian often gave vague hints like this.

Mitchell had not understood why in the past.

But as his realm increased, he had gradually begun understanding.

Enlightenment belonged completely to the individual.

As Calian had said before, someone else could point out the direction.

But they could not simply give the answer.

So Mitchell blocked the sword wind created by Edgar, who had approached again and swung his enormous saber.

At the same time, he thought about Calian’s words.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The realization I gained.

The sword wind struck.

Sword Aura attacks were mixed in between.

Mitchell’s insides churned.

Even his body, which had become far tougher than normal because of the Nightmare Horse’s core, was shaking.

Still, Mitchell kept thinking.

Will...

Life and death.

Every action of every living thing contains will.

BOOM! CLANG-CLANG! BOOM!

Mitchell spat out the blood filling his mouth.

Ptooey.

Even the fact that he was desperately blocking right now was because of his will to survive.

But so what?

What did that have to do with Edgar wildly swinging his weapon?

While thinking that, Mitchell looked into Edgar’s eyes.

Naturally, he saw Edgar’s soul.

Edgar’s soul burned with deep anger.

And that anger was fully contained in his saber.

Mitchell finally understood what his realization meant.

Hummmmmm.

The Possession reacted strongly.

The desire to survive.

The desire to defeat his opponent.

Those feelings entered Mitchell’s sword.

It was not simply that those emotions were stronger than anger.

It was pure will placed into the sword.

Once Mitchell understood that, the countless wills attached to the Possession flowed into the sword.

At the same time, the Sword Aura covering the blade became denser.

Powerful will compressed even the Sword Aura.

Bright light burst from Mitchell’s sword.

“Hup!”

Just looking at it made Edgar feel as though his entire body were being squeezed.

He sucked in a breath.

Because of that moment of hesitation, even while Mitchell’s body was being torn by sword wind, Edgar failed to properly react to the approaching blade.

Slash!

In the end, Mitchell’s sword cut deeply into Edgar’s waist.

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