Chapter 536: In Green Depths Thick With Woven Haze

He flashed in front of me like a ghost before swinging his dark blue saber at me.

It is fast. Extraordinarily fast.

I reacted instantly and swung my rapier toward it with a Quick Slash and Mauling Strike.

I even activated the Rapid Strike a fraction of a second later. I needed every advantage I could make to fight the most powerful enemy I had ever fought.

Clang!

Our weapons clashed, and I tried to block his weapon with Quick Parry, but he broke my skill and shook me such that the rapier nearly flew out of my hand.

Since I had leveled up, nobody managed to shake me like this.

Even Garzong, the strongest of all my guards in raw power, was merely able to shake my hand a little.

The thing is, I didn’t hold back as I do with my training. I know this enemy is dangerous. I threw everything I owned at him, but his attack broke it all.

I quickly moved back with Blitz Steps to manage the force and looked ahead.

Only to see him in front of me with his saber slashing toward me.

‘Fuck!’ I cursed but didn’t panic.

Instead, I became calmer, and an aura came out of me.

It didn’t come out like a blast, but gently. It constructed a dome, covering him within.

As it did, I activated the Lord’s Presence and focused on its power on him through the aura. At the same time, I merged the aura into my offensive skills and swung my rapier toward him.

My head begins to hurt from using the aura to enhance many skills.

Suppressing him with aura or just enhancing my skills fighting him would have been better, but seeing the difference in power. I don’t want to take that chance despite the cost.

Unlike the last enemy, I had fought. The aura didn’t stop him but changed his expressions and body language.

The bandit leader’s expression became serious, and his body language no longer radiated confidence.

Clang!

Our weapons clashed, and I felt the shock in my hands once more, but not enough to force my rapier from my hands.

“Aura is an amazing thing, but it is not going to save you,” he said and attacked again.

This time, he became more robust and faster, with his blue saber becoming hard to follow.

I leaned into the aura and pressed it for more power as I swung my blade to defend.

Clang!

I stopped the attack, nearly taking a step back, but that was just the beginning. Abruptly, he appeared to my left and attacked.

Rip!

I moved to dodge but wasn’t fast enough, and he was able to cut across my shoulder.

The cut was small, but it began to bleed rapidly. This red-haired orc used anti-clotting skills during the attack. Seeing that, I attacked the skill with my aura.

Immediately, the pain in my head jumped even more, but I didn’t stop and broke the skill.

At the same time, I turned and moved my blade to defend against his attack.

This bastard is very experienced. I am sure he has fought against those with the aura.

Clang, Rip, Rip!

I defended successfully, but suddenly, the next strike cut me across the stomach and the next one below the chest, targeted where the armor wasn’t covering.

I broke the bleeding skill with the aura before moving to defend against the attack.

Clang!

I succeeded and dodged the next one before getting cut on my left shoulder.

My class is Valorous Lord of Courage at Lv. 34. It provides me with fantastic power. With it, I could fight with those above my level.

I would have done a little better if I had spread my attribute points like a warrior, but I did it as a lord.

When I used my aura, even Jon couldn’t defeat me, but this man had injured me, which is enough to understand his skills and power.

I could feel the power of his class with my aura. It is as powerful as the general Lord Class.

In a way, it is surprising to find a bandit with such a powerful class, but also not. Given the kind of power, he is projecting.

His every move is deliberate and without wasted movement. He is precise and fast and shows great control over his body and skills.

I have not heard of him, but he is a formidable enemy who could kill me.

He will not kill me. I am far too valuable for that. He wants to capture me, and that would be a fate worse than death. I would be a puppet, and I am not just saying that figuratively.

There are skills, spells, and methods that could thoroughly brainwash someone.

Suppose I am right about the people who hired them. Then, I cannot let myself get captured. It would be a fate worse than death, and I will die rather than let myself get captured.

Rip, Clang, Rip!

I was thinking that when another cut appeared on my body. This time on my back.

I destroyed the skill immediately. After doing it so many times, I could do it instantly. However, it hurts my head badly when I do it.

I have no choice but to break these skills. If I did not, I would bleed out, that will lead to weakness.

Which I absolutely can’t have.

He appeared behind me, and I turned before swinging my blade toward him.

The aura may be straining, but because of it, I could see and feel his every movement, even the small movements that were indiscernible to the eyes.

It lets me predict his movements before he even makes them.

If I hadn’t had that, I wouldn’t have been defending and dodging the attacks that he had been making, but that is not enough.

I am still getting injured, but without it, I would be dead. Still, I need to stop getting injured and start injuring this orc.

When I heard my thoughts, I wanted to laugh. Our difference is huge, and it would be really hard for me to defeat him.

I don’t have to defeat him. I only need to survive him.

With enough time, my people will gain the edge, or at least make it costly enough for them that he will think about retreating.

Mercenaries are like that. They will only fight until they think there is a chance of winning.

They will not hesitate to escape if they see no chance to win.

Clang!

I defended the attack when another attack came, not by the enemy in front of me but by a shamanic spell.

Without caring about the strain, I pushed my aura against the spells.

I know how nasty the shamanic spells could be. I had practiced a few times against them, and it was a good I did.

Given the number of shamans, the enemy had brought. I can’t depend upon the protection I have. I need to be proactive and deal with them as they come.

Rip!

While I successfully defended against the spell, I failed to protect against the attack of the orc in front of me.

Another cut appeared on my waist.

He attacked again immediately, and at the same time, I felt the shaman attack—not just one, but two of them.

I defended against them, but it put so much strain on me. That I had started to bleed from my nose and also a new place on my chest as the saber cut me again.

I needed to grit my teeth to push the aura into it.

I had just done that when I felt the shamanic spell again, and I defended and got cut across the stomach, and the cut was more serious, deeper.

‘I need to do better!’ I screamed at myself.

I am getting cut at every attack. If this kept happening, even if he didn’t land a hit, these cuts would be enough to weaken me.

That would be bad.

I am fighting him because I am pushing myself every second. If I become weak, even so slightly, it will be the end for me.

Rip, Rip, Clang!

Time passed as more and more cuts began to appear on my body under the intense attacks of the orc and the shamans.

I could be doing better. I began to wonder how others were doing.

I am so focused on my battle that I cannot look at any other fight. However, I see Jon now and then, and he doesn’t seem to be doing well.

I could ask Margaux telepathically, but I don’t want to distract myself.

Clang!

Finally, I was able to defend myself against the attack after taking tens of cuts, which are now covering every part of my body.

Clang!

A moment later, I defended against another or three as the shamanic attacks were still targeting me.

The headache had worsened as I used the aura more and pushed it further. I started to bleed out from all my orifices because of the sheer strain of it.

But as the seconds passed. I am getting used to this strain and learning to use the aura better.

It is hard, and I want to stop every second and let the sweet oblivion take me, but I can’t. If I stopped, the others would die, and the lives of hundreds of thousands would be in jeopardy.

I understood clearly that once I was captured, the enemy wouldn’t have problems capturing my cities.

I can not let that happen.

So, I pushed myself more despite feeling the level of pain I had never felt before. It’s the only way I can do my duty to protect them.

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