Chapter 103: Chapter 103

Sensing the shift in the mana, he dashed leftward while keeping himself out of the archer's field of vision.

‘He’s a slow caster, but his water blades are deadly.’

As if to prove his observation correct.

The three Water Blades Adrian had shot at him hissed through the air before colliding with a thick pine tree.

A sickening crack echoed through the forest as the tree shivered, then it groaned and shook, as if undecided on which direction to fall.

The momentary distraction caused by a tree that had yet to fall gave Sokram enough room to take a deep breath and calculate his next steps.

It was then that a vivid memory flashed through his eyes, and Leona’s voice resounded in his mind.

The only set of memories that repeated in both timelines.

And the two sets of memories kept overlapping one another.

‘Kiddo, when fighting multiple enemies, no matter their number, always go for the disruptor first.’

‘It can be a mage or an archer. But it’s someone away from the fight, always interrupting your attacks.’

‘But if it’s an archer, wouldn’t he be too far to be reached easily? Even if I use One Step from the Swift Wind form, I’ll have to use it multiple times to reach him.’

‘Then use my own created technique, the one that made my master praise me and recognize me as a Killing Blade Master at the age of thirty. I called it: Swift Wind - One Step, One Stride.’

Sokram’s gaze sharpened as he faced his enemies.

He shouted, “Wood!” causing the enemies to flinch and shift their gazes to the tree.

In the next instant, a pillar of earth shot from the ground and pushed the tumbling tree toward the two brothers and their guards.

Seeing the tree falling toward them, they instinctively stepped back.

This moment of hesitation on their part presented Sokram with all the openings he needed to attack.

‘Dark Lightning – Storm Step!’

In a flash of Dark Lightning, Sokram dashed past the guards, appearing right in front of Aaron, and swinging down at him.

Aaron blocked the blow by sheer reflex, crossing his weapons in front of him.

But the force of the impact shattered any possibility of a swift counterattack.

Sokram shifted his target to the guard directly behind him, spinning fast and slicing his katana in a rightward arc.

The guard barely dodged in time, while his comrade next to him also stepped back from the sword's path.

And just as Sokram expected, the whizzing of an arrow flying in his direction gave away the position of the Archer.

Leona’s voice resounded in his mind, loud and clear:

‘Use one step to escape the enemy line of sight first…’

‘…Swift Wind: One Step…’

Sokram dodged the incoming arrow, his form vanishing for an instant before as if he ceased to exist in their line of sight.

‘Then, when your feet touch the ground again, let your energy explode through it while taking one long stride toward the disruptor…’

After the near-soundless One Step, the only sound the Steelheart brothers and their guards registered from it was an unnervingly sharp, slicing “Woosh!” of displaced air, followed by the sickening, wet “Shing!” of Sokram’s katana tearing through flesh and bone, meters away.

The archer didn’t have time to utter a single word.

When their eyes finally caught Sokram again, he was already meters away.

The archer's head, still wide-eyed with disbelief, spun lazily in the crimson-stained snow.

Above it, his body slumped to its knees, a headless geyser of scarlet blood erupting from his neck, his heart still relentlessly pumping life onto the white ground.

But even before they could give chase, the massive tree slammed down, cleaving their pursuit path.

“One out, nine to go!” Sokram shouted, a broad, murderous grin on his face, as Leona’s voice continued to sound in his mind:

‘After dealing with the disruptor, what do you do?’

‘No, Sokram, we, killing blades, don’t fight to prove our might. We fight to kill, and we fight smart. So after killing the disruptor, we run.’

‘Yes, run. Each warrior’s speeds vary depending on their bodies. Some run in long strides while others have shorter legs. This will force them to create space between them while they chase you and break their formation. Running will also prevent them from surrounding you, and the last thing you want is being surrounded when fighting alone against many.’

‘But what if they don’t chase?’

‘They will, especially if they can’t afford to let you escape.’

Just as they regained their line of sight with Sokram, he dashed deep into the thick forest of pine trees.

Adrian saw that and panicked, “He’s trying to flee!”

“Chase him! We can’t let him escape!” Aaron ordered his guards; his tone laced with an undeniable urgency.

The loyal guards, spurred by a desperate eagerness to please their young master, lunged into the forest with reckless abandon.

Sokram capitalized on the distance, running and taking deep breaths to replenish his mana, as Leona’s lesson replayed vividly in his mind.

‘Keep your senses sharp, you don’t need to be a feral to notice the distance between their steps. Once the distance between them is good, you turn around and strike to kill. No hesitation. No mercy. Kill!’

The guards were giving their all, their heavy boots crunched on the snowy ground, breath heaving in ragged gasps, but no matter how hard they pushed their aching muscles, the gap between them and the 'youngster' refused to shrink.

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Disbelief twisted their faces. How could this lizard be so impossibly fast?

Then, suddenly, they saw Sokram turning back to face them.

Before they could even halt their momentum, a blinding flash of dark lightning erupted, blinding their vision.

‘Dark Lightning: Tetra Slash!’

In an instant, Sokram devoured the distance separating him from his closest pursuer.

Before the guard understood what happened, Sokram's blade sliced him from the neckline to the waist.

Another snake of lightning lashed toward the next guard, less than five meters away.

The thick forest made it very difficult to maintain a clear line of sight, especially when their target moved at lightning speed.

Sokram’s blade severed another guard’s head, the man unable to express the slightest reaction before his vision darkened.

The third lightning flashed, but this time the distance between the guards was less than two meters.

Yet, the result was still the same.

Sokram's sword flashed in an arc, tearing through his arm, splintering bones, ripping through his ribcage, and slashing through his heart, drawing a crimson arc that painted the armor of the next incoming attacker.

This time, the guard was prepared to block his blow, dual-wielding like Aaron, but with two swords instead.

Forcing his momentum to halt, he raised his guard with his gaze locked on Sokram, but when the last lightning in his spell flashed, Sokram’s strike didn’t follow...

Instead, it flashed past his enemy.

The guards suddenly felt his body growing stiff until it froze.

Next, the guard saw himself falling from his headless body, and realization flashed through him as he entered death's embrace: The dragon beheaded him, and he didn’t even feel it.

Only the wind dared move now, curling through the blood-soaked pines.

For a heartbeat, the forest held its breath.

The slower guards and the two brothers saw everything transpiring in a second as if Sokram had become lightning himself, flashing like a snake between the pine trees in the thick forest.

Blood seeped into the snow, spreading in grotesque blossoms that steamed in the cold air.

The wind tasted of blood and ice, each breath sharpening the fear clawing up their spines.

Every piece of that grotesque picture made the bloodbath they had just watched feel much more terrifying.

Dark lightning cracked like thunder, but the ringing in their ears came from something primal, the echo of their own terror.

Their anxiety grew as the Stealhearts’ guards, realizing they were lured, finally came to a halt.

Facing his enemies, Leona's voice continued to play in his mind.

‘We, Killing blades, don’t gloat. But our minds need to be sharper than those of our enemies. Don’t ever let the enemy see your expression faltering. Instead, watch theirs, watch their body language. And once notice the slightest sign of anxiety and fear, taunt! Break their resolve! Once the shaking and hesitation start, like a viper, you strike! Kill!!’

Sokram saw the Steelhearts and their three remaining guard halting.

He watched his foes with a calculating and cold gaze.

His sinister and murderous grin was ever-present on his face.

No fear, no arrogance, no pretense, the only thing they could see in his eyes was the sheer desire to kill.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Sokram spoke calmly and inhaled a deep breath.

His calmness unnerved them more than any scream would have.

Sokram shifted his gaze up as if dazed, but his other senses were trained on them. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoveI[F]ire.net

“The metallic smell of blood along the humidity of the northern snow. Isn’t it such a deathly and fragrant scent? Delicious, right?”

Sokram lowered his gaze back to meet theirs, and his already creepy smile broadened as he took a step toward them.

As if hypnotized, their breaths hitched, and they all instinctively stepped back, and that was all Sokram wanted to see: Fear!

‘Dark Lightning: Chain Lightning!’

Like a viper snapping at its prey, Sokram dashed at the closest guard.

Swinging his sword downward, cutting through armor, skin, and bones in a diagonal slash right to left, before moving to another of the guards, cutting upwards; this time, splitting the guard in half.

Sokram moved toward the last guard, but just as he was one step away, he felt the shift in the mana around him, but it was too late.

With no time to dodge, Sokram was struck full force by an enormous water blade...

Adrian was about to cheer, but he noticed that his water blade was stopped by an invisible force, splashing on it like a wave hitting the coastal rocks.

Sokram didn’t stagger but was halted by the force of Adrian’s spell.

Still, he tried to slash the guard in front of him.

But the guard was already dodging, and all Sokram managed was to leave a deep cut on the guard’s chest.

‘…Swift Wind: One Step!'

Before Adrian could hit again, Sokram bolted, once again disappearing from their line of sight.

But this time, Sokram hadn’t run; instead, he took cover behind a large pine tree, taking a few deep breaths and refilling his mana pool.

He also replaced the crushed runestone in his sleeve with a new one.

Sokram dashed toward a new tree, just as he crossed the brief distance, another water blade missed him by a hair.

Sokram’s lips curled, flashing a predator’s grin, knowing that Adrian was losing his cool with him wasting mana like that.

Deciding to play with their minds a little more before striking again, Sokram used the only illusion spell he currently had in his arsenal, ‘Projected Voice.’

“Look at them, three trembling little rabbits, cornered by a dragon who hasn’t even shown his fangs. Hahaha!”

Adrian, Aaron, and the last of their guards regrouped.

They stood back to back, not knowing where Sokram's next attack would come from, their mind in turmoil.

Regret, anger, and their breath came in ragged gasps, fingers trembling around their weapons.

Their eyes gleamed in the dim light, darting like cornered rats.

Sokram’s voice, which seemed to come from every direction, sounded again, “But you seem to forget that a dragon's greatest strength is not the blade, it’s Magi!”

Adrian felt the mana around them shift and quickly pulled his brother with him as a Waterwall surged from below their feet.

The sudden surge of water pushed the guard out of balance, forcing him to stumble forward.

While the two brothers dashed in the other direction.

Before they even regained their bearings, the Waterwall froze, becoming a clear, see-through ice wall.

Arian saw Sokram reappear.

With mockery flashing in Adrian’s eyes as Sokram stood behind the disoriented and stumbling guard, he sneered, “You dare to use a water spell in front of me?!”

Adrian pushed his hands forward, and Sokram’s Icewall cracked with the force of the Ice Spike Adrian shot, aiming for Sokram.

But Sokram had predicted such a move and merely sidestepped the incoming spike, leaving a clear path for the spike to pierce the unbalanced guard’s head from the back, through and through.

The block of conjured ice crashed down.

Now, only Sokram and the two brothers remained.

Once again, face to face, but while Sokram's murderous grin remained, the Steelheart brothers' expression turned pale in fear of the monster in front of them.

“Let me ask you again. Is this all? Where’s the rest of your men?”

Sokram’s unbridled killing intent and his murderous grin now caused the two brothers to shiver in fear.

Now giving them time to answer, Sokram dashed at Aaron, the one more affected by his taunting.

When Aaron saw Sokram dashing toward him, although consumed by fear, he decided to throw caution to the wind, swinging his mace down to meet Sokram’s incoming attack.

Once Sokram’s momentum became unstoppable, he realized his mistake. The first mistake Sokram made in this dispute was that he underestimated Adrian and his ability to cast a quick spell.

With Sokram dashing toward his brother, Adrian cast his go-to spell, Water Blade.

Sokram hadn’t expected a dual-caster, and a fast one, no less.

He managed to dodge the first Water Blade easily.

But the second one hit him fully with another loud splash against his runic barrier.

Adrian's heart almost froze when he saw that his spells failed, but seeing his brother's mace coming down fast gave him a sliver of hope.

Sokram, realizing that the protection of his runestone was gone, tried to raise a Mana Shield while raising his left hand toward the incoming mace. Although his spell barely had time to form, Sokram still managed to barely deflect the incoming blow. Pushing it away from his head, but at the cost of his left arm.

The loud sound of cracking bones almost made Aaron feel elated, but Sokram’s unchanging expression made his heart freeze.

Only then did he realize that swinging his mace down with reckless abandon was a horrible idea.

Without his guard up, and with the unstoppable momentum of his attack, the next thing Aaron felt was Sokram’s blade piercing his heart.

“Aaron! Nooo!!!!” Adrian shrieked, raw terror, shredding his voice.

He tried to invoke his mana, only to be assaulted by a sharp pain in his head.

“It seems the dual-cast spell is still too much for your puny mind to handle, hm?”

Sokram met Adrian’s gaze with a cold smile while Aaron’s eyes lost their light.

In the next instant, lightning coursed through Sokram's blade, causing Aaron’s heart to explode inside his body.

Blood spewed from his mouth, splattering Sokram’s armor.

More erupted from the chest wound inflicted by Sokram’s blade.

“You son of a whore! I’m…”

Before he could finish, he saw Sokram kicking Aaron’s lifeless body to free his sword.

Adrian desperately tried to gather his mana, ignoring the sharp pain in his brain, knowing his life depended on it.

Sokram, now free, dashed toward Adrian, and his Dragon Sight showed him the thin watery shield that covered Adrian’s body, like a second skin. A cold smirk formed over his lips as he injected mana into his blade.

It all happened too fast.

Sokram swung his blade, merely scraping Adrian’s Second Skin water shield.

Adrian used Blink so desperately that he almost splattered himself on a tree.

Still, he succeeded in dodging Sokram’s attack by a hair.

It was reckless, but his mind was completely clouded by the primal fear that screamed from his guts for him to flee; he needed to survive.

Yet, before he could even take another step, he heard Sokram’s voice, cold and mocking, “Freeze.”

The thin Second Skin water shield that surrounded Adrian’s whole body froze, locking him utterly in place.

All Sokram needed was an instant.

How fast is lightning? Before the thin, frozen second skin even cracked under Adrian’s struggle, Sokram had already reached him.

The cutting sound of Sokram’s katana was the last thing Adrian heard before the world began to spin before his eyes.

Sokram had beheaded him, sending his head rolling through the air.