Chapter 271
Dekril and Marrad suddenly exchanged glances and began a conversation.
“Hmm, but isn't it a bit awkward to just keep standing around like this, Sir Marrad?”
“That’s true, Sir Dekril.”
As humans, their greed took precedence, and they had eagerly observed and stolen the techniques of other warriors. Even when Ricabon died and Nasdan collapsed, they felt no remorse. After all, they were a group forcibly assembled under orders, there was no room for camaraderie. Besides, wasn’t Ricabon just an annoying lapdog of the Empire?
Neither of them was so vicious as to celebrate the death of an imperial dog, but they weren’t so spineless as to mourn it either. Well, when Nasdan collapsed, they had been a bit worried, but seeing that he was still breathing, they quickly felt relieved.
However, after taking everything they could from the situation, they started feeling a twinge of guilt.
“They’re risking their lives fighting over there…”
“We can’t just sit around doing nothing, can we?”
Human nature was a strange thing. When a small number of people spent their resources while others held back, those who still had something left hesitated to give it up. But once the majority committed, everyone else followed suit. With everyone revealing their unique aura skills at full power, keeping theirs hidden made them feel downright petty and cowardly.
‘No, to be honest, it really is petty and cowardly.’
Marrad sneered inwardly.
Though they were free warriors with little attachment to chivalry, they still had their pride as aura users. They couldn't continue acting so miserly.
“Hoo…”
Marrad took a deep breath and shifted the flow of aura throughout his body. Dekril also nodded and turned his sharp gaze toward Russ.
As their aura changed, Russ and Tassid’s expressions hardened. Tassid ground his protruding teeth.
“Damn… so this is as far as we go…?”
They had no strength left to even lift their arms. They had bled so much that Tassid's green skin had paled to a sickly light green. Their vision blurred, and even a brief lapse in focus felt like it would plunge them into unconsciousness, never to wake again.
Feeling the weight of impending doom, Russ and Tassid drew upon the last remnants of their aura.
“Hyaaah!”
“Uraah!”
Their battle cries were loud, but the light of their Blade Aura did not grow any stronger. There was simply no more aura left to draw upon.
Russ let out a hollow laugh.
“…Ha, we’re completely drained.”
* * *
Meanwhile, unlike Repenhardt or Iniya, Attila was engaging in battle with considerable ease.
“The red sky strikes you down, turning you into sand and dust…”
Moving in a strange dance, Attila shook his head, causing the small bells tied to his braided hair to jingle with an eerie sound.
“The Hammer of Ruin descends!”
The moment Attila clapped his hands, four gusts of wind gathered behind his shoulders, shaping into massive hammers. They immediately surged toward two aura users, Sir Kamerun from Hallein and Werl from Teikan.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Using the Storm Hammer Sorcery, Attila forced the two back and hurled himself forward.
Balancing on his hands, he unleashed a dazzling flurry of kicks. A relentless barrage rained down on Kamerun’s scimitar.
“As expected of Ivory Tusk! The legends weren’t exaggerated!”
Kamerun clicked his tongue and withdrew to escape Attila’s range. The moment he was out of reach, he twisted his waist so far that his back was almost exposed. Then, he unleashed a powerful slash.
“Crescent Slash!”
Kamerun’s scimitar traced a long arc, aiming straight for Attila. The timing was so precise that there was no room to dodge. The crescent-shaped Blade Aura slashed cleanly across Attila’s waist while he was still upside-down.
Kamerun was certain his attack had landed.
“This is my blood, my flesh!”
Attila activated his sorcery while still in a handstand, his body bending sideways like a reed. Though he had avoided a direct hit, the Crescent Slash had still carved deep into nearly half his waist.
Yet, Attila did not bleed.
Before a single drop of blood could escape, as if time itself had rewound, the crimson fluid was drawn back into his wound. In an instant, the gash sealed itself completely!
Kamerun’s jaw dropped in shock.
“How is that possible…?”
No matter how resilient trolls were, this level of regeneration was beyond reason. Straightening his body, Attila smirked. The sorcery he had used was the Blood Binding Ritual, originally meant to protect life during the Heart Extraction Ceremony, but it could also be adapted for combat in this way.
Before the stunned Kamerun could react, Sir Werl thrust his longsword forward.
“Gale Thrust!”
Slicing through the air, his Blade Aura sharpened into a piercing drill-like form and lunged at Attila. But Attila twisted his waist in an unnatural motion, evading the strike. Then, without warning, he thrust his face toward Werl.
“Hup!”
Thinking Attila was attempting a headbutt, Werl instinctively braced himself. His pupils wavered for an instant.
‘Ugh?’
Humans were naturally accustomed to attacks using limbs. Weapons were extensions of the arms, and even elbows and knees were just variations of limb-based strikes. At most, additional attack forms included shoulder slams, body tackles, or headbutts. There were even rumors of a bizarre martial art from a distant land where people fought using their hips, but such cases were extremely rare.
However, Attila’s attack didn’t fit into any of these categories.
He wasn’t attempting a headbutt, he was lifting his jutting jaw and swinging his elongated molars like twin blades, aiming straight for Werl’s neck!
Whoosh!
Infused with sorcery, Attila’s long tusks slashed through the air like a pair of swords, slicing toward Werl’s throat. The attack came from such an unexpected angle that there was no way to defend against it.
At the last moment, Werl jerked his head back, barely avoiding a fatal strike, but he couldn’t dodge completely.
Blood splattered as a crimson line was drawn across his neck.
“Guh…!”
Grimacing, Werl quickly sealed the wound with aura to stop the bleeding. In that brief moment, Attila adjusted his stance, crouching like a predator while gripping his twin batons.
Werl muttered under his breath.
“What a grotesque attack…”
Kamerun, now fully on guard, warned him.
“Our opponent is a monster. The instincts you use against humans won’t work!”
Regaining their composure, Kamerun and Werl attacked from both sides once more.
The sorcery coursing through Attila’s batons flared to life, colliding with the force of their Blade Auras. Explosions rang out in rapid succession.
Sweat began forming on Kamerun and Werl’s brows.
Despite the two of them attacking with everything they had, this monstrous troll wasn’t showing any signs of being overwhelmed. Not only that, he wasn’t even sweating! He showed no indication of fatigue whatsoever!
Kamerun frowned deeply.
‘Kapir said that three of us should have been able to handle him… but this is on a whole different level!’
"You bastard! Did you lie because you were afraid of getting scolded?"
Kamerun was a distant relative of Sir Kapir and was old enough to be considered an elder brother. Moreover, he was a senior Aura User from the same kingdom. Grinding his teeth furiously, he vowed to give Kapir a beating when he returned.
However, this was actually a misunderstanding on Kamerun’s part.
In the past, when Attila first encountered Repenhardt, he had fought against Sir Kapir, a 7th-circle high mage, and a powerful priest of Seiya all at once. Back then, Attila had clearly been unable to withstand their combined assault and had been forced to retreat.
But now, against two Aura Users, he was actually gaining the upper hand.
This wasn’t because Kamerun and Werl’s combined strength was weaker than that of the previous trio. If Kamerun’s group were to fight against Kapir’s party, they would likely win by a landslide.
It was purely a matter of matchups.
A priest’s divine spells could interrupt a troll’s sorcery mid-activation, while a high mage’s advanced spells could alter attributes, neutralizing many of a troll’s sorcerous abilities. However, Aura Users had no means of disrupting sorcery directly, which allowed Attila to unleash his full range of troll sorcery without any restrictions.
For Attila, whose fighting style was based entirely on troll sorcery, it was actually easier to face only Aura Users.
Moreover, Attila’s movements followed an entirely different combat paradigm from the martial techniques of the current continent. Fighting mages or priests, who mainly attacked from a distance, didn’t make much of a difference to him. But for Aura Users, it was a different story.
Kamerun and Werl were completely thrown off by his unfamiliar fighting style, it was utterly unlike anything they had ever encountered.
Even so, they were both hardened warriors who had spent their entire lives on the battlefield. They might be struggling to keep up, but they weren’t about to surrender victory so easily.
Kamerun swung his scimitar again, spinning his entire body as he attacked.
“Crescent Slash!”
A crescent-shaped Blade Aura surged forward, rushing straight at Attila. Just as Attila dodged by swinging his batons and prepared to counterattack
Kamerun followed up with a downward strike, seamlessly chaining his Aura Skill.
“Falling Moon!”
An Aura Wave erupted, merging with the Crescent Slash, altering its trajectory. The crescent-shaped Blade Aura shattered into countless fragments mid-flight, scattering toward Attila’s entire body.
Startled, Attila summoned a sorcerous gale, deflecting most of the assault. However, he couldn’t block everything, deep gashes opened across his limbs as several attacks found their mark.
Werl wasn’t idle either. He charged into the momentum of Falling Moon, unleashing yet another Gale Thrust.
The moment Attila crossed his batons to block, Werl’s swordplay suddenly shifted.
“Taaah!”
Scarlet claws materialized above the thrusting Blade Aura, slashing toward Attila’s throat. Thrust and slash combined into a relentless storm of sword light, dozens of blade arcs swirling around him like a raging tempest.
A Gale Thrust followed by a Bloodstorm Slash, culminating in a Tempest Chain Blade!
This was Werl’s signature three-step combo.
Within the storm of slashing strikes, Attila’s twin batons moved in dazzling arcs. His right baton spun in wide circles, while his left snapped forward in whip-like, elastic motions, using wrist flicks for rapid, fluid strikes.
“Hororororo…”
Humming softly, Attila threw himself into the attack. Using a sorcery of Impact Mitigation to shield his body, he deflected only the most dangerous blows with his batons, letting the glancing hits land on his flesh.
Then, launching a counterattack, he smashed Kamerun’s shoulder while simultaneously delivering a kick to Werl’s solar plexus.
“Guhk!”
“Ugh…!”
Kamerun staggered back, his shoulder slumping, while Werl coughed up blood and bent his knees slightly. Both men glared at Attila with exhausted expressions.
They had exchanged countless strikes already.
And with each clash, their wounds multiplied.
But only Kamerun and Werl were feeling pain and fatigue.
That damned troll erased most of his injuries with his monstrous regeneration. Not only that, but his stamina was absurd, he was still moving with full energy, showing not even the slightest sign of exhaustion!
“Damn monster…”
“How the hell are we supposed to take him down…?”
Repenhardt was struggling due to his lack of refined technique.
Iniya was struggling due to her lack of endurance and stamina.
But Attila had no such weaknesses.
He had Repenhardt’s raw physical resilience, Iniya’s refined sorcery and martial precision, and on top of that, the troll’s natural regeneration. The only reason he hadn’t defeated Kamerun and Werl yet was that his raw strike power was slightly weaker than theirs.
As he observed the two weary Aura Users, Attila’s eyes gleamed.
‘They’re exhausted. Time to finish this and go help the others.’
Just as he prepared his decisive blow, he suddenly twisted his face into a vicious snarl.
‘What is this presence…?’
Swinging his elongated tusks, Attila snapped his head around.
The two Aura Users who had been fighting Russ and Tassid, mere moments ago, their presence had been insignificant.
But now…
Their aura had suddenly surged to an overwhelming level.
The explosive force of their aura was so intense that even Attila could feel it against his skin.
There was no way Russ and Tassid could handle this!
“I have to save them!”
Attila’s eyes flared a deep, menacing red as urgency gripped him.