Now that I've confirmed my squad's safety. It's not a bad idea to leave them here for some time while they recuperate. I'm worried about my father, placing Mina by his side was for his safety, but I'm not sure about the outcome of her battle with that creature. I need more information and time is running short.
That Outworlder...
As I think about my next move, I throw a glance at "Rapheal". I don't sense evil intentions from him and since he took care of my squad, I don't plan to antagonize him. In addition, the future hero seems to be under him...
All the more not to disrupt the flow of events here.
I walk to my squad members. "Guys, stay here for the time being and recover. I will return to Lorain and check on the situation. Moreover, that creature might still be roaming."
My members nod.
"Wait a moment," Rapheal says. "Why don't you stay the night? Since you've come this far."
What is the Outworlder doing?
"You wouldn't want anything to happen to your friends, right?" Rapheal's voice suddenly emits in my head.
!!!
How did he do that? And this bastard is threatening me with my subordinates' life?
...
On the outside, nothing changes. However, my gaze shoots killing intent at Rapheal. Yet, he suppresses it with his aura pressure.
Not telling your real name? Fine.
-----------
Namgung Hajin
Fate: 100000
Role: Supporting Character
Affiliation: ARW, MRM
Second Stage of Integration Realm
Talents:
-Sword Tier 7
-Comprehension Tier 5
-Cultivation Tier 2
-Speed Tier 5
-Stealth Tier 5
Skills:
-Sword Sight
-Natural Learner
-----------
I recognise his name, the Namgung clan!! One of the top powerhouses in his world.
And he is in a realm I've never seen before!
My subordinates notice something wrong.
"Sir? Mister Rapheal?" Issac says.
"Alright, I will stay for one night. I'm beat," I reply and walk into the cabin.
Hajin shows a pleasant smile. "Great, we have more than enough rooms."
No words. I simply enter the cabin. My subordinates exchange looks of confusion.
Later that night, Hajin uses the same power and calls me to the peak of the mountain behind the cabin.
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Awaiting beneath the moonlight are Rapheal and his wine jar. He takes a huge gulp of wine and turns around.
"Did the Demonic Divine Cult send you?" Hajin says.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
He stares at me eye to eye. "So we are doing this the hard way."
He vanishes and slashes from behind.
!!!
I barely leap forward to avoid it and block his second strike.
I don't sense killing intent, he plans to subjugate me.
Tch.
My injuries...
One glance and I can tell there's no way I can win, but I won't just take a beating.
I release all of my aura and unleash every attribute from my blade.
Rapheal widens his eyes. "Sword Intent? Interesting..."
I slam one massive crescent energy from my vertical slash. Yet, one horizontal cut from Rapheal dispels my tricks, blowing everything away.
*BOOOOOM!!*
"KEGHHHH!!!"
The sharp wind created by a mere casual slash took my everything to block and I was thrown off the peak.
!?
At a distance, I notice Hajin wields nothing but a simple sword aura emerging from his index and middle finger.
Lumps of mana gather under my feet, I throw myself at Hajin, splitting into ten ghostly images around him. All shadows zap forward shooting a variety of attacks.
However, Hajin deflects every single strike precisely, as if he can see the trajectory of each cut.
Is that his skill "Sword Sight"? Fuck.
I don't plan to win, I can't. But I hope to deal some damage if possible.
I rapidly circulate my mana, further increasing my speed as the battle goes on and attacking with powerful shocks. Nevertheless, his refined sword aura absorbs each strike, making a fool out of my efforts.
To the normal eye, a fireworks display of sparks shines brightly at the peak of the mountain, ringing several clashes of metal every second.
I land on the slope, thrusting several rocks into the sky and blasting them into smoke.
"Petty tricks," Hajin says.
He sweeps the smoke away to find my sword already at his eye level.
!
He deflects but I spin my body, absorbing the momentum for another jab.
"Ngh?!"
*CHING!*
The longer it goes, the faster I become, hopping around the vicinity like a nuisance but constantly switching up my pattern, putting everything I've seen into use including all the techniques I've learnt by observing in the academy and the battlefield.
"Such tricks won't fool the gaze of a real master," Says Hajin. He spots a gap and launches his hand. It is a trap. I boldly step back, avoid it, and leap forward. Somehow, falling for my trap is a feint and he attempts to hug me which I duck and jump back.
"Slippery bastard."
"Fuck won't you stop talking?" I shout and throw another barrage of attacks.
"Unlike you, I have the leisure to chat," Hajin says.
I must admit, in reality, I've lost. He is simply trying to catch me while I'm furiously throwing every lethal slash.
Just one attack. I just need one to get through and I will be satisfied. I have one card I haven't used.
Hajin pulls his arm back, seemingly preparing to end things. Just as he releases the tension like a bow, I spread my expanding domain, a red aura with a faint black spreads through the atmosphere covering the entire sky.
!!!
Several swords shoot from the sky, illusion or not, stabs into Hajin and restricts his movement.
"S-Sword Intent?!" He exclaims.
Now!!
My figure flashes behind Hajin, ripping through the air and ejecting shockwaves of wind.
"Not bad," Hajin grabs my neck and plunges me into the ground.
"Argh!?"
I turn my head to find one small cut on his shoulder.
"Little demon, you don't seem to belong to the Demonic Divone Cult. Your fighting is...refined yet incomplete. Your Qinggong, sword techniques, breathing art, and cultivation style have little rhythm or synergy but are somehow mashed together into a team."
"That's...what I was saying. I'm a local of this world, not an invader like you."
Hajin's jaw drops. "Local? Who taught you martial arts?"
"No one," I say, technically excluding Morja. "I found several manuals on a corpse and was alerted of the Outworlder's existence."
It's the truth in my previous life.
"Outworlders? A fitting name. And you are self-taught yet progressed such far?"
Hajin smiles. "Impressive."
...
"Uh...can you let me go now?" I ask.
Hajin simply stares at me. "I'm older than you, thirty-six this year."
...
This petty bastard.
"I don't think you are one to talk," Morja says.
Shut up!
...
"Sir..." I mumble.
He releases me.