After a week of tracking that bastard we finally find a village. I look back at the other adventurers that are with me. There are only medium to high gold ranks here with me the only mithril. I see three familiar faces among them, my team. We are currently three groups. I still think it’s too much but it’s clearly better to team up than to compete.

My team is more than enough to take Reagan down, that much was clear in our last encounter, or so it seemed. I couldn’t shake the feeling that despite his paltry skills he was still dangerous. It wasn’t a true fight either as he only tried to flee over and over instead of facing us head on, a logical move, if annoying. Still, he was wounded enough that I couldn’t imagine him getting this far, but the river really seems to have helped him. Now, his trail leads up to the village over there and I can’t help but feel like he is still there.

Finally we’ll put him down. He killed my sister in the shivering passes and I won’t forgive him for it. Plus, he is wanted dead or alive now, even if you do get double for alive, I’m not letting that cockroach live another day. Today is his last day. We approach the village and someone spots us. We aren’t exactly stealthy…

An older man comes up to us and he spots the mithril insignia proudly on display on my armor. He seems rather shocked and bows in respect as we approach him. I’m pretty sure they’ve never seen a mithril rank before in their lives in this small no name village. It probably has a name but who cares.

“Greetings. Are you the elder of this village?” I politely ask him.

“Greetings adventurer. No, but I can get him for you.” He tells me, not daring to meet my eyes. That’s why I have a hard time with civilians nowadays. No spine.

“It depends. We are looking for this man, Reagan.” I tell him as I show him an accurate picture of the man we fought earlier. He has long hair and beard in the picture now and it’s clear the man recognizes him. But he hesitates to tell me more.

“We are not here to cause trouble old man, could you just point us to the right house?” I ask him exasperated. The man nods and points to a house on the outskirt of the village. We all turn towards it and the old man can’t help but open his mouth.

“Why are you looking for Reagan? He has been very helpful around the village lately.” The old man asks me as he follows after us.

“Nothing much.” I smile at him as I continue and ignore his next question. I really don’t have time for this. As we get close to the house, the door opens and he comes out.

“Can we settle this outside the village at least?” Reagan asks me. Oh? Is he done running? I shrug, I don’t want the villagers to be caught up in the fight either. He starts slowly walking out of the village while we all keep a close eye on him, ready at a moment's notice, no way he gets away this time.

“How’d you follow me here? The river should have masked my smell and any trace of blood.” He asks as we follow him from a safe distance.

“We seem to keep getting lucky it seems, or maybe you really do smell more than you think.” I shoot back. Like I’m going to tell him how we track him, idiot. Silence reigns for a while as we walk.

“I’m surprised you aren’t running this time.” I tell him nonchalantly.

“I’m surprised you keep finding me. What is this, four times already?” He smirks at me. Fucker, it’s only three and you were lucky each and every time. No way you get away this time.

“You know you won’t get away this time, don’t you?” I ask him in a calm voice.

“I’m not? No. I think you got things confused.” He turns to us with a sad smile. We are far away enough it seems and we all get ready for round four with this asshole. How can he be so confident? He barely made it away the last time and only survived due to some lucky elements. He is slower, weaker and has less skills than me. I know he might have a trump card of some kind, but I don’t think it will be enough to bring me down. The fucker underestimates me and I’ll make him pay for it.

“Oh really? Done running away then?” I smile confidently back at him, slowly taking my stance with my greatsword. I see the other adventurers all take a stance as well as we look at the lone enemy in front of us. He is standing there looking almost harmless, clearly not ready for a fight and he even closes his eyes.

When he opens them, a shiver runs down my spine. What the hell is that? His red eyes look at us all and I can see the others shudder slightly at the sight.

“You shouldn’t have pushed him so much… he was never running away from you.” The transformed man tells us with a smile so sinister it would make the gods call it blasphemy.

“He was running away from me.” The man tells us and I don’t understand a word he is saying, but it doesn’t matter. In a second he is running at us with both of his swords drawn. I didn’t even see him draw them.

I rush forward, not wanting to let him have the momentum. We all know his best skill is [Burst Of Speed] but other than that he isn’t that dangerous. Plus, I have it myself so I can always match it when he uses it, so no big deal. I run at him head on as he tries to attack one of the weaker members of this collaborative hunt.

He swings both his sword horizontally at the same time, one high and one low, to make it harder to dodge and block. His target easily backs away from both attacks, only to raise her shield at the last second in a panic. I see her take a wound to one of her legs in the corner of my eye but can’t spare her more attention as I arrive on him.

I open up with [Double Slash] and he easily parries both blows with one sword each. He doesn’t seem to feel the heavy blows or he pretends very well. No matter. He backs off very fast before the others can corner him and I give chase. I know this fight is mainly my responsibility. If I fuck up, the others won’t stand much of a chance.

I use [Lightning Rush] and the world blurs as I fly several meters towards my target while swinging my weapon at the same time. [Gleaming Blade] makes light shine straight into his eye, blinding him as I’m suddenly swinging at him. I follow it up with [Cardinal Strikes] and my sword blurs and leaves four after images as it instantly strikes from the four different directions.

To my surprise I only hit air. An after-image disappears as I hear a cry behind me and see his sword decapitate one of the mages. How? I should have seen him even if he used [Phantom Image] as he still has to separate from the image at some point.

I rush towards him and the others all converge now that he is in the center of the formation. There aren’t many places he can go. We all rush and he attacks one of the weaker looking members. He still manages to block and even counter attack. Reagan’s swords blur but the warrior uses [Impenetrable Fortress] to summon a body shield that blocks the blows.

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Three other adventurers close enough use this opening to get in strikes but only two of them connect as he moves out of the way. It’s two shallow cuts, like always. It seems he always manages to minimize the damage. No matter, we have every advantage here. We all converge on him but before we can attack him in a coordinated strike, I pull back and see a few others do the same and brace.

A violent shockwave hits us and I stand my ground, my feet being pushed back just a little bit on the ground. Some of the others clearly aren’t as fortunate. What skill was that? [Force Nova] or something? It bought him a little bit of space, but he is still done for. I stop and the others do too as we all notice the madman laughing. Cackling as he regards us.

“Don’t you see? I need more, my dear friend. And that means you do too.” He smiles wickedly at us. Who is he speaking to? He isn’t making any sense, but my instincts are all on high alert right now. More than ever. I feel my hair stand up on my whole body as I move out of the way before I even see what is happening.

I look around and see that half the adventurers are dead or wounded. A wave of red came out so fast I almost didn’t see it, but the result of said wave is clear. It cut through everything it went through. I feel my face and notice I’ve got a light cut. I get up on my feet and use [Burst Of Speed] as I notice him looking the other way for a second. Shouldn’t let your guard down, asshole.

Everything looks like it stands still as I rush towards him and swing my axe right at his midsection while his arm is up and out of the way. I notice that he notices me from the corner of his eye and he seems to activate his own skill as he almost manages to avoid my blow. I don’t stop there and follow it up with another but we are matched in speed now.

I back off before the skill wears off and see him blur and kill two other adventurers before his skill runs out. Bastard didn’t even try to go on me. I grit my teeth as he turns to look at me while the healthy few converge behind me. I might just have to put everything on the line.

“All of you, get out of here.” I tell the ones behind me.

“Alone against that monster? What are you thinking Kilian?” One of them tells me and I don’t have the time to explain.

“Go! You’ll only get in the way of that monster.” I look at his sadistic smile while he waits. I can feel them hesitate.

“Go!” I yell with more strength this time, turning to them for a second while keeping my guard up. I see them start to leave and turn back to face that monster. He is walking around casually, killing off the wounded ones that are trying to get up and away. Once he is done and everyone else is out of here he turns to me casually like this is just another day for him.

“Why did you let them leave? Even if they can get in the way, it would still help you more.” He asks me, sounding genuinely curious. I spit on the ground towards him before I answer.

“That’s what it means to be a mithril rank. You risk your life so others don’t have to. Besides, I don’t need them to take you down.” I say as I grit my teeth. He looks up at me and slowly claps his hands.

“Bravo. So brave. Ever noticed how close those two words were?” He asks and I sense that he is getting ready to attack once more.

“What words?” I can’t help but ask as I focus on him and his movements.

“Brave… and grave.” He says with a wicked grin as he comes at me full speed. I activate [Burst Of Speed] to keep up on the lightning attack. I activated it a blink later than him so I’ll have the advantage when it fades for him. I easily block his first blow. Dodge the second one. A third quickly follows towards my throat but I don’t even need a skill to reposition myself. I feel the skill about to end and see the fourth blow coming towards my midsection and block with my sword. My speed is gone but to my surprise his is not. I barely manage to block the blow as it is lightning fast and I am so much slower.

Before he can attack me again I use [Mithril Skin] and feel three more attacks land on my body lightning fast. His skill lasted way longer than mine. How is that possible? Luckily I managed to activate [Mithril Skin] in time and only took a few light wounds. Seems like I might need to pull every stop out or I just might regret it.

“You are stronger than I ever thought possible, but I am not a mithril rank for no reason.” I tell him as I touch my amulet and let the enchantment come over me. An old spell washes over me and the world seems to slow down just a bit. I’m faster and stronger than before by a significant margin. Of course [Burst Of Speed] will still be faster, but this spell lasts for over a minute. Which might as well be an eternity compared to that skill.

I rush in and for the first time in our fight I see a look of surprise on his face as he blocks the first blow, then the second, the third, but on the fourth he missteps. He still blocked the blow but his footing is off now and I continue to press my advantage. From an outside perspective I know how this looks, like a flurry of blades barely visible to the naked eye and I’m impressed he has managed to hold out this long. The monster in human skin uses his [Force Nova] skill or whatever it is he uses to force me back, but I easily avoid the skill and rush back in. Before I can though, he yells.

“Reagan!”

I don’t know what he is doing but I’m not letting this opening pass. He stands there with his head to the sky, seemingly defenseless as I rush in for a killing blow. It looks as if he won’t even defend himself and I smile just before impact. My expression turns to shock as something blocks my sword and I don’t wait as I continue my onslaught only to feel it blocked again and again as something seems to be protecting him. Some kind of red liquid.

That’s when I notice it. It’s raining, but not water. Unable to believe what is happening I feel a drop land on my finger and bring it to my mouth to taste it. The oh so familiar taste leaves nothing to the imagination. The same red liquid dances around him in a protective manner. It’s far from enough to cover him in a shield and has lots of holes. But it moves faster than my sword and blocks all of my attacks.

Blood.

I continue my desperate onslaught on this monster as blood continues to rain around us. The more I get on me, the more tired I seem to become, and my ultimate spell soon fades as I stand before him. His eyes aren’t just red anymore. They are glowing and he looks down at me with an expression I wouldn’t have thought to see on him. Pity. He looks at me with pity as he finally takes notice of me and walks slowly towards me.

I back off from him, sword ready. But I know how useless it is against that thing. I feel my hands trembling, knowing this might be my end. And something I just have to know.

“Who are you?” I ask in a shakier voice than I thought I would have.

“I am _______.” He tells me but I cannot comprehend his name. It hurts my head and every drop of blood on me feels like a terrible weight now. Every new drop falling like a blow on my armor, battering me and slowing me down.

As afraid as I am, I remember the words I swore by when I started out. I’d rather die than survive as a coward. It almost makes me laugh. It feels silly in a way to remember that now, but they anchor me for a moment and I steel my resolve. I know there is no escape anyways, and who knows, I might just manage something with a last gambit with my life on the line.

I smile uncertainly at him and he nods, clearly respecting me in this moment. He beckons for me to come at him and I unleash everything I have. Light engulfs me as I activate every possible skill at my disposal. I feel them all hitting that barrier of blood, but as the skills hit again and again in a flurry of powerful blows I feel the barrier giving way and I renew my effort as I am a blur of power and skills right now. Slowly to me, but in an instant in the real world, I feel my blows getting closer and closer to his body until it all suddenly ends. The crescendo of skills continue for a moment longer before I have spent every ounce of power in my body, and the flashes of skills disappear with both of us standing there.

He looks at my sword stuck in his body. I look at it and laugh, laugh as I throw my head back. I have no strength left in my body and I flop to the ground, letting go of my sword. He looks down at the sword barely a few centimeters in his body and takes it out. All of my skills, all of my power, and all it amounted to was a shallow wound on this monster. I laugh as I see him raise one of his swords slowly above his head. Laugh because that is all I can do in this moment of despair.

At least I kept my promise. I gave it my all and I can die with no regrets. If only that were true. But it is too late for that now as his sword comes down and I see the world upside down for a moment. In my last moment I see the man known as Reagan slump down on his knees and I wonder if maybe he is the one who has it worse of the two of us.

But that would be ridiculous, for I am already dead.